Week 4 Reflection:
For week four much of the readings and videos focused on collaborative project learning. The project subject matter spans several different subjects. This innovative way of teaching gives students longer amounts of school hours to immerse themselves in a project. For example you could have students working on a project of reflection and refraction; they learn about the basic terms and identify it with their science teacher. Then when they start working with their art teacher, they continue working on their project of reflection and fraction in art class.
The key is that teachers work together to communicate with each other what they will be addressing with the class during their time with them and have a timeline so that everyone involved knows when what portion of the project is due when.
I found a couple of web resources that could help http://www.edmodo.com/ is a website that allows teachers to communicate with each other and their students. The platform allows teachers to keep student work private from the general public.
Another useful site is http://wikieducator.org that has resources for educators to learn how to use web 2.0 tools and collaborate with each other.
I would have liked to have collaborative project based learning projects when I was a student in K-12.
Thanks!
Sandra Villarreal
References
Edomo Home page (2009). Retrieved on December 11, 2009, from http://www.edmodo.com/
Wiki Educator Home page (2009). Retrieved on December 11, 2009, from http://wikieducator.org
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Week_3_Creating a Learning Unit
In week 3, I used the UDL Lesson Template to make a template on Energy in action for 5th grade science.
In my lesson plan I addressed the three UDL networks; recognition, strategic and affective.
There is a vocabulary web book that allows the students to gather facts, by reading definitions. This is followed up by tips from the web book coach character that provides insight on the definitions and examples that helps with recognition tasks that are associated with the recognition network. There is adaptability for each of the assignments that appeal to each student’s learning style and learning or physical disability.
In my lesson plan students can write an essay about their daily experiences with reflective surfaces. They can make clay models or drawings for some of the portions of the lesson this addresses the strategic network and allows for adaptability for each student, as they have a choice in tools available to complete the tasks.
I address the affective networks by asking students to be creative and encourage them to ask questions. I also ask them to present their writings, models, computer drawings or actual drawings in class to other classmates. This should keep them motivated and engaged knowing that other students will see their work.
I liked using the template because it made it clear to me what portions needed to be filled out. This was my first time writing a lesson as I am not an educator. However, I found it a very interesting assignment and I felt that it helped me build up my own internal knowledge framework.
Thanks!
Sandra Villarreal
In my lesson plan I addressed the three UDL networks; recognition, strategic and affective.
There is a vocabulary web book that allows the students to gather facts, by reading definitions. This is followed up by tips from the web book coach character that provides insight on the definitions and examples that helps with recognition tasks that are associated with the recognition network. There is adaptability for each of the assignments that appeal to each student’s learning style and learning or physical disability.
In my lesson plan students can write an essay about their daily experiences with reflective surfaces. They can make clay models or drawings for some of the portions of the lesson this addresses the strategic network and allows for adaptability for each student, as they have a choice in tools available to complete the tasks.
I address the affective networks by asking students to be creative and encourage them to ask questions. I also ask them to present their writings, models, computer drawings or actual drawings in class to other classmates. This should keep them motivated and engaged knowing that other students will see their work.
I liked using the template because it made it clear to me what portions needed to be filled out. This was my first time writing a lesson as I am not an educator. However, I found it a very interesting assignment and I felt that it helped me build up my own internal knowledge framework.
Thanks!
Sandra Villarreal
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Week 3 Reflection, Course 5364
Week 3 Reflection, Course 5364
This week many of the videos we watched were on the subject matter of how students use technology. A couple of the students that were profiled participated in after school technology programs. These programs focused on tiered mentoring.
This got me wondering if our school district had any of these programs. I did an internet search and found a webpage from Duke University that runs a K-12 Technology Mentor program, the site can be found at http://library.duke.edu/blogs/techmentor/. It has many examples of technology use in the classroom. That includes completed class projects and how to use a wiki.
