I am more interested in office suites than in photo sharing, so I chose to review
• Google docs
• Ajax
• Zoho (I did not write a review on this one since the assignment called for reviewing two apps).
Overall, the three contain quite similar or duplicate uses, and they are all in some way connected to or use part of Google’s site. I found Google docs to be the most efficient in that it has many wonderful features, is simpler and easier to use than the others, and it is more popular (connected to what most people probably already use anyway, like Google’s search engine and gmail e-mail). I’ve highlighted the perks of each along with comments.
Google Docs
Our technology staff person (who is also a full time teacher) has mentioned Google Docs to the staff several times, but hasn’t had the time to go into much detail about it. It was nice to be able to finally take a look at what he was talking about myself instead of waiting for his push, which may have taken time considering his busy schedule. Also, I didn’t realize it, but I was already signed up for Google Docs and had been using it via my cell phone! I just knew that my phone was connected to Google, that I created memos in my phone and could sync them to Google on-line, but I didn’t realize it was the actual “Google Docs” program that I’d been using! I’m glad to have been able to go through the application more thoroughly so that I can now get optimal use out of it.
I would definitely recommend that my colleagues use Google Docs. When I heard our technology staff member mention it, I thought giving it a try would be adding more work to my plate, but now I see how helpful, supportive, and beneficial this application can be to me and to others, for personal use and for professional use. The features that stood out to me were:
• On-line Word Processing--Being able to create word processed files on-line, tracking and organizing them there
• Easy Transfer of Documents from PC--Being able to upload files from my personal computer to the on-line app for one-stop, quick and easy access, viewing, and editing
• Easy Transfer of Documents to PC--Being able to download documents created on-line to my personal computer. This means that I am not limited to working on files and documents through my personal home or work computers alone, but that I can access any file that I create or upload to Google Docs from any computer that has internet access. The only down side to this would be if I was without internet connection and therefore could not access Google Docs. Having all of my files created in Google Docs downloaded to my personal computer would come in handy for me as a teacher. I know that I have been frustrated at times when I began creating an assignment for school on my classroom computer, but had to leave work without finishing it. I would have to save my document, e-mail it to myself and then open it at home to finish it. (A few times I have even forgot to e-mail it to myself and had to re-create the document from scratch at home). By this time, I would have one incomplete version on my school’s computer, a completed version on my home computer (or flash drive), and if I wanted the completed version saved on my school’s computer I had to send another e-mail to myself and then re-save it or pull it from my flash drive and save it to my school’s computer. Whew! That was a hassle. Now, with Google Docs, I can simply create the document on my school’s computer and then upload it to Google Docs, which I can also access from home. I’ve always wanted access to all of my school files at home. Now, instead of copying every single thing to my flash drive and organizing it or e-mailing them to myself, I can use Google Docs sort of as my middle man and backup system! Now I can have all of my school documents and personal documents in one place without limit, except if I am somewhere without internet connection. The only other thing that I am leery about is the fact that all of my personal information is on-line instead of where only I can access it. Sure I have a password, but there are people that know how to get around that, and what if Google is secretly looking at my work (not that they would want to steal any of it, but it makes me feel like my documents are not completely private). Still overall, I guess it is better than having to save everything to flash drives, e-mail accounts, and having to make multiple copies of documents.
• It’s Free--The only thing you have to have is a Google e-mail account
• Can Be Accessed From Anywhere—Even via a smart phone
• Easy Collaboration—Instead of sending e-mails of documents to be revised, they can be revised in real time with one original version instead of multiple copies
• Familiar Desktop like Microsoft Word ®
• Can Create Other Documents—Spread sheets, on-line presentations and videos, drawings, etc. that can be published and unpublished at the click of a button, and shared with whomever you wish, or with no-one
• Can Create Forms or Tests!—This part is really cool for teachers. Tests and questionnaires can be crated on-line, taken on-line by students, reviewed and graded by teachers on-line and tracked. Teachers can compare scores and get percentages without all of the usual paper work and time and energy of going through one paper at a time to calculate individual, whole class, or multiple class information and ratios.
• One Stop Spot—Access to e-mail, searchable calendar, documents, web search, Google Reader
• Auto Save Feature—Work is automatically saved
• Folders for Easy Organization
• Can Publish as a Web Page
• Saves Money from Software--No need to buy software, upload or download files, or send e-mails; can use instead of Microsoft Word ® if desired
• Doesn’t Limit--Can use without own computer and all is saved on the internet under personal account
• Easy Viewing—Can view all documents in index form (actually seeing the format of each document and not just its name) or in list form
Ajax
Here are my thoughts on some of the features within Ajax:
• Also like an on-line desktop
• Can easily back up files
• Google apps comes with it
• Can use desktop widgets and applications with it
• It is also free
• You are able to log in (or sign up) using your Google account information.
• It includes on-line workspace, web apps, widgets, and storage
• If you have firefox downloaded, there is no need for installation, but with internet explorer, you do have to do a little downloading. I was not very excited about this part, although many people do already have firefox.
My thoughts on this is that it is a useful tool if someone just does not want to use Google products for some reason, but I would say you might as well use Google docs because many things that you likely already use can be housed in one location.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
D/B 13
What most made you say (or think) “that’s so neat!” Why?
What was your favorite activity of the semester and why?
There were many interesting things and ideas that stuck out to me from this chapter. It was funny that the technologies that I’ve seen in futuristic movies—technologies like artificial intelligence, computer micro chips implanted into human skin, and devices that scan body parts for entry or recognition of a person—are actually being researched and are expected to be a normal part of life in the near future!
Being in the Language Arts arena, I had to wonder how some of these near future technologies will apply to the language arts. It seems easy to apply them to areas that require physical movement, more hands-on work, and scientific/technology based work, but when it comes to the rules and art of reading, writing, grammar, vocabulary, etc., how will these technologies be incorporated to aid learning? Perhaps some of the technologies have been tested or used in the language arts arena. The authors mention that ITS applications in the artificial intelligence area that incorporate one-on-one tutoring “have been effectively employed in a variety of content areas” (p.327). I wonder if one of them is ELA.
I could envision a device similar the “electronic training jackets” example from the text (p. 325) helping students in their public speaking techniques. Imagine wearing a body suit from head to toe, standing in front of an audience giving a speech and feeling a warming sensation arise in one of your legs or hands because you are twitching them in front of the audience, or a little beep going off in your ear each time that you say “umm,” or “like” or “and.” May be far-fetched, but it came to mind while thinking about the futuristic technology of the training jacket and application to the language arts (which includes speaking).
I also thought that the artificial intelligence future instructional system’s capabilities were pretty interesting because of the value that they could bring to education. Right now, there is one teacher in a classroom of 25+ students (sometimes up to 40 students with today’s budget cuts!) who is expected to diagnose all of the learning needs, figure out and meet the diverse learning styles and cognitive abilities of each student (and for multiple class periods throughout the day), and give one-on-one assistance to those who are struggling with whole class instruction. It’s quite something to juggle, but we do it to the best of our abilities. It would be interesting to have within our grasps, a futuristic instructional system that would assist us to “diagnose learning needs, learning aptitudes, and styles; develop instruction tailored to identified needs and aptitudes; modify the level and type of feedback and instructional strategy based on learner responses and progress; and implement best practices guidelines based on up-to-date research findings” (p. 326). Such a technology system would make a great partner in education and teaching for teachers. It would have the potential of making our jobs and student learning more efficient and individual student needs would be able to be more readily met. I do not think that computers should one day replace human teachers, nor do I think that they could fully (the human touch and ability to diagnose individual needs, moods, backgrounds and to relate to students is so important), but I think that this type of technology would be a beneficial help, support and asset to education.
I can’t help but to wonder though, especially with the recent financial and budget cuts: once these technologies do become available, will the educational system have the finances to fund them for classroom use?
Of all the activities that we’ve completed in this course, I would have to say that blogging has proved to be very beneficial to me (of course with all of the things that can be done with a blog—like posting videos, maps, images, text, etc. ) I like it most because I think that I will get a lot of use out of blogging both professionally and personally. I also really liked the social bookmarking because of the convenience of being able to store many sites in one location. This will also be very beneficial for school and personal use. I think that I will also eventually use a wiki in my classroom, but I will have to play around with its capabilities a bit more to become more comfortable with it. I know we were only told to mention one activity, but I also like the ease and effectiveness of the Google sites website creation tool.
Reiser, R. & Dempsey, J. (2007). Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology (2nd ed.). Prentice Hall.
What was your favorite activity of the semester and why?
There were many interesting things and ideas that stuck out to me from this chapter. It was funny that the technologies that I’ve seen in futuristic movies—technologies like artificial intelligence, computer micro chips implanted into human skin, and devices that scan body parts for entry or recognition of a person—are actually being researched and are expected to be a normal part of life in the near future!
Being in the Language Arts arena, I had to wonder how some of these near future technologies will apply to the language arts. It seems easy to apply them to areas that require physical movement, more hands-on work, and scientific/technology based work, but when it comes to the rules and art of reading, writing, grammar, vocabulary, etc., how will these technologies be incorporated to aid learning? Perhaps some of the technologies have been tested or used in the language arts arena. The authors mention that ITS applications in the artificial intelligence area that incorporate one-on-one tutoring “have been effectively employed in a variety of content areas” (p.327). I wonder if one of them is ELA.
I could envision a device similar the “electronic training jackets” example from the text (p. 325) helping students in their public speaking techniques. Imagine wearing a body suit from head to toe, standing in front of an audience giving a speech and feeling a warming sensation arise in one of your legs or hands because you are twitching them in front of the audience, or a little beep going off in your ear each time that you say “umm,” or “like” or “and.” May be far-fetched, but it came to mind while thinking about the futuristic technology of the training jacket and application to the language arts (which includes speaking).
I also thought that the artificial intelligence future instructional system’s capabilities were pretty interesting because of the value that they could bring to education. Right now, there is one teacher in a classroom of 25+ students (sometimes up to 40 students with today’s budget cuts!) who is expected to diagnose all of the learning needs, figure out and meet the diverse learning styles and cognitive abilities of each student (and for multiple class periods throughout the day), and give one-on-one assistance to those who are struggling with whole class instruction. It’s quite something to juggle, but we do it to the best of our abilities. It would be interesting to have within our grasps, a futuristic instructional system that would assist us to “diagnose learning needs, learning aptitudes, and styles; develop instruction tailored to identified needs and aptitudes; modify the level and type of feedback and instructional strategy based on learner responses and progress; and implement best practices guidelines based on up-to-date research findings” (p. 326). Such a technology system would make a great partner in education and teaching for teachers. It would have the potential of making our jobs and student learning more efficient and individual student needs would be able to be more readily met. I do not think that computers should one day replace human teachers, nor do I think that they could fully (the human touch and ability to diagnose individual needs, moods, backgrounds and to relate to students is so important), but I think that this type of technology would be a beneficial help, support and asset to education.
I can’t help but to wonder though, especially with the recent financial and budget cuts: once these technologies do become available, will the educational system have the finances to fund them for classroom use?
Of all the activities that we’ve completed in this course, I would have to say that blogging has proved to be very beneficial to me (of course with all of the things that can be done with a blog—like posting videos, maps, images, text, etc. ) I like it most because I think that I will get a lot of use out of blogging both professionally and personally. I also really liked the social bookmarking because of the convenience of being able to store many sites in one location. This will also be very beneficial for school and personal use. I think that I will also eventually use a wiki in my classroom, but I will have to play around with its capabilities a bit more to become more comfortable with it. I know we were only told to mention one activity, but I also like the ease and effectiveness of the Google sites website creation tool.
Reiser, R. & Dempsey, J. (2007). Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology (2nd ed.). Prentice Hall.
D/B 12
Describe two tangible take-aways that you think you could apply in your work.
