During this past quarter, I was able to expand my knowledge in the area of technology for educational leaders. I enjoyed learning about the kinds of infrastructures there are for technology in the educational field, the Ed Norman syndrome and how I can use technology more effectively in my field of teaching mathematics at the community college level. I plan in the near future to develop a hybrid mathematics course for remedial level mathematics in which the students can work on their assignments with a computer and submit all of their homework over the Internet.
To summarize my three focus project, I have learned how to use the PRS Interwrite radio frequency clickers in my classroom to make learning more exciting and fun for the students. The students really enjoyed the session in which we decided to use the clickers and video tape the students for my project. I also learned how to use Camtasia better to create training videos in which I explain how to set up a class, input questions, run a session and grade a session on the PRS Interwrite system. Other instructors at my college are currently using the video training sessions that I developed this quarter as a means of learning how to create their own sessions for the PRS Interwrite system. So I developed my project for training purposes and not just for the project grade reasons.
I also developed a proposal for the purchase of another classroom set of PRS Interwrite radio frequency clickers for my third project. My proposal is currently under review by our department chair and probably will go to the dean of instruction by the end of this month. If successful, hopefully they will have enough funds left over in the budget to purchase another classroom set of radio frequency clickers by the end of this fiscal year.
In the future, I plan to continue using the PRS Interwrite clickers in my classes, especially my remedial math classes. I also plan to search for new ways to incorporate technology use in my classes, whether it be through new means of presenting the material, or perhaps a new Internet program that the students can access at home.
Activity log for the week of March 12 - March 18
Monday, March 12: downloaded podcast to computer
Tuesday, March 13: began transcribing notes, wrote this blog posting.
Wednesday, March 14: Happy Pi Day! (3.14) Respond to classmate blog postings.
Thursday, March 15 - Sunday, March 18: continue responding to classmates blog postings.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Monday, March 5, 2007
Session Nine March 5 - March 11
At Riverside Community College, we have some very good professional development workshops that are beneficial to many faculty and staff members and we have some that are a complete waste of time for many of the attendees at the meetings. Most of the professional development workshops are mandatory, so we don't really have a choice as to which to attend and which to skip.
Some of excellent examples of professional development come from our faculty innovation center. In this center, there are scheduled workshops dealing with the use of many of the software packages that are on our personal computers. There are workshops from beginning to advance use of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Frontpage, Publisher and Outlook. There are workshops on Adobe Photoshop, PaintPro, Camtasia, Dreamweaver and many more. These workshops are scheduled throughout the day to give opportunities for all faculty and staff members to attend. Usually the workshops are hands on, with the computer right in front of you to follow along and perform for yourself. The workshops usually last 1-2 hours in length, and they always provide cookies and some sort of drink for your enjoyment. The size of the workshops range from 2 people to 10 people at most, so there is plenty of opportunities to ask individualize questions and receive one on one training. And the workshops are spread out, so there will be a beginning level workshop one week, and the following week, there will be an intermediate level workshop with the advance workshop following in the third week. I have attend several of these workshops over the years and learned how to use Word, Excel, Publisher and Frontpage from these workshops.
Another example of an excellent workshop as an example of professional development is our sexual harassment workshop that is offered by our college. During this workshop, we are presented with a one hour lecture describing the types of sexual harassment in the workplace, and then we are presented with skits or plays in which we have to determine whether they representing an example of sexual harassment in the workplace or not. I feel by showing us examples and having us determine whether these are sexual harassment or not, gives us a better understanding of the topic of sexual harassment.
A poor example of professional development is our academic council retreats that we have bi-annually. During these workshops, which last from 8am - 3:30pm, all of the department chairs listen to lectures and presentations given by the administration on topics such as fill ratios, room utilization, budgetary issues, administration flowcharts and time schedule brackets. Usually these meetings start off with the typical stand up and introduce yourself which usually takes 20-30 minutes in itself. We have been going to the same meetings for the last 3 years, so I think by now, we all mostly know each other. The topics that are covered are not of interest to many of the chairs in the department. I know in the PE department, I am not interested in room utilization because my classrooms for my classes are either the gym or the track. But we still need to attend these meetings because they are mandatory and required.
