Day 5 of EDUC 730! We covered augmented reality...mind blowing. On one hand, I'm overwhelmed at the advancements technology has made, like using Google Goggles. It's almost like x-ray vision. Google Goggles are glasses which provide information at every turn; temperature, restaurant locations, friends whereabouts, etc. The GPS intuitively provides directions and can reroute your path even if you're on foot. On the other hand, it kind of freaks me out that people have become so "trackable" and personal information is easily accessed.

The technological advancements permeate society and bring up some moral issues. What are the boundaries on privacy? Where do you draw the line? I want to be able to track my kids when they are away from home, but I don't want to be tracked when I go on vacation and my home is left empty. Pros and cons to everything. A lot to think about.

Group presentations went well. It was interesting learning about the various topics and seeing that they all share similar trends. 

Yesterday was a wonderful discussion on the multitude of uses for the iPad. Loved it! There are so many apps, many times I don't know where to start because the choices can be overwhelming. It's nice to get recommendations for useful app to help you sift through the many choices. Dr. Dunn mentioned several apps that I could utilize personally, professionally, and for my children.

My son is in second grade and has dyslexia. There were several apps that would be great for him to increase his reading ability in a non-traditional way. I also have a kindergartener who would get a lot out of the phonics games, which were both fun and helpful.

My partner and I created our instructional video on Voice Thread. We found Voice Thread fairly easy to utilize. It is a really interesting program, and I can see the value of this program. However, we did struggle with using Screenr. Unfortunately, with technology sometimes it's more difficult getting to the program than actually using it. (Java this, download that, this isn't compatible, yada yada yada...) Once we were able to get Screenr going the video began to fall into place. We struggled with the sound too. It took about 2.5 hours, but we finally got it and that was a great feeling of accomplishment!

My group and I spent the afternoon working on our literature review presentation. I am so thankful for my group. They are all great collaborative workers, intelligent women, and were really enjoyable to work with.

This has been a challenging, exhausting, stretching experience. I have learned so much. I wish I could take this course once a year to keep current!

Today's discussion put into perspective that the dissertation process is right around the corner. This conversation was so helpful for clarifying the purposes of the upcoming courses: 919, 980, 989, 990. Also, it made me begin to think about looking for a Chair soon so that I can check for their availabity.

An interesting tip I hadn't heard before is to hire an APA expert to edit the dissertation. This is a great idea and I would absolutely take advantage of this advice.

This course has been amazing. It truly is INTENSE. I have been exposed to so many technological resources, it can be overwhelming. I have heard of Webquest but have never experienced it. It was great to evaluate strong and weak Webquests in order to understand the purpose and capabilities of a Webquest.