Scrolling through my posts for this course reminds me how much I have learned taking Jennifer Dalby's course, Essentials for eLearning. First of all, our course textbook, The Online Teaching Survival Guide by Judith Boettecher, is an excellent resource. It is both informative and practical. It covers the “life-span” of developing and teaching online courses with examples, resources and recommendations. Thank you for including this great resource as part of our syllabus.
Second, I really appreciate the expertise and enthusiasm of our instructor, Jennifer Dalby. Technology is her passion and, as we all know as fellow educators, you are at your best when you are teaching your passion.
Third, we had a core group of very enthusiastic students who were sharing and responding, almost daily, on diigo - a social bookmarking website. When time allowed, I would check diigo right after my personal emails to see what topics and ideas were surfacing among this “intentionally forming community.” I guess you could say, this is one of several new habits I have developed inspired by this course experience. I would like to continue this habit of connecting with like- minded educators (on blogs) who are experimenting with arts/technology integration for teaching and learning.
A major revelation for me after taking this course - you can connect and form virtual relationships with “kindred spirits” from all over the world which can be a great resource for both personal and professional support! Once again, I give Jennifer the credit for showing us how these connections can be found and created. This resource and activity is definitely one I will start practicing as I continue to explore and grow, hopefully creating a niche where I can market a newly acquired teaching expertise.
Finally, what I found most exciting is the discovery (with Jennifer’s guidance) concerning a wealth of free technology applications one can access on the internet - VoiceThread, Vuvox, Picasa, Prizi,etc. are applications readily available to educators! Technology and the internet have truly transformed how we access and acquire knowledge. Here, I am reminded of my final project where I quoted John Seely Brown regarding the impact of our rapidly evolving “new culture of learning.” Due to advancements in technology, Seely Brown believes the emphasis needs to shift from not only absorbing information, but appreciating how knowledge is created. For me, this is the true calling for educators in the 21st century. How can we create new learning environments where students are nurtured to learn, discover, explore, play, and develop? This course has inspired me with many new ideas and teaching possibilities I plan to continue exploring, both professionally and personally. With much appreciation!
By L.D.Fink "The single most powerful change most teachers can make in their course is to expand the experiential dimension of student learning."
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
DESIGNING RUBRICS for Online Courses
This week we have been reading about "QM" Quality Matters- for-profit entity that certifies online courses. They have developed an 8 section rubric on necessary traits as a tool for assessing and ensuring the quality of online courses. I came across this teacher's approach and liked the idea. Not sure how it would work for an online course, but could lead to an interesting discussion among the students. And, as an arts learning advocate," . . . the process is as important as the product!"
"A great idea to have a two-pronged approach to the rubric - Make your own rubric while you're planning the unit. Figure out what students need to demonstrate to master the objectives.
In class, explain the project. Place students in think-pair-share groups to discuss what criteria they would use to judge the project. Ask for a volunteer to take notes for the class on the whiteboard and take criteria suggestions from the crowd. Circle those items that have more than one vote. Underline those that you have in your own rubric. Talk about the products and how each criterion will be evaluated. Show the class your rubric and add suggestions from the class's discussion.
By having this pre-work discussion, students can show their creativity on the front end of the project. They have a say in what distinguishes a successful project from one that doesn't meet expectations. The students have ownership and have begun the thought process that will lead to the project development. This isn't a waste of class time; it's think time.
Best of all, when you receive the students' projects, you'll have a rubric to guide you. You won't be surprised with a clay sculpture when you expected a lab write up. And you'll be assured that your lesson's objectives, the students' work, and everyone's expectations all line up."
"A great idea to have a two-pronged approach to the rubric - Make your own rubric while you're planning the unit. Figure out what students need to demonstrate to master the objectives.
In class, explain the project. Place students in think-pair-share groups to discuss what criteria they would use to judge the project. Ask for a volunteer to take notes for the class on the whiteboard and take criteria suggestions from the crowd. Circle those items that have more than one vote. Underline those that you have in your own rubric. Talk about the products and how each criterion will be evaluated. Show the class your rubric and add suggestions from the class's discussion.
By having this pre-work discussion, students can show their creativity on the front end of the project. They have a say in what distinguishes a successful project from one that doesn't meet expectations. The students have ownership and have begun the thought process that will lead to the project development. This isn't a waste of class time; it's think time.
Best of all, when you receive the students' projects, you'll have a rubric to guide you. You won't be surprised with a clay sculpture when you expected a lab write up. And you'll be assured that your lesson's objectives, the students' work, and everyone's expectations all line up."
