Lake,+Emily


 * Module 1 Notes**
 * Write a short definition for the each of the following:
 * Open Educational Resources (OER)  - educational materials available online for free public use
 * Open Source - a type of software that allows for collaboration by others
 * Copyright - having exclusive rights to something you've created
 * Intellectual Property Rights - ideas a person has created - industrial property or copyright
 * Creative Commons - allows sharing and fosters creativity and knowledge through free tools
 * Public Domain - not or no longer restricted by copyright
 * CC Licenses - a way to grant copyright permissions to creative work in order to promote collaboration
 * Curriki - K-12 Open Curricula Community
 * Thinkfinity - free lesson plans & educational resources through the Verizon Foundation
 * Connexions - a place to view and share educational material where anyone may view or contribute
 * P2PU - Peer 2 Peer University - where people work together to learn a particular topic by completing tasks, assessing individual and group work, and providing constructive feedback
 * EPICEd - national online community of practice that provides a dynamic environment for educators to collaborate, share their expertise, and have access to resources
 * 21st Century Skills - combines focus on student outcomes with innovative support systems to help students master the multi-dimensional abilities required of them in the 21st century.
 * Wiki - allows users to freely create and edit Web page content
 * Merlot - Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching
 * Blog - a web site where you write stuff on an ongoing basis


 * Module 2 Notes**
 * Respond to the questions on this Google Form for your Module 2 notes.


 * Module 3 Notes**
 * Respond to the questions on this Google Form for your Module 3 notes.


 * Merlot Reflection** - I found Merlot to be a somewhat useful tool. While there is definitively an abundance of resources on the Merlot site, I didn't find the content builder to be as intuitive as I was hoping. In the future, I think I would continue to use it if some of my colleagues whom I share content with used it as well. Otherwise, I don't think I would continue to use the Merlot site consistently.


 * Module 4 Notes**
 * Repost the link to your Google Docs Web Resource List - Web Resource List
 * Post the link to your lesson plan - Final Lesson Plan
 * Fill out this Online Tools Comparison Chart:


 * || Google Sites || Wikispaces || Merlot || My eCoach || Livebinders || Moodle ||
 * Ease of Use || very intuitive || very easy || not as intuitive || pretty easy || what a great idea! || fairly easy ||
 * Appropriateness of Format || free || user-friendly || not appropriate for students || membership fee || free (with a limit) and seems easy to use || a truly open-source software project ||
 * Overall Design || very simple || nice and clean looking || very busy, small links || easy to follow pages and links || engaging || nice graphic design and cute icons ||
 * Availability of Templates || very basic || some formatting issues || yes, but I had trouble retaining the formatting from the template || templates and cloning available || layout issues are avoided as documents are organized by tabs and subtabs || modules and plugins and themes databases available ||
 * Ability to Meet Universal Access Requirements || by posting content only || some - posting content with collaboration || yes - if not directly through the site itself, definitely from the personal collections. || yes - resources for coaching, mentoring, and ILPs (Individual Learning Plans) || yes - by easily organizing and sharing resources with students/parents || workshop module - designed for facilitating online peer reviews of documents ||
 * Appropriateness for Your Purposes || very appropriate as my students are already familiar with using google || somewhat appropriate - collaboration may be more challenging for my students || appropriate for communication with colleagues, not students || not really because I'm not willing to pay for a site when free ones are available || very appropriate - I love the way it organizes web content || This site seems too complex for my middle school students ||
 * Likelihood I'll Use This || very likely since I already use gmail, google docs, etc. I also like how it saves changes automatically. || somewhat likely - maybe for my own use if not for student collaboration || not very, only if colleagues begin to use it to share lessons (see my Module 3 Notes) || not likely after my free membership expires || likely - this is my favorite so far, but I will need to play around with it a bit || probably not - this appears to be a more powerful site than I would need or want to set up and maintain ||

My favorite of the new sites I explored in Module 4 is definitely LiveBinders. I really like the way it organizes information from the internet without having to cut and past or send ambiguous links. I haven't tried using it myself yet, but I am really intrigued by how easily it appears to capture web content. I look forward to experimenting with LiveBinders. Of all the above tools, I will likely use Google Sites most often. Even though it is very simple and basic, I think my students will find it to be the easiest to use. My students have short attention spans, so they will loose focus quickly if a site is too complicated to navigate. I like the idea of incorporating some of these more complex sites into my curriculum, but unfortunately not all of my students have access to the internet outside of class, and I don't have enough computers for all my students in my classroom. So, for now, I can only use these resources to supplement my instruction, instead of as a required component of the course.
 * Review of the above tools:**