North Carolina Virtual Schools has an end of course survey that collects data about student performance, student perceptions of teacher performance, and ways to improve how NCVPS reaches the needs of learners across the state. I checked it out. It’s a nice survey.
Because of the perspective of the survey though, it’s difficult to ask questions that are course specific and teacher specific. There is valuable data to be gathered about our courses and about ourselves on an individual basis, and we have plenty of reasons to want that valuable data! In English IV, we have consistent grammar, vocabulary, and writing assignments every unit. Do you have some types of consistent assignments? As part of the revision team, student perception on which types of assignments are working and which types of assignments aren’t effective would be incredibly valuable!
What’s more, students are very honest in these surveys. They’ll let you know where you are lacking and where you excel. If you can take feedback, and I encourage you to grow thick skin and seek feedback whenever you can, then you’ll love this method as a way to way to get valuable feedback. The video below goes over my survey on the second day I rolled it out via a url in announcements. At this time, there are only 12 responses, but I’m hoping more and more students complete the survey!
file extensions connect files to the right programs by telling the computer which program to use to open your files!
When you hear things in trainings like ‘.swf’ or ‘.jpg,’ those are file extensions. Some have even become part of our regular vocabulary without many even knowing that they’re talking about a file extension! An .mp3, for example, is a type of file, even though now the word is becoming synonymous with ’song.’
What is it, and what does it do? This is important. A file extension tells your computer what file type it’s dealing with so it knows what program it should use to open a file. For example, can you imagine opening an .mp3 in Microsoft Word? It just wouldn’t work.
If you open a file in microsoft word, you’re opening a .doc file. It gets confusing when a program opens and uses a bunch of different file extensions.
For example, why do we need .mov, .avi, .flv, etc… they’re all video types, right? Why do we need .wav and .mp3? They’re all audio, right? Yes, but the difference is size in those examples. A song in .wav is a different than the same song saved as a .mp3. Imagine a piece of data is the size of a marble. A file is made up of a bunch of data. If you filled an entire classroom full of marbles and called it a song file, that would be size of a song as a .wav. If you put a few marbles in a mason jar, you’d have the size of the song as an .mp3. Now you’re seeing the advantage of using different file types, right? File extensions indicate the file type -that’s important.
How many file types are there? Hundreds, so don’t bother trying to learn them all. The good news is that there are way fewer that you’ll actually have to worry about, and most, you’ll find, you already know! In the comments below, I’m going to start a list of common file types. I’m hoping folks will help out by listing file types they run into in virtual education with ’the skinny’ on each file type. If we get a big enough list, I’ll compile it to a table and share it!
Screentoaster is a great way for Tecknowledgeable Teachers to reach students and peers for a number of purposes. It can allow us to create tutorials to show our fellow teachers how to go about doing things, and it can create direct instruction presentations for ‘canned’ lectures and skills lessons. What’s nice about the former is that fellow teachers can see exactly how things work and look on the screen, and what’s nice about the latter is that students can repeat as necessary until they ‘get it.’ To do a screentoaster tutorial on ‘How to do a Screentoaster tutorial’ posed a couple of challenges logistically, but I think the one below is going to be helpful. I couldn’t actually record myself recording, but I think you get the idea. Just click the play button below to play the tutorial, and look for the icon in the bottom right that looks like a target to go full screen. Make sure your audio is turned on so you can hear the instructions, and enjoy! Shu
Mike Shumake was honored by the Southern Regional Education Board and NCVPS (NC Virtual Public School) as NC's Virtual Teacher of the Year this year. He has designed and taught cutting-edge online class content, and he has been published for his work developing a course featuring an innovative hybrid of face-to-face and online learning. Students in his classroom learn the curriculum through cutting edge technology and hands-on projects. He has acquired over $3,000 in gifts and donations for technology his classroom, and he has acquired over $100,000 in computer donations for students across NC as the Kramden Institute's Director of Education. He has a current NC Administrator’s License and has tenure in North Carolina. He has presented on virtual education for the NCDLA (NC Distance Learning Association), NCTIES (NC Technology in Education), and for NCVPS training events, both face-to-face and virtual. He has led teams of teachers in virtual course development, and he currently serves as North Carolina Virtual School's lead coordinator in the NC and Puerto Rico collaborative education project.
