The world today is changing fast and technology is the driving force. Therefore educators and students must be prepared to keep pace with the changes. In order to keep up with the changes you need a plan like the one Cennamo, Ross, and Ertmer (2009) developed the GAME plan. I have incorporated this plan into my own teaching career during the past eight weeks. So far I have successfully set up a website for my classes to use. This website will help students and parents stay organized and abreast of performance dates, class projects, class rules, enable them to print necessary forms and practice their repertoire. I plan to keep extending the usefulness of the site by planning for future additions of music based links. Today’s students can no longer be taught with just academic content in mind. The world is changing fast and technology is a driving force behind the changes. Students must be prepared to be competitive in a burgeoning global society. That is why I intend to use my website to help students further those skills.
Reference:
Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom
use: A standards-based approach. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Thursday, December 17, 2009
With my own technology GAME plan now underway I look forward to the future, considering further uses of the organizational technique, originally created by Katherine Cennamo, John Ross, and Peggy Ertmer in their book Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom Use (2009). Students as well as teachers need to find ways to self direct their learning within a exponentially growing technological and global society. Therefore, the GAME plan is an excellent tool for student use as well as for teachers to plan for self directed learning. For instance, students today are responsible for learning more than just academic content standards. To stay competitive in a global society they must also be current with the ISTE National Educational Technology Standards (NETS•S). They must be able to plan for personal development of creativity, innovation, communication and collaboration. They must also plan to develop their web literacy skills, critical thinking and problem solving capabilities and all under the umbrella of digital citizenship (ISTE, 2007). With this seemingly insurmountable amount of skills to become proficient at students must set some goals. That’s were the GAME plan comes in. Using the GAME plan students could choose several NETS•S that they would like to become more proficient at and set up a plan to meet them. They could keep a journal of the actions they plan to make to achieve their goals, and then monitor their own progress by reviewing their journals and re-evaluating their plan on a weekly basis. This type of self propelled learning is exactly what 21st century learners need to stay competitive in modern society.
References:
Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: a standards based approach. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.
ISTE International Society for Technology in Education. (2008). NETS-S. Retrieved November 9, 2009, from Http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForStudents/2008Standards/NETS_S__Standards_Final.pdf
References:
Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: a standards based approach. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.
ISTE International Society for Technology in Education. (2008). NETS-S. Retrieved November 9, 2009, from Http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForStudents/2008Standards/NETS_S__Standards_Final.pdf
Friday, December 11, 2009
A G.A.M.E. Plan Evaluation
Once again, looking back over my game plan, which was originally created by Katherine Cennamo, John Ross, and Peggy Ertmer in their book Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom Use (2009), I will be evaluating how well the integration of NETS-T standards have been used in the plan.
Overall, my original GAME plan for integrating technology into my content area has been successful. The development and implementation of NETS-T standard 3c, “communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital-age media and formats (ISTE, 2008) has been successful. Choir web-pages have been successfully uploaded and linked to the schools website, and a concept map to help organize the ongoing development of the website has also been successfully established.
Presently, I am still developing a plan to integrate a class blog link on to the website for assessment and learning community purposes. Vicki Davis, IT director, teacher and co-creator of the Flat Classroom project suggests subscribing to an RSS reader to organize and monitor student blogs (Laureate, 2009). She also suggests that students be assigned tags for their work so that finding and subscribing to their blogs is made easier. Prospectively, I plan to develop and integrate her ideas into my own GAME plan.
In the future, I would like to extend the development of integrating technology into my content area, by staying updated and informed about technological developments through networking with other educators through Eduwiki, located at http://musiceduwikius.wikispaces.com , this was also suggested by Vicki Davis (Laureate, 2009). This site provides connections to almost every content area, allowing teachers with the same interest to connect and build grass root projects, keeping life long community based learning alive.
Resource:
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Program eleven. Spotlight on technology: Social networking and online collaboration Part 2. Integrating technology across the content areas. Baltimore: Author.
Overall, my original GAME plan for integrating technology into my content area has been successful. The development and implementation of NETS-T standard 3c, “communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital-age media and formats (ISTE, 2008) has been successful. Choir web-pages have been successfully uploaded and linked to the schools website, and a concept map to help organize the ongoing development of the website has also been successfully established.
Presently, I am still developing a plan to integrate a class blog link on to the website for assessment and learning community purposes. Vicki Davis, IT director, teacher and co-creator of the Flat Classroom project suggests subscribing to an RSS reader to organize and monitor student blogs (Laureate, 2009). She also suggests that students be assigned tags for their work so that finding and subscribing to their blogs is made easier. Prospectively, I plan to develop and integrate her ideas into my own GAME plan.
