I have to say that this class has been my favorite class I have taken, so far, towards my Master's in Ed. Tech. (and I am about half way through). It has been extremely stressful at times but I actually feel like I learned a lot of new things and a lot of new technology that was fun and useful. Not only is it useful in the world of education, but daily life and other types of jobs as well. I think that using technology in the classroom could be a lot of fun and the students would really enjoy it, but with my students being limited to desktop computers and most of them not having access to a smart phone, some of the things I learned might be challenging for them to do. But at least I can show it to them!
I feel like a lot of the design principles are very useful, but the one that I actually just discussed at my school today was the Redundancy Principle. I say this because the computer program that my students use to complete all of their course work drives me crazy. My students are forced to watch videos of someone talking, while they have the text on the screen and graphics. I have been saying since the beginning of the school year (when we started using this program) that the students do not need both the video and the text. A lot of the students would rather just have the text so they can read it themselves and move through the course at their own pace. But they are forced to watch these "lectures" which they don't really watch anyway, but they have to wait for the lecture to end before they can proceed any further in the course. The program that we used before this year did not have the lectures. The students and I miss that program and get really impatient when we have to wait for the video lectures to finish before we can do anything. The Redundancy Principle just proves my thinking (and the students) that the videos are not necessary for them to complete their coursework successfully.
The only readings that I really remember are the Design Principles for Multimedia Instruction. I liked the fact that we referred back to them every week throughout the entire course as we created our weekly blog posts. Blogging was something that was completely new to me when I began this course and it is something that I never saw myself being interested in doing (or even being interested in knowing how to do it), but it is kind of fun.
I enjoyed learning about all of the technologies in this course, as most of them were new to me. I enjoyed creating all of the weekly assignments EXCEPT the Augmented Reality. I cannot understand why that is so difficult for me to figure out how to create. I have decided that I am going to blame the failure to create a working Aura on my junky laptop and my old phone. My favorite assignment was probably the Storify because it utilizes multiple different sources and brings everything together in a really easy to follow format. It was very user friendly and the fact that you can link things from so many different sources makes it useful in the classroom and not very time consuming for the teacher to create.
I am hoping that for the future my students will begin working with a different online program that lets them do more fun activities, like the things I learned in this class. I am hoping to get them access to some tablets or Ipads so that they can create some projects and actually do some collaborative work in small groups. I think they would really have fun with some of the technologies that I learned about in this class. I would love to see what kind of things they could come up with and the things that they could create. This has definitely been my favorite class and I would love to learn about more of these useful educational technology tools.
Friday, March 4, 2016
Saturday, February 27, 2016
Evaluation and Assessment
Multimedia Assessment
Resource: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJOfpiV0Gc0, standard YouTube license
Rubric
Resource: http://www.rcampus.com/rubricshowc.cfm?code=Z32X96&sp=yes, http://www.rcampus.com/info/terms/tou.cfm
Survey
Resource: https://www.quia.com/sv/216295.html,
https://www.quia.com/web/terms_of_service.html
Using the Rubric in the classroom:
Students will create a planner on their computer to help them keep track of their classes and assignments so that they can stay organized. They will each have a copy of the rubric and, as a class, we will discuss all parts of the rubric and what is expected of them. I will check their planner on a daily basis and keep a record of their points.
At the end of a week (or more) students will be able to see what their habits are in class and be able to adjust their habits to be more effective and accomplish more in class.
Application:
The signaling principle, pre-training principle and segmenting principles are being used because the rubric breaks down the assignment into smaller segments that are easy for the students to follow. Discussing the aspects of the rubric follow the pre-training principle to make sure that the students all understand the rubric and what is expected of them. The signaling principle helps by organizing and sorting the information and expectations of the assignment.
Reflection:
I had fun creating all three assignments this week. The rubric and survey will be more useful in my current classroom because the students lessons are already created and already have video, as well as, activities incorporated into them. The rubric and the survey can help me figure out what my students need to be successful, and help my students to stay organized so that they can be more effective in the classroom and accomplish more on a daily basis.