Revisitng Module #4 - Essential Understandings (improved)
Even though I am way behind with this class (just starting Module #8) I needed to return to our assignments in Module #4 "essential understandings." As I started to really think about learning outcomes for my course (learning and using tech applications with the arts) my thinking shifted about logical outcomes. So that I can continue going forward with our EDUC 251, the foundational components needed to be changed and clarified in my thinking.
- Arts learning involves a different type of cognitive and affective engagement of the learner. To best accommodate this type of learning, classroom teachers must adopt teaching methods which incorporate visual, auditory and kinesthetic modalities.
- Many technology applications lend themselves to appreciating and creating the qualitative and experiential learning involved in arts-making.
- Arts learning can be incorporated in classroom curriculum using available and free technology applications accessed off the Web.
- With limited resources, classroom teachers can readily learn to use technology applications which create unique learning opportunities provided by the arts.
Monday, March 14, 2011
PORTFOLIO #7
Title: Make History Come Alive with FLIP video
Your students have been studying the French Imperialism into Egypt during the 1790’s. You assign the following Learning Activity -
Introduction: We have been studying the French Imperialism into Egypt. We have the opportunity to interview Napoleon Bonaparte to find out his reasons for sending troops into Egypt on a non-military expedition of discovery. In teams of 4, you are to create a videotaping of an interview with Napoleon. The final learning project is a 6 to 8 minute video interview of Napoleon responding to questions detailing his motivation, experiences and discoveries during this imperialistic expedition to Egypt in the 1790’s.
Activity Instructions:
1) You will have access to Flip video camcorders for both filming and editing your interview.
2) Each team member will be assigned a role – actor, camera person, interviewer, costume/set designer. As a team, everyone does the necessary research to find out more about this event in history and what Napoleon discovered during this expedition. Based on your research, you should come up with no less than 6 questions for Napoleon to answer in detail.
3) You will tape and edit a short video (8 minutes) of this interview which should include both dialogue and images (music if you wish). Have fun and use your imagination. You will be graded on the following:
Required Elements for Score:
Exemplary - 3 Met - 2 Unmet - 2
Level of research & historical details/accuracy
Video/audio quality & editing
Dramatic skills/costumes/props
Originality
4) You will have 3 weeks for this project. I must see both Napoleon's questions/ and responses before you start videotaping.
5) Videos should be stored on YouTube to access via URL for internet access and sharing.
Your students have been studying the French Imperialism into Egypt during the 1790’s. You assign the following Learning Activity -
Introduction: We have been studying the French Imperialism into Egypt. We have the opportunity to interview Napoleon Bonaparte to find out his reasons for sending troops into Egypt on a non-military expedition of discovery. In teams of 4, you are to create a videotaping of an interview with Napoleon. The final learning project is a 6 to 8 minute video interview of Napoleon responding to questions detailing his motivation, experiences and discoveries during this imperialistic expedition to Egypt in the 1790’s.
Activity Instructions:
1) You will have access to Flip video camcorders for both filming and editing your interview.
2) Each team member will be assigned a role – actor, camera person, interviewer, costume/set designer. As a team, everyone does the necessary research to find out more about this event in history and what Napoleon discovered during this expedition. Based on your research, you should come up with no less than 6 questions for Napoleon to answer in detail.
3) You will tape and edit a short video (8 minutes) of this interview which should include both dialogue and images (music if you wish). Have fun and use your imagination. You will be graded on the following:
Required Elements for Score:
Exemplary - 3 Met - 2 Unmet - 2
Level of research & historical details/accuracy
Video/audio quality & editing
Dramatic skills/costumes/props
Originality
4) You will have 3 weeks for this project. I must see both Napoleon's questions/ and responses before you start videotaping.
5) Videos should be stored on YouTube to access via URL for internet access and sharing.
Friday, March 4, 2011
LEARNING OUTCOMES and EVIDENCE Module 6.4
As I was working on course assignment in Module 6 and thinking about aligning learning activities to the “essential understandings” I had developed a few weeks back, I realized something very important. The “essential understandings” I had developed and taught previously in another “integrated arts instruction” course for pre-service teachers do not easily transfer to integrating arts into technology. Why is this? I view technology as an application, a container or medium for expressing knowledge and understanding. Expecting classroom teachers to research and understand core technology concepts ( in addition to learning about styles of visual art forms) would be a huge undertaking in one course and beyond my level of understanding and experience. That being said, I need to revisit my “essential understandings” for the following learning activity I had intended to assign. It's that "backward to foward" thing!
