I found out about this class through a district wide email from the Council Bluffs Education Service Center. I called Bob Pawloski to inquire about the course requirements and content. Bob gave me the web site address so that I could examine course work and assignments. He also clearly explained that this is an online class that involves analyzing remote images and developing Problem Based Learning scenarios. This was intriguing to me for several reasons. First, I recognized that my network research and learning skills should be improved. As a special education teacher, I believe that it is especially important to be able to present learning opportunities that interest and challenge students. This course offered a chance to expand my skills and enhance my teaching. Finally, I was curious about Problem Based Learning. Council Bluffs Community Schools is deeply involved in Performance Based Assessment. In fact, PBA validations are required of all graduates. The PBL concept seemed similar to PBA. I thought that, perhaps, a PBL lesson could be blended with PBA to meet a validation requirement.
Initially, I had hoped that two of my colleagues at Kanesville would enroll with me. We had discussed working together at school after school hours. I thought that this would allow me to have interaction with classmates. We could deal with questions and concerns, as well as have discuss a method of incorporating this in our instruction at Kanesville. Unfortunately, both declined to take the class after reviewing the web site. They expressed concern that the course would be extremely difficult and that the workload appeared overwhelming. After their decision, I hesitated about taking the class. I spoke again with Bob. He told me that the instructors would work closely with me and would respond to any questions or concerns that I might arise. It took me about three hours to work through the assignment for the first week. I had not previously completed a student information page. I appreciated the fact that there was a basic template, but I was not sure what to include. I was able to post some basic information, but nothing too detailed and certainly not any photos. I became sorely aware of my lack of skill in this area when I looked at the other students home pages. Examining the remote photo was interesting. I was unaccustomed to this type of image and felt as though I was stretching to answer each of the questions. Even recording my responses seemed a learning experience. For example, I quickly determined that it was best if I printed off the questions, looked at the image, wrote the answers on paper, and then typed them in word and pasted them on the Discussion Board. It might have been helpful if specific instructions about that process had been included in the lesson, but it is probable that most of those enrolled in the class did not need those instructions. I did have some trouble understanding directions, so I sent an email to all instructors. I received responses from all three on a very timely basis.
The second week was a little more comfortable. Even though the type of image was different, I felt that I could master the basic process. The third week, however, involved a web site. I spent two evenings, for a total of nearly eight hours, at school working on developing a site. Considering that business students at Kanesville can develop a potential site as part of their course work, I was a bit embarrassed that I struggled with this. Most of the first evening was spent in reviewing instructions for Claris and figuring out how to create a basic web site. Finally, I was able to preview my site in the browser. To my excitement, while simple, it worked. Unfortunately, it would not post. The next evening, I asked the tech teacher in my building to help. We went over the entire project again, but it still would not post. At that point, I sent out a general request for help to the course instructors. Their response was rapid and thorough. In addition to several emails, I believe that I spoke with Bob, Bill and Brian by telephone. Brian Sandall made multiple calls to my home and work per my request in an attempt to help me. Finally, it was determined that my district has a fire wall that prevents anyone from posting a web site. Brian worked with me to override that barrier, but it was not possible. In the end, I emailed my work to Brian, Bob, and Bill. At least two of them took the time to post my email as a web site for the assignment.
Even though this course had been extremely difficult for me, I appreciated the challenge. I knew that these skills would be useful to me for the rest of my teaching career. The instructors were understanding of my developmental computer skill level. Their responses were, without exception, rapid, clear, concise. For students who have more technical skills, this is an excellent program. For others, like myself, who have fewer skills and more frequent questions, a class that offers face to face interaction would be helpful. There would be an increased level of comfort for those who are insecure about this process if the class were taught on campus, off site, or even through the ICN. If the course had merely been a more traditional class that presented required readings, discussion questions, and tests, I would have had no difficulty. I would, however, not really have enjoyed that type of class. I appreciated this class because of the challenge that it presented, but I found the lack of personal interaction disturbing. Perhaps, as a teacher, I find intellectual and social stimulation in classroom discussion. If asked, I would offer a very strong recommendation of the farm class program. The course goals and curriculum are relevant to current teaching practices. The instructors were both knowledgeable and responsive to student needs.
I have completed the class assignment except for this evaluation.
