Sunday, October 26, 2008
How to Knit
Boy was this a project! I loved so much about doing the digital story but I hated some of the obstacles. There were numerous. From my overworked, slow computer to my website not accepting the size of the finished project. I want to take all I've learned, video, music, photo, animation manipulation and start working on transforming some of my proposed lessons into digital stories. It is fascinating, enervating, provocative, creative, irritating, lovely, and the wave of the not-too-distant future.
Being able to use old photos of my own along with clipart, created video, and downloaded music was really fun and got the creative juices flowing. Students in a wide age range will really be drawn to the manipulations and will really dig this creative process. It is a good alternative to the report, diorama, or poster.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Digital Storytelling
After viewing several different versions of digital storytelling I feel, more than ever, the endless possibilities associated with it. I started with a piece on VoiceThread and was taken by the simplicity, emotional draw, aesthetic attributes, and accessibility. Not only was the story sweet, intimate, and entertaining, but it allowed me to see that it was something I could do. It also opened up a vast world of usage in the educational field. Incorporating lessons, books, anecdotes would be simple and effective. I believe most people are more visual than any other sense, as far as learning, and digital storytelling is a great foundation tool.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Crossword challenge
Crossword creation
Knowing Excel fairly well it was simple to put together the crossword for the assignment. Knowing that a text box can be inserted eliminated the frustration of the set column/row sizing. Coloring the blank squares and other aesthetic devices were straightforward. There is an element of rudimentary usage and the creativity is a bit limited. Using Excel you have to create your own intersections, which can be a littlre trying, all those years of Scrabble paid off!
Using a puzzle program was extremely easy once I found the one that really worked. Some sites charged for membership before you could publish, some sites were near impossible to save as a jpeg. I used the Read-Write-Think site and was pleased with the ease of creation. the program allowed the user to just put the words and meanings into the specified area and the rest was done for the user.
I can see this tool being a great way to assign vocabulary homework, et al and it makes it a little more fun.
Posted on Thursday, Oct 16, 2008, 12:10 PM (UTC -4)
Knowing Excel fairly well it was simple to put together the crossword for the assignment. Knowing that a text box can be inserted eliminated the frustration of the set column/row sizing. Coloring the blank squares and other aesthetic devices were straightforward. There is an element of rudimentary usage and the creativity is a bit limited. Using Excel you have to create your own intersections, which can be a littlre trying, all those years of Scrabble paid off!
Using a puzzle program was extremely easy once I found the one that really worked. Some sites charged for membership before you could publish, some sites were near impossible to save as a jpeg. I used the Read-Write-Think site and was pleased with the ease of creation. the program allowed the user to just put the words and meanings into the specified area and the rest was done for the user.
I can see this tool being a great way to assign vocabulary homework, et al and it makes it a little more fun.
Posted on Thursday, Oct 16, 2008, 12:10 PM (UTC -4)
Thursday, October 9, 2008
TWT and me
Where to begin...
Teaching with technology is a necessary evil. As the world changes so must its educators. It is really the fundamental rule in education. Be open, desirous, and flexible to change as it can hopefully benefit the students after all.
I am glad to be on the cusp of a real tech explosion in the classroom but I am also a bit resistant. Most of what I see, SmartBoards, WebQuests, Wikis, seem helpful, if not growth oriented. I am afraid that it will take over, like a virus (no pun intended) and it will become acceptable in any form. For instance, i may sound old fashioned, but the advent of the cell phone and worse texting is going to have long-lasting and terrible effects on the language and writing skills of tomorrow. It has been a struggle for so long to teach ELA, grammar, etc and this just adds a whole new element. Many believe that text language, emoticons, abbreviations, etc will become part of the common language and proper English will fall by the (slow) wayside. This alarms me. It is not just progress, as all past generations dig their heels in about youth and all its entrapments. Of course language is as malleable and delicate as any major aspect of society. But the integration of tech and the classroom is tempting the fates. How do we, as educators, provide the right type of tech while keeping out the "bad"?
I want to believe that even though the OED has added popular vernacular such as "Bling" and that trusted newscasters misuse the word literally and supposedly ("Supposably") that the English Language will stand firm. How? I don't know. Maybe WITH technology.
Teaching with technology is a necessary evil. As the world changes so must its educators. It is really the fundamental rule in education. Be open, desirous, and flexible to change as it can hopefully benefit the students after all.
I am glad to be on the cusp of a real tech explosion in the classroom but I am also a bit resistant. Most of what I see, SmartBoards, WebQuests, Wikis, seem helpful, if not growth oriented. I am afraid that it will take over, like a virus (no pun intended) and it will become acceptable in any form. For instance, i may sound old fashioned, but the advent of the cell phone and worse texting is going to have long-lasting and terrible effects on the language and writing skills of tomorrow. It has been a struggle for so long to teach ELA, grammar, etc and this just adds a whole new element. Many believe that text language, emoticons, abbreviations, etc will become part of the common language and proper English will fall by the (slow) wayside. This alarms me. It is not just progress, as all past generations dig their heels in about youth and all its entrapments. Of course language is as malleable and delicate as any major aspect of society. But the integration of tech and the classroom is tempting the fates. How do we, as educators, provide the right type of tech while keeping out the "bad"?