The most interesting for me was the example of a project that was created by a Kindergarten class learning about the life cycle of Frogs. They created several presentations using Pixie2 http://library.duke.edu/blogs/techmentor/category/projects/ . The pictures show the students reading about frogs. The students used laptop computers and created the narration for the presentations. The teaching staff wrote down the students’ narration on the white board so that the students could read it back into the microphone. The students also selected the music for the presentation. I was very impressed at how professional these five year olds sounded reading out loud during the presentation. I am sure if the Kindergarten teachers in my district saw this example project then they would be inspired to create a collaborative projects utilizing technology.
Thanks!
Sandra Villarreal
References
Duke University: K-12 Technology Mentor Program (2009). Retrieved on December 3, 2009, from http://library.duke.edu/blogs/techmentor/
Duke University: What I learned about Tadpoles from Ms. Bethea’s Kindergarteners (2009). Retrieved on December 3, 2009, from http://library.duke.edu/blogs/techmentor/category/projects/
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Week 2 Reflection, Course 5364
Week 2 Reflection:
For the second week of the course much of the reading focused on how technology affects learning. The readings were all varied and offered insight on many of the facets of how technology can be a powerful tool in the classroom.
One of our assigned readings was heavily researched based and showed that technology in the classroom has proven to have a positive impact on students with low socioeconomic status, in both higher levels of achievement and self- esteem (Page). Another of our readings, “The Impact of Education Technology on Student Achievement: What the most current research has to say”, stated that the developers of technology are not focused on education when they develop technology. Yet another reading, “Teaching every student in the digital age: Universal design for learning”, showed us that technology can also be used as a tool to deliver an adaptive curriculum that benefits all types of learners. While the reading in the text, “Using technology with classroom instruction that works” gave a practical example with step by step instructions on how to use the software program inspiration to allow students to chart out their own assignments and use those charts to keep parents informed on what their children are working on in school.
All of this information shows that students like using technology; it helps narrow the achievement gap especially with students of lower socioeconomic standing and also has a positive impact on special education students. Technology in the classroom can help teachers make their teaching style more student-centered, since computers and software can help them make their curriculum adaptive and give students options on how they want to complete an assignment. Even though technology may not be developed for the school environment, we know that it is still relevant to our students; they need to work with software and technology that is being used by professionals in the workplace, so that they in turn are ready for the workplace themselves. Technology in the classroom also has other benefits that allows teachers to give parents a digital copy of the work their students are working on and allow for instant two-way communication between parents and teachers.
After reading the readings for week 2, it has me thinking about what we can do at our district to improve the utilization of the technology that we have to improve student learning.
Thanks!
Sandra Villarreal
Works Cited:
Page, M. S. (2002). Technology-enriched classrooms: Effects on students of low socioeconomic status. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 34(4), 389–409. Retrieved November 24, 2009 from the International Society of Education at http://www.iste.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Number_4_Summer_20021&Template=/MembersOnly.cfm&ContentFileID=830
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Chapters 1, 15-38.
Rose, D., & Meyer, A. (2002). Teaching every student in the digital age: Universal design for learning. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Available online at the Center for Applied Special Technology Web site. Chapter 1. Retrieved on November 24, 2009, from http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/ideas/tes/
Schacter, J. (1999). The impact of education technology on student achievement: What the most current research has to say. Santa Monica, CA: Milken Exchange on Education Technology. Retrieved on October 5, 2009, from http://www.mff.org/pubs/ME161.pdf.
For the second week of the course much of the reading focused on how technology affects learning. The readings were all varied and offered insight on many of the facets of how technology can be a powerful tool in the classroom.
One of our assigned readings was heavily researched based and showed that technology in the classroom has proven to have a positive impact on students with low socioeconomic status, in both higher levels of achievement and self- esteem (Page). Another of our readings, “The Impact of Education Technology on Student Achievement: What the most current research has to say”, stated that the developers of technology are not focused on education when they develop technology. Yet another reading, “Teaching every student in the digital age: Universal design for learning”, showed us that technology can also be used as a tool to deliver an adaptive curriculum that benefits all types of learners. While the reading in the text, “Using technology with classroom instruction that works” gave a practical example with step by step instructions on how to use the software program inspiration to allow students to chart out their own assignments and use those charts to keep parents informed on what their children are working on in school.
