Lesson Plan Reflection

Shannon Forsberg

Lesson Plan Reflection

Description:

            The lesson I implemented was to have students analyze various forms of media and to make connections to how media can effect socialization. I first showed students various TV commercial clips and guided a class discussion leading that analyzed how the advertisements could affect socialization. Then in small groups students analyzed magazine advertisements and shared their conclusions with the class. Students then analyzed a song of their choice and created a presentation using PowerPoint. I initially was going to have students choose any piece of media to analyze, but then decided to just have them choose a song of their choice. I also was going to allow students a choice between creating a PowerPoint or a poster for their presentation, but decided to require a PowerPoint because I allowed them multiple days in the computer lab to create it.

Narrative:

            This lesson took place after students analyzed fairy tales, and a Disney movie and the effects of each on socialization. My lesson ended up taking a lot longer than I initially intended it to, however I think that it was worth it in the end. The lesson began by showing my junior and senior Sociology students five different TV commercials that I had downloaded to my laptop from home. I tried initially to access the commercials online from school; however our school network blocks us from YouTube and other various sites, so I had to download them from home. I had to connect and setup the projector to my computer before students arrived in class. I made sure the commercials would play, and that the speakers were connected properly. Once I was set up, showing the TV commercials seemed to go over well. Students enjoyed that the commercials were ones that currently are being shown on TV. They told me that sometimes teachers have very outdated material, so they felt that they could relate better to these. After each commercial I showed I would ask guiding questions to the class. “Who is this ad targeting?” “What stereotypes do you see?” “What messages about our culture is this ad saying?” Students seemed to easily be able to dissect each of the commercials I showed.

            I then showed students a Vitamin Water advertisement found from three different magazines. The image of the advertisement was the same for all three; however the copy was different on each. Each of the ads had copy that targeted their readers. Students seemed shocked that the messages on each were so different, yet it was the same ad. They were then placed in groups and given a magazine ad and had to analyze it. Students did this very quickly, which I was surprised by. However, while groups were sharing their analysis, I found that they were not as through as I had hoped. I think the next time I will have specific questions for students to answer regarding each ad. This way I will know they are analyzing it fully.

            After deciding to require a PowerPoint presentation for their individual song analysis, I had to make sure I could get enough time in the computer lab for students to complete their presentation in school. I realized that some students may not have access to certain technology at their homes, so I felt if I was going to require a PowerPoint, I would have to give them time to finish it at school. Luckily I was able to get the computer lab for the next three days. I gave students a rubric for their song presentation which outlined all the requirements. Students seemed to enjoy that they were allowed to choose their own music, however some did have a hard time realizing what “school appropriate” songs were. Students were required to email me their presentation once it was finished so I could download it on presentation day. Almost all students did this successfully, with the exception of a few who had to bring in a flash drive to me. It was very easy for me to access their presentations because I placed students in specific hour folders on my email. Then, as each presented, they just had to go into their hour folder and get their PowerPoint. I think I will do this again because when it came to grading, I had all their work in my email, so I could easily look at it again.

Reflection:

            After this lesson students were able to make connections to various types of media and there effects on socialization. Students learned how to collaborate and use critical thinking skills. Students also learned how to use PowerPoint technology to create presentations. This afforded for students of various learning abilities to be accommodated. By presenting material in various ways, students of all learning styles were able to engage in the content of this lesson. Having access to music sites and downloading music on the school computers made it difficult for some student’s presentations. I decided to require only the lyrics of the song in student’s presentations instead of the music itself. This gave all students the ability to share their song in their presentation without requiring their personal music collection.

            There were many elements of constructivism and behaviorism in my lesson. Students were allowed to view familiar forms of media in a new way. They then had to collaboratively and individually reflect on various forms of media and make connections to their own socialization by presenting their analysis. Students also made connections from previous stereotypes analyzed in previous lessons. After modeling the TV commercials analysis students then made similar connections to stereotypes discussed in their own analysis. I realized after this lesson that students had personal connections to their music, and this was shown during their presentation. I saw how students made connections to not only the content of the lesson, but to their own personal feelings and thoughts about their songs. This lesson was supplemental to the socialization curriculum in place. The individual presentations of song analysis was intended to enhance student understand of media effects on socialization. By incorporation of various ways of presenting material along with collaboration and individual work, allowed support for all learners.

            In order for this lesson to be successful, teachers and learners need to have access to specific technologies and knowledge and basic skills of these technologies. Knowledge of internet and email skills is required, along with access to computers, and a projector. Because of these skills, assessment was very convenient. By having students email me their presentations, I could take a closer look at the students PowerPoint after their presentation. This also gave me indication to how well they worked in class.  Technology played a large role in presenting content and assessing student learning. Technology allowed me to present content that students could easily connect to, and made assessing student learning a breeze. Technology allowed me to grab student’s attention and get students thinking about the material being presented. It also allowed students the opportunity to present their understanding in a personal way. Students really enjoyed using the computer lab to create their song analysis. Some students had questions on how to attach their presentation to their email in order to send it to me. By allowing enough time in the computer lab for students, I was able to give one on one help to all students. Students were allowed the opportunity to show in detail how they made sense of the content with the use of technology in this lesson. Students seemed to enjoy that they could easily represent their learning with technology.

