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Posts by Thomas Kritikos:
- Is a website the way to go for Lenora ?
- Why or why not?
- Be sure to explain how you came up with your answer.
Aug
2
Looking back, Moving Forward
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1. Looking back, how does what you expected to learn during ETEC 565 compare to what you actually have learned, in terms of technical competencies?
I didn’t think that I would be exposed, as a graduate student to the volume of applications that I witnessed within this course. I understood that there would be a lot of applications that I would be evaluating in terms of the benefits to support student learning. I just was amazed at how many applications I discovered as being very useful towards motivating students to learn. I have always been successful in being able to grasp the technical aspects of any digital solution that I deemed necessary for my professional growth as an educator. I rather enjoyed learning about how the various digital tools could be infused within an education program. However, I was very happy to finally have a matrix that I could apply to the evaluation of a tool. The SECTIONS model was very instrumental in having me begin to critically analyze whether a digital tool would be useful to implement within a learning environment. This model has given me additional insights to decide the effectiveness of digital media. As well, I typically would evaluate the functionality of various media tools using a Windows and Mac based computer. I found that some of my implementation decisions were based on whether a specific tool would work on a specific platform.
2. Moving forward, how do you think what you learned in ETEC 565 will impact your educational practice, be it as an instructional designer, instructor, or administrator?
I really enjoyed investigating the functionality of the Moodle platform, and found that creating my LMS became an exercise in how to pedagogically develop a course that would stimulate, motivate and enlighten learner minds. I found that I was mentally filtering my media tools using the SECTIONS model when crafting the LMS course. As an educator, I plan to develop additional courses using Moodle that span several subject areas. Eventually, I would love to see students assist me in developing a Moodle course. This platform is extremely adaptable, benefiting the many learning styles that students bring to the learning environment.
Aug
2
Dafna
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1. Based on the resources available, how might Dafna organize this activity?
I would have students working in groups of two. Essentially one student would video record the other performing their music video. Then, students would reverse roles. I would also create a schedule where students would be able to sign out the camera equipment for a specified amount of time. This scheduling would permit all 4 groups to have access to the equipment on an equitable basis. Since students will need lots of camera recording time, it is wise that this activity is iterative in nature. With limited equipment, being also used by other departments, Dafna’s group will need to be afforded additional time throughout the year for refinement and completion of the project. With 4 computers available, groups of two students could also schedule when they need the machines, again equitable distribution of resources is the goal for all 8 students.
To support students as they self-direct their own learning with respect to completing the project, Dafna could create a presentation by using for example, Empressr to teach students about Camera basics, shooting video, editing video and post-production tips and tricks. Having students proceed through these learning activities at their own pace will support their individual learning plans. Another way to have students use the limited equipment equitably would be to have 4 students work on the Empressr activities, while the other 4 students work through the camera basics, and shooting video portion of the project. If 4 students finished shooting their raw video, while the other 4 finished the Empressr activities, then those 4 students could start camera basics, and video shooting while the other 4 begin the editing process. This plan would require Dafna to create a schedule so students could organize their time efficiently with respect to using the equipment.
2. How might she disseminate the music videos, once created?
Dafna could export the edited video through iDVD and burn a digital copy of each music video. She could export the edited video to any number of mp3 players that also play video. I once used an application (the name escapes me right now) that removed the soundtrack from a movie, I then converted the file into an mp3 for playback. Dafna could also do this for audio track playback only. Users would have an audio and video copy of each music video. Dafna could also host all the videos on a web site where users could view all music videos in one central web space. She could also embed all the videos within an application like Word Press, where other students could then comment on each other’s work.
Aug
2
Kwikwetlem Project
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A) What might be three (3) important questions Raj could ask himself when deciding which multimedia to include?
1. Will providing students with specific multimedia artifacts (audio, visual, text) within their educational program improve student learning? How will this be measured?
