Week 5 Reflection

Well, if you have already read the comments I put with the link to my photo page, you already know that I have not had any luck with these sites in the past, and I haven't found much use for them.  So this is actually beneficial for everyone to read, I will try to come up with some realistic options, but keep in mind that I really don't feel that online photo sharing is beneficial to the classroom setting.   Personal use is a little different story, but there is too much liability with having students post photos online.  There have been many times in the last few years that people in my community have been punished, ridiculed, and looked down upon for photos that have been found by others online.  Now, with that said, I understand that there is more to it than posting personal photos, and that's not what the lesson might be.  However, about the only way that I can see this being beneficial to an educational setting would be in a photography class.  If students were to have an assignment to take structural, symmetrical, abstract, or any other types of photos, it would be great for these students to have a place to display their work.   Some of the large concerns though are that students would have the capability to post inappropriate pictures, or pictures not related to the assignment.  Getting away from that aspect, TIME is a huge issue.  From my experience, these sites are SLOW!  I'm talking, a waste of time, SLOW!   Students could be using their time much more effectively if they had access to some basic software.  Take for instance Adobe Premier Elements and Adobe Photoshop.  With these two programs (about $150) together, students can create amazing displays, slideshows, and presentations.  They wouldn't be sharing individual photos with the world, but they could present much better work.  (which could be shared online)    I think there are many more programs out there that would allow students to expand their work to other forms of presentation, and would be much more effective than the online photo sites.  

Alright, onto the Chapter 2 reading.   I hate to sound so pessimistic today, but I am going to start with a negative since I'm on a roll at this point.   The biggest argument I have against how things were presented in this chapter is that for most educational practice... the process mentioned seems too structured.  Now with that, I really do like the way things were laid out.  I think Reiser and Dempsey do a good job of describing the ADDIE phases and breaking down the specifics that ID models should have.  This goes back to a lot of the same things that were preached and instilled in my Undergrad work, and it looks great.  In fact, from my experience creating lesson plans, if you try to fit the plan into the models describe, focusing on those key points, it makes for a really nice lesson plan.  However, a plan is something to be deviated from, and sometimes I feel as though when I start a lesson, no matter how well thought out in advance) I end up with something different than expected in the end.  I suppose this is the reason for the ADDIE circle in that you can evaluate and change things at every level.  Sometimes though, subjects just aren't conducive to this type of education.   For example, take math... not everything can be done in groups because students will rely on the most advanced person to carry the group.  I do think you need to have a clear goal in mind for the lesson... not that the goal can't change, but it should be established.  Many goals these days come straight from the state guidelines, but there can be smaller, and more practical goals for lessons.  Overall I think things were described well as far as ID models go.  Flexible and ever evolving makes for a great lesson plan!