Digital Story

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Justice Podcast

Check out my podcast on Understanding student Understanding

Justice Podcast

Wicked Project Final

The problem I found in my classroom was that students found it difficult to listen to my lectures, take notes, look at visuals and comprehend the pertinent material all at the same time

The solution I explored was to use Google Docs as an online forum for students to take notes AFTER my in class lecture by listening and watching the lecture I gave in class.

TC-Using Google Docs as the technology for online note taking will go hand in hand with the pedagogy of expecting students to listen to lectures, take notes and look at visuals simultaneously.  Students who need a longer amount of time to process information can take notes at their own pace, using the stop and start feature of my online lectures. This will ensure they have the time to write down every piece of information they think is important in my lecture. This will also allow visual learners the opportunity to look closely at the visual examples provided during my lectures, and not simply focus on taking notes.

TC- Using Google Docs is a great technology for students to learn how to deduct information from a lecture. By providing inductive reasoning in my lectures, students have the opportunity to use deductive reasoning and apply what they heard in class and take notes AFTER the lecture. This allows students to learn how to reflect and infer what they think the most important ideas and concepts were in the lecture. By using Google Docs, students can they share their notes with classmates and reflect and learn from each other by collaborating on content notes. Also having access to the revision history of documents through Google docs, allows the teacher to see how students share information.
The sharing and collaborating feature of Google Docs is the feature of this technology that makes my content in my class more accessible. Students are allowed to share notes, compare notes, and collaborate on content outside of the classroom. Google Docs also gives students who are absent or not in school the chance to read other peers notes and watch and take notes on the content missed. This can be crucial for High School students because they tend to miss classes often.

 PC- The Pedagogy used for content knowledge in my solution is using inductive and deductive strategies through Google Docs. This way a student will be able to learn and grow to be expert note takers. They will be able to visualize the content inductively, and also deductively. This will build note taking skills by learning how to extract pertinent information from lectures.

 Wicked Part 1

Wicked Part 2

Wicked Part 3

Professional Learning Plan

Check out my Professional Learning Plan here.

Group Leadership Project

The High School group chose to present Weebly as our PD. Weebly is a user friendly free website building application that can be implemented easily, regardless if you are a technology person or not. Our group chose Weebly because we all felt that having a resource for our students to access videos, notes, homework assignments, and discussion outside of our classroom will allow everyone to stay on the same page. Many times High School students miss classes for various reasons, and reviewing and explaining to one or two students what the class did while they were absent seems like a waste of precious class time.
During the development of our final product, I learned that not all free programs online work well (conferencing on WebHuddle was disappointing), that even teachers need to stay organized and have clear directions of what they are trying to complete, and that never giving up through the struggles of technology based group work pays off.
If I had to develop a similar product again, what I would do differently would be have a specific portion or component of Weebly to focus on, instead of a complete overview. Maybe I would show how Weebly is used for a classroom website, and how students can benefit from having an online resource. This was definitely a learning experience, and has helped me to grow as a person both in my professional and personal life.  
Check out our tutorial all about Weebly for Education

Part B- Storyboard and Script

Our project is coming along well, and everybody is chipping in to do their part. I created a Document for our script and a Presentation so that we could all collaborate in one area. I wrote and created the slides for the presentation for the introduction to our technology, and then my portion on how to create content and links.
For the final presentation, we plan to record all of our specific areas of concentration using Jing, and include the audio of the script. We then are going to upload all the videos on a Weebly site that I created so that we can incorporate the actual technology into our presentation. I will also be recording the introduction and including it in my Jing upload of my portion. Then one group member is going to write and create slides for our conclusion, another will jazz up the actual Weebly site, and finally another will record and upload the conclusion using Jing and add it to our Weebly site. I have volunteered for the introduction portion of the presentation, and the other parts will be decided tomorrow at our online chat at 4pm on our Google Script document. The project is coming along well, and soon will be ready to share with the class!

Part D- Findings and Implications

My Wicked project of having students use Google Notebook as an alternate way to take notes outside of the classroom has continued to change along the way. I attempted to implement the two major components that are crucial for this to be a success 1. Have students register and open their school gmail accounts and 2. Have students learn how to create, and share a Google Doc (I was hoping that this would make the transition to using Google Notebook easier). Both of these components were implemented successfully to the majority of the 70 sophomores that took part in my project implementation. However this implementation did not have its bumps in the road. Many had difficulties using Google Docs (understanding and remembering how to share and who to share with) This lead me to the executive decision to abandon my original plan of using Google Notebook as the online note taking forum, to simply just using Google Docs. After realizing that it would be a lot less confusing to my students considering I had introduced them to using Google Docs. Trying to justify why I would have them use Google Notebook instead just did not seem like the most logical thing.

