Week 5: Slidecasting

Ms mooney back to school

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The fact that audio can be linked to a PowerPoint presentation is not something I have ever given thought to, but it makes perfect sense and can allow students to access classroom content asynchronously from home. One way I feel this would be a great tool is to give students review assignments over the weekend to complete in preparation for a test.  Perhaps on Sunday, or the night before students are taking the test, you could make a PowerPoint going over the answers to the review activity so that students will have an opportunity to check their own understandings or misunderstandings before the assessment.  Students who are struggling but do not have time to meet with the teacher prior to the assessment could possibly benefit from this type of review presentation. Also this tool could be used for students who are sick or absent from school so that they could catch up on the material with the rest of the class.  Often when students are out of my class I do not have the time to sit and go through the lesson with them as I did my students whom were in school; its just not feasible due to time constraints.  This type of presentation is an alternative.

Like Mark Isseks points out in his article entitled "How PowerPoint is Killing Education", PowerPoint presentations are in a lot of ways one-sided and do not promote critical thinking or even "thinking at all" on the part of the learner.  Therefore, it is important when making a PowerPoint to make it your own and use it as a teaching resource rather than an encyclopedia of bulleted truths about content.  PowerPoint can be a good teaching tool if it makes its subjects think by asking them questions and engaging them, rather than just having them copy information apathetically.  I think that minimizing an entire topic or content area into a set of bullet points takes all of the creativity, passion, and excitement out of learning something new.

Lastly, I found Don McMillan's comedic sketch about "Life After Death by PowerPoint" entertaining and comedic because I can relate to all of the different PowerPoint criticisms that he mentions in his presentation.  I have sat through a presentation that showed graph, upon graph, upon upside-down graph, and I've been the student struggling to copy down all 500 words on each slide of a cramped, wordy PowerPoint presentation.  McMillan highlights the fact that using technology just to use technology really defeats the purpose.  PowerPoint is supposed to enhance teaching by clearly organizing information and making it accessible to different learners in the class, but when used improperly can be confusing, boring, and excessive.  I believe that teachers need to find the right balance in integrating technology in the classroom, and only use it when it is appropriate and implemented correctly from both a pedagogical as well as a common sense perspective.

Week 4: Back to School Night

How awesome is Google docs!  I am really impressed with the user-friendliness of Google docs as well as the fact that it is free.  I keep thinking back to when I was in school and was required to do a group project.  This meant having to find time after school or on the weekend when all group members were free.  To be honest, I avoided working in groups for this very reason.  I am the type of person that likes to do my work on my own time, without having to depend on anyone else.  With Google Docs collaboration is much easier in that group members can edit and complete their collaborative tasks asynchronously.   Also, the fact that the document is automatically saved on your account and can therefore be accessed from any computer is extremely convenient.  

Week 3: Task 2 - Technology Standard Evaluation

For my evaluation, I chose the strand 8.1.12.B.1 - "The use of digital tools and media rich resources enhances creativity and the construction of knowledge". ( The New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards)  The cumulative progress indicator (CPI) for this strand says that students will be able to "design and pilot a digital learning game to demonstrate knowledge and skills related to one or more content areas or a real world situation".

The expectation at this point, is that students have already had extensive exposure and experience using different medias and are now at the point where they can actual create their own forms of media.  Students are expected to have already analyzed and critiqued different media as well as have learned the legal and ethical issues that surround the use of that media form.  Creating something, according to the 2001 revised version of Bloom's taxonomy (see link for more info!) is at the top of the cognitive domain.  Students are also expected, based on the 21st Century Skills framework that shaped the technology standards, be able to choose the appropriate media and use it effectively.  The learner is expected to have already analyzed and critiqued different media types,  as well  learned the legal and ethical issues that surround the use of that media form.

In my Biology and Anatomy and Physiology classroom, I am constantly trying to expose, integrate, and implement technology into my own pedagogy as well as into the work of my students.  I do have a Smart Board in my room that I use on a daily basis.  An activity I have brainstormed that aligns itself with this standard would be to have students design a review game for their next test in Anatomy and Physiology (Ch. 5 The Skeletal System).  The students would work collaboratively and use the Smart technology and Smart Board for their game.  Each person in each group would have a designated role, and the group would be responsible as part of the evaluative rubric for dividing the work equally and appropriate, and letting the class know the process by which they made their game.  A part of the rubric would also score the students on their participation and role as a respectful audience member for their peers' presentations.

Students would be given many other media forms to use for the game.  Rather then use computer generated or text book images of skeletons, students could use a digital camera to capture themselves posing as the skeleton or pointing to different bones on their own bodies.  Students could use video to capture different skeletal movements, for example, a dancer (I teach at a High School for the Arts), and integrate it into their review game questions.  Students could create a skit, make a song, etc. and incorporate it into their game.  Although I would leave the specifics of the game, i.e. the format, questions, media types used, etc. I would require them to use at least two different forms of media in their presentation.  I would also give them suggestions, show them examples, and encourage their own personal creativity. 

