Instructional Website

I need to get moving on my instructional website. I have been reflecting all day.  Now I need to sit down with paper and pen and write it out.  I can still see a design better on paper than on the computer screen.  And although I can type out a blog post or tweet or respond or write a discussion post without composing on paper first, big projects require being in a closed room with no distractions and no computer.  I hope its just a habit that will evolve into being able to work at the computer full time at some future date.  Now that I think about it, I used to compose my discussions on paper before posting, when I first starting taking online courses.

I'm afraid I was overambitious with my design for my instructional  website.  Except for having 8 pages planned, but now I see I need to have 10.  So  students will design a rain garden for a client that is having pollution runoff and rainwater ponding issues on their property.  Similar to what I experience when we have a big rain on my property.  So as a student what do I need to know to design and construct one with current best practices.  Its falling into place now...

Near the End of Week 4

I finished my podcast and submitted it on time.  I tried to edit out some of the noise, but actually kept making it worse the more I edited.  I don't understand the mechanics very well of sound and manipulating sound.  And watching the blue waveform move around is distracting, while speaking.  Thankfully, I had taken the podcasting workshop previously, so I didn't have to relearn the entire process, just parts of it.  I didn't install the LAME application correctly and can't figure out how to, so I uploaded the podcast in iTunes as a WAV file , then converted it to an MP3 file, copied it and pasted it on my desktop.  I then uploaded the MP3 file to Google Docs, which thankfully  was easy to do. I am grateful for my colleagues' help in the podcasting discussions In the Computer Apps course, as many of us were struggling with the process, while for others it was a breeze.   All I could think when I was finished was, "What an ordeal!"

I understand the need  for audio instruction for students who have reading challenges of whatever kind.  So I know I need to practice and get better at podcasting and screen casting.  I also need to include the scripts for hearing impaired students.  It is a matter of prioritizing and making these things a part of every project I do.  Some day I will do all this with little thought.

Now I need to focus on my instructional website and the wiki.  Then I will put it all together into the CMS Moodle to create my whole course.  I chose horticulture since gardening is the top hobby in America. Some people will turn their hobby into a business at some point in their life.  And more horticulture businesses are needed with the global warming issue, we are currently experiencing.

My course is a fictitious landscape design II course. My podcast was about extending the growing season with high, low and medium tunnels and hoop houses.  My instructional website is about designing and constructing a rain garden to solve ponding and pollution runoff issues.  My webquest was about designing and constructing garden structures in a park space with willow plantings. I tried to imagine what I would benefit from learning if I were to take a landscape design course. I believe putting more horticulture courses online will allow more people to benefit from higher education's knowledge resources. Everyone can't be driving to bricks and mortar universities for the small offering of hands on horticulture courses.  With the Internet, effective applications, and creative thinking, we can bring the courses to the students.Win-win.

End of Week Three

I just posted some information to the wiki.  I've read several sources to see how they recommend designing a website.  I am breaking the steps down a little further, as I think more smaller chunks of information work better when creating a large project, such as a website.  I am reading a book on designing websites, Web Style Guide, 3rd Ed (actually I have the 2nd edition as well to see what the difference are), by Patrick J. Lynch and Sarah Horton (2008).  I get more out of reading paper text and it allows me to get away from the computer screen for awhile.  A book is more comprehensive than web pages, which I need in learning new skills.  I will be able to add more content to the wiki as I continue to read the book.  I didn't find much on the Internet about designing instructional websites, specifically. Not sure why. Maybe it is a new concept? 

And Add a Smiley

Today, I submitted my second website design this week.   It was for a website design workshop.  Two similar but different assignments from instructors with two similar but different perspectives.  So now I am reflecting on website design.  I still want to learn more, maybe not to become an expert, but I am still no where near where I wish to be.  The content of an instructional website is what is most important, so to me I need to develop the content first by imagining that I am the student in the class.  And asking the question "What do I need to know to learn how to do...whatever it is?"

With the content of the instruction complete I can then design the website that will house it.  At least this approach makes more sense to me.  And I admit, most things in life I have done backwards, so I think I am on the right track for me.  "To thine own self be true..." (William Shakespeare). 

So now I need to catch up on blogging and reading others blogs, log in to twitter, and catch up on the discussions.  And add to the wiki on a topic that I know a little more about now.  Hopefuly, that's all

Today's Thoughts

I don't care for Google Reader much.  Now that I have had time to reflect, I think I would prefer that my colleagues' blogs were on my blog page and the 10 blogs I follow were on Google Reader or some other aggravator aggregator.  I may change it at some point, but not today.  I like that on my blog, the RSS feed takes me directly to the blog and I can see the site design in color, which shows some personality and gives me a break from reading text.  Maybe I can do that in Google reader as well and have not yet discovered how to. 

I've spent a lot of time on coordinating my webquest, instructional website, podcast and CMS topics to make sense within a course.  I want the learning experiences to be authentic and relevant to today's' students.  If it a course I would find useful to take, with skills I could apply in the workplace, then I will be content with it.  As I put together the Internet resources for my projects, I am learning new information.  I plan to never stop learning and am grateful for books and the Internet.  I best get working on my bigger projects...

10 Blogs I Follow

I added 10 blogs to follow as gadgets to the right of my blog posts.  These I can follow daily throughout the rest of this summer course. I'm finding that I am not a fan of RSS feeds.  I don't need to know up to the minute when new information comes in.   I much prefer to bookmark blogs, news sites and informational websites, then throughout the week, read new posts at one sitting, blogs at another sitting another day, farming information at yet another time, and other things I am interested in when I am working on a particular task.  I don't know the exact amount I have bookmarked.  My best guess is somewhere between 50 and 100, probably closest to 80.

If I am knitting something, I will read some knitter's blogs to get pointers on stumbling blocks I am experiencing or see a new technique or pattern.  I can email or  leave a comment on their blog, or share it with another person who is interested in knitting or learning how to knit.

I haven't yet tried to quilt with my sewing machine and have found a group of bloggers who provide step-by-step lessons to teach me how.  It's a goal I have set for myself with a new skill that I was not even aware of prior to reading this group of blogs.

I keep up with many farming blogs and websites for someday when I can restart my beginning farm.  It's a goal I have that has been postponed until some future date.  My children are not interested in farming at this time and it is not something I can do by myself while working a full time job.  So for now it looks like it is a part of my retirement plan.  So reading about animal husbandry, grass management, and adding value to harvested products I read in a chunk, take notes and file the information away.

Technology  blogs and websites I read in chunks also.  While working on the instructional website I refer to many resources pertaining to web site design and development.  I would like to achieve mastery level in  creating websites and am a long way from the necessary 10,000 (?) hours to become an expert.

Adding A Gadget

After reading Mari's bog post on RSS feeds on her blog site, I went to e How and followed the instructions to add a section for my professional blogs that I follow.  I didn't see anywhere to "Add a Page Element", but I figured "Add a Gadget" might work and it did.  I need to add more blogs to the section, after I decide my top 10 or 20 good blogs I want to follow daily.   This seems more efficient to me to have the blogs I follow on my blog home page, since I wish to blog on a daily basis.

First Post

This is my first blog post for Summer 2012 Instructional Apps of the Internet. While I have blogged before, I have not kept up with the changes in Blogger and will have to relearn many things. Then hopefully, I will keep practicing blogging so as to not forget how to do it.