I didn't think the project would be complete without a reflection on the reflection. Also, I wanted to test out creating a project on Tiki-Toki. Like most online programs, you have to pay for the Premium package to get the coolest features. None of the project, here or on the bigger website, was created using features that I had to pay for. Everything was free. Anyway, I thought I'd also let you know that I have only ever created a diary/journal once in my life previous to this. It was when I studied abroad in Italy for 5 weeks in college. I haven't read it since I wrote it, and I don't even know where it is. But, I can see the appeal of one now, especially with a smaller project like this. However, for my birthday recently, a friend gave me a "Line a Day for 5 Years" diary. I've written about 10 entries since March. I'm still not a diary writer, even after this fun exploration with Tiki-Toki. I've enjoyed it and hope you do, too! ;xNLx;;xNLx;Tips: Click on the "More" button at the bottom of each tile to see the full entry. When you're done reading an entry, clcik the "X" on the top right. Use the slide at the bottom to see the thumbnail views as a whole. You can click on the 3D button at the bottom left corner to see a different view, as well.
Got the email from Chris that I was accepted into the SoTL Reflection Project! Very Exciting!
We all met on Zoom to introduce each other (I was late because of a doctor's appointment. blah!), talk about expectations, and generally to get excited about the next few weeks of reflecting.
So grades for the Spring semester were due today. That means I haven't worked on the reflection project at all. I have been thinking about it a little, but nothing substantial so far. I don't feel as if I have writer's block or a lack of motivation to start, it's just a time thing. More free time in the days and weeks ahead now.
Up until today, I have been planning in my head and on paper, brainstorming about ways to present my ideas through the technology available to me. This is mostly foreign territory, so I'm having difficulty figuring the basics out. I just spent 75 minutes looking for an image to have as the background on this timeline and then when I pasted in the url, it didn't work. I can't find a help page and I'm about to search on YouTube--that's usually the easiest and fastest way. I think part of the problem is that most of the cool pictures are copyrighted or have a fee. But, the last one I found on flickr didn't have those restrictions. So, off to troubleshoot...
I've been playing around with the Weebly site. Weebly has changed since I first started assigning it for use in 255, Public Writing. I started on just the general pages, then realized the templates were available for snazzier designs. But, now I'm afraid that if I choose a template and "apply" it, I won't be able to go back to my original site. Hmm.... Should I go for it?? What if it doesn't work? What if I love it? I think this fear must happen with my students too. When we have our class session in one of the computer rooms, they are all able to work on the desktops and try things out while I'm there to help. They can also help each other. I think part of the reason I'm struggling a bit is that I'm sitting here by myself and feel like I have to figure everything out on my own. I suppose that's also how students felt last year moving to fully online learning.
I finally found a useful YouTube video on how to create a Tiki-Toki timeline. It was a Canadian High School teacher's tutorial for his students before they had to create a project about WWII. During his lesson, he made a few mistakes, but corrected himself quickly. At one point, I thought I saw him refresh his window, so I tried that too on mine whenever I didn't see my changes appear and voila! I'm saving it here so I can find it later.
I actually began working on the 251 page yesterday, but I got kind of stuck. So, today I moved on to something completely different with 102. I think I had a bit more "Is it working?" in there than I thought I would. I am finding that describing the work for my website audience helps me to transition a little into how I felt things worked. It isn't formal, critical, or analytical thinking at this stage, of course. But, Chris did say we could more or less have a stream of consciousness vibe! I'm curious to see how much editing I'll end up doing, or if I'll keep it in its more raw form for this reflection project. It have decided to leave the home page until last so that I can see how the website ultimately comes together. I also got a chance to look at the Jamboards the class created on Zoom for the creation of this page on the 102 class. It was a fun trip down memory lane.
A big shout out to Chris, Sally, and Robin for feedback on the project. Chris typed up a novella-length email on all the pages so far--I have so much to think about and already the ideas are swirling around as to how to incorporate some of it. I could do it as a "Final Thoughts" page or maybe a "Future Work" page?? Sally left encouraging feedback and urged me to just keep going! Robin checked all of the links to make sure they were working on someone else's computer. I had the chance to look at Sally's the other day and her approach is much different than mine--more formally organized with headings and subheadings, a bit more of an analytical edge, more student reactions too. Robin just posted hers, so I haven't had a look. I hope that we'll be able to view the other projects at the end of the program.