I am continuously impressed with my students' creativity, and this type of assignment would really showcase their talents and ingenuity.  I believe this type of activity would allow students autonomy and the opportunity to make the assignment their own while also requiring them to engage with the content and the big ideas of the chapter.  Each groups' presentation of their games would serve as a review and study session for the entire class.  Talk about killing two birds with one stone!  The process by which each group creates their game and engages with the technology and other medias improves both their knowledge of the content and their technological literacy.

Week 3: Task 1 - Aligning Pedagogy with Curriculum

As a current teacher, I have had some experience in using the standards designated by the state to guide my pedagogy.  I believe the standards are extremely helpful in that they keep me focused during my lesson planning, providing me with a clear goal for what I want my students to take in terms of content from my lessons, units, etc. By having an end point in mind, I am able to work backwards and really think creatively about how I am going to get my students to that point intellectually while also keeping them motivated and engaged in the classroom.

  Often I hear teachers complain that the standards are limiting and force teachers to teach the same material year after year.  While the content across years does not change significantly (a criticism of mine that I will save for another time!), teaching should change substantially as each year educators have a new set of unique students. By being reflective, trying new ideas, implement new technologies, and improving their own pedagogy over time, the teacher does not have to sacrifice creativity and engaging, student-driven activities in the name of following a set of state standards.

After watching the "Hydrology" video with the teacher from Catalina High School and upon reflecting how I personally feel about the state standards that I am required to use in my lesson planning, I immediately thought of the constructivist theory of learning promoted by John Dewey.  In his famous 1902 work, The Child and the Curriculum, Dewey likens the curriculum to a finished map, and equates the learning process of the child to a mapmaker's arduous journey of trekking through and taking notes on a new, unexplored territory.  Although the map is well organized, structures, and will help others to better navigate their way Dewey warns that "the map is not a substitute for a personal experience".   I agree with Dewey in that although we may have facts or a body of knowledge (i.e. a curriculum, a set of standards) it is the process of exploring, engaging with, and uncovering that body of knowledge that helps students make deep connection.

  At the Catalina school, although the teacher is required to teach Geology, nothing in the standards says that he must have students sit in a classroom and copy notes in a traditional fashion.  Rather, this teacher has students activitely engage with the content in ways that are meaningful to them because they are actually dealing with actual issues that are a part of their lives and their school.   By having students partake in real, meaningful activities, not only is the teacher showing the students that he has high standards and believes that the kids are capable, but he is also following the guidelines and standards set by the state to which he must ascribe.  Students are excited about their own learning and about getting involved in their own communities.

I would love to teach science in Catalina High School and the video has sparked new ideas in my head about how I can implement some of the teaching styles that this teacher uses into my own classroom.  What was most refreshing about this school is that it seems to value making connections between content areas and stresses how disciplines are interrelated, for example geology, mathematics, data analysis, etc.  No content area exists in a box seperate from the rest of the world's knowledge, yet we teach it as if it is so.  In order to prepare students to be more equipped for the world they will be living in, it is essential that they make connections and link information to other information.

Personally, I find the standards helpful in that they keep me guided and on track as a practitioner. It is a way for me to be sure that the activities and components to my lesson are aligned with the underlying big idea I am trying to teach.  My issue arises with the excessive testing that is not only mandated by the state but also seems to plague my district.  Testing students via a traditional, chapter test is only one way of assessing their knowledge and only certain students skilled at taking these types of tests are able to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding. 

Week 2: Webpage Evaluation

After reading the resources provided to us, in particular the article "Why in the World Wide Web" by Jamie McKenzie, I decided to evaluate my own district website (Newark Public Schools), as I am currently a first year teacher at Arts High School. After reading the article and spending some time exploring the website, I was quite impressed with the wealth of information available at the click of a mouse, including full textbooks, novels, search engines and data bases, and even a way for parents and teachers to log in to the digital grade book to view grades and assignments for students. The website is user friendly, all of the links I clicked on worked quickly and properly, and the site was easy to navigate.

Although I regularly frequent the district's website, I was amazed to see how much information and resources were available via the site as well as to think about the time and care that was put in to designing such a website. I was able to locate my schools web page, as well as email addresses and contact information for all teachers in the school, including myself! Despite the fact that I mainly frequent the website for pragmatic purposes, including checking my district email and logging in to my grade book from home, if I was a parent, I would find the site quite useful. From the site, one can navigate to specific teacher's e Boards where assignments, syllabus, calendars, etc. can be posted and modified continuously. These e Boards allow parents a way to access and monitor their students assignments, grades, upcoming events, etc. from where ever they are, even if they are away on business, live far from their children, etc. My one issue comes with the fact that Newark is an urban district where many families still do not have access to computers, therefore are unable to take advantage of this well designed, practical website. This issue one of my fundamental qualms with technology. It is, in fact, not democratic in that certain individuals, depending on their socioeconomic status and class, do not have the same access as others. (Curious about this topic? check out this article on the digital divide in America.) Nonetheless, the fact that this information is available 24 hours a day from anywhere in the world makes the website extremely valuable.