What are two ways you believe you can apply ideas in this chapter to improve your teaching/instructional design work?
The chapter on Rich Media was very interesting to me. In some ways it was like a refresher of information from education classes that I’ve taken in the past concerning how we learn and the cognitive process of learning. In other ways, it gave me new insights to information on how we learn and how to use technology for learning in a way that fosters the way that we learn and process information.
One idea that stuck out most was concerning the long term memory and working memory. Specifically interesting was how much information we can hold in the different categories of our working memory. I already try to be conscious to teach via mini-lessons and then have the students process or apply the information through quick discussions or writing prompts and then repeat the process before giving extended time to apply the idea on their own or with a group. I knew that there was a limited capacity within the working or short term memory, but finding the specifics like that we can hold 7 plus or minus 2 chunks of information there at a time was helpful. It was helpful to know that the chunks of information we can hold in our working memory breaks down into visual/pictorial and auditory/verbal channels or storage areas, and that we can be overloaded with information and not apply it to our long term memory if the instructional technology that is used has too many features from either area. An example that really stuck out here was “Since working memory capacity is highly limited, including three sources of sounds—narration, environmental sounds, and music—[overloads] the limited capacity of the auditory/verbal channel.”
Another thing I found to be interesting and helpful is the idea that the picture book makers had it correct—students do learn better from words and pictures than from words alone. I think many people would have assumed that animated visuals or video would be more effective than static images, but it was interesting to find that static images can have the same effect as animated videos.
My school recently installed digital projectors in each classroom. Since then, one of my plans has been to incorporate more visuals like video clips into lessons. The text proved a theory that I’ve had in that students learn better when they can see images of the concept you are teaching. After reading this chapter, one thing that I think will be very helpful to me in teaching is that visuals should be explained by words when presented in audio, or that showing video clips with audio narration is more effective than text narration alone. When choosing a clip to show, I will check to make sure that the animation is accompanied by narration rather than on screen text alone.
Two similar ideas stick out to me the most that sum up what I feel is important from this chapter overall:
• It is important not just to present information, but to present information in a way that fosters how we learn (working memory capacity and structure, activating prior knowledge from long term memory to interact with new information, etc.)
• Rich media must be aligned with the human learning process to be effective.
Reiser, R. & Dempsey, J. (2007). Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology (2nd ed.). Prentice Hall.
What are two ways you believe you can apply ideas in this chapter to improve your teaching/instructional design work?
The chapter on Rich Media was very interesting to me. In some ways it was like a refresher of information from education classes that I’ve taken in the past concerning how we learn and the cognitive process of learning. In other ways, it gave me new insights to information on how we learn and how to use technology for learning in a way that fosters the way that we learn and process information.
One idea that stuck out most was concerning the long term memory and working memory. Specifically interesting was how much information we can hold in the different categories of our working memory. I already try to be conscious to teach via mini-lessons and then have the students process or apply the information through quick discussions or writing prompts and then repeat the process before giving extended time to apply the idea on their own or with a group. I knew that there was a limited capacity within the working or short term memory, but finding the specifics like that we can hold 7 plus or minus 2 chunks of information there at a time was helpful. It was helpful to know that the chunks of information we can hold in our working memory breaks down into visual/pictorial and auditory/verbal channels or storage areas, and that we can be overloaded with information and not apply it to our long term memory if the instructional technology that is used has too many features from either area. An example that really stuck out here was “Since working memory capacity is highly limited, including three sources of sounds—narration, environmental sounds, and music—[overloads] the limited capacity of the auditory/verbal channel.”
Another thing I found to be interesting and helpful is the idea that the picture book makers had it correct—students do learn better from words and pictures than from words alone. I think many people would have assumed that animated visuals or video would be more effective than static images, but it was interesting to find that static images can have the same effect as animated videos.
My school recently installed digital projectors in each classroom. Since then, one of my plans has been to incorporate more visuals like video clips into lessons. The text proved a theory that I’ve had in that students learn better when they can see images of the concept you are teaching. After reading this chapter, one thing that I think will be very helpful to me in teaching is that visuals should be explained by words when presented in audio, or that showing video clips with audio narration is more effective than text narration alone. When choosing a clip to show, I will check to make sure that the animation is accompanied by narration rather than on screen text alone.
Two similar ideas stick out to me the most that sum up what I feel is important from this chapter overall:
• It is important not just to present information, but to present information in a way that fosters how we learn (working memory capacity and structure, activating prior knowledge from long term memory to interact with new information, etc.)
• Rich media must be aligned with the human learning process to be effective.
Reiser, R. & Dempsey, J. (2007). Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology (2nd ed.). Prentice Hall.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Website
English Website: Literature--"The Giver"
One way that I can envision using my website is as a tool and resource for students to prepare for and reflect on their reading. For instance, prior to reading the novel, “The Giver,” which my 8th graders are required to read, I would post a plot summary and important vocabulary for students on the website. The students would use the site as a resource to get background information about the story and to build their background knowledge about important vocabulary terms. After gaining the needed information from the website, students would participate in reflective and cooperative group mini-projects to synthesize and discuss the plot, their predictions for the novel, and their personal applications of the vocabulary terms.
After gaining and building background knowledge about the story, the students will begin reading the novel and use the website themselves to create additional web pages on the site. Their web pages will be in reference to how they analyze the events and themes within the story and written reflections. Students will work in groups to create their web pages and be able to choose from several project items that will help them to meet the unit goals of literary analysis. The students will be required to include graphics within their web pages.
After reading the novel, the students will also be required to read and reflect on the website information updated by their peers, review the important content and analysis of the novel, and take a final exam on the novel’s theme and how literary elements were applied within it.
Check out a sample of how this website would potentially be set up here.
One way that I can envision using my website is as a tool and resource for students to prepare for and reflect on their reading. For instance, prior to reading the novel, “The Giver,” which my 8th graders are required to read, I would post a plot summary and important vocabulary for students on the website. The students would use the site as a resource to get background information about the story and to build their background knowledge about important vocabulary terms. After gaining the needed information from the website, students would participate in reflective and cooperative group mini-projects to synthesize and discuss the plot, their predictions for the novel, and their personal applications of the vocabulary terms.
After gaining and building background knowledge about the story, the students will begin reading the novel and use the website themselves to create additional web pages on the site. Their web pages will be in reference to how they analyze the events and themes within the story and written reflections. Students will work in groups to create their web pages and be able to choose from several project items that will help them to meet the unit goals of literary analysis. The students will be required to include graphics within their web pages.
After reading the novel, the students will also be required to read and reflect on the website information updated by their peers, review the important content and analysis of the novel, and take a final exam on the novel’s theme and how literary elements were applied within it.
Check out a sample of how this website would potentially be set up here.
Screen Casting Ideas
Screen Casting Lesson Idea(s)--
There are a few ways that I thought using screen casting would be interesting and essential for. One, a screen cast could be used as a part of the lesson while a substitute teacher is present with students when the regular teacher needs to be out. Sometimes it is difficult to explain to a sub how to teach a mini-lesson on a certain topic and you don’t want the students to pause from doing the assignment while you are away. Using screen casting, the teacher could pre-record a screen cast of a specific mini-lesson before students got to working on their assignment for the day with the sub. This way, when the teacher returns, students will not be behind in the curriculum and the teacher will know that the material was taught in the right way (or in the exact way that they had intended).
Back to my issue concerning “absenteeism” from earlier in the course, screen casting could also be used for teachers to record pertinent information/lessons/examples that would be important for students who were absent during the actual face-to-face lesson to have seen. It is very difficult to catch absent students up on topics and lessons that take some time to explain. Usually they come back and get the gist of what the other students learned, but with a screen cast, they could get the exact same information as the others, most likely, without skipping a beat. This same idea could be used for students who were present during the lesson but need a refresher or could benefit from hearing and seeing the lesson demonstration more than once. In this sense, it could serve as a type of tutorial for individuals or groups of students that need extra help, time, or assistance to grasp concepts or how to perform an educational task.
For science classes, or classes that incorporate a lot of live demonstrations that might involve heavy set up and material preparation, screen casting could be used to actually present the demonstrations to students. This would save a secondary teacher from having to clean up and set up the demonstration area several times throughout the day. It would allow more time for further teaching or application of the lesson for students to be able to work.
Example: In teaching writing, I often have to use large chart paper to demonstrate how to brainstorm and begin doing a specific type of writing (personal narrative, essay, literary essay, etc.) Each type of writing has certain elements within it that must be present. Teaching this seven times in a day means using a lot of chart paper, since I want each class to experience the steps of writing with fresh examples and to have the charts posted in the classroom to refer to later on and throughout the writing process. With screen casting, I could create a movie clip demonstrating the concept about writing that I would teach that day, share examples (recording writing on the chart paper) and create spaces for pausing the video to actually ask students questions, answer their questions, or to have them demonstrate concepts or practice with a partner. I would actually make the chart posters during the video lesson and students would still be able to use them as references because they would then be posted in the classroom for them to view and utilize.
A couple of other ideas that came to mind for using screen casting in an English classroom would be use for centers and to teach reading strategies. With the right amount of technical equipment, a screen cast could be created and set up as a tutorial for students participating in each individual center. This way, the teacher would not have to be nailed down to one particular center for a long period of time. This would also save the teacher from having to do a lengthy presentation and demonstration with the entire class prior to center time beginning, which could take away from application of learning time. Students would travel to their centers, view the screen cast along with the small group they are with in the center, and then get to work on whatever the center is focusing on.
I teach reading strategies by demonstrating my thought process while I read aloud to the students. Using screen casting, I could pre-record myself reading and demonstrating aloud a particular reading strategy. The students viewing the screen cast would have the same reading material available to them to look over as I read on video. This way, multiple reading strategies could be taught at a time, the teacher is free to assist with groups viewing the screen casts to check for understanding, and again, absent students would be able to later go back and learn how to use certain reading strategies without missing out on the most important ideas.
There are a few ways that I thought using screen casting would be interesting and essential for. One, a screen cast could be used as a part of the lesson while a substitute teacher is present with students when the regular teacher needs to be out. Sometimes it is difficult to explain to a sub how to teach a mini-lesson on a certain topic and you don’t want the students to pause from doing the assignment while you are away. Using screen casting, the teacher could pre-record a screen cast of a specific mini-lesson before students got to working on their assignment for the day with the sub. This way, when the teacher returns, students will not be behind in the curriculum and the teacher will know that the material was taught in the right way (or in the exact way that they had intended).
Back to my issue concerning “absenteeism” from earlier in the course, screen casting could also be used for teachers to record pertinent information/lessons/examples that would be important for students who were absent during the actual face-to-face lesson to have seen. It is very difficult to catch absent students up on topics and lessons that take some time to explain. Usually they come back and get the gist of what the other students learned, but with a screen cast, they could get the exact same information as the others, most likely, without skipping a beat. This same idea could be used for students who were present during the lesson but need a refresher or could benefit from hearing and seeing the lesson demonstration more than once. In this sense, it could serve as a type of tutorial for individuals or groups of students that need extra help, time, or assistance to grasp concepts or how to perform an educational task.
For science classes, or classes that incorporate a lot of live demonstrations that might involve heavy set up and material preparation, screen casting could be used to actually present the demonstrations to students. This would save a secondary teacher from having to clean up and set up the demonstration area several times throughout the day. It would allow more time for further teaching or application of the lesson for students to be able to work.
Example: In teaching writing, I often have to use large chart paper to demonstrate how to brainstorm and begin doing a specific type of writing (personal narrative, essay, literary essay, etc.) Each type of writing has certain elements within it that must be present. Teaching this seven times in a day means using a lot of chart paper, since I want each class to experience the steps of writing with fresh examples and to have the charts posted in the classroom to refer to later on and throughout the writing process. With screen casting, I could create a movie clip demonstrating the concept about writing that I would teach that day, share examples (recording writing on the chart paper) and create spaces for pausing the video to actually ask students questions, answer their questions, or to have them demonstrate concepts or practice with a partner. I would actually make the chart posters during the video lesson and students would still be able to use them as references because they would then be posted in the classroom for them to view and utilize.
