DIY -NAILED IT!- maybe?

   In this week's readings and study material, I have to laugh at the image one constantly gets inundated with on Pinterest of the picture of perfection and someone's pathetic attempt of DIY and the word's "Nailed It" superimposed.  This is my reaction of some of this week's technology study readings.  I have been part of many district surveys and studies while not even knowing I was part of the study.  I tend to be a little sceptical of results. I do trust my experience in the classroom which does support the findings of many of these studies.  I  know how some districts try to implement some of the educational technology programs without support, plans, training, full startup accessories, knowledgeable personnel  and doom any efforts to succeed.  I admire the plans with thoughtful, fully committed plans that are executed in a timely manner and show follow through with support.  Usually academia readings are from a rarified strasophere pure air of unattainable reach rather than practical, usable applicable material. I have not found this to be the case in all of these readings. I found several resources of technology sites which are useful.  Some are familiar to me, and some are new.  The material puts technology into perspective and makes a case for why it is not just for fun in the classroom, but an integral part of the learning process.  With today's emphasis on testing and reaching every student and individualizing student lessons, technology can easily meet that goal for each teacher.  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

  

   In reading Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age, a lesson design is introduced that allows for differentiated lessons for students. It is the Universal Design for Learners.  One quote makes the point "At the start of the planning process, the first question for a teacher to answer is usually the most obvious: What knowledge and skills do I want my students to have at the end of their lesson or unit?" Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007).

  In teaching I have found it better to start at the end rather than the beginning.  It allows me to plan my lessons, my quizzes, my tests, and timeline without getting bogged down.  I also can put blinders on to filter out any non essential, inconsequential distractions. Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works advises to set objectives for students in the lessons and that is very practical advice.  The suggestions and examples are even more invaluable which is why I have to say this is my "go to" resource.  Some are resources I have used in the past to some success, but some are new.  For setting up a pre-assessment or what you know, want or learn type objective several resources are given such as Inspiration, templates for  KWL, learning contract and others.  Another category would be to use data collection with SurveyMonkey or Pollcat.  Communication software can be used for reflection purposes much like essays were written to summarize material.  Examples for places to blog, or using email are given.  Using educational standards for objectives for curriculum and rubrics are requirements for most teachers and excellent resources are included.  These are all up to date methods to include students in tried an true methods to engage in the learning process.  Instead of standing students up in front of the class with a poster, which one person probably did all the work, and wasting valuable teaching time boring all the students, students are engaged in learning.  These examples are practical, within each student's technology skill range and easily adaptable to any subject. They are also simple upgrades on old lesson methods of essay summarizations, posters, research, and group projects, but with a technology twist. 

   I had an ephiphany many years ago while watching a fellow teacher who never seemed tired at the end of the day, but her students always worked so hard.  She used the word "facilitator".  That is how she saw herself in the classroom.  I adopted that word and used it ever since.  The students should be doing the work- not the teacher.  The teacher is the supervisor.  The reading Rose, D., & Meyer, A. (2002). Teaching every student in the digital age: Universal design for learning. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development has the same philosophy.  Quoting a book, Avator- of the Word James J. Odonnel,

[It will be] to advise, guide, and encourage students wading through the deep waters of the information flood. [Educators] will thrive as mentors, tutors, backseat drivers, and coaches. They will use the best skill they have . . . to nudge, push, and sometimes pull students through the educationally crucial tasks of processing information: analysis, problem solving, and synthesis of ideas. These are the heart of education, and these are the activities on which our time can best be spent. (O'Donnell, 1998, p. 156)

    

Teaching is still the same, but with added tools at our discretion and arsenal.  It is up to us to implement and utilize to the best of our ability.  Education needs to adapt to a changing world, needs, and provide for a growing demand.  Technology provides us with resources to provide.

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

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.

