All Good Things...
This week I put together my e-portfolio and looked back on everything I learned this quarter, and I'm looking forward to implementing and integrating the technology I've encountered into the life of my class.
In this class in particular, I really liked learning about the different forms of instructional design. I look forward to working through this kind of process in the near future. Identifying different web 2.0 sites and educational technology organizations was useful and I figure they'll come in handy in terms of future professional development.
I made my media project using Movie Maker and found it to be really easy, and I used Google Sites to put together my e-Portfolio (which was a bit more of a challenge, since the site looks different depending on the browser I'm using). I'm looking forward to creating short movies for my classes using the first platform.
I think my entire idea of what teaching can be has changed as a result of taking these classes.
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Week 10
Freedom to be: Diversity and accessibility for all
The most useful part of this week's readings (chapters 35-38) for me as a future teacher was chapter 36, which is in regards to diversity and accessibility. So often students are expected to learn the same way and to produce the same output (a la standardized tests, where schools are punished if students don't perform well on culturally biased questions), but I feel as we delve deeper into the twenty-first century students are finally able to be recognized for being individuals with wildly different needs and backgrounds that influence what they know and how they learn.
I found the personal stories in this chapter to be really eye-opening and it made me consider how much easier it is to learn something after making a personal connection--I wonder if this could be applied across disciplines? For example, how much easier would it be to learn about the tenets of Islam if a Muslim were to come to class and discuss his or her experience? Anyway, reading about Stephen's and Joel's respective experiences gave me insight into what problems they faced and gives me ideas about how to reach out to and connect with students who might be facing similar struggles. Also, the multimodal diversity model will surely be something I turn back to regularly to think of ways to make the content accessible for all, regardless of cultural, physical, or cognitive considerations.
The most useful part of this week's readings (chapters 35-38) for me as a future teacher was chapter 36, which is in regards to diversity and accessibility. So often students are expected to learn the same way and to produce the same output (a la standardized tests, where schools are punished if students don't perform well on culturally biased questions), but I feel as we delve deeper into the twenty-first century students are finally able to be recognized for being individuals with wildly different needs and backgrounds that influence what they know and how they learn.
I found the personal stories in this chapter to be really eye-opening and it made me consider how much easier it is to learn something after making a personal connection--I wonder if this could be applied across disciplines? For example, how much easier would it be to learn about the tenets of Islam if a Muslim were to come to class and discuss his or her experience? Anyway, reading about Stephen's and Joel's respective experiences gave me insight into what problems they faced and gives me ideas about how to reach out to and connect with students who might be facing similar struggles. Also, the multimodal diversity model will surely be something I turn back to regularly to think of ways to make the content accessible for all, regardless of cultural, physical, or cognitive considerations.
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Week 9
Games, the final frontier: Play theory in the classroom
Psychiatrist William Glasser decided on five basic needs that every student has:
In chapter 33 ("Games...and...Learning") the author states that in order to bring games to the classroom, the bells and whistles of contemporary games aren't as important as how one is built.
There are six "must-haves" for an educational game to be effective:
There's an example in ARIS of something that happened at the University of Wisconsin (where the game was developed). Players wander around campus from one point to another, "talking" with historical figures that are laid down on the map (accessed by your phone, which buzzes when a player gets within a specified distance from the point).
There are many ways this could be use across disciplines, and it allows students to use technology that they're so familiar with and dependent on.
Psychiatrist William Glasser decided on five basic needs that every student has:
- Survival
- Belonging
- Power
- Freedom
- Fun
In chapter 33 ("Games...and...Learning") the author states that in order to bring games to the classroom, the bells and whistles of contemporary games aren't as important as how one is built.
There are six "must-haves" for an educational game to be effective:
- Conflict/challenge (a problem to be solved)
- Rules of engagement
- Particular goals/outcomes to achieve
- Continuous feedback
- Interaction with the environment
- Compelling story line
There's an example in ARIS of something that happened at the University of Wisconsin (where the game was developed). Players wander around campus from one point to another, "talking" with historical figures that are laid down on the map (accessed by your phone, which buzzes when a player gets within a specified distance from the point).
There are many ways this could be use across disciplines, and it allows students to use technology that they're so familiar with and dependent on.
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Week 8
Shantiniketan: Informal learning in a formal classroom leading to interest-driven achievement
Yesterday I learned that one of my favorite poets, Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, opened a school in West Bengal that meant to be a stark contrast from the Western education to which he was subjected. At this school, the students enjoyed spending time outside in nature, learning in some of the same ways that people in ancient India did.