A learning outcome for “Integrated Arts & Technology” would entail the following: real-world relevancy, include multiple perspectives and interpretations, involve collaborative efforts, and culminate in a product valuable in its own right (Marilyn Lombardt’s work on 21st century authentic learning)
• The course objective or understanding for this course - to develop a 10 minute presentation using one of the tech applications introduced in this course (VoliceThread, Prizi etc.)
• This presentation should represent an authentic, age-appropriate project which addresses a famous artist from the 20th century with examples of their art work. Students need to design this project to be age- appropriate for their students and approppriate for the level of research they would be capable of.
• Working together in teams of 3, students will choose a tech application we have learned about during the course and create an asynchronous presentation. Think of your presentation as an advanced Power Point with a voiceover application. This criteria will allow your classroom students to record their thoughts and research ideas.
. The presentation will consist of both images and text and allow for voiceover. The presentation should address why you selected this artist and what made them famous.
• This presentation should include both examples of the subject artist’s work, and a recreation by you of their work or style, with brief descriptions of how you created these images (materials and technique selections).
• Each team decides which art medium (painting, photography, video) will be used in creating recreations which capture the essence of this artist’s work and style (emphasizing their technique of painting, subject matter of photography, etc.)
To conclude -please write a short 3 paragraph essay addressing what you learned (social/academic) from incorporating a technology application with this project. What were the challenges? What are you most proud of?
A learning outcome for “Integrated Arts & Technology” would entail the following: real-world relevancy, include multiple perspectives and interpretations, involve collaborative efforts, and culminate in a product valuable in its own right (Marilyn Lombardt’s work on 21st century authentic learning)
• The course objective or understanding for this course - to develop a 10 minute presentation using one of the tech applications introduced in this course (VoliceThread, Prizi etc.)
• This presentation should represent an authentic, age-appropriate project which addresses a famous artist from the 20th century with examples of their art work. Students need to design this project to be age- appropriate for their students and approppriate for the level of research they would be capable of.
• Working together in teams of 3, students will choose a tech application we have learned about during the course and create an asynchronous presentation. Think of your presentation as an advanced Power Point with a voiceover application. This criteria will allow your classroom students to record their thoughts and research ideas.
. The presentation will consist of both images and text and allow for voiceover. The presentation should address why you selected this artist and what made them famous.
• This presentation should include both examples of the subject artist’s work, and a recreation by you of their work or style, with brief descriptions of how you created these images (materials and technique selections).
• Each team decides which art medium (painting, photography, video) will be used in creating recreations which capture the essence of this artist’s work and style (emphasizing their technique of painting, subject matter of photography, etc.)
To conclude -please write a short 3 paragraph essay addressing what you learned (social/academic) from incorporating a technology application with this project. What were the challenges? What are you most proud of?
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
ePortfolio "freebie"
“Knowledge may maintain consistency in the explicit, while undergoing radical changes in the tacit and we believe that understanding how knowledge is both created and how it flows in the tacit is the key to understanding and transforming learning in the 21st century.” Quote from an interview with John Seely Brown, “A New Culture of Learning.”
The project: Second graders first completed a piece of artwork, depicting a place they love to visit or imagine visiting. Then, 9th graders used a Wiki to few and then select various pieces of artwork. They created poetry and recited their work on the VT. Then, the link was sent to a classroom in Texas, where students worked to compose an original piece of music for each picture using GarageBand. Overall, it took about 2 1/2 months to put together. Don’t forget to click on the “St. Marks” thumbnail to hear wonderful, original digital music by 5th & 6th grade student in Texas. I love this project!!
At the beginning of this course, one of the more profound moments for me resulted from viewing a videotaped interview with advanced thinker and scholar, John Seely Brown. He so eloquently addressed the challenges we face with the rapidly changing role for educators from instructor to facilitator -“being expert in a particular area of knowledge, to becoming expert in the ability to create and shape new learning environments.”
For fellow educators seeking new technology skills for "shaping a new learning environment," may I share a wonderful example done with the tech application and media aggregate,VOICETHREAD. Click on the link BELOW and see what the application,Voicethread, can do for a teacher who seeks to expand opportunites for students to think and create in multiple dimensional ways. I love this project because each group of students created a new layer of interpretation, applying different modalities (poetry, music and visual art) to represent their thoughts about a simple theme of “places I like to visit or imagine visiting.”
