EDCI 5825 - Week 6

The Big 10 shifts in education would have been surprising to me before starting this class but after working on the various projects, using blogs and wikis and reading the texts, the shifts make sense. I think that shift #5 and shift #6 are the least surprising to me (Richardson, 2010).

Shift #5 is that it is becoming more important to know where to find an answer than the actual answer. Searching websites and blogs takes some practice to really know how to find the information that you are looking for. If the right combination of search words is not used, the search site will find plenty of matches but you could also waste a lot of time looking through websites and blogs that do not have what you are looking for (Richardson, 2010).

Shift #6 is that readers have to be critical of what they find on the web. Information on the web could have been posted by anyone. So the information may not be correct and the user has to verify it (Richardson, 2010).

Since I will be teaching High School math, I think that one of the harder shifts to implement would be #9, that mastery is no longer measured by a test. I do not think that math tests are going away anytime soon. Students are still going to have to take standardized tests in math so they will need to learn math skills and how to solve specific types of problems. Projects linked to real world applications would help solidify concepts but I think that the 'mastery' measure will still be a math test for some time to come.

I think that Big Shift#2 is already happening and would be almost impossible to stop. Shift #2 is many teachers and 24/7 learning. I see this in that there are many "homework" or "problem help" websites. Students can enter their problem any time any place and have someone working on a solution and explanation for them. They can even search previous questions to see if any of the responses would help them. So students can find help anytime from anywhere by using the internet. One example of a math help website is Math Guide at this link: MathGuide. The teacher is not the only resource for the student any longer.

EDCI 5825 - Video Editing Project

If I were to start this project all over again, I think that I would go with a different approach. We filmed the clips that we did with more of the idea of a movie but given the topic and the editing available, I think that more of small clip acting followed by slides or voice overs would have been more effective. A clip of one or two people talking closer up than trying to film 4 people would be clearer to see and hear. My family did not have any suggestions, they were fairly impressed since they did not think that I knew how to do anything like this.

I am amazed at how many editing techniques are available in iMovie. It is very intimidating at first but once you start using it and realize how easy it is to experiment and try the different options it is fun. The recording and loading of the videos clips is very easy too. Reading the instructions for this project I was thinking that I could not imagine being able to do what was required but all it takes is time to get used to the way iMovie works.

I don't know if there will be time to do a movie project in the high school classroom. I would like to be able to but I think that it would probably have to be more of a class project since I don't think that everyone would have video equipment and I don't know if the software would be readily available. So if I could get past any equipment constraints, a video project would be something that I would like to be able to do with the class. I think that I do have enough skill to assign a video project.

From this project I learned both about the topic of cyber-bullying and the mechanics of editing the video clips. I have a much better idea of how videos can enhance the classroom learning and that it is not as hard as I had thought to make a decent video.

EDCI 5825 - Final Project Blog

Link to Laura's Blog

I hope that I will be able to use the Blog that I have created in the classroom. When I know what I am teaching I would be able to add course specific information to the blog. This would hopefully make it more personal and meaningful for the class. Once there was more class specific information such as homework or project assignments, the students and parents would hopefully start visiting the blog, using it for information and posting questions and thoughts there.

I would like to be able to have students create their own blogs for the classroom. It will depend on the school system that am teaching in, the maturity of the students and the technology available. Many students may have the capability to go online at home but we would only be able do this as a class if there are adequate resources in school as well. I also would want to make sure that the students are mature enough to understand the point of having their own blog and that is was for school work not a social site.

My view of instructional technology has changed very much over the last few weeks. At the start of the class I thought that Facebook, blogs and wikis were really only social or political sites and had not idea that they had uses for education. I had also never listened to a podcast or heard of Jing so I had not thought of that technology as educational either. I hope to use many of the technologies that I have learned in this class, including all the new power point techniques too.

I think that since this was the first time I had used most of the technology in this class (jing, garageband, imovie, blogs and wikis) that I will only get better as I use the technology more. I think that the items that I created were okay for first attempts. They are generally usable but not as dynamic or slick as they could be. I think that I could use most of it in a high school environment but will look to keep improving.

The wiki alone for this class was very intimidating when I first looked at it. As I looked at the projects included, it was very scary. But that was worse than actually working on any of the projects. There always seems to be one thing that is hard to figure out on each project but overall I am excited about using the techniques and more comfortable using the technology than I ever thought I would be after a few weeks.

