Copyright has always been a daunting subject to me. There are some many “ifs, ands, and buts” to the code that I have been begrudgingly aware of the restrictions placed on my online presence. This week, in EdTech 502, we created a scavenger hunt activity about copyright law. My web page focused on the basics of copyright including public domain and fair use. The content for this activity was not incredibly difficult, especially after finding some great online sources. But the web page had some increased complexity that threw me for a loop. Everything was fine and dandy until I came to the CSS link selectors a:link, a:visited, a:hover, a:focus, and a:active. It simply was not working until I read ahead in the HTML and CSS book that the selectors had to be in a specific order. Well, I felt like quite a bonehead after reading that.
On top of the lessons learned in CSS, the scavenger hunt was a multi-page web page. At first, I worried that it was going to take me forever to replicate the styling from the scavenger hunt page, but it turned out to be quite easy.
I feel like my CSS and HTML abilities are slowly building and am no longer quite as intimidated by the instructional videos not being as in-depth toward the end of the class. Here’s to many more web pages in my future!
In EdTech 502 this week, I created a CSS stylized web page about Netiquette. Netiquette is a set of behavior standards related to online settings. For my page, I created an acronym for the word “netiquette.” Each letter was followed by a question with a keyword related to the specific letter.
Example:
N – Are your words necessary?
E – Are your words an example of your character?
T – Is your tone appropriate?
…
With this web page assignment, I learned a lot about netiquette but also about web page design. I worked with spacing a lot in this assignment, particularly with my acronym. I will not act like I did not get frustrated a few times, save the page, and walk away, but ultimately, the web page came out well.
With each new web page, I am developing more self-reliance in using HTML and CSS. I am slowly learning how things function separately and alongside other components. I am very excited to learn more about links, video, audio, etc.
Learning CSS with codecademy was easy! It was much different using it in Dreamweaver, but different in a good way. Rather than writing code and searching through my notes for possible stylizing options, all the options were clearly outlined and easy to incorporate. That being said, I feel like I need to learn more about the different sizing options. For example, what is the difference between a pixel and an “em”? We used an “em” as a measurement today, and I was not entirely certain what I was being told to do. Luckily, I am a master googler. 🙂
Design: In Progress
I submitted my stylized 502 page without being entirely happy with it. It checked all the boxes on the rubric and included a few things that were not there, but as a perfectionist and a life-long meddler, I knew that whether I submitted it today or Sunday, I would never be completely happy with it. Let’s just mark this assignment as “in progress,” as I have already made a few appearance changes.
Today, after some serious prep on codecademy (and lots of reading), my very first web page using Dreamweaver CC. Since I received the invitation into the course last week, I have been working on codecademy to increase my knowledge of HTML and CSS. It has been like learning a new language. Easy to use in the classroom, yet hard to apply out of it. When I first started my plain 502 page, I jumped into Dreamweaver to try and figure things out. Bonehead move… The instructional videos on the course page made it all so much easier than handwriting the code as I had learned it on codecademy. Dreamweaver has so many cool functions that the assigned text’s explanation and activities do not do it justice.
Suffice to say, I feel like I have figured out how to succeed in EdTech 502 today. The instructional videos are the key. The questions on the pre-course survey got me thinking about the role of instructional videos in the classroom. During EdTech 501, I researched flipped classrooms and digital badges, both of which utilized instructional videos as a key component for learning. My experience today proved the importance of said videos in online or blended learning environments from the perspective of the learner.
I am excited about my new ability to code and build websites. I think this skill will help me to create custom activities for my students as well as provide depth to my educational technology skill. Who knows where coding can take me? I am incredibly excited to find out!
For the final assignment in EdTech 501, I analyzed the current definition of Educational Technology. As part of the analysis, I created a graphic representation of the definition using PowToon. I began by reading the expanded definition of EdTech and examining its key parts for understanding. To me, the definition had four main parts: study, ethical practice, facilitated learning, and performance.
Educational technology is the study and ethical practice of facilitating learning and improving performance by creating, using, and managing appropriate technological processes and resources.
All other elements of the definition fit into these four main parts. The most important of these four parts, however, proved to be facilitating (or facilitated, as I called it in my PowToon) learning. This notion of learning as something facilitated by the teacher seems to be crucial to the definition because it tips the idea of education on its head toward constructivist thinking and away from the “Sage on the Stage” teaching method. This idea of “facilitated learning” really spoke to me as a teacher. It supported my previous idea that the students should be in control of, or invested in, their learning. EdTech, as defined in our assigned chapter, allows students to claim ownership of their learning through active, learner-centric methods and authentic audiences/situations.
Following the “facilitated learning” aspect of the definition, “study,” “ethical practice” and “performance” seem to be equals in my opinion. The reading described “study” as an idea beyond simple research. It explained it as a “cyclical process” of reflection and practice that led to improved performance. This idea of a “cyclical process” stuck with me and visually explained the importance of study to this definition and the interconnectedness of the definition’s elements. I found the “ethical practice” element to be important because the AECT standards are the framework from which we design and instruct. Without these standards, as stated in the reading, success is not possible. As teachers, we cannot be sure that we are addressing the “needs” of our students without the AECT Ethics Committee and its standards. Finally, the idea of “performance” jumped out of the definition as the learner’s ability to use and apply new capabilities in authentic environments. This performance includes the three major functions of the field: creating, using, and managing appropriate technological resources.
At first, I thought I wanted to create an infographic for this assignment. (I still would like to learn how.) But, when push came to shove, I decided to use PowToon to create an animated visual rather than a static one. I first learned about PowToon in a Tech Tools seminar, where I starred it in my notes as a potential tool for student presentations. PowToon was so fun and easy to use that I am really quite obsessed with it now. The only issue that I had was exporting the visual. It turns out to do some of the “fancier” things (like, I don’t know, download it as a file) you have to pay for a membership. Other than that, PowToon was fun to use, and it is definitely a tool that I can use in my classroom or assign for students to use for presentations.
, I decided to use Pow
Michelle Hughes: EdTech Learning Log 