http://ed.voicethread.com/community/library/K12_art_poetry_and_music_from_Erin_Berg/
The project: Second graders first completed a piece of artwork, depicting a place they love to visit or imagine visiting. Then, 9th graders used a Wiki to few and then select various pieces of artwork. They created poetry and recited their work on the VT. Then, the link was sent to a classroom in Texas, where students worked to compose an original piece of music for each picture using GarageBand. Overall, it took about 2 1/2 months to put together. Don’t forget to click on the “St. Marks” thumbnail to hear wonderful, original digital music by 5th & 6th grade student in Texas. I love this project!!Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Module 4.4 Key Ideas
Course: Integrated Teaching and Learning with Technology Applications
The assignment this week in my "Essentials of eLearning" course is to begin thinking about a framework for an online course we might develop and teach. By framework, I mean - the essential understandings students will “come away with” after participating in my course. Antioch’s School of Education recently streamlined some of the course offerings for the GATP program. Because they currently are not offering a technology course for pre-service teachers, I thought certain technology applications (as a required competency) could be taught in a workshop format, integrating these applications into several methods courses. Example, teaching students about the “VoiceThread” application by collaborating with the social studies methods instructor. Because integrated instruction is one of my areas of expertise, I am excited about the unlimited potential I see for how technology can enhance learning in the classroom as an integrated component. Here are some essential understandings my students (pre-service teachers) would acquire from this course:
• Multi-disciplinary instruction must make meaningful connections among all subject areas. One subject area should not be compromised and become the “hand-maiden” to the other.
• When teaching from a multi-disciplinary perspective, each discipline needs to maintain its own integrity. Your students will uncover the relationships among each discipline with well developed “guiding questions.”
• Arts concepts and technology applications should be taught and appreciated for their unique modes of thinking and expression.
• Organizing teaching around “essential understandings” provides the learner an opportunity to see patterns and connections to ideas that are often universally applicable. This process promotes critical thinking and creativity (important 21st century skills.)
The assignment this week in my "Essentials of eLearning" course is to begin thinking about a framework for an online course we might develop and teach. By framework, I mean - the essential understandings students will “come away with” after participating in my course. Antioch’s School of Education recently streamlined some of the course offerings for the GATP program. Because they currently are not offering a technology course for pre-service teachers, I thought certain technology applications (as a required competency) could be taught in a workshop format, integrating these applications into several methods courses. Example, teaching students about the “VoiceThread” application by collaborating with the social studies methods instructor. Because integrated instruction is one of my areas of expertise, I am excited about the unlimited potential I see for how technology can enhance learning in the classroom as an integrated component. Here are some essential understandings my students (pre-service teachers) would acquire from this course:
• Multi-disciplinary instruction must make meaningful connections among all subject areas. One subject area should not be compromised and become the “hand-maiden” to the other.
• When teaching from a multi-disciplinary perspective, each discipline needs to maintain its own integrity. Your students will uncover the relationships among each discipline with well developed “guiding questions.”
• Arts concepts and technology applications should be taught and appreciated for their unique modes of thinking and expression.
• Organizing teaching around “essential understandings” provides the learner an opportunity to see patterns and connections to ideas that are often universally applicable. This process promotes critical thinking and creativity (important 21st century skills.)
Friday, February 4, 2011
Summarizing some of my learning, thus far, from Teaching Online
TEACHING ONLINE. Education 251 course: Bellevue College winter 2011
Instructor: Jennifer Dalby
Textbooks: The Online Teaching Survival Guide, J. Boettcher & R. Conrad
2010
Understanding by Design, G. Wiggins & J. McTighe 1998
Having taken only two courses online, each being very different in style and content, I've decided to sart outlining some of the most important considerations we have addressed so far in, Teaching Online with Jennifer Dalby. This is also a good way for me to start using my blog for reflections and growth. Below are examples:
From the Boettcher and Conrad book, the following list summarizes some of their essential features for online course design:
o Be present at the course site
o Create a supportive online course community
o Use a variety of large group, small group, and individual work experiences
o Prepare Discussion posts that invite responses, questions, discussions, and reflections
o Search out and use content resources that are available in digital format if possible
o The value of soliciting feedback, ideas, and favored online resources drawing on the wisdom of the crowd: ie, the collective experience of students. This shifts the classroom structure from you as the knowledge sources to a social network / learning community.
Here are a few social media applications (and the list will grow!)
YouTube, Google, Facebook, Twitter, Delicious, Flickr, Blogger, and WordPress
Instructor: Jennifer Dalby
Textbooks: The Online Teaching Survival Guide, J. Boettcher & R. Conrad
2010
Understanding by Design, G. Wiggins & J. McTighe 1998
Having taken only two courses online, each being very different in style and content, I've decided to sart outlining some of the most important considerations we have addressed so far in, Teaching Online with Jennifer Dalby. This is also a good way for me to start using my blog for reflections and growth. Below are examples:
- The most salient fact I've realized thus far - the importance of establishing a consistent presence online when teaching a course so that students know you’re around, available, and engaged. Our instructor is doing a great of job modeling this practice, by actively posting course related links, and stimulating conversations through the use of the useful social networking tool, Diigo.