2. What are the expectations that Raj will communicate to his students about the quantity and quality of the work that he expects from them.
3. Will developing the self-directed, online learning module on the Kwikwetlem First Nation web-site, overwhelm the site with Raj’s media artifacts to the point where the technology doesn’t permit students to engage with the material in a timely manner. Students may then find the learning process uninspiring because of the inadequate technical infrastructure.
B) Do you think Raj can deliver this in a month? Explain your answer.
I don’t think that Raj can complete his site in the one-month (40 hours of build time) time frame that he spoke of. I think that with his classroom obligations, his marking schedule, and his intention to work on the site on weekends, may prove to be too ambitious of a time-line for him. Personally, I think he will not have the endurance to accomplish this activity with all the other things that he is doing as a teacher. I also think he may want to revise his one hour a day lesson schedule for his project. I think this schedule may be to piece meal in nature. He needs to allocate more overall time for a project of this eloquence. He may want to also consider integrating other curricular areas within his project, such as Language Arts, Social Studies and Fine Arts learning outcomes.
4. Suggest how Raj could approach developing his website?
I think that Raj should look at all the possible multimedia that he will be using to populate his web-site, and evaluate whether or not it will best support student learning with respect to his goals for his project. As Siemens (2003) stated, “not all media is created equal”. Raj needs to accomplish the media evaluating task prior to building his site. Raj should then decide if his site will be used to display another media application such as Prezi, Animoto or Tikatok. Or will his site be the traditional web-page format. I feel a traditional web format may be too boring for students. They would be more energized and motivated to actively engage with the material if they were introduced to this content through an exciting format such as Animoto. After Raj has decided the format for his online module, he needs to begin looking at which media will best support his various learning outcomes for students. He needs to group all relevant media around individual learning outcomes for optimal learning. After this, he needs to build his module by enhancing the content through the use of the relevant media. He needs to be able to provide students with links from outcome to outcome through this media story-telling approach. Students need to be able to collaborate and share their ideas and opinions with their peers. Students need to be able to offer and receive feedback from their teacher and peers somewhere embedded on the site. It is only through this hands on approach by students, working collaboratively to actively engage with the media provided, will their learning improve on the topic that Raj has set up for them.
5. Offer an alternative to the website, one that will use some of Multimedia already collected.
Raj could utilize the Prezi application to develop a time line rich with pictures and other media. He could then have students create their own Prezi presentation with the outcome of transforming their knowledge on the topic. Or, students could work in collaborative learning groups to populate Raj’s Prezi. Students again, would be transforming their knowledge by enhancing the initial Prezi by adding their own learning content to it.
Siemens, G. (2003). Evaluating Media Characteristics: Using multimedia to achieve learning outcomes. Elearnspace. http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/mediacharacteristics.htm (accessed July 25, 2009).
Jul
12
The Wisdom of the Crowd: Building Knowledge in Community
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1. How might a weblog approach (with students either working on their own weblogs or on a course weblog) work to support learning?
Within the world of technology I have seen huge advancements over the past twenty years, both in the educational, and productivity side of the divide. Despite this technological revolution, it appears to me that the educational system has not embraced many of these tools in a timely manner. I can remember a technology workshop I went to in 2002 at the board office, only to hear a high school teacher talk about how he was teaching typing to his class. This was quite a revelation to me, as I was teaching grade five, using ibooks to support learning at the time. As teachers we may not be as versed as we think we should be with the ability to integrate technology in our educational programs. However, our students our knowledgeable about many digital tools, they frequently use these tools on a daily basis outside of the classroom. If you were to ask them weather they these tools are motivating for them, I think the answer would be a resounding ‘yes’.
Ask any teacher and they will tell you that student motivation closely mirrors the outline of a roller coaster. Always peaking and declining in a manner that can negatively effect even the best-planned unit of study. As Downes (2004) asserts, blogging gives students the opportunity to communicate with others, providing further motivation for students to write more.
