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:
For some strange reason, Blogger rejected the link to my course, so you will have to access from here: Thank you.
ReplyDeletehttp://lms.myudutu.com/LMSGadget/courses/lms/21501/Course38457/2313/v2010_8_1_15_40_59/course/Course38457.html
The link is accessible from our class GoogleDoc, or via copy and paste into your web browser.
ReplyDeleteI found your UDUTU interesting, with this ever changing world of technology there so many children that never get the true definition of Blogging. Sure they may set up a blog and or discuss, or should I say gossip, on a blog. When there is an actual purpose for a blog it can be a great educational tool. Your blog was informative and educational, the assessments were a bit confusing because of many different choices you had but I got over it. Good job Nat.
ReplyDeleteHey, Pedro. Thank you for your feedback. It was helpful. I guess knowing the in's and out's of my AR would help tie in to what I was trying to assess in the course. When I'm Udutu savvy, assessments will be clear.
ReplyDeleteI also had the pleasure of examining your Udutu course. Pedro, you have such a knack for creativity in media, that your ideas maybe overwhelm you. What I mean is, you want to try a bit of everything (because you can do it and you're just so good at it!) Simplifying the media creations and narrowing down your thoughts is all you may need to do. Each time we have these kinds of projects, I know you're going to come up with something great because this is your talent. I hope what I've added is somewhat helpful.
I have learned so much from you throughout this entire course and have been challenged to push myself more because of the quality work that I've seen you do! Keep up the great work!
Nat