Online Fun begins! (Our first Moodle Class)

Well, our first online class came and went very quickly! I began the class by meeting with my class in the Moodle chat room for Group 1. I found out that Jim had to drop to class, but was happy to find out that we had a new member, Danielle! My group and I met with the class on the Tapped in site.

It was clear that people were struggling to get on using tapped in, but that was the purpose of the class; to "iron the wrinkles". I was nervous about our first chat, but overall I thought it went well. Before the class was over, while in groups I used my microphone/headset for the first time and it went well. Dr. S was very helpful to the class in setting up microphones, and reminding people of Nettiquette rules. We discussed as a class that groups would meet using whatever chat server was preferred as long as it had a log to keep track of time and group discussions. My group now consisting of, Colleen, Christy, and Danielle agreed to meet on Monday at 6:00. I am looking forward to our meeting already.

There was some confusion with assignments, but overall I think the class went very well. Christy was our facilitator for the evening. I am glad she volunteered so that I could get a better understanding of the facilitator's job before I take a turn. Christy's job was to "focus" our group conversation and be our representative during the class discussion. She explained our group name the Technology Rockstars and our motto: Building bridges to close the gaps. We chose this name and motto because we are all excited about technology and look forward to using technology in the classroom to help students succeed in the 21st century. I felt Christy did a great job with representing our group for the first night.

Our group meeting took place on Elluminate, which was quite an experience. I like elluminate because along with the chat rooms there is an interactive Whiteboard which is a great example of using Web 2.0. During our group discussion, we communicated well. When it was time to return to class everything went great. I know that my group is responsible for the first Power point presentation, and look forward to working with the others to create it.

By the end of the class, I felt more confident using Moodle and my microphone/headset. I look forward to actively participating in class using the microphone. Just today, I invested in a webcam to help me further my technological development (and complete HA 2). I can't wait to set up the cam and start learning how I can use it for myself and in the classroom! Look for my next blog describing who I am as an educator!