Carla Faulkner

Ok.. I am getting really frusturated in trying to create a game.  I have a lot of good ideas and ideas from students in what they want but I DON’T KNOW HOW TO DO IT!!!!  So what do I do now?  Any ideas… Will anyone share their game idea.. I am looking for how to make the game at the level that I am at.

Ok.. the final project in the class is well close in range to begin to worry.  I have read a few blogs and I really don’t know what to do.  I would like to use the stuff that we learned in this class with my middle school.  I have already gave them an insight to email and they are excited with that.  I would like to do a tapped in community thing but is too much like this class.  If anyone has any ideas, please let me know.  I have the beginning of it by teaching email/ creating blogs.  But what else?

Chatting about anything is very valuable.  You are in a conversation with the professor and other students about the topics at hand.  Each person’s opinion, view and comments about the topic may give other students a new perspectives.  EAch time a student asks a question it may answer someone else’s question.  There are different aspects that someone in the class could help another student.  You also get instant feeback from the professor.

I do think the web effects the evaluation of a class, when it is an online class.  Maybe in a classroom the professor would be more constricted to old style teaching, grading, and note taking.  The class environment would depend on all of the personalities in that class.  Online classes are just that, online.  Everyone looks better online:):)

As far as evaluation, there is no leniency.  The assignments are ‘as described in rubric’.  I know that in regular classrooms that is how it is supposed to be but we all know that sometimes it is not that way.  I can do an ‘ok’ presentation but when I present it I can add the ‘zuss’ to it; therefore making it better.

In all, I think it would depend on the subject matter.  If it is a class were alot of exact data needs to be learned then the net will come in advantage to the student.  Just google it and you will find the answer before the timed test runs out.  But if it was a class were the subject could be blogged/ discussion boarded about then the net would not help the students at all. 

I dont’ think there is a difference.  The only thing that is different is the delivery of the content.  The goals and objectives have to be the same or it wouldn’t be ‘fair’.  Now keep in mind that I am talking general courses. 

I know that assessment was discussed last week but my gator has not been pulling up current stuff.  This post is discussing how Fisher grades students’ blogs.  He writes how he decides the points given.  Just another idea for using blogs in the classroom.  This could a good rubric to use in our classrooms

http://remoteaccess.typepad.com/remote_access/2008/09/yes-i-do-grade-blog-posts.html

This was on Cool Cat and here is the link.  A japanese women accused of online murder.  Apparently, she gained access to her online husbands’ computer and hacked personal information.  http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,443767,00.html

This brings up the question of behavior online and offline.  This kind of behavior is unacceptable and luckily she was caught.  This kind of stuff could lead to other crimes.  I have seen sexual predators caught on Dateline NBC. 

I have a question:  Are there really jobs where people surf the internet looking for bad sites?  What are their qualifications?  What kind of school do you have?  Could this be something we teachers could do for a part-time job?

Came through my reader about Spore.  The game is not as good as first thought.  Scientist blast the game and a lot of the marketing was taken out of context.  Wonder if it would still be good enough to play or is it a waste of time, educationally. 

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/322/5901/531b

You know the fear and humilation the beginning of this class, in retrospect, was not that bad.  We didn’t have a clue what we were doing… kinda like outpost.  If people were not there to help us then we would quit.  I am liking it more and more.  I can honestly see why people have played it for 10+ years.  The war of warcraft is just a more modern version of outpost.  That is what technology will do.  We have to understand that in our classes.

As teachers, we have been in both positions.  AS a learner, I have sta in classes which bored the life out of me but as a teacher, i know the content had to be covered.  This goes back to the idea that teachers how they were taught.  Now, that new teachers are learning new ‘modern’ method, this cycle will improve with time.   But in reality, some material is just boring.  We are teachers, not entertainers but that is what our jobs are coming to.  Instead of teaching methods, maybe we need acting classes.  As a learner, I obviously learn more from someone who keeps my attention.  I have students who are excited in class because they have no clue what we are doing from day to day.  The anticipation keeps them going.  That is same way that is interesting to me. 

On the topic of assessment, in my field, there needs to be a more realistic (common) assessment for learning.  I have to give open response and multiple choice because that is the format of the state test.  I do a lot of discussion and open ended questions.  There is a right theme but this way the students and tell me what they do know.  Kinda like what we do on a blog.