Final thoughts

Please view my presentation on using Web 2.0 tools in emergency medical provider education.

Final Reflection
One of my educational interests is in teaching across distance.  This summer's classes have been so relevant to my interest and I have enjoyed becoming more knowlegeable on the topic.  I gained many skills each week during class and while working on our assignments.  I did not know how to make screencasts or podcasts but they are easy to use and I feel comfortable using them now. Our weekly categories of tools showed me such a wide array of applications that I was previously ignorant to and are relevant to my clinical research.  I will continue to reference the lists of tools on moodle in the future when I need an additional resource.

Assign-a-day

1.   Name of the Tool

                             

2.   URL of the Tool

http://assignaday.4teachers.org

3.   Primary category for this tool:

Productivity Tool

4.   Please describe this tool.

Assign a day is a task and project calendar created for teachers.  It is an easy to use website to create a monthly calendar that shows the daily projects and assignments that are due.  There is a way to enter an assignment due date as well as description of the assignment.  The calendar can be shared with other teachers or students.  This replaces the typical written assignment journal.  Students can access the assignment calendar from the school or home and the student’s parents can also have access to the schedule. 

5.   What do you need to know before using this tool?

The user needs only how to navigate the internet to this site.  The directions are self evident.

6.   What do you need to have before using this tool?

The user only needs a computer and internet connection.

7.   How do you use this tool?

1.   Register on website

2.   Title your first calendar

3.   To add an task, watch my screencast for directions

8.   Locate or create your own example of an educational resource created with this tool and discuss what you found or created.

Each month the critical care fellows email back and forth to schedule the lecturers for the PICU resident lecture schedule.  If the calendar was available online, people could go to the website and just sign up instead of emailing back and forth which does not allow other lecturers to know what lectures have been accounted for.

9.   Please indicate the webtools you used for this task.

Screenshot-jing

Screencast-screenr

10.        Please describe a scenario of how you might use this tool in a teaching environment.

    In an earlier research proposal, I had suggested an online assignment calendar as an approach to increase assignment completion.  The initial assignment completion rate could be compared to the post online calendar implemenation.  I think this tool could be used in this research idea.  It can be accessed by the student or parent as the instructor can share the calendar with any email that is provided.  Therefore, both the parent and student can have free access to the calendar.  Perhaps this could then tie into calendar reminders for big projects.

11.        What are the advantages and disadvantages of using this tool in a teaching environment?

    The advantages to this calendar are that it is free and easy to share. It is easy to use and enter tasks as well. 
   
    The disadvantages are that it requires you to be a teacher to use the site.  This limits the use to only teachers associated with an institution or school and the format and ease of use could be applied to a broader range of uses.

12.        Would you recommend this Web 2.0 tool to others, or suggest that they explore a different tool?

    I would recommend this tool to other instructors associated with an institution to make online calendars for tasks, assignments or even lectures.

Polleverywhere can be used everywhere?

                1. Name of the Tool

 

2.   URL of the Tool

          http://www.polleverywhere.com/

    3.   Please select the one, primary category for this tool:

           Feedback Tool

    4.   Please describe this tool in your own words in about 150-     250 words.

The use of audience feedback and participation has been increasing in popularity, especially for adult learning.  It is a proven fact that learners retain only 10% of what they hear in a lecture.  Participation in question and answer sessions can increase this learning.  Audience response hardware and software is expensive for educators and many cannot accomodate this expense.  Polleverywhere is an online verison of audience response which utilizes the audiences cell phones or other mobile devices.  The instructor can ask questions and the audience can key in their response via cell phone.  This tool can be used for small to large group audience participation.  The responses can be calculated and seen in real time during a presentation.  This is an ingenuitive solution to the problem of expensive equipment for audience response and feedback in education.

5.   What do you need to know before using this tool? (What skills do you need to have?)

User

-must know how to navigate internet

-should know how to use powerpoint in order to download survey questions into presentations

6.   What do you need to have before using this tool? (Resources)

The poll maker must have access to a computer and internet.  The responders to the poll must have a cell phone with texting abilities or wifi to access the online poll response site.  The room in which the poll is administered must have dependable cell phone service, i.e. not conducted in a basement conference room.

7. How do you use this tool?

Enroll in polleverywhere.  After creating your poll, it can be downloaded into powerpoint form.  Directions for your audience also are automatically downloaded with the poll questions.  See my example below for how to create a poll question.