"The schools in our country, far from being integrated to society, are imposed on it from the outside. The courses they teach are dull and dry, painful to learn, and useless when learnt," he said, wanting to establish an institution that was more aligned to the needs and culture of his students. He goes on to say "Nature, the greatest or all teachers, is thwarted at every step by the human teacher who believes in machine-made lessons rather than life lessons, so the growth of the child’s mind is not only injured, but forcibly spoiled."
After reading about this, I enjoyed reading the section in chapter 17 on informal learning. I'm not sure if Tagore's ideal for public education was any less formal than its Western counterpart, but it certainly represented a break from the usual business of learning from chalkboards and textbooks.
According to the text, there are six factors that make up informal learning:
1. Nature of the outcomes: No tests. No scantrons. Nothing that might remotely involve rote memorization. Students could learn about haiku and other nature poetry and then try to write their own, and their efforts could be shared amongst themselves.
2. Nature of the experience: Often students will raise their hands in the middle of class and ask how much time is left. I'll admit, some of what the state wants us to make sure the students know is dreadfully boring (despite an instructor's best efforts to make it interesting). If students were outside and engaged in writing haiku, it might be something they might enjoy more than sitting in uncomfortable chairs under artificial light.
3. Origin: Students come up with the idea for the project. The students can brainstorm about things they'd like to study/research, and it won't truly be informal unless it's their idea. In this case, students might be interested in learning about Thoreau and other American transcendentalists and being outside could help them to better understand his ideas. On the other hand, the prevailing interest could be in vampire fiction through the ages--an instructor that chooses to pursue this has to be open.
4. Role of the student or employee: For this practice, a "willing, active individual" is essential. There can be no learning in this sense if the student feels like he or she is being dragged along.
5. Role of the instructor: This is where the "sage on the stage" becomes the "guide on the side." For this practice to work, there can be no more boring lectures (or even hilarious powerpoint presentations that feature Far Side cartoons). The teacher functions as coach, guiding students to make their own discoveries.
6. Role of the instructional designer: Although it might seem "offhand and natural," everything needs to be carefully planned as to not allow for the experience to quickly fall apart. In the case of a high school department trying to implement some aspects of informal learning, maybe faculty members could create an online PLC (professional learning community) to allow for collaboration.
I'd like to give my future students a chance to learn informally about a topic of their choosing at some point, but I think #6 is most critical--there has to be a plan and it has to be well thought-out and able to be adjusted in case of contingency.
Yesterday I learned that one of my favorite poets, Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, opened a school in West Bengal that meant to be a stark contrast from the Western education to which he was subjected. At this school, the students enjoyed spending time outside in nature, learning in some of the same ways that people in ancient India did.
"The schools in our country, far from being integrated to society, are imposed on it from the outside. The courses they teach are dull and dry, painful to learn, and useless when learnt," he said, wanting to establish an institution that was more aligned to the needs and culture of his students. He goes on to say "Nature, the greatest or all teachers, is thwarted at every step by the human teacher who believes in machine-made lessons rather than life lessons, so the growth of the child’s mind is not only injured, but forcibly spoiled."
After reading about this, I enjoyed reading the section in chapter 17 on informal learning. I'm not sure if Tagore's ideal for public education was any less formal than its Western counterpart, but it certainly represented a break from the usual business of learning from chalkboards and textbooks.
According to the text, there are six factors that make up informal learning:
1. Nature of the outcomes: No tests. No scantrons. Nothing that might remotely involve rote memorization. Students could learn about haiku and other nature poetry and then try to write their own, and their efforts could be shared amongst themselves.
2. Nature of the experience: Often students will raise their hands in the middle of class and ask how much time is left. I'll admit, some of what the state wants us to make sure the students know is dreadfully boring (despite an instructor's best efforts to make it interesting). If students were outside and engaged in writing haiku, it might be something they might enjoy more than sitting in uncomfortable chairs under artificial light.
3. Origin: Students come up with the idea for the project. The students can brainstorm about things they'd like to study/research, and it won't truly be informal unless it's their idea. In this case, students might be interested in learning about Thoreau and other American transcendentalists and being outside could help them to better understand his ideas. On the other hand, the prevailing interest could be in vampire fiction through the ages--an instructor that chooses to pursue this has to be open.
4. Role of the student or employee: For this practice, a "willing, active individual" is essential. There can be no learning in this sense if the student feels like he or she is being dragged along.