In the future, I would like to extend the development of integrating technology into my content area, by staying updated and informed about technological developments through networking with other educators through Eduwiki, located at http://musiceduwikius.wikispaces.com , this was also suggested by Vicki Davis (Laureate, 2009). This site provides connections to almost every content area, allowing teachers with the same interest to connect and build grass root projects, keeping life long community based learning alive.
Resource:
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Program eleven. Spotlight on technology: Social networking and online collaboration Part 2. Integrating technology across the content areas. Baltimore: Author.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Continueing to Review the Choral Technology G.A.M.E. Plan
Again this week I will be looking back over my technology G.A.M.E. plan examining how effective my actions have been in achieving my goals, what I have learned so far to apply to my instructional practice, what do I still need to learn, and how I plan to adjust my plan to meet my current needs . The G.A.M.E. plan was developed by Katherine Cennamo, John Ross, and Peggy Ertmer in their book Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom Use (2009).
Being the holiday season, it has been hard to move forward with the set up of website. There have been problems linking the new website to the different buildings web pages. The website needs to be accessible from the middle school and the high school pages. However, the organization of the website flow chart is progressing. Making a strong resource link page has become one of my biggest concerns. Having resources that help build students understanding and performance skills are desired for this section. John Kusmich, Jr. suggests several usable music theory and ear training software programs in his Choral Director article (pp. 28-31, 2009). The most interesting and usable where, Essentials of Music Theory 3, and Alfred’s Interactive Musician, by Alfred www.alfred.com, as well as, EarMaster distributed by Emedia www.emediamusic.com , all offered self-paced drill and practice software and promoted sight reading skills, a desirable skill for singers.
As mentioned in chapter 16 of Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom Use (Cennamo, Ross, and Ertmer, 2009), “these innovative methods for helping students practice on their own carry many benefits that are hard to dispute. They can bring exemplary models of performance into a student’s home at little cost, which is especially useful for student who do not have access to private lessons.”
References:
Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: a standards based approach. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.
Kuzmich, J., Jr. (2009, November). Music Theory & Ear Training Software.
Choral Director, 28-31.
Being the holiday season, it has been hard to move forward with the set up of website. There have been problems linking the new website to the different buildings web pages. The website needs to be accessible from the middle school and the high school pages. However, the organization of the website flow chart is progressing. Making a strong resource link page has become one of my biggest concerns. Having resources that help build students understanding and performance skills are desired for this section. John Kusmich, Jr. suggests several usable music theory and ear training software programs in his Choral Director article (pp. 28-31, 2009). The most interesting and usable where, Essentials of Music Theory 3, and Alfred’s Interactive Musician, by Alfred www.alfred.com, as well as, EarMaster distributed by Emedia www.emediamusic.com , all offered self-paced drill and practice software and promoted sight reading skills, a desirable skill for singers.
As mentioned in chapter 16 of Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom Use (Cennamo, Ross, and Ertmer, 2009), “these innovative methods for helping students practice on their own carry many benefits that are hard to dispute. They can bring exemplary models of performance into a student’s home at little cost, which is especially useful for student who do not have access to private lessons.”
References:
Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: a standards based approach. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.
Kuzmich, J., Jr. (2009, November). Music Theory & Ear Training Software.
Choral Director, 28-31.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Reviewing the Technology GAME plan
Title: Reviewing the technology G.A.M.E. plan.
To begin with I would like to site where the idea of the GAME plan came from. The plan was developed by Katherine Cennamo, John Ross, and Peggy Ertmer in their book Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom Use (2009). Over the past few weeks I have been developing my own GAME plan to meaningfully incorporate technology into my choral curriculum. In short review, while following NETS•T standard 3c, http://www.iste.org I plan to build a class website that will create a base for students to revisit lessons for each week, stay current with the class calendar, and rehearse their songs with provided links to http://www.carlfischer.com Part-by-Part. I also plan to promote and model digital citizenship making sure that I as well as my students practice legal and ethical us of the digital information, NETS•T Standard 4a.
Last week I revisited my GAME plan and reviewed the resources I would need to accomplish my goals. So far I have set up a working flow chart that I still am changing and tweaking, trying to set up a logical flow of pages and links. I have downloaded a free PDF converter from http://www.pdf995.com/ to help my readers with accessibility. The technology director has been contacted and to begun the process of uploading my new website. And while there has been a few problems creating the proper links with in our school website the project is progressing as planned.