Taking this class was a real risk, as it is the first college class I have ever taken on line.The closest I came was registering on line for a class last summer at UNK. That was new too.I was worried about the problem of not having someone to talk over problems that might occur, and no one to call over to say "Do this ..." I knew I could do any of the course work evolving education, but had no experience in remote classes, much less remote sensing! So , it was a challenge from the get go! I did get support from the staff, or I might not have continued with this class! They made the difference.
Staff : I found them extremely helpful when I got anxious about computer problems.This was my biggest problem: not knowing enough about my own home computer , and what to do when I had computer problems. Brian was there to help on email, and also called to help with a problem. He also sent emails every week, and kept in contact with us all. I really appreciated that he sent mailto my school AND home addresses. That was a convince I liked. I also liked the way they would reply to students journaling in the forum.The communication was one extremely important element that helped keep the class together,with a feeling that we were a class. Having us communicate with some of the others as part of the assignments was important to the feeling of "class."
Comments : One problem I did have that was not completely solved was the downloading of the Claris Homepage. I got the program installed the first time, with no problems what so ever. The problem developed when I ran out of time. I tried to install it again and again, with out success. Brian tried and tried many fixes, but they would not work. Easter weekend, I stayed up late to finish the web quest, and the details needed . Boy, was I glad I did that. When I finished , downloaded it to UNO, at the stroke of midnight, the software vanished .I felt like Cinderella at the ball, when the clothes, coach, etc., are gone .There were a few editing corrections that I found, and Brian was quit helpful to correct those. I would not be able to have a project up to high standards with out that final help. My suggestion would be to have a common software purchase, just as one would do books for a class. That way, there would be no time limit, and could be used after the class. If it was one that both platforms, Apple and PC's could support, this would be ideal.
The hardest part of the class was the remote sensing with the different colors they used . The colors used were hard to get used to using! The meanings were as in a foreign language, and needed a little more help in a visual presentation, before actually looking at the sites.Perhaps a page with just the meanings of the colors could be studied. Having a drawing pointing out what the colors mean with lines drawn to show exactly what they mean would help too. Jumping in to try to read the small print, and id things got difficult.This was a problem if I used AOL,where I can't control the size of my pictures. My other web service was better, and I could get a full screen to view things. Using the remote satellite to find your back yard wasn't easy either.I had no trouble getting the things linked, but had more trouble moving the picture to where I wanted.I really think that having such a foreign experience, and not being well grounded in the "how to's", would improve over time.The CD's were better, as I could control them better. Perhaps another tutorial on how to move the satillite to get the picture would help.
The Grand Island schools have Claris Homepage, but we are NOT able to up load anything.They control that, and I think it was an earlier version of the homepage. I had some trouble accessing the college from the school, as the filter kept me from signing in on the log in . However, I found that if I used the addresses of the pages, I could by pass the filter.I know this is not what people were supposed to do, but sometimes, the things I needed to work with were there, and I did not have to lug them home.The moving around was slower, but I could do it!
I also thought in the projects, there could be a combination of webquest and satellite use. I thought if I had more time to work, I could come up with a weather related subject and combine it using the weather satellite.Suggesting this as a possible project(combinations), would have gotten me started earlier , and could have been incorporated into the project. Think creative in how to do a project and things can be unique!
The area of uploading your project was one area I think could have been written with a bit more clarity.It was not totally clear to me what they were talking about in the directions.Perhaps others didn't, but because there were weeks between the first time I up loaded and the next, I wasn't sure what to do. I kept putting in the whole address, not student/bfoster.A better written example would help. Under deadlines. the stress factor made for more errors. Brian again was helpful, was well as Bill, in written email.That helped me correct the mistakes I had made.
I really did like on the farm lesson template that the state standards were easy to pop into the plan by just the numbers. That meant less time spent in the written work. I could check on the web page when I was done, and see how the standards looked.The first time I transposed 412 with 421. I caught the error by checking the web page. Perhaps this could be a part of the directions on the web page too. I think people would check, but double checks help accuracy.
I also think the building of web pages for students to have a resources are good.However, they might better / more useful with a grade or age level listing.. It would help those looking for applicable sites.This could be a sourde, as well as listing UNL ag campus sites.The satillite sites belong there too.You would not have to search . Searching takes the largest amount of the time.
On the cascade CD, I do like having this to keep, from the class. It has some pictures fo GI when it was a smaller place. It also gave me something to have my class look at, that they could relate to.At primary level, the are not clear about remote sensing. This gets their "feet wet" in an area they know.Ihad both PC / Apple CD's, which again meant I didn't have to haul the one back and forth,or worry I forgot it .
