My EDM 310 Blog Assignments Are Now Complete

This class was an experience! We learned a lot of new things and struggled with a few of them. Hahaha We had some fun times, and i meet some great new friends. See ya Later

Things we covered in class!

The things i learned this semester:

1. Google documents, including spreadsheets, presentations, and documents
2. ITunes
3. Blogs, gadgets and how to post
4. Podcasts, we did them ourselves, very cool
5. Google, searching, email, igoogle
6. Foliotek

Project 7

Well i didn't exactly go to an ACCESS lab, because the teacher from MGM never emailed me back. I was planning on going Tuesday December 2, which was one of the days Dr. Strange gave us off to go to the lab, but i tired and it never went through. I emailed the teacher a week in advance to ask him if we could come, as first he email me back with in 30 min and was wondering if we could come in between 7:00-9:00 that morning, however i was planning it for a group of us and the earliest we could go was 11:00. So, i emailed him back saying that the eirliest we could come was 11:00 and if that wasn't a good time that was fine, but to just let me know, he never emailed me back. Below are my email proving that i tried, the girls that were suppose to come with me where Kimberly Dees, Keri Owens, and Brennan Gibson.

From:Jmn603@jaguar1.usouthal.edu
Sent: Tuesday Daecmeber 25,2008 12:24pm
To: "Rose, Roger A/MGM" rrose@mcpss.com
Sent:Tuesday, November 25, 2008 12:24 pm
Subject Re: RE: Access Lab visit
I appreciate you emailing me back but unfortunately the earliest time we can come is 11:00 if this isn't a good time thats fine, just let me know
Thank you
Johanna Nolan

From: "Rose, Roger A/MGM" Date: Tuesday, November 25, 2008 11:27 am Subject: RE: Access Lab visit

To: jmn603@jaguar1.usouthal.edu

I would prefer that you come in the morning if at all possible. If you could come between 7:30 and 10:30 it would be better for you to see that equipment.

From: jmn603@jaguar1.usouthal.edu [ > Sent: Tuesday, November 25, 2008 10:42 AM>

To: Rose, Roger A/MGM> Subject: Access Lab visit

Mr. Rose

I am a student from the University of South Alabama and i have to visit an Access lab for one of my classes. I was wondering if another student and i could come and visit the lab around 12:00 noon next Tuesday December 2, 2008?

Thank you, Johanna Nolan

Project 6

For this project i wanted to see how other colleges used technology and if they used it at all, so i contacted my cousin who goes to Texas A&M. I started off by facebook messaging him and asking if he minded it i asked him some questions, and explained the assignment. When he messaged me back saying no problem i let the questions roll. I first asked him if they used technology and if they did what they used. Well, he never messaged me back so i decided to ask him in person over the thanksgiving break. He told me that they use the normal PowerPoint for every class, and that they have a system like our USA online. He said that it is their own system in which they can go and print out their PowerPoint slides for class, get grades that are posted, and email their teachers. It seems like they have everything we do, not that much, just the basics. However, that is just with his classes, so they could have more, its just a matter of what classes you take, just like here at South Alabama.

It was cool to see that they have the same stuff we do but at the same time i figured they would have more technology seeing that they have a larger student population.

Plusses and Minuses of blogs

Well everything comes with pros and cons and blogs are no exception. I reviewed Kimberly Dees blog for this assignment, even though she wasn't all the way done, i got an idea of what she thought about each assignment.

First comes First, the pros of blogs. Blogs are great because you can use them in so many ways for teaching. You can use them to post assignments for students, a way of communication to your students, and even have you students post their completed assignments on their blogs. Its great because it teaches the students how to use different ways of technology in school, and makes it fun at the same time, it changes it up a bit from the ordinary lecture class.

However, there are cons as well. The main con is that the Internet can be a scary place, you are taking a risk by getting your kids to write things on a public blog, even if it is just assignments, there are some creepy people in this world. Another thing is that if you do to much blogging it becomes a burden and no longer becomes a fun way of learning. You also have to make sure that all your students have access to a computer at night time, in order to get their assignments, or to post their assignment.

So, that is what i think about blogs and how they are good and bad. Overall though, i think it can be a good thing as long as you make sure what your doing is safe and productive for the students.