The Final Group Project

I was absolutely excited to conclude the group projects! It is difficult working with groups online, and I must admit that initially I believed that it would truly be an impossible task.....however, it quickly became one that was "doable". In the end I enjoyed this new experience because now I know that there lives a way that people can come together and not "be together", but I would not have known that it was possible to design this learning environment had I not experienced it for myself.

Moving on.......

Our final task was to experience 4 communication tools, two synchronous and two asynchronous. We selected the following tools: Ning.com, Wikispace.com, Tapingya.com, and Toxbox.com.

The tools that I preferred the most were Ning and Wiki, relative to the integration into a K-12 environment. Both Ning and Wikispaces appear to be all-inclusive spots that educators can use to integrate technology into their learning environment. Other sites have nice tidbit capabilities that can "cheerlead" education but not support it. I believe that one site that is integrative of the most important tools (e.g. chat, email, blog, video) should be used as oppose to piecing together a variety of sites.

Now, in my own rebuttal, I am in support of educators using a variety of tools to support the many activities that make learning fun and creative. But in the end, there needs to be some type of connect between the blackboard and the online learning. Thus, the classroom blackboard is ALWAYS used as a central point for students, and it is one that symbolizes that it is time to learn. In this same way, a symbol needs to be created for online learning. One tool to communicate learning and a variety of methods to make learning fun.

I would prefer the use of synchronous tools in the majority of the K-12 environment because it is very hard for me to stay disciplined (even at my age) and participate in making learning meaningful for me. On the other hand, teenagers need more guidance and direction to facilitate meaningful learning. Sometimes you have to hold their hands really tight in order to get the desired results. If this country can create equal access to resolve hardware and software issues, then the tools that facilitate rich learning would reach an all-time level of popularity among schools.

Happy Learning,

Roslyn