This class was more of a challeneg than I thought it would be. I had thought having experience in using computers would help, and id did ,up to a point.I don't give up , but there were times I was having lots of tech problems, that I would quit. I was open about this to Brian and Bill. They did help. I read somewhere that most who start a web class drop .(50%) If people had a statement in the beginning about help , more might stay .The willingness of the people teaching the class to go as far as needed to help, made the difference for me.
Reference to: Virtual Farming Class.
The class is a first for being an online course for myself. It allowed for flexibility which is a unique option in the busy world. Teacher free time to do class stuff that would apply to their class is limited. It gave an avenue to get the job done and create a new resource for your classroom. This is always a time consuming thing to find the time to do it a learning opportunity that the teachers can take ownership in doing.
The technology involved when doing this class was totally awesome. That is to locate some software options to develop a web page when the instructor may not have it available. This is important with the technology changing at the school level on a regular basis. The new computer stuff era just started during the spring at Waterloo. That is new computers, server, and software program. This is quite a switch from all Mac equipment to all IBM compatible equipment. This is terrific flexibility to accommodate needs as they develop from the instructor to the student?s point of view. Another aspect of this is reaching teachers throughout the state with this technology.
The standards were used in the development of this curriculum. This is an important issue during the development of the virtual farming curriculum with the implementation of science standards. Farming awareness is probably on the back burner with most educational opportunities until a teacher is exposed to the various learning tools that this course provided awareness to. These tools, like Casde, is a consortium for the application of space data to education. It consisted of tools and educational building blocks for exploring the universe. Opportunity after opportunity to explore a variety of learning tools to better evaluate the importance of agriculture with the usage of NE Standards. Utilizing these different types of learning tools were probably the most unique opportunity of this course. This learning opportunity felt like you were attending a new workshop exploring and evaluating new learning tools. The odd thing about it was that you were doing it at your own home and not traveling a long distance to do it.
The ARDC farm at Mead really surprised me with the availability of various leaning tools to monitor the crops, growth patterns, and stress via remote sensing. This teacher grew up on the farm and was not aware of all the gadgets that are available to provide data for a variety of learning opportunities. WOW! Graphing and reading Land Sat imagery is a unique opportunity to have available. Observation skill opportunities are always a strong point since it requires higher level leaning skills in interpreting what is happening. Memorizing is the usual skill that students are expected to utilize in a lot of classes. Hypothesizing a situation after making their own observations from imagery and graphing is unique.
Another issue is being held accountable helps, during a class atmosphere, to ensure that you keep on track in the completion of their project. Therefore, the teacher is being put on the spot in getting a task done with the proper training. That is being exposed to the history of problem based learning and led into Web Quest templates. The examples that we were exposed to were totally awesome. The pride and ownership by the people who develop these were totally awesome.
The third issue that really surprised me was the lack of safety issues developed on the agriculture exposure. Especially when accidents are the number one issue that our youths die from. This was new turf to explore when working on a curriculum in this area. Maybe it is from a person that is an EMT that makes the difference here. The equipment and the animal exposure are in the higher risk category.
What I would have liked to learn goes with any class taken if there is enough time. Would have like to visit the UNO campus and checked out the NASA stuff that they have on campus. Especially since this is a NASA awareness exposure with the imagery and other learning tools available. Thought they were thinking about it but when the course is over, it is over. Still do not know where this building is that has the NASA stuff in it that is available for teachers. Do know of the UNL museum in Lincoln that has this but thought they had one at UNO.
Developing the Web Quest was a very unique opportunity to learn. Would have like some more exposure to power point presentations. This is another opportunity to elaborate observations and graphing along with imagery. However, this probably was not new to some teachers and they may have thought it would be a waste of time. The level of computer knowledge is the major issue here as to the level of learning opportunities. A person can judge that by looking at their project which is an observation.
It is felt that a template would have been nice in constructing a Web Quest project. Maybe it would do away with creativity of the project. Guess it is the easier way of doing something. Otherwise, a person found an idea that they liked and developed it from that model. Do not know if it would have developed quality or not.
What could have been done better in the class is a difficult issue if it is the student first one. Frustration is the key issue here. Times really got me down at times. However, did have an instructor visit to remedy this issue. Should you call or not call for help. Journaling did help. Being comfortable with the computer is the issue here. Do not know of outlets in expressing the exact precision of this thought.