After reading the resources from my Walden University class Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas on assessment I have decided that I wanted to modify my plan by adding a class blog link onto my website. I will use this blog to create a platform for formative assessment of students understanding of musical terminology and digital citizenship. In the article Assessing for Technology Literacy by Dr. Daniel E. Engstrom, he suggests that “… assessment be viewed as a scrapbook rather than a single snapshot. In other words, viewing one particular source of evidence (e.g., a test, a project, notes, or observations) will not give a complete picture of student development”(2005). Student blogs will provide another layer of empirical evidence of what they have learned. Furthermore, with access to the blog being located on the website, parent’s colleagues and administrators can easily access what is being taught and learned in my class giving choir a little more credibility as an academic content.
References:
Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: a standards based approach. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.
Engstrom, D. (2004). Assessing for technological literacy. Technology Teacher, 64(4), 30-32. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database November 24, 2009.
ISTE International Society for Technology in Education. (2008). NETS-T. Retrieved November 9, 2009, from Http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/FroTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T__Standards_Final.pdf
To begin with I would like to site where the idea of the GAME plan came from. The plan was developed by Katherine Cennamo, John Ross, and Peggy Ertmer in their book Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom Use (2009). Over the past few weeks I have been developing my own GAME plan to meaningfully incorporate technology into my choral curriculum. In short review, while following NETS•T standard 3c, http://www.iste.org I plan to build a class website that will create a base for students to revisit lessons for each week, stay current with the class calendar, and rehearse their songs with provided links to http://www.carlfischer.com Part-by-Part. I also plan to promote and model digital citizenship making sure that I as well as my students practice legal and ethical us of the digital information, NETS•T Standard 4a.
Last week I revisited my GAME plan and reviewed the resources I would need to accomplish my goals. So far I have set up a working flow chart that I still am changing and tweaking, trying to set up a logical flow of pages and links. I have downloaded a free PDF converter from http://www.pdf995.com/ to help my readers with accessibility. The technology director has been contacted and to begun the process of uploading my new website. And while there has been a few problems creating the proper links with in our school website the project is progressing as planned.
After reading the resources from my Walden University class Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas on assessment I have decided that I wanted to modify my plan by adding a class blog link onto my website. I will use this blog to create a platform for formative assessment of students understanding of musical terminology and digital citizenship. In the article Assessing for Technology Literacy by Dr. Daniel E. Engstrom, he suggests that “… assessment be viewed as a scrapbook rather than a single snapshot. In other words, viewing one particular source of evidence (e.g., a test, a project, notes, or observations) will not give a complete picture of student development”(2005). Student blogs will provide another layer of empirical evidence of what they have learned. Furthermore, with access to the blog being located on the website, parent’s colleagues and administrators can easily access what is being taught and learned in my class giving choir a little more credibility as an academic content.
References:
Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: a standards based approach. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.
Engstrom, D. (2004). Assessing for technological literacy. Technology Teacher, 64(4), 30-32. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database November 24, 2009.
ISTE International Society for Technology in Education. (2008). NETS-T. Retrieved November 9, 2009, from Http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/FroTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T__Standards_Final.pdf
Friday, November 20, 2009
Reviewing The GAME Plan
For this weeks blog post I will be reviewing my GAME Plan for incorporating the following NETS standards into my choral curriculum: “communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital-age media and formats” (ISTE, 2008). During this review I will be looking at the resources needed to carry out the plan, and any other considerations as well as the steps I have taken so far.
The first part of my GAME plan was to build a website. After determining the audience, goals, and content of the website,the information will need to be organized (Cennamo, Ross & Ertmer, 2009). A simple concept map from Microsoft Word should help organize the flow of the links and pages. A PDF converter would also be advisable to down load because as stated by Cennamo, “Documents may need to be converted to PDF format to allow them to be viewed by the widest number of users”(2009). When the organization is complete the site can be built using the Microsoft Front Page and saved on a flash drive. At that point it would be advisable to secure the help of a technology director or an experienced colleague to help “Deliver” the created website to a “web server”(2009). I will be uploading to my schools server, so series of codes will be needed, my personal code and the servers FTP code. I have presently gained all the resources and completed all of the steps listed above.
References:
Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: a standards based approach. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.
