Thursday, June 4, 2015
The Perils and Promises of Praise
The Perils and Promises of Praise
by Carol S. Dweck
Retrived at http://www.chabotelementary.org/docs/growth_mindsets_dweck-praise-effort.pdf
This article tells us that it is better to praise the efforts students have made rather than to praise students' intelligence. An effort-based learning is a key aspect of a growth mindset.
Growth mindset & Fixed mindset
A growth mindset is essential for students to take challenges and make progress.
Students with fixed mindset think their intelligence is the key to whether they can be successful. They are afraid of challenges because failure would prove that they don't have high intelligence. Students with growth mindset deem that their efforts are the key to success and their intelligence can be increased through their efforts. When facing challenges, they are less afraid to lose and they have confidence to overcome challenges through making more efforts.
The first online game I designed
The program I designed through Scratch:
Little Game:
Homesick Cody
https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/56519786/
Little Story:
Little Octopus and Super Hippo
https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/54965792/
All the elements were drawn and coded by me.
Code Yourself!-An Introduction to Programming
This is the first course I took on Coursera. It's an interesting and easy course. In the lecturer videos, there is an immediate question after each important knowledge point to check if learners have mastered it and it's not scored. The video will continue if the right choice is made. I find this immediate formative assessment is very effective to engage learners and help learners to be focused and get the important points. I used to just ignore the discussion forum as the messages are overwhelming, but I find it's helpful as I got responses and help from other classmates everytime I posed a question (Maybe my questions were just lucky enough to have the attention from other classmates who have more expertise). Apart from the weekly quizzes, we have two peer assessment projects. With the rubric, we need to evaluate at least three projects of other classmates.
Little Game:
Homesick Cody
https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/56519786/
Little Story:
Little Octopus and Super Hippo
https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/54965792/
All the elements were drawn and coded by me.
Code Yourself!-An Introduction to Programming
This is the first course I took on Coursera. It's an interesting and easy course. In the lecturer videos, there is an immediate question after each important knowledge point to check if learners have mastered it and it's not scored. The video will continue if the right choice is made. I find this immediate formative assessment is very effective to engage learners and help learners to be focused and get the important points. I used to just ignore the discussion forum as the messages are overwhelming, but I find it's helpful as I got responses and help from other classmates everytime I posed a question (Maybe my questions were just lucky enough to have the attention from other classmates who have more expertise). Apart from the weekly quizzes, we have two peer assessment projects. With the rubric, we need to evaluate at least three projects of other classmates.
Vocaroo: a convenient online oral recording tool
Learners and educational context:
College students of first-year Chinese language learners
Instructional issue/problem:
I would like my students to do oral recording to improve their speaking and to share with each other
and provide feedback. I would like to use an easy and convenient oral recording tool which does not
require my students to install software or sign up. Audacity is a good oral recording and editing tool, but it's too complicated and time-consuming for students, and the file has to be uploaded to share.
Recording with phones would have format issues that some files need to have certain audio player to
play it, and the file has to be uploaded to share. With other online oral recording tools, students
will have to register for an account.
The Web 2.0 tool to solve the problem:
Vocaroo http://vocaroo.com/
Features of Vocaroo:
Vocaroo is an online oral recording tool which does not require sign up. It is easy to record with just one click. After recording and clicking Save, a link to the audio will be provided. The link can be copied to paste on the place where the instrutor indicated and it can be emailed. It also comes with sharing function that students can share it on Facebook, Twitter, pinterest, etc, just by clicking the symbols.
College students of first-year Chinese language learners
Instructional issue/problem:
I would like my students to do oral recording to improve their speaking and to share with each other
and provide feedback. I would like to use an easy and convenient oral recording tool which does not
require my students to install software or sign up. Audacity is a good oral recording and editing tool, but it's too complicated and time-consuming for students, and the file has to be uploaded to share.
Recording with phones would have format issues that some files need to have certain audio player to
play it, and the file has to be uploaded to share. With other online oral recording tools, students
will have to register for an account.