The opportunity of being part of this course was something special. A BIG THANKS to all involved with the planning and preparation of this Virtual Farming environment. The resources explored and evaluated were totally AWESOME.
I learned about the Virtual Farm class through a physics list serve. Registration for the course was one of the least complicated that I've been through, thanks to the instructors for the class and the registration people at UNO. This is the second online course that I have taken and I will say that I was hesitant to register for a second class after the horrible experience that I had with the first one that I took. (University of Montana). The advantage of having taken an online class prior to this one is that I have something to compare to.
The class web page was very well designed and easy to use. All links worked well and included useful information. The assignments were very relevant and I found to be useful both for myself and my classroom. I enjoyed the variety of information that was included in the remote sensing units, including quicktime video, etc. The reading material that was linked to the assignments was very interesting and useful to all educators. I like the concept of problem-based learning and use it often in my classroom.
Assignments were made available on a weekly basis, with posting of completed assignments on Sunday. Discussion group followed. I felt like I got to know the instructors and the people in the class, even though we have not physically ever met each other. I did meet Paul Clark at the NSTA convention in St. Louis when they were presenting the Virtual Farm Project there. I always looked forward to the feedback that the instructors and other students had regarding assignments, project ideas, etc.
The thing that I struggled with the most was deciding on a topic for my Webquest project. Because it took me too long to focus on one idea, I got behind and it was very difficult to catch up. That was my fault. After a rocky start with the webquest project I found that I really enjoyed designing the pages for my project. When I had problems, the instructors were always there to offer detailed advice. I have never done any web page design and I will say that I learned some very valuable techniques while designing my web project. I had fun sharing my progress with my students; they were very honest in critiquing the project and I think it turned out better because of their interest in my homework!
I would have liked to use DataSlate more...however, some of us had trouble getting it to work correctly all of the time. If I took the class again (maybe Virtual Farm Part II) I would like to spend more time on DataSlate. I think that this program has huge potential as a useful tool in the classroom.
I would like to especially commend the instructors of the class. They did an exceptional job communicating with all of us. They maintained a positive approach to problem solving when many of us were frustrated. They always responded quickly with electronic mail or even a phone call once. Computers can be a mysterious frustration, but they all helped us feel successful by the time the course was completed.
I have just completed the TED 8000 America's Virtual Farm on-line course. I completed the Web Quest strand of the course. I have taken many classes throughout my teaching career including several computer classes while getting my Masters degree at UNO in 1998 and 1999. I was taking those classes at a time when there was a Mac lab and a PC lab. At that time most of the class worked in the Mac lab; I would listen to the instructor in the Mac lab and then go work on the PC side because it was what I had at school and at home. I spent many hours in the labs at UNO constantly asking help on how things done on the Mac transferred over to the PC that I was using. Then I would go back to school and try to figure out how to again transfer or use the skills on my personal system (which was much older than what I was using at UNO). I'm sure that my own comfort level with computers (which has grown greatly over the past few years) had something to do with the trouble I had working on three different computers. However, this on-line course offered me the opportunity to learn more about technology and yet do all the work on a system I was using every day &endash; it was great.
The instructors asked that we address specific questions and I will do so below:
1. What did you learn in the class that you liked?
I liked the entire process and product of creating a Web Quest. I have always enjoyed allowing my students to work on a computer; however, the lessons were sometimes less effective that I wished. I knew that things worked better when there was more structure, but I didn't want to limit their creativity and sense of discovery as they found their own sites. A Web Quest seems to offer enough structure and yet enough freedom for my 9th grade students. I have selected a variety of web sites from which they can choose; however I haven't limited them to one or two. I would expect that each of the student projects from the Web Quest would be quite unique.
2. What did you like best about the course?
The thing I liked best was being able to work out of my home and on my own computer. With a family, that made it very convenient. I also was working on a system that I could continue to use even after the course ended.
3. What was the most interesting part of the class?
The most interesting part of the class was looking at the variety of projects that were produced by the other students. We all work with different grade levels and subject areas and each person was able to come up with an original idea for using the theme of agriculture. It was also interesting to "talk" with people you had never seen and probably would never see. I think it freed us up to be honest in our feedback (I received more specific advice that I used to when talking face-to-face) and yet everyone generally stayed very positive.