Here’s a list of how a weblog approach can support student learning:
i) Student bloggers can interact by exchanging various points of view with others around the world, not just with their immediate peers (Downes, 2004).
ii) No matter what a student’s learning style, or comfort level with communicating within a classroom, the blogging space evens the playing field for all (Downes, 2004).
iii) Student bloggers need not worry about coding and the like, when they post and edit their work. Ease of use with blogging makes learning attractive, and posting to the blog motivating (Downes, 2004).
iv) As a student recently replied, “I pay more attention when I write in my blog (especially my spelling) since I know anybody can read my posts” (Downes, 2004).
v) Blogging can support student writing by helping students develop their critical thinking skills as they reflect on others who have responded to their online writing (Downes, 2004).
vi) Bloggers can attach web links that contain additional information that can help to support their views (Downes, 2004). It’s as if the online community is now at the bloggers disposal, to further enhance linkages, and to help support the student with knowledge creation.
2. As part of the discussion, you might consider whether you see any issues that might come up:
A) In terms of having student work take place in public or private spaces.
I think that an element of uncertainty with respect to the content of feedback is introduced
when students work within public online environments where people unknown to them can access their bog, and comment on their work. This uncertainty can take the form of inappropriate remarks which add nothing to the discourse at hand. Conversely, feedback which is insightful and rich in complexity, can heighten the level of discourse promoting increased knowledge construction.
B) Regarding issues of ownership or responsibility (and how they might shift) in these spaces,
I think that ownership of writing material is in question when students are still in elementary school. Having read an entry on the discussion board for this topic, it would appear that ownership of student created material, while the student is still in elementary school belongs to the school district. Unless parents formally request that their child’s work belongs to them by formalizing the process through legal paper work, then the material is owned by the board. I think where the issue becomes difficult to resolve is what happens if an elementary student creates a piece of work, anywhere, but on school grounds. Does the fact that they still use district property to upload their work, still make their work the property of the district, or does it belong to them because it was created while the student was off district grounds.
Just to illustrate how an organization treats user content. Facebook’s policy states;
“By posting User Content to any part of the Site, you automatically grant… an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license… to use, copy, publicly perform, publicly display … such User Content for any purpose…”
It would appear that the issue of ownership by individuals who create content is not in their favour. Unless, one want’s to safeguard his or her intellectual property vigorously, institutions that provide the infrastructure to contain the material will have language of ownership that supercedes the creator of such content.
Downes, S. (2004). Educational Blogging. Educause Review. September/October 2004 Accessed online 25 March 2009.
Retrieved July 10, 2009, from Facebook: Statement of Rights and Responsibilities Web site: http://www.facebook.com/terms.php
Jul
12
Noelene: Blogging-Public or Private Discussion
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I think that Noelene needs to thank the parents for bringing their concerns to her attention. Even though only two parents brought the concern forward, it no less is still vital that Noelene address their concerns. If parents feel that their voices are heard in true partnership with the teacher, they will be extremely helpful and supportive of their child’s learning, going forward.
I think that Noelene must explain to parents her rationale for using this blogging platform, and how it ties into her objectives. Clearly, one of these objectives is to have students increase the volume of their writings, while simultaneously reflecting on their work through blogging. Explaining to parents that it’s an educationally sound practice for students to receive feedback from their classroom peers, as this information can help students reflect on their work, and subsequently it can support additional growth in the process of their writing. Noelene must think about her reasoning as to why she has opened up the blog to everyone (web). First of all, does this open access comply with district policies? If it doesn’t, then she needs to rethink her activity to comply with school policy. If it does, she still needs to allay the fears of parents by explaining to them some of the safeguards that blogs have built into them. She can still have outside postings held offline until she clears them for appropriate content, before releasing the comments for publishing. Noelene can also relay to these parents that some anecdotal evidence exists that shows that students tend to write more when using an online blogging platform, and they tend to do this writing for longer periods of time (Downes, 2004). Noelene could use the above information to explain to parents that the feedback that students receive can have a dramatic effect on the quality and quantity of their writings.
