Ron Genech reflects on his experience in an online course about building online learning environments, highlighting the importance of technology in modern education. He shares insights about various tech tools he discovered and emphasizes how rapidly technology evolves, urging educators to stay informed to enhance student learning. The document includes links to his blog and other resources for further exploration of these tools.

1. Building an Online Learning Environment
Final Presentation
Ron Genech
Delaware County Intermediate Unit, Pennsylvania
Presented to:

2. The following pages will show
screenshots of some of the tools I
have encountered and used during
the past month, as I was enrolled in
the “Building Online Learning
Environments “ class at DCIU.
For more details about each tool , including slideshares, youtube clips, and
audio tutorials, please visit my blog at :
http://rongenechteacher.blogspot.kr/
OR , check out my slideshares at:
http://www.slideshare.net/rongenech/presentations
Thanks for visiting.

3. Building Online Environments - Course Reflection
Thanks to the Delaware County Intermediate Unit, near my hometown of Philadelphia, I have just completed
an online course called ‘ Building Online Environments’. These are my personal reflections.
I was an undergraduate student from 1989-1994. At that time, there WAS NO internet. Shocking, isn’t it ? I vaguely
remember using a program, ( I think ), through the University of Minnesota, called the ‘gopher’ program. As I recall, that
program was mainly used to look up some academic writings, ‘on-line’. Fast forward to 2015, and it’s impossible to
imagine life without the internet.
Today, students in our classrooms have never known life without the internet. Whether in the palm of their
hands via a ‘smartphone’, or on their high powered ‘gaming’ desktops, students are used to interacting with others
through the internet. It only makes sense that classrooms allow students to encounter and meaningfully interact with
new information via technology.
As a teacher, it CAN be overwhelming to think about all the new tech tools and toys there are to learn. I know
I, personally, have had a “rainy day” list of websites and tech tools to explore. Thanks to this course, I finally had the
“kick in the seat of my pants” to finally explore them. Some of them are detailed in my blog:
http://rongenechteacher.blogspot.kr/ which I plan to continue updating, as I take the plunge down the ‘technology
wormhole’.
About 4-5 years ago, I was a long-term substitute teacher at PAVCS , the Pennsylvania Virtual Charter
School. Students learned in the comfort of their homes, all over Pennsylvania, and I taught from my office cubicle in
Norristown, PA. I remember interviewing for the position and wondering, “ Online teaching ?? Is that even possible ??
“ The next year, the person I was subbing for, decided to return to PAVCS, so I was out of a job. I also remember thinking,
“ Return to a “brick and mortar” school ?? Is that even possible for me now ??” I really enjoyed my time at PAVCS and
you can read more about it here: https://sites.google.com/site/rongenechportfolio/
As I think about that time, I realize how quickly technology has changed in less than 5 years. I don’t know if
all the tech tools I used for this class even existed 5 years ago. I certainly hadn’t heard of them. One of my favorite blogs
is “ Larry Ferlazzo’s Best Of … “ He lists and critiques all different kinds of websites , relating to teaching. As I was
researching websites for this class, I would search his lists from 2013 or 2014, and quite often, I would get broken links to
tech tools that no longer exist. It reminds me of that quote from Ferris Bueller’s Day off - “Life moves pretty fast. If you
don’t stop to look around, you might miss it.” In this case, the quote should be , “ Technology moves pretty fast. If you
don’t stop to look around, you might miss it. … and your students will miss out on a wonderful opportunity to learn things
in a more meaningful, relevant way.” - Ron Genech
Personal
Course
Reflection
Statement

4. (Listed in order of usefulness)

5. A great tool to record your
voice while you upload pics,
& write / doodle on an
interactive whiteboard.

6. A fun, quiz game
students can play
along with using
their mobile
devices !

7. Quizizz - A classroom quiz game students can
play with their smartphones.

8. A fun way to practice vocabulary on hundreds of topics !

9. I then asked the students to
record their responses , using
Vocaroo, a FREE online audio
recording site.

10. I highly recommend BOTH Pixiclip and
Vocaroo !
Links to MY Pixiclips:
http://www.pixiclip.com/beta/c/e243
http://www.pixiclip.com/beta/c/e2c7

13. http://www.fotobabble.com/
m/bjZpczZ6cmpndDQ9

14. https://voicethread.com/#thread/6934438/36721992/38006267