8.   Locate or create your own example of an educational resource created with this tool and discuss what you found or created.

http://www.polleverywhere.com/multiple_choice_polls/MjA3MjIzODU3

This question is one that I can use in my instructional scenario described later.

9.   Include screenshots, audio podcasts, screencasts, or other multimedia elements that help describe the tool and how you used it.

Screenshot-jing

Audio Cast-podomatic

Screencast-Screenr

10. Please describe a scenario of how you might use this tool in a teaching environment (150-250 words).

    

     Please listen to my podcast below.

11. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using this tool    in a teaching environment?

Advantages

-free, easy to access

-poll questions easy to enter

-automatic poll results given

Disadvantages

-requires wifi or cell phone service for responders to participate

-creating more than one poll question for your presenation is        cumbersome

12.Would you recommend this Web 2.0 tool to others, or suggest that they explore a different tool?

This tool is easy to use.  Each poll question is a separate entry and so use for multiple questions per presentation is cumbersome.  Thus, I would recommend its use in simple multiple choice questions and for purposes that do not require a high number of poll questions.

     

Voicethread Experience

The Future of Distance Learning Group

Chirayu developed our concept of leading each slide with a quote.  We each developed three slides apiece for the general concepts of addressing technology in distance education, collaboration in distance learning and institutional and instructor roles in distance learning.  I edited the presentation and for uniform font and size and uploaded it to Voicethread. We each added to the introduction slide and then narrated our own slides.  Google docs initially was difficult to edit once slides were there but was manageable after some practice.

Voicethread was easily navigated by a novice however the formatting of the upload was not uniform and that was hard to navigate as a new user with limited time.  Uploading the presentation was a simple step and adding voice comments was also easily facilitated  I actually was excited to learn of voicethread as I recently made a powerpoint presentation with video and audio guidance that would have worked so well in voicethread however I took the more difficult route.  Voice thread's ability to use live patient audio and video will make it perfect for practice identification of various medical conditions that take patient experience to master.

Please see our presentation below.

MAPMYself Reviewed

1.   Name of the Tool

MAPMYself

2.   URL of the Tool

http://mapul.com/

3.   Please select the one, primary category for this tool:

Critical Thinking/Problem Solving Tool

4.   Please describe this tool in your own words in about 150-250 words.

Mind maps are fairly new educational tools that are still under investigation.  Mind maps help the learner associate thoughts and concepts with graphical representations.  Mapmyself provides a free site for users to easily create mind maps for any topic. The user must first conceptualize a topic that he or she wants to illustrate with mind mapping.  There should be a central theme with several subcategories.  Each subcategory can also have branch points and there is the option to annotate notes for any branch point.  MAPMYself also allows the user to upload pictures or graphics to the mind map to enhance the visual representations associated with the concepts.

Like many other online tools, MAPMYself has a free and fee for service version.  The upgraded version allows unlimited mind mapping, uploading of pictures or videos from the user’s computer and exporting of the file to work documents.  The free version allows for two mind maps at a time to be published, utilization of the website’s images and exportation as an image.

5.   What do you need to know before using this tool?

The user needs to be able to first access and then navigate the internet.  A user needs to have a concept of what mind mapping is in order to appropriately utilize this website.  I quick referenced Wikipedia to develop a better overview of mind mapping.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_map

6.   What do you need to have before using this tool?

The user must have a computer with internet connection.  The user should have an idea of what topic his or her mind map will encompass prior to trying to make the mind map.

7.   How do you use this tool?

1.   Go to website www.mapul.com

2.   Sign in to website with the screen shown below.

         3.   Create your mind map starting with this page.

 

4.   Use the url below for a short screencast on making a basic mind map.

8.   If applicable, please create an example with this tool             

Extubation Readiness Mind Map

9.   Please indicate what program you used for this task.

a.   Screenshots created by jing

b.   Screencasts created by screenr

10.        Please describe a scenario of how you might use this tool in a teaching environment.

I created my mind map about a topic that is taught to every new set of residents and fellows that start in the ICU.  One of the fundamental principles learned in the ICU is ventilator management and extubation readiness.  There are many evidence based articles in the literature for when to extubate adults but there are no strict criteria which can be applied to pediatrics and thus all avenues of extubation readiness but be explored.  The various components of extubation readiness must be thought about for each child preparing to extubate.  The mind map I created shows the most important criteria to explore for this patient care process.  It is a small reference that could be given to new rotators in the ICU.  This reference card could be used by the rotator to evaluate his or her patient prior to rounds so that his or her plan for the day can appropriately include whether the patient is ready for extubation.  This ability can help improve provider autonomy, feeling of responsibility for his or her patient as well as repeat thought process for this daily event in the ICU.

