Tag: edtech502

Ed Tech Master’s Degree: One Semester Completed!

I started yet another grad school journey this summer in June, beginning the Master in Educational Technology online program through Boise State University. I’ll also be completing a graduate certificate in Online Teaching for Adult Learners along the way.

The summer semester pretty much kicked me in the rear end — I don’t necessarily recommend taking 6 hours, right off the bat, in the summer semester, while working full-time. But I survived, had understanding co-workers, learned my limit, learned how to cope again with lack of sleep and full brain.

The projects, reflections, and readings of the program have all confirmed that this path was the next correct step in this journey called life.

If you want to follow my journey of learning, feel free to check out and read my Ed Tech Learning Log, a required blog for reflection on the classes I’m taking to help build a portfolio at the end of the program. I may occasionally cross-post here, but more often than not, will keep the two blogs separate.

Also, I designed and completed several learning activities for the Internet for Educators course (web design), which can all be found through this homepage. I designed many of these with a target audience for the librarians I work with.

The projects I created and designed included:

My goal from the ed tech program right now is not to end up in a classroom with K-12 students (not certified, anyway), or even a college classroom. It’s to continue working for an organization like where I’m at right now or another continuing education or professional development organization, developing training using online learning and blended learning tools. Or, it could be in Higher Ed working with faculty to develop online learning/blended learning/technology integration.

Also, the library is about lifelong learning. I’m hoping to learn ways to incorporate ed tech concepts into libraries to reach patrons at whatever learning level they want to be at.

Finally, one surprise from this program has been resurrecting my design skills that have remained dormant since high school web design and newspaper days. I still have a lot to learn, but it will be interesting to see what I get out of instructional design this fall. I sure enjoyed designing the final two projects in the web design course!

7 Things You Should Know about Personalized Digital Magazines

This post was shared on the forums during EdTech 502: The Internet is for Educators:

In the one of the latest Educause Learning Initiative (ELI)’s 7 Things You Should Know About series, ELI explores Personalized Digital Magazines (direct link to PDF document). These are tablet applications such as Flipboard, Zite, and Taptu that aggregate users’ social media network connections such as Twitter, Facebook, and Google Reader, transforming the information into an interactive magazine format. The guide answers several questions about the technology, including who’s using it, its implications, its downsides (including copyright questions), and its significance and provides a scenario for a student’s use of this technology in a college program.

I’ve actually heavily used Flipboard and Zite since getting an iPad, and found both apps to be quite useful in quickly getting through my social network streams. I don’t use them all the time, but it’s a different way to interact with the streams.

The ELI 7 Things You Should Know About series provides concise overviews of emerging technologies, especially in relation to their impact on higher education.

100 Informative & Inspiring YouTube Videos for Educators

This post was shared on the forums during EdTech 502: The Internet is for Educators:

If you need a weekend/new month starting pick-me-up, ideas for professional development, training, or student inspiration ice-breakers, you might find the videos on the list of 100 Informative and Inspiring YouTube Videos for Educators inspiring and useful. Several are TEDTalks, including several of my favorites by Sir Ken Robinson and Adora Svitak.

The videos cover the topics of creativity and learning, technology, philosophy and social studies, educational excellence, inspiration for teachers, science and math, language arts, special education, physical education, and business education and entrepreneurship.

They are focused for education, but really, they are for anyone interested in learning.

Finally, the Accredited Online Colleges blog that this resources if from, is full of great lists and resources about online technology, especially for education.