An educational need or opportunity
I have been teaching note-taking skills to my freshman the past two years. At the end of the semester I always give students a survey asking opinions about how they feel about several of my types of lessons. An overwhelming majority of students (80%) vote that they believe the note-taking lessons are the most relevant for their future academic success however it is also the most unpleasant lesson type I use. I really want to make these note-taking students a little more interesting for students to do. If student interest improved so would their motivation to learn which in turn would be reflected in an improvement in learning & grades. I feel that I can address this issue by integrating Inspiration or Webspiration as a means to spice up note-taking.
I could measure my success with this venture by measuring student’s attitudes and comments about taking notes with the software as well as the end of the semester exit survey I give to students. I can also compare the progress that is made with the quality of notes taken by the students from previous years. Another means I can use to determine effectiveness is the improvement or digression of grades in the class. This could be difficult because each year there is a new crop of students that have different interests, personalities, and capabilities.
How I plan to address this educational issue with technology. Back in CEP 810 I investigated the program Webspiration/Inspiration to determine potential uses for academics. I would like to further investigate this technology as a means to improve student interest and effectiveness in note taking skills. From my experience note taking is very necessary but mundane skill that everyone uses. By using Webspiration/Inspiration I can solve a couple issues that students have with note-taking. First these programs allow a way of taking notes that is much more visual so that students will build a better cohesive connective web of ideas which Brophy refers to as coherent content. Another problem solved by this program is providing a means for students to integrate multimedia into their notes. When students insert a video to illustrate an idea that they are learning it is much more stimulating as mentioned in the Brabec piece. Another great issue dealt with using these programs is the issue of note-taking for multiple intelligences. Students that prefer the outline method can still use this way to take notes however students that like the mind mapping can use this approach. On top of addressing the multiple intelligences students can begin to make a connection between one way of taking notes to another method by using the crossover function that goes between the more visual approach to the outline approach (which the book uses).
Making the Impact
As mentioned in the Brophy article it is extremely important that students can see connections between the information that they are trying to learn. This builds a connective web of knowledge that strengthens the memory and understanding. This program does a great job with making these connections. Additionally the digital interface also allows for students to create visual connections with multimedia videos and pictures from the internet that can easily be copied and pasted. As the Brabec article has stated this really helps to build a better non verbal understanding of content. The best part of the technological solution is that the webspiration/inspiration software is not extremely specific to one educational discipline which means it can be applied to a number of classes and situations. The software can be used in social studies, science, english and even math classes which means more bang for the buck. Zhao cites this as a very important idea for administrators to take in account when trying to determine the practicality of a technological product.
Relevant research and resources
1. Inspiration Product website, 2009.
• http://www.inspiration.com/Inspiration
• http://www.inspiration.com/Examples/Inspiration#social-studies
• http://www.inspiration.com/videos/Inspiration
2. Education World, March 27, 2002. Educator Software Review: Inspiration.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech124.shtml
3. Zhao, Y., (2003). What Teachers Need to Know about Technology? Framing the Question. What Should Teachers Know about Technology? Perspectives and Practices. Research Methods for Educational Technology Series. Ed. Yong Zhao. Information Age Publishing: Gre
4. Brophy, J, (1999) Teaching.
5. Brabec, K., Fisher, K., & Pitler, H. (2004). Building better instruction: How technology supports nine research-proven instructional strategies. Learning & Leading with Technology 31 (5). p. 6-11.
Implementation
For the current semester I cannot actually implement this technology since my district has only a limited amount of product licenses. I can get my hands on one copy to work out lessons but as for getting the program installed in a lab I would have to prove the product use to the district. It is my hope that this proposal will secure such an opportunity for next fall in my freshman world history classes that I spend so much time with note-taking skills.
How your project addresses the four common places of education:
Someone teaching- The teacher will wear several hats with using this technology. First they will be the demonstrator so that students understand the technical aspects of this software. The teacher must also teach note-taking skills and how to unlock the information key that each textbook possesses. Finally when the teacher is done with the sage on the stage introduction they will act as the guide on the side while students implement the skills and the technology to better understand the information.
Someone learning- Students will at first be receiving direct instruction about how to use the technology and read the book for information. Then become the active learner in finding important information, classifying the information then finding videos or images that illustrate the idea.
Some subject matter- World History (freshman) U.S. History
In some setting- Traditional Classroom, Computer Lab
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
The End of the Line!
•What are some things that you have learned about effective teaching strategies when integrating technology?•How did integrating web-based technologies help you think about and evaluate uses of technology•How have you met your own personal goals for learning about technology integration?•Do you have any new goals? What are your plans for reaching your new goals and your long-term goals after this course is over?