Resources from Using technology with Classroom Instruction That Works:

Data collection sites

www.surveymonkey.com

www.pollcat.com

www.profilerpro.com

Standards sites

www.mcrel.org/standards-benchmarks

http://edstandards.org/standards.html

Rubrics sites

http://edweb.sdsu.edu/webquest/rubrics/weblessons.htm

http://rubistar-4teachers.org/

www.landmar-project.com/rubric_builder/index.php

www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/rubrics

Lamar web conferences

   During this master's graduate course for Lamar University , I have attended as many online web conferences as possible. Lamar offers web conferences as a convenience for students to interact with professors as part of their course.  While I have not attended conferences a hundred percent, the conferences I have attended have contained valuable information and insight into assignments and courseload.  Other students ask questions I am thinking, and some I didn’t know to ask.  Advice given by professors who have taught the course previously anticipate problems before I encounter them and enable me to easily avoid them.  This week’s conference was an introduction to EDLD 5364 and allowed me to see the powerpoint of forms and information needed.  I was also able to form my group for this course group project.  Conferences are an invaluable resource and point of contact throughout coursework.  

Am I teaching?- If I am teaching, What am I teaching?

   I recently gave a workshop that decried the woes of state testing, and what to do as a teacher. Students are in a gap between skills and a high level test.  Teachers are pressured to pull, push students to achieve scores, and students are caught in a frenzy of pre-testing, reviewing, testing, prepping, post-testing and analysis of testing cycle of purgatory.   Teachers are looking at how students are learning.  Technology is part of the answer.  One book gave very useful advice for incorporating technology into the classroom and lessons.  Teaching is an art and a business. A profession.  A lesson is created with an end purpose of what the student should learn and know. If a lesson is to incorporate technology that must still be included.  Technology is not about just typing a paper or playing video games.  Using Technology with Classroom Instruction, (2007) claimed effective use of technology in the classroom showed important gains in knowledge and skills for students. ( Ringstaff & Kelly, 2002) Teachers in the classroom using technology would have seen an increased interest in assignments whenever students have been allowed to be involved with lessons and control over the outcome.  My main point at the workshop was that students can no longer passively sit taking notes, watch teacher prepared powerpoints, and drill for tests.  Students must be more actively involved in their assignments.  Students must process and analyze information by creating and working with material.  Technology can help with this.  Tests today require much more processing by students.  Teachers are having to adapt and change teaching styles, habits, lessons, classrooms, and mindsets.  Further studies in the book support claims that technology is more interactive, and students have a sense of control using  technology. ( Russell and Sorge, 1999).  Pitler, H., Hubble, E., Kuhn,. M., & Malenoske, K. Using Technology with Classroom Instruction, (2007)  Teachers have already observed this firsthand of course. The skills observed in the studies were broken into nine categories of strategies and skills.  It is important to note again that any lesson should have an observable objective and measurable outcome as stated as very practical  in the book. One reading looked at how people learned and technology incorporates all learning styles.  How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School. (2000) Bransford.  introduced the idea of students not all having a shared experience and not being able to appreciate reading material due to lack of life experiences.  As a former reading teacher, I had to bring to life many different settings, cultures, and explain situations for students who didn't understand.  As a history teacher, I enjoy technology advances that enable me to link live web cam with the Panama Canal and watch it stream live in class while we work on assignments.  My students have a much better appreciation for it afterwards.  Not everyone learns the same or internalizes information the same way however.

   Three theories of learning have been offered for reading this week.  I find all three interesting, if a bit divergent in theory.  One theory is constructivism.  The theory posits the learner begins with what he or she knows and puts a personal spin or applies to personal experience. Constructivism to learning is like a cook making a recipe and putting a unique personal style to it. You can always tell a Paula Deen recipe from a California gourmet meal.  This is especially important to learning today due to the need for students to process and analyze material on state testing.  Students must internalize information and make decisions based on what they know not on what they have memorized.  Questions are multi-stepped, and require indepth analysis.  Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, (1999). Learning as a personal event: A brief introduction to constructivism.