I definitely think that there is justification for having students work in public spaces on the web. I have been involved in a Canada wide program called ‘Marsville’ for the past several years with my various classrooms. Essentially, it can be described as a mock mission to the planet Mars (to simulate habitation of the “Red Planet). Student teams work collaboratively within classrooms to design, build and present their planetary systems (communication system, energy system, water and oxygen purification system for example) to an audience assembled at a University. Schools in British Columbia presented their ‘planetary systems’ at the University of British Columbia in May of 2009. Each planetary team was assigned to a blog space on the National Research Council of Canada’s web site. From this site student teams were able to collaborate with other teams from across the country to support their own system development. Teams also communicated through the blog with scientists and with various Canadian astronauts to help them with their projects. As well, teams blogged their progress within a reflected format in hopes that their metacognitive entries would spur further knowledge and refinement of their project.
As Downes (2004) stated, blogging is about actively working with content, communicating with others who have blogged information, and ultimately reflecting and reacting to what they have said about your blogging. It is through this process of engagement through an online blogging platform that I believe students can construct meaningful, and personally relevant knowledge.
References
Downes, S. (2004). Educational Blogging. Educause Review. September/October 2004 Accessed online 09 July 2009.
Jun
24
Exploring Communication Tools in WebCT/Vista and Moodle
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Module #3—Unit #2
Exploring Communication Tools in WebCT/Vista and Moodle
During the first term of each year within my classroom I assign students to homogeneous reading groups. These groups are determined by a variety of tests and pre-assessment tools. Reading fluency, comprehension of text and reading strategies are some of the elements that I assess when determining how to build these groups. Based on each group’s reading proficiency I provide a number of appropriate texts for each group to select. The selection of material to read is done collaboratively by each group. Members are encouraged to discuss and reflect with each other the rationale for their choice of reading material. Literature circle groups must come to a mutual decision on the text that they will all read. Once this is done, students begin to read the material together in their small groups. These literature circle groups will extensively discuss the literature throughout the reading of the text. The asynchronous discussion forum tool will be utilized so members can begin to post their thoughts and reflections of the day’s reading session. Each group will have a forum attached to their specific title that they are reading. Each member will be able to create and reply to messages, and the entries will be threaded for ease of use. Each member will be required to post one open ended question to the group, and will be required to reply to one message as well. This will occur after each reading session (there are 3 reading sessions per week).
As students move through the material, I’ll assign a series of online activities and reflective entries designed to help students comprehend the reading material. Each reading group decides collectively which activities they will complete. Students move through this package of activities designed to enhance their understanding of several literary elements as they pertain to specific sections within the text. The online activities will be presented through WebCT/Vista’s module like format. Members of each group will select which activity they will complete, and then each group will use the synchronous tool-Wimba classroom to present the details of their activity to the group. The video (for presenter only) and chat feature of this tool will be available to students, but the audio portion will be unavailable. Group members will be instructed to begin posting chat messages/questions to the presenter after he/she has completed the presentation. This will enable the presenter to explain the material uninterrupted. After the presentation is complete, students can begin discussing the activity through the chat feature of Wimba. Each group member will present his/her activity using the Wimba classroom tool.
