Each week that you fully participate in the class you have the opportunity to earn two participation points: 1 point for sharing a technology resource or idea with your peers either on your blog or through the Diigo group (this is called “resource sharing”), and 1 point for participating fully in class activities (this is called “class participation”).
The resource sharing through blogs/Diigo won’t begin until the second week, when you will have learned about these technologies. At that point, each week you should share:
- A technology or website you think would be useful for your subject area, and how you might use it
- An idea for how you might use a technology that we demonstrate in class
- A reflection about what we have learned in class, or what I have posted on my own blog, and how it might apply to your own teaching
Grading: I will grade this participation on blogs/Diigo at the end of each month. For full credit, you need to have one meaningful post sharing your thought, online resource, or idea each week. By meaningful, I mean more than “hey, here’s a cool blog for teachers, check it out!” The post needs to share some insights into how we might improve ourselves as teachers due to the resource or idea.
Also, you are often asked to post assignments on your blogs. Posting your assignment on your blog does not count as weekly participation—that’s just completing the assignment. However, finding a resource or idea to supplement your assignment could count.
Participation in class or on the voicethreads begins the first week. To earn this point each week, you need to:
Face-to-face class
- Attend class during the week, if you are in the face-to-face section (if you miss class, you must let me know ahead of time and then view/participate in the voice threads discussion that week with the online students. However, this option is only for absences with a good excuse. In general, you are expected to attend class each week).
- Participate in the class discussion and activities. “Let one speak at a time and let all listen unto his sayings, that when all have spoken that all may be edified of all” (see D&C 88:122). In other words, we can’t all share our thoughts during class, but we should share our thoughts when appropriate, and listen to the discussion and think about how the discussion applies to our own teaching. This level of participation includes only using laptops and mobile devices to help you participate in the discussion (by looking up resources, ideas, etc.) and NOT by distracting you (checking email, texting, etc.).
- Read what your peers in your online learning group are saying on their blogs and post feedback when appropriate.
Online class
- Complete all of the activities for the week.
- View and participate in the Voice Threads conversation each week (weekly voice threads will be posted on the main page of this blog).
- Read what your peers in your online learning group are saying on their blogs and post feedback when appropriate.
Grading: At the end of each month, I will ask you to email me your self-reported participation score for the month. I will be able to adjust any self-reported scores if I feel they are too low or too high.
FAQs
Question: Why do we have to do this participation assignment each week? What is the educational purpose?
Answer: Several years ago when I taught this course, we used a textbook. When I came back to BYU to teach this course again, I reviewed the most current textbooks for courses like this one, and concluded that they were often too general and thus less helpful. I believe it will be more helpful to you if you spend your “reading time” reading about new technologies on the Internet. That way, you can become abreast of the newest developments in educational technology. This way you can also read only those things relevant to your major. The Personal Learning Network assignment is designed to help you identify the best websites and resources that are most relevant to you, so that you can find value in your weekly participation assignment the rest of the semester.
Question: Why do we need to share the resources we find with others through blogs or Diigo?
Answer: I am not a subject-matter expert in this class. That is, I am not an English, History, or Science teacher. I’m sort of a technology generalist. Thus, you need to help each other identify the best technologies and methods that are unique to your subject area. That is why I ask that when you read or discover a useful technology or website, that you share it with your peers in some way. You will find in the future that most of what you learn about educational technologies will be from your teaching colleagues in your subject area.