The problem of practice that I was addressing in my Wicked project, was that students were not able to listen to my lectures, take notes, look at visuals and comprehend the content exclusively in the classroom. The idea of giving my students access to my lectures (audio and video) online, and have them take notes through an online application was one way that I decided would aid in my problem of practice. I was very unsure of how my students would react to this. I was pleasantly surprised at their feedback and input during our in class discussion after I implemented the two major components of the project. Students responded positively to the idea of using an online journal. They even began to suggest other ways to use the online notebook that I hadn’t even thought of! Students were really excited to try this, and explained that if they were allowed to take notes online, after the lecture in class, that they would be able to participate in class discussions more. They indicated that using an online notebook would allow them to focus more on what I was saying in the lecture rather than what to write down. Also they told me that using an online notebook would be a great way to review the material outside of class. They also like that having my lectures online to listen and watch would be helpful if they were absent or out of class for the day. In my World History class, a lot of time, the lecture and discussions are the bulk of the content I give. We do not use a textbook, so having access to lectures they said would help them not fall behind.

If I were to start another project of this type, there is one major thing that I would do differently. I would start by asking my students for their input on a problem THEY feel needs to be addressed in my class. As teachers, we often think that we know what is best for our students, and that we have the “big picture” in mind when it comes to practice. After discussing my Wicked project with my students, and hearing their input and ideas, and struggles I had not even considered, I realized that THEY know what does and does not work for them. So by getting students ideas and input before I began to try to fix a problem of practice, I would ensure that what I was trying to fix would actually benefit my students.

Through this endeavor I have learned that you must be flexible and able to realize what is not working, and what is. For instance, I began this project wanting to use Google Notebook as the online note taking application. After implementing the project, and seeing student’s successes and difficulties, I came to the conclusion, that maybe Google Notebook was not the way to go. By allowing evolution as my project unfolded, I believe led me to a better solution in the end.

I will continue to have students use Google Docs in my class, not just for note taking purposes. I think if I were to try to implement this project again, I would first start off implementing a more simple idea or concept in my class. For example, I began this project wanting students to have an online forum to take notes outside the classroom. If I were to approach this project again, I would build up to this, implementing small steps towards the final goal. By starting small (simply creating a Google Doc) and continuing to build, I believe I can give my students a better understanding of the technology and all of its facets.

Overall this Wicked project allowed me to learn and grow as an educator, and has opened my eyes to what my students see in my classroom. It has also made me realize that trying to implement a specific technology in my class may not always go as planned, and being flexible is key!

Mobile Learning

I found it very interesting that teachers are actually embracing student’s cell phones and using them to their advantage. Some high schools that I have taught in actually had signal blockers that prevented students from even being able to use their cell phone at all. Others allowed students to use cell phones ONLY during passing time and lunch. I really like the idea of using cell phones in my classroom. I created an account on Poll Everywhere to see how I could implement cell phone use in my classroom for review games. I am really fascinated to try it out. The only problem that I might run into is maybe a student who doesn’t have a cell phone. I don’t want to isolate them or make them feel bad about not having one. Another issue I see as being a challenge is parents getting upset about cell phones being used in the classroom. Parents often do not see the big picture and or the reason behind what we do as teachers, so I see that it potentially could be an issue. Also, going against district policy or building policy might me tricky as well. I would definitely want to clear using cell phones in my classroom with administration before I started implementation. Classroom 2.0 is an awesome resource! I love reading about how other educators use cell phones in their classrooms, the more ideas the better! All and all, I am really excited to try using Poll Everywhere and cell phones in my classroom!

Part C- Implementation

Check out my Podcast!
Implementation

Web Conferencing

My group and I did not partake in a video conference. However, I have used Skype and I-Chat in my personal life, and I would definitely do some things different next time. I would make sure that background noise and what I want as the background or scene in the video is appropriate. If I am conferencing as a professional, I do not want to be laying in my bedroom chatting. Video web conferencing is a window into your world for a short time. I would prepare and treat the next Web conference I partake in as if I were having a face to face meeting. This ensures that your are prepared for a conference that is and can be posted on the internet at any point in time (if recorded).

I would really like to try web conferencing in my classroom. Students  are constantly emailing me with questions about grades or projects, or just utter confusion. By setting up a schedule of web conferences, students would have the opportunity to ask all these questions outside of the classroom. I know that I am scrambling to cover all the content in my World History class, and sometimes this prevents these important questions to be pushed aside. By using web conferencing, students would feel safe to chat with me either one on one or as a group so we can communicate outside the classroom.

I am not sure why my group and I did not participate in this web conference, sometimes group work is difficult to complete for various reasons.