A couple of other ideas that came to mind for using screen casting in an English classroom would be use for centers and to teach reading strategies. With the right amount of technical equipment, a screen cast could be created and set up as a tutorial for students participating in each individual center. This way, the teacher would not have to be nailed down to one particular center for a long period of time. This would also save the teacher from having to do a lengthy presentation and demonstration with the entire class prior to center time beginning, which could take away from application of learning time. Students would travel to their centers, view the screen cast along with the small group they are with in the center, and then get to work on whatever the center is focusing on.
I teach reading strategies by demonstrating my thought process while I read aloud to the students. Using screen casting, I could pre-record myself reading and demonstrating aloud a particular reading strategy. The students viewing the screen cast would have the same reading material available to them to look over as I read on video. This way, multiple reading strategies could be taught at a time, the teacher is free to assist with groups viewing the screen casts to check for understanding, and again, absent students would be able to later go back and learn how to use certain reading strategies without missing out on the most important ideas.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
D/B 11
Reflect on what you perceive to be your own areas of strength and what competencies you feel you need to work hardest to develop given your professional goals. State adn describe at least 3 competencies you'd lilke to develop and why.
Like the Instructional Design and Technology professionals, K—12 public education teachers have a lengthy list of competencies or expectations that they are required to prove and perform. I always strive to practice what it is that I teach (reading and writing), to stay sharpened and abreast on the latest research concerning the teaching of reading and writing, and one day I would like to also experience teaching in the collegial setting.
One of my strengths is effective communication and rapport building with my students. I put conscious effort forth to make each one of my students feel like welcomed editions and contributors to our classroom family, to make sure that they recognize their capabilities and strengths, that they feel accepted, and that they know that am interested in their education and them as individuals. I feel that I also do well with clarification and feedback. I give detailed, written steps for assignments, discuss them with students, ask for questions, provide assistance throughout, and try my best to elaborate on what is expected of students. I also try to comment in writing on most assignments so that students know how well they performed in comparison with the expectations, what they did well and which specific areas need improvement and how to improve. Another thing that I am always conscious of is stimulating and sustaining my students’ motivation. I try to make sure that every lesson is somehow fun, engaging or interesting for them.
Areas that I feel I could use some sharpening or improvement in are using media and technology to enhance learning and performance. Along with that, I want to learn to better manage the instructional process through the appropriate use of technology (page 276, Table 27.3). I have been guilty of using technology to support what I am teaching or of just trying to find ways to squeeze technology into my lessons, without using technology to “transform” my teaching. I have mostly used technology like word processing for typing papers, internet for research or vocabulary projects, an overhead projector (the old fashioned kind) to model ideas for students, stereo equipment, and movie/television clips to teach or show examples of learning goals. I would like to develop these areas of competency because I recognize how important technology implementation is for our children to succeed in the work force and world that we are attempting to prepare them for. It is also an efficient, effective way, if used properly, to help students to learn and apply certain information. I do think that technology can and should be used to help transform education and I want to know how to go about using it to do so. I would also like more training and support with assessing learning and performance. I feel that I do fairly well with monitoring students’ progress through summative assessments, and with creating fair yet rigorous formative assessments that help me to see what students have really internalized, but I also realize how important assessments and using data to drive instruction are and want to make sure I am staying current on how best to use my students’ data to help them to reach the performance standards they are expected to reach.
(The Instructional Designer and Instructor sections of Tables 27.3 and 27.5 were helpful because they are most similar to public education teaching.)
Reiser, R. & Dempsey, J. (2007). Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology (2nd ed.). Prentice Hall.
Like the Instructional Design and Technology professionals, K—12 public education teachers have a lengthy list of competencies or expectations that they are required to prove and perform. I always strive to practice what it is that I teach (reading and writing), to stay sharpened and abreast on the latest research concerning the teaching of reading and writing, and one day I would like to also experience teaching in the collegial setting.
One of my strengths is effective communication and rapport building with my students. I put conscious effort forth to make each one of my students feel like welcomed editions and contributors to our classroom family, to make sure that they recognize their capabilities and strengths, that they feel accepted, and that they know that am interested in their education and them as individuals. I feel that I also do well with clarification and feedback. I give detailed, written steps for assignments, discuss them with students, ask for questions, provide assistance throughout, and try my best to elaborate on what is expected of students. I also try to comment in writing on most assignments so that students know how well they performed in comparison with the expectations, what they did well and which specific areas need improvement and how to improve. Another thing that I am always conscious of is stimulating and sustaining my students’ motivation. I try to make sure that every lesson is somehow fun, engaging or interesting for them.
Areas that I feel I could use some sharpening or improvement in are using media and technology to enhance learning and performance. Along with that, I want to learn to better manage the instructional process through the appropriate use of technology (page 276, Table 27.3). I have been guilty of using technology to support what I am teaching or of just trying to find ways to squeeze technology into my lessons, without using technology to “transform” my teaching. I have mostly used technology like word processing for typing papers, internet for research or vocabulary projects, an overhead projector (the old fashioned kind) to model ideas for students, stereo equipment, and movie/television clips to teach or show examples of learning goals. I would like to develop these areas of competency because I recognize how important technology implementation is for our children to succeed in the work force and world that we are attempting to prepare them for. It is also an efficient, effective way, if used properly, to help students to learn and apply certain information. I do think that technology can and should be used to help transform education and I want to know how to go about using it to do so. I would also like more training and support with assessing learning and performance. I feel that I do fairly well with monitoring students’ progress through summative assessments, and with creating fair yet rigorous formative assessments that help me to see what students have really internalized, but I also realize how important assessments and using data to drive instruction are and want to make sure I am staying current on how best to use my students’ data to help them to reach the performance standards they are expected to reach.
(The Instructional Designer and Instructor sections of Tables 27.3 and 27.5 were helpful because they are most similar to public education teaching.)
Reiser, R. & Dempsey, J. (2007). Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology (2nd ed.). Prentice Hall.
D/B 10
Identify 2 or 3 significant themes or differences you have noticed across these contexts and describe them. Is there a particular area or way that you believe your current professional working environment could learn from the other contexts described in these chapters?
A major theme I noticed is cooperation—working together for the common good or end-goal (adequate performance from learning/training) unlike the primarily individualized work that is done in K—12 education. It seems that in these areas, the team approach of each person adding their expertise to the pot is recognized, welcomed, and enforced. In K—12 education, at least as far as I’ve experienced and know of, professionals work mostly individually for the most part and come together for other areas than on focused lesson development and implementation. Meetings and collaborative efforts are mostly about ideas maybe related to the students’ education, funds, processes, but not so much specifically on lesson development, evaluation, and the day to day things that teachers go about in their classrooms to strive towards their learning goals. This focused collaborative effort throughout the lesson designing process, to me, seems to be something that we have not quite fully grasped yet.
Along with working together, I also noticed that these other areas not only work together, but they bring about a specialized knowledge to the group. For instance, there are subject matter experts and instructional designers. In K—12 education, teachers are trained to design lessons and units and are well versed in their specialized subject areas. However, it would be helpful to have additional support with lesson designing once employed from those who are specifically trained in instructional design to help with applying design techniques previously learned. This may be especially helpful with incoming or newer teachers. Instructional designers could also be available to novice teachers who request their help with implementing ideas or who just want to bounce ideas off of them. Plus, teachers coming from different preparatory universities all learn similar but different methods of lesson designing/planning, so a building or district-wide instructional designer(s) may be beneficial to bring order and coherence. It would also be nice for teachers to have help with implementing technology and for our technology staff to be free to help us with these types of things on a more regular basis without being in a rush.
It seems that the lesson design/training process is a bit more structured in Higher Education and in Business than in it is in K—12 education. I hear many teachers say something like, “When it comes down to it, I close my door and teach my kids,” stating that there are so many expectations and not enough support that they have to pick and choose what to focus on and so they do just that behind closed doors. I hear less about working together and helping each other as teaching staff, unless that cooperation is voluntary. It is not, however, regularly mandated or expected. Does the K—12 system recognize the importance of working together as a team to develop what is to be taught so that it can be effective? Do they recognize the need for specialized, trained individuals coming together to share their expertise and insight to reach the common goal of educating? Perhaps they could learn from the Business, Industry and Higher Education sectors. The chart on page 226 (figure 22.2) does a nice job of depicting a well thought out team approach to unit designing in Higher Education
Overall, it seems that the Business and Industry sectors are very organized and results oriented. In the K—12 education sector, all signs point towards a definite revision or change within the system that is needed and instructional design and teaching are more individualized. Higher Education seems to be more structured and although the teaching is individualized, there seems to at least be more opportunities for collaboration/group input and support.
A major theme I noticed is cooperation—working together for the common good or end-goal (adequate performance from learning/training) unlike the primarily individualized work that is done in K—12 education. It seems that in these areas, the team approach of each person adding their expertise to the pot is recognized, welcomed, and enforced. In K—12 education, at least as far as I’ve experienced and know of, professionals work mostly individually for the most part and come together for other areas than on focused lesson development and implementation. Meetings and collaborative efforts are mostly about ideas maybe related to the students’ education, funds, processes, but not so much specifically on lesson development, evaluation, and the day to day things that teachers go about in their classrooms to strive towards their learning goals. This focused collaborative effort throughout the lesson designing process, to me, seems to be something that we have not quite fully grasped yet.
Along with working together, I also noticed that these other areas not only work together, but they bring about a specialized knowledge to the group. For instance, there are subject matter experts and instructional designers. In K—12 education, teachers are trained to design lessons and units and are well versed in their specialized subject areas. However, it would be helpful to have additional support with lesson designing once employed from those who are specifically trained in instructional design to help with applying design techniques previously learned. This may be especially helpful with incoming or newer teachers. Instructional designers could also be available to novice teachers who request their help with implementing ideas or who just want to bounce ideas off of them. Plus, teachers coming from different preparatory universities all learn similar but different methods of lesson designing/planning, so a building or district-wide instructional designer(s) may be beneficial to bring order and coherence. It would also be nice for teachers to have help with implementing technology and for our technology staff to be free to help us with these types of things on a more regular basis without being in a rush.
It seems that the lesson design/training process is a bit more structured in Higher Education and in Business than in it is in K—12 education. I hear many teachers say something like, “When it comes down to it, I close my door and teach my kids,” stating that there are so many expectations and not enough support that they have to pick and choose what to focus on and so they do just that behind closed doors. I hear less about working together and helping each other as teaching staff, unless that cooperation is voluntary. It is not, however, regularly mandated or expected. Does the K—12 system recognize the importance of working together as a team to develop what is to be taught so that it can be effective? Do they recognize the need for specialized, trained individuals coming together to share their expertise and insight to reach the common goal of educating? Perhaps they could learn from the Business, Industry and Higher Education sectors. The chart on page 226 (figure 22.2) does a nice job of depicting a well thought out team approach to unit designing in Higher Education
Overall, it seems that the Business and Industry sectors are very organized and results oriented. In the K—12 education sector, all signs point towards a definite revision or change within the system that is needed and instructional design and teaching are more individualized. Higher Education seems to be more structured and although the teaching is individualized, there seems to at least be more opportunities for collaboration/group input and support.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
My Map!
