g.+Week+6

=**Week 6** **(for the July 5 Connect Meeting) The July 5 Connect Meeting recording is here**= = =

**Meeting Agenda** 1. Questions 2. Report from ISTE Conference 3. Author Trackdown 4. Final projects- What to do and how to do it. 5. Virtual Field Trips 6. Next Week

1. Text: Read Chapter 14 // e-Learning to Build Thinking Skills // 2. Read the study, //Virtual Field Trips//
 * Readings:**

**Note** (Only //written// work is in the Discussion posts and the Virtual Field Trip evaluation page. Nils did a nice job making it interactive and you can fill it out online and download it or screen capture it and then post it to your homework page.
 * Activities**

1. Using the research studies we have used in the class thus far—or a research study that interests you more //track down the author// and email them either feedback about their study or a question about it. Make sure to read the study well enough to as more than "How's the weather in Albuquerque?" You could ask questions about their method, results or anything else that you might want to know before using the study as a source for ideas in your own classroom. Sometimes you might want to know more about the materials they used while at other times you might want to express admiration for the author's work and give details about why you liked it. If there are more than one authors listed try the first one first and if he or she is unreachable then go to the second and third and so on until you score a hit.

a. Post the study and possible topics for your contact to a post on the Week 6 Discussions page. By doing this you can give ideas to to your classmates. b. Post the actual note or correspondence on the Week 5-8 Homework page. You can update that if and when your receive a response from the author. Tweet us as well if you do.

2. Read the study, //Virtual Field Trips.// Are these "trips" a serious educational experience or just another online activity that really don't go anywhere. What do you think? Does the study provide convincing evidence either way? After finishing #3 come back to the //Discussions// and respond as requested. Also make sure to converse with at least one of your classmates.

3. Go to the Utah Education Network (or anywhere else you can find "trips") and take a virtual field trip to somewhere you'd like to go for either a school activity or for pleasure. For Utah you'll have to register and login first but the directions to do that are simple enough. Use Kathy Schrock's evaluation tool to rate the experience. Download the PDF, use it and then attach it to the Weeks 5-8 Homework page. **UPDATE** Nils did a nice job making it interactive and you can fill the evaluation out online and download it or screen capture it and then post it to your homework page.

Take a screen capture or two from the trip and then post them on your homework page as travel advertisement you'd find in the Sunday paper Travel section with captions and offers if they fit. Jackie recommended http://ldshomeschoolinginca.org/vft.html and you can search the net if you like as well. Nothing suits you? Make your own. Howe's Caverns Virtual Reality Tour is a good example. Better to go there and see it yourself. It's about 2 hrs from Hartford and a fun family outing.

4. Get started in earnest on your two end of course projects. Please email me at sponcerb@ccu.edu with your planes for each by July 10 so I can give you feedback and make sure you are headed in the right direction for each assignment.