I want to believe that even though the OED has added popular vernacular such as "Bling" and that trusted newscasters misuse the word literally and supposedly ("Supposably") that the English Language will stand firm. How? I don't know. Maybe WITH technology.
Constructivism
Building, layer upon layer, "floor" upon "floor" the knowledge necessary to create a well balanced and interested learner.
The teacher is the guide and the student is the gatherer.
Mastery, comprehension, and content application are the key roles of constructivism.
The three three main characteristics are: 1) There are different kinds of knowledge, 2) Prior knowledge affects the learning process, and 3) Group learning is more productive than individual
Advantages: Critical thinking, more learning-style freedom, differences are appreciated, active engagement, encourages individual methods for task completion, learning becomes more interesting, confidence-building, and preparation for real-world scenarios
Some disadvantages: Teacher knowledge must be extensive and vast, requires lots of planning, assignments are long-term, unconventional, overhaul of old curriculum time and labor intensive, traditional teachers may resist, ongoing professional development necessary, and those who don't know will see the class as "messy", disorganized, and unmanageable.
The teacher is the guide and the student is the gatherer.
Mastery, comprehension, and content application are the key roles of constructivism.
The three three main characteristics are: 1) There are different kinds of knowledge, 2) Prior knowledge affects the learning process, and 3) Group learning is more productive than individual
Advantages: Critical thinking, more learning-style freedom, differences are appreciated, active engagement, encourages individual methods for task completion, learning becomes more interesting, confidence-building, and preparation for real-world scenarios
Some disadvantages: Teacher knowledge must be extensive and vast, requires lots of planning, assignments are long-term, unconventional, overhaul of old curriculum time and labor intensive, traditional teachers may resist, ongoing professional development necessary, and those who don't know will see the class as "messy", disorganized, and unmanageable.
The 5 E's
Sounds like a band from the 50's...
Anyway, similar to the ADDIE and ASSURE ed models it too has a system for better teaching and thus, better learning.
Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate
Much more interactive with the students and much more pro-active as a whole. Answers are multi-level and analytically challenging. Use of formative and summative knowledge is key. The evaluation techniques are varied and malleable to subjects.
Anyway, similar to the ADDIE and ASSURE ed models it too has a system for better teaching and thus, better learning.
Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate
Much more interactive with the students and much more pro-active as a whole. Answers are multi-level and analytically challenging. Use of formative and summative knowledge is key. The evaluation techniques are varied and malleable to subjects.
ISDS
My first reaction to ISDS and the like is ugh, another strategy. It seems the world of education (and probably many other industries)pedagogy always has a "new and improved" theory on teaching and learning. Using strategies such as ADDIE, ASSURE, ARCS, etc look good in theory and on paper, but do they really enhance learning? Do they really allow for a better teacher? Are there outcomes and are they universally beneficial?
It all goes back to learning theories--Vygotsky, Piaget, Dewey (the namesake of my h.s.!)--apply, design, be aware of the learner (styles), assets, and implications. The pedagogical double-speak reminds me of a story my sister told me a few years back. She is a second grade teacher in Brooklyn. To make a long story short, administration was droning on about STRATEGIES; how to find one, use one, apply it for general use, get students used to it, etc. When one teacher tried to explain it to her class of 7 year olds one student's answer ("Monkeybars?" you had to be there!) made it amusingly clear that it was all about opening our eyes and ears to what the student needs to thrive.
ADDIE caught my eye as one of the more user-friendly strategies. Having an acronym makes it easy to conjure and the titles are usable ideas; Analyze (think and dissect), Design (create on paper), Develop (add-ons and beneficial "go-withs"), Implement (best way to apply for maximum results), and Evaluate (how did it go? will it need changing?)
It all goes back to learning theories--Vygotsky, Piaget, Dewey (the namesake of my h.s.!)--apply, design, be aware of the learner (styles), assets, and implications. The pedagogical double-speak reminds me of a story my sister told me a few years back. She is a second grade teacher in Brooklyn. To make a long story short, administration was droning on about STRATEGIES; how to find one, use one, apply it for general use, get students used to it, etc. When one teacher tried to explain it to her class of 7 year olds one student's answer ("Monkeybars?" you had to be there!) made it amusingly clear that it was all about opening our eyes and ears to what the student needs to thrive.
ADDIE caught my eye as one of the more user-friendly strategies. Having an acronym makes it easy to conjure and the titles are usable ideas; Analyze (think and dissect), Design (create on paper), Develop (add-ons and beneficial "go-withs"), Implement (best way to apply for maximum results), and Evaluate (how did it go? will it need changing?)
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