Yet another piece of technology that I was oblivious to prior to completing an assignment for our class. This is a pretty cool tool. I would use google's editable maps for a personal narrative writing unit. One of the ways to start the unit out is for students to brainstorm places that matter to them. They list a few and then choose a place. Once students choose a place, they list several memories that they have being at that specific place("the time when..."). My map shows an example of the place that I narrowed my brainstorming down to--my grandmother's house. The specific moment, from many, that I chose was the time I almost got "jumped" or beat up by a group of teenage girls that were bored one summer. I found the location of my grandmother's neighborhood. Then I drew a line of the route that I took riding my bike that day. I attempted to draw a picture of a rather scary looking house to show the point along my route where the girls stopped me to confront me and try to get me off of my bike. Then I show the rest of the route back home to safety. My map is called Grandma's House. My students could also locate the exact places where their stories took place and plot a route. They could add pictures, shapes, home videos, etc. We always have Celebration time at the end of our writing units. This would be a way that students could create a visual to go along with their stories as they read them to the class or to their groups.
To view the parts of the map that I edited, zoom in twice. (Click on map title "Grandma's House," click the blue balloon marker on map, click "more," then click zoom.)
View Grandma's House in a larger map
To view the parts of the map that I edited, zoom in twice. (Click on map title "Grandma's House," click the blue balloon marker on map, click "more," then click zoom.)
View Grandma's House in a larger map
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
D/B 9
Previous Assignments Reflection
Reflect on your experience in the course so far, particularly related to the tech-related tasks you have tackled. How challenging have you found them? What support did you not get that you would have appreciated, or what support did you get that was appreciated? Are you excited, frustrated, or both? Will you find ways to incorporate some of what we have done in your professional work. How do you feel about this as a first or early course?
I have learned a great deal within the 5 weeks that we have been in this course so far. Prior to taking this course I was able to navigate my way through basic technology related issues, but through tackling our assignments and running into a few bumps, I feel that I’ve become sharper, technically. I was unaware of the existence of many of the technologies that we have learned about and used in this class, like: the RSS reader, delicious, embedding URL codes to post items to blogs or web pages, and even the depth and scope of wiki pages. Now I see how much I’ve been missing out on!
I particularly had a difficult time learning how to link my RSS feeds to my blog. After advice and help from my fellow peers, getting frustrated, taking a break and then coming back to work on it again with a clear head, I was finally able to get it. I also had some trouble linking an outside webpage to my wiki. I had to learn another lesson in URLs before figuring that one out. Although I have gotten frustrated, it was not without good cause as I’m glad to now know what I know about technology. I appreciate the detailed directions and steps that we receive each week for our assignments. I also appreciate the specific places designate on our class’s’ web ct that allows for questions about individual assignments. One thing that I think would have been helpful is a page within our class’ web ct that has a glossary, or simple directions for background technological things that we would need to know, such as how to link a site or page to another page. Or maybe a link to other websites that have a refresher of background tech info for those who are not as tech savvy as others. Perhaps that was something that most people would be familiar with already and I just was not.
I have found the technologies we’ve used useful for my personal and now, my professional use. The social bookmarking has made my search for interesting topics and ideas much simpler. There have been a lot of things I’ve wanted to read up on and haven’t had the time to browse through the library for or even search the internet for. With our delicious accounts, I can simply and quickly find sites related to what I want to learn more about, compile it all in one place, and then when I have the time, simply log in and read through what I want. I love that idea! Also, I’ve been curious about blogging for a while, but assumed that the process for setting one up would be too challenging for one sitting. So I never pursued it. Now that I’ve set up a blog through our course, I also plan to use one for my classes, and I’ve already created another personal/informational blog about quick tips, tricks, and ideas for parents of young ones. I haven’t filled it up with content yet, but at least I knew what to do to set it up and I have created draft pages on my computer that I will soon load onto my blog. Now that I am a little more technically “savvy” I will also provide links, pages, maps, RSS feeds pertaining to the topics I discuss, etc. I also plan to use podcasting, bookmarking, mapping, YouTube, and wikis in my classroom. My blog will help students and parents to keep track of what the class is doing or has done on a weekly or daily basis. I will also give tips and allow students to ask questions and maybe even post some assignments via the blog. Overall, this course has been helpful, insightful, and rigorous at the same time. I think it is a good first or early course, as it helps students to build background, learn history about the field, and play around with different technologies that can be applied to our professional work in a safe and helpful environment.
Reiser, R. & Dempsey, J. (2007). Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology (2nd ed.). Prentice Hall.
Reflect on your experience in the course so far, particularly related to the tech-related tasks you have tackled. How challenging have you found them? What support did you not get that you would have appreciated, or what support did you get that was appreciated? Are you excited, frustrated, or both? Will you find ways to incorporate some of what we have done in your professional work. How do you feel about this as a first or early course?
I have learned a great deal within the 5 weeks that we have been in this course so far. Prior to taking this course I was able to navigate my way through basic technology related issues, but through tackling our assignments and running into a few bumps, I feel that I’ve become sharper, technically. I was unaware of the existence of many of the technologies that we have learned about and used in this class, like: the RSS reader, delicious, embedding URL codes to post items to blogs or web pages, and even the depth and scope of wiki pages. Now I see how much I’ve been missing out on!
I particularly had a difficult time learning how to link my RSS feeds to my blog. After advice and help from my fellow peers, getting frustrated, taking a break and then coming back to work on it again with a clear head, I was finally able to get it. I also had some trouble linking an outside webpage to my wiki. I had to learn another lesson in URLs before figuring that one out. Although I have gotten frustrated, it was not without good cause as I’m glad to now know what I know about technology. I appreciate the detailed directions and steps that we receive each week for our assignments. I also appreciate the specific places designate on our class’s’ web ct that allows for questions about individual assignments. One thing that I think would have been helpful is a page within our class’ web ct that has a glossary, or simple directions for background technological things that we would need to know, such as how to link a site or page to another page. Or maybe a link to other websites that have a refresher of background tech info for those who are not as tech savvy as others. Perhaps that was something that most people would be familiar with already and I just was not.
I have found the technologies we’ve used useful for my personal and now, my professional use. The social bookmarking has made my search for interesting topics and ideas much simpler. There have been a lot of things I’ve wanted to read up on and haven’t had the time to browse through the library for or even search the internet for. With our delicious accounts, I can simply and quickly find sites related to what I want to learn more about, compile it all in one place, and then when I have the time, simply log in and read through what I want. I love that idea! Also, I’ve been curious about blogging for a while, but assumed that the process for setting one up would be too challenging for one sitting. So I never pursued it. Now that I’ve set up a blog through our course, I also plan to use one for my classes, and I’ve already created another personal/informational blog about quick tips, tricks, and ideas for parents of young ones. I haven’t filled it up with content yet, but at least I knew what to do to set it up and I have created draft pages on my computer that I will soon load onto my blog. Now that I am a little more technically “savvy” I will also provide links, pages, maps, RSS feeds pertaining to the topics I discuss, etc. I also plan to use podcasting, bookmarking, mapping, YouTube, and wikis in my classroom. My blog will help students and parents to keep track of what the class is doing or has done on a weekly or daily basis. I will also give tips and allow students to ask questions and maybe even post some assignments via the blog. Overall, this course has been helpful, insightful, and rigorous at the same time. I think it is a good first or early course, as it helps students to build background, learn history about the field, and play around with different technologies that can be applied to our professional work in a safe and helpful environment.
Reiser, R. & Dempsey, J. (2007). Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology (2nd ed.). Prentice Hall.
D/B 8
Chapter 21
I agree that there are definite changes that need to take place within P—12 education and that, like the authors argue, the change should be systemic and process oriented rather than piecemeal. I think it is difficult for the current school system to wrap its mind around a paradigm shift that would incorporate completely tearing down what doesn’t work and re-building the system from scratch, but it definitely seems necessary.
Upon first reading about the GSTE (Guidance System for Transforming Education), a process model created to guide systemic change, I was surprise that it did not also include or “provide any indication of what changes should be made in the district” (p. 211). I assumed that they would at least have guidelines stating what specific changes would need to be made for necessary change. Instead, it guides the school system through the process of making successful changes. This system’s role is not to tell districts what to do, but how to do what it is that they aim for.
I was also surprised that although the GSTE model provides detailed steps for how each part of the process should look, much of the specifics are still left to the actual districts to implement within each step. I found that this provides guidance and freedom at the same time.
Something that I like about the other model for change, the SUTE (Step-Up-To-Excellence) model for systemic, process-led change is the structure that allows diverse groups from all levels to have input in the process for change instead of just administration. I feel it is important for everyone to have some kind of input because people on different levels and that interact with the school system in different realms can provide insight for effective change that administrators alone could not provide. Having individuals, teams, schools, cluster groups, and the district as a whole meet and discuss incorporates all points of view and expertise. This sounds like a very smooth process, considering the immense task of change:
Educators [align] the work of individuals with the goals of their teams, the work of teams with the goals of their schools, the work of schools with the goals of their clusters, and the work of clusters with the goals of the district (p. 215).
This step should definitely be included in any school system’s process to change. It makes sure that information and goals are all aligned and heard within each level and group of people throughout the process. It makes for a unified transition and I think it is a wise idea.
Reiser, R. & Dempsey, J. (2007). Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology (2nd ed.). Prentice Hall.
I agree that there are definite changes that need to take place within P—12 education and that, like the authors argue, the change should be systemic and process oriented rather than piecemeal. I think it is difficult for the current school system to wrap its mind around a paradigm shift that would incorporate completely tearing down what doesn’t work and re-building the system from scratch, but it definitely seems necessary.
Upon first reading about the GSTE (Guidance System for Transforming Education), a process model created to guide systemic change, I was surprise that it did not also include or “provide any indication of what changes should be made in the district” (p. 211). I assumed that they would at least have guidelines stating what specific changes would need to be made for necessary change. Instead, it guides the school system through the process of making successful changes. This system’s role is not to tell districts what to do, but how to do what it is that they aim for.
I was also surprised that although the GSTE model provides detailed steps for how each part of the process should look, much of the specifics are still left to the actual districts to implement within each step. I found that this provides guidance and freedom at the same time.
Something that I like about the other model for change, the SUTE (Step-Up-To-Excellence) model for systemic, process-led change is the structure that allows diverse groups from all levels to have input in the process for change instead of just administration. I feel it is important for everyone to have some kind of input because people on different levels and that interact with the school system in different realms can provide insight for effective change that administrators alone could not provide. Having individuals, teams, schools, cluster groups, and the district as a whole meet and discuss incorporates all points of view and expertise. This sounds like a very smooth process, considering the immense task of change:
Educators [align] the work of individuals with the goals of their teams, the work of teams with the goals of their schools, the work of schools with the goals of their clusters, and the work of clusters with the goals of the district (p. 215).
This step should definitely be included in any school system’s process to change. It makes sure that information and goals are all aligned and heard within each level and group of people throughout the process. It makes for a unified transition and I think it is a wise idea.
Reiser, R. & Dempsey, J. (2007). Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology (2nd ed.). Prentice Hall.
D/B 7
Chapter 18
Reading chapter 18, I couldn’t help to think that teachers perform many roles (wear many hats). We carry out, ultimately striving for student performance success. In the business sector, however, there are specific, clearly defined roles for different individuals to meet the ultimate goal of success in performance through training. I definitely think that additional assistance to teachers in planning, developing, implementing, analyzing and designing curriculum would benefit the educational system, as it has the business sector in training.
In the business sector, they build or design training in teams rather than as individuals. Each person has a clearly defined role in the process of instructional design. Some schools have adopted a collaborative planning approach, where teachers critique and discuss each other’s lessons and evaluation results in a safe environment, but this is different from what businesses do. Working in teams to build lessons may be helpful in building more standard and leveled learning across the board of individual classes and subject areas. On the other hand, some may argue that this approach could take away from each individual teacher’s freedom, creativity and flexibility.
