Unit Three: E Publishing Opportunities

Introduction:

    As technology develops and there is a shift in reading platforms and materials, E-Publishing seems to be newest and even most environmentally friendly option. Although I am still old school and love the feel and smell of paper books, it is not the way of the future. Well actually it's not even the way of the present with Nooks, Kindles, and other e-readers. Although I will always love paper and pen and keep hand written notes current students are no longer required to do this. Because of this I hope to learn and grow in my E-Publishing abilities. There are many environments available that allow for mobile capabilities, instant and appealing formatting and interactive links. I was impressed on how easy it is to build a personal app and how easy it is to distribute created and collected material through social media. 

     For my technological implementation I used Joomag. Please click on this link to view my brochure: https://www.joomag.com/magazine/success-at-phs/M0458128001438377460.

The purpose of this Joomag is to provide the students with written and visual prompts of teacher expectations. When students are held to high standards they are able to produce better work and not try to see how little they can do but instead how far the can reach. I will be providing a link to this e-publishing within group, blended and flipped lessons in order to foster a sense of collegiality, and independence as well. Please leave a comment and let me know how I could improve this product, thanks.

Analysis of Technology Development Environment

            For the Technology Implementation section of this unit we were to focus on digital publishing that are available on Web, Mobile and Social Environments. I actually found this assignment to be not difficult but I had a hard time with the various environment links provided. One actually downloaded a number of other toolbars and apps that I now have to remove. I also some found were very creative but not suitable for my environment as High School teacher. Below is my analysis of the various environments:  

• issuu Digital Publishing Product: http://issuu.com/

I really liked the polished look of this website and how many help articles and help community are part of this platform. Yet, it does require PDFs to be previously created and I had not yet created these and wanted control to change text within the published document as I built it. Yet, it is definitely an option for the future.

• Joomag: https://www.joomag.com/

This is the environment I decided to use because it had the most options and built in templates. It also had quick video tutorials that helped me get started. It also works like Photoshop and Fireworks, two other programs I am currently learning to use. I liked the ability to upload my own pictures and images. I will discuss this product a bit more in my reflection.

• CoverPage: https://www.coverpageapp.com/

            This looks like an amazing environment. It is more of an app building platform that has     definite visual and user-friendly appeal. Yet it requires quite a bit of forethought and at      least a story board or bubble map of some kind to be created with links to resources. It    also requires everything to be uploaded in JPEG or PDF for which I haven’t completely done as of yet. I will definitely be looking at this in the future because I can see creating an app that students can download that would include links to lesson documents, interactive components, audio and visual material to support flipped and blended learning type lessons.

• Scoop.it!: http://www.scoop.it/

I was unable to understand this website. I was basically “scooping up” items, articles, images, videos, and other types of multimedia into a page and then share it with others. After several attempts I realized that I would have had to have my own sources uploaded and ready and then scoop them up. At this point I don’t see myself using this since I hope to use my personal website. It also is hard to control what my students could access some things being not age appropriate and too high for their learning level. This is not a product I would use in the future.

• Paper.li: http://paper.li/

This product is very much like Scoop it! I would read others Paper.li’s but would not create on because I would have to watch, read or listen to all content and could put my students in danger of material not suited for them. It looks fun but not something I would use as an educator.

• Yudu: http://www.yudu.com/

This is another app creator tool. It seems fairly easy to use. As I previously mentioned this seems like a great idea to build classroom community and a connection with parents. Yet at this point it seems rather time consuming and not something I can build quickly.

• ePublish: http://epublish4me.com/

This environment is amazing and I have bookmarked it for future use. I like the ability to add interactive and other media sources. I also like that it is available on all devices including phones, tablets, desktops and laptops. I would like to see if this could turn into a project for an advanced class. They could produce a class magazine that incorporates completed projects that emphasize critical thinking skills and then other students would add and contribute content as well. My curiosity is piqued and I have a few lesson plan ideas bottled up after visiting this site. 

Testing and Assessments

For Unit Three of this course we explored various testing/quizzing assessment gathering websites and tools. I think that at times we over test everyone. Yet as an educator there are ways to test that are relevant, engaging and useful for both the students and the teacher. I am a strong believer in keeping student focus and engagement throughout the entire class time. For this reason  I often begin my class with a warm-up activity. These various websites provide a way to quickly assess students in real time and see where they are weak and where they are proficient. At the end of class sometimes I wonder how much of the information students really absorbed and can apply. These websites provide quick access and an exit ticket type activity that in a sense "grades" itself. I can see that using these tools will help me be a more effective teacher especially if integrated in a fun and creative manner.