Resource: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJOfpiV0Gc0, standard YouTube license
Rubric
Resource: http://www.rcampus.com/rubricshowc.cfm?code=Z32X96&sp=yes, http://www.rcampus.com/info/terms/tou.cfm
Resource: https://www.quia.com/sv/216295.html,
https://www.quia.com/web/terms_of_service.html
Using the Rubric in the classroom:
Students will create a planner on their computer to help them keep track of their classes and assignments so that they can stay organized. They will each have a copy of the rubric and, as a class, we will discuss all parts of the rubric and what is expected of them. I will check their planner on a daily basis and keep a record of their points.
At the end of a week (or more) students will be able to see what their habits are in class and be able to adjust their habits to be more effective and accomplish more in class.
Application:
The signaling principle, pre-training principle and segmenting principles are being used because the rubric breaks down the assignment into smaller segments that are easy for the students to follow. Discussing the aspects of the rubric follow the pre-training principle to make sure that the students all understand the rubric and what is expected of them. The signaling principle helps by organizing and sorting the information and expectations of the assignment.
Reflection:
I had fun creating all three assignments this week. The rubric and survey will be more useful in my current classroom because the students lessons are already created and already have video, as well as, activities incorporated into them. The rubric and the survey can help me figure out what my students need to be successful, and help my students to stay organized so that they can be more effective in the classroom and accomplish more on a daily basis.
Sunday, February 21, 2016
Concept/mind mapping
Use in the classroom:
With students in 7th grade through 12th grade in one classroom and each students working on individualized classes, at an individualized pace, collaboration is not something that is usually done in our setting. But one thing that we did as a class on the very first day of school was to create our classroom rules and expectations together. We created it in an outline form but after working with coggle.it I think I would have my students work together as a class to create the rules for the classroom using coogle.it. Students would work together as a class, talking and discussing what they believe would be some good "school rules" to have at our little alternative setting. They would work together to create something that would be used in the classroom throughout the year. Using coggle.it they could even take pictures depicting the rules and add them to their concept map and/or create a video depicting the rules and consequences for not following those rules. (They would enjoy this because it would allow them to break the rules on purpose (within reason) and not get into trouble :) )
Application:
The design principles from week one that align with this type of lesson would be the signaling principle, spatial contiguity and the personalization principle. Coggle.it would help the students organize what they believe are the most important points and rules for the classroom. Adding visual images of the students depicting the rules next to the written words would help students to spatially and visually connect the rules and their behaviors. Since the rules would be written by the students they will be written in a conversational style that the students are sure to understand.
Reflection:
I really enjoyed making this concept map this week. I know this is a little different than the typical concept map and/or how it would be used to help collaboration between students, but it fit with my current classroom and students that I service. I thought it was fun and pretty easy to use. For my links I included the outline that we made as a class at the beginning of the year, as well as the high school's student handbook. I didn't really have a video to put in it and I didn't really want to just add a random video because this is all about our school, so I added a video that some of our high school students made at the school a couple of years ago. I was thinking that I could have my students create some type of video to go along with their concept map and let them work together and have fun. I was thinking that I would even have all of the students put the concept map that they create as their background on the desktop of their computers, that way they always have the classroom rules right in front of them!
Sunday, February 14, 2016
Augmented Learning
Use in the classroom:
First, I would have to say that I would NOT use this type of learning in my classroom. At least not at this time. I am at the HATE relationship stage with this technology. I had so many difficulties with the assignment this week. I have used QR codes before so I wanted to try the Augmented Reality. I have always thought that it looked fun and interesting, but I would need a lot more practice and experience before I incorporated it into my classroom. This may be something that I could have my students work with and maybe they can teach me how to use it better. :) This technology would not work in my current school environment anyways, because a lot of my students do not have cell phones, or smart devices, and we use desktop computers. We do not have access to laptops or tablets that the rest of the school has because we are located in a separate building away from the rest of the school.
