Forest Farewell

It's hard to think that next week the forest rendezvous will be over - what a phenomenal climb! I'll leave this class enriched by my classmates, more well-versed in Web tools and feeling more confident to tackle future technology adventures.

What I liked...

• -Getting my feet wet into the different Web tools.
• -Creating a blog and screencast.
• -Learning from colleagues.
• -The selected How To videos.

What I didn't...

1. Feeling like a bug, buzzing around to collect all the information on a weekly topic. It was difficult to be in a self-guided course as an absolute beginner.


2. Receiving little to no feedback from the course on work products. Because I'd like to do more Web-related projects professionally, I would like to know what's good and how the work can improve, along with see best-practice examples.


3. Timing on topics. I wish there were less time spent on the more familiar topics (Google Earth) and more time spent on the less familiar topics (casting). I wanted more on podcasting, which was in the course objectives.

What I recommend for improvement...

1. Create a weekly lecture on each Web tool. What is it? How is it being used in the classroom? Some of the problems with it? Best practice examples.


2. Comments of student work projects. What's good about the project? What are the areas that need improvement?


3. More depth on some topics. Splitting the weeks, giving you half a week on a less involved Web tool and a week and a half on something more involved to improve learning exploration time.

What I'll use...

• The VideoThread and Screencast Web tools for science classroom work.
• Aggregators for professional development.
• Blog for personal science education initiatives.

Ultimately, I enjoyed my climb and am more familiar with my climbing gear. But, I am still feeling like a beginner and know I have a lot of climbing practice hours to put in to improve my techniques. My guiding principles are helping me keep a focused path though. And upon review, I couldn't agree with my principles more...

And so, forest friends, I thank for all your wonderful climbing suggestions. I have learned so much from you and hope to stay in "the woods" with you going forward.

But for now, from my tree to yours, farewell...