All of this information shows that students like using technology; it helps narrow the achievement gap especially with students of lower socioeconomic standing and also has a positive impact on special education students. Technology in the classroom can help teachers make their teaching style more student-centered, since computers and software can help them make their curriculum adaptive and give students options on how they want to complete an assignment. Even though technology may not be developed for the school environment, we know that it is still relevant to our students; they need to work with software and technology that is being used by professionals in the workplace, so that they in turn are ready for the workplace themselves. Technology in the classroom also has other benefits that allows teachers to give parents a digital copy of the work their students are working on and allow for instant two-way communication between parents and teachers.
After reading the readings for week 2, it has me thinking about what we can do at our district to improve the utilization of the technology that we have to improve student learning.
Thanks!
Sandra Villarreal
Works Cited:
Page, M. S. (2002). Technology-enriched classrooms: Effects on students of low socioeconomic status. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 34(4), 389–409. Retrieved November 24, 2009 from the International Society of Education at http://www.iste.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Number_4_Summer_20021&Template=/MembersOnly.cfm&ContentFileID=830
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Chapters 1, 15-38.
Rose, D., & Meyer, A. (2002). Teaching every student in the digital age: Universal design for learning. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Available online at the Center for Applied Special Technology Web site. Chapter 1. Retrieved on November 24, 2009, from http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/ideas/tes/
Schacter, J. (1999). The impact of education technology on student achievement: What the most current research has to say. Santa Monica, CA: Milken Exchange on Education Technology. Retrieved on October 5, 2009, from http://www.mff.org/pubs/ME161.pdf.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Week 1 Reflection, Course 5364
Much of our readings for the week focus on the constructivism style of learning. One of this week readings included “Learning as a Personal Event: A Brief introduction to Constructivism” written by Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, 1999. Traditional style or teacher led instruction is comprised of lectures from the teacher while students passively listen. In response to this teaching method, the article noted, “Truth be known, the teacher has done all the work and the students are a captive audience, waiting for the end of class” (Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, 1999). In other words students who are not involved in learning do not feel connected to the lesson plan and are not actively learning, but at best are only passively listening.
The way to adjust instruction from one of teacher led to constructivist teaching is to allow the students to be part of the learning process. Give them guidelines and find out what connects each student to the subject matter and allow them to research it and assist them in their search for knowledge. This way the students are involved, in the article, “If I teach this way, Am I doing my job: Constructivism in the classroom”, explains how this process is possible, “Constructivist teachers allow student responses to drive lessons, shift instructional strategies and alter content”. This does not mean that constructivism teachers only teach what students are interested in, “Instead, students’ knowledge, experiences, and interests occasionally do coalesce around an urgent theme” (Sprague, D. & Dede, C. (1999)). There are topics such as world news events or national events that may have a great appeal to students, adapting that information into the lesson plan can help students relate and cause them to make connections between what they learn in the classroom and in turn apply that to their framework of knowledge. This is the root of constructivism learning, expanding your personal framework of knowledge.
Works Cited:
Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, (1999). Learning as a personal event: A brief introduction to constructivism. Retrieved on November 11, 2009 from http://www.sedl.org/pubs/tec26/intro2c.html
Sprague, D. & Dede, C. (1999). If I teach this way, Am I doing my job: Constructivism in the classroom. Leading and Learning, 27(1). Retrieved November 11, 2009 from the International Society for Technology in Education at http://www.iste.org/content/navigationmenu/publications/ll/llissues/volume_27_1999_2000_/september10/if_i_teach_this_way,_am_i_doing_my_job_constructivism_in_the_classroom.htm
The way to adjust instruction from one of teacher led to constructivist teaching is to allow the students to be part of the learning process. Give them guidelines and find out what connects each student to the subject matter and allow them to research it and assist them in their search for knowledge. This way the students are involved, in the article, “If I teach this way, Am I doing my job: Constructivism in the classroom”, explains how this process is possible, “Constructivist teachers allow student responses to drive lessons, shift instructional strategies and alter content”. This does not mean that constructivism teachers only teach what students are interested in, “Instead, students’ knowledge, experiences, and interests occasionally do coalesce around an urgent theme” (Sprague, D. & Dede, C. (1999)). There are topics such as world news events or national events that may have a great appeal to students, adapting that information into the lesson plan can help students relate and cause them to make connections between what they learn in the classroom and in turn apply that to their framework of knowledge. This is the root of constructivism learning, expanding your personal framework of knowledge.