WHEWWW!!! This class is done already!? Im pretty sure that is as close to an academic sprint you can get to! If I had one word to describe 811 its intense because everything was so tightly packed together. This is rather bitter sweet because it is difficult to fully digest all of the content yet sweet in that there is no beating around the bush, you get to work, you hammer out your stuff (which I felt pretty darn good about) then you move on. I am rather pleased with how this class has helped to developed my teaching abilities. It definitely challanged me to create new ways to use technology in my class in a way that is fun, engaging, and of course very interesting. The two biggest pieces I came away with in this class is the ease that websites can be designed and used for class as well as the stAIR idea that can really help to build an effective individual platform for students to learn. This is a very valuable assignment idea to add to my repetoire.
The class certainly met my life encompassing goal of improvement through challenge. I certainly challenged myself to create very cutting edge lessons on both the content level and the technological level. As for specifics I met a short term goal of entering into the blogging arena for both myself personally and my class. As to how the class blogs will work out, I am uncertain becuase the amount of management it will requires. Regardless of the management challenge I was successful in making the idea a reality which my student's and I are excited to experience. As for goals still left unattended I am longing to find a way to implement simulations into my class. In addition to blogs and the plethora of online multimedia resources for histry I really feel simulation games will be the key to really creating an interactive and exciting adventure for my history classes.
Overall I enjoyed the experience and I can't wait to continue with the rest of my journey! 3 classes down, 5 more to go!
WHEWWW!!! This class is done already!? Im pretty sure that is as close to an academic sprint you can get to! If I had one word to describe 811 its intense because everything was so tightly packed together. This is rather bitter sweet because it is difficult to fully digest all of the content yet sweet in that there is no beating around the bush, you get to work, you hammer out your stuff (which I felt pretty darn good about) then you move on. I am rather pleased with how this class has helped to developed my teaching abilities. It definitely challanged me to create new ways to use technology in my class in a way that is fun, engaging, and of course very interesting. The two biggest pieces I came away with in this class is the ease that websites can be designed and used for class as well as the stAIR idea that can really help to build an effective individual platform for students to learn. This is a very valuable assignment idea to add to my repetoire.
The class certainly met my life encompassing goal of improvement through challenge. I certainly challenged myself to create very cutting edge lessons on both the content level and the technological level. As for specifics I met a short term goal of entering into the blogging arena for both myself personally and my class. As to how the class blogs will work out, I am uncertain becuase the amount of management it will requires. Regardless of the management challenge I was successful in making the idea a reality which my student's and I are excited to experience. As for goals still left unattended I am longing to find a way to implement simulations into my class. In addition to blogs and the plethora of online multimedia resources for histry I really feel simulation games will be the key to really creating an interactive and exciting adventure for my history classes.
Overall I enjoyed the experience and I can't wait to continue with the rest of my journey! 3 classes down, 5 more to go!
The 21st Century Classroom
I actually use several of these web-based technologies in my class and they have all yeilded great results in supplementing my in-class instructions. The cornerstone to my web-technologies and my class for that matter is my Blackboard CMS. I use this system as my classroom access to the web. On Blackboard I organize all of my assignments, handouts, recommended external links, class blogs, online textbooks, videos and even quizzes/tests. Making these materials available online has been extremely helpful for keeping an open lane of communication with parents and other support staff. Everyday I post a detailed agenda with all of the homework announcements as well as locations to assignments and notes. Parents and students can easily keep track of due dates with the consistently updated daily agenda. Students that are absent can easily keep up with the class if they are on vacation, or even suspended for a period of time. In fact I am beginning to have absent students come back from an absence with their work completed as if they had never missed class.
Blackboard has been a great help with quickly assessing multiple choice sections of tests and small assignments. When I give tests I normally make two sections: a writing portion along with a multiple choice portion. When giving the Multiple choice portion I always give it via Blackboard. I have created a dependable format that works for both the studnets as well as grading purposes. Students like getting immediate feedback so that they can improve their performance as soon as possible. Additionally it really helps me get back good raw data to analyze class performance so that I can assess both myself and the class.
As for some specific pedagogical strategies, I am currently running my Blog experiment in my American History class. I designed a large encompassing question for the class. Throughout the entire semester students will look at their daily class participation in the light that they are doing research on this question. Instead of giving my portion to the final exam I will have students create a presentation/project that answers the question using information that they have learned throughout the question, that way students will have a idea of how all of the big ideas within the history class connect together. I read in a Marzano teaching strategy that this really helps to best develop student's higher level thinking capabilities.