Table 18.1 on page 176 outlines that there are several people involved in the design process for training rather than one person. Perhaps if we could find a way to narrow our focuses and work together collaboratively with a few others in lesson designing, one way of helping students to perform successfully would be reached. I am not saying that there should be 10 people involved in every single lesson that needs to be developed, but having at least one additional person or more people (at least for more complex projects/units, or areas that students particularly struggle in mostly) and individual expertise involved in unit planning could, in my mind, lead to great success as multiple people put their minds, resources and expertise together to specifically focus on a certain area within lesson/unit development. The authors state that “design and performance improvement project teams are often staffed by a variety of specialists working together” (Foxon, Richey, Roberts, & Spannaus, 2003). This would help in designing and implementing lessons that are researched, that are drawn from a wealth of knowledge and experience, and that are results driven.
Technology based training, education, or lesson delivery is another idea that I feel would be beneficial in the school setting. It would be nice to have a balance between lesson delivery through the teacher and through technology that the teacher oversees or guides. I think this would allow for more accurate evaluation, instruction time and timely feedback. The author states that internet based training can “involve online interaction in terms of practice, feedback, discussion, and assessment” (p. 180). I don’t think that every lesson should be taught via the internet, but again, to have a decent balance between the two methods would be ideal and most likely, effective. This would add variety and engagement in learning. With the assistance of technology, the classroom and lesson delivery are apt to run more productively.
Reiser, R. & Dempsey, J. (2007). Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology (2nd ed.). Prentice Hall.
Reading chapter 18, I couldn’t help to think that teachers perform many roles (wear many hats). We carry out, ultimately striving for student performance success. In the business sector, however, there are specific, clearly defined roles for different individuals to meet the ultimate goal of success in performance through training. I definitely think that additional assistance to teachers in planning, developing, implementing, analyzing and designing curriculum would benefit the educational system, as it has the business sector in training.
In the business sector, they build or design training in teams rather than as individuals. Each person has a clearly defined role in the process of instructional design. Some schools have adopted a collaborative planning approach, where teachers critique and discuss each other’s lessons and evaluation results in a safe environment, but this is different from what businesses do. Working in teams to build lessons may be helpful in building more standard and leveled learning across the board of individual classes and subject areas. On the other hand, some may argue that this approach could take away from each individual teacher’s freedom, creativity and flexibility.
Table 18.1 on page 176 outlines that there are several people involved in the design process for training rather than one person. Perhaps if we could find a way to narrow our focuses and work together collaboratively with a few others in lesson designing, one way of helping students to perform successfully would be reached. I am not saying that there should be 10 people involved in every single lesson that needs to be developed, but having at least one additional person or more people (at least for more complex projects/units, or areas that students particularly struggle in mostly) and individual expertise involved in unit planning could, in my mind, lead to great success as multiple people put their minds, resources and expertise together to specifically focus on a certain area within lesson/unit development. The authors state that “design and performance improvement project teams are often staffed by a variety of specialists working together” (Foxon, Richey, Roberts, & Spannaus, 2003). This would help in designing and implementing lessons that are researched, that are drawn from a wealth of knowledge and experience, and that are results driven.
Technology based training, education, or lesson delivery is another idea that I feel would be beneficial in the school setting. It would be nice to have a balance between lesson delivery through the teacher and through technology that the teacher oversees or guides. I think this would allow for more accurate evaluation, instruction time and timely feedback. The author states that internet based training can “involve online interaction in terms of practice, feedback, discussion, and assessment” (p. 180). I don’t think that every lesson should be taught via the internet, but again, to have a decent balance between the two methods would be ideal and most likely, effective. This would add variety and engagement in learning. With the assistance of technology, the classroom and lesson delivery are apt to run more productively.
Reiser, R. & Dempsey, J. (2007). Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology (2nd ed.). Prentice Hall.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
D/B 6
Human Performance Improvement
What are some ways the ideas/concepts/principles discussed in this chapter could be applied in your professional work? Do you see opportunities where these ideas could help your students?
I was very curious to learn more about Human Performance Improvement, as I was unfamiliar with an in-depth definition (besides the term’s introduction in earlier chapters) and application of what it truly was before reading Chapter 14 of our text. I think it is very interesting, important, and enlightening that such thought, time and development would be put into finding reasons and solutions for poor performance (or performance that doesn’t meet expectations) other than the influence of “instruction.” So much attention and blame is placed on the teachers and instruction when students or districts do not perform up to par with the national and state standards. It is true that teachers and instruction can be major, direct influences on performance/results, but teachers and instruction are not the only indicators to performance. Therefore, Human Performance Improvement is essential to helping to solve, or to at least improve the gaps in performance within public education. We should look at other areas, along with instruction to evaluate and find the true reason that students are not performing proficiently (meeting the standards and expectations).
Variables such as environment information, environment resources, environment incentives, individual knowledge, individual capacity, and individual motives should be looked at within education and performance as it is now being done in other sectors. Perhaps the instruction is well planned and developed, but certain students would perform better if the right incentives were in place, or if they were to get more immediate feedback, or if expectations of the desired performance were more clear.
I have been interested in incorporating some type of larger incentive program into my classroom setting. In the real world, people get immediate gratification for performance at work, like weekly or bi-weekly pay checks. Some could argue that students’ gratification is their grades, however, grades are not immediate gratification. Most grades are given out between 6—12 week intervals. Progress reports may be sent out or posted, but the real attention goes towards report card grades. What if students were awarded some type of immediate, physical incentive for each assignment completed and turned in on time? I wonder if this could be one piece of the pie that would help to improve student performance and motivation. I also think that if students were able to get “relevant and frequent feedback on adequacy of performance,” (p. 140, figure 14.1) then perhaps that would improve performance. For me, although I intend to get feedback and graded assignments back to students as close to the date turned in as possible, it is difficult to grade and comment on 130—150 assignments with frequency, especially when multiple assignments begin to roll in. Figure 14.2 on page 141 mentions a couple of example interventions for performance improvement such as Job Aids and Team Building. Regular team building could definitely be an incentive or motivator for performance. Perhaps if there were aids to help with grading or to help to coach and help students, there would also be an increase in performance.
I think that HPI is definitely a beneficial aspect to add to the public education arena. I look forward to the school system embracing and incorporating the ideas and suggestions behind it.
Reiser, R. & Dempsey, J. (2007). Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology (2nd ed.). Prentice Hall.
What are some ways the ideas/concepts/principles discussed in this chapter could be applied in your professional work? Do you see opportunities where these ideas could help your students?
I was very curious to learn more about Human Performance Improvement, as I was unfamiliar with an in-depth definition (besides the term’s introduction in earlier chapters) and application of what it truly was before reading Chapter 14 of our text. I think it is very interesting, important, and enlightening that such thought, time and development would be put into finding reasons and solutions for poor performance (or performance that doesn’t meet expectations) other than the influence of “instruction.” So much attention and blame is placed on the teachers and instruction when students or districts do not perform up to par with the national and state standards. It is true that teachers and instruction can be major, direct influences on performance/results, but teachers and instruction are not the only indicators to performance. Therefore, Human Performance Improvement is essential to helping to solve, or to at least improve the gaps in performance within public education. We should look at other areas, along with instruction to evaluate and find the true reason that students are not performing proficiently (meeting the standards and expectations).
Variables such as environment information, environment resources, environment incentives, individual knowledge, individual capacity, and individual motives should be looked at within education and performance as it is now being done in other sectors. Perhaps the instruction is well planned and developed, but certain students would perform better if the right incentives were in place, or if they were to get more immediate feedback, or if expectations of the desired performance were more clear.
I have been interested in incorporating some type of larger incentive program into my classroom setting. In the real world, people get immediate gratification for performance at work, like weekly or bi-weekly pay checks. Some could argue that students’ gratification is their grades, however, grades are not immediate gratification. Most grades are given out between 6—12 week intervals. Progress reports may be sent out or posted, but the real attention goes towards report card grades. What if students were awarded some type of immediate, physical incentive for each assignment completed and turned in on time? I wonder if this could be one piece of the pie that would help to improve student performance and motivation. I also think that if students were able to get “relevant and frequent feedback on adequacy of performance,” (p. 140, figure 14.1) then perhaps that would improve performance. For me, although I intend to get feedback and graded assignments back to students as close to the date turned in as possible, it is difficult to grade and comment on 130—150 assignments with frequency, especially when multiple assignments begin to roll in. Figure 14.2 on page 141 mentions a couple of example interventions for performance improvement such as Job Aids and Team Building. Regular team building could definitely be an incentive or motivator for performance. Perhaps if there were aids to help with grading or to help to coach and help students, there would also be an increase in performance.
I think that HPI is definitely a beneficial aspect to add to the public education arena. I look forward to the school system embracing and incorporating the ideas and suggestions behind it.
Reiser, R. & Dempsey, J. (2007). Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology (2nd ed.). Prentice Hall.
D/B 5
Chapter 3--History
As indicated in this chapter (ch. 3), today there is some optimism that the Internet and the World Wide Web will have a major influence on the way instruction is presented to learners. Based on what you know about these technological innovations, and what you read about the history of instructional films, television, and the computer, indicate whether you think the Internet and Web will have a major impact in one or more of the following areas:
• Educational programs at grades K—12
• Higher education
• Adult education
Although it has been predicted, unsuccessfully, in the past that certain technological media would transform public education in grades K--12; I think that the Internet and World Wide Web will have a rather large influence on the way instruction is presented to learners.
“Advances in computer technology, particularly with regard to the increasing multimedia capabilities of this medium, have made it easier for educators to design learning experiences that involve more complex interactions between learners and instructional content than has previously been the case” (p. 23). Instead of just being another media tool, computers are so advanced and full of educational possibilities/capabilities that it makes more sense for educators to use computers as a large part of instruction. It also makes instruction easier and yet more impactful.
One reason I think that the Internet and World Wide Web will impact instruction more than past efforts of other media is because they have already had some impact (although not yet completely major) no matter how small. I agree that the progress of impact may be slow, but “recent data leads me to believe it is likely to be steady” (p. 24).
Another reason that I think newer technologies will impact K—12 education more than those before today’s Internet and World Wide Web, is because of the interactive and multimedia capabilities of computers, Internet, and the Web. Now, we don’t just have various individual media, but through the Web, the capability to bring a conglomeration of media tools through one venue—the computer. This is highlighted in the text author’s statement that computers are able to “present information in a variety of forms, as well as to allow learners to easily link to various content…” (p. 23).
My opinion is also supported in the text author’s statement that: new digital technology is more accommodating than its predecessors to present authentic problems in learning environments, in which learners have a great deal of control of the activities they engage in and the tools and resources they use. Instead of the computer being used simply as a tool to support what educators are already doing, they can now be used to instruct and to transform instruction. This is proven through e-learning programs that higher education has adopted, which I believe could also work well in K—12 education, paired with instruction from in-person teaching.
Reiser, R. & Dempsey, J. (2007). Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology (2nd ed.). Prentice Hall.
As indicated in this chapter (ch. 3), today there is some optimism that the Internet and the World Wide Web will have a major influence on the way instruction is presented to learners. Based on what you know about these technological innovations, and what you read about the history of instructional films, television, and the computer, indicate whether you think the Internet and Web will have a major impact in one or more of the following areas:
• Educational programs at grades K—12
• Higher education
• Adult education
Although it has been predicted, unsuccessfully, in the past that certain technological media would transform public education in grades K--12; I think that the Internet and World Wide Web will have a rather large influence on the way instruction is presented to learners.
“Advances in computer technology, particularly with regard to the increasing multimedia capabilities of this medium, have made it easier for educators to design learning experiences that involve more complex interactions between learners and instructional content than has previously been the case” (p. 23). Instead of just being another media tool, computers are so advanced and full of educational possibilities/capabilities that it makes more sense for educators to use computers as a large part of instruction. It also makes instruction easier and yet more impactful.
One reason I think that the Internet and World Wide Web will impact instruction more than past efforts of other media is because they have already had some impact (although not yet completely major) no matter how small. I agree that the progress of impact may be slow, but “recent data leads me to believe it is likely to be steady” (p. 24).
