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Showing posts from September, 2023

Annotated Bibliography

Christensen, E. W., Anakwe, U. P., & Kessler, E. H. (2001). Receptivity to distance learnings The effect of technology, reputation, constraints, and learning preferences. Journal of Research on Computing in Education, 33 (3), 263-279. https://doi.org/10.1080/08886504.2001.10782314  While this article was written some time ago, it continues to reverberate with timeless ideas that remain relevant today. In the context of technology and education, the best indicator of students' openness to distance learning has to do with how valuable they believe distance learning tools are. The article emphasizes the importance of assisting students in appreciating the benefits and use of platforms and technologies for online learning. Technology that promotes interactivity and collaboration is of utmost importance. In addition, features that foster flexibility, relationship-building, and student-centered learning attract further engagement. When promoting online learning as an option to in-per...
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Blogging for This Course (pun intended): A Reflection

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My learning environment is in the midst of change. A significant number of new families have settled in the neighborhood during the course of the last ten years. The neighborhood is now densely populated as single-family houses become a rarity in favor of multi-unit dwelling complexes. A significant number of students are learning English as their second language and hail from a broad range of cultural traditions from various parts of the world, including Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East. Although it remains a working-class neighborhood, the area immediately around the school has experienced an increase in both property values and rents as a result of young professionals moving into newly constructed apartments. Within the walls of the educational institution, administrators and teachers are struggling to genuinely collaborate to find ways to meet the needs of an ever-evolving student body. Although new programs have been implemented for those who are learning English, there ar...
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Geocaching Never Went Away

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Truth be told, I have not heard of geocaching in over twenty years. I remember it was quite popular with those with interest in technology, the outdoors, and adventures. At the time, GPS devices were just beginning to enter the consumer market and early adopters were installing them in their vehicles replacing paper maps. Handheld versions were standard equipment for extreme hikers who venture towards the unknown.  Apparently, geocaching enthusiasts have maintained its popularity since its inception. Originally called, “geostashing”,  geocaching traces it origin in the forests of Oregon, where Dave Ulmer described the activity in an online forum where GPS coordinates of hidden repositories or caches may be shared online, enabling other individuals to navigate to these repositories and acquire various items (Telaar et al., 2014). Much has happened since geocaching’s early days and the activity has now made its presence beyond recreation to other sectors including  educatio...
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A Long Way from HTML

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I started my career making websites for schools and colleges back in the 1990s. At the time, building web pages always started the same way by typing the characters “<HTML>” onto an empty text editor. From there, the web page development can be as simple as a static page displaying text, hyperlinks, images, and media files, or as complex combinations of the same files, resulting in interactivity that attracts users to return. Decades later, I cannot imagine making the web pages we visited today by manually editing the publishing language of the World Wide Web. Since the early days of the internet, websites have come a long way. HTML is a very simple language that does not permit much customization or interactivity. In recent years, there has been a trend toward developing websites that foster interactive and engaging user experiences. The solution for developing these websites is software, and Articulate 360 serves as a perfect example. The advent of such tools for the automated ...
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