Works Cited:
Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, (1999). Learning as a personal event: A brief introduction to constructivism. Retrieved on November 11, 2009 from http://www.sedl.org/pubs/tec26/intro2c.html
Sprague, D. & Dede, C. (1999). If I teach this way, Am I doing my job: Constructivism in the classroom. Leading and Learning, 27(1). Retrieved November 11, 2009 from the International Society for Technology in Education at http://www.iste.org/content/navigationmenu/publications/ll/llissues/volume_27_1999_2000_/september10/if_i_teach_this_way,_am_i_doing_my_job_constructivism_in_the_classroom.htm
Monday, July 6, 2009
Week 5 Reflection Activity
The team that I worked with was David, Danny, Becky and Jay. Everyone was easy to work with and it was very easy to brainstorm with them as a team. Everyone was respectful and added to the conversation. I got the sense that my team members are used to collaboration and that is why we worked well together. They also very mindful of deadlines. We did all of our communication through email, we have well over one hundred emails between all of us. This was the best experience I’ve had with distance collaboration. I really think that we as a team embodied the Pixar attitude for collaboration, the idea of “plus this” as per the video from Randy Nelson of Pixar (http://www.edutopia.org/randy-nelson-school-to-career-video). "Plus this" collaboration allows for free acceptance of ideas and the willingness to put aside your own vanity to make the team look good (http://www.edutopia.org/randy-nelson-school-to-career-video).
We did have some difficulties with sharing large multimedia files. For data sharing we used a site called http://www.drivehq.com/ to share our files and did a lot of our collaboration over email.
I did a Google search and found this site, it’s free to create an account and it allowed us to have a central location that allows large file sizes to be uploaded up to 100MB each.
A major flaw with this site is that at a certain point it will say that we have used up the amount of data that we are allowed to transfer on a monthly basis on their free service. For a subscription fee it will allow unlimited. We ended up creating multiple accounts because of this. It made collaboration difficult.
At the end of this course my team has a PSA and I got to know some of my fellow classmates.
Thanks!
Sandra Villarreal
Works Cited: Nelson, R. (2008). Learning and working in the collaborative age: A new model for the workplace. Edutopia. Retrieved April 23, 2009, from http://www.edutopia.org/randy-nelson-school-to-career-video.
We did have some difficulties with sharing large multimedia files. For data sharing we used a site called http://www.drivehq.com/ to share our files and did a lot of our collaboration over email.
I did a Google search and found this site, it’s free to create an account and it allowed us to have a central location that allows large file sizes to be uploaded up to 100MB each.
A major flaw with this site is that at a certain point it will say that we have used up the amount of data that we are allowed to transfer on a monthly basis on their free service. For a subscription fee it will allow unlimited. We ended up creating multiple accounts because of this. It made collaboration difficult.
At the end of this course my team has a PSA and I got to know some of my fellow classmates.
Thanks!
Sandra Villarreal
Works Cited: Nelson, R. (2008). Learning and working in the collaborative age: A new model for the workplace. Edutopia. Retrieved April 23, 2009, from http://www.edutopia.org/randy-nelson-school-to-career-video.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Week 2 Reflection Activity:
This week focused on learning how to edit video clips, I had fun trying out different software. It’s a new way for me to be creative. I have plans for my new skills. I got so excited I bought a new digital camera for a trip that I am going on with my husband for our ten year wedding anniversary. I am going to make a very nice vacation video when I get back. So far I have experimented with three different video editing software, Apple’s iMovie, Microsoft’s Movie Maker, and Adobe Premier Elements.
iMovie was easy to work with, (last week) but I could not use it for the file formats I found for editing this week. The file formats that I had to work with were .mov .rm and .mwv
Adobe Premier Elements had a nice look to it but the trial software had trial software written over the screen where you edit the files and I found it to be distracting.
