Sunday, August 1, 2010

Wk 4 UdutuProject


My Udutu project is centered around my AR which is to improve communication among athletic coaches and their players. I am a High School basketball coach and I have already created a website through webs.com for the sole purpose of extending myself socially to my players. Part of the research centers around using this means to build cohesion as a team to curb (maybe eliminate) drop-out behavior (kids quitting the team) due to negative experiences with coaches. So when viewing my course, please bear in mind that it caters to student-athletes who are new to social network sites such as this and who may be unfamiliar with how to manuever. I regret that I didn't create a glossary for some of the popular web 2.0 terminology that I used in the course. Many students are familiar with a lot of the terms for the portals, etc., but may not really know what they're purpose is. And that's where the educational part of it comes in.

So now I've been shouting "Hallelujah" because I'm finally done creating this course! I must confess: this has been the most challenging I've ever faced. I was skeptical when I realized that "I" would have to create my own course... I don't like doing these kinds of things because of the great labor and toil I know that projects such as these take... yet, this assignment exceeded my expectations! I'm sure I have spent over 2 full days (evening and morning) trying to first, familiarize myself with the interface, view the thousands of related videos and tutorials, and stressing about how I was going to put my thoughts together. It was a long, laborious experience and my brain truly has had its share of exercise handling the mental, physical, and some emotional strain I've felt during this process. And after all of that, my project is really just mediocre..! In time, I believe I will be able to produce a masterpiece, but I expect double the length of time I put in for this one!

From organizing my outline, to locating the URL to my finished work, no accomplishments came easy for me during this experience. Maybe I put a little bit too much pressure on myself, but it really took me a while to really understand the purpose for Udutu for me as an educator. And that might have been because I am not accustomed to creating courses in the first place since I've only taught Kindergarten. After acquiring my new found knowledge, I came to appreciate Udutu and the masterminds who created it. It is very deep in its wealth of information. What I've done merely scratched the surface, that's what I mean. It was like reaching my hand in a jar full of bubble gum, only to come out with one piece... There is so much more to know about this great educational tool.

I commend the work of my peers who have demonstrated expertise in skill and knowledge of the Udutu tool as a whole and making it work to their advantage. I've seen some awesome projects filled with creativity and neat stuff that I am challenged to revisit Udutu in the very near future to create an even more polished piece. I believe that I am privileged as a student to have such knowledge and endeavor as a forerunner, to produce quality courses for my students (and student-athletes) so they can have more challenging learning experiences.

Below is the link to my LMS:
I welcome your feedback and suggestions on how this can be improved:

My comments on Shanna Woods' Udutu project-Wk 4




Natalie said...
@ Shanna
I am so glad I viewed your Udutu project! It was quite educational and would make for a great Science lesson in any elementary ed. classroom! I learned so much from this. There are words here I've never pronounced before! (I need to go back to brush up on my "spheres" (but I did pass your assessment without cheating, by the way!) Nicely done.

AUGUST 1, 2010 3:08 PM

My comments on Carolyn Chew's Udutu project-Wk 4





NATALIE HOWARD
@ Carolyn
You picked a very interesting subject to do for your Udutu project! I learned so much in your lesson about something I thought I knew so much about. I always heard "yellow and blue make green" coming up as a kid, but neve knew what the others did! Thanks to your project, 30 years later I now have new found knowledge about colors!

Your Udutu skills are great! You obviously got the hang of it and produced a quality project! I like how you made the 4 screens roll. I also like how you used an advanced screen to create your assessment for your students. I'm working my way up to this level! Nice job!
SUNDAY, AUGUST 1, 2010 - 04:56 PM

My comments on Jodi Logan's Udutu project-Wk 4


Jodi, Jodi, Jodi... You have outdone yourself! You have a great Udutu project here! Considering that at first I despised SL, I must say that your project makes the product sell. I plan to take your course (seriously!) to brush up my SL skills. I still sorta stink at SL, but your course will help me improve. It's easy to follow and inviting.

That was cool how you used the videos of your peers (Joe & Shanna) in this project. Nice how your group is still working together! I hope you don't mind my saying, but on the page where your picture is & the details about your background, I was hoping to hear your voice to accompany the brightness of your photo. But in any case, I know you put a lot of time and effort into this work and it is commendable! It will benefit me, and others like me who were once intimidated by SL and who still need a bit more training. Thanks for this additional quality resource on SL.

My comments on Brian McMahon's Udutu project-Wk 4




Natalie Howard said...
Brian,
Let me be the first to say how DYNAMIC your Udutu project is: "Your project is dynamic!" How did you do that? WOW!! Obviously, you put a lot of time into your project and I believe your school and other educational arenas would benefit from it for many years to come.

I am amazed by your extensive work of art, creativity, detail, and of course, the plethora of historical information you provide for your students! You've also included humorous animations, sounds, and bright color to enhance the project. This is when learning is fun! (by the way, are you disguising your voice? LOL- I love that old Texan southern drawl! (That's what it is, right?)

I only dream of making productions like this! I must admit, I hated Flash and struggled with Udutu... Your work now makes me want to go back and revisit these media applications even more! This is an awesome example of art in education.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Howard_Natalie_Wk 3 Reading Activity 11-New CMS Directions


The Web is fascinating! We've graduated from 1.0, to 2.0, and maybe on the verge of 3.0... aka The Intelligent Web It's all intelligent isn't it? To be able to communicate all over the world in VLE's, PLE's, retrieving information as well as producing, is miraculous! The term Intelligent Web actually tags the newer and deeper advancements that the web is making in the near future with Semantic web systems--the web of data that is not a part of the web but we all use everyday... "The Semantic Web provides a common framework that allows data to be shared and reused across application, enterprise, and community boundaries. It is a collaborative effort led by W3C with participation from a large number of researchers and industrial partners." (Herman, 2009)

So simply put, the Semantic Web (Web 3.0 to be) offers a better web experience that provides data integration in various formats and locations to be compiled into one seamless application. (Herman, 2009) The strength of the Semantic web is derived from the data. Its all about acquiring and merging the data: These applications use all kinds of data; data that are on the Web somewhere, or data that is embedded in the page though not necessarily visible on the screen. Examples are microformats type annotation of the page, calendar data on the Web, tagged images or links stored on a web site, etc. And its all retrievable for the purpose of providing a deeper, more involved web experience that caters specifically to the user: the data inputter...


Just how much deeper can the web go? The future only holds the answer. The intelligence that has made the advancements so far are only paving the way for further advancements to be made. This betterment of the Web users online experience heavily depends upon RDF: Resource Description Framework, that has features that facilitate data merging. It is a standard model for data interchange on the web, and using this simple model, it allows structured and semi-structured data to be mixed, exposed, and shared across different applications. So there's stuff going on behind the scenes that we as users aren't even aware of! That stuff is communication among these "systems" that have their communication capability based on what "data" we feed into them. There's a lot going on out there in the WWW. I wonder what will happen in terms of the future possibilites of finalizing web 3.0. Our human intelligence has gotten us this far. Will it come to pass...?

References:

Herman, I. (2009). W3C Semantic web. W3C Semantic Web Frequently Asked Questions. Retrieved July 27, 2010 from http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/SW-FAQ#whrdf
W3C, 2010.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Week 2 project:Udutu setup


Model example: (Option 2)

1. Howard, Natalie
2. This lesson will teach users (players and parents) how to manuever through our new team website
3. Varsity Basketball 2010-2011 is a website I am creating using the free web tool: webs.com
4. ?
5. Deciding which template will be most suitable, but leaning toward the Self-directed scenario template
6.