I had to take a few days off from the computer. While I like to get some momentum going with a project, sometimes I just need a break, too. I am actually really enjoying working on the website since it's much more creative than typing up something in a Word document. And, I like coming up with different formats and approaches for each page--it keeps it interesting for me. Once I start working on a page, I'm finding that I just keep going until I realize that a few hours have past and my stomach is grumbling. I think this is a good sign since I'm not feeling a lack of ideas or inspiration. So, I wonder if students feel this way too? I have gotten a lot of positive feedback about enjoying the media projects more than the traditional papers, even in my literature classes. Perhaps I'm successfully putting myself in my students' shoes with this project then???
Got quite a shock when I opened my Weebly account yesterday only to find it had completely disappeared. The whole interface had changed and I didn't see my website anywhere except for a big blank grey square. I clicked around and still didn't see it. I double-clicked on the grey square and it miraculously appeared!!! It was a huge relief, of course. And, I have been victim of losing word documents (like part of my dissertation) in the past--a terrible feeling. Anyway, there's no other way to save your work but on the Weebly site, so it does cause some stress that way. But, this also got me thinking about the online programs we use. When I first started teaching students to use Weebly for their projects a few years ago, it was very different than it was just 6 months ago. Same with Canva.com for creating brochures and also StoryMaps recently. I suspect that as online creative tools like these and the one I'm using now, Tiki-Toki, and a whole slew of others improve their sites and offerings, we'll have to continually re-learn how to use them or even take tutorials. This could be difficult when the technology changes mid-semester or mid-project like Weebly did for me this week!
The website is shaping up nicely. I am toying with the idea of leaving it in its unpolished and more or less unedited form. I find that I can over-edit at times and end up changing what I previously wrote quite significantly. I think for an initial stab at reflection, never having done this before, the project would benefit from an unscripted, unaltered conception. I think editing has a place for future iterations of my beginning work here. I believe Chris gave us that option--to approach it from the method that worked the best for us, our work, our thinking. Perhaps I've also been out of the writing loop for too long--I haven't written anything since my last conference paper a few years ago. And, that has suited me just fine. I've found that I actually like the raw, unedited, unresearched type of scholarly writing, if there is such a thing?? I wish the academy was more open to this. I think SoTL is opening up those avenues though, so I am curious where it will eventually lead.
I've been wondering what to end with on the website. I think a few entries back, I contemplated trying to think of what to do next after the project, where things would go, or incorporating feedback. But, I'm thinking now that's a bit too much. The point of the project, as I'm seeing it grow, is to reflect initially and not to do too much all at once. I know I am well over the required 2,000 words, but I also think my scope needed to be a bit bigger than just 2,000. Now that I see it almost at its end, I think I'm going to leave off the "Further Work" type of page. I could use it as a reminder to myself about things I could do in the future, but maybe cramming all of that in is too much. I will have time to move on to the next chapter--they don't all have to be as long either! Maybe I'll just want to focus on one class, or maybe just on using Jamboards, or maybe incorporating more of my own YouTube tutorials. I'm sure that there are a lot of things I haven't even considered at this point. So, I think it will be more useful to let it simmer a bit before I add the next ingredient. Did I mention it's almost time for dinner?
I finally recorded my Flipgrid video tonight. I had been putting it off. Not because I didn't know what I wanted to say, but because I knew it was probably going to be awkward. It was. I had done welcome videos for classes before, taped my voice a few times, done a video for OIT, so I wasn't completely new to the process. But, I now know how it would feel for a student to submit a response to the platform for a grade. And, also to have to watch all of the video submissions over and over in order to record another response would just be too much. It's good for the informal meet and greet in the first week, but for assignments, I'm pretty much a hard no.
Proofread the website and finished. Will submit later on. Wahoo!
We'd love to hear from you. Please send questions or feedback to the below email addresses.
Before contacting us, you may wish to visit our FAQs page which has lots of useful info on Tiki-Toki.
We can be contacted by email at: hello@tiki-toki.com.
You can also follow us on twitter at twitter.com/tiki_toki.
If you are having any problems with Tiki-Toki, please contact us as at: help@tiki-toki.com
Close