ISTE International Society for Technology in Education. (2008). NETS-T. Retrieved November 9, 2009, from Http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/FroTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T__Standards_Final.pdf
The first part of my GAME plan was to build a website. After determining the audience, goals, and content of the website,the information will need to be organized (Cennamo, Ross & Ertmer, 2009). A simple concept map from Microsoft Word should help organize the flow of the links and pages. A PDF converter would also be advisable to down load because as stated by Cennamo, “Documents may need to be converted to PDF format to allow them to be viewed by the widest number of users”(2009). When the organization is complete the site can be built using the Microsoft Front Page and saved on a flash drive. At that point it would be advisable to secure the help of a technology director or an experienced colleague to help “Deliver” the created website to a “web server”(2009). I will be uploading to my schools server, so series of codes will be needed, my personal code and the servers FTP code. I have presently gained all the resources and completed all of the steps listed above.
References:
Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: a standards based approach. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.
ISTE International Society for Technology in Education. (2008). NETS-T. Retrieved November 9, 2009, from Http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/FroTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T__Standards_Final.pdf
Thursday, November 12, 2009
My Technology Integration GAME Plan
This week I will be exploring possible ways to integrate National Educational Technology Standards (NETS•T) and Performance Indicators into the content area of choral music retrieved from http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf . I have chosen to integrate the following applicable standards:
Model Digital-Age Work and Learning
Teachers exhibit knowledge, skills, and work processes representative of an innovative professional in a global and digital society. Teachers will:
c. communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital-age media and formats (ISTE, 2008).
My GAME Plan:
G: My goal is to keep parents and students informed by developing a clear and concise website
That will provide up to date information regarding choir classes and create a text group of parents and students on my BlackBerry to keep parents informed with up to date reminders of performances, meetings and due dates.
A: I will gather and post pertinent information regarding class assignments, expectations, calendar of events, fundraisers, links to music education sites etc. to the website and send monthly notification texts to parents and students concerning relevant events.
M: I will determine the effectiveness of my actions by monitoring the responses from the parents and the students.
E: To evaluate the success of goals I will create an create and post a link to an online parent students exist survey at the end of the school year.
Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility Teachers understand local and global societal issues and responsibilities in an evolving digital culture and exhibit legal and ethical behavior in their professional practices. Teachers will:
a. advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources (ISTE, 2008).
My GAME Plan:
G: The goal is to teach students appropriate way to use and site copyrighted and Creative Commons music.
A: Students will learn how to appropriately use and site copyrighted and Creative Commons music when incorporating non original music into their media projects.
M: I will monitor the students projects weekly to ensure the ethical and legal use of digital property.
E: At the end of each project I will determine if students have properly sited all their music sources.
Model Digital-Age Work and Learning
Teachers exhibit knowledge, skills, and work processes representative of an innovative professional in a global and digital society. Teachers will:
c. communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital-age media and formats (ISTE, 2008).
My GAME Plan:
G: My goal is to keep parents and students informed by developing a clear and concise website
That will provide up to date information regarding choir classes and create a text group of parents and students on my BlackBerry to keep parents informed with up to date reminders of performances, meetings and due dates.
A: I will gather and post pertinent information regarding class assignments, expectations, calendar of events, fundraisers, links to music education sites etc. to the website and send monthly notification texts to parents and students concerning relevant events.
M: I will determine the effectiveness of my actions by monitoring the responses from the parents and the students.
E: To evaluate the success of goals I will create an create and post a link to an online parent students exist survey at the end of the school year.
Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility Teachers understand local and global societal issues and responsibilities in an evolving digital culture and exhibit legal and ethical behavior in their professional practices. Teachers will:
a. advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources (ISTE, 2008).
My GAME Plan:
G: The goal is to teach students appropriate way to use and site copyrighted and Creative Commons music.
A: Students will learn how to appropriately use and site copyrighted and Creative Commons music when incorporating non original music into their media projects.
M: I will monitor the students projects weekly to ensure the ethical and legal use of digital property.
E: At the end of each project I will determine if students have properly sited all their music sources.
My Technology Integration GAME Plan
This week I will be exploring possible ways to integrate National Educational Technology Standards (NETS•T) and Performance Indicators into the content area of choral music retrieved from http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf . I have chosen to integrate the following applicable standards:
Model Digital-Age Work and Learning Teachers exhibit knowledge, skills, and work processes representative of an innovative professional in a global and digital society. Teachers will:
c. communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital-age media and formats (ISTE, 2008).
My GAME Plan:
G: My goal is to keep parents and students informed by developing a clear and concise website
That will provide up to date information regarding choir classes and create a text group of parents and students on my Black Berry to keep parents informed with up to date reminders of performances, meetings and due dates.
A: I will gather and post pertinent information regarding class assignments, expectations, calendar of events, fundraisers, links to music education sites etc. to the website and send monthly notification texts to parents and students concerning relevant events.
