Prezi

I enjoyed working in Prezi to do my presentation this week.
The info for my presentation :
ASD
Sarah Grant on 03 November 2010
Autism and Aspergers Spectrum Disorder

It was a fairly easy program to work with and I like the presentation style better than power point. It would take some getting used to and I did not find a Notes section like power point has, to help me organize my thoughts that go with the presentation - I never have appreciated the read teh slide kind of presentation and so when I design mine I put high points with the meat in the Notes section. So it would require a notes sheet done in another format and the high points on Prezi.

Podcast

I found it difficult to focus on the podcasts. The first one was easier – it was an interview with the author of Good Boss, Bad Boss and the interview was well done and it was interesting enough. The second was the Teacher Podcast s and there was a lot of background static and it seemed to take forever to get past the introduction section. And I found the voices inconsistent is volume and a little hard to listen to.
Personally I would rather read than listen to a podcast to acquire information. I can read at my pace and I can go back over it if it is interesting or if it is hard to follow. There are no voices to get in the way.

Mind Mapping

The above was done using paper and pencil.

I also used iMindMap which was easy and kind of cool to use, but with out purchasing the program I can not save it in a format that will upload to blog. This was my favorite way of creating the mind map.

The above map was done using Bubbli.us

I found it nice to be able to use the technology map because I could move things to make the next branch fit better. It was also easy to move and rearrange the branches.

The pen and paper was simple to just get started with out having to learn the program and how to add, move, delete items.

I think this is a great way to help kids organize their thoughts when writing a paper or doing a project of any kind. At my kids first school they used a lot of creative organizers along this vein of thought and I believe it really helped them with their writing. I will definitely be using the online version for my son with Aspergers, it will help him be successful with out having to write it out by hand.

1. Organize thoughts

2. Visual representation

3. Easy to manipulate

4. Helps create structure with in writing - start with one vein and then go on to next.

5. helps take thougths and put them on 'paper' good transition.

Everyone is sick at my house. Wondering if we all will ever get better. This has been a retched allergy season and I am very tired of having migraines that last for days or a week and then have a short reprieve before the next one starts.

Online Myths

I have found that there is a huge misconception about online learning is that the online course work is easier. My husband and children incorrectly assume that because there is more flexibility it is easier and I have all the time I need to do what they want and what I need to do. The truth in fact is the opposite. You have to read the material and teach it to yourself as well as do the assignments, which are reading and writing rather than listening and participating during a class period. Research show that ‘at least twice as much time and effort are needed to teach and learn online compared to face to face.’ (Sixteen Myths) I knew it would require alot of time but I am finding it is taking more than I alloted, so I am readjusting my non-school schedule.

Another popular myth is that online learning promotes isolation. This is both true and false, as with most things it depends on the instructor and the students which is also true in traditional learning as well. For me I tend to be isolated in general, online sometimes it is easier to speak up.

Tests

I am not a big fan of this kind of test. For me most of the questions are very difficult to answer clearly one way or the other. So I took the advice in the instructions and tried to just answer and not think about the questions. When the results came out I was equally a visual and auditory learner. I was a Watching but nearly equally split on Thinking Feeling. I was an INFJ - Introverted iNtuitive Feeling Judging, which the results say is a rare type. I am not sure what I learned from these tests. I knew I could learn either way, I found it helped during all my years of tutoring, I was able to figure out which way my students learned better and apply that method to them. It is currently helping with my children. I had already taken the Myer-Briggs (and got the same results) and have not figured out how it helps me – I guess I need to go back and reread the results a bit more carefully and see if I can find some more insight.

This week I have been thinking alot about teh differences in online and traditional learning. For me my career has been my children, I have 3 special needs children who need me to be flexible with my schedule. I would find it very difficult if not impossible to take more than one or two classes a semester if I did not have the advantage of all my classes being online. I can schedule my time for school work around teacher conferences, ARD’s, doctor appointments, and PTA volunteer work. This gives me the power to do what I must to reach a point to support my family next year without sacrificing what my family needs right now. Online learning is an awesome thing for me now. However without traditional learning I would have never have met my husband and I would not have this beautiful family. So each learning style has its place in the world of academia.