Assessing multimedia projects can be challenging subject. In my content area of history most of my emphasis is measuring specific content-based objectives and I assess their achievement in regards to that. When having students create a multimedia project what also is included is the criteria for creating the project. How to weigh and measure the multimedia project does create a dilemma when creating a rubric. Typically what I have done in the past is weigh the multimedia content as a fairly small portion of the entire project and focus more on the content. When measuring subject specific content through a multimedia project it is careful to assess the actual project in terms of quality of technology usage but most focus should be on content specific criteria.
Creating the Pecha Kucha has been a very interesting experience. The concept truly fascinates me and I enjoyed story boarding the project. Deciding what slides to include and how to frame the story caused me to really critically think about my topic. I used the post-it note method to order my slides and found it very effective. While I am still in the process of creating the actual presentation I've did my best to include slides that would make the Zen proud. My final challenge will be narrowing my information and analysis to twenty seconds per slide as I could go on and on about my topic.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Monday, November 7, 2011
CEDO 530 Entry Four
So I am taking the plunge and having my students make digital stories. The next unit in my World Cultures class is Latin America and one of the lessons in the unit is the impact of the destruction of the Amazon Rainforest. It is a lesson that connects geography, economics, and culture in the region. After presenting a slideshow from slideshare on the Amazon Rainforest (that received honorable mention in the best slideshow contest 2008, and happens to be very zen) to go along with a handout, students will use Animoto to create digital stories with pictures, text, and music. This will be a great way for me to apply and test what I have learned in CEDO 530 and see how students respond. They seem to be itching to do something more on the creative side and this project would seem to fit that. To hopefully make the project more time efficient I plan on placing them into groups to complete it. It may even be fun to view them as a class and vote on "best picture" or something along those lines. If anyone has any thoughts I'd love to hear them...
As for the rest of the work this week I am looking forward to testing out Prezi. I've had several students make them for class projects but never have I actually made one. Students in my Government class are doing presentations and one group used Prezi, which I am excited to see. Most of the students I've had use Prezi really like it and make good presentations. I've truly enjoyed getting to implement the tools we have used in this program and my students seem to be more engaged when using them.
As for the rest of the work this week I am looking forward to testing out Prezi. I've had several students make them for class projects but never have I actually made one. Students in my Government class are doing presentations and one group used Prezi, which I am excited to see. Most of the students I've had use Prezi really like it and make good presentations. I've truly enjoyed getting to implement the tools we have used in this program and my students seem to be more engaged when using them.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
CEDO 530 Entry Three
The concept of Pecha Kucha truly fascinates me. I think a lot of people feel the need to include as much information as possible in their presentations and can lead to long and sometimes boring lectures. A Pecha Kucha is a great way to shorten and condense information and force you to stick to the core message. Each slide is important and only important details that support the core message can be included due to the time constraint. A great activity for my classes would be for students to have to create them. It would be a great way for students to do research and learn how to decipher important facts and information.
I have continued to evaluate and revise my presentations using the zen techniques. Yesterday I even had a great conversation with a colleague who wants to read the book. Although I would not consider myself even close to an expert, I feel much more comfortable with creating presentations and would be able to share a lot with others as I move to rid the world of bad power points.
Looking forward to creating some digital stories. Voicethread was a great tool that will be something I can easily integrate into my classes. I'm excited about finding some programs that would allow my students and myself to create some digital stories.
I have continued to evaluate and revise my presentations using the zen techniques. Yesterday I even had a great conversation with a colleague who wants to read the book. Although I would not consider myself even close to an expert, I feel much more comfortable with creating presentations and would be able to share a lot with others as I move to rid the world of bad power points.
Looking forward to creating some digital stories. Voicethread was a great tool that will be something I can easily integrate into my classes. I'm excited about finding some programs that would allow my students and myself to create some digital stories.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
CEDO 530 Entry Two
As of right now I am thinking of two very practical purposes for digital stories: delivering content and assessing student learning.
