summer learning

Thing 8
I’m in the process of working through this assignment and have run into a few technical glitches.  Comcast can’t find the web page or load it or something for a few of the places I want to visit. This is a bit frustrating–but I just move on. (Working from home is nice–but Comcast isn’t great.)  I get very distracted.  I spent some time on the selected article and then got off track looking at all the things the Westwood students had worked on.  Some of them seem very simplistic and some very interesting.  Misspelling (I have issues with this on my own) seems to be common and it was interesting to see a discussion comment –please correct the spelling of poem–or let me access it to correct it.I think that might be a common anxiety. . . seeing something wrong/incorrect and not being able to “fix” it.
It got 28 of the 43 things on the humor Web 2.0 or Star Wars quiz.  Don’t know still which ones I got right/wrong.  That sort of thing is not profitable and very distracting and yet I go straight there!  I also spent some time reading about Web 2.0 to really get a better understanding of what that meant.
I thought the Hannah Lee wiki was the Woodward one (yes) so I visited that first.  I like the organization–and I can see that it will take some careful thought as to what should be included initially.  I visited several of the options and listened to the readers and viewed the slide show on the language.  The illustrations were interesting–but they didn’t always help to clarify the meaning of the vocabulary/figurative language that was presented. But several were excellent and I can see using something like this to help my academic students work through the vocabulary for World Cultures.  The Timeline and Map was also interesting and something I would use.  Finally, the technical notes in the Other category were very helpful.  I will have to spend time learning more about how this was all done–but they give me a starting point.
 I expected to like the Flat Classroom but I didn’t really.  I will have to find the time to watch the video on this–but I didn’t get a lot of information from the project itself.  I wonder if the Students came up with the organization/outline?  It was very specific and directed them as to what they were to do–which is good–but I wonder if the students ever read the book on which the assignment was based and if they were able to put in the thought that this topic deserves.  Or were they just following the outline of the instructor. (Not a bad thing–but the book is a pretty heavy duty one –I used it in a graduate course–and I wonder if the students understood the implications of the topic–or merely researched the examples.  I am sure they understood at the end–so much detail involved/necessary–but was the “ah ha!” element of learning bypassed?  The rubric for grading is very helpful and I will spend some time reviewing this.  I also liked the Clocks!  And I wonder how I will work with 70 students on something like this–they each had a class of 12 or so.
I thought I should look at something simple–more in line with what I might attempt–but Welker’s Wikinomics looked too interesting.  I will spend some time here this summer and next spring!  The organization was very simple but appropriate.  I think I would organize it with more specifics–to really help my students through the material.  A separate Supply and Demand section certainly.  I like the criteria for grading the Blogs and the postings.  I struggle with this and any guidance is great.  I definately would like to work in a Test Review–but I don’t want to be tied to the computer to answer questions the night before the test.  I want them to answer the questions for each other.  I will have to explore the learning outcomes–because my initial impression is that this is simply another platform for presenting information and I’d rather see something more interactive.  
So, I’ll have to check out the tools used –Hannah Lee will be useful and also the links from the Wikinomics.  I will need to figure out my preferences for organization and really think about my learning outcomes.  I would rather do a smaller wiki on a specific topic–and expand on it–than attempt the larger wiki like Wikinomics. 
Overall–I spent about 3 or more hours on just this.  I see I will have to find more time in each day cause I still have to get to the sandbox.  (And my computer glasses are just giving me a headache!)