Electronic Portfolio

For the Final Project, your portfolio will show your ability to use a variety of educational technology tools, reflect on the use of educational tehnology in education, examine and teach others about an issue in educational technology, teach others how to use an educational technology tool, and generally showcase all your hard work in this course.

OverviewYour Electronic Portfolio will contain the following pages: 

• Home page
• Educational Technology Issue page
• Teach Educational Technology Tool Tutorial page
• Course Reflection page

Weebly is the suggested program and the instructions for this assignment assume you are using Weebly for your electronic portfolio. (See discussion at the end of these instructions if you wish to use an alternative program for your portfolio.) 

1. Create a Weebly website (YES I HAVE ONE ALREADY)You may already have an account if you created your blog in Weebly, but if not create an account now. Follow the instructions here to create your website by watching the Weebly Beginner's Guide tutorial.
2. Include the following required elements in your Home or Start page:
   • Your Name
   • Course number and title (EDU352: Foundations of Educational Technology)
   • A brief explanation of the purpose of your portfolio (i.e., an electronic portfolio containing examples of your application and understanding of educational technology).
   • The link to your LinkedIn profile (https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-bray-b994bbb7/)
   • The link to your Flickr album (https://mselizabethseducationtechnology.shutterfly.com/pictures/8)
   • The link to your blog that you created in Week Three ( https://educationreflection.edublogs.org)(http://liz2013.edublogs.org/2017/04/18/future-of-educational-technology/)Note: To find the link to your LinkedIn profile, click on the group URL and click on Profile at the top left of the page. Copy the link from your Profile page and paste it in a post in your electronic portfolio. You can also find this in your initial post from the Week One “Post Your Introduction” discussion.
3. Educational Technology Issue pageCreate an APA-formatted Word document that includes the name of your issue (i.e., Cyberbullying), a summary that explains what the issue is about and why it is important, and the three resources or references you located to teach others more about your issue. This is the “Current Issues in Educational Technology” information (Week Four, Discussion 1) (Current Issues in Educational Technology ) that you will have already collected. You can copy your post from the discussion forum, correct and/or revise your work based on feedback, and paste your work into a Word document. Make sure you include a title page, references page, and use APA formatting throughout your paper as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. You can also refer to the APA Guidance section of the classroom, which can be accessed through the Learning Resources tab in the left navigation pane. Your paper should be a minimum of one page. Name the file “Ed Tech Issue” and upload this file to your electronic portfolio website. Double check that your attachment worked in Weebly and to be safe, copy and paste your paper on the page also. Check the bottom for Current Issues in Educational Technology
4. Teach Educational Technology Tool TutorialYou will submit your final version of the tutorial that you created in the Week Four Assignment to your electronic portfolio. After revising the tutorial as needed, based on peer feedback from this week’s discussion activity, add the tutorial file or other media to your portfolio website. If your tutorial is available through a link, then you can copy and paste the link. Don’t forget to also add the Word document with the written plan and other required elements to your portfolio. For complete details, see the tutorial assignment in Week Four .(https://prezi.com/ufomths-ulbe/copy-of-explain-any-topic/)( 

   https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=Kdq3m05rmjU)

5. Course ReflectionReflect on all you have learned in this course. Using specific examples from the class to support your points, address the following questions in a minimum one-page reflection:
   • What has been most valuable about this class?
   • What should change or stay the same?
   • How will you and your teaching change as a result of this class?
   • Other thoughts?

You do not have to use APA for this reflection; it can be copied and pasted or typed into your electronic portfolio website. Name the page “Course Reflection”. You are almost done! Don’t forget to submit the link to your Electronic Portfolio in a Word document using the Week Five Assignment Submission button in the online classroom.Alternative technologies to use for the Final ProjectWeebly is a website creation program and as such works well as an electronic portfolio tool. You are already familiar with Weebly from making a blog and may have an account, so you may choose to use it for the Final Project. 

Current Issues in Educational Technology

The role of distance education in the current world is crucial given its contribution in the global social and economic sectors. Distance learning is an educational process that involves interaction between students and teachers through computer-aided materials. Distance learning is a trend that is taking its place in today’s world due to its flexibility. This method of teaching is relevant to students, teachers, educational institutions and employee organizations. Distance learning benefits students in that they can enroll in Internet courses (Roblyer & Doering, 2010) Hence they do not have to travel daily to attend classes physically. Teachers, on the other hand, interact freely with students who are taking online classes. Students who interact with their instructors online tend to share more compared to those who attend physical classes because there is some level of confidence.

Educational institutions that have embraced distance education have a competitive advantage in the fast-growing world that has also embraced online learning. Most employee organizations have opted for this learning for their staff who need training and retraining. Distance education has helped the companies to remain relevant and competitive in the market. Knowledge is essential in the current economic world hence people are required to keep on improving themselves educationally. Distance education is an effective way of learning as it helps the student design their timetable to rhyme with their schedules, lifestyle, and responsibilities. The student can learn individually at any time or place unlike those who physically attend classes and follow a strict timetable.

Through distance education, students gain information literacy in the process of utilizing the internet during online lessons. The instructors in collaboration with designer professionals in the in educational and technological fields design courses that suit the students’ needs (Moore & Kearsley, 2012). . The digital environment is created to aid in an effective teaching and learning process for both the students and the instructors. Distance education is cost efficient and gives individuals ample time to pursue their side hustles. It also enables students to interact with other students and share knowledge and skills. They can consult, help and advice each other accordingly with the help of their instructors.

Distance education, however, faces some challenges that have led to harsh criticisms on it.Most people question the quality of teaching and students success in online learning. Face to face, class interactions is thought to be more successful compared to online education. Some students may lack tools or technological skills required in the learning programs. Instructors may also face difficulty in designing learning programs for online students because the needs of online students are different from those who use traditional learning programs (Selwyn, 2011). For stakeholders in the field to curb these problems, educational institutions need to understand the intellectual capabilities, personalities, cognitive and learning styles of the students enrolled in online programs.

References

Moore, M. & Kearsley, G. (2012). Distance Teaching: a systems view of online learning. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Roblyer, M. D., & Doering, A. H. (2010, July 20).Issues Shaping Today's Technology Uses in Education. Retrieved from http://www.education.com/reference/article/ten-issues-shaping-today-technology

Selwyn, N. (2011). Education and technology: key issues and debates. New York: Continuum International Pub. Group.