Another theory for this week's reading included connectivism learning. In this theory learning is a continual process- a network.  Knowledge is used in association with other information to build upon and create further knowledge.  The telephone and radio are such examples.  These inventions were not created in isolation, but rather build upon multiple technological discoveries of the day.  I try to use this in the history classroom by using science's process of having student's justifying their answers on their work as a strategy in my class, and reading strategies as well as math cognitive skills to solve problems.  All learning skills are related and transferable.  I use the analogy of football drills in class.  Athletes must do many mundane drills, weightlifting, exercises that are not actual plays in the game, but it enhances their playing skills.  School is the same way. Sprague, D. & Dede, C. (1999). If I teach this way, Am I doing my job: Constructivism in the classroom. Leading and Learning.

The last theory may seem a bit bizarre, but not really when you look at technological advances today.  It is the cyborg theory.  It involves the human/machine interaction.  Ray Kurzweil, inventor, hypothesizes the inclusion of technology into education including implanting chips in human nervous systems is not inplausible.
There is no analogy necessary the cyborg says it all.  We implant information chips in dogs, medical chips are used today.  Defense uses many enhanced technology today.  While I don't think we are quite to this point, I don't quite discount the possibility for the future. Goggles for individual monitors and viewing, desks for keyboards. The technology exists ready to bring into the classroom and advance learning to the level we need.    McPheeters, D. (2009, March). Social networking technologies in education

resources:

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Introduction, 1 – 14.

Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, (1999). Learning as a personal event: A brief introduction to constructivism.

Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L., & Cocking, R. R. (2000). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school.

McPheeters, D. (2009, March). Social networking technologies in education. Tech and Learning

Sprague, D. & Dede, C. (1999). If I teach this way, Am I doing my job: Constructivism in the classroom. Leading and Learning.

Website blues or not?

EDLD 5366 Self Reflection-
   In pursuing my master's degree I encountered others in the same quest assigned to design a website. Via frantic instant messaging during a web conference, a group was organized.  The structure of the assignment was clearly delineated, and we only had to claim what pages we wished to create and research.  Previous lessons had prepared us in design layout, (CRAP), use of animation and years of scholarly enterprise was useful in researching.  Creating a website drew upon a range of skills and resources and having a group to lean on for ideas, strengths where I had weaknesses was helpful.  I appreciated the use of Bloom's Digital Taxonomy in the work of A. Churches (2007), and L. W. Anderson, and D. Krathwohl (Eds.) (2001).  By creating the website and achieving/demonstrating the highest level of taxonomy I can fully participate in the experience.  While I tend to not trust group work, people I don't know, technology I am unfamiliar, and pressure of deadlines matched with professional deadlines, it worked amazingly well.  Through today's technology, the group was able to meet in person and online to make decisions about the design and establish protocols, editing and details.  I became a fan of online delivery, editing and saw the possibilities for classroom use.  I actually  made a classroom assignment to match it and have incorporated prezi, animoto, stykz into lessons and projects.  Some people worked at four in the morning, some during the day at his or her own convenience.  Some did the work in one hour in one sitting, while others worked on it in bits and pieces.  It gave me a new appreciated for technology and its possibilities. New skills were a necessary acquisition to work with the website, and a sense of isolation occurred at times.  The group, Google, online forums quickly solved most problems.  Lamar has a good support system, but some people do not like asking for help.  Most panic moments were much ado over nothing and reading the instructions carefully, taking part in the conferences helped tremendously. 
Learn as a Learner
   After teaching for almost twenty-five years, it is a bit disconcerting to find myself on the side of a student.  Learning is constant and never ending.  This assignment presented challenges more so than other assignments.  It incorporated other skills from previous assignments such as design layout (CRAP), and animation.  Previous skills of second nature such as writing, researching and educational topics were incorporated, but using updated material made it fresh and interesting.  I had some basic skills to practice and hone, while others may not have had any problems.  Using the website was tricky and I spent time approaching it to practice putting material on it.  I spent time consulting with others in the group and researching other websites to get a sense of what ours should look like.  Reading "How C.R.A.P. is Your Site Design" by Mike Rundle (2006) was helpful in deciding elements of columns, and too much repetition on a page.  I like the quote, "Don't reinvent the wheel" and having resources out there to reference is very helpful.  I like to feel a sense of completion.  Having others making comments is fun and exciting.  Posting work online is a bit intimidating, but having an audience makes a performance worthwhile.  I feel having support on the website design made it stronger.  We really supported each other and worked well together.
LifeLong Skills
   I believe the possibilities are endless for use in the classroom.  I like the use of the Google docs. I like how students can go in and edit at their own leisure for group work.  I already use this media instead of posters.  Setting up media to reference a subject matter will require research.  Everyone can access computers either at home or at school.  Original work can be included, and other students can post comments and even post a quiz section.  I like the quote in "Where is Reflection in the Learning Process" by Jackie Gerstein (2011) about students being "receivers or transmitters of knowledge or critical consumers or producers."  With today's testing and job force, students must be active in their own education.  I have introduced the technology at department meetings and a technology workshop to enable others to incorporate it into their classrooms.

