Building an Online Learning Environment Final Presentation

Ron Genech

Delaware County Intermediate Unit, Pennsylvania

Presented to:

The following pages will show screenshots of some of the tools I

have encountered and used during the past month, as I was enrolled in

the “Building Online Learning Environments “ class at DCIU.

For more details about each tool , including slideshares, youtube clips, and audio tutorials, please visit my blog at :

http://rongenechteacher.blogspot.kr/OR , check out my slideshares at:

http://www.slideshare.net/rongenech/presentations

Thanks for visiting.

Building Online Environments - Course Reflection

Thanks to the Delaware County Intermediate Unit, near my hometown of Philadelphia, I have just completed an online course called ‘ Building Online Environments’. These are my personal reflections.I was an undergraduate student from 1989-1994. At that time, there WAS NO internet. Shocking, isn’t it ? I vaguely remember using a program, ( I think ), through the University of Minnesota, called the ‘gopher’ program. As I recall, that program was mainly used to look up some academic writings, ‘on-line’. Fast forward to 2015, and it’s impossible to imagine life without the internet.

Today, students in our classrooms have never known life without the internet. Whether in the palm of their hands via a ‘smartphone’, or on their high powered ‘gaming’ desktops, students are used to interacting with others through the internet. It only makes sense that classrooms allow students to encounter and meaningfully interact with new information via technology. As a teacher, it CAN be overwhelming to think about all the new tech tools and toys there are to learn. I know I, personally, have had a “rainy day” list of websites and tech tools to explore. Thanks to this course, I finally had the “kick in the seat of my pants” to finally explore them. Some of them are detailed in my blog: http://rongenechteacher.blogspot.kr/ which I plan to continue updating, as I take the plunge down the ‘technology wormhole’.

About 4-5 years ago, I was a long-term substitute teacher at PAVCS , the Pennsylvania Virtual Charter School. Students learned in the comfort of their homes, all over Pennsylvania, and I taught from my office cubicle in Norristown, PA. I remember interviewing for the position and wondering, “ Online teaching ?? Is that even possible ?? “ The next year, the person I was subbing for, decided to return to PAVCS, so I was out of a job. I also remember thinking, “ Return to a “brick and mortar” school ?? Is that even possible for me now ??” I really enjoyed my time at PAVCS and you can read more about it here: https://sites.google.com/site/rongenechportfolio/

As I think about that time, I realize how quickly technology has changed in less than 5 years. I don’t know if all the tech tools I used for this class even existed 5 years ago. I certainly hadn’t heard of them. One of my favorite blogs is “ Larry Ferlazzo’s Best Of … “ He lists and critiques all different kinds of websites , relating to teaching. As I was researching websites for this class, I would search his lists from 2013 or 2014, and quite often, I would get broken links to tech tools that no longer exist. It reminds me of that quote from Ferris Bueller’s Day off - “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop to look around, you might miss it.” In this case, the quote should be , “ Technology moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop to look around, you might miss it. … and your students will miss out on a wonderful opportunity to learn things in a more meaningful, relevant way.” - Ron Genech

Personal Course

Reflection Statement

Useful Websites and Tools

(Listed in order of usefulness)

A great tool to record your voice while you upload pics,

& write / doodle on an interactive whiteboard.

A fun, quiz game students can play along with using

their mobile devices !

Quizizz - A classroom quiz game students can play with their smartphones.

A fun way to practice vocabulary on hundreds of topics !

I then asked the students to record their responses , using Vocaroo, a FREE online audio

recording site.

I highly recommend BOTH Pixiclip and Vocaroo !

Links to MY Pixiclips:http://www.pixiclip.com/beta/c/e243

http://www.pixiclip.com/beta/c/e2c7

http://www.fotobabble.com/m/bjZpczZ6cmpndDQ9

https://voicethread.com/#thread/6934438/36721992/38006267