There are times as a teacher that it can be tempting to feel a need for a sense of control by delivering much of the content personally. What I have been finding out is there are times in which there are other far more powerful ways to deliver a message or content and that I need to step aside and let it happen. Digital stories can be a very powerful way to deliver information. On the first day of my history class I showed this clip and was very happy with how engaged the students were as it explains the importance of history better than I could:
There are times as a teacher that it can be tempting to feel a need for a sense of control by delivering much of the content personally. What I have been finding out is there are times in which there are other far more powerful ways to deliver a message or content and that I need to step aside and let it happen. Digital stories can be a very powerful way to deliver information. On the first day of my history class I showed this clip and was very happy with how engaged the students were as it explains the importance of history better than I could:
Although there is still a place for teachers in delivering and explaining content there is not doubt that digital stories are at time a very powerful tool.
I have and plan to use digital stories as a way to assess student learning. Creating a digital story is a great way for students to produce a meaningful and authentic product. It also allows them to exhibit some creativity by customizing their story. My one experience with digital stories created by students did not go perfectly but the creativity shown in many of the stories sold me on the whole idea.
Continuing to find great resources for creating digital stories is my main goal for this course.
Monday, October 17, 2011
CEDO 530 Entry One
Of all of the classes that I have taken in this cohort from what I can tell thus far this seems the most interesting. Being a history teacher much of what I am doing is telling a story from the past. Getting students interested in history can be a great challenge at times as many simply see it as "a bunch of boring old stuff". The best history teachers I had were able to engage students with their story telling. I am looking forward to learning how to improve my story telling, take it to the digital age, and hopefully become a more engaging teacher.
Improving my presentations is probably what interests me most. I remember a couple courses back taking a look at the "Death by Power Point" presentation and that encouraged me to reform my presentation practices and it appears that Presentation Zen teaches many of the same lessons. It has actually become painful to see bad Power Points and hopefully I can help lead a presentation revolution to rid the world of bad power points.
From what I can tell I am very excited about CEDO 530 and think it will help both me, my students, and my school.
Improving my presentations is probably what interests me most. I remember a couple courses back taking a look at the "Death by Power Point" presentation and that encouraged me to reform my presentation practices and it appears that Presentation Zen teaches many of the same lessons. It has actually become painful to see bad Power Points and hopefully I can help lead a presentation revolution to rid the world of bad power points.
From what I can tell I am very excited about CEDO 530 and think it will help both me, my students, and my school.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
CEDO 525 Entry Six
Reflecting on the Course:
After each course that I take, and after in-services or professional development experiences, one of the things I always try to do is reflect on how what I learned can be useful. In regards to technology in education it is common to hear, "you need to integrate technology into your lessons" but what often does not get discussed is specifically how to align technology with teaching strategies. Technology is be no means the end-all be-all of education but is a great tool. The phrase that should be used is "integrate technology to improve your instruction not simply just to do it".
This course has led me to align technology tools with specific instructional strategies rather than simply just using it. What I have found in a short amount of time is that being a little more structured and systematic about how I use technology has made it more effective. Rather than students simply thinking "we're going to the computer lab to do something", there seems to be a better understanding of what the tool is supposed to accomplish.
It is very evident to me that my use of technology use in the classroom has improved. As I hope to become a technology leader in my building I believe that teaching my colleagues to use technology tools for specific instructional strategies will make integration more effective in my school.
After each course that I take, and after in-services or professional development experiences, one of the things I always try to do is reflect on how what I learned can be useful. In regards to technology in education it is common to hear, "you need to integrate technology into your lessons" but what often does not get discussed is specifically how to align technology with teaching strategies. Technology is be no means the end-all be-all of education but is a great tool. The phrase that should be used is "integrate technology to improve your instruction not simply just to do it".
This course has led me to align technology tools with specific instructional strategies rather than simply just using it. What I have found in a short amount of time is that being a little more structured and systematic about how I use technology has made it more effective. Rather than students simply thinking "we're going to the computer lab to do something", there seems to be a better understanding of what the tool is supposed to accomplish.