Another reason that I think newer technologies will impact K—12 education more than those before today’s Internet and World Wide Web, is because of the interactive and multimedia capabilities of computers, Internet, and the Web. Now, we don’t just have various individual media, but through the Web, the capability to bring a conglomeration of media tools through one venue—the computer. This is highlighted in the text author’s statement that computers are able to “present information in a variety of forms, as well as to allow learners to easily link to various content…” (p. 23).
My opinion is also supported in the text author’s statement that: new digital technology is more accommodating than its predecessors to present authentic problems in learning environments, in which learners have a great deal of control of the activities they engage in and the tools and resources they use. Instead of the computer being used simply as a tool to support what educators are already doing, they can now be used to instruct and to transform instruction. This is proven through e-learning programs that higher education has adopted, which I believe could also work well in K—12 education, paired with instruction from in-person teaching.
Reiser, R. & Dempsey, J. (2007). Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology (2nd ed.). Prentice Hall.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Podcast
I was instantly pulled in to watch this Grammar Girl: How to Use Elipses podcast as it seemed unconventional yet useful. It comes from a series of podcasts about how to become a better writer. Many English students often stumble over simple, or more complicated grammar rules within their writing. This podcast can be used as a unique and interesting way for students to brush up on specific grammar skills. Grammar Girl can even be used as an individual or small group tutorial for students who need a little extra help in areas that the majority of the class does not. If common grammar problems are found amongst the majority of the class, it can also be used as one of many methods to teach, re-teach, review, and brush up on skills for the entire class. A very normal, converstational tone of voice is used in explaining grammar terms with real world examples, and overall, it is trendy and educational.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Static Image
These are flowers from my garden. Unfortunately the flowers on this bush only last a couple of weeks, but they are beautiful while there! But, with my picture I can see their beauty all year round :-)
Map
This is a map of the downtown Cleveland area. I was born and raised in Cleveland, Oh and actually lived in the suburbs of Cleveland Heights, Euclid, and the actual Cleveland (Wade Park) area.
View Larger Map
View Larger Map
VIDEO
This is a video that two of my students created at the start of the 2009-2010 school year.
It's an extra credit assignment creatively expressing our school's Positive Behavior Support system of GO PRO, which is always taught at the start of the year. The GO PRO slogan helps students and staff to remember the expected conduct for classrooms and other areas throughout the school. This video is about GO-ing PRO in the cafeteria.
G-Give 100%
O-Organized
P-Prompt
R-Respectful
O-Ownership
It's an extra credit assignment creatively expressing our school's Positive Behavior Support system of GO PRO, which is always taught at the start of the year. The GO PRO slogan helps students and staff to remember the expected conduct for classrooms and other areas throughout the school. This video is about GO-ing PRO in the cafeteria.
G-Give 100%
O-Organized
P-Prompt
R-Respectful
O-Ownership
Thursday, July 15, 2010
D/B 4
Photo Sharing
I think that photo sharing could have some value for teachers and students. One example for its use could be for students to share some interesting facts about themselves, through pictures, at the start of the school year. Students without the necessary technology could have the option of bringing in actual photos of themselves, or drawing pictures on a poster board that represent their lives. But students with internet access could create an album through photo sharing to introduce themselves to the class. There could be certain requirements, topics, and classifications of pictures within the project.
There would definitely have to be a decent amount of front-loading and discussion about the expectations and kinds of photos that are appropriate and not for school. Inappropriate photo sharing is a concern that I have about students using this type of service. I would also be concerned that students may connect with the wrong types of people on-line and make their photos available to them. Front-loading about spelling, grammar, and text-language within captions or written picture descriptions is another issue that I would want to address. The benefits of students being able to use a photo sharing service are them becoming familiar with the various types of modern technology in an appropriate setting, being able to express themselves through pictures in a way that speaks to their affect (proven to be a beneficial way to help students internalize information), and using less or no paper.
Trends and Issues—Ch. 2
Although I think the lesson planning process that the author describes is a little rigid (even though they mention a few times that it is not), it is very similar to the way that I design my lesson plans. I do not always use the exact order of steps in the same way that the author outlines as Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation or use the same terms to describe steps in the planning process. I generally take the standards from the state’s curriculum standards, or district curriculum (which is derived from the state standards). This is similar to the analysis process in chapter two. I then think about what I want students to learn specifically and try to think of it in student friendly terms (to break the goal down). Within my lesson planning, I try to think of a way to assess my students’ background knowledge of the lesson/unit/topic. Sometimes I will have already done this and will build the lesson’s activities and application from that. I try to think of ways to make the lessons fun, engaging, and interactive for my students throughout it’s duration. This sometimes involves using technology in some form.
The text does not go into great detail about the implementation, which is what I generally focus on most in lesson planning. I endeavor to grab the students’ interest and set a rationale, introduce the topic in a way that pulls on students’ background knowledge, model, let students reiterate and practice with a partner or group, give the students individual practice and application time. I also review and repeat ideas frequently, and use visual aids and kinesthetic application before finally assessing, whether formative or summative. As I already stated, my process is not rigid or set in stone, and thus does not always pan out in this way, but depending on what specific objective I am teaching, I go through this kind of thinking process while planning.
One thing that the authors mention that I think is very beneficial is the “team effort” aspect of planning. In most cases that I know of, teachers develop and plan lessons on their own. It is not mandated to develop lessons as a team. I think it would be beneficial to be able to at least have the option of conversing and collaborating with colleagues throughout the lesson creating and planning process.
Something that stood out was the authors mentioning the characteristics of instructional design being mostly used within the factory or business setting and that the intent is to implement them into the school systems. They admit that it is easier to implement many of their characteristics for training programs than for school based learning in stating, “While it is usually easier to identify performance setting for training programs than for school-based learning, instructional designers should strive to identify authentic performance measures for either setting. I do think about students applying the content I am teaching them to the real world.
Much of the author’s instructional design process is very similar, and in some cases, identical to what I do and know of other teachers to do within their lesson planning. I do think that the author’s approach is more rigid, however and that some of the characteristics do not clearly or smoothly translate to the school setting. There is much validity within the process the author outlines, but I do not think that it is the only sure way to improve the learning process.
Reiser, Robert A. Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology. 2nd ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall, 2007. Print.
I think that photo sharing could have some value for teachers and students. One example for its use could be for students to share some interesting facts about themselves, through pictures, at the start of the school year. Students without the necessary technology could have the option of bringing in actual photos of themselves, or drawing pictures on a poster board that represent their lives. But students with internet access could create an album through photo sharing to introduce themselves to the class. There could be certain requirements, topics, and classifications of pictures within the project.
There would definitely have to be a decent amount of front-loading and discussion about the expectations and kinds of photos that are appropriate and not for school. Inappropriate photo sharing is a concern that I have about students using this type of service. I would also be concerned that students may connect with the wrong types of people on-line and make their photos available to them. Front-loading about spelling, grammar, and text-language within captions or written picture descriptions is another issue that I would want to address. The benefits of students being able to use a photo sharing service are them becoming familiar with the various types of modern technology in an appropriate setting, being able to express themselves through pictures in a way that speaks to their affect (proven to be a beneficial way to help students internalize information), and using less or no paper.
Trends and Issues—Ch. 2
Although I think the lesson planning process that the author describes is a little rigid (even though they mention a few times that it is not), it is very similar to the way that I design my lesson plans. I do not always use the exact order of steps in the same way that the author outlines as Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation or use the same terms to describe steps in the planning process. I generally take the standards from the state’s curriculum standards, or district curriculum (which is derived from the state standards). This is similar to the analysis process in chapter two. I then think about what I want students to learn specifically and try to think of it in student friendly terms (to break the goal down). Within my lesson planning, I try to think of a way to assess my students’ background knowledge of the lesson/unit/topic. Sometimes I will have already done this and will build the lesson’s activities and application from that. I try to think of ways to make the lessons fun, engaging, and interactive for my students throughout it’s duration. This sometimes involves using technology in some form.
The text does not go into great detail about the implementation, which is what I generally focus on most in lesson planning. I endeavor to grab the students’ interest and set a rationale, introduce the topic in a way that pulls on students’ background knowledge, model, let students reiterate and practice with a partner or group, give the students individual practice and application time. I also review and repeat ideas frequently, and use visual aids and kinesthetic application before finally assessing, whether formative or summative. As I already stated, my process is not rigid or set in stone, and thus does not always pan out in this way, but depending on what specific objective I am teaching, I go through this kind of thinking process while planning.
One thing that the authors mention that I think is very beneficial is the “team effort” aspect of planning. In most cases that I know of, teachers develop and plan lessons on their own. It is not mandated to develop lessons as a team. I think it would be beneficial to be able to at least have the option of conversing and collaborating with colleagues throughout the lesson creating and planning process.
Something that stood out was the authors mentioning the characteristics of instructional design being mostly used within the factory or business setting and that the intent is to implement them into the school systems. They admit that it is easier to implement many of their characteristics for training programs than for school based learning in stating, “While it is usually easier to identify performance setting for training programs than for school-based learning, instructional designers should strive to identify authentic performance measures for either setting. I do think about students applying the content I am teaching them to the real world.
Much of the author’s instructional design process is very similar, and in some cases, identical to what I do and know of other teachers to do within their lesson planning. I do think that the author’s approach is more rigid, however and that some of the characteristics do not clearly or smoothly translate to the school setting. There is much validity within the process the author outlines, but I do not think that it is the only sure way to improve the learning process.
Reiser, Robert A. Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology. 2nd ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall, 2007. Print.
D/B 3
Social Book Marking & Education
In my opinion, social book marking could serve similar purposes within education as an RSS Reader could, especially for specific subject areas (see D/B2). However, for the English classroom, I could see social bookmarking being even more useful. For example, I would now consider using social bookmarking as a way to have language reference tools and websites easily assessable for student use in the classroom. Websites such as: on-line dictionaries, on-line thesauruses, and websites that reference and support grammar, writing conventions, writing usage, reading strategies, spark or cliff-notes, homework, organization, and time management tools, and other tips and strategies, even those for struggling readers, would be beneficial for serving the English classroom. These tools could serve students as well as teachers as quick reference tools and helps.
Teachers could also use social bookmarking individually, across content areas, and school-wide to host and share websites created to support teaching in general and specific content areas. For example, the MEAP site (or other proficiency testing sites), AIMSWEB and Ed Performance sites (which my school uses to diagnose and assess students’ reading proficiency school-wide), etc. could be bookmarks within a school-wide delicious account for easy reference to the tools that are important for educators to view and visit throughout the school year. This would be especially helpful to newer teachers or teachers transferring to a specific school to be acclimated to important sites, tools, and topics talked about amongst the staff and administration. I’m sure there are many other websites and tools that could also be very beneficial to teachers, administrators, and even to parents if shared within social bookmarking.
Trends & Issues- Ch. 1
Until reading chapter one of “Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology,” I did not realize that there was such intense discussion and debate over what to coin or how to define the field of educational technology (instructional technology), or that the issue had been up for discussion for as long as it has been.
I am surprised by the amount of attention and revising that has and is (and will likely continue) to be done to the terminology within, or that encompasses the field of educational technology. Prior to reading this chapter, I’ve always thought of it, as the text mentions many individuals do, as “the design, production, and use of instructional media.” Technology has been something that I infused within my lesson designs to help improve instruction and familiarize or help students and myself to use the modern technologies with success and ease for the students’ transition into proper real-world use/application.
I understand that the definition has gone from simply meaning media used to teach (film/video to audio-visual), to meaning and incorporating not only the use of media, but also an in depth, systematic process of improving performance (learning) by using appropriate technological resources, along with human performance technology. I would prefer to keep the definition as simple as possible—as instruction and the improvement of instruction using technology. To me, the “design” has always been a normal part of my lesson planning, and the media has been used as tools within my lesson plans to help reach the learning goals.