Part B- Application of TPACK

The technology I have chosen for my Wicked project is using Google Notebook as another method or tool for students to take notes on lectures and presentations. In my World History classroom, I find students struggling to listen to my lectures, watch the visuals, and take adequate notes on the content all at one time. Many times students take longer to process information, and need the notes up for a longer period of time, to ensure they are writing down every piece of information in the presentation. By using Google Notebook along with access to video or audio of the lecture presented in class, students can take notes at their own pace, and have control over the speed of the lecture with stop and start features.
Another way that Google Notebook is a great tool for students to learn inside and also outside the classroom how to deduct information from a lecture. By providing inductive reasoning in my lectures, students have the opportunity to use deductive reasoning and apply what they heard in class and take notes AFTER the lecture. This allows students to learn how to reflect and infer what they think the most important ideas and concepts were in the lecture. By using Google Notebook, students can they share their notes with classmates and reflect and learn from each other by collaborating on content notes.
The sharing and collaborating feature of Google Notebook is the feature of this technology that makes my content in my class more accessible. Students are allowed to share notes, compare notes, collaborate on content outside of the classroom. Google Notebook also gives students who are absent or not in school the chance to read other peers notes and watch and take notes on the content missed. This can be crucial for High School students because they tend to miss classes often.
The PC knowledge for my solution is by using inductive and deductive strategies through Google Notebook, students will be able to learn and grow to be expert note takers. They will be able to visualize the content inductively, and also deductively. This will build note taking skills by learning how to extract pertinent information from lectures.

Part A- Brainstorm Session

For our brainstorming session for our leadership project, we used Web Huddle as our conferencing tool. One group member set up a time and conference and emailed us the link to attend. Upon entering the conference I hooked up my microphone and was ready to chat. Unfortunately, we could not figure out how the facilitator of the conference, (Kathy who set it up) could give microphone rights to other members including myself. I could hear her, but she could not hear me. We decided once Scott one of our other group members entered the conference, that we would have to just use the chat feature to conduct business. Kathy who set up the conference was allowed to upload two powerpoints (that could not contain many slides due to allowed space for the free feature. We were still waiting on Sami our final group member to join the conference before we started discussing the details of our project. Sami had difficulty logging on to the chat and called Kathy and Kathy was Sami's voice during the conference. The advantages of using a web conferencing tool are people all over the world can chat at the same time. Also members can give instant feedback in the discussion. Also another advantage is that all members can look at documents or videos at the same time, essentially creating a climate as if we were meeting face to face. A disadvantage are many technical difficulties like our group experienced. Voice and video features not working properly, members  unable to join, or enter the conference. Also a disadvantage is setting up a time for the conference to actually happen. Members must be at a computer with Internet and video and microphone accessories all at the exact same time, which can be difficult in our busy world. Overall when using a web conferencing tool, I would suggest that all members are familiar with how it operates so it can be conducted smoothly.

Part A- Description of Need or Opportunity

An educational need that I have found in my classroom, is a alternative way for students to take notes on lectures or discussions that does not hinder them from concentrating on the lecture or discussion itself. Also a need for an alternative way to allow students to take notes on lecture material on their own and at their own pace. Many times, my lectures have to pause for students to continue taking notes. This leads me to the conclusion, that my students are not paying attention to the content itself, but only concentrating on writing down the notes during my presentation.

By using Google Notebook as an educational tool in my classroom, students will have access to an electronic notebook that they can store and record all classroom notes derived from my lectures or discussions. Each lecture or discussion along with correlating note presentation (ie. PowerPoint) would be recorded and posted daily on my classroom blog. After students participated and listened to the lecture in the classroom, for homework, they would access the lecture and notes from my blog, and take their own notes electronically using Google Notebook.



Each student and teacher in my district has a school GMail account which allows free access and storage to Google Notebook. Students would be able to take notes on the material covered in class at their own pace. This is beneficial for students of all learning capabilities, because they are given access to assistive technologies for note taking, and can work at their own pace to record the pertinent information needed. Using Google Notebook will also allow students to organize and access all their notes from my class from anywhere with Internet access. This will help students to stay organized and have all their notes in one place.

Often I have found that my lecture is slowed down due to students not being able to write notes quick enough, or a concerned about spelling or wording. I have taken a poll in my classroom, and my students feel that using Google Notebook would be a useful tool that they would use in my class. They conveyed to me that this would allow for more time to participate in discussions rather than focus on note taking.



During this course, I will implement students having access to Google Notebook by setting up their Gmail accounts if not already completed. I will also need to be sure that students will have access and knowledge on how to use Google Notebook before expecting them to use it in my class daily. During this course I will implement a Google Notebook tutorial to my class, and explore all its features.

The portion I plan to implement after this class is recording video of my daily lectures and/or presentations and linking it to my blog. Another portion I will implement after this class is incorporating Google Notebook into my students coursework next year.

Video Intro

http://screencast.com/t/TqeEXl5JZu

CEP 811

I have advanced my knowledge on Educational technology during CEP 811. I have found that teachers really must evaluate how they are going to teach with technology, and not just use it to use it. Integrating technology into the classroom has to be useful and affective for learning to actually take place. Teaching with technology must be useful to all learning styles. This can make it difficult to create a lesson that is not only incorporates technology, but address student learning styles and abilities as well. I have learned throughout this course on how to evaluate technology based lessons, by creating my own, receiving feedback, and evaluating others. Also learning about UDL principals has really made me re think how I teach daily, with or without technology. I met a goal that I had during this course to create my own web based lesson. By creating my stAIR, I learned how difficult it can be to create a self contained lesson that reaches all students. This has made me create a new goal for myself, of creating a web based lesson, that reaches all student of various learning abilities, and applying the principals of UDL to it. My long term goal is to continue to work towards my Masters in Educational Technology. I am happy to say that I was recently accepted into the MAET program and will be continuing to learn on how to be an affective teacher, while using technology.

