Saturday, March 16, 2019
BOLT-101 Module 3
I tried out the Quizlet tech tool. I tried making some flashcards about Potential and Kinetic Energy concepts. Overall, I found the process fairly intuitive and quick, but I didn't see much value in the activity. Making flashcards for students might work well for rote memorization, but this class is more about learning how to apply concepts and solve problems. For example, my first test was open book and open notes, so memorization wasn't important. Furthermore, I couldn't find out how to write formulas in the simple text box that you are given, which pretty much killed it for me. In a Physics class, that's what the flashcards would be all about, if you did want to make them. I went down the rabbit hole a bit after the initial flashcard development, though. I eventually ended up at google classroom, which I had never seen before. I use google tools a lot in my daily work, research, and personal routines, so I was excited about this site and its potential. I liked its simplicity, and I quickly set up a quiz with a few basic questions. However, I soon found that it was too simple to do some of the things I would have liked it to do, such as embed simulations or lecture slides. I wonder if anyone else in this BOLT-101 class has any experience with Google Classroom?
Monday, February 25, 2019
BOLT-101 First Thoughts
Welcome to the Wyenblog!
This first post will comprise my initial thoughts about the BOLT-101 course and specifically the first module. If I had to summarize my first impressions so far, I would broadly make 3 observations:
1. Joe did an excellent job laying out the sequence of tasks for this first module. It was very clear even for this newbie. Nice job, Joe.
2. Online learning is a whole different animal and my mind is starting to be blown about the possibilities and challenges that lie ahead with online teaching.
3. Dave Mulder has some sick sound effects in that TPACK video! Hats off to you, Dave.
To flesh out the bullet point that is not just an obligatory instructor salute, my mind was really opened to the possibilities and challenges of this new medium while working through this module. I hadn't thought deeply about even simple technical challenges of teaching online (such as being available, but not too available, for students; or that students may work at a different pace; or that the work of the instructor is shifted forward, such that much more time is spent on preparing prior to the class starting; etc.), nor the true benefits of online learning. Take for example the peer-to-peer communication of students. I noticed several ways that the discussion boards method is qualitatively different from the traditional in class discussion:
1. You can force everyone to participate - this is great!
2. The quality of the discussion is likely improved because initial comments and replies can be well thought out by the students, as opposed to a classroom setting where answers are off-the-cuff.
3. The students are not afraid to open their mouths for fear of being wrong
4. The back-and-forth of face-to-face discussion is probably more suited to solving problems with constant rework (eg "design" type problems)... maybe there is a good way to have "active discussion" on an online course, where you require everyone to be online at the same time? I haven't seen this yet.
That's all I had to share today. I think I went way over the 200+/-50 word count.
This first post will comprise my initial thoughts about the BOLT-101 course and specifically the first module. If I had to summarize my first impressions so far, I would broadly make 3 observations:
1. Joe did an excellent job laying out the sequence of tasks for this first module. It was very clear even for this newbie. Nice job, Joe.
2. Online learning is a whole different animal and my mind is starting to be blown about the possibilities and challenges that lie ahead with online teaching.
3. Dave Mulder has some sick sound effects in that TPACK video! Hats off to you, Dave.
To flesh out the bullet point that is not just an obligatory instructor salute, my mind was really opened to the possibilities and challenges of this new medium while working through this module. I hadn't thought deeply about even simple technical challenges of teaching online (such as being available, but not too available, for students; or that students may work at a different pace; or that the work of the instructor is shifted forward, such that much more time is spent on preparing prior to the class starting; etc.), nor the true benefits of online learning. Take for example the peer-to-peer communication of students. I noticed several ways that the discussion boards method is qualitatively different from the traditional in class discussion:
1. You can force everyone to participate - this is great!
2. The quality of the discussion is likely improved because initial comments and replies can be well thought out by the students, as opposed to a classroom setting where answers are off-the-cuff.
3. The students are not afraid to open their mouths for fear of being wrong
4. The back-and-forth of face-to-face discussion is probably more suited to solving problems with constant rework (eg "design" type problems)... maybe there is a good way to have "active discussion" on an online course, where you require everyone to be online at the same time? I haven't seen this yet.
That's all I had to share today. I think I went way over the 200+/-50 word count.
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