There should be appropriate systems and processes used to aid in the meaningful demonstration of learning, but I wouldn’t have originally thought of that part as belonging to “instructional technology” but to instruction, planning, and implementation period.
Most likely, the definition of the field of educational technology will continue to evolve as society changes and new technology, needs, and human issues are introduced to the world.
I hope to continually improve and sharpen my understanding of current technologies to grasp students’ interests, to prepare them for the kinds of technology that they will need to use outside of school and in the workforce, and to help to improve instruction, making it more efficient and up to date. In my opinion, schools usually lag behind the technological curve.
Reiser, Robert A. and Dempsey, John V. "Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology. 2nd Ed. 2007.
In my opinion, social book marking could serve similar purposes within education as an RSS Reader could, especially for specific subject areas (see D/B2). However, for the English classroom, I could see social bookmarking being even more useful. For example, I would now consider using social bookmarking as a way to have language reference tools and websites easily assessable for student use in the classroom. Websites such as: on-line dictionaries, on-line thesauruses, and websites that reference and support grammar, writing conventions, writing usage, reading strategies, spark or cliff-notes, homework, organization, and time management tools, and other tips and strategies, even those for struggling readers, would be beneficial for serving the English classroom. These tools could serve students as well as teachers as quick reference tools and helps.
Teachers could also use social bookmarking individually, across content areas, and school-wide to host and share websites created to support teaching in general and specific content areas. For example, the MEAP site (or other proficiency testing sites), AIMSWEB and Ed Performance sites (which my school uses to diagnose and assess students’ reading proficiency school-wide), etc. could be bookmarks within a school-wide delicious account for easy reference to the tools that are important for educators to view and visit throughout the school year. This would be especially helpful to newer teachers or teachers transferring to a specific school to be acclimated to important sites, tools, and topics talked about amongst the staff and administration. I’m sure there are many other websites and tools that could also be very beneficial to teachers, administrators, and even to parents if shared within social bookmarking.
Trends & Issues- Ch. 1
Until reading chapter one of “Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology,” I did not realize that there was such intense discussion and debate over what to coin or how to define the field of educational technology (instructional technology), or that the issue had been up for discussion for as long as it has been.
I am surprised by the amount of attention and revising that has and is (and will likely continue) to be done to the terminology within, or that encompasses the field of educational technology. Prior to reading this chapter, I’ve always thought of it, as the text mentions many individuals do, as “the design, production, and use of instructional media.” Technology has been something that I infused within my lesson designs to help improve instruction and familiarize or help students and myself to use the modern technologies with success and ease for the students’ transition into proper real-world use/application.
I understand that the definition has gone from simply meaning media used to teach (film/video to audio-visual), to meaning and incorporating not only the use of media, but also an in depth, systematic process of improving performance (learning) by using appropriate technological resources, along with human performance technology. I would prefer to keep the definition as simple as possible—as instruction and the improvement of instruction using technology. To me, the “design” has always been a normal part of my lesson planning, and the media has been used as tools within my lesson plans to help reach the learning goals.
There should be appropriate systems and processes used to aid in the meaningful demonstration of learning, but I wouldn’t have originally thought of that part as belonging to “instructional technology” but to instruction, planning, and implementation period.
Most likely, the definition of the field of educational technology will continue to evolve as society changes and new technology, needs, and human issues are introduced to the world.
I hope to continually improve and sharpen my understanding of current technologies to grasp students’ interests, to prepare them for the kinds of technology that they will need to use outside of school and in the workforce, and to help to improve instruction, making it more efficient and up to date. In my opinion, schools usually lag behind the technological curve.
Reiser, Robert A. and Dempsey, John V. "Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology. 2nd Ed. 2007.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
D/B 2
Blogs & RSS Readers
Prior to creating and using a blog for this class, I attributed them to simply being on-line journals, or sites that people of certain interests followed. I had no immediate desire to create one for personal use, but saw myself possibly creating one down the line focused on one of my many interests and ideas. I’m glad to now have begun the experience of blogging and my brain is already contriving ways that I can potentially use this technology in my classroom. I will probably also begin a personal blog outside of this class a lot sooner than I had planned. Now my perspective of blogs and blogging has increased, and I predict that it will even further.
One thing that surprised me about setting up a blog, and posting blogs, was how simple it was to get started. I assumed that there would be more difficulties in setting up a blog, which may have led to my initial hesitation. I think using a blog is a great tool and a great way to share and respond to information.
Being that I would not categorize myself as being the most technology savvy (but definitely not the least), I did not even know what an RSS Reader was less than one week ago! After reading about what they were, I was a little more clear, but not quite sure of an RSS Reader’s effectiveness. After playing around with my RSS Reader a bit, it’s use became much more clear, and I found myself thinking of topics and potential feeds to subscribe to very quickly. I didn’t realize how quickly my amount of subscriptions would grow, or even that I had so many interests that could be linked to my RSS Reader. I can definitely see myself using my RSS Reader on a regular basis, even after August 20th!
In relation to Dale’s Cone, I think the blog can fit into several categories depending on how it is used. If a video is linked to a blog, it can represent the dramatized experience, visual demonstrations, educational TV, and motion pictures. If pictures are attached, it can represent still pictures and visual symbols. If audio is attached, it can represent recordings and radio clippings. RSS Readers can also serve in different areas of the cone, but not as many, I think, as the blog. The RSS Readers can definitely represent verbal symbols because much of the content of many subscriptions are in on-line print form. They can also represent the visual symbols, recordings, radio, still pictures, and educational TV through websites and services that are audio/visual or simply visual. Perhaps certain websites could even help students to experience dramatized experiences, exhibits and demonstrations. I don’t think that either resource could be a direct experience within themselves, but they could both lead to direct experiences if the students are expected to apply or “do” what they have seen through demonstrations or contrived experiences. With either resource, the students would be expected to relate the content to an experience and be able to think about the content in an abstract way. According to the cone, both resources seemingly prove to be useful for various students who are at various levels and that come from varied backgrounds of direct experience.
I am still wrapping my mind around how to implement the essential idea of computer imagination into the English classroom. I’m in the midst of a paradigm shift about how to imaginatively use technology, such as blogs and RSS Readers, and not just use them to do what we’ve already been doing in the classroom with paper and pencil, and word processors. This makes me think back to the reading from week 1. Maybe Joseph was correct in saying that we (educators) need to transform our teaching with technology, and not simply use it to do what we’ve been doing all along.
One problem that I can foresee classroom blogs addressing is absenteeism and late work. I can see using blogs regularly causing late work due to absences (which is, unfortunately, a frequent thing for many students in my district) to diminish. For example, If I issued regular assignments by blog, I could post and discuss an assignment on Monday that would be due via blog by Friday of that week. Even if a student were absent a few times that week, they would know to check in to the blog and would still be responsible for posting their assignment to their blog by the due date. This could also potentially help students who are absent for extended periods for family vacations, illness, suspension(s), home-bound education, etc. to stay up to date on the latest content while out of the classroom. A down-side to this would be the potential of certain students not having computer or internet access at home.
Using a classroom blog could also reduce the amount of paper waste used in an English classroom if writing assignments, reading reflections, and reports were to be posted to a blog instead of being written on paper.
One useful function of a blog in an English classroom could be having students respond to their peer’s writing via a blogging system. It is important for students to be able to think deeply about the style, content, and within other people’s writing. A blog could be the medium through which students write a paper or reflection of some sort, either in response to reading, an essay, etc. Then, their peers could respond to their writing through their blog, posting the ways in which they evaluated, received insight from, and synthesized the information from the peer’s writing. Within grammar or conventions lessons, subject-verb agreement, comma splices, and other topics which they could then apply to their own writing and reflect about the use of them in their blogs. The teacher could pose questions that would help the students think deeply about the content, how the student applied the content, and why the content is important to use within their writing.
I could see RSS Reader use being very beneficial for the history, science, or other content focused area. In the English classroom, at least as of now, I mainly see the RSS Reader being useful for research units or for helping students to connect with big ideas and themes from novels and informational texts. The students could subscribe to feeds that relate to their research topic(s), or to global issues and themes that stem from reading done for the class.
Through a wiki, the teacher could help the students to experience the topic or concept through multiple venues such a video (audio/visual), music, text, on-line discussions, and other features available on-line. The student could then use a blog to reflect on their learning about a particular concept through these learning resources.
Wikis
I see wikis as being a wonderful resource for education. It is definitely a tool that can help a teacher and their students to maintain open, clear communication, to stay organized, and to teach and learn in ways that are multi-media. Again with the wiki, I found that it was much easier to set up that I realized that it would be. There were also many helpful resources and video tutorials that gave further information about what a wiki is, examples of use, and taught about how to set a wiki up.
Blogs & RSS Readers
Prior to creating and using a blog for this class, I attributed them to simply being on-line journals, or sites that people of certain interests followed. I had no immediate desire to create one for personal use, but saw myself possibly creating one down the line focused on one of my many interests and ideas. I’m glad to now have begun the experience of blogging and my brain is already contriving ways that I can potentially use this technology in my classroom. I will probably also begin a personal blog outside of this class a lot sooner than I had planned. Now my perspective of blogs and blogging has increased, and I predict that it will even further.
One thing that surprised me about setting up a blog, and posting blogs, was how simple it was to get started. I assumed that there would be more difficulties in setting up a blog, which may have led to my initial hesitation. I think using a blog is a great tool and a great way to share and respond to information.
Being that I would not categorize myself as being the most technology savvy (but definitely not the least), I did not even know what an RSS Reader was less than one week ago! After reading about what they were, I was a little more clear, but not quite sure of an RSS Reader’s effectiveness. After playing around with my RSS Reader a bit, it’s use became much more clear, and I found myself thinking of topics and potential feeds to subscribe to very quickly. I didn’t realize how quickly my amount of subscriptions would grow, or even that I had so many interests that could be linked to my RSS Reader. I can definitely see myself using my RSS Reader on a regular basis, even after August 20th!
In relation to Dale’s Cone, I think the blog can fit into several categories depending on how it is used. If a video is linked to a blog, it can represent the dramatized experience, visual demonstrations, educational TV, and motion pictures. If pictures are attached, it can represent still pictures and visual symbols. If audio is attached, it can represent recordings and radio clippings. RSS Readers can also serve in different areas of the cone, but not as many, I think, as the blog. The RSS Readers can definitely represent verbal symbols because much of the content of many subscriptions are in on-line print form. They can also represent the visual symbols, recordings, radio, still pictures, and educational TV through websites and services that are audio/visual or simply visual. Perhaps certain websites could even help students to experience dramatized experiences, exhibits and demonstrations. I don’t think that either resource could be a direct experience within themselves, but they could both lead to direct experiences if the students are expected to apply or “do” what they have seen through demonstrations or contrived experiences. With either resource, the students would be expected to relate the content to an experience and be able to think about the content in an abstract way. According to the cone, both resources seemingly prove to be useful for various students who are at various levels and that come from varied backgrounds of direct experience.
I am still wrapping my mind around how to implement the essential idea of computer imagination into the English classroom. I’m in the midst of a paradigm shift about how to imaginatively use technology, such as blogs and RSS Readers, and not just use them to do what we’ve already been doing in the classroom with paper and pencil, and word processors. This makes me think back to the reading from week 1. Maybe Joseph was correct in saying that we (educators) need to transform our teaching with technology, and not simply use it to do what we’ve been doing all along.