Online Learning

Being a Social Studies teacher, Online Research is a great way to implement online learning in my classroom. I have found that the research MUST be teacher guided, or else students tend to investigate sources that are not necessarily  credible, and therefore unusable.

Online research can be use for any content in my World History class that I want my students to investigate and analyze in depth. For example, next week I am teaching students about proxy wars that contributed to the Cold War. There are 8 wars that I have to cover in a short period of time. Having students engage in Online research for a specific war, and then share what they learned with the class could be a great lesson that incorporates online learning in my classroom.

Pedagogical strategies that students would be using would be inductive reasoning, because I would provide students with an example of what I want them to find in their research, along with a guide for legitimate sources to use in their search. I would also use deductive reasoning, students would have to evaluate research they find online, and decide if it is credible or not. Then students would have to interpret the research in order to share their findings or what they learned to their peers.

I think a specific online learning experience that would be more difficult to use with my students would be podcast, or video casts. Our school district has little to no technology available for students, and a limited amount of computer labs. With the districts lack of technology to create a podcast or video cast, I could probably not use this in my classroom. I also cannot expect my students to have such technology at home to complete such task, thus making it virtually (no pun intended) impossible to use this technology in my classroom at this time. Hopefully in future years, our district will obtain some current technology that will allow students and teachers alike to utilize online learning experiences often.

Using Wiki

Using Wikipedia was easier than I ever thought. I easily could edit my schools Wikipedia page, and create my own for my classroom. To check out the Wiki I created for my World History students click here.

I also added information to Brighton High Schools Wikipedia page. I the wording about Brighton Area Schools, and added that it was located in Livingston County. It only describes that it was in Detroit Metro Area, but to me having the county would provide a better idea of location. I also made sure that Livingston County was a link, so people could also be connected to that Wikipedia page as well.
Check out the screen shot of my changes here.

UDL Checklist

Below is a checklist of all the features and barriers of my lesson plan "New Identities: Defining Nationalism" based on UDL guidelines. Universal Design for Learning is a framework that provides a way for educators to deliever content so that EVERY and ALL students can learn. This is an innovative way for teachers to approach lesson planning, and makes me re-think how I design my lessons. After going through this checklist for just one lesson, I realize how many barriers there are that may prevent students from learning. Barriers and Features of this lesson are below.



UDL Guidelines – Educator Checklist
I. Provide Multiple Means of Representation:

Your notes

1. Provide options for perception


1.1 Offer ways of customizing the display of information

Feature: Content is delivered through lecture and visually through PowerPoint

1.2 Offer alternatives for auditory information

Feature: PowerPoint provides visual of lecture material

1.3 Offer alternatives for visual information

Barrier: Content has no illustrations or visual representation. Students would have create their own mental example

2. Provide options for language, mathematical expressions, and symbols


2.1 Clarify vocabulary and symbols

Feature: Providing definitions of elements of Nationalism and allowing for students to create personal examples

2.2 Clarify syntax and structure

Feature: Defining each of the 5 elements of Nationalism, and providing example through US National anthem

2.3 Support decoding of text, and mathematical notation, and symbols

Barrier: No text to speech feature for computer research. Students would have to decode

2.4 Promote understanding across language

Barrier: No translation tools in place. Non-English speaking students would have to have a translator

2.5 Illustrate through multiple media

Barrier: No illustrations or visual examples. Non- linguistic learners would suffer

3. Provide options for comprehension


3.1 Activate or supply background knowledge

Feature: Providing example of elements in the US National Anthem

3.2 Highlight patterns, critical features, big ideas, and relationships

Feature: Giving examples of 5 elements of Nationalism and having students give personal definitions

3.3 Guide information processing, visualization, and manipulation

Barrier: No graphic organizer for note taking. Students would have to take notes without a guide.

3.4 Maximize transfer and generalization

Feature: Having students create their own personal Nationalistic speech incorporating elements

II. Provide Multiple Means for Action and Expression:

Your notes

4. Provide options for physical action


4.1 Vary the methods for response and navigation

Barrier: No alternative options for typing. Students with motor weakness would not be able participate in research and presentation development

4.2 Optimize access to tools and assistive technologies

Barrier: No assistive technology for computer use

5. Provide options for expression and communication


5.1 Use multiple media for communication

Barrier: No options for alternative methods of presentation. Students who have not used a computer based presentation application would not be able to contribute to group work.

5.2 Use multiple tools for construction and composition

Feature: Spell Check

5.3 Build fluencies with graduated labels of support for practice and performance

Feature: Defining 5 elements through personal examples and as a class

6. Provide options for executive functions


6.1 Guide appropriate goal setting

Barrier: No goal setting in place

6.2 Support planning and strategy development

Barrier: No planning guide for research and presentation in place such as a template. Students who cannot plan or organize thoughts well would be lost

6.3 Facilitate managing information and resources

Barrier: No note guide or template for presentation. Students would be required to note take and plan presentation on their own.