5. Role of the instructor: This is where the "sage on the stage" becomes the "guide on the side." For this practice to work, there can be no more boring lectures (or even hilarious powerpoint presentations that feature Far Side cartoons). The teacher functions as coach, guiding students to make their own discoveries.
6. Role of the instructional designer: Although it might seem "offhand and natural," everything needs to be carefully planned as to not allow for the experience to quickly fall apart. In the case of a high school department trying to implement some aspects of informal learning, maybe faculty members could create an online PLC (professional learning community) to allow for collaboration.
I'd like to give my future students a chance to learn informally about a topic of their choosing at some point, but I think #6 is most critical--there has to be a plan and it has to be well thought-out and able to be adjusted in case of contingency.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Week 7
Light at the end of the tunnel: Putting your skills (and you) to work
Chapters 26-28 are all about finding a position in Instructional Design.
Chapter 26 offers 19 lessons one can consider when looking for a job in this field. I thought a lot of them translate into any field (like lesson 11, "become active in professional organizations," which I've already done with the National Council for Teachers of English). Lesson 2, "most instructional design positions are in business and industry," was a bit worrisome as I intend to go into education, but a majority of them were useful for anyone looking for a job.
Chapter 27 offers tips for the process (before, during and after) of looking for work, most of which was covered (for potential teachers, anyway) in the student teaching seminar last quarter. I felt a lot of the tips were kind of obvious (like "don't wear flip flops to a job interview" and "make sure to use proper spelling and grammar on your resume").
I thought chapter 28 was the most interesting because it was mostly information I was unfamiliar with (as opposed to the first two)--professional organizations and journals, and other resources for a budding instructional designer/technologist. One of the groups that caught my eye is the Society of International Chinese in Educational Technology since many students I work with are from China. I thought that maybe a group like this could give me insight into better technological applications for them as they work in their primary language towards proficiency in English.
Chapters 26-28 are all about finding a position in Instructional Design.
Chapter 26 offers 19 lessons one can consider when looking for a job in this field. I thought a lot of them translate into any field (like lesson 11, "become active in professional organizations," which I've already done with the National Council for Teachers of English). Lesson 2, "most instructional design positions are in business and industry," was a bit worrisome as I intend to go into education, but a majority of them were useful for anyone looking for a job.
Chapter 27 offers tips for the process (before, during and after) of looking for work, most of which was covered (for potential teachers, anyway) in the student teaching seminar last quarter. I felt a lot of the tips were kind of obvious (like "don't wear flip flops to a job interview" and "make sure to use proper spelling and grammar on your resume").
I thought chapter 28 was the most interesting because it was mostly information I was unfamiliar with (as opposed to the first two)--professional organizations and journals, and other resources for a budding instructional designer/technologist. One of the groups that caught my eye is the Society of International Chinese in Educational Technology since many students I work with are from China. I thought that maybe a group like this could give me insight into better technological applications for them as they work in their primary language towards proficiency in English.
Week 6
Snakes and Ladders: Albert Bandura and Social Cognitive Theory
This week my group prepared a presentation on cognitive learning theory. I'd already studied this a bit at the beginning of the teaching credential program (in psychological foundations of education).
Since then, including the time spent student teaching, I've begun to understand the practical value of cognitive learning theory (as opposed to behaviorism, where students respond to stimuli for rewards or punishments). The students I've worked with spend a great deal of time and effort thinking about what they're learning in order to effectively practice those skills, and said skills are gained by modeling and scaffolding by me/support staff and by their peers. Subsequently, a sense of self-efficacy (the belief that one has the power to achieve something) is gained and a task can be accomplished.
The most interesting thing I learned about Bandura for this project was his experiment with someone who had a phobia of snakes. This person watched through a window an actor (the subject knew the actor was an actor) walk into a room where a snake was in a box on a table. The actor pretended to be terrified of snakes, but opened the box and cautiously took the snake out. The actor eventually draped the snake around his shoulders and neck. The subject watching this display was able to go into the room and repeat this behavior because of seeing the actor do it and escape unscathed. I think this experiment explains quite a lot about how we learn--we see someone doing something to the point where we believe we can effectively copy that behavior.
This week my group prepared a presentation on cognitive learning theory. I'd already studied this a bit at the beginning of the teaching credential program (in psychological foundations of education).
Since then, including the time spent student teaching, I've begun to understand the practical value of cognitive learning theory (as opposed to behaviorism, where students respond to stimuli for rewards or punishments). The students I've worked with spend a great deal of time and effort thinking about what they're learning in order to effectively practice those skills, and said skills are gained by modeling and scaffolding by me/support staff and by their peers. Subsequently, a sense of self-efficacy (the belief that one has the power to achieve something) is gained and a task can be accomplished.
