Journal 9
Although I know many students who would argue with me, I have honestly enjoyed distance learning this semester. I think that as long as you can stay committed to attending your classes over video calls, balancing your school and personal life can be quite easy. I've been able to broaden my work hours as well, since I no longer have such a strict schedule. Being able to complete my work on a more personalized schedule has definitely made school less stressful.
Open Educational Resources (OER) are educational resources, activities, tools, etc. that are accessible, and usable to everyone. While using an OER, you are free to retain, reuse, revise, remix, and redistribute the work based on the creator's wishes, and set your own restrictions on how your work is used/changed. Using OER's, teachers can save a lot of time developing lesson plans and activities/assignments. This article summarized the importance of OER, how to use them, and the issue of quality assurance. The article also provides resources for finding reliable OER's.
My skills using powerpoint have strengthen significantly since before the two assignments we did. I had worked with the platform before, but notes in-depth. By the end of the second assignment, I was confident in my skills and felt s though I was no longer running into difficulties/confusion. I did not necessarily run into anything about the platform that I didn't like, but one thing I really enjoyed playing with was the nonlinear format. With this, teachers can make their lessons much more interactive; it can also be used to go back and review certain slides at different points during the presentation so that there isn't a disruption in the lesson's flow and/or the students' learning.
I agree with you how distance learning allows for a more personalized schedule, as I have had a similar experience. Although one drawback for me is that there is less distinction between school time and personal time, there is more room for flexibility within your schedule. I hadn’t thought of it before, but you make a good point about nonlinear PowerPoints being able to save time during a lesson. At the very least, I’m sure familiarity with the program will make for more efficient use of class time.
ReplyDeleteHey Mary! I also like having my schedule personalized to fit my needs as a student, it gives me more flexibility to decide for myself what to do now and what to do later. However, with this added flexibility I find myself loosing focus on school at times, and I've had a couple incidents where I forget to turn in an assignment or paper. Teaching with powerpoints is super useful and I will also be implementing them in my classroom!
ReplyDeleteLike other people have said, I like having more leniency with my schedule, but it has made me a bit lazy at times! I'm glad you've been able to stay productive, though. And you made a really good point about the function of interactive PowerPoints! I'll definitely be integrating them into my future classroom, too.
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