Overall Course Reflection

I am glad that I have taken this course. I really learned a lot about the telecommunications. Before taking the course, telecommunication is only a word or concept to me but by the end of the semester, I can recall many sections of it whenever I think of this concept. I have learned the basics of telecommunications, different telecommunication tools, telecommunication styles as well as its different applications. The knowledge I have learned is very useful for me to apply telecommunication technology in education or in life.

After finishing this course, especially during the preparation of the test, I learned and understood a lot about the advantages and disadvantages of the telecommunications and its tools and applications. I also get more familiar with most of the concepts of the different telecommunication applications. One thing I think I need to improve is that I need to remember the more details of the telecommunication means such as the satellite communication. I think this is mainly because I paid too much attention to the general aspects and overlook some small details and I need to read further and care more about the detailed information.

I really learned a lot throughout this whole semester. I can have the opportunities to read so much useful and up-to-date information about telecommunications. At the same time, I can also have a lot of practices on the communication tools and get the first-hand experience.

Through the forum discussions, I can first present my understanding of the reading materials and share with others. I can also read what others have posted and learn from that. Actually, I indeed learned a lot from colleagues’ posting besides the teacher’s.

Actually this course also taught me a lot of useful technologies which I can use in my foreign language teaching. For example, I can use many synchronous communication tools such as MSN/Yahoo messenger, Skype, ICQ, ect. in the online English course and this will ensure students’ success in gaining overall skills in foreign language. I have also written a paper on this topic.

Learning all the knowledge about telecommunications is a challenging experience but it is also a rewarding one after I have learned all the stuff. Telecommunications has very important role and potential in education.

Online Presentation

In this assignment, we are required to make an online presentation using SlideShare and focus our topic on telecommunications in education. I mainly introduced synchronous communications tools in EFL (English as a Foreign Language) online courses in China.

SlideShare offers a good forum where people can presentation their information online and share with others. Other people can also make their comments and communicate with the presenter so that the latest information and resources can be shared. This is a new way of presentation and can reach a larger range of audience. Users can simply make their PPT slides or PDF slides and upload them online. I have designed an online presentation using SlideShare last semester so it is not new to me and this time, I get more familiar with it. I get to know that the SlideShare supports a lot of slides in different formats and users can even add audio there and do the slidecasting.

This new way of presentation makes the teaching material available to more students and they can view the material anywhere and anytime. This online presentation is a new start in education and it will greatly enhance the learning efficiency of students. It can also help the development of distance teaching and learning. I do find it is useful in my future teaching. Handing out materials to all students in class is not the only way, I can provide the materials online and students can view and give their feedback at the same time. It offers me a great way to find out students understanding of the topic and this can also be a good place for teachers and students to communicate and share their ideas. By reaching a large variety of audience, I can also know how I have prepared the materials and may make much more improvement in it.

Link: http://www.slideshare.net/guoqiangcui/synchronous-communication-tools-in-efl-online-learning-in-china-526231

Video Message with Eyejot

In this assignment, we are required to set up our profile and create a video message via Eyejot. This is also my first time to record my video. I enjoyed a lot while playing with Eyejot and I am glad to have my first video message, though it does not look good:(

Creating video messages and have video conferencing is not new to me for I have read and learned so much about video message and video conferencing. This experience of creating video messages enables me to have a deeper understanding of the video message creation process and I can know how it goes and how it feels in front of a web cam. I also learned one very useful application—Eyejot, which enables us to record our video and upload it online. I also learned what the hardware and software are needed when people are trying to have their video messages. I think the only disadvantage of this application is that it only allows us to have one free minute recording and we have to pay if we want to have longer video message or upload our premade videos online. Anyway, Eyejot offers us a new way to have the video message and we can make full use of it.

Eyejot also has its great potentials in education. For example, in the online course, since most students will not meet with each other, they can know and recognize others if each one has a video message online. Video message will also motivate students and they will not feel isolated in the online class.

Link:

http://www.eyejot.com/mview/964C1EE75E9A43AD3FCE4C7C866170D7B576053E4DD53CB72F109C15EE160E3C

Create a WebQuest

WebQuest is an inquire-oriented activity where students get all the information via the internet. In this assignment, we are required to design one WebQuest to help students gather information through the web searching activities.

I actually have met with this word for many times in the previous reading but I only had a slight idea on this concept at that time. This is the first time that I learn this concept in detail and personally design a WebQuest myself. I have to say that this assignment is the most challenging to me throughout the whole semester but it is also the most rewarding task. I learned so much about this concept and have personal practice on it. I learned that many sections are included in the WebQuest, such as introductions, resources, task, process, evaluation, conclusion, etc. The different sections also need to be integrated so that learning activity can have its great effectiveness. I also learned that WebQuest offers so many advantages to students, for example, they can more focus on the selected filed and resources and it also saves them a lot of time. WebQuest also encourages students’ collaboration and they can work together to find out the answer to the question.