11.        What are the advantages of using this tool in a teaching environment?

This tool is free for the user.  It is fairly easy to use and is intuitive to create.  The final product is colorful and organized.  The mind maps can be used for a quick reference or for a more complex memorization assignment.

12.        What are the disadvantages of using this tool in a teaching environment?

The layout of the website is difficult to read and thus somewhat difficult to navigate to the pages the user needs to begin creating the mind map.  While I believe this tool can be used for a high complexity topic, much care must be taken to organize the mind map as it has an easy propensity to become cluttered and confused.   The free version is limited in that you can only have 2 mind maps on the web at once, you can’t upload images from the computer and you can’t export to word files.

Scoop it reviewed

1.   Name of the Tool

2.   URL of the Tool

http://www.scoop.it/

3.   Please select the one, primary category for this tool:

Creativity Tool

4.   Please describe this tool in your own words in about 150-250 words.

Scoop it can be used by many genres of internet users.  It is a unique tool to create a central location for internet topics the users find interesting or useful.  Scoop it allows the user to “bookmark” internet sites that he or she will later want to refer to or review.  The website keeps these bookmarked items in a central location based on the user’s settings and creates a visually appealing webpage with the catalogued items.  A user may have several topics of interest he or she is tracking and thus can have several scoop it pages to keep his or her bookmarked information separate and organized. 

The scoop it page can be shared on social media sites such as facebook or twitter.  It can also be embedded directly into a blog.  The sharing capabilities of Scoop it are quite numerous.  This allows the user to create scoop it sites that can be used and shared with friends, co-workers or students.  The internet supplies a vast wealth of information and no one person can read everything however scoop it allows for a user to create an easily readable webpage that can transfer the salient items related to a topic to multiple other readers.  This task is accomplished by users having the option to “follow” other scoop it pages as well as search for topics that users are interested in.

5.   What do you need to know before using this tool?

A user needs to know how to navigate the internet to first find scoop it.  A user will also want to have an idea of the topics he or she will want to use scoop it to organize.

6.   What do you need to have before using this tool?

Computer, with internet connection

7.   How do you use this tool?

1.   Go to www.scoopit.com

2.   Sign up for free using this button

3.   You will have to then confirm your email to become fully registered.

4.   You will then be taken to the “curate” page where you will title your first scoop it page.  This “getting started” view is below.

5.   After you title your scoop it page, you will be directed to describe your scoop it page

6.   Then, you are ready to start collecting articles and information!

7.   After registration, you may install scoop it bookmarklet so that you may scoop articles while browsing the internet.

8.   You may also use scoop it’s recommended articles that are provided based on your scoop it page description.  The following image shows how scoop it displays suggested articles for the user.  The user may then remove source, discard or scoop the article.

9.   You may also write blog posts without linking it to a url.

10.Your dashboard when you have completed working on a page will appear as follows.  You can then make new pages and they will be listed on your dashboard.

8.   If applicable, please create an example with this tool and either embed in your blog or submit the URL.

http://www.scoop.it/t/jenna-s-up-to-date-travel-tips

9.   Please describe a scenario of how you might use this tool in a teaching environment

Scoop it could be used in a grammar or high school to keep track of current events. Many classes such as social studies and government studies use current events as a teaching tool in class to discuss topics that are currently being studied as part of the class curriculum or to keep abreast of up to date information.  The instructor can keep a scoop it page of topics he or she finds appropriate to the discussion of the class.  This provides control to the instructor of the topics that the students can report on.  The instructor can then ask the students to subscribe to the page to choose the article from the curated scoop it page that they wish to report on in class.  Currents events is a well-known teaching tool however scoop it allows this traditional teaching forum to be updated to use online technology tools while still maintaining the value of the conventional current events assignment.

10.       What are the advantages of using this tool in a teaching environment?

The registration process is easy and free on scoop it.  Beginning to curate a scoop it page is also quite easy and the webpage created is organized an appealing to the eye.

11.       What are the disadvantages of using this tool in a teaching environment?

While the website it easy to navigate, there is no “home page” that gives an overall synopsis of the purpose of scoop it and how to use it generally.  For users like me who happen upon scoop it, a general reference page would be helpful.  The FAQ link on the page is quite extensive however the user must have a specific question in mind prior to visiting this page.  I think the easiest use of scoop it would therefore be to users who already knew how the webpage operated.