Susan Tolivar -- The 513 Challenge

Hello Everyone!

I am excited to be taking EdTech 513.  I have been looking forward to this course.  

I am a mom, but my two children are all grown up (at least physically).  I love spending time with them when they visit.  My cat, Calvin, keeps me company all the other times.  I have been teaching for over 14 years, and will be finishing my M.E.T. program next Spring.  I am, what we call in Virginia, an ITRT (Instructional Technology Resource Teacher), which means that I train and coach teachers on the integration of technology into their instruction, as well as provide them with resources.  

Originally from New Orleans, I've lived in Virginia for five years.  I will be moving to northern Virginia from the southeastern part of the Commonwealth in just a few weeks.  Right now, my hobbies include packing, more packing, driving more than two and a half hours to look for a place to live (in my spare time), finishing out my present contract, and more packing.

My biggest hurdle this semester will be figuring out how I am going to complete my assignments for the next few weeks without Internet access.  Tomorrow I am turning in my work phone which gives me Internet access, and there is no place within miles of my house that has high-speed access.  

I do not know what I will be producing, but it should be very interesting for me!  I will have to take a short trip just to do coursework.  I suppose it will turn out all right; at least I hope so.

Good luck to all, and I look forward to learning with you!

Brian Querry - Intro to 513

My name is Brian Querry. I am entering my 14th year as a music teacher just outside of Pittsburgh, PA (go Steelers!). I have taught every subject area and grade level during my time, most recently focusing on middle school general music and multimedia. For next school year, I will be heading back to the rehearsal room, as I will direct middle school and high school bands. I also advise the award-winning middle school tv station and several extra-curricular bands. Outside of school, I run a small multimedia production company and direct music at my church.

I have thoroughly enjoyed all of the classes I've taken so far, as I pursue my M.E.T. degree. The assignments and projects have all been very relevant, enjoyable, and applicable in my own classroom. I look forward to this semester and learning even more ways to incorporate technology not just as a tool, but as a powerful learning instrument.

Crazy, Hazy, Days of Summer School 2011

I live in Riggins, Idaho - a remote town at the confluence of the main and little Salmon Rivers which lies on US highway 95 just north of the 45th parallel. I teach grades 7-12 whatever subjects the district needs in a given year. Most subjects range from math to computers to graphics to economics. I also perform grant writing, IT, and Powerschool Administrator duties, so I'm used to multiple roles.
My husband and I are advanced EMTs and licensed foster parents. We became parents for the first time three years ago and have two lovely daughters age 18 and 14, whom we adopted after having them in our home as foster children for two years.
I love what I do, and I love where I live. The exciting thing about online education is that it can be taught from ANYWHERE! We live in amazing times and I consider it an honor to be able to take this class.

Initial Class Posting

Hi, my name is Chris Schinzel.  I am a graduate student at Boise State University.  I am seeking my Master's in Special Education and hope to teach middle school or high school someday in an extended resource room.  I am currently teaching summer school at an elementary school in Boise and working full-time as a volunteer staff at the Boys & Girls Club of Boise.  I really enjoy working at a Title One school and volunteering at the Boys & Girls Club.  I like working with youth that are not as privileged as most.  I am hoping that this class, in addition to fulfilling my elective credits, will teach me to better incorporate technology in my teaching and give me more experience to use it for my leisure time as well.  I enjoy backpacking, volleyball, exercising, and the outdoors.  I am excited to see what the semester will bring.

LaTrelle: Sharing Knowledge

My name is LaTrelle Walker I have an undergraduate degree in Instructional Systems Design and I am nearing the completion of the EDTECH M.E.T. program. I am taking most of my electives in the areas of multimedia and gaming as I currently am working in that arena. I look forward to learning many new tricks from the 513 group. In my job I am an Instructional designer for the Army and I am responsible for digital training product development with a special emphasis on gaming and its integration into traditional curriculum and dL courseware. One of my life philosophies is to stay hungry (not physically, but mentally). As far as my career is concerned this means to stay on the edge of emerging technologies, continually developing strategies for integration to improve products. Additionally I love exchanging knowledge and networking with others.

Another Summer!

This another summer semester for me in the Edtech program and hoping this will be my last. My goal is to graduate this fall semester. Being new to education as well as e-learning, it has been quite an eye-opening experience for me. I've been involved with training throughout my military career but it was mostly "this is your course, you're the instructor, now teach." When I would have questions on methodolgies or effectiveness, it was always "well, its this way because we've always done it that way." I found myself wanting to change the whole course to what I thought would be a more effective course which I'm not sure was very healthy for my students or my career.

Working throughout my Edtech online program, I have learned (sometimes the hard way) that two things have to be continual, both with the learner and the instructor. One being organization and the other time management. I'm (admittedly) not the most organized person when under tight deadlines and "life" is extremely busy. The program has and I hope this class will continue to force me to focus on and prioritize pending projects with things going on outside of class. I'm not using most of what I have learned within the Edtech program as of yet so I hope this class will allow me to continue to utilize my newly acquired skills learned in previous classes.

