Blog Post #9

 This semester I have enjoyed the pleasure of learning about educational technology through the in-class course called EME2040. The version of the course I am enrolled in was not asynchronous as it met twice a week from 9:45-11 a.m.  on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I have enjoyed this classroom experience as it has provided a sense of normalcy since the pandemic. Over the past two years, my classes have been entirely remote which changed my academic routine and the quality of my learning but this semester I have accumulated myself with in-class learning again. Despite this educational benefit, I had become so accustomed to online learning that it made going to physical class a little harder but ultimately more rewarding. As a teacher there are multiple ways I plan to improve the classroom experience which include using digital game-based learning, creating a welcoming environment, and communicating with parents. 

Open educational resources are freely accessible as well as openly licensed instructional materials designed to enhance learning, teaching, and research.  Such resources exist in any format and medium that can be legally reused, remixed,  and distributed by people which supports a global open content movement. Open educational resources are important because they can save teachers a significant amount of time and effort on developing instructional materials while fueling collaboration among colleagues. During my research on OER, I found consortium called the CCCOER which actively promotes awareness of open educational policies, practices, and resources. This consortium is comprised of college faculty, librarians, and others in college education to expand learning capabilities as well as promote public discussion about open educational resources. On their website, there are case studies and student stories that explain the effectiveness of open educational resources as well as articles about the usage of these resources across the United States. In addition, CCCOER has direct links to their most recent twitter posts and updates from new sources which are a great way to keep teachers updated on technology trends. https://www.cccoer.org/

For assignment number 4, I was tasked with creating a powerpoint for information dissemination in my future classroom. Before this assignment, I thought I possessed a firm grasp of powerpoint's abilities but since have expanded my knowledge and understanding of the software program. I found it difficult to create a lesson as I was unable to decide on what information would best fit my subject and be understood by lower grade levels. Therefore, I spent a significant amount of time on the internet researching and browsing for information. Also, I experienced difficulty with adding the voice over to the powerpoint presentation because I have a Mac computer it made it slightly more difficult. I could improve my project by focusing more on the voice recording and less on the aesthetics of the powerpoint as well as limit my time finding instructional material because all of it simply confirmed what I found in the beginning.