4. What did you learn that surprised you?
My only hesitation in taking this course was the topic. I teach in an urban area (though we are surrounded by agriculture), and I didn't know how difficult it would be to interest my students in the topic of agriculture. I learned, through e-mailing my instructors and talking with my students, that there were many "hooks" I could use. My students may be unaware but they are not uninterested.
5. What did you not learn but would have like to?
I did not work hard enough to completely understand and learn to use DataSlate. I know that I could have learned more about it; however, I didn't ever really consider using it in my final project. Working though the weekly assignments at least let me know what it was about. I was able to mention it to the science and math teachers on our team and they were intrigued. If they had taken this course, I think they might have chosen the Digital Imaging strand rather than the Web Quest.
6. What could have been done better in this class?
At the beginning of the class I had some trouble receiving e-mails from the instructors. Because the e-mails were so important, it was tough getting started without the communication. That said, the instructors worked very hard to correct the problem and were soon e-mailing me both at school and at home to make sure that I received the important messages. I think the original e-mail problem was between my Internet provider and UNO's server. It had something to do with the way UNO's server was "reading" my e-mail address.
Overall this was a very positive experience. The key to the program was the communication between the instructors and the students and among the students. I procrastinated for a few weeks and got behind on my communication. When I got back on and read what I had missed, I realized that I had missed a lot. It was like skipping class. The nice thing was, however, that all the "discussions" were still available to me on the discussion page and I was able to go back and get caught up.
Before taking this class, I was concerned that I would miss the class discussion and the opportunity to ask questions of my instructors that I had in traditional classes; however, responses from all the instructors were very helpful and very prompt. There was one time when I realized that I hadn't received an important e-mail about a password to upload a page. I was working on a weekend and figured I would send my question and get a message sometime the next week. Instead, I sent my message and had responses from one of the instructors within the hour and the others within a day. It was great.
One additional suggestion, on the Student Tool page under "Check Your Grade" there are dates that must have been accurate for the fall semester. It would be helpful if these dates were either taken off or changed to reflect the current semester.
Thank you for this course. I feel that I have learned and created something that I can really use in my classes. The format worked well with my busy schedule and I hope that you will consider offering other on-line courses in the future. Although I only live 20 minutes from the campus, I greatly appreciated the flexibility of working at home and on my own schedule.
Following is my evaluation of TED 8100-Americas Virtual Farm. I have been a student in the class this past Spring semester, 2001. The web-based course linking technology and farming was both intriguing and educational. Following are six aspects of evaluation of this course, where the end project was a problem based Webquest in our individual subject areas.
First, I learned several things in the class that I liked very much. Several NASA tools were introduced and lessons given in which we learned the use of the tool. Remote sensing was the first tool introduced and we learned a lot about interpreting sites. I had no experience with remote sensing so I learned a lot about different shapes and colors, and what they indicated. A unique weather website was introduced. Dataslate was totally new to me. It was absolutely intriguing to be able to click on a picture and then see it, as it was some years previous. Terraserver was another absolutely new tool about which I enjoyed learning. It was fascinating to see places such as farms and homes and to zero in on the location. It was good to think about how we could use these tools in our Webquest. It was also good to learn what problem-based learning is and to begin thinking about how to choose a problem for our Quest. Ultimately, we were able to put all we learned together into our final project. I enjoyed learning about Claris Homepage and actually preparing a website. It is exciting to think we, as teachers, have this capability and knowledge at our fingertips. It was very exciting and satisfying to complete this project.
Secondly, the thing I liked most about the class was forming the Webquest one section at a time. One week we were responsible to write the introduction, the next to form the task section where we stated our problem based situation, next the process section, and so on until the entire Webquest was built. It was an interesting piece by piece method of putting the parts of the puzzle together. Learning Claris Homepage by way of the tutorial was also enjoyable. It fascinated me to learn that I could build a webpage by using this software. Another facet of great pleasure was the method by which we corresponded with one another and the instructors. The use of the discussion board to have forums on various topics was most effective. We were able to discuss things effectively with one another and the instructors were very active in this discussion. It was a great asset to know that what I wrote would be read by the instructors. Not only would it be read, more than likely I would receive feedback on my comments. Even more importantly, it soon became apparent that the instructors genuinely cared about us and what we were learning. Above all, they valued our input. This aspect of the course cannot be overemphasized. As a student, I felt welcome, cared about, and valued. That is what education should be about!!