Another poor example of professional development is our bi-annual faculty retreats. These meetings are also all day long, including lunch in the middle. But the topics discussed during these meetings is not of interest to a majority of the attendees. Most of the meeting is taken up by the administration justifying what they do all day long during the semester. If there are any presentations dealing with the use of technology, it is usually 30 minutes in length and only shows the bells and whistles of the technology in the classroom. For example, we have had presentations using the PDAs in the classroom and the tablet PC in the classroom, but neither of these workshops allowed us any hands on experience with the technology. It was just presented and showed to us, allowing us to see and view its capabilities. I find these presentations interesting, but I believe that is partially due to the fact that I like technology and seeing how technology can improve my teaching. A majority of the faculty are not interested in these presentations and find that their time could be better spent elsewhere. I believe that if these presentations could be individualized so they could be used in each of our subject areas might help make the presentation more interesting and helpful to many.
My activity log for the week of March 5th - March 11th:
Monday, March 5th: downloaded podcast and transcribed notes. Wrote this blog posting.
Tuesday, March 6th: work on proposal for project 3. Hopefully upload this project and link it to my website.
Wednesday, March 7th: read classmates blog postings and make comments.
Thursday, March 8th: read classmates blog postings and make comments.
Friday, March 9th: have time to finalize project 3 if necessary.
Saturday, March 10th: read classmates blog postings and make comments.
Sunday, March 11th: read classmates blog postings and make comments.
A link to my project 3 proposal: Project 3
Some of excellent examples of professional development come from our faculty innovation center. In this center, there are scheduled workshops dealing with the use of many of the software packages that are on our personal computers. There are workshops from beginning to advance use of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Frontpage, Publisher and Outlook. There are workshops on Adobe Photoshop, PaintPro, Camtasia, Dreamweaver and many more. These workshops are scheduled throughout the day to give opportunities for all faculty and staff members to attend. Usually the workshops are hands on, with the computer right in front of you to follow along and perform for yourself. The workshops usually last 1-2 hours in length, and they always provide cookies and some sort of drink for your enjoyment. The size of the workshops range from 2 people to 10 people at most, so there is plenty of opportunities to ask individualize questions and receive one on one training. And the workshops are spread out, so there will be a beginning level workshop one week, and the following week, there will be an intermediate level workshop with the advance workshop following in the third week. I have attend several of these workshops over the years and learned how to use Word, Excel, Publisher and Frontpage from these workshops.
Another example of an excellent workshop as an example of professional development is our sexual harassment workshop that is offered by our college. During this workshop, we are presented with a one hour lecture describing the types of sexual harassment in the workplace, and then we are presented with skits or plays in which we have to determine whether they representing an example of sexual harassment in the workplace or not. I feel by showing us examples and having us determine whether these are sexual harassment or not, gives us a better understanding of the topic of sexual harassment.
A poor example of professional development is our academic council retreats that we have bi-annually. During these workshops, which last from 8am - 3:30pm, all of the department chairs listen to lectures and presentations given by the administration on topics such as fill ratios, room utilization, budgetary issues, administration flowcharts and time schedule brackets. Usually these meetings start off with the typical stand up and introduce yourself which usually takes 20-30 minutes in itself. We have been going to the same meetings for the last 3 years, so I think by now, we all mostly know each other. The topics that are covered are not of interest to many of the chairs in the department. I know in the PE department, I am not interested in room utilization because my classrooms for my classes are either the gym or the track. But we still need to attend these meetings because they are mandatory and required.
Another poor example of professional development is our bi-annual faculty retreats. These meetings are also all day long, including lunch in the middle. But the topics discussed during these meetings is not of interest to a majority of the attendees. Most of the meeting is taken up by the administration justifying what they do all day long during the semester. If there are any presentations dealing with the use of technology, it is usually 30 minutes in length and only shows the bells and whistles of the technology in the classroom. For example, we have had presentations using the PDAs in the classroom and the tablet PC in the classroom, but neither of these workshops allowed us any hands on experience with the technology. It was just presented and showed to us, allowing us to see and view its capabilities. I find these presentations interesting, but I believe that is partially due to the fact that I like technology and seeing how technology can improve my teaching. A majority of the faculty are not interested in these presentations and find that their time could be better spent elsewhere. I believe that if these presentations could be individualized so they could be used in each of our subject areas might help make the presentation more interesting and helpful to many.
My activity log for the week of March 5th - March 11th:
Monday, March 5th: downloaded podcast and transcribed notes. Wrote this blog posting.
Tuesday, March 6th: work on proposal for project 3. Hopefully upload this project and link it to my website.
Wednesday, March 7th: read classmates blog postings and make comments.
Thursday, March 8th: read classmates blog postings and make comments.
Friday, March 9th: have time to finalize project 3 if necessary.
Saturday, March 10th: read classmates blog postings and make comments.
Sunday, March 11th: read classmates blog postings and make comments.
A link to my project 3 proposal: Project 3
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