I ended up using iMovie, it was easy to use, it didn’t seem to have very many features but it got the job done.
When I get back from my vacation I should be able to use iMovie, which I liked best of all so far.
For this weeks reading significant quote I chose, “The Art of the Edit”, Lonnquist had stated the importance of having more than one shot to use. A close up and a wide shot, that way you can ensure that you will have usable footage (Lonnquist). The example Lonnquist gave is that he had to use a poor shot in a project with an eyesore of power supply in the middle of the kitchen for a dream homes shot, simply because he did not have another shot to use (Lonnquist). I will keep this in mind when shooting footage, to make sure that I have multiple shots that way I will always have a shot to fall back on.
Thanks!
Sandra Villarreal
Work cited: Lonnquist, J. (1994, November). The art of the edit. Videomaker. Retrieved on April 6, 2009, from http://www.videomaker.com/article/1691/.
iMovie was easy to work with, (last week) but I could not use it for the file formats I found for editing this week. The file formats that I had to work with were .mov .rm and .mwv
Adobe Premier Elements had a nice look to it but the trial software had trial software written over the screen where you edit the files and I found it to be distracting.
I ended up using iMovie, it was easy to use, it didn’t seem to have very many features but it got the job done.
When I get back from my vacation I should be able to use iMovie, which I liked best of all so far.
For this weeks reading significant quote I chose, “The Art of the Edit”, Lonnquist had stated the importance of having more than one shot to use. A close up and a wide shot, that way you can ensure that you will have usable footage (Lonnquist). The example Lonnquist gave is that he had to use a poor shot in a project with an eyesore of power supply in the middle of the kitchen for a dream homes shot, simply because he did not have another shot to use (Lonnquist). I will keep this in mind when shooting footage, to make sure that I have multiple shots that way I will always have a shot to fall back on.
Thanks!
Sandra Villarreal
Work cited: Lonnquist, J. (1994, November). The art of the edit. Videomaker. Retrieved on April 6, 2009, from http://www.videomaker.com/article/1691/.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Week 1 Reflection Activity
I was very excited to start this course. In fact I had all of my reading completed before the class had officially started.
I was the first one in the class to post on the reading discussion board about the reading assignments and the significant quote which was from an article called, “Visual Acuity: from Consumers to Critics and Creators” were Ellis stated, “We were educated to read actively, yet we’re conditioned to view visual images passively”. This quote really made me think that this is true for my generation but is not true for today's k-12 student. They have learned through experience to interact with multimedia tools.
For myself I am learning to interact more with multimedia interfaces.
This week, I ran into some problems about the first week assignment number two. I knew we were going to have to work in a group for the other assignments. The assignment for week 1 stated that we would be working with a partner from our group and that we had to ensure that each of our group members has had the opportunity to interview and be interviewed (Course Syllabus). The major problem was me is, I had no idea who my group members are.
I noticed that other students in the course also had the same question. I did not see any official response to the questions about groups.
I assume some of them paired off. I have emailed some of them; I think they have all already paired up. Looks like I’m on my own on this one. I will interview someone else who is not in my course instead and have them interview me so that I may complete the project.
I am sure the next weeks assignments will run a little more smoothly for me.
Thanks!
Sandra Villarreal
Blogs to follow for Weeks 2 and 5
Works Cited:
Ellis, K. (2005). Visual acuity: From consumers to critics and creators. Edutopia. Retrieved May 30, 2009, from http://www.edutopia.org/print/1321.
I was the first one in the class to post on the reading discussion board about the reading assignments and the significant quote which was from an article called, “Visual Acuity: from Consumers to Critics and Creators” were Ellis stated, “We were educated to read actively, yet we’re conditioned to view visual images passively”. This quote really made me think that this is true for my generation but is not true for today's k-12 student. They have learned through experience to interact with multimedia tools.
