Week 5

New Toys! This week we were using new tools, things like video casts, voice casting, YouTube and Jaycut. I found that using technology can be great but there are things that go wrong. One lesson learned is to make sure that the technology will work as predicted with the class. Trying things at home will not be enough. We also have some special issues here because of our computer setups. Our tech department is great and very responsive but they definitely need to be more involved as we go forward. I believe that this type of technology will be a great asset to our students in the case of snow days and absences. I can also see video clips of pre-lab demos or demonstrations of difficult labs. I also am convinced that IE needs to go and hopefully we can go to google chrome or firefox! I tried chrome here and there are issues with permissions to go on the Internet.

Overall this week was positive but, I hate listening to my voice and seeing myself on screen. I will have to work on that.

Week 4

Each week is getting more challenging. I like that. I am definitely out of my comfort zone. I am having some machine problems. I can't get my mini PC to insert the video I captured from Jing into a PowerPoint. I'm not even sure it's possible. I have used many of the OER sites and they do have tons of information but filtering it is still difficult. I am more careful with search terms to increase the good over bad hits. This helps but as always, time is limited.

I tried Prezi and think I will need to spend a good deal of time to get the results that I am looking for. I like to interface but the learning curve, for me, is a little to high for mid semester. I am afraid that in the summer I will forget to invest the time. I am sure I will make the transition but it will take time!

Week 3

This week we developed a web based lesson plan. My plan is more multimedia that a straight web project. I enjoyed using the template from Carmen. I felt like it helped me think through all of the items that I would need to develop new web lessons. I think that this type of lesson will work for chemistry but it will be easy to fall into the trap of doing the same thing that I have always done. I need to find tools that will get me excited to use the new tools over the "old reliables" like lab, lecture and notes. I am also interested in what tools we will have for students to use since not everyone will be able to use the computer lab at the same time.