- Student-centered learning where faculty shifts time from large group teaching presence to more personalized and small group teaching presence; supporting more learners-as-leaders experiences; reviewing, mentoring projects, and providing feedback on assignments.
From the Boettcher and Conrad book, the following list summarizes some of their essential features for online course design:
o Be present at the course site
o Create a supportive online course community
o Use a variety of large group, small group, and individual work experiences
o Prepare Discussion posts that invite responses, questions, discussions, and reflections
o Search out and use content resources that are available in digital format if possible
o The value of soliciting feedback, ideas, and favored online resources drawing on the wisdom of the crowd: ie, the collective experience of students. This shifts the classroom structure from you as the knowledge sources to a social network / learning community.
Here are a few social media applications (and the list will grow!)
YouTube, Google, Facebook, Twitter, Delicious, Flickr, Blogger, and WordPress
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
An educational experience and how it helped me learn and develop
During our first course in this certification program, eLearning for Educators, we were introduced to a technology tool, “VoiceThread” – a media aggregate which allows for a collaborative, multimedia slide show displaying images, documents and videos accompanied with people's comments using their voice, text, or audio file. Instructors can record students’ thoughts and opinions about historical images, artwork, etc. and create presentations that become collaborative endeavors. As an educator who teaches pre-service teachers how to integrate arts learning into core curriculum, this technology tool really resonated with me.
Exploring the VT website, I found an excellent VoiceThread project created by 3 different classrooms of students from different regions of the country. 2nd graders from Utah created artwork depicting a place they love to visit or imagine visiting. 9th graders from Colorado composed poetry addressing their perceptions of the artwork. Then, as a link, it was sent to a classroom in Texas, where students worked to compose an original piece of music for each image using GarageBand. The results was truly inspiring. This VT project was very creative, original and provided multiple learning opportunities in both technology applications and multi-arts (visual, music & poetry) for the participants.
Even though I was not experienced in this new technology application, I showed my summer cohort of students several examples of VoiceThread projects and presented them with an idea. We could create a VT project of them learning different art forms during the artists’ workshops in my course. I would edit and put these video recordings into a VoiceThread medium and ask each student to contribute a recording of their reflections addressing how they might integrate, say movement and dance, into core subject areas for teaching.
My students fully embraced this project even though it was not included in my original course syllabus. What I learned from this experience reminded me of a discussion we read by visionary scholar, John Seely Brown, where he discusses how technology is fostering a new culture for learning. Brown states, " Our argument brings to the fore the old aphorism "imagination is more important than knowledge." In a networked world, information is always available and getting easier and easier to access. Imagination, what you actually do with that information, is the new challenge." Educators need to become more fluid with conveying knowledge and focus also upon the context for how new knowledge can be applied and appreciated. I will keep this thought in mind as I begin thinking about my on-line course.
Exploring the VT website, I found an excellent VoiceThread project created by 3 different classrooms of students from different regions of the country. 2nd graders from Utah created artwork depicting a place they love to visit or imagine visiting. 9th graders from Colorado composed poetry addressing their perceptions of the artwork. Then, as a link, it was sent to a classroom in Texas, where students worked to compose an original piece of music for each image using GarageBand. The results was truly inspiring. This VT project was very creative, original and provided multiple learning opportunities in both technology applications and multi-arts (visual, music & poetry) for the participants.
Even though I was not experienced in this new technology application, I showed my summer cohort of students several examples of VoiceThread projects and presented them with an idea. We could create a VT project of them learning different art forms during the artists’ workshops in my course. I would edit and put these video recordings into a VoiceThread medium and ask each student to contribute a recording of their reflections addressing how they might integrate, say movement and dance, into core subject areas for teaching.
My students fully embraced this project even though it was not included in my original course syllabus. What I learned from this experience reminded me of a discussion we read by visionary scholar, John Seely Brown, where he discusses how technology is fostering a new culture for learning. Brown states, " Our argument brings to the fore the old aphorism "imagination is more important than knowledge." In a networked world, information is always available and getting easier and easier to access. Imagination, what you actually do with that information, is the new challenge." Educators need to become more fluid with conveying knowledge and focus also upon the context for how new knowledge can be applied and appreciated. I will keep this thought in mind as I begin thinking about my on-line course.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)