One problem that I can foresee classroom blogs addressing is absenteeism and late work. I can see using blogs regularly causing late work due to absences (which is, unfortunately, a frequent thing for many students in my district) to diminish. For example, If I issued regular assignments by blog, I could post and discuss an assignment on Monday that would be due via blog by Friday of that week. Even if a student were absent a few times that week, they would know to check in to the blog and would still be responsible for posting their assignment to their blog by the due date. This could also potentially help students who are absent for extended periods for family vacations, illness, suspension(s), home-bound education, etc. to stay up to date on the latest content while out of the classroom. A down-side to this would be the potential of certain students not having computer or internet access at home.
Using a classroom blog could also reduce the amount of paper waste used in an English classroom if writing assignments, reading reflections, and reports were to be posted to a blog instead of being written on paper.
One useful function of a blog in an English classroom could be having students respond to their peer’s writing via a blogging system. It is important for students to be able to think deeply about the style, content, and within other people’s writing. A blog could be the medium through which students write a paper or reflection of some sort, either in response to reading, an essay, etc. Then, their peers could respond to their writing through their blog, posting the ways in which they evaluated, received insight from, and synthesized the information from the peer’s writing. Within grammar or conventions lessons, subject-verb agreement, comma splices, and other topics which they could then apply to their own writing and reflect about the use of them in their blogs. The teacher could pose questions that would help the students think deeply about the content, how the student applied the content, and why the content is important to use within their writing.
I could see RSS Reader use being very beneficial for the history, science, or other content focused area. In the English classroom, at least as of now, I mainly see the RSS Reader being useful for research units or for helping students to connect with big ideas and themes from novels and informational texts. The students could subscribe to feeds that relate to their research topic(s), or to global issues and themes that stem from reading done for the class.
Through a wiki, the teacher could help the students to experience the topic or concept through multiple venues such a video (audio/visual), music, text, on-line discussions, and other features available on-line. The student could then use a blog to reflect on their learning about a particular concept through these learning resources.
Wikis
I see wikis as being a wonderful resource for education. It is definitely a tool that can help a teacher and their students to maintain open, clear communication, to stay organized, and to teach and learn in ways that are multi-media. Again with the wiki, I found that it was much easier to set up that I realized that it would be. There were also many helpful resources and video tutorials that gave further information about what a wiki is, examples of use, and taught about how to set a wiki up.
Some ways that I can imagine using wikis in my classroom are:
- Syllabus (general and perhaps weekly)
- Calendar of events and assignments (will help to keep track of assignments and be a useful resource to absent students and parents)
- Tools for homework help (can link videos, websites, or pdf sheets of additional practice for extra tutorial assistance and guidance)
- Parking lot (a useful way for students to post what they have learned about a particular concept)
Dale, Edward. "The Cone of Experience" 1969
Siegel, Martin. "Falling Asleep at Your Keyboard: The Case for Computer Imagination" 2003
Saturday, July 3, 2010
D/B1
I am excited about the potential use of technology in education. I would like to see modern, cutting-edge technology-use widely integrated, along with other proven educational structures, in all public schools as vehicles for successful learning. Technology is a major tool for learning and for staying connected within our society as a whole, and it should therefore be used as a major tool for learning and communication within our educational system. If our educational system is to prepare its students for the society and world at large, then our educational system should utilize the advanced technological tools available as vehicles for learning.
After reading both “Beyond Technology Integration: The Case for Technology Transformation” by Roberto Joseph, and “Of Luddites, Learning, and Life” by Neil Postman, two articles with messages on either side of the spectrum for educational technology support, I found that Joseph’s argument supports my ideals about educational technology more than Postman’s, although both authors bring up vital and opposing points.
I believe that, at heart, although not boldly stated as the articles’ central themes, both authors address the idea that there is an underlying problem within our current educational system; and that something about the way things are currently being done to educate our students is not working for all students. Failing test scores and high drop-out rates attest to this.
Like Postman, who states that “the great problems of education are of a social and moral nature…,” I agree and add that societal immorality and the failing family structure are major problems that directly affect the educational system. Each year I witness hindrances in my students’ focus and learning due to increasing emotional issues which stem from issues such as divorce, drugs and/or alcohol abuse within the family, low income pressures, homelessness, physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, parental responsibilities as adolescents, split families, increasing single parent families, lack of parental support, and the list goes on.
However, I don’t think that increasing technology use as methods for learning would take away from focusing on changing the moral/societal issues that exist. Unlike Postman, I believe that increased technology use within the educational system would not only and simply “give our students greater access to more information faster, more conveniently, and in more various forms than has ever been possible” as he argues are not beneficial, but that increased technology use could also be used as a tool, vehicle, or method to foster an education that supports strong social and moral values and social responsibility, in addition to supporting critical thinking, and as Joseph supports, “learning-focused” education for students of the undeniable “information age” that we are a part of. In other words, technology can be used to teach students to be thoughtful, cooperative members of society, and critical thinkers and learners ready to compete in the job market and solve problems within our world. Technology can be used as a tool to improve our educational system. As educators with access to greater technology use in the school system, we would have the power to drive and encourage the proper use and purposes of technology that could foster positive advancement.
Like Joseph, I agree that the structure of the way we teach needs to be re-evaluated and re-structured, and that technology is key to this re-structuring. Technology is a tool that aids in student motivation and interest, a problem that the current “industrial” methods of teaching are not solving. As times change, our educational system needs to change as well to meet the growing needs of the students we are serving. Right now, the times are in favor of technology. Postman would argue that incorporating more technology into education would be simply “[conforming] to the requirements of what is new” and pose the question: “What is the problem to which new technologies are the solution?” I would say that change is a constant thing that we need to teach students to encounter with success, and that technology does solve problems for our educational system. Should we resort to only using books or audio to teach? No! Why not also utilize audio/visual tools and other technologies as they become prevalent and available? The educational system needs to be relevant to those whom we teach that are being introduced to new technology outside of school. Instead of allowing new technologies to compete with us for our students’ attention, we need to grasp their attention and teach them with it. Technology increases student motivation and provides meaningful, hands-on experience with the tools that students will need to become accustomed to in the real world and on the job. Instead of adding to the educational problems that exist, technology can be used as a tool to teach, similarly to how the arts can be used as a tool to educate and express learning.
In my experience as a middle school English teacher, I have not seen technology take away from education, as I interpret Postman believes it does, but rather I have seen it improve education. Every time that I have allowed students to use computers to type their papers, have included a video clip, website, internet-connected projector, have allowed them to use technology for research, or have given them the option to reflect over or demonstrate their learning through technology mixed with creativity and rigor, I have seen increased motivation and excitement behind their learning. I wish that our school had access to more up-to-date technology to use as educational tools. I believe it would also be very beneficial if my colleagues and I were more aware of and better trained to use and incorporate more technological tools such as ones that Joseph discusses (simulators, customized tutorials, self-regulated learning, etc.). I believe that our current educational system could be drastically improved by using technology to support teaching our current content and standards.
This differs from Joseph’s idealistic opinion that “educators must recognize that using technology to support what they are already doing is not a productive course of action when compared to using technology to transform their teaching to a paradigm that is attainment-based rather than time-based.” Again, I agree that structures within our educational system need revising, and that we are on our way to the paradigm shift he mentions, but along the way to acquiring a “perfect” or “ideal” model, using technology to assist in what we are currently doing as educators to make our students’ learning experiences more meaningful, realistic and fun would be highly beneficial from what I have witnessed.
Works Cited:
Reigeluth, C.M. & Joseph, R. (2002). Beyond technology integration: The case for technology transformation.Educational Technology, 42(4), 9-13.
Postman, N. (1993). Of Luddites, learning, and life. Technos Quarterly, 2(4).
After reading both “Beyond Technology Integration: The Case for Technology Transformation” by Roberto Joseph, and “Of Luddites, Learning, and Life” by Neil Postman, two articles with messages on either side of the spectrum for educational technology support, I found that Joseph’s argument supports my ideals about educational technology more than Postman’s, although both authors bring up vital and opposing points.
I believe that, at heart, although not boldly stated as the articles’ central themes, both authors address the idea that there is an underlying problem within our current educational system; and that something about the way things are currently being done to educate our students is not working for all students. Failing test scores and high drop-out rates attest to this.
Like Postman, who states that “the great problems of education are of a social and moral nature…,” I agree and add that societal immorality and the failing family structure are major problems that directly affect the educational system. Each year I witness hindrances in my students’ focus and learning due to increasing emotional issues which stem from issues such as divorce, drugs and/or alcohol abuse within the family, low income pressures, homelessness, physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, parental responsibilities as adolescents, split families, increasing single parent families, lack of parental support, and the list goes on.
However, I don’t think that increasing technology use as methods for learning would take away from focusing on changing the moral/societal issues that exist. Unlike Postman, I believe that increased technology use within the educational system would not only and simply “give our students greater access to more information faster, more conveniently, and in more various forms than has ever been possible” as he argues are not beneficial, but that increased technology use could also be used as a tool, vehicle, or method to foster an education that supports strong social and moral values and social responsibility, in addition to supporting critical thinking, and as Joseph supports, “learning-focused” education for students of the undeniable “information age” that we are a part of. In other words, technology can be used to teach students to be thoughtful, cooperative members of society, and critical thinkers and learners ready to compete in the job market and solve problems within our world. Technology can be used as a tool to improve our educational system. As educators with access to greater technology use in the school system, we would have the power to drive and encourage the proper use and purposes of technology that could foster positive advancement.
Like Joseph, I agree that the structure of the way we teach needs to be re-evaluated and re-structured, and that technology is key to this re-structuring. Technology is a tool that aids in student motivation and interest, a problem that the current “industrial” methods of teaching are not solving. As times change, our educational system needs to change as well to meet the growing needs of the students we are serving. Right now, the times are in favor of technology. Postman would argue that incorporating more technology into education would be simply “[conforming] to the requirements of what is new” and pose the question: “What is the problem to which new technologies are the solution?” I would say that change is a constant thing that we need to teach students to encounter with success, and that technology does solve problems for our educational system. Should we resort to only using books or audio to teach? No! Why not also utilize audio/visual tools and other technologies as they become prevalent and available? The educational system needs to be relevant to those whom we teach that are being introduced to new technology outside of school. Instead of allowing new technologies to compete with us for our students’ attention, we need to grasp their attention and teach them with it. Technology increases student motivation and provides meaningful, hands-on experience with the tools that students will need to become accustomed to in the real world and on the job. Instead of adding to the educational problems that exist, technology can be used as a tool to teach, similarly to how the arts can be used as a tool to educate and express learning.
In my experience as a middle school English teacher, I have not seen technology take away from education, as I interpret Postman believes it does, but rather I have seen it improve education. Every time that I have allowed students to use computers to type their papers, have included a video clip, website, internet-connected projector, have allowed them to use technology for research, or have given them the option to reflect over or demonstrate their learning through technology mixed with creativity and rigor, I have seen increased motivation and excitement behind their learning. I wish that our school had access to more up-to-date technology to use as educational tools. I believe it would also be very beneficial if my colleagues and I were more aware of and better trained to use and incorporate more technological tools such as ones that Joseph discusses (simulators, customized tutorials, self-regulated learning, etc.). I believe that our current educational system could be drastically improved by using technology to support teaching our current content and standards.
This differs from Joseph’s idealistic opinion that “educators must recognize that using technology to support what they are already doing is not a productive course of action when compared to using technology to transform their teaching to a paradigm that is attainment-based rather than time-based.” Again, I agree that structures within our educational system need revising, and that we are on our way to the paradigm shift he mentions, but along the way to acquiring a “perfect” or “ideal” model, using technology to assist in what we are currently doing as educators to make our students’ learning experiences more meaningful, realistic and fun would be highly beneficial from what I have witnessed.
Works Cited:
Reigeluth, C.M. & Joseph, R. (2002). Beyond technology integration: The case for technology transformation.Educational Technology, 42(4), 9-13.
Postman, N. (1993). Of Luddites, learning, and life. Technos Quarterly, 2(4).
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