M: I will determine the effectiveness of my actions by monitoring the responses from the parents and the students.
E: To evaluate the success of goals I will create an create and post a link to an online parent students exist survey at the end of the school year.
Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility Teachers understand local and global societal issues and responsibilities in an evolving digital culture and exhibit legal and ethical behavior in their professional practices. Teachers will:
a. advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources (ISTE, 2008).
My GAME Plan:
G: The goal is to teach students appropriate way to use and site copyrighted and Creative Commons music.
A: Students will learn how to appropriately use and site copyrighted and Creative Commons music when incorporating non original music into their media projects.
M: I will monitor the students projects weekly to ensure the ethical and legal use of digital property.
E: At the end of each project I will determine if students have properly sited all their music sources.
Model Digital-Age Work and Learning Teachers exhibit knowledge, skills, and work processes representative of an innovative professional in a global and digital society. Teachers will:
c. communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital-age media and formats (ISTE, 2008).
My GAME Plan:
G: My goal is to keep parents and students informed by developing a clear and concise website
That will provide up to date information regarding choir classes and create a text group of parents and students on my Black Berry to keep parents informed with up to date reminders of performances, meetings and due dates.
A: I will gather and post pertinent information regarding class assignments, expectations, calendar of events, fundraisers, links to music education sites etc. to the website and send monthly notification texts to parents and students concerning relevant events.
M: I will determine the effectiveness of my actions by monitoring the responses from the parents and the students.
E: To evaluate the success of goals I will create an create and post a link to an online parent students exist survey at the end of the school year.
Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility Teachers understand local and global societal issues and responsibilities in an evolving digital culture and exhibit legal and ethical behavior in their professional practices. Teachers will:
a. advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources (ISTE, 2008).
My GAME Plan:
G: The goal is to teach students appropriate way to use and site copyrighted and Creative Commons music.
A: Students will learn how to appropriately use and site copyrighted and Creative Commons music when incorporating non original music into their media projects.
M: I will monitor the students projects weekly to ensure the ethical and legal use of digital property.
E: At the end of each project I will determine if students have properly sited all their music sources.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
A Reflection on Web Literacy
I am presently obtaining my Masters of Education with a concentration in Integrating Technology into the Classroom through Walden University. I have just finished the course EDUC 6712I Supporting Information Literacy and Online Inquiry in the Classroom. Throughout this course I have discovered that you can not assume that modern students are literate at internet based inquiry just because they are digital natives. Students need to be guided through the process of creating good research questions, that have a focus created from topics which are generated from themes. The text for this course Reading the Web by Maya B. Eagleton and Elizabeth Dobler (2007) have excellent charts and handouts to help with this process. Students also need to be taught how to determine if internet sites they have chosen for their research is valid, and how to glean the most important information from those sites. Students also need to learn to synthesize the information they have collected and teachers need to learn how to assess student synthesis. Eagleton and Dobler (2007) also have great handouts for this process. Students can learn to synthesize information through journaling and reflecting on their research subjects.
My own web literacy has improved through out this course. I think the most striking things I have learned is how to conduct a better search and how to determine if the sites I have found are valid. I have demonstrated this by creating a webcast at http://www.screencast.com/users/bchronister/folders/Default/media/08d0f264-8308-4fa9-9f52-2ba144594844 which is also listed in my blog from October 4, 2009. with this new knowledge I better help students and fellow educators learn to conduct more powerful searches that produce quicker and more useful information for the purpose of inquiry.
Although I teach choir which is a highly participatory subject, I still think there is room for inquiry based lesson plans. In the future I would like to have my students take more responsibility for the production of their spring musicals. I would like to encourage students to research the chosen themes by setting aside technology lab time and conducting group inquiries. I believe that it is important to keep students moving forward in a collaborative and competitive world. Students should not only be learning how to sing songs in my class but they should be preparing to be life long collaborators and learners for that is what world will be expecting of them when they set forth into adult life.
References:
Eagleton, M. B., & Dobler, E. (2007). Reading the web: Strategies for internet inquiry.
NewYork: The Guilford Press. November, A. (2008). Web literacy for educators.
Thousands Oaks: Corwin Press.
My own web literacy has improved through out this course. I think the most striking things I have learned is how to conduct a better search and how to determine if the sites I have found are valid. I have demonstrated this by creating a webcast at http://www.screencast.com/users/bchronister/folders/Default/media/08d0f264-8308-4fa9-9f52-2ba144594844 which is also listed in my blog from October 4, 2009. with this new knowledge I better help students and fellow educators learn to conduct more powerful searches that produce quicker and more useful information for the purpose of inquiry.
