Week 2 Reflection Entry/Blog Post

Not Your Average Cone: Computer Imagining the Cone of Experience by Renee Dobrzelewski

EDT 5410 Week 2 Reflective Entry

I am not new to blogs, as I have created a few basic websites in the past and some of them included a blog feature. I enjoy working in a digital environment, so I immediately began customizing my Blogger site. I also enjoy writing, and my style tends to be more casual than formal research or white-paper writing, so a blog feels like a good fit for my skills and interests.

I had not worked with Socrative before this week, but I found it very easy to get started without any prior training on the program. I was able to create a five-question knowledge check fairly quickly. Full disclosure: I used the AI question-generation tool because I was curious to see what kinds of questions it would produce and how accurate the answers would be. As is often the case when working with AI, I needed to make a few tweaks, but overall I was pleased with the results. I did not even need to consult the start guide until I could not figure out how to get my questions into the quiz, and then I only needed to read enough to troubleshoot that issue.

I believe a blog can cross several bands of Dale’s Cone of Experience depending on how it is used. At its most basic level, a blog relies heavily on verbal symbols because written language is the primary means of communication. However, blogs can also incorporate visual symbols, photographs, audio, and video, moving the experience into other areas of the Cone. Dale presents the Cone as a continuum from more concrete experiences to more abstract representations rather than as a strict hierarchy.

Socrative also seems to rely primarily on verbal and visual symbols because learners are reading questions, interpreting information, and selecting responses. What makes the tool more useful than a printed quiz, though, is not simply that it is digital. It can provide interaction, immediate feedback, and real-time results. That connects well with Siegel’s idea of “computer imagination,” which focuses on taking advantage of the unique strengths of technology rather than simply transferring an existing activity to a screen. Siegel specifically highlights features such as interactivity, multimedia, user control, and information that changes based on user input.

The strength of a blog on the Web is its ability to reach a wider audience and encourage interaction. Someone can certainly share an opinion verbally with friends or write a paper in print, but neither option creates the same opportunity for ongoing interaction between the author and a wider community. Readers can respond through comments and continue the conversation. Blogs also allow authors to incorporate multimedia, such as images, audio, or video, that may illustrate a topic in a different way. This seems like a good example of using the Web for what it does well rather than simply recreating a printed paper online.

Socrative also has advantages over a traditional written quiz. Immediate feedback can help learners understand mistakes while the material is still fresh, and instructors can see results in real time instead of manually grading or tallying responses later. I can also see it being useful as a quick diagnostic tool before instruction, allowing an instructor to gauge what learners already know and adjust the session accordingly.

BYOD also has some obvious advantages. One of the readings notes that people are often more comfortable using their own devices because they already understand how those devices work, which can reduce the amount of time needed to learn the technology itself. Schools and organizations may also see BYOD as a cost-saving measure because they do not have to provide devices for every learner.

At the same time, I personally do not think BYOD is always the answer to online learning. Security is an obvious concern when personal devices with varying levels of protection are connected to a shared network. There are also compatibility and support issues because IT departments cannot guarantee that every program will work on every operating system or device. The BYOD article raises similar concerns about security, support, cost, and providing a consistent experience across devices.

I have seen this issue in practice as well. My nephew was told as an incoming freshman at Hope College that he could not use a Mac because some of the engineering programs required software that would not run on an Apple computer. There is a reason many workplaces provide computers: doing so creates a more consistent experience and makes troubleshooting easier. Equity is another concern. What happens if a student cannot afford a device or reliable internet access? I previously worked in an urban school district that had to provide laptops and mobile hotspots to high school students so they would not be placed at a disadvantage.

Overall, I think this week reinforced the same idea that came up in our first set of readings: technology is most useful when it serves a clear purpose. Blogs and Socrative both offer features that would be difficult or less efficient to reproduce with lower-tech tools, but simply using technology does not automatically make a learning experience better. The value still depends on what problem the tool is solving and how thoughtfully it is used.

BYOD Activity

I created a five-question knowledge check about learning management systems using Socrative. I could see using this as a baseline survey for new faculty to get a quick sense of their familiarity with LMS concepts before a training session. The results could help identify areas where participants may need additional support and allow the facilitator to adjust the training accordingly. My Socrative room is ROOMOFRENEEDOBRZELEWSKI.