Knowledge Transmission (ETEC 532)
ETEC 532: Technology in the Arts and Humanities Classroom (elective course)
This course helped me understand the role of the arts in technology by reviewing the historical development of various technologies and their impact on development in the Arts, and by examining socio-cultural considerations and their impact on the uses of technologies, aesthetics, pedagogy, and curriculum in new media contexts.
Artifacts
Written Artifact 1: Knowledge Transmission Group Project
Written Artifact 2: Pictures tell Stories
After viewing the video “Picture Day” it really drove home for me the belief that students today live in a multimedia world and appreciate and understand this learning environment. It’s easy to see that they take audio visual information and “being videoed” for granted! I can’t help but imagine that when they are learning they would find a mixture of text, still images, sound and video more interesting than a traditional teacher lecture.
In the creation of this video I’m certain that these students have gained much more knowledge from being involved in the production and thinking about how they would respond to the question(s) than sitting in a desk in a classroom. I think this small video is very powerful!
There is a lot for students to gain in their learning about the various conventions of using video to express themselves. They would get to understand that their knowledge is valued and they have many outlets to express it. This approach to learning is very appropriate and usable and should be promoted.
As a fellow classmate in this course mentioned in his post, the teachers at Tussing Elementary School have also learned a great deal from this project as they received a great deal of inservice on the use of the technology and then had the opportunity to use it right away in the creation of this video. They must be very proud of this product! Hopefully they will continue to use their new knowledge and incorporate more of it into their classroom.
I don’t have any prior experience using video in my classrooms nor do I have any experience videoing students with exceptionalities and/or their teachers across my district. I think a tasteful video of the exceptional student population involved in inclusionary practices would go a long way to assist in keeping the value and philosophy of inclusion alive. I would like to undertake such a project!
General Reflection:
Drawing from this course and my own background knowledge, I believe that the challenges facing educators are threefold: 1) understanding of how and when to use technology most effectively; 2) knowledge of how to select appropriate software/web tools; and 3) the ability to incorporate technology-related activities to maximize the benefits for student learning and engagement. The benefits of technology however, are often held within the challenges and visa-versa.
Reflecting toward the future:
What do I see as the supports that would help me to further cultivate my practice of pioneering leadership?
- The challenge of choosing how and when to use technology lies with the educator’s sense of their instructional objectives and their aptitude and willingness to adapt to change. As we know, technology can refer to the use of video, sound, graphics, text and images to create a presentation to engage learners in the content being delivered. Such presentations have many benefits in that they make use of many types of information about topics in the form of photos, video and animation sequences, charts and graphs, text, sound, and graphics.
- The major benefit of using technology is that it can help to provide powerful perspectives on another time and/or place in history that reaches far beyond written text. A colleague in this course, Leslie Grevell, stated so well in her post that “As our culture is so visually orientated, images are especially powerful in drawing out emotions and capturing our inspiration. Inspiration is key to student motivation and learning.”
How does theory learned in this course offer me insights about how I might nurture a change in the culture of my community?
- A challenge with inherent benefits is that of inclusiveness. I believe that in order to move from an area of challenge to one of realizing benefits, educators in the arts and humanities must be included in the ongoing acquisition and upgrading of their schools’ technology; i.e. create a technology plan. Determinations about what type of hardware to acquire, or the software to invest in should include input from educators in the arts and humanities as well as the usual staff/departments that take part in these conversations.
- Not only is inclusiveness important in determining software and hardware acquisition, but it is also important in how the technology is used to support learning. Jonathan Strang (MET Student) in one of his posts to our class discussion board stated that social sciences and sciences use video to document and record, but arts and humanities are able to reflect on the process of the video itself.
- Mr. Strang stated that the video project “Photo Day” was incredibly inclusive and collaborative. Continuing with the importance of inclusiveness, Cathy Jung (MET Student) stated that a video project of this nature would appeal to the auditory, visual and kinesthetic learners and would thereby be inclusive of all students. Another classmate that commented on the inclusiveness of the “Photo Day” assignment was Joe Dobson (MET Student), who stated that he liked the inclusive nature of the project and that the celebration is not one of team or individual accomplishment, but rather of the collective.
Implementation, surprises, benefits, and consequences? Regrets?
- Closely related to the challenges of obtaining and maintaining appropriate technology is the challenge of ensuring there is a commitment to providing inservice to educators on the use of the technology. A major benefit of having the appropriate and necessary tools is that some educators will become the producers of their own multimedia lessons and will infuse technology into their classrooms every day.
- Other benefits of having this technology available in the classroom are that educators can encourage students to create individual or group presentations that develop and deepen their skills as well as create presentations that demonstrate their understanding of the content along with infusing their own views and perspectives. Tyler Sherwood (MET Student), in his post to our discussion board stated that “video” is one of the easiest ways to get students and educators ‘handling’ technology and using it together. I believe that this type of learning relationship indicates a commitment of educators to utilize technology and accept the fact that they don’t have to be experts about everything. In addition, technology (and the Internet) in the arts and humanities classrooms can serve as a research tool of unlimited potential
How does this learning affect your practice or what new perspectives have you discovered in reflection?
- It is clear to me that educators need to know how to incorporate technology-related activities for maximum benefits to student learning and engagement. A classmate, Sheila Hancock (MET Student), stated that the video presentation “Photo Day” was particularly relevant to those who believe technology has a adverse effect on humanistic learning and literacy because the very process of making the video incorporated learning strategies that explore the human condition, that were creative, artistic and emotional which, on their own, shows that technology can have a very “human” side. Another classmate, Cathy Jung (MET Student), posted that this “Photo Day” allowed for a multicultural perspective, the expression of views by individuals/groups and that it captured a moment in time and a link to memories. Leslie Grevell (MET Student), in her post to the discussion board, stated that images provide a forum through which to practice critical analysis, which is an important skill in elementary learning. Ms. Grevell stated that as students view images they continually analyze and interpret the point of view represented by the video or photo, and thereby evaluate the underlying messages. Ms. Grevell stated that images encourage reflection, where students make meaning and establish deep connections to the content.
Next Steps:
- It is clear that part of the foundational work that we, as educators, need to do is to strive to use technology in our classrooms to increase student learning and engagement.
- We must all work to “take on” the various technological challenges that stand in the way of student learning and participation. There are some very compelling statements made by my peers in this course that the infusion of technology into the arts and humanities classrooms is instrumental to engaging all students in their learning.
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