In the past my reading groups have shown an aptitude with carrying on very interesting and informative discussion sessions as they read through a text. My students are very technologically savvy and most have several communication devices at their disposal. As we have already immersed ourselves with several forms of information technology activities this year, I find this activity to be a natural extension of their technology skills. In fact, students have participated in a similar activity where they were required to post their thoughts in a blog-like format to a question that I would pose on a weekly basis in science class. I found their excitement when adding their thoughts to the series of questions that I posed to be quite refreshing. I noticed increased motivation from certain students who typically would not volunteer this type of information during class time. I think that each reading group will enjoy posting their thoughts and reflections daily to the discussion forums. Normally, there is always a range with respect to the volume and quality of messages that each group puts forward on the forum. Typically, the reading groups that require active management from me to help them stay focused and on task will not volunteer as much information when discussing a novel as the more proficient groups would. However, I have noticed that my struggling readers seem to add/list more information within an online format than they do in the classroom. Therefore, it is my hope that these online activities will increase the participation of several of my reluctant readers. I have two groups that always have rich and in-depth conversations as they move through a text. I anticipate that these groups will enjoy using the discussion forum, and will post quite a lot of information to their threaded areas.
Each Wimba classroom session will be archived, so students can revisit the transcript if they need to read a portion of the presentation for further discovery and conversation. This transcript will provide me with detailed information on member participation. It will also allow me to observe the quality of student interactions as they posed and replied to each other’s questions. I would continue to closely monitor student interactions on all the discussion forums throughout the duration of each activity. It is even more imperative to do this as opposed to the managing of daily classroom dialogue. There may be a sense that some students feel that they can say almost anything online because I am physically not in the same room with them, challenging them to keep their words respectful. This strategy is of the utmost importance to me considering my grade 7 student population.
Post a message to the Module 3 Discussion: Synchronous and asynchronous communications that Describes your own strategies in determining the communication process you have created and why synchronous or asynchronous approaches seemed appropriate to the learning context.
I used the WebCT/Vista LMS to develop my student activity and was very pleased at the relative ease while working within the ‘build’ mode of the platform. I developed my plan by populating my site with the asynchronous tool-Wimba classroom, and the synchronous tool-discussion forums. The entire Vista platform is very intuitive and I was able to easily navigate the ‘build’ functions adding and removing resources quickly and easily. I liked how quickly I could add a feature within the ‘build’mode, and then easily view how my changes would appear to students by selecting the ‘student view’ section of the Vista page. I especially liked how I was able to effortlessly add different ‘content links’ within the ‘Module’ section of my LMS. Thee are enough tools from voice presentation, discussion forums, assessments and assignments to create a very balanced and rich learning experience for students.
My students are very tech savvy and are all always very motivated and excited when I incorporate various technologies within their learning program. It is really amazing to witness how much more engaged they become when I blend traditional content delivery with various digital tools. I therefore felt very comfortable in selecting Wimba classroom and discussion forums as my communication tools that would support student learning as they progressed through various texts/novels/literature. My students are very ‘chatty’ and have often said to me that they enjoy learning as a group, and from one another. In addition to their desire to learn from each other, their expertise with information technology made my selection of synchronous and asynchronous tools an easy one.
Jun
20
What could Trinh do?
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Trinh is an associate professor in museum studies at a comprehensive university. She has delivered an innovative introductory online course on museumology; in fact, students enrolled at universities in New Zealand, South Africa, and Finland all take her course. The course is delivered via Vista, features a range of multimedia educational artifacts, and guest lectures delivered via live streaming. Although participating in some of these activities is challenging for students in other time zones, they understand these are required activities and full participation is a condition of enrollment.
Trinh’s committed to delivering learner-centred courses, whether taught F2F, online or blended. But this course – and its over 150 student enrollments – is challenging for her to manage. Email in particular can be onerous: on some mornings she finds dozens of messages. Some of these come to her university email address; others to her Vista email. She even gets student questions as comments to her blog!
Were this a F2F course, she would set up office hours – but that’s not an office in an online course, is it? What could Trinh do?
Trinh presents her course using Vista, so she has available the tools to create a comprehensive site that students will be able to use across several time zones. I wonder if Trinh has set up an area on her Vista course site where students can observe all relevant course information. For starters, her students would benefit from knowing on weekly basis what the required readings were, the activities, and the due dates for these assignments. Providing students with a course map may prevent some of these emails that she gets quite frequently. Anderson (2003) states that it’s extremely important that online teachers foster trust and safety within the learning community. I may be off on this, however, if students feel that Trinh is having difficulty managing the course (students appear confused, ie: posting messages in several areas for her) then they may not be as motivated to fully participate in all the activities that she has scheduled for them.