Although I teach choir which is a highly participatory subject, I still think there is room for inquiry based lesson plans. In the future I would like to have my students take more responsibility for the production of their spring musicals. I would like to encourage students to research the chosen themes by setting aside technology lab time and conducting group inquiries. I believe that it is important to keep students moving forward in a collaborative and competitive world. Students should not only be learning how to sing songs in my class but they should be preparing to be life long collaborators and learners for that is what world will be expecting of them when they set forth into adult life.
References:
Eagleton, M. B., & Dobler, E. (2007). Reading the web: Strategies for internet inquiry.
NewYork: The Guilford Press. November, A. (2008). Web literacy for educators.
Thousands Oaks: Corwin Press.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
How to Evaluate the Validity of a Website
This past week has been interesting. I have been working on a screencast production using Jing and Camtasia Studio 6. I was supposed to upload my video to YouTube or TeacherTube but niether would accept my production. I searched for tutorials asked a million questions of classmates, past and present teachers, Walden support and Jing, I downloaded files to convert my video to AVI all to no avail. I have finally decided to upload to Screencast and post a link to my screencast in this blog. So with out further adeu here is my video on how to evaluate the validity of a website:
http://www.screencast.com/users/bchronister/folders/Default/media/08d0f264-8308-4fa9-9f52-2ba144594844
http://www.screencast.com/users/bchronister/folders/Default/media/08d0f264-8308-4fa9-9f52-2ba144594844
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
A Reflection
The name of the Walden University Course I have been studying is, “Bridging Learning Theory, Instruction, and Technology.” In this course I renewed my knowledge of learning theories and rediscovered which ones I particularly liked and used. I began with the thought that I was an eclectic teacher incorporating many different learning styles into my lessons, assessing lesson to lesson which theory worked best to produce given outcome. In that manor I still find that my teaching approach has not changed. However, I have found many new technology sources for use in my classes. I particular liked concept mapping in the online program Spinscape. This particular program allowed me attach tags and links to other sites with just a press of a button I could travel around to related sites on the net enriching the learners experience. I also liked http://www.voicethread.com/ . I liked this site for learners because it was a great way to them to create artifacts for assessment and also gave them a global collaborative platform in which to publish their work and receive feedback from more than just me.
In the future I would like to incorporate the use of http://www.youtube.com/ and http://www.xtranormal.com/ a text-to-movie program in my lesson plans. To do this I will need to get an administrative account password to allow me past the schools filters, and a projector or SMART board for my room to display advanced organizers (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, Malenoski, 2007), and student artifacts when a project is finished. I will also need to organize my large classes into functional collaborative groups and plan for time in my schools computer lab. All in all a doable objective it just takes a little time and planning.
Reference:
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom
instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
In the future I would like to incorporate the use of http://www.youtube.com/ and http://www.xtranormal.com/ a text-to-movie program in my lesson plans. To do this I will need to get an administrative account password to allow me past the schools filters, and a projector or SMART board for my room to display advanced organizers (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, Malenoski, 2007), and student artifacts when a project is finished. I will also need to organize my large classes into functional collaborative groups and plan for time in my schools computer lab. All in all a doable objective it just takes a little time and planning.
Reference:
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom
instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Social Learning Strategies
What is social learning? The Laureate Educational DVD explains the theory as, “students actively engage in constructing artifacts and conversing with others” (2009). Social learning is also explained by Dr. Michael Orey as,” individuals engaged in social activities” (2001). In my course of study this week at Walden University, I examined several technologically based leaning strategies that further students social learning. Please see the list below for how these strategies support the social learning theory.
Facebook – Face book is a social networking site where students can meet and share Ideas. It is generally used for personal social networking. However, with the business world going global it is important that students learn to incorporate this kind of communication into their lives, the good thing is that most students are already involved with this kind of site.
Webquest – This is a wonderful site that supports social learning by offering pre-prepared well organized collaborative learning projects that span a myriad of subjects, I even found one for choir. The site also allows teachers and student to develop their own Webquest and share them with a larger community on the internet.
Google Docs – Google Docs is an efficient way to collaborate on documents. A document can be centrally located on the site and then many people can go to the site to read and or edit the document. It’s a great tool for social learning.
Edublogs – This site supports social learning by opening up a forum for sharing thoughts and opinions on the internet. It has great controls which allow host to monitor and or reject comments left on their blog. You can also post links to your favorite sites or even upload daily podcasts to make your site more appealing and useful to others.