Applications:
The design principles of Temporal Continuity and Personalization align with this idea. I can personalize it for the topic/subject the students are working on, or on an individualized level for each student. These principles align with the idea of using Augmented Learning or QR codes as a whole because the students can scan the image and they are led directly to the information that they are assigned and will have several resources available to them at any one time.
Reflection:
I struggled with this assignment all week. I could not figure out how to create overlays and then every time I would try and use the Aurasma App on my phone it either would not scan the image or it would freeze up and crash my phone. :( I was so frustrated because I could not figure out what I was doing wrong and I knew that it should not be this difficult. I did not enjoy this assignment and I honestly don't know if the trigger image even works (since the app on my phone won't work). After stressing over this all week, I realized that I should have just made a QR code assignment, but I was so tired and upset about this not working that I didn't want to go back and try and start over. I just wanted to get this over with. Hopefully this trigger image works, if not, I'm sorry!!
First, I would have to say that I would NOT use this type of learning in my classroom. At least not at this time. I am at the HATE relationship stage with this technology. I had so many difficulties with the assignment this week. I have used QR codes before so I wanted to try the Augmented Reality. I have always thought that it looked fun and interesting, but I would need a lot more practice and experience before I incorporated it into my classroom. This may be something that I could have my students work with and maybe they can teach me how to use it better. :) This technology would not work in my current school environment anyways, because a lot of my students do not have cell phones, or smart devices, and we use desktop computers. We do not have access to laptops or tablets that the rest of the school has because we are located in a separate building away from the rest of the school.
Applications:
The design principles of Temporal Continuity and Personalization align with this idea. I can personalize it for the topic/subject the students are working on, or on an individualized level for each student. These principles align with the idea of using Augmented Learning or QR codes as a whole because the students can scan the image and they are led directly to the information that they are assigned and will have several resources available to them at any one time.
Reflection:
I struggled with this assignment all week. I could not figure out how to create overlays and then every time I would try and use the Aurasma App on my phone it either would not scan the image or it would freeze up and crash my phone. :( I was so frustrated because I could not figure out what I was doing wrong and I knew that it should not be this difficult. I did not enjoy this assignment and I honestly don't know if the trigger image even works (since the app on my phone won't work). After stressing over this all week, I realized that I should have just made a QR code assignment, but I was so tired and upset about this not working that I didn't want to go back and try and start over. I just wanted to get this over with. Hopefully this trigger image works, if not, I'm sorry!!
Sunday, February 7, 2016
Week 4: Video
Evaluating a "found" video
I teach 7th through 12th grade alternative education students but most of them are in high school. The school has really been pushing us to get the students ready for the SAT since they are going to be testing 9th and 10th graders on the PSAT while the 11th graders, and any 12th graders that need to as well, will be taking the SAT in March (1 more month). My students complete all of their daily assignments on the computer and like to take "breaks" and watch videos on sites like YouTube. A lot of my students are not used to "studying" in a traditional sense because their work is done on the computer, it is self-paced, and they do not have homework. I thought this short video would introduce them to some simple study skills that would help them as they prepare to take the PSAT/SAT tests.
I like this video because it meets almost all of the 10 factors to consider when evaluating a podcast and the design principles for multimedia. The content is definitely appropriate for learning about study skills. This video would enhance a lesson on how to study by giving them tips of things to do, and not to do, when studying for test. We can then use these tips, and ideas, for a larger class discussion on studying and what works for them, and what doesn't work, and have them share ideas that have helped them to study for, and do well on, tests in the past. This video meets the standards for acceptable use in our school and is well organized and easy to follow. The audio is clear and easy to understand and I think it would hold my students attention because it is filmed in a high school setting with high school students and is narrated by a high school student. My students are able to use YouTube to view videos on their computer, so formatting of this video is not a problem. As far as credibility, I think every students is different and every student studies differently. This video would be explained as a way to give us some ideas of things we can do to help us study for the SAT. Listening and viewing this video online is the best method for my students because that is what they are used to doing. I did not see any additional online content present in this video, but this video is just one video in a whole series of videos created to help students get better grades. I was able to find this video on several different educational websites and it does not have a license attached to it. Therefore, the YouTube version of the video follows the standard YouTube license.