With respect to Trinh’s lessons being synchronously delivered through live streaming, having them archived would support students who are unable to view them live due to differing time zones. Trinh could attach discussion forums like in 565a to different modules, and to her live lectures so students could asynchronously discuss and reflect on the content presented. Trinh could also develop her lectures using audio/video, archive them, and then have them time released in different modules for students. This would allow all students to view the content at their own time and pace. Trinh could also synchronously use Wimba to demonstrate/teach students, then archive the presentation for asynchronous viewing. Students living in different time zones would benefit by having wiki’s in place for collaborative learning sessions. Students could build their knowledge by accessing the work at their own pace, and a time of their choosing.
It may be wise for Trinh to utilize her teaching assistants (if she has them) to support her and the students enrolled in the course. She could divide her students equally among the different assistants and they could communicate with the T.A.’s on a wide array of topics. To help support student communication within the course, Trinh could specify in the course map what a teaching assistant should be contacted for, and what she should be contacted for. Perhaps with this distinction, students would be able to navigate the course more efficiently.
To further streamline the communication between Trinh and her students, she could post her virtual office hours on the course outline. She could utilize the ‘popup’ announcement feature through Vista to alert her students when there is a change to these hours. This feature could also be used for any emergent information that she wants students to know when they next login.
Having student moderators lead discussion groups can help increase student participation and motivation throughout the course (Rourke & Anderson, 2002). The side effect is that students receive a richer experience with respect to their learning. Also, students helping students would be advantageous to Trinh in that she may receive fewer inquiries for information due to increased student involvement. This in no way diminishes Trinh’s role within her course, it just adds another support and resource for her students.
Anderson, T. (2008). Teaching in an Online Learning Context. In: Anderson, T. & Elloumi, F. Theory and Practice of Online Learning. Athabasca University. Accessed online 3 March 2009 http://www.aupress.ca/books/120146/ebook/14_Anderson_2008_Anderson-DeliveryQualitySupport.pdf
Rourke, L., & Anderson, T. (2002). Using peer teams to lead online discussions. Journal of Interactive Media in Education, Retrieved August 27, 2007, from http://www-jime.open.ac.uk/2002/1/
Jun
20
Theory of Online Learning
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Keeping in mind your own experiences as a teacher and as a student, consider what Anderson means when he describes the attributes of learning in terms of being learner-, knowledge-, assessment- and community-centred. To what extent have you experienced on-line or mixed-mode courses that achieved this kind of learning environment? How might you use the learning technologies tools you have at your disposal to help you to create meaningful interactions?
Learner-Centred
As this is my fifth MET course through UBC I have had some experience as a learner participating within an online environment. With respect to the environment being learner-centred, I have always enjoyed the beginning of each MET course where students discuss themselves with respect to their educational background and relevant experience. This activity seems so trivial, yet I find it very interesting how much I enjoy responding to it. Equally enjoyable is reading the entries of other students. This welcome page I believe has the ability to set the tone for the course if it’s completed with some diligence. Each MET course that I have taken has been structured with synchronous and asynchronous modes of communication that have given me the ability to explore my own learning within an environment that has been collegial and informative.
Knowledge-Centred
Each course that I have taken including ETEC 565 has been extremely helpful in getting me to think about what I am doing, and why I am doing it. The provisions for reflective thinking have been quite extensive within the MET environment. As someone who has used technology for many years I find my MET experience to be fruitful in that I am able to apply some of my knowledge creation to my professional practice as a classroom teacher. An interesting side effect that I’ve experienced while engaged with the MET program is that I keep coming back to previous assignments/projects from other courses and revisit my work. It almost appears that I am trying to link my previous experiences with the ones that I am presently building. Some days I have more success than others mind you.