WebQuest is a very useful and important way to gather information and make collaborative research in education. It will also increase students’ interest in the task and they can work and study more efficiently.

Link to my WebQuest: http://ocean.otr.usm.edu/~w742726/

Interactive Timeline on CircaVie

In this assignment, we are required to create a story chronologically through an interactive timeline. Creating interactive time via Circavie is fresh to me and actually I have never heard or used this application before, but I found this assignment is both challenging and interesting.

By doing this assignment, I have a clearer knowledge and better understanding on the timeline. I also find that CircaVie offers us a good place to present information or events in a chronological order. The information can also be presented in an interesting and vivid way so that people can easily find out what happened during the different periods. Users can upload their different pictures or even video clips in the different time point and the final information can be shown in a very clear way. After finishing it, I realized that this application also has its special place and importance in teaching. Teachers can use it to present chronological information and materials to students so that students can receive and understand the information in a better way. For example, when teachers are teaching the British or American literature development, a clear development line can be drawn via CircaVie, with pictures of representative poets and events, and students can learn and memorize this very easily.

CircaVie also has its great potentials in education. Given enough thoughts, this application can make learning and memorizing easier and interesting.

Link: http://www.circavie.com/timelines/e9352517-fe59-5faf-b6a8-78b2512ada3a

Create a Web Site Using Google Page

Google Page Creator is a free service offered by Google for people to make their customized web site and pages. In this assignment, we are required to make our own introduction website with three pages—main page, hobby and interest, and resume. This is my first time to design a website using Google page and I enjoyed it and leaned a lot about it.

Designing a website is not a new thing to me because I have learned the website design using Dreamweaver in last semester. But I find designing website using Google page creator is easier than using Dreamweaver when we are making simple website. Google Page Creator enables people with little experience in web design and HTML to set up their own web site and web pages. We don’t have to install the software when designing website with Google Page Creator and we can simply complete the whole process online via the browsers. While doing this assignment, I learned in depth designing website using Google Page Creator and know most of the functions and features it provides. We can also make a little change to the HTML if we want to further customize our website. At the same time, I also have a deeper understanding of the Google Company and all its applications.

Google Page Creator is indeed a very useful application for users and it also has great importance and potentials in the educational field. Teachers who are not confident in their use of technology can also have their own website and this enables more useful resources used in class and students would be more interested.

The link to my site: http://guoqiangandy.googlepages.com/home

Web Blog

Blog is a useful place for people to make reflections and summarize what they have learned. People can post texts, images and add links to them. In the assignment, we are required to set up our own blog and post our introduction and reflections in it. Blog is familiar to me and I actually have set up several blogs by myself in both Blogger and WordPress.

After this assignment, I think I have a deeper understanding of the feature and usefulness of blogs. Blogs indeed offer us a good forum to present our information and share with others. In posting our understanding and reflection, we can also get a deeper understanding of the subject we have just presented. We can also read and make comments on others’ blogs so that we can communicate with each other and share the latest knowledge and information. Designing the blog is also very interesting. We don’t have to know the HTML or codes and we can just simply post the texts in the blog. There are also more features I learned in designing the blogs. For example, we can also embed the chat room in it or put some other interesting gadgets like clock, calendars, slideshows, etc.

I strongly advocate the use of blog in education. Students can summarize all their learning and development in the blog and they can also share with each other on what they have learned or what lesson they have learned from their failure. The use of blog in education will also make study more interesting and students would be better engaged in their learning.

Here is the link to my blog: http://guoqiang-cui.blogspot.com/

Web Searching Reflection

In the web searching assignment, we are required to use the search engines and search tools to find resources about useful websites, specific information about people, reading materials or organizations and software or applications. This is an interesting assignment and I also think it is quite useful. I am personally also a great fan of searching information online whenever I need some things, such as maps to different locations, concept explanation or English-Chinese translation.

After searching, analyzing and summarizing all the online information, I get more familiar with all the searching engines and tools. Before doing this assignment, I would mainly use Google to search information, but now I can use different search engines to find out useful resources when single engine does not work well. It is indeed a good way to use different search engines and tools to find information. I also realized that there are so many resources online and sometimes we have to have sharp and critical eyes to find the materials that best fit our needs. By searching information online, I also think that we should be very careful when we are posting information to the internet, because personal information or even private information can be easily tracked and found by others.

Searching online is one very important and easier (compared with scanning all the books in library) way to find information. Whenever I have doubts, internet is my first tool to find the solution. After this assignment, I will critically so the online searching and find more useful materials in a more efficient way.

Link to my assignment: http://ocean.otr.usm.edu/~w742726/websearch.html