My video
SAT Study Strategies
Here is the link if the video above doesn't work: https://www.powtoon.com/online-presentation/e1BC0ywMcbH/sat-study-strategies/#/
Use in the classroom:
I intend to use this for all of my students that have to take the PSAT or the SAT in March. This would be a quick video for them to reference if they are wondering what they should study or how to study for the test. I would then try and incorporate this video making into one of their assignments because I think they would really enjoy it and have fun creating one. If they can successfully create a video about their specific assignment then that would show me that they know how to use the technology. Incorporating creativity will give my students something new and different to do during the day, rather than their usual computer education program that they use everyday and all day. This will allow my students to be creative and show their creativity while still learning things at the same time. I would have to consider how to give my students credit, or a grade, for their creativity because if they are not getting credit for it, or if they know that it is not required in order for them to graduate, they will not complete it!
Application:
I tried to use several design principles for instructional multimedia by using the signaling principle. Keeping the video text simple and creating more of an outline helps not overwhelm the student with information. When considering the redundancy principle I decided to use text and not narration when giving the information to the students. I figured this way they would be able to go back and read material as needed to gather the information. I also used the spatial and temporal contiguity with graphics and text combined per slide throughout the video. This supports creativity because students can see that there are several different way of convey the same information. They will be able to use text or speech when creating their own videos for their assignment.
Reflection:
I loved working on this video this week. I thought that is was really fun and I kept thinking about my students and how much fun they would have creating their own videos like this. I have never created anything like this and didn't know about this technology, so learning this new technology is really exciting for me and I cannot wait to show it to my students and let them try it as well!
I teach 7th through 12th grade alternative education students but most of them are in high school. The school has really been pushing us to get the students ready for the SAT since they are going to be testing 9th and 10th graders on the PSAT while the 11th graders, and any 12th graders that need to as well, will be taking the SAT in March (1 more month). My students complete all of their daily assignments on the computer and like to take "breaks" and watch videos on sites like YouTube. A lot of my students are not used to "studying" in a traditional sense because their work is done on the computer, it is self-paced, and they do not have homework. I thought this short video would introduce them to some simple study skills that would help them as they prepare to take the PSAT/SAT tests.
I like this video because it meets almost all of the 10 factors to consider when evaluating a podcast and the design principles for multimedia. The content is definitely appropriate for learning about study skills. This video would enhance a lesson on how to study by giving them tips of things to do, and not to do, when studying for test. We can then use these tips, and ideas, for a larger class discussion on studying and what works for them, and what doesn't work, and have them share ideas that have helped them to study for, and do well on, tests in the past. This video meets the standards for acceptable use in our school and is well organized and easy to follow. The audio is clear and easy to understand and I think it would hold my students attention because it is filmed in a high school setting with high school students and is narrated by a high school student. My students are able to use YouTube to view videos on their computer, so formatting of this video is not a problem. As far as credibility, I think every students is different and every student studies differently. This video would be explained as a way to give us some ideas of things we can do to help us study for the SAT. Listening and viewing this video online is the best method for my students because that is what they are used to doing. I did not see any additional online content present in this video, but this video is just one video in a whole series of videos created to help students get better grades. I was able to find this video on several different educational websites and it does not have a license attached to it. Therefore, the YouTube version of the video follows the standard YouTube license.