Thirdly, of great interest, was the overall organization of the course on the web. It was interesting to see how it was organized with course documents, communication, assignments, student tools, etc. It was good to be able to see your accumulated points at any time. In addition, we could e-mail our instructors or fellow students with the click of the mouse. I also found it interesting to use a rubric to evaluate websites. I enjoyed making a rubric for my webquest, to use in evaluating my student's work.
Fourthly, I was surprised that I learned to make a web homepage and a webquest. I am totally awed that I have a homepage and a webquest! One hears so much talk about homepages and websites that it becomes a mysterious animal out there that I thought was only for companies and the very computer literate, like programmers and computer engineers. So I was delighted to see that even I could have one. Wow!
Fifthly, what I did not learn that I would have liked to is more about web design. I was so fascinated by web design that I chose to follow that strand. I know that I have only scratched the surface. There is so much more out there to learn. Perhaps now with this basis, I can build upon it and expand my knowledge.
Lastly, three things that might make an already wonderful course better are as follows. The assignment to build a webpage was valued as one point, which I felt was small. It was an exciting, first step, which I felt was significant enough to warrant more points. The websearching was long and tedious. It took hours to develop the skills for finding what you wanted, searching, selecting the best sites, and eventually linking them into the webquest. Therefore, it might warrant spreading the process over a two-week period. Finally, learning the use of Claris Homepage was difficult and time consuming. It took time to go through the tutorial, and much of the material was not clear until one actually began performing the task. For example, bringing in graphics did not make sense until I actually started the process. Therefore, I would suggest a few more instructor led exercises using Claris, before the student begins the webquest. Then the webquest formation would seem less overwhelming and intimidating.
Overall, this course is an outstanding product. It has been thoughtfully designed using not only current technology, but also current teaching trends. Enough cannot be said about the exemplary tools being taught and the techniques and the sincerity of the staff. Thank you for the opportunity to be a part of this course and thank you for all that I learned.
I was made aware of the class through a mailing at my school in Council Bluffs. Contacting Bob Pawloski, I found that I would be able to "browse" the class and make my decision as to whether or not to register. This was very helpful to me. At times, I am more comfortable "digesting" information and pondering it for a time. Upon making the decision to proceed with the class, I contacted Bob again and he was very encouraging even though I admitted to him my limited knowledge in computer imaging and no previous experience in web page design. Actually, the idea horrified me, but he assured me that it would be a learning process for all.
The first couple lessons, I felt terribly inadequate and insecure in maneuvering within the course site, but with practice and work, I overcame this. The immersion into imagery was gradual enough to feel comfortable and the feedback from other students on the Discussion Board was very valuable to me! I didn't feel I was totally on my own. Could it be that this at home computer course could actually simulate the classroom? I have to admit that I had reservations regarding this aspect of this computer course. After the first couple weeks, I found that having that Discussion Board was a real comfort to me and helpful in reading about others students' difficulties and solutions to problems they were experiencing.
Class instructors were incredibly prompt in any correspondence getting back to me on any question I had. These times were few, but when I needed to, I contacted all of them (not knowing who exactly to address) and found that response was immediate from all of them. On the occasion one was to be gone to a conference, we were notified in advance so no one was left unattended or unassisted in their work.
The most valuable thing I learned in this class was how to put a webpage together. I must admit that I felt this would be an impossible task for me, but having worked slowly to the completed project, I found that not only was I able to complete the project, but enjoyed the process! I felt the class to be carefully and logically designed for success. This is to the credit of fine instruction!
Exploring the Internet for the sites needed for completion of my project has been one of the most beneficial aspects of this course. Had I not had to do my own exploration, I'm sure I would not be aware of the wealth of information out there for use in the classroom. Having other teachers sharing their information and sites they had found was very helpful, too. I think we all felt a camaraderie pioneering away at our first web pages!
What I would have liked to have learned more about would have been a more in-depth study of the possibilities with the Claris Works. There were many functions that I thought were not clearly stated or worked through before the projects were to be designed. A more thorough explanation would have been helpful. Also, I had trouble opening the Claris Works again after initially installing it in my computer. Time had expired and after hours attempting it myself, I was able to get help from one of the instructors. Perhaps this aspect of the course could be changed in the future somehow.