Time management has been another skill that I've been forced to relearn. I am a extremely good at multi-tasking different projects at once, but I have a tendency of getting focused on one aspect of a given project. I find myself getting up from the computer after spending 4 or 5 hours working on one part of the project and then realizing that other parts are needing to be completed - on time. One thing I have learned to combat this is to take more frequent breaks and "walking away" from the project for a while and that normally refocuses me on the whole project - not just one part of it.

I'm truly looking forward to this semester so that I can further practice and learn new skills for my new career. I look forward to working and getting to know the class as we move quickly through the material.

Werner and Multimedia 513

Hi.

I'm currently living and working in Istanbul Turkey at Istanbul International Community School. I teach secondary Music and TOK (Its like a philosophy course for grades 11-12). My time is pretty evenly split between teaching applied music (Bands, Orchestras, Choirs) and academic music (Music history, theory, listening). I've always been interested in technology and melding it into a networked system. To improve the academic side of my students experience I want to flip my classes so that any lecture type lessons I give become interactive videos or web sites that kids can explore at their own pace. That way class time will be freed up for guided practice. The general vision is flipping it so that "homework" happens in class and "lessons" happen at home. I'm interested in this class helping me to realize this vision. Glad to know all of you and hope to get to know everyone better over the next 8 weeks.

Best

Karl

J. Dowell 513 Intro

My name is Jessica Dowell and I am taking 513: Multimedia as an elective course towards my k-12 online teaching certificate as part of the MET program at BSU. I hope to further my skills and abilities using multimedia in my daily teaching. The thought of using new and different technologies to grab my students' attention is very attractive and I am hoping that I will be able to apply many of the projects that I will create to enhance my teaching.

EDTECH 513: Intro

I enrolled in this course to learn about the different ways that I can apply technology to learning. As an IT major with 14 years in the computer field I love technology and I love challenging myself. I don't really have experience in teaching but my goal is to become director of an online program for a College or University. I have a new job as a Senior Peoplesoft Consultant and PeopleSoft is a very popular product in the HigherED arena. I'm hoping to use what I've learned during my time at Boise to work my way into the HigherED group to further enhance my skills. What I lack in experience I make up for with effort. Dr. Hall is wonderful and I'm fortunate to have a third class with her. I look forward to learning as much as I can.

Seeking Further Integration

I am taking this class as part of my electives in the MET program. I am very excited about continuing my education in multimedia. I am an English teacher, and I love to integrate technology whenever I can. I am blessed to have a district that values technology and 21st Century skills. Most of my classes are in a blended environment, but I am hoping that this course will provide me with some new methods and expand my pedagogy as I seek to integrate technology to create an engaging learning experience for my students.

Why Am I Here?

As an online teacher for elementary and intermediate students, I am always looking for ways to integrate technology with our curriculum. I am excited to take this course so I can learn new ways to present, teach and share with the students, parents and colleagues I work with. This is brand new territory for me, so I have a lot to learn. However, I'm taking this during summer so I can bring this fresh perspective into the fall and new school year. I look forward to working with all of you!

Benefits of Multimedia

In my core classes, I've learned a variety of theories and principles related to multiple learning modes. It has been shown that auditory and visual components work together to more effectively engage learners and aid the movement of new information into long-term memory. Using these principles, I have designed courses in Captivate and Articulate. I am taking this course to learn how to better put these concepts into practice using new tools. I want to make sure those that I am training receive real benefits of multimedia through my curriculum.

Albrecht: Intro

I have been teaching English (mostly grade 11) since 1997, but I made my first foray into educational technology back in 1995, when I worked as an editor for an educational software publisher. It was then that I was introduced to multimedia, but I have never worked hard to integrate multimedia into all of my instruction and learning materials.

I am looking forward to discovering resources, building skills, and understanding the why, the when, and the how of integrating multimedia to enhance instruction and student learning.

Fun at BSU EDTECH 513!

I have taught online math courses for about eleven years. I am looking forward to actually being certified to do what I do. I am looking forward to learning new things that will help me jazz up my online courses. I am also working for a non-profit foundation called Dream Realizations - a company working to help students finally understand math. I assist them with their online educational materials.
Anna-Marie Robertson

Edtech 513 - Summer 11: Introduction

I choose to take this course because I feel it is imperative to make your lessons intriguing to learners in order to make it effective. There is no better way to do that then to create captivating multimedia tools. So, I hope to gain the knowledge and know how on creating effective multimedia tools.

Introduction

I'm really looking forward to this course. I am really looking forward to picking up some new skills that I can use with my teaching and future endeavors.

Why EDTECH 513

Why EDTECH 513

Greetings to all.

Hello everyone. I am looking forward to this class and learning from everyone involved. I just wrapped up our last day of school and summer is in full effect.

Ready to Go!

I know it will be intense, but I'm looking forward to the ride!