Voicethread – This is also a great tool to for social learning. Pictures and verbal illustrations can be placed on the website, and then others can view your pictures and leave verbal, text or video comments about your pictures. The resulting projects make wonderful artifact for classroom uses and assessment. Check out my new voicethread at, http://voicethread.com/share/525956/
Social learning, it’s the wave of the future!
References:
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Program eight. Social Learning Theories [Motion picture]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Baltimore: Author.
Orey, M.(Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/
Facebook – Face book is a social networking site where students can meet and share Ideas. It is generally used for personal social networking. However, with the business world going global it is important that students learn to incorporate this kind of communication into their lives, the good thing is that most students are already involved with this kind of site.
Webquest – This is a wonderful site that supports social learning by offering pre-prepared well organized collaborative learning projects that span a myriad of subjects, I even found one for choir. The site also allows teachers and student to develop their own Webquest and share them with a larger community on the internet.
Google Docs – Google Docs is an efficient way to collaborate on documents. A document can be centrally located on the site and then many people can go to the site to read and or edit the document. It’s a great tool for social learning.
Edublogs – This site supports social learning by opening up a forum for sharing thoughts and opinions on the internet. It has great controls which allow host to monitor and or reject comments left on their blog. You can also post links to your favorite sites or even upload daily podcasts to make your site more appealing and useful to others.
Voicethread – This is also a great tool to for social learning. Pictures and verbal illustrations can be placed on the website, and then others can view your pictures and leave verbal, text or video comments about your pictures. The resulting projects make wonderful artifact for classroom uses and assessment. Check out my new voicethread at, http://voicethread.com/share/525956/
Social learning, it’s the wave of the future!
References:
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Program eight. Social Learning Theories [Motion picture]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Baltimore: Author.
Orey, M.(Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/
Friday, May 29, 2009
Considering the Principles of Constructivist/Constructionist
Excel spread sheets, Power Point presentations, Web quest, internet research, wikis blogs, podcasts, and more can be used to help students have a deep and meaningful educational experience. All of the programs and resources can be used quite effectively to enhance constructivist/constructionist learning theories.
Spread sheets help students collect and analyze data as well as produce non-linguistic visual aids. Power Point provides students with professional looking artifacts that can then be used for assessment purposes as well as learning tool. WebQuests were one of my favorite new discoveries this week. I found a WebQuest at http://webquest.org/index.php that pertained to my discipline choir. I had been thinking this entire week how could I build a technology based project for my choir students, when I came across this WebQuest http://tli.jefferson.k12.ky.us/EDTD675Projects/Waiters/WaiterWQ/concert.htm .
The teacher basically planned a project that had the students construct a concert, from choosing a theme, to researching the appropriate music to fit the theme. They also were instructed to consider their performers needs considering their level of ability and their age before choosing songs. They also had to design a program with program notes which provided an assessable artifact. The teacher also provided a list of resource links and even wrote out how the students should process through the project. She gave her students a well organized project with a clear objective that encouraged analysis, problem solving, investigation, invention, and decision making. All of these tasks are part of “Generating and Testing Hypotheses,” included in this weeks resource from the book “Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works” chapter 11(Pitler, 2007).
References:
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.\
Spread sheets help students collect and analyze data as well as produce non-linguistic visual aids. Power Point provides students with professional looking artifacts that can then be used for assessment purposes as well as learning tool. WebQuests were one of my favorite new discoveries this week. I found a WebQuest at http://webquest.org/index.php that pertained to my discipline choir. I had been thinking this entire week how could I build a technology based project for my choir students, when I came across this WebQuest http://tli.jefferson.k12.ky.us/EDTD675Projects/Waiters/WaiterWQ/concert.htm .
The teacher basically planned a project that had the students construct a concert, from choosing a theme, to researching the appropriate music to fit the theme. They also were instructed to consider their performers needs considering their level of ability and their age before choosing songs. They also had to design a program with program notes which provided an assessable artifact. The teacher also provided a list of resource links and even wrote out how the students should process through the project. She gave her students a well organized project with a clear objective that encouraged analysis, problem solving, investigation, invention, and decision making. All of these tasks are part of “Generating and Testing Hypotheses,” included in this weeks resource from the book “Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works” chapter 11(Pitler, 2007).