Assessment-Centred
I remember an activity in a MET course that I took last year where I was asked to peer evaluate all my group members (4 of them) on their achievement as it related to a specific activity. I have to admit that I felt a little uncomfortable at first glance. It wasn’t until I began to think about my task that I discovered that my reflections on their progress, actually helped me understand more about what I had learned in that activity. In my estimation it is the extensive amount of formative evaluation inherent within MET courses that guide students to optimally develop, and transform their knowledge.
Community-Centred
As Wilson (1997) stated, learners within online communities have a sense of expectation of learning. I have always come to each MET course with an excitement and expectation that my efforts will mutually blend with the input of my colleagues to further illuminate my understanding of each topic at hand. This may sound a little ‘corny’, but my expectation that I will learn from others, propels my own thoughts and actions to contribute to the learning environment in the hope that I will be able to construct new knowledge.
How might you use the learning technologies tools you have at your disposal to help you to create meaningful interactions?
Within my classroom I have always carried out personal online inventories and given students activities that informed me of their prior learning and knowledge. I have utilized web sites that analyzed a student’s response to questions that determined which multiple intelligence(s) they aligned closer to. My students have been engaged with using web-based applications that helped them understand the composition and structure of an electrical circuit. The web afforded students with the opportunity to further develop their understanding by having them use a collaborative draw program asynchronously to share in the sketching of an accurate diagram of a circuit. Students utilized the districts communication tool to collaborate and communicate both synchronously and asynchronously, to further enhance their understanding of electrical circuits. Students also used the communication package to upload their assessment of their performance based on district performance standards. Students receive a more complete educational experience when they have an activity that is Learner-, Knowledge-, Assessment-, and Community-Centred in its composition.
References
Wilson, B. (1997). Thoughts on theory in educational technology. Educational Technology, 37(1), 22-26.
Jun
10
DVD Authoring-Anju
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You are Anju’s neighbour. As a teacher, she wants your advice – would a DVD be a good idea? What should she include in it, particularly for an ESL/EFL audience? Post your estimation in weeks in the Module 2: Case Study – Diabetes DVDdiscussion thread. Be sure to explain how you came up your answer.
I think that creating a DVD to help Anju’s clients better understand type 2 diabetes is an excellent idea. As a teacher, I would point out to Anju that I always focus heavily on the characteristics and capacity of my students prior to developing any lesson or unit for them. Knowing your target audience is extremely important if you are to develop a lesson that will successfully help them build their knowledge on the subject matter. I would also say to her that her idea of using a DVD to author a presentation would be beneficial for learners who have different strengths with respect to the multiple intelligences. In her DVD, she could incorporate still images and/or video (Spatial intelligence-picture smart). She could utilize images of charts and graphs (Logical-mathematical intelligence-“number/reasoning smart”) to help with her presentation. In presenting her information verbally or through images of text Linguistic intelligence (“word smart”): she could support learners who benefit from an auditory form of instruction. If Anju incorporates a demonstration type activity within her DVD then clients who prefer to learn through a hands-on approach would benefit (Bodily-Kinesthetic intelligence-“body smart”). As diabetes requires the manual manipulation of various medical instruments to help with insulin transfer through injections, clients could then practice the skill, gaining knowledge and confidence. I would also remind her that she would best serve her clients if she created a cycle of instruction where her clients watched the DVD on specific weekdays, and then received follow-up personal instruction from her. This face-to-face would help clients clarify any problems they encountered when watching the DVD. I would impress upon Anju that she needs to keep the concept of simplicity in the forefront as she develops her electronic resource for her medically compromised clients. As a former nurse myself, I came to understand that all the well-intentioned education itself cannot effect substantive change within a client’s personal schematic if they are not ready to receive the information because of their medical situation. As stated before, assessing her client’s for their readiness to learn the information that she is planning within the DVD is paramount.