The district site also showcases different schools achievements, awards, and student work. It also is visually pleasing and includes images of students. For parents, the site provides digital copies of important documents, links to parent groups, advisory boards, etc. The amount of information and resources available for parents, students, and teachers alike is quite remarkable. I believe that this exploration of my own school districts website was fruitful in that it opened my eyes to ways in which a website can be extremely useful in organizing information and making it available to all those who are requesting information, including teachers, students, and parents/guardians.

Week I: Introduction

My own personal feelings about technology have changed at a rate comparable to the shifting nature of technology itself. Although the Internet became accessible to all at a time when I was still a high school student, initially I viewed it predominantly as a means of communication and way of keeping in touch with my friends whereas now I use the Internet predominantly as a means of locating information. To be honest, at the start of my graduate career at MSU working towards my MAT (I am now in my final semester!), if I was told I would have to take a course entitled "Technology Integration in the Classroom" I probably would have shuddered. I consider myself to be old school. I like having actual hard copies of texts in front of me when I read and I much prefer a pen and paper over a word processor when brainstorming and beginning to write a paper.

Although I am comfortable using PowerPoint to deliver lectures in my classroom and word processing for designing worksheets, activities, etc., I still feel a bit of anxiety about integrating the latest technologies into my pedagogy (i.e. wikis, blogs, etc.) One of the things I have realized, though, is that technology is a good thing only when it is used logically and appropriately. It is silly to force the use of computers when a pen and paper is more appropriate, or to force the latest technologies in the classroom when they are not helpful or meaningful for students. Perhaps just as useful a bit of advice that I have learned through direct experience is that the use of technology needs to be practiced and rehearsed prior to having the students use it. This helps to save time and clear up any problems before they arise. Nonetheless, when dealing with technology I have also learned that problems may occur.

This brings me to the article "Four takes on Technology". When things do go wrong in my classroom in terms of implementing technology, I often turn to my students for help. Nine times out of ten, my students help me to fix the problem almost immediately, and I am constantly learning how to better implement technology as well as about how to use the latest technologies from my students. The article encourages this type of interaction and learning situation, which I have directly experienced and definitely learned and benefited from in many ways.

Lastly, the youtube video reminded me of a set of videos I have seen entitled "Shift Happens" which stress the importance not only of how quickly the world is changing, growing, and advancing, but also about how necessary it is for educators to prepare students appropriately for these changing times and equip them with the tools to be literate and competitive in such a world. Whether I resist it or not, the reality is that technology is the way of the world and the future. Hopefully, by the end of this course I will be comfortable enough and willing enough to take some risks and to embrace these changing technological times rather then resist them.

Methodology: Inquiry Project, Higher Education and its impact on Newark

Before discussing my methodology for my project, I feel it is necessary to restate my topic or question of interest, as it has been shaped and reshaped again over in my head since its initial proposal.

After visiting Newark and collecting some data in the form of photographs, as well as attending an Open Advisory Board meeting in Newark, my question now exists as follows:

How do institutions of higher learning (5 total in Newark, I have examined in particular two which exist in close proximity, NJIT and Rutgers Newark) impact local urban life? What types of changes in terms of housing, local establishments, street culture, if any, have resulted from the placement of these universities within the city? What types of buildings-landmarks-atmosphere classify these college communities; further, how are they defined visually? What lines, if any, divide these communities from the rest of Newark (I know,these communities are still a part of Newark, I need to work on re-wording), and what do these lines look like?

Methodology: My project consists of research done on multiple trips to a specific section of Newark, particularly the areas in and around Rutgers and NJIT. The data I have collected consists of photographs, videos, as well as personal observation (field notes) in what I will call transition or border zones between college "campuses" and the rest of Newark as a city. Campuses exists in quotes both because these colleges exist side by side and not discrete from each other, and also because I, for the purpose of analyzing my data am seeing them as distinct from the rest of the city in order to assess what the borders around these areas look like visually, and what the significance of these areas could be to Newark citizens.

During one of my visits to the area I brought what I would consider an "insider" with me who knew the area, a former NJIT student. He served as both a guide as well as a reference and gave me his perspective on the situation. It was important that I situated his comments and viewpoint within a broader perspective of his experiences as well as what the purpose of my inquiry was, in order to make sense of what he was telling me and use it as relevant information without becoming partial as a researcher.

Prior to my discussion of the data collected, I will look at and discuss the history of Newark and its construction, as well as the interaction and role these institutions have within the city, economically, politically, and culturally. It is here that I will tie in data (notes) I have from the Open Advisory meeting to demonstrate how these institutions affect urban youth (i.e. magnate schools vs. comprehensive schools).

Upon analyzing my data, I will then discuss the dual city theory which I believe demonstrates a lot of what my photographs of these transition zones demonstrates. Lastly, I hope to incorporate Fruchter's book in to my discussion as I feel that he sums up a lot of things which we have been pointing too all semester, sort of all roled up in one, but I haven't quite figured out how I will fit him into my discussion. Perhaps I need to continue reading! This, my friends, is a mere draft/plan/brainstorming session, please...offer up your suggestions!