6.4 Enhance capacity for monitoring progress

Barrier: No daily progress graph or assessment in place. Students would have to keep their own pace without knowledge of expectations

III. Provide Multiple Means for Engagement:

Your notes

7. Provide options for recruiting interest


7.1 Optimize individual choice and autonomy

Barrier: Only one form of presentation allowed. Students would have to conform to only one way to present

7.2 Optimize relevance, value, and authenticity

Feature: Creation of personal speech or quote using elements along with example of US National Anthem as model

7.3 Minimize threats and distractions

Feature: Keeping students focused in classroom and computer lab by overseeing constantly

8. Provide options for sustaining effort and persistence

8.1 Heighten salience of goals and objectives

Barrier: No rubric provided for presentation. Students would have to guess on what I was going to assess them on

8.2 Vary demands and resources to optimize challenge

Barrier: No option for alternative presentation. Students would have to conform to one presentation method

8.3 Foster collaboration and community

Feature: Group discussion and group work for presentation

8.4 Increase mastery-oriented feedback

Barrier: No feedback provided to individuals. Students would be graded based on group presentation

9. Provide options for self-regulation


9.1 Promote expectations and beliefs that optimize motivation

Barrier: No personal goal setting in place. Students would have to set goals individually to complete assignment

9.2 Facilitate personal coping skills and strategies

Barrier: No guidelines for group work. Groups would have to decide tasks for individuals and deal with frustrations individually

9.3 Develop self-assessment and reflection

Barrier: No peer or personal review. Students would have to rely on my grading to assess their learning

© CAST 2011

Evaluation of Learning Materials in MERLOT

Evaluation: Learning Object Repository: “The Russian Revolution”

Authors: John Sutherlin, Ralph Brown III, and Edward Eller

Described as: "A learning object that explores the Russian Revolution of 1917"



Quality of Content:

1. Does the software present valid (correct) concepts, models, and skills?
The content presented was accurate and provided multiple global perspectives of material. Content is derived from primary and secondary sources that are implemented in the lesson. A month by month breakdown of the revolution centered on primary sources, and events make it easy for learner to study content chronologically.


2. Does the software present educationally significant concepts, models, and skills for the discipline?

The content is part of World History core content that is imperative in connecting concepts such as Nationalism, Imperialism, Militarism, and the shaping of new governments around the world. Teaching the Russian Revolution can be difficult for many teachers, however this learning object breaks down events in Russia in 1917 month by month in relation to revolutionary ideas and actions. This format is helpful for teachers and students alike to build on sequencing of events.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching-Learning Tool:

1. What stage(s) in the learning process/cycle could the materials be used?

This learning object could be used after High School level students have been introduced to Communist ideologies and readings, learning about Nationalism and Imperialism movements around the world, and learning about the political and military climate in Europe and the world before 1917. This learning object could be used to enhance student learning and understanding of individual perspectives of Russians during 1917 living through the revolution. This could also be used as an effect way to have students analyze primary and secondary documents and reflect and evaluate them individually or in groups.

1. Explanation or description of the topic/stating the problem

To teach student the sequential events that took place each month of 1917 in Revolutionary Russia. Evaluation and analysis of primary and secondary source material, new ideologies, and geographical context.

Demonstration of the curriculum/exploration of the problem

This learning objective could enhance student learning if used for primary and secondary analysis and evaluation by students. It could also be beneficial for auditory learners and visual learners because information is narrated and images enhance content. If material was presented without context students would not benefit. This learning object would also not be useful for independent student learning because lack of navigation and direction for content.

2. Practice using the curriculum/analysis of the outcomes from solving the problem

Students could use articles in learning object that specifically are from outsiders that address their view on the events studied. There are many New York Times article links that students could evaluate and reflect on their interpretation of why they believed the author(s) wrote what they did. Students could also create a journal or article from the viewpoint of a Russian citizen living in 1917.

3. Applying the curriculum to "new" problems/application of the outcomes to other problems

Students will be able to reflect on how the Russian Revolution of 1917 changed the shape of government ideology, how it contributed to WWI and its long term affects on Russia and its political history and the history of our modern world.


2. What is (are) the learning objective(s)? What should students be able to do after successfully learning with the materials?

Students should be able to define communism, Students should be able to recall names of revolutionaries and revolutionary parties, Students should be able to evaluate and analyze primary and secondary documents and reflect and interpret in writing, students should be able to understand the geography of the Russian Revolution in 1917.

3. What are the characteristics of the target learner(s)

High School and College level students who are visual and auditory learners and have skills in writing, analysis and evaluation skills of primary and secondary resources.

4. Does the interactive/media-rich presentation of material improve faculty and students' abilities to teach and learn the materials?

Yes because it provides images and links to articles and interactive maps for students, along with discussion questions to access and review throughout learning object.

5. Can the use of the software be readily integrated into current curriculum and pedagogy within the discipline?

This learning object could easily be used in a World History High School level class with some adaptation and background knowledge. However, lack of direction and interactive features that require student interaction and feedback would prevent independent student learning with this material. It would have to be teacher led and partly direct instruction.