References:
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.\
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Application Week 3 ~ Cognitive Learning Theory in PracticeInstructor: Kathryn ArnoldEDUC-6711I-1 Bridging Learning Theory, Instruction, and Technology
If I have not mentioned it before, I teach choir, and I know that my subject does not demand a lot of respect in the world of education. However, I know that years from now my former students will remember their Spring Cabaret performances and forgotten the names of the state capitals. My students spend months organizing and rehearsing for this event they are immersed in the experience and consequently long term memories are formed during the process.
Long term cognitive memory, is at the center of what we are studying this week, the theory of cognitive learning skills.
Basically the more organized and varied the cognitive input a learner has on a given subject the more mental connections are made and the better the learner’s retention of that subject material. Dr. Orey states this about cognitive tools, “Their roles allow students to interact with information in order to acquire, synthesize, create, and share knew knowledge”(2007). Therefore, using tools such as cues, questions, advance organizers, multimedia, note taking etc. all help students make multiple and varied mental connections that help them synthesize new knowledge.
References:
Orey, M.(Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/
If I have not mentioned it before, I teach choir, and I know that my subject does not demand a lot of respect in the world of education. However, I know that years from now my former students will remember their Spring Cabaret performances and forgotten the names of the state capitals. My students spend months organizing and rehearsing for this event they are immersed in the experience and consequently long term memories are formed during the process.
Long term cognitive memory, is at the center of what we are studying this week, the theory of cognitive learning skills.
Basically the more organized and varied the cognitive input a learner has on a given subject the more mental connections are made and the better the learner’s retention of that subject material. Dr. Orey states this about cognitive tools, “Their roles allow students to interact with information in order to acquire, synthesize, create, and share knew knowledge”(2007). Therefore, using tools such as cues, questions, advance organizers, multimedia, note taking etc. all help students make multiple and varied mental connections that help them synthesize new knowledge.
References:
Orey, M.(Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Behaviorism In Practice
Application Week 2 ~ Behaviorism in Practice
Instructor: Kathryn Arnold
EDUC-6711I-1 Bridging Learning Theory, Instruction, and Technology
According to behaviorists, the learner acquires behaviors, skills and knowledge in response to the rewards punishments or withheld responses associated with them” (Lever-Duffy, 2008). With that thought in mind how does behaviorism relate to reinforcing student effort and the practice of homework?
Reinforcement is some times need to encourage student effort, especially when a student is not intrinsically motivated to participate and practice the skills of a given subject. Therefore, motivating students through games and technologies that incorporate behaviorist theory of positive reinforcement can help motivate students to spend the necessary amount time practicing a given skill to help them reach proficiency. There are many web sites that can be resourced to aid the effort of student motivation, http://www.brainpop.com; www.iknowthat.com; and www.explorelearning.com; (Pitler, 2007) http://www.webmath.com/k8drill.html; http://englishgrammar101.com; http://www.davis.k12.ut.us/cjh/appliedtech/Business/Keyboarding just to name a few. I must however agree with Dr. Orey from Walden University Laureate videos (2009), using only drill and practice oriented technology to further student learning falls short of the goal of creating intrinsically motivated life long learners.
References:
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Program four. Behaviorist Learning Theory [Motion picture]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Baltimore: Author.
Lever-Duffy, J. & McDonald, J. (2008). Theoretical Foundations (Laureate Education, Inc., custom ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom that works.
Instructor: Kathryn Arnold
EDUC-6711I-1 Bridging Learning Theory, Instruction, and Technology
According to behaviorists, the learner acquires behaviors, skills and knowledge in response to the rewards punishments or withheld responses associated with them” (Lever-Duffy, 2008). With that thought in mind how does behaviorism relate to reinforcing student effort and the practice of homework?
Reinforcement is some times need to encourage student effort, especially when a student is not intrinsically motivated to participate and practice the skills of a given subject. Therefore, motivating students through games and technologies that incorporate behaviorist theory of positive reinforcement can help motivate students to spend the necessary amount time practicing a given skill to help them reach proficiency. There are many web sites that can be resourced to aid the effort of student motivation, http://www.brainpop.com; www.iknowthat.com; and www.explorelearning.com; (Pitler, 2007) http://www.webmath.com/k8drill.html; http://englishgrammar101.com; http://www.davis.k12.ut.us/cjh/appliedtech/Business/Keyboarding just to name a few. I must however agree with Dr. Orey from Walden University Laureate videos (2009), using only drill and practice oriented technology to further student learning falls short of the goal of creating intrinsically motivated life long learners.
References:
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Program four. Behaviorist Learning Theory [Motion picture]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Baltimore: Author.
Lever-Duffy, J. & McDonald, J. (2008). Theoretical Foundations (Laureate Education, Inc., custom ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom that works.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
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