Resources:
Church, A, 2007, Edorigami, Blooms Taxonomy and Digital Approaches  www.techlearning.com/techlearning/.../AndrewChurches.pdf

 Rundel, Mike, April 10, 2006, How CRAP is Your Site Design, http://blog.teamtreehouse.com/how-crap-is-your-site-design

Gerstein Ed.D. , Jackie, "Where is Reflection in the Learning Process", August 16, 2011 http://usergeneratededucation.wordpress.com/2011/08/16/where-is-reflection-in-the-learning-process/

Group Website

After much collaboration, tweaking, texting back and forth The Trekkers' website is up for viewing at the following site. I have to say I learned a few new skills and maybe patience (?). Sometimes it did not do exactly what I wanted it to do. Using another medium to create a product presented its own set of issues to find a way around. 

https://sites.google.com/site/thetrekkers2013/

Animation

Animation can be used in many ways for educational purposes.  Strykz is a free site website and easy to use.  Many tutorials are easily accessible on youtube for quick introduction to the basics.  Simple projects can be incorporated into lessons for students to demonstrate vocabulary, illustrate concepts.  I have already assigned students to use the site to make commercials for industrial revolution inventions. I made several incorporating a sword, because I just like swords and like the versatility of the animation.  The website comes with several pieces in the library, but I chose to make my stairs to see how it was done.  

Lessons of Design

Lisbon Bible- dated from 1482.  This is a dated codex which means it is in book form rather than a scroll. As such it has a different design format.  The language would have been read from left to right, so a right alignment can be seen in the two columns.  This page  in particular is from the book of Genesis or Be-Reshit, folio 23v and 40r.  As a lover of books and reading today, it is with wonder to see the evident work and attention to detail given to this sacred text commissioned so long ago by a patron.  The scribes' work of art while creating a functional text.  Throughout the text the columns and margin notes are repeated as well as the script and language.  Use of colors are used as well to illuminate the work and adds to the richness of the manuscript.   A use of masoretic notes or comments can be seen in the margins on the sides and at the bottom of the page.  On other pages the notes are looping, curving and make a design.  This is a repeated theme but also the notes are in proximity to the content.  The use however is pleasing to the eye and adds to the design rather than detracts.  In the middle of the columns can be seen what looks like a bookmarker embedded on the page.  On this particular page, it is a silver, feathery marker with colorful tips of blue, purple and mauve and gold.  It actually does serve as a bookmarker or sorts according to the British Library website.  It  marks the beginning of a pericope which is a portion of the Torah and read aloud at prayers in revolving order.  The use of color, size of script and adding a marker gives a contrast making for easy to find placement.  The more I look at the book and analyze it, I am struck not by its beauty, but its functionality and practicality.  It is beautiful, but it is not just another pretty face.  It is well designed, organized, but nothing is there for just looks.  I think that is the underlying reason for designing a synonym for planning/organizing.  The techniques of design for beauty, functionality and appreciation for the sacredness of the text are apparent in the use of space, materials used to last through the ages, color of the art and craftmanship in script.      ( source of information:  British Library Online Gallery : Lisbon Bible) http://www.bl.uk/collections/treasures/lisbon/lisbon_broadband.htm?middle