Last Day 5520

Today Julie shared some information about Skype, a free source for internet to internet calls for Skype users.  If a call is made from a Skype user to a non Skype user there is a small fee.  The advantage being not only cost but the ability for video as well as audio.

Rob showed us Picasa, a free photo sharing and editing site.  You can also order prints and make slide shows from your albums.  Iphoto is a mac based free program that allows you to (among other cool things), make and order photo books.  Windows Photo Story is a free quick slide show program limited to only photos.

We discussed current issues in DE including accreditation questions from university to university.  We also talked about the difference between making individual accommodations on a university level compared to the public schools.  

This has been a very enlightening course, making me feel more confident in incorporating a few of the vast amount of tech tools into my teaching. 

More 5520

Wow, today we started off experiencing Second Life. It was amazing. Anyone can join. You create a character with any attributes and do anything you want. People can build, sell, buy services or products. I am very hesitant about introducing my students to this site for the fact that second life characters have no real life identity and can do some really crazy and illegal acts.

Our class discussed DE evaluation and assessment involving three aspects: students, faculty, and administration. It was concluded that DE is progressing and is just as rigorous and effective as F2F. Christie had a nice presentation about Web 2.0 and MySpace. I looked up Kellen on MySpace and found that he's got a huge Disney pic that I need to get off cause of the copyright scare we got this week. I guess I'll have to get his password from Argentina! Janet helped us explore Instructional Archetect, a program allowing teachers to create a webpage directly linking them to educational online resources.

Sample Movie 5520

Wednesday we learned how to make a simple movie with imovie. We then reformatted it as a podcast and uploaded it to our blog. Vwa-la! Here it is...

Today we discussed cost effectiveness of DE with an IM chat session again.  That was great except I got kicked out of the session several times so my contribution was very MINIMAL!

We learned some really cool tools again.  One new thing that I know I'll use is the apture.com site.  It will allow me to have "roll over" to open little windows to the sites and links I have on my webpage.  We looked at the possibility of using edublogs especially for the classroom.

Today we also learned about Connect Pro (Breeze) and Captivate which both have a free 30 day trial period.  They allow professional looking, interactive, animated presentations that could be used in an online course or virtual classroom.  The costs on those programs are quite expensive though--from $700-$10,000 depending on how many users and locations are used.

We all set up Facebook accounts and had a lot of fun with that.  I have MANY more "friends" after today.  Our class has a wiki beginning today that has ideas of what our final projects for this class might be.   I'll be watching for some good ideas coming from my cohorts because right now I really have not a clue what to do!  More tomorrow...

INST 5520

Hi Y'all,

I've been taking an IT (Instructional Technology) course this week. We've been learning about current tech issues and experiencing using new tech tools that will have applications in my classroom.

Today we learned about OCW (open courseware)-free, online classes available to anyone with the desire to learn and who has access to the technology. MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) is probably the largest resource for open courseware, offering thousands of classes covering a variety of subjects!

We also discussed many issues relating to IP (intellectual property--sharing of educational ideas and how this works with cc (creative commons) and copyright laws. We learned how to use IM (instant messaging) as a discussion tool as we discussed faculty effectiveness in DE (distance education) in a fast paced 18 member chat room.

Don't you love all the acronyms?! :~) (and the emoticons). More to come tomorrow...

Topaz Mountain & Omaha Trips

Elder Kell at Iguacu Falls Argentina

Dan and Emma on the giant slides in Omaha

Gavin at the transcontinental RR monument in Omaha

Livvy with Grandpa at the Omaha Zoo (petting zoo)

Grandkids at the Winter Quarters Monument--Omaha

Sonnie & Mitch--rockhounders at Topaz Mountain!

Gavin and Addie roasting marshmellows at Topaz Mountain.

Topaz Mountain & Omaha Trips

We've had a couple of great trips with the fam lately. The first was with Mitch & Sonnie and the Clarkes at Topaz Mountain May 23-25. Topaz Mountain is down in central Utah about 45 minutes from Delta. It is in an ancient volcanic area where you can find little pieces of topaz if you dig in the mountain and also if you just sift through the sand in the wash area. We took a detour on the way home to find the Dugway Geode Beds. Mark and Mitch dug in the 95 degree sun trying to find geodes while Sonnie and I just wandered through the previously dug areas and found our own geode treasures.

Our next excursion, May 31-June4, was with the Clarkes (Eric absent) on a 16 hour journey to Omaha to visit the Pences in their little condo. It was a houseful. Marianne was a lovely hostess and we fit in all the famous Omaha sites in just three short days before we took the 16 hour return journey. We visited the Winter Quarters Temple, the Omaha Zoo, the Omaha Botanical Gardens, the giant slides in downtown Omaha, then took a trek to the Pizza Machine (a buffet pizza place with amusement rides, arcades, race tracks, mini golf etc)--a Chucky Cheese on steroids as Kristen called it. But the favorite place for the kids was just in Marianne and Dan's condo complex's playground. What a great time we had with the girls and their babies (for sure Dan too).

Kellen's latest news is that he's had intestinal discomfort (if you know what I mean) ever since he arrived--no fun. But he's managed to keep in good spirits and has visited one of the largest waterfalls in the world, Iguacu Falls, in Argentina on one of his P days. He's our missionary hero!

We are truly blessed to have such amazing children who've made such good choices in their lives thus far. We love them.