Interactive Timeline on circaVie - Reflection

This assignment was quite entertaining as I reflected on my relocation from South Carolina to Mississippi. It was not a difficult assignment to complete and was straightforward. Based on what I have learned so far in my IT minor, I would have to say that I do not see myself using this technology tool as much in the future. On the other hand, I can recall as a seventh grade science teacher when I taught a lesson on the invention of microscopes. I required my students to create a timeline depicting the various types of microscopes and the inventors. Maybe, if I ever return as a K-12 teacher, I will ask my students to use circaVie to construct their own timeline. By the way, I would ask students to construct a timeline as an activity to complete during their first week back from summer vacation.

Link to my circaVie: http://www.circavie.com/timelines/7c0ca7bb-e63d-5fbc-9ed3-b521526b1032

Personal Web Site - Reflection

This assignment is rated at the top of my all time favorite technology tools to use. It was a little time consuming because I had to plan everything out prior to creating the pages. After the planning phase, it was a matter of copying my document from MS Word and pasting it into Google Pages. This was extremely easy and user friendly. Furthermore, this project is a great marketing and PR tool to use when I go on job interviews. In fact, I can include a link on my CV so potential employers could access my Google Pages to learn more about me. Overall, I found this assignment to be very useful and something that I will continue to work with after I complete IT 648.

Link to Web site: http://jamathompson.googlepages.com/home

Web Blog - Reflection

I have prior experience constructing a personal blog. Therefore, I did not have many problems working on this assignment. Although, this was the very first time that I actually used BlogSpot to create my blog. I believe that in prior classes, I created several blogs using other websites. Anyway, I created the first posting to my blogfolio introducing myself and stating the purpose of having this blog. I think that this is an excellent technology tool to help me reflect on what I have done opposed to just totally forgetting it. Additionally, this blogfolio would help me in the future to remember some of the skills that I have acquired and to use those skills when I become an instructor. In other words, the blogfolio serves as evidence or documented proof that I have actually used various types of technology tools.

Web Searching - Reflection

The first of six assignments in IT 648 was a warm-up for future assignments. Usually, I spend my time researching on the traditional search engines. But for the sake of this assignment, I used Steve Yuen’s Ultimate Search Page. If you are efficient at researching on a particular search engine, then it should not be a problem using another search engine. I found this task to be straight forward and easy to locate various Web sites, college classmates, a professional organization, and a book author. Lastly, I was able to locate the specifications to software that I generally use in my graduate studies. Overall, I found this project as a general review to researching various topics on the Internet. I would rate this project on the easier end based on my research background and experience as a doctoral student. In the future, I could actually design a similar assignment to help students learn how to research. Based on their findings, I can determine if they are proficient or they would require additional tips in how to research on the Web.

Introduction to Blogfolio - Reflection

This assignment was more or less similar to the Introduction that I created as my first posting on the class discussion board. The purpose of this assignment was to formally introduce individuals who frequent my Blogfolio. For this assignment, I created an introduction that provides readers with my background, education, experiences, and interests. I believe that I could use this assignment in future classes. I can ask my students to construct their personal blog and post their responses to weekly open-ended, discussion questions. I would encourage students to respond to one another’s blogs and add their comments or questions. Upon viewing the students’ blogs, I can gain a perspective to determine whether or not they are grasping key concepts.

Introduction - Reflection

This was the very first task that I completed for IT 648. The purpose of this task was to formally introduce myself to my classmates and professor. Since this class is online, we did not have the privilege to introduce ourselves face-to-face. Therefore, this assignment served the same purpose. I created a short self-introduction regarding my educational background, current academic interests, current teaching settings, reason of taking IT 648, and what I hope to achieve from taking this course. Afterwards, I posted my response on the discussion board. This assignment was also used to help familiarize some of the students to the class discussion board.

Overview to James M. Thompson's IT 648 Blogfolio

Welcome! My name is James M. Thompson. I thank you for taking time to view my blogfolio entitled “James M. Thompson’s IT 648.” The purpose of this blogfolio is to serve as an electronic portfolio and to store artifacts that will be created during my time in Dr. Yuen’s IT 648:Telecommunications in Education course.

As you peruse this blogfolio, you can learn more about me and my background as an educator. I believe that each educator has a different song and testimony to share with others regarding how they stumbled into this wonderful career of education. Please take a moment to read my introduction prior to embarking into other elements found in this blogfolio.