The Web 2.0 tool to solve the problem:
Vocaroo http://vocaroo.com/
Features of Vocaroo:
Vocaroo is an online oral recording tool which does not require sign up. It is easy to record with just one click. After recording and clicking Save, a link to the audio will be provided. The link can be copied to paste on the place where the instrutor indicated and it can be emailed. It also comes with sharing function that students can share it on Facebook, Twitter, pinterest, etc, just by clicking the symbols.
Tagul, Wordle, or Tagxedo?Which do you prefer to make a word cloud?
1. What skills (e.g. image-editing, programming) do you need to have before using this tool?
No advanced skills are needed.
2. What resources (e.g. email address, contact information, microphone, camera) do you need to have before using this tool?
For Tagul, you have to sign up with an email address, or log in with existed Google or Facebook.
For Wordle and Tagxedo, you can create a word cloud directly on the web without logging in.
3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using this tool in a teaching/training environment?
Wordle and Tagxedo are faster and easier to create a word cloud than Tagul. However, the Java for Wordle is really inconvenient. It was frustrating when I tried Wordle for the first time that the wordcloud can not be created and I thought there was something wrong with my laptop, later finding out that I would have to install a Java.
Tagul is more fancy as it offers various fun shapes and you can upload new shapes. Tagxedo also has fancy shapes, but you can not upload new shapes. The single words in Tagul word cloud can be editted with different colors, size, font, and angles, which is not possible with Wordle and Tagxedo. Tagul has animation features, which the other two don't have. Wordle and Tagxedo word cloud can be saved easily to computer, but Tagul word cloud can not be saved to computer, which is a drawback of Tagul.
4.How would you use this tool in your classroom/institution/organization?
I once used Tagxedo to create word cloud of my students' names and insert it in the course page of Moodle. It makes the page more active, beautiful, and pleasant to eyes. More importantly, it increases the attachment of students and the professor as students will feel how creative the professor is for making the word cloud and this is a way to show that the professor cares about the students. The word cloud with all the names is also a symble to show the whole class is a unity.
Word cloud can be used to show the most important key words when input a web link or a passage.
Word cloud can be used as a creative reflection tool. Professors can ask the students to create a word cloud with the words that they think are most important or most impressive for the content they have learned.
Here is a comment by CHEAH SIN MOH
I am currently using Answer Garden, recommended by Dr. Thomas Chai. I had earlier tried with Wordle, Tagxedo and Tagul. I needed a program that can generate Word Cloud based on input from various users. I found this feature in Answer Garden. It is very easy to use and it is free. You can always create your own Answer Garden and a link is provided. You embed this link in any document, for example, I embed mine in a web site created using Weebly. Anyone who click on the link will be brought to my Answer Garden where they can enter words into the text box. Click submit and we are done. I intend to use Answer Garden to capture keywords on topics that my students found most difficult to understand and plan a revision class sometime during either the MST week or the June term break. Tested it out with Dr.Thomas Chai to ensure that it works, and it did!
No advanced skills are needed.
2. What resources (e.g. email address, contact information, microphone, camera) do you need to have before using this tool?
For Tagul, you have to sign up with an email address, or log in with existed Google or Facebook.
For Wordle and Tagxedo, you can create a word cloud directly on the web without logging in.
3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using this tool in a teaching/training environment?
Wordle and Tagxedo are faster and easier to create a word cloud than Tagul. However, the Java for Wordle is really inconvenient. It was frustrating when I tried Wordle for the first time that the wordcloud can not be created and I thought there was something wrong with my laptop, later finding out that I would have to install a Java.
Tagul is more fancy as it offers various fun shapes and you can upload new shapes. Tagxedo also has fancy shapes, but you can not upload new shapes. The single words in Tagul word cloud can be editted with different colors, size, font, and angles, which is not possible with Wordle and Tagxedo. Tagul has animation features, which the other two don't have. Wordle and Tagxedo word cloud can be saved easily to computer, but Tagul word cloud can not be saved to computer, which is a drawback of Tagul.
4.How would you use this tool in your classroom/institution/organization?
I once used Tagxedo to create word cloud of my students' names and insert it in the course page of Moodle. It makes the page more active, beautiful, and pleasant to eyes. More importantly, it increases the attachment of students and the professor as students will feel how creative the professor is for making the word cloud and this is a way to show that the professor cares about the students. The word cloud with all the names is also a symble to show the whole class is a unity.