The most interesting thing I learned about Bandura for this project was his experiment with someone who had a phobia of snakes. This person watched through a window an actor (the subject knew the actor was an actor) walk into a room where a snake was in a box on a table. The actor pretended to be terrified of snakes, but opened the box and cautiously took the snake out. The actor eventually draped the snake around his shoulders and neck. The subject watching this display was able to go into the room and repeat this behavior because of seeing the actor do it and escape unscathed. I think this experiment explains quite a lot about how we learn--we see someone doing something to the point where we believe we can effectively copy that behavior.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Week 5
Before and After: Models of Evaluation
Chapter 10 discusses different means of evaluating instruction to make sure the practice is effective. I like Stufflebeam's CIPP Evaluation model and Kirkpatrick's Training Evaluation Model as a means of considering how well a program would work before it's implemented and what the effects of said program would be. I think both models, one focusing on what happens before the instruction and the other on the results, could be merged to create a very successful new model.
The C in CIPP stands for Context Evaluation, often called a Needs Assessment. It's "the assessment of the environment in which an innovation or program will be used." I'd ask myself what factors in the environment would impact my program's success.
The I stands for Input Evaluation, and this is in regards to resources and cost-benefit analysis. Would I be able to craft my program to be effective based on the materials present?
The last two steps, P for Process and P for Product, have to do with what happens as the instruction is occurring. The process is judged through a sort of formative evaluation, and the product reveals the success of the program.
Kirkpatrick's model could actually be a sort of continuation of Stufflebeam's last P. It consists of four levels of evaluation of a particular training.
The first is reaction. Many companies seem to only rely on this as a means to determine how effective a training was, and while Kirkpatrick argues that it's important (because if a student isn't satisfied then the subsequent three levels can't be met), it's hardly revelatory alone. He says open-ended and stem questions are important to include to inspire more thought than only "did you find this program helpful?"
The second level has to do with learning and can be done with a pre-test and/or post-test with or without group interaction.
The third level is behavior/transfer of training, and can be observed in individuals who have completed the course to see if what they have learned has been implemented in his or her job performance.
Finally, the fourth and last level is results. This is kind of the opposite of the first C when the context/environment where the training will take place is examined. For results, the environment is examined to see if a variety of positive changes have occurred.
These processes hearken back to the models of instructional design mentioned in chapter 2 in the sense that they allow for self-correction and iteration. I think they'd be interesting to try them out in a real-world scenario as an evaluator, and I think these ideas will be helpful in my future classroom(s).
Chapter 10 discusses different means of evaluating instruction to make sure the practice is effective. I like Stufflebeam's CIPP Evaluation model and Kirkpatrick's Training Evaluation Model as a means of considering how well a program would work before it's implemented and what the effects of said program would be. I think both models, one focusing on what happens before the instruction and the other on the results, could be merged to create a very successful new model.
The C in CIPP stands for Context Evaluation, often called a Needs Assessment. It's "the assessment of the environment in which an innovation or program will be used." I'd ask myself what factors in the environment would impact my program's success.
The I stands for Input Evaluation, and this is in regards to resources and cost-benefit analysis. Would I be able to craft my program to be effective based on the materials present?
The last two steps, P for Process and P for Product, have to do with what happens as the instruction is occurring. The process is judged through a sort of formative evaluation, and the product reveals the success of the program.
Kirkpatrick's model could actually be a sort of continuation of Stufflebeam's last P. It consists of four levels of evaluation of a particular training.
The first is reaction. Many companies seem to only rely on this as a means to determine how effective a training was, and while Kirkpatrick argues that it's important (because if a student isn't satisfied then the subsequent three levels can't be met), it's hardly revelatory alone. He says open-ended and stem questions are important to include to inspire more thought than only "did you find this program helpful?"
The second level has to do with learning and can be done with a pre-test and/or post-test with or without group interaction.
The third level is behavior/transfer of training, and can be observed in individuals who have completed the course to see if what they have learned has been implemented in his or her job performance.
Finally, the fourth and last level is results. This is kind of the opposite of the first C when the context/environment where the training will take place is examined. For results, the environment is examined to see if a variety of positive changes have occurred.
These processes hearken back to the models of instructional design mentioned in chapter 2 in the sense that they allow for self-correction and iteration. I think they'd be interesting to try them out in a real-world scenario as an evaluator, and I think these ideas will be helpful in my future classroom(s).
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