Please help me out and take my Technology Implementation Survey Monkey at the following
link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/X9L9CBN

Overall, I found this part of the unit very useful and showed me that there are many options available for assessment. Below is my analysis if the various testing tools:
       As a teacher I am always looking for opportunities to assess my students in genuine ways that gives real time data that can be used as a class on the whole (simultaneous usage) and on an individual students and time basis (Asynchronous) manners. The following choices were provided for us to explore and possibly integrate into our classrooms or jobs. These are my evaluations of the following environments:

• Survey monkey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/

• I really like this tool and have used it as student before when completing a previous college course. I have not used it in the classroom because at times the site is blocked for the students on their tablets. This is the tool I decided to use for this course.
•  Quipper.com 
  http://www.quipper.com/ (quiz-based e-learning mobile app for iPhone and Android platforms)
• This site is very involved and has too many components for this course. I do use something similar to this, Schoology, in my classroom and don’t feel learning about it at this time would be beneficial.
• Socrative
  http://www.socrative.com/  (Provides an easy and  user-friendly  student response system )
• I have used Socrative before in my classroom and wanted to learn something new in this course. It is very easy to use, the students enjoy it and it is easy to use either as a class warm-up for a new unit or lesson or as an exit ticket for students to quickly share what they have learned providing an opportunity for quick data analysis.

•   Zoho Challenge: https://challenge.zoho.com/
• I kept trying to open this site but kept saying an add-on or that a proxy server was unavailable. Thus I was not able to dig deeper into this environment.
• Quizlet: http://quizlet.com/
• This is another learning tool that I have used before. I have made flash card quizlets that students have had to complete as a part of STAAR testing preparation. Since I know how to use it decided to go ahead and not use it at this time.
•  ClassMarket: http://www.classmarker.com/
• This is an application that I may look into for further use. I like that it is secure, provided real time data analysis and shows the author of the test/quiz the number of attempts, times and other analytics useful when preparing future lessons.
•  Blubbr: http://www.blubbr.tv/index.php#.VQhzP-Envo0
• This site looks like a lot of fun and something that students could engage with. I can see myself using this a project piece in which students could create Blubbr’s as part of their assignment for other students to complete after viewing group presentations.
• PollEverywhere: http://www.polleverywhere.com/
• I have participated in these quick polls before and have been fun and engaging.  I have seen them used in meetings, teacher workshops, and other professional developments. I do not like them because they work better on phones and I discourage phone use in my classroom. Yet they would be great for quick input when students are board from the at times needed direct instruction lessons. 

Please Scroll Down

I don't know how to change posts order yet, so my post for Unit One about Blogging is a little further down. Thanks

Ode to the Wix Website!

So I decided to blog a little about the Final Product Project assignment. I have always wanted to create a web page that would serve as a place for my students and their parent to be able to know what's going on in our class, upcoming events, the class syllabus and classwork calender.
In my future website I would like to include:

• A calender
• Communications form for direct email
• A student of the week page
• Announcements section
• Unit Page with assignments readings, videos, projects, and links for deeper learning
• Test review page with games, quizzes, and open ended questions
• Personal Teacher Page
• Rubrics and ideas for projects
• Links to student tools such as bubble maps, blogs, how to websites, storyboards, etc.

This is the link to my current Wix Page that will eventually be converted to my classroom page. Please let me know what you think. Thanks so much 

Hello my fellow INST 6031 collegial classmates, thanks for visiting my blog. 

I am blogging about blogging in this post. I honestly have often thought of blogging because I seem to have a lot of thoughts but not many ears to listen to me! I read many articles and books about education, history, and social movements and realize that technology has opened up the way for me to have instant and current access to both professional and personal media. This course and unit has been fairly challenging. Yet, if Grad. School doesn't kill me, I guess it makes me stronger.
My views of the various components in this Unit:

• Blogging: Not as hard as I thought it would be, actually fun and pretty easy to navigate. I would like to learn how to add buttons, links, bread crumbs, loops, and other in blog apps in the future
• Video Meeting: I wasn't able to conference with my group but learned how to use Zoom. I can see this a pretty useful tool in the future to use with fellow colleagues and possibly to provide lessons for the students to view at home in either a flipped or blended lesson format or as a review opportunity. Here's the link to the awkward YouTube Video I created
• Horizons Report: These are dense and meaty but relevant and useful for the implementation of technology in the classroom. I personally liked the "wicked" level the authors created as challenges to the implementation of technology in the classroom.
• ISTE Standards: Although these are meant to address technology needs within education these standards should be kept and met at all times within the classroom as a teacher and as goals for the students. 

Please click on my Profile to get to know me a little better. 

Hello,
Welcome to my new Blog. Hopefully this blog will serve as a place to document my journey through grad school and obtaining my masters degree in Instructional Technology.
Thanks for visiting,
Dennise Moreno