Word cloud can be used to show the most important key words when input a web link or a passage.
Word cloud can be used as a creative reflection tool. Professors can ask the students to create a word cloud with the words that they think are most important or most impressive for the content they have learned.
Here is a comment by CHEAH SIN MOH
I am currently using Answer Garden, recommended by Dr. Thomas Chai. I had earlier tried with Wordle, Tagxedo and Tagul. I needed a program that can generate Word Cloud based on input from various users. I found this feature in Answer Garden. It is very easy to use and it is free. You can always create your own Answer Garden and a link is provided. You embed this link in any document, for example, I embed mine in a web site created using Weebly. Anyone who click on the link will be brought to my Answer Garden where they can enter words into the text box. Click submit and we are done. I intend to use Answer Garden to capture keywords on topics that my students found most difficult to understand and plan a revision class sometime during either the MST week or the June term break. Tested it out with Dr.Thomas Chai to ensure that it works, and it did!
Zoho Docs VS Google Drive
Zoho Docs and Google Drive are good tools for collaboration on projects.
No advanced skills are needed to have before using these two tools.
An email address will be needed to register for Zoho Docs and a Gmail address will be needed for Google Drive.
I would recommend Google Drive as it has better features.The following is my comparison of Zoho Docs and Google Drive.
Similarities:
Differences:
References:
https://www.zoho.com/docs/features.html
https://www.google.com/drive/using-drive/
https://www.zoho.com/docs/zoho-docs-pricing.html
https://www.google.com/drive/using-drive/
https://support.google.com/drive/answer/2494827?hl=en
No advanced skills are needed to have before using these two tools.
An email address will be needed to register for Zoho Docs and a Gmail address will be needed for Google Drive.
I would recommend Google Drive as it has better features.The following is my comparison of Zoho Docs and Google Drive.
Similarities:
- Both can share files and collaborate on the same project with users or non-users
- Both are available through web browser and mobile apps
- Both can sync files and folders on the web and desktop
- Both can be downloaded and installed in the computer and work off-line
- Both work with Word document, Spreadsheets, Slides, Polls (Forms)
- Both support many languages
Differences:
- Zoho offers 5 GB free storage, but Drive offers 15 GB free storage.
- Zoho allows 25 users to collaborate, but Drive allows 50 people to edit or comment on a document, spreadsheet, presentation, or drawing at the same time.
- Drive has Drawings function, but Zoho Docs does not have Drawings.
- Zoho Docs can be integrated with Dropbox, Google Drive, and Zoho Mail to extend document management. Drive does not integrate with other applications, but there are over 100 Drive Apps.
- Drive is encrypted using SSL, but Zoho is not encrypted.
- Drive app can scan paper documents and store them instantly as PDFs, but Zoho does not have scan function.
References:
https://www.zoho.com/docs/features.html
https://www.google.com/drive/using-drive/
https://www.zoho.com/docs/zoho-docs-pricing.html
https://www.google.com/drive/using-drive/
https://support.google.com/drive/answer/2494827?hl=en
Jing Reflection
- What skills (e.g. image-editing, programming) do you need to have before using this tool?
- What resources (e.g. email address, contact information, microphone, camera) do you need to have before using this tool?
- What are the advantages and disadvantages of using this tool in a teaching/training environment?
Disadvantages: The video can only be within 5 minutes. When using Jing and Powerpoint slides to capture videos, the animations and transitions sometimes are not reflected smoothly. The editing function for the captured picture is limited, with only simply marking functions available.
- How would you use this tool in your classroom/institution/organization?
Hootsuite is not as convenient as I thought
Hootsuite is a platform where you can access different social media including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc., in the same place. However, the homepages of other media can be viewed, but Facebook homepage can not be viewed there.
I heard about this social media management tool and installed it this morning, but I removed the account soon after I found out that the Facebook homepage does not show on it, thus I would still have to log into my Facebook account. I would not recommend Hootsuite if you also care about this.