EDCI 5825 - Week 5

I think that teachers should be encouraged to create online activities for students within the traditional classroom. I don't think that teachers should be forced to do this because it takes time, creativity and daring to try and if a teacher isn't really ready or willing, then it will most likely not be a good experience for the teacher or the student. The internet is here to stay and students should get opportunities from teachers so that they can get some direction. There are many benefits to learning on line. Some of these include that some students participate more in the online environment since they like feeling more anonymous, most parent interaction improves and students learn how to interact with peers (November, 2001). Over time the opportunities for online learning are increasing. Teachers who do not use the internet are missing out on professional growth opportunities for themselves and for new exciting lessons for the student. In the Hartford Courant this week there was an article about online summer school. The article stated many benefits to classes online, including that the students can work on classes at a time they choose and that due to online diagnostics, the students only have to take the part of the course that they need to build up their knowledge in. Here is a link to the whole article: Summer School.

Since students are already using social networking sites to connect to other people with similar interests as their own, it only makes sense to tap into this to make use in the classroom. Facebook used for interest-based connections is increasing in educational circles. Private groups can be used within a class and to give family members access to what is going on in the classroom. Public sites can be used to connect classrooms to people outside their school, town even country. Public sites can also be used to connect to experts outside the education field who can provide more information on a topic to students. Ning is a site similar to Facebook but sometimes more likely to be allowed in a school. Ning sites could be used to share students experiences in internships, connect with someone who has information on a subject the students are studying and to share a particular skill. With all social networking sites teachers should get permission before setting one up for the classroom. Many schools may be blocking Facebook for example and the school administration would have to allow the site to be unblocked. Teachers also have to spend time and effort monitoring the sites for content published and who has access (Richardson, 2010). It is important to stress that social networking be used for interest based concerns and not friendship based since many school systems see a problematic side of social networking. The West Hartford school board is considering implementing a new policy on what teachers post on Facebook or twitter for their personal use. Here is the link to the entire article: West Hartford & Facebook. So teacher may have to work hard to make administrations understand the positive used of social networking.

Learning Theories - Week 5 After Class

T2Ps from Week 4 work:

If ethnic minority students have realized that they are different from the white majority students but have not accepted or internalized that realization, then they may be distracted students. They might be distracted because, according the Phinney, such students would be in Stage 2 of her model and in that stage such a person could be confused and/or angry. This would be a distraction in the classroom and interrupt learning. Teachers can help students by being sensitive to the stage of development that a student may be in. The student has to move in to the next stage themselves (the teacher cannot do it for them) but recognizing what is motivating the student and what the issue may be, can keep the teacher from causing more harm or trying to deal with the student in an ineffective way.

If teachers treat learning as conditioned behavioral responses then, they could misinterpret student learning. Skinner believed that conditioned responses was all that learning was. Students who are respond based on cues may seem to know material but may not really understand it. This may mislead the teacher and the student. I will try to use conditioned behavior very minimally since I would like my students to understand the material and be able to become independent thinkers.

If teachers incorporate current cultural elements into the classroom instead of always insisting on more classical elements, then students may be more open to learning in the classroom because they can relate to the subject better. This can foster more trust between the student and teacher and overall lead to better cooperation and a better learning environment for the students. A teacher would have to be comfortable talking to students (i.e. Duncan-Andrade) since to really know what the students consider current, the teacher would have to observe or ask and not just decide for his or her self. This shows flexibility on the teacher's part which would hopefully be appreciated by the students.

I will try to be sensitive to students in my classes. Actively observe their behavior and be attune to any changes that they bring to school. This could help me understand why they react to something in my classroom in manner different than I would have predicted. I will also try to be flexible in that if there is a way to get the point across that the students relate to more than traditional methods, I will not stick to the old way of doing things.

Learning Theories - Week 5

Teachers can help a student learn to control his or her response to a situation:

If middle school students are concerned about gossip, what they are wearing and popularity then they are less likely to focus on learning in school. This is because according to Maslow’s Theory, one cannot progress on the growth needs (need to know and understand) until the deficiency needs (safety, belonging and esteem) have been met. This is shown in the video “Lenayiskindofcool”. The students in the video talk about not wanting to go to school on a day that they have a bad outfit on, obsess over boys and get “married”. They further explain that the getting married is just talk. Lenay was obsessed with Josh while in middle school. She saved notes from him and even an old backpack strap. But Josh liked Nicole. There are a few teachers in the video too and they state that the students are so distracted because they have not eaten, their best friend gave them a nasty look, someone might beat them up or that they are so interested in a member of the opposite sex.

It is important for teachers to be understanding to these students. That could mean helping them outside of the class issues. Helping them understand that although some of these things seem so important right now that in the longer run, they are not. The crush on a boy will pass, if the BFF doesn’t get over the dirty look, then find a new friend. Teachers can help them understand that although they can’t control the gossip or anyone else’s behavior, they can control their own response to situations.