My video
SAT Study Strategies
Here is the link if the video above doesn't work: https://www.powtoon.com/online-presentation/e1BC0ywMcbH/sat-study-strategies/#/
Use in the classroom:
I intend to use this for all of my students that have to take the PSAT or the SAT in March. This would be a quick video for them to reference if they are wondering what they should study or how to study for the test. I would then try and incorporate this video making into one of their assignments because I think they would really enjoy it and have fun creating one. If they can successfully create a video about their specific assignment then that would show me that they know how to use the technology. Incorporating creativity will give my students something new and different to do during the day, rather than their usual computer education program that they use everyday and all day. This will allow my students to be creative and show their creativity while still learning things at the same time. I would have to consider how to give my students credit, or a grade, for their creativity because if they are not getting credit for it, or if they know that it is not required in order for them to graduate, they will not complete it!
Application:
I tried to use several design principles for instructional multimedia by using the signaling principle. Keeping the video text simple and creating more of an outline helps not overwhelm the student with information. When considering the redundancy principle I decided to use text and not narration when giving the information to the students. I figured this way they would be able to go back and read material as needed to gather the information. I also used the spatial and temporal contiguity with graphics and text combined per slide throughout the video. This supports creativity because students can see that there are several different way of convey the same information. They will be able to use text or speech when creating their own videos for their assignment.
Reflection:
I loved working on this video this week. I thought that is was really fun and I kept thinking about my students and how much fun they would have creating their own videos like this. I have never created anything like this and didn't know about this technology, so learning this new technology is really exciting for me and I cannot wait to show it to my students and let them try it as well!
Sunday, January 31, 2016
Digital Images
Use in the classroom:
Like I have stated before, I have several Juniors and Seniors that are going to be taking the new SAT in March. I figured that my infograpic could be used by my students as a guideline, or tips, for preparing for the tests and the testing days! Students will be able to follow my list to help prepare them for the SAT. I have learned that with my students, "less is more" if I had written a bunch of words and sentences on my infographic they would not have read it. Keeping it simple does not intimidate them as much. I created my GIF to be funny and show my students what people think of the SAT. I wanted to provide a little humor and get my students to relax.
Application:
The readings from week one about design principles for instructional multimedia fit with how the infographic lets teachers create artifacts that incorporate multiple types of media, and or steps in one document. I was able to combine text and pictures at the same time to make it appealing so that my students are more likely to look at it (at least). The GIF let me be able to combine pictures and videos into one new video which makes instruction smoother and can provide some humor in regards to a serious testing situation.
Reflection:
My students are used to using the computer to complete all of their work and they are used to taking, and modifying pictures (a.k.a. "the selfie") but I can show them some other things that they can do with their pictures. They could even create a GIF out of some of their pictures, which would be very interesting for me to see! I might even make this an assignment :)
Photo is Public Domain
Source: giphy.com
Like I have stated before, I have several Juniors and Seniors that are going to be taking the new SAT in March. I figured that my infograpic could be used by my students as a guideline, or tips, for preparing for the tests and the testing days! Students will be able to follow my list to help prepare them for the SAT. I have learned that with my students, "less is more" if I had written a bunch of words and sentences on my infographic they would not have read it. Keeping it simple does not intimidate them as much. I created my GIF to be funny and show my students what people think of the SAT. I wanted to provide a little humor and get my students to relax.
Application:
The readings from week one about design principles for instructional multimedia fit with how the infographic lets teachers create artifacts that incorporate multiple types of media, and or steps in one document. I was able to combine text and pictures at the same time to make it appealing so that my students are more likely to look at it (at least). The GIF let me be able to combine pictures and videos into one new video which makes instruction smoother and can provide some humor in regards to a serious testing situation.
Reflection:
My students are used to using the computer to complete all of their work and they are used to taking, and modifying pictures (a.k.a. "the selfie") but I can show them some other things that they can do with their pictures. They could even create a GIF out of some of their pictures, which would be very interesting for me to see! I might even make this an assignment :)
Photo is Public Domain
Source: giphy.com
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