I heard about this social media management tool and installed it this morning, but I removed the account soon after I found out that the Facebook homepage does not show on it, thus I would still have to log into my Facebook account. I would not recommend Hootsuite if you also care about this.
Developing a Personal Learning Plan (PLP)
Developing a Personal Learning Plan:
https://d396qusza40orc.cloudfront.net/newtechtools/UH%20PLP%20Handbook.pdf
The course I have taken on Coursera:
Powerful Tools for Teaching and Learning: Web 2.0 Tools
I have learned a variety of Web 2.0 tools through this course and my knowledge in what tools to implement for instructional issues has increased. The idea of combining 21st Century Skills and Web 2.0 tools is great. I also like the lifelong learning module of this course. Lifelong learning has been an ever-lasting theme for people who want to make continuous progress and keep updated, especially in this explosive information era where things change rapidly.
This course has provided abundant resourses. However, sometimes too much means nothing, if we don't know what to select and focus. Technology should only be the tool which serves education rather than the purpose. Too much exploration of Web 2.0 tools without the instructional issue in mind won't yield good results. One of my deep feelings about my experience of this course is that I seem to have learned a lot, but when I ask what tools I have learned, I only remember few that I have been using since before this course. The reason is that many of the tools I explored are not implemented for specific instructional issue or personal use, so my understanding of them is very superficial. If we just keep exploring various Web 2.0 tools without having the purpose in mind or implementing them, we may just have wasted our time. In my future learning and exploration of Web 2.0 tools, I will focus on the instructional issue or educational needs and learn Web 2.0 tools purposefully to solve issues.
My personal learning plan is as follows:
1. Follow pioneers in educational technology field through Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, and Websites. My twitter account is LiCheng1012. I have been building my personal learning network through Twitter.
2. Learn from my classmates, colleagues, professors, and the instructional technologist and other technology persons in my university after I start school this Fall.
3. Read academic literature in educational technology field and keep updated about new trends.
4. Implement available and appropriate Web 2.0 tools to facilitate my teaching. Doing is the best learning.
5. Write reflections and do action research on Web 2.0 tools as much as I can.
6. Attend academic conferences in educational technology and try to publish papers.
7. Continue taking courses on Coursera and Lynda.com
https://d396qusza40orc.cloudfront.net/newtechtools/UH%20PLP%20Handbook.pdf
The course I have taken on Coursera:
Powerful Tools for Teaching and Learning: Web 2.0 Tools
I have learned a variety of Web 2.0 tools through this course and my knowledge in what tools to implement for instructional issues has increased. The idea of combining 21st Century Skills and Web 2.0 tools is great. I also like the lifelong learning module of this course. Lifelong learning has been an ever-lasting theme for people who want to make continuous progress and keep updated, especially in this explosive information era where things change rapidly.
This course has provided abundant resourses. However, sometimes too much means nothing, if we don't know what to select and focus. Technology should only be the tool which serves education rather than the purpose. Too much exploration of Web 2.0 tools without the instructional issue in mind won't yield good results. One of my deep feelings about my experience of this course is that I seem to have learned a lot, but when I ask what tools I have learned, I only remember few that I have been using since before this course. The reason is that many of the tools I explored are not implemented for specific instructional issue or personal use, so my understanding of them is very superficial. If we just keep exploring various Web 2.0 tools without having the purpose in mind or implementing them, we may just have wasted our time. In my future learning and exploration of Web 2.0 tools, I will focus on the instructional issue or educational needs and learn Web 2.0 tools purposefully to solve issues.
My personal learning plan is as follows:
1. Follow pioneers in educational technology field through Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, and Websites. My twitter account is LiCheng1012. I have been building my personal learning network through Twitter.
2. Learn from my classmates, colleagues, professors, and the instructional technologist and other technology persons in my university after I start school this Fall.
3. Read academic literature in educational technology field and keep updated about new trends.
4. Implement available and appropriate Web 2.0 tools to facilitate my teaching. Doing is the best learning.
5. Write reflections and do action research on Web 2.0 tools as much as I can.
6. Attend academic conferences in educational technology and try to publish papers.
7. Continue taking courses on Coursera and Lynda.com
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