I have found class forum boards the most difficult piece to implement. I feel that they just create more work for me that is not necessary. I need the organic feeling of classroom discussion to get a good grasp of what students are comprehending. Also I find the grading very inundating, I just can't keep up. Also forums are tough because not everyone is very engaged to the level that a discussion could blossom into an unknown place that is very interesting and useful. Maybe its my stle but the discussion forums just don't do it for me in this situation.
Overall I love all of this technology! What did we ever do before it? Education is so much more fruitful now. Instead of talking about an abstract idea all of these ideas allow for us to easily access an infinite amount of resources and easily discuss them, it truly is revolutionary how fast it has changed in the last 10 years! In the words of my old Enlish teacher Mr Hughes.... "it tickles me pink!"
Blackboard has been a great help with quickly assessing multiple choice sections of tests and small assignments. When I give tests I normally make two sections: a writing portion along with a multiple choice portion. When giving the Multiple choice portion I always give it via Blackboard. I have created a dependable format that works for both the studnets as well as grading purposes. Students like getting immediate feedback so that they can improve their performance as soon as possible. Additionally it really helps me get back good raw data to analyze class performance so that I can assess both myself and the class.
As for some specific pedagogical strategies, I am currently running my Blog experiment in my American History class. I designed a large encompassing question for the class. Throughout the entire semester students will look at their daily class participation in the light that they are doing research on this question. Instead of giving my portion to the final exam I will have students create a presentation/project that answers the question using information that they have learned throughout the question, that way students will have a idea of how all of the big ideas within the history class connect together. I read in a Marzano teaching strategy that this really helps to best develop student's higher level thinking capabilities.
I have found class forum boards the most difficult piece to implement. I feel that they just create more work for me that is not necessary. I need the organic feeling of classroom discussion to get a good grasp of what students are comprehending. Also I find the grading very inundating, I just can't keep up. Also forums are tough because not everyone is very engaged to the level that a discussion could blossom into an unknown place that is very interesting and useful. Maybe its my stle but the discussion forums just don't do it for me in this situation.
Overall I love all of this technology! What did we ever do before it? Education is so much more fruitful now. Instead of talking about an abstract idea all of these ideas allow for us to easily access an infinite amount of resources and easily discuss them, it truly is revolutionary how fast it has changed in the last 10 years! In the words of my old Enlish teacher Mr Hughes.... "it tickles me pink!"
Google Earth
Background Intro
Google Earth is an application that allows for people to take an interactive mapping tour with any place in the world. You can easily navigate the planet to find any city you desire. The program functions on an XY & Z axis that allows you to get a 3-D picture of the earth. When there is a location you would like to inquire about GoogleEarth allows you to zoom in and observe what the physical geography actually looks like.
What knowledge or skills would students need to use the software?
Students need to know their basic cardinal directions, how to use the basic maneuvering interface. This really does not take too long to figure out. For example if you hold down the right mouse button then slide the mouse whatever direction you wish to move it will happen. Also learning how to use the mouse wheel to zoom is an important feature. Rolling the wheel forward will zoom in, rolling it backward will zoom out. Overall the interface is pretty intuitive. As for other features, figuring out what all of the buttons does takes some time to figure out. After about an hour of fiddling around most people should be able to pick up most of the features that Google Earth has to offer. As for additional questions Google offers several tutorials via youTube that allows for anyone to get a quick demonstration as to how to do anything.
As for some other applications students should learn include creating a digital tour, sending information, and choosing what type of layer data they would like to read. One of my favorite features of Google Earth is if you are curious about any particular building in a large city you may click on the building then get a detailed background information such as mailing address, building name, email addresses etc. If the building has a webpage you can even click on the webpage to get further information.
How can you share the products you create with this application
There are two ways in which information can be shared. You can record a digital tour of places. These tours allow you to not only record the places but also a little voice over (with the availability of a microphone). The videos can then be shared one of two ways. They can be posted on a Google Earth forum which requires a special login above and beyond the usual Google username. The other way videos can be shared is through email. After recording a video simply left click the file then email. The receiver must also have Google Earth to download the video to observe the tour.
How could you see the application being used to teach a particular subject matter?
GoogleEarth has near limitless capabilities for teaching history, geography, as well as some physical science classes. In history or geography I would use the program for students to get a better idea as to how geography has affected the settlement of people. For examples I would want students to see how armies could have used the geography to their advantage or what physical factors posed challenges to settlers. Another potential use is to have students compare past pictures to current maps in order to inquire questions as to how places ended up in their current state. Student’s could create a digital map tour of the U.S. and historical sites as a means to get both a historical background of locations with a connection to spatial relationship of political states. I could go on with this all day!
