Summative Reflection
- 1. Summative Reflection: PLE: The PLE was definitely the most helpful part of the project. It’s always a hassle trying to go back and find your sources when you need to review them, but the PLE made it simple and put everything in one place. There was no need to go hunting around the internet again because everything we needed was right there. It will make any future things it’s implemented with a lot easier. (Wish we had it for the I-‐ Search) RSS feed: The RSS feed would have been a lot more helpful if our topic lent itself to it. Things that came up in the RSS feed were more about political battles going on instead of the things we needed. It was very easy to use and maneuver and set up, but it didn’t gather very helpful information. Scoop.it: Scoop.it had to be the least helpful platform we used, but once again it had to do with our topic. I heard other students say it scooped wonderful information, but it seemed to just want to scoop stories about the Kardashians. It was a tad bit confusing at first to get working; however, it was pretty simple after that. Scoop.it would definitely be helpful given a better topic. Videos/Interviews/Documentaries: The use of video formats added a lot to the project because we were able to get a more first hand view on the topic. There were a few good videos we found, especially one about Mossad. The videos and documentaries are able to take the project out of the realm of straight research and bring a personal touch to it, which makes it a lot more interesting. Searching YouTube is a breeze and a lot of times there are actual documentaries uploaded in parts. Audios: Audios helped a lot especially with the research on MI6. There was a great radio broadcast that was first aired in 2010 to mark the 100-‐year anniversary of the agency. That audio included interviews with past MI6 agents who spoke briefly about some of their missions. Once again, just like the video formats, audio formats add a lot to the project as well and aren’t difficult to come across. They can sometimes be more difficult to embed, but even that can be avoided by just putting a link to the audio source in the project. Wikispace: Wikispace seemed to be the most neglected of all the platforms. It seemed to be less for the students and more for the sanity of Ms. Lobitz and Mrs. Host, which is perfectly fine. The website was one of the most difficult to figure out and probably one of the least helpful user interfaces. Sometimes the e-‐mails to sign up were never sent, and once you were signed in a lot of the time buttons within the website wouldn’t work or things wouldn’t save. It’s nice having Wikispace now so everything that is needed is right there on the template and ready to have a link put with it, but besides that it didn’t seem very helpful.
- 2. Wordpress: Wordpress is the least user-‐friendly blogging interface. It was actually a little difficult at first to figure out how you go about posting a new blog post. Of course, once everything was figured out it was pretty easy, but it was another website, like the Wikispace, that was finicky when signing up. Sometimes the e-‐ mails didn’t send or just wouldn't let people sign up. It got the job done, though, which is all that really matters. Tumblr would act as a better blogging interface because it’s easy to follow other blogs that have to do with your topic, and it’s just very user-‐friendly. The school just blocked Tumblr this year, though, so I guess Wordpress will have to do. Prezi: Prezi gives you a cool finished product but is THE WORST when you’re making it. Things start spinning, zooming, disappearing, buttons pop up that you don’t want. I don’t think there is a more frustrating thing to use. The end result though is so cool. It’s like a PowerPoint, but so much better which is what makes the annoying process pretty much worth it. Voice Thread: I didn’t use Voice Thread, so I can’t speak about it. I thoroughly enjoyed this experience. It mixed the perfect amount of guidelines and direction with freedom. We weren’t just given a deadline and told to come up with any sort of product by that day; we had certain criteria and ways to execute our final product but weren’t limited to just one thing. It’s always nice to have some leniency when it comes to larger scale projects because then you’re not stuck doing something that you find utterly boring for a long period of time. There weren’t a bunch of deadlines during the process, which made it stress-‐free. I was able to just come in, sit down, and research my topic without having to worry about having certain things finished by certain days. (Except the final product of course) I loved having all the new technology, but I would literally have not been able to finish the project if I was expected to use the school computers. Next time you should really welcome the idea of students bringing in their own technology. It makes it a lot easier to have your own computer with you, especially since it doesn’t go through the school’s finicky server. Prezi is even compatible with iPad’s, so they don’t even have to bring in their full computer. The initial explanation could be made clearer. I have a feeling that will remedy itself once Ms. Lobitz gets more comfortable with the technology. Everyone was just in about six different places at once causing a lot of chaos. Maybe just introduce one website at a time instead of throwing three at the students, having them sign up, and then not really explaining anything from there.