I thought this class required a great amount of effort and self motivation as well as time spent exploring sites and venturing into an unknown territory creating a web page. The rewards were great in self satisfaction for me and would recommend this course to anyone who felt they could be self-disciplined enough to avoid procrastinating on the class work.
I feel that I have learned so much from taking this class! On a personal level, I can now use E-mail and use the Internet with confidence. I have learned how to conduct searches on the web and have been introduced to some interesting and useful sites. I now have access to a huge bank of resources for any questions I have in my daily life.
On a professional level, I now have an appreciation for how I can use the Internet in a classroom. Not only is it a great resource, but I have gained experience in creating a lesson to be used in the classroom with data imaging. I have also been introduced to Webquests and how to create them. The possibilities are endless to creating lessons specific to standards you want to emphasize in your class. I have also realized new ways to incorporate an interdisciplinary approach in a math classroom.
By far what I liked most about the class was the flexibility available when working on-line. I could work on the class whenever I chose and at my own pace. Also, feedback was very encouraging and timely from the instructors. When problems were encountered, an instructor was quick to help out. The course itself gave ample tutorials and resources to complete course objectives. To my surprise, maneuvering through an on-line course was easier than I expected and was clearly spelled out right away. By taking the time in the first week to carefully read what was available, I felt comfortable with the on-line format early on.
I very much enjoyed working with the Data Slate program and was fascinated with the Terra Server site.
I did gain an appreciation for agriculture and new ways to incorporate agricultural perspectives in the classroom.
I would recommend this class for any teacher, even novices like me when it comes to technology. At times the amount of ìnew stuffî was overwhelming but overall for me it created a thirst to learn more when it comes to technology and teaching and learning.
I am currently pursuing a Masters of Science in Secondary with an emphasis in Technology. I have an interest in developing on-line courses for high schools students, and I wanted to "experience" an on-line course before trying to develop courses. I am proud to say that I grew up on a farm and was intrigued by the idea of a "Virtual Farm."
The satellite imagery portion of the course was fascinating to me. I was unaware of this resource on the Internet. Finding my own backyard and my father's farm was a very rewarding experience. The Data Slate projects that we completed were very interesting and gave visual insights into some of the social issues associated with urban sprawl and agriculture. The size of the image files created some frustration when trying to download them to work with them. It would have been nice to have a computer with more capabilities for the images. The Data Slate program was explained well and I found it easy to use. It was interesting to have my second grade daughter look at the images with me and try to explain to her what she was seeing.
I chose to do the Web Quest strand of Virtual Farm because the web quest seemed to lend itself better to incorporating an agriculture topic into my curriculum for my high school business students. I did debate for a long time whether to use the satellite images in a web quest considering the preservation of the Loess Hills, but the size of the images discouraged me from pursuing trying to incorporate some of both the imaging and web quest strand.
I learned a great deal from this class&emdash;both about new developments in agriculture and the availability of satellite imagery for education. The articles on problem based learning are very relevant to the changing face of education. It was also good for me to develop a web quest because it "fits" very well with the performance based assessment used in our school district. I am anxious to use this format with students as I believe they will find the web quest format to be engaging and challenging. As I reviewed the other projects, I was very impressed with the variety of applications to the various curriculum offerings and various age groups of students.
The instructors were very knowledgeable and helpful. Any questions/concerns I had were addressed quickly and thoroughly. Most responses and feedback were provided within 24 hours. Also, I very much appreciate the help with the html coding of my page eliminating the difficulties caused by the web editor I used. It would have taken me hours to figure out how to fix some of the problems. Their comments were always helpful and encouraging.
After the first couple of weeks, I felt very comfortable with the discussion group and looked forward to reading the other teacher's contributions to the discussions. I appreciated the peer review of our projects and noted the professionalism and expertise of the other teachers. The discussions gave us an opportunity to "get to know" each other and helped create a sense of community with the other members of the class.
A problem that I anticipate for future classes is downloading Claris Home page. I was fortunate enough to have a licensed copy of that software. I'm not sure 30 days give students enough time to familiarize themselves with creating web pages, web quests, and developing the project. Also, it looks like FileMaker may discontinue that download option in the future.
The class was a very rewarding experience for me and I would encourage others to participate in the class. The focus of the course was math and science, but it was easy for me to see how several disciplines could use the resources provided by Virtual Farm. We could create new educational experiences for students to interact with their world "visually." I'm very glad that I took this course&emdash;it is one of the best courses in my course of study plan!