For myself I am learning to interact more with multimedia interfaces.
This week, I ran into some problems about the first week assignment number two. I knew we were going to have to work in a group for the other assignments. The assignment for week 1 stated that we would be working with a partner from our group and that we had to ensure that each of our group members has had the opportunity to interview and be interviewed (Course Syllabus). The major problem was me is, I had no idea who my group members are.
I noticed that other students in the course also had the same question. I did not see any official response to the questions about groups.
I assume some of them paired off. I have emailed some of them; I think they have all already paired up. Looks like I’m on my own on this one. I will interview someone else who is not in my course instead and have them interview me so that I may complete the project.
I am sure the next weeks assignments will run a little more smoothly for me.
Thanks!
Sandra Villarreal
Blogs to follow for Weeks 2 and 5
Works Cited:
Ellis, K. (2005). Visual acuity: From consumers to critics and creators. Edutopia. Retrieved May 30, 2009, from http://www.edutopia.org/print/1321.
Web Conference Pilot
On June 3rd 5:00 PM CST, I took part in an educational experiment for my class this five week session called, Multimedia and Video Technology at Lamar University. The experiment was really a web conference pilot to test and get comfortable with the Adobe Acrobat Connect Pro web conferencing interface.
The conference started at 5:00pm but the room was to open at 4:30pm. I got set up early at 4:21pm. I think I jumped the gun and selected to be added to the meeting too early. I waited and waited… nothing happened... I looked closely at the screen… it now said that the meeting had been canceled. I knew this couldn’t be correct.
I clicked on the link again at around 4:45pm and I was now in the course room, “Success” I thought. I was able to see the professor, Kay Abernathy. I could hear her and others in the course room. Everyone was very excited and happily chatting asking if they could be heard and doing some brief introductions.
I ran the microphone and web camera wizards, everything seemed to run okay. I could hear the playback from the test of recording my voice. I could hear everyone clearly but I did not see the microphone button that others were talking about for me to select so that others could hear me.
Also after running the webcam install I could see myself on the cam but all the other options on the page were grayed out. I had to close out of the webcam so I could click around on the webpage.
After several minutes of not being heard, I decided I would log out and then log back in…that was a big mistake. I was not able to get back into the meeting and missed out big time. It kept saying that it was waiting for the host to allow me back in. Then it said the meeting was over.
I think it is a good tool and will help learners who are used to in classroom learning feel more connected to their classmates and professor. I think over time it will be more finely tuned.
I hope next time I will be heard, after all isn’t that what we all want?
Cheers!
Sandra Villarreal
The conference started at 5:00pm but the room was to open at 4:30pm. I got set up early at 4:21pm. I think I jumped the gun and selected to be added to the meeting too early. I waited and waited… nothing happened... I looked closely at the screen… it now said that the meeting had been canceled. I knew this couldn’t be correct.
I clicked on the link again at around 4:45pm and I was now in the course room, “Success” I thought. I was able to see the professor, Kay Abernathy. I could hear her and others in the course room. Everyone was very excited and happily chatting asking if they could be heard and doing some brief introductions.
I ran the microphone and web camera wizards, everything seemed to run okay. I could hear the playback from the test of recording my voice. I could hear everyone clearly but I did not see the microphone button that others were talking about for me to select so that others could hear me.
Also after running the webcam install I could see myself on the cam but all the other options on the page were grayed out. I had to close out of the webcam so I could click around on the webpage.
After several minutes of not being heard, I decided I would log out and then log back in…that was a big mistake. I was not able to get back into the meeting and missed out big time. It kept saying that it was waiting for the host to allow me back in. Then it said the meeting was over.
I think it is a good tool and will help learners who are used to in classroom learning feel more connected to their classmates and professor. I think over time it will be more finely tuned.
I hope next time I will be heard, after all isn’t that what we all want?
Cheers!
Sandra Villarreal
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