What are some things a teacher could do to help students collaborate using this application?
There is a student forum that students can upload their videos for comments. As for collaborating for some possible editing I cannot find if GoogleEarth allows for students to go back for editing purposes. Most collaboration would have to be done in person. For example I would have students survey a map for places they would like to chronicle in a map tour. They can work together to determine which places they would like to highlight then create the tour together.
What sort of organization or managerial considerations will a teacher have to take into account?
The primary concern a teacher must address is having GoogleEarth installed on computers that are capable of running the program. New software, even when its free like GoogleEarth, is not always easy to install on computers because of the security concerns of the ITs. Additionally the computers available may lack the processing capabilities to run the program. Furthermore teachers must keep in mind several student issues. Time for students to familiarize themselves with the interface must be kept in mind as well as expected time of completion, some students will not be technically capable (as simples as it is) to install the program at home. Finally assessment comes into play.
As for putting the assignment together and detailing submission instructions it is important for the teacher to detail all of the steps for submitting the assignment in a place where the teacher can access the file and grade it. In my case I would have students submit the assignment via Blackboard then use my personal Google Earth to observe and detail comments.
Google Earth is an application that allows for people to take an interactive mapping tour with any place in the world. You can easily navigate the planet to find any city you desire. The program functions on an XY & Z axis that allows you to get a 3-D picture of the earth. When there is a location you would like to inquire about GoogleEarth allows you to zoom in and observe what the physical geography actually looks like.
What knowledge or skills would students need to use the software?
Students need to know their basic cardinal directions, how to use the basic maneuvering interface. This really does not take too long to figure out. For example if you hold down the right mouse button then slide the mouse whatever direction you wish to move it will happen. Also learning how to use the mouse wheel to zoom is an important feature. Rolling the wheel forward will zoom in, rolling it backward will zoom out. Overall the interface is pretty intuitive. As for other features, figuring out what all of the buttons does takes some time to figure out. After about an hour of fiddling around most people should be able to pick up most of the features that Google Earth has to offer. As for additional questions Google offers several tutorials via youTube that allows for anyone to get a quick demonstration as to how to do anything.
As for some other applications students should learn include creating a digital tour, sending information, and choosing what type of layer data they would like to read. One of my favorite features of Google Earth is if you are curious about any particular building in a large city you may click on the building then get a detailed background information such as mailing address, building name, email addresses etc. If the building has a webpage you can even click on the webpage to get further information.
How can you share the products you create with this application
There are two ways in which information can be shared. You can record a digital tour of places. These tours allow you to not only record the places but also a little voice over (with the availability of a microphone). The videos can then be shared one of two ways. They can be posted on a Google Earth forum which requires a special login above and beyond the usual Google username. The other way videos can be shared is through email. After recording a video simply left click the file then email. The receiver must also have Google Earth to download the video to observe the tour.
How could you see the application being used to teach a particular subject matter?
GoogleEarth has near limitless capabilities for teaching history, geography, as well as some physical science classes. In history or geography I would use the program for students to get a better idea as to how geography has affected the settlement of people. For examples I would want students to see how armies could have used the geography to their advantage or what physical factors posed challenges to settlers. Another potential use is to have students compare past pictures to current maps in order to inquire questions as to how places ended up in their current state. Student’s could create a digital map tour of the U.S. and historical sites as a means to get both a historical background of locations with a connection to spatial relationship of political states. I could go on with this all day!
What are some things a teacher could do to help students collaborate using this application?
There is a student forum that students can upload their videos for comments. As for collaborating for some possible editing I cannot find if GoogleEarth allows for students to go back for editing purposes. Most collaboration would have to be done in person. For example I would have students survey a map for places they would like to chronicle in a map tour. They can work together to determine which places they would like to highlight then create the tour together.
What sort of organization or managerial considerations will a teacher have to take into account?
The primary concern a teacher must address is having GoogleEarth installed on computers that are capable of running the program. New software, even when its free like GoogleEarth, is not always easy to install on computers because of the security concerns of the ITs. Additionally the computers available may lack the processing capabilities to run the program. Furthermore teachers must keep in mind several student issues. Time for students to familiarize themselves with the interface must be kept in mind as well as expected time of completion, some students will not be technically capable (as simples as it is) to install the program at home. Finally assessment comes into play.
As for putting the assignment together and detailing submission instructions it is important for the teacher to detail all of the steps for submitting the assignment in a place where the teacher can access the file and grade it. In my case I would have students submit the assignment via Blackboard then use my personal Google Earth to observe and detail comments.
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