6. Can the software be used in a variety of ways to achieve teaching and learning goals?

Absolutely, this learning object has great primary and secondary material and images included that could be used for anyone teaching the Russian Revolution of 1917. Teachers and students can use the great wealth of information in this learning object to best fit their goals.

7. Are the teaching-learning goals easy to identify?

One of the first things you see is a stated purpose: “This is a learning object on the Russian Revolution in 1917” but the learning and teaching goals are not easily identified in this material. There are discussion questions that guide teaching and learning, but no clear goals. Again, lack of clear direction and navigation through the object make it difficult.

8. Can good learning assignments for using the software application be written easily?

Absolutely, the possibilities are endless because this is such a broad subject and because there is a lot of content to be covered.

Ease of Use:

1. Are the labels, buttons, menus, text, and general layout of the computer interface consistent and visually distinct?

No. There is no navigational tools in place except months of the year, which are not labeled well.

2. Does the user get trapped in the material?

One could if they chose not to use the audio that coincides with the learning object because they are using it for their own goal or purpose.

3. Can the user get lost easily in the material?

It is possible because of the amount of links to resources and material in each month.
4. Does the module provide feedback about the system status and the user's responses?

No, there is no interaction between the user and system

5. Does the module provide appropriate flexibility in its use?

Yes because of amount of information and scope of subject matter and content

6. Does the learning material require a lot of documentation, technical support, and/or instruction for most students to successfully use the software?

Yes, I would not use this software without my guided instruction or supplemental lesson plan that coincides with resources and material in the learning objective. This is not for student led instruction or independent work.

7. Does the material present information in ways that are familiar for students?

Yes, basic image and text presentation that mirrors PowerPoint, however not as sequential or easy to navigate as other formats. The audio that accompanies the learning objective is a great feature.

8. Does the material present information in ways that would be attractive to students?

I do not believe so; very little student interaction and no input, along with lack of navigation would seem confusing for many students.

Personal Learning Reflection

When I sat down and re-read my Personal Growth Plan that I submitted the first week of class, I must say I was pleasantly surprised. I suppose that I did not realize that the goals I set the first week would actually be accomplished. I feel that CEP 810 allowed me to grow professionally and personally in so many ways.


Two specific goals that I had hoped to learn about during this course really stand out to me. First, I wanted to find ways to communicate and collaborate with educators outside of my building and district. By learning about PLN’s, RSS subscriptions and joining countless educational forums and blogs, I feel that I have only started to utilize the so many resources I have at my fingertips that I never existed. I plan to continue to grow my PLN for the rest of my career. This course gave me a chance to not only find the right path for educational collaboration, but also allowed me to follow what interests me.

The second goal I feel that I achieved during this course stated in my Personal Growth Plan is using free applications and software to collaborate and share my work. The SIG proposal, plan and presentation really was imperative in learning these tools. When working with a group that exclusively can only work through the Internet and collaboration tools, I learned great ways to create, share, modify, contribute and chat with people across the world. I have already begun to implement these collaborative tools and applications in my own classroom.

In this course I have not only found what teaching strategies work well for myself when integrating technology, but I also discovered many for my students. I now know that technology skills need to be built upon, and practiced. I also learned about Google Earth, Google Notebook and Wiki’s which have the potential to be great ways to effectively teach while integrating technology.

This course gave me the opportunity to evaluate resources that may or may not be useful for myself as an educator. I enjoyed how I was allowed to discover and make my own decisions, and was not forced to accept what the college believed were the best. By learning new avenues and expanding my PLN, I was given the opportunity to grow.

I believe that the SIG project really exemplified good teaching with technology. As students, we had to create, share, communicate and present together through the use of technology. I believe that student led learning is highly beneficial, and the SIG project had all the elements of a great way to teach with technology.

Throughout the past weeks, I have found myself being excited for the weeks lessons, and sharing what I am learning with friends, family and colleagues. I have so many new goals and ideas just from the lessons I learned in my first course in the Educational Technology program. A long term goal is to get my Masters in Educational Technology from MSU. I also have the goal of helping my district to implement technology in all grade levels. I also realize that I need to implement technology into my own classroom first, which is why I have the goal of having at least one element of technology in every lesson I teach. I understand that this will take years and a lot of work, but I am excited to get started! CEP 810 has been such a positive learning experience for me not only as an educator, but personally as well. I cannot wait to learn more!

Learning Styles

I can remember always being frustrated in school because my Visual learning style was always being distracted by auditory learners and lessons. I am the type of person who cannot study in groups, needs complete silence and have to read notes over and over to get a mental image for tests. I tend to picture the location of material I need to recall mentally. Independent learning was always my favorite in the classroom. I would prefer to go at my own pace and learn by myself. However, after I knew the material or understood the content, I always would teach my fellow classmates, putting it in my own words. I do learn well from lectures ironically, but I think it is because I take my own notes and can visualize the words on paper. As much as I try to vary my lessons to reach all learning styles in my classroom, I tend to teach to the auditory learner most. After reflecting on this learning style quiz and lesson, I realize that I probably would not do well in my OWN classroom. I plan to address this in a fashion that will hopefully reach all learners, not just visual learners like myself. Teachers always struggle with the best practice in their classroom, and the ultimate goal is to reach every student. Unfortunately, the reality is that we probably wont. I believe that our focus as teachers is to have student led instruction, which will allow students to dictate and take ownership of their personal learning. I have found that not only do student learn more in student led instruction, but they are also more engaged.