I do have some thoughts that I would like to share with Anju;
· What software is she going to use to prepare her notes (will there be a script for her movie)?
· Will she use software or large 11x 17 paper to ‘Storyboard’ her movie?
· Will she use web sites or books to gather the appropriate information on the intricacies of type 2 diabetes?
· Will she utilize pictures and/or graphics in her presentation?
· If she uses graphics from a book, how will she digitize these pictures (scanner technology)?
· Where will she search for information that will help her support ESL learners?
· What type of computer does she have, PC or Mac. Macs are more intuitive and easy to use, in my opinion?
· Does she have the necessary software on either one of these machines for video editing of the raw video?
· Does she have the DVD ‘burn’ software on her laptop?
· Does she have all necessary cables(USB or Fire wire) to attach her laptop to the camera to move the video from the camera to the laptop?
· Does she have the necessary time to learn how to download the data from the camera to the laptop?
· Does she have the necessary time to learn how to use the editing software?
· Does she have time to learn how to ‘burn’ the video onto the proper DVD disc (most commercial DVD players do not play all the DVD formats-this has improved lately) Most players will not play DVD_RW disks yet?
· Does she have a budget to purchase the DVD disks and the necessary cables if need be. It would be a good idea if she bought an extra long life lithium battery for her camera so she can insert the new battery into the camera when the old battery is drained?
· Does she need a tripod for the camera?
· Has she assessed whether her clients have access to a DVD player?
This project has the potential of being extremely motivating and useful for her clients. If she plans it thoroughly and delivers the information in a simplistic, engaging and informative manner her clients will learn supportive measures for living with diabetes.
Jun
10
Lenora’s Pro-D
Comments Off on Lenora’s Pro-D
Lenora is a grade 4 teacher at the Eliza Archie Memorial School, located on the Tsq’escenemc Canim Lake Band reserve. Last year she attended an anti-bullying professional development (pro-d) workshop offered by SD 83 (North Okanagan). There was a lot of valuable information in the session, but Lenora felt it often wasn’t culturally relevant for her community. When she discussed her experience with peers in the Cradleboard Teaching Project Teacher’s Circle (http://www.cradleboard.org/), others agreed. And many had stories to share about bullying in their band schools.
Indigenous online communities of practice like Cradleboard have really helped Lenora develop her own reflective practice. She’s decided to create an online anti-bullying resource for band teachers – a sort of online pro-d day – that offers support and suggestions from other Aboriginal educators and their allies.
But Lenora’s web access is dial-up only. It can take a really long time to upload and download files. Plus she’s never created a web site before and doesn’t know anything about where one puts a website.
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I don’t necessarily think a web-site is the way for Lenora to proceed. A web-site is a static document where there is no opportunity for teachers to share/post information on the site itself. If she is to utilize the expertise and knowledge/stories from her peers who volunteered their bullying experiences, then she is going to need a platform which permits her to collaborate with others. She would be advised to have a platform that is web-log in nature with some sort of threading with respect to online submissions. I believe that this online threaded discourse, developed synchronously or asynchronously would be more dynamic as users could actively monitor their postings and respond to the postings of others.
In the scenario outline, there is information that states Lenora is already immersed in the electronic Powwow model whereby her use of technology to communicate with her colleagues is already honed. Having her pro-d content online where other teachers can access it and then communicate/collaborate with each other in a discussion forum would be a very productive and rich use of their time.
My answer was generated from my recent experience within the MET program. I have found that the volume of discourse that occurs with all course material is extremely rich and rewarding for my personal growth as an educator. I find it rather tedious and dull, and not very inspiring, if I am engaged in an online experience and cannot communicate with the other ‘party’ in a timely and efficient manner. I, therefore, believe that Lenora would also benefit from utilizing a platform to share her content, where her colleagues could build knowledge and understanding(s) from the diverse discussions that would take place on the site.