Teachers can help a student gain perspective on his or her life:

If a student is confident in his or her identity, then that student is likely to be able to cope with bullies or other difficulties that he or she might encounter. This is similar to Phinney’s Model of Ethnic Identity but instead of developing ones ethnic identity, the student is comfortable with his or her identity verses a bully. The student doesn’t like being picked on but accepts that such things happen and that you just have to move on. This is evidenced in the video “Bullies, gotta hate em’!” In this video a young man who identifies himself only as “TheGoofyKidNextDoor”, talks about how he was bullied. He isn’t crying about it though. He is says that you have two choices, 1) fight back or 2) ignore it. He comments that he ignored it and is okay with that because he theorizes that some day he will drive a big fancy car and the bully will be the one washing it. He also says that he would rather get picked on but have a nice life and friends, than be someone who picks on people but does not have any friends.

Teachers can help by looking for ways to keep students from bullying others so that this situation does not happen. Teachers can also help students move to the position that this young man is in, where he does not let the bully ruin his life. Teachers can help give students perspective.

Teach students, don't just control them:

If students can be trained to respond to the teacher’s cues, then the class will appear to be under control and all students will conform to the teacher’s methods. Behavioral psychology, further developed by B. F. Skinner, is a scientific stance that all behavior is controlled. Skinner believed that all living organisms follow the same laws and are able to be trained in the same manner by teachers in educational environments. This is on display in the video “Whole Brain Teaching: High School Math”. In this video the teacher repeatedly uses verbal and visual cues that the class responds to. She starts with “Class” and they respond, “Yes” every time that she says “Class”. When she says “Teach” they say “OK” and turn and review the concept that she just covered with a partner. If she asks them to “Mirror” her, they copy the hand movements and sounds that she is making. When the class is following as she expects, they gain a point. If they don’t follow, she gains a point. They can regurgitate what she has just taught them.

This was interesting to watch. As a teacher, it feels good to have all the students involved and attentive. But I think that what was missing was that not all students learn the same way. Some of the students might learn better under other conditions. Some might prefer a quieter environment. Some might feel that the arm movements that are part of the lesson are somewhat juvenile. Also, although students could quickly reproduce what she had done, this doesn’t show that they understand or that they will remember it. Whole Brain Teaching seems to emphasize classroom control over student understanding. Much more information on Whole Brain Learning can be found at this website: http://www.wholebrainteaching.com/goodies/research.html. I think that Whole Brain Teaching might be useful to help bring a class under control but I don’t think that as a teacher that I would use it exclusively. I hope to be able to teach students to think independently and not follow directions all the time. Unless the teacher is going to follow the students through the rest of his or her life, they need to learn independent thinking.

EDCI 5825 - Power Point Project

The power point lesson that I have created is a Math Subject, about Functions versus Relations in Algebra. The Concept Attainment method is used. Students are told to look carefully at the examples (functions) and non examples (non functions) and decide what the examples have in common compared to the non examples. The graphs were all created in Grapher in Word. After showing several sets of graphs the students write an initial hypothesis. These can be shared with the class. More sets of graphs are shown. If they fit the hypothesis, then no changes are needed. If they don't, then the hypothesis should be revised. Several more graphs are checked against the revised hypothesis. Finally, the answer is revealed and discussed. Functions have one Y for each X value. Next, a website (Paul's On line Math Notes) is visited for more details on functions. Finally, a second website is visited where various games concerning functions can be played online.

Power Point features used in this presentation include: Two different types of WordArt on the first slide, the theme "Breeze" on all slides, 3D Cube Left transitions between all the graph slides (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15 &16), fly up entrance animation on slide 2 and 17, images from Discoveryschool.com are found on slides 8, 9 and 18, graphs from Grapher in Word are found on the Example/Non Example slides, hyperlinks are on slides 17 and 18, title slide, comparison and title & content slide layouts are used and the Vertical Chevron List SmartArt is used on slide 2. The Vertical Chevron List on slide 2 was a challenge feature. I used this because the format of that SmartArt fit the steps that I wanted to display on that slide. I was not planning on using charts or tables so I didn't use those features. I didn't try the narration right now since I spent time using other features that I had not used before.

I learned many new features of powerpoint. I had not used the animation or transitions before. I also found a couple of new websites to add to the lesson that I had not been aware of before.

A lesson can be enhanced with presentation software in several ways. I think that the lesson becomes more visual since images are included. This makes it more interesting and animated. The lesson is organized and can easily be modified or enhanced as new ideas come to the teacher. The presentation can be shared with the students by either posting it on a class blog, website or wiki. This makes it available for students to refer back to.