Creative Commons

I can use the image below in my World History class. I will use it to visually show my students how Japanese imperialism was planned. Students have just learned about European imperialism and it will be good for them to learn about imperialism in the east as well. Students will be able to understand how Nationalism can lead to imperialism all over the world.

Photo Attribution
Original Image: "Japans plan to take over the world"
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kalleboo/2470237557/

By: Karl Baron
Released under an Attribution Licence
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

Be sure to check out my own Flickr page!

RSS Reader

My RSS Reader has brought the world of news that I care about right to me! I have found that each day, something new and exciting is waiting for me to read. I have found it very helpful in keeping up on current events, and linking them to course content for my students. I also noticed that feeds change with current budget issues and other national news and debates. I have learned so much from my RSS reader. For example, I have been very skeptical of social networking ever since I graduated from college. I read a feed that was from a principal of a High School who felt the same way as I did. He began to embrace the social networking tools that are out there, and his whole world has changed. He described how it connected him to other administrators across the world. This makes me believe that I can use social networking to my advantage not only in my professional but in personal life. I also learned about useful tips in case I do get laid off this next school year. :( I dont want to think about that possiblity though! I have found that I will be using RSS reader in my life for all topics I find interesting. I usually watch the news every morning, and find I always seem to share the stories I watch in my classroom. Now with RSS reader, I can stay on top of not only news in education and technology, but all facets of news and personal interests.
Another facet of RSS reader is how not only can you keep up with websites or news feeds, but blogs as well. And you can also directly participate in public blogs you subscribe to. For instance, I subscribe to a World History Teachers blog. This has been tremendously helpful in sharing information on the subject area I teach. I recently read a posting about how one teacher had discovered how to use Google Docs and Spreadsheets and he was sharing how amazing and excited he was to use this application. I posted a comment back explaining how a fellow colleague had created an online course for our district that counted as part of our requried Professional Development for our district. We learned all about Google applications and got PD hours and even SB-CEU's for the course! I recommended him to look into doing the same for his school as well. Such great information is being shared!

 I am very happy with RSS reader and its endless possiblities!
Check out what it looks like by clicking here: Shannons RSS

PC Maintenance and Security

The first tutorial I chose was "Good Security and Saftey Habits" I chose this because I have no idea what habits I should have when it comes to keeping my PC safe. One thing I learned that I will tell others is about the System Restore feature though Windows. I was very suprised that I can choose and name a point in time on my computer that can be a checkpoint for restoration. For example, I can name a time through System Restore before I install software. If the software makes my computer run weird or slow, I can restore my PC to the time prior to instalation to make it run normal again.
The second tutorial I chose was "Making email Safter" I will be sharing how I can set up filters through my Gmail account and have specific domain or email address automatically deleted. This is so amazing! I hate getting all that spam, and now I can create a filter so I NEVER have to even see the spam.
The final tutorial I chose was "Clean Up and Speed UP your PC" I learned about Windows Cleanup! This downloadable program cleans up your hardrive and gets rid of all excess baggage on your PC. Recovering space? YES! This reminds me of a maid service for a dirty house! Getting all the junk out and giving your PC space! LOVE IT!

Getting Things Done

After taking a step back and realizing that the workflow process can be an organized production, not mass caious, I tried it out. I used my blackberry as my organizational tool for my inbox, and labeled a decorative basket for a hard copy inbox. Going through everything that needs to be dealt with in my inbox, I was slightly overwhelmed. I have so much to do, but I went through it all. Tackeling a lot because it could be taken care of in less than two minutes. I couldnt believe how many small things I had been putting off! I really think this process can help me, and I even shared it with my boyfriend who owns a buisness too! He couldnt believe how effective it was! Now we both use the workflow process, and will continue to! I cant believe how simple it really is in the end.

Social Networking

I think that social networking has cleared the blurry lenses of human interaction. I have once shyed away from social networking. Fear of potential employers and future students "disecting" my life on a social network has led me to stay away from any participation, until now. I think that social networking can now help my professional and personal life, not hurt it. I find that I can reach so many lost friends and reach students and colleauges through social networking. I also think that parents and students find it very convienent to access social networking sites because they already take part in them. I am NOT afraid anymore. I have nothing to hide, and know how social networking can help me grow as an individual personally and professionally.

Web pages vs Blogs

Blogs are the advanced hybrid of traditional web pages that have revolutionized Web 2.0. Traditional web pages are "view only" and users are unable to interact directly with the content. Traditional web pages force the viewer to take as is. Blogs are a variation of web pages that are designed to allow contribution and communication between its viewers. With blogs, people are allowed to have input, and discussion. Instead of having a traditional web page with one author or creator, blogs allow for any subscriber to participate as an author or creator.