It is very evident to me that my use of technology use in the classroom has improved. As I hope to become a technology leader in my building I believe that teaching my colleagues to use technology tools for specific instructional strategies will make integration more effective in my school.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
CEDO 525 Entry Five
Reflecting on Instructional Strategies:
Identifying Similarities and Differences:
This strategy is one I use frequently to help students develop deeper understandings of topics. In my World Cultures class, which focuses on studying different regions around the world, I spend a great deal of time having students compare and contrast different things such as countries, religions, governments, culture, and more. My experience has taught me that this strategy allows students to connect more with a topic. For example, many students do not have a great understanding of different religious beliefs around the world. I always have students research and complete and advance organizer comparing the world's major religions. This activity has helped provide meaning and understanding of the different beliefs and practices following by Christians, Muslims, Jews, etc. Technology has provided great resources for information and also great tools as advance organizers.
Homework and Practice:
My focus on homework and practice has changed through my teaching experience. Initially when I started teaching, perhaps too fresh from college and still having a bitter taste in my mouth from homework, I did not assign a lot of homework and sometimes in class would have students engage in "busy work" just to survive on certain days. When reflecting back I understand why there were times that I did that as all young teachers have "survival" days but there is no doubt that my practices have evolved. When assigning student homework or practice I give it a great deal of thought. Everything that my students do I align with learning objectives and try to create structure and organization. Technology has allowed me to create activities that are more engaging, because they are often interactive and provide instant feedback, and I feel that students are getting a great deal more out of them as a result.
Generating Hypothesis:
There has been a recent movement in history education that encourages students engaging in historical inquiry, which requires them to generate a hypothesis to answer a historical question. Many people do not realize that much of history is open to interpretation and it is a changing and evolving phenomenon. This has led to many history teachers to move away from simply being sources of content, to becoming facilitators as students research, analyze, and investigate historical questions. Technology provides access to a seemingly unlimited library of primary source documents, which are the basis of historical inquiry. There are also many websites that allow students to interactively engage in inquiry and it is easy to create activities like webquests that allow students to explore documents and information.
Identifying Similarities and Differences:
This strategy is one I use frequently to help students develop deeper understandings of topics. In my World Cultures class, which focuses on studying different regions around the world, I spend a great deal of time having students compare and contrast different things such as countries, religions, governments, culture, and more. My experience has taught me that this strategy allows students to connect more with a topic. For example, many students do not have a great understanding of different religious beliefs around the world. I always have students research and complete and advance organizer comparing the world's major religions. This activity has helped provide meaning and understanding of the different beliefs and practices following by Christians, Muslims, Jews, etc. Technology has provided great resources for information and also great tools as advance organizers.
Homework and Practice:
My focus on homework and practice has changed through my teaching experience. Initially when I started teaching, perhaps too fresh from college and still having a bitter taste in my mouth from homework, I did not assign a lot of homework and sometimes in class would have students engage in "busy work" just to survive on certain days. When reflecting back I understand why there were times that I did that as all young teachers have "survival" days but there is no doubt that my practices have evolved. When assigning student homework or practice I give it a great deal of thought. Everything that my students do I align with learning objectives and try to create structure and organization. Technology has allowed me to create activities that are more engaging, because they are often interactive and provide instant feedback, and I feel that students are getting a great deal more out of them as a result.
Generating Hypothesis:
There has been a recent movement in history education that encourages students engaging in historical inquiry, which requires them to generate a hypothesis to answer a historical question. Many people do not realize that much of history is open to interpretation and it is a changing and evolving phenomenon. This has led to many history teachers to move away from simply being sources of content, to becoming facilitators as students research, analyze, and investigate historical questions. Technology provides access to a seemingly unlimited library of primary source documents, which are the basis of historical inquiry. There are also many websites that allow students to interactively engage in inquiry and it is easy to create activities like webquests that allow students to explore documents and information.
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