I found chapter 30 very interesting and important to read. That is because technology does need to used for a direct purpose in education, not to look "cool" or to have something to do for your students while you write lesson plans or whatever. It is true that for a lesson that uses technology needs to have rich media. The book defines rich media as "learning products that incorporate high-end media such as video, animation, sound, and simulation and will only benefit learners to the extent that its capabilities are harnessed in ways that support human cognitive learning processes "(pg. 312). In other words, technological devices needs to enhance learning, not just supplement or make the lesson look cool or exciting. Sure they can motivate, but the educational purpose must be fulfilled.
"Instructional methods are the elements included in instruction for the purpose of supporting the achievement of the learning objective. Thus, instructional methods are intended to encourage learners to use appropriate cognitive processing during learning" (pg. 314).
Therefore, it is appropriate to make my first goal to use technology to fulfill educational purposes more. The reason for stating this goal is that I want my students to learn and grow. If I am using technology, then it should serve an educational purpose.In the past, I used them to make lessons look neat or as a supplement at best like taking students to the computer lab to research online. But they need to do more than that. They need to encourage students to think and learn. Pictures and narrations need to go with the lesson, not be an add on that will distract them. The chapter said that students learned best with video with narration. I first thought of the screen cast video I did. I didn't do narration due to a lack of microphone, but I know it would have been better if I had one. The point is that any sounds, pictures, videos, etc. need to assist in students' cognitive processes. It needs to help them like the medical students that was talked about in the chapter.
The second goal after reading this chapter is to improve on scaffolding. I chose this goal because we need to teach students, yes, but they also need to be independent. Too often, at least I do, I tend to hang on a little too long when it comes to this. But scaffolding is providing guidance and letting go little by little as students learn the concepts. "People learn better with guided discovery than with pure discovery methods in which they interact as they please" (pg. 321). Students can be introduced to a technological or some other kind of concept and begin working with it with me, and then do independent assignments. Independence gives students a sense of self esteem and shows that they are learning on their own once the guidance leads them to where they need to go.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Phixr and Google Documents
I want to tell about Phixr first. Phixr has those cool effects that I always wondered about such as the bubble, blending two pictures, and so forth. I can make a raised picture and I did a lumo on the raccoon pic below. You can even remove red eyes. I think Phixr is a great site for phot editing and can be useful in educational settings for presentation or even in tech classes to educate students.
But I think Google Documents is a great way to do spreadsheets and presentations without having to worry about getting Microsoft Office if it is too expensive. Also if it is free, then schools can use it to teach students the various programs without having to pay for much. I just wish audio files can be added to the presentations at this time.
But I think Google Documents is a great way to do spreadsheets and presentations without having to worry about getting Microsoft Office if it is too expensive. Also if it is free, then schools can use it to teach students the various programs without having to pay for much. I just wish audio files can be added to the presentations at this time.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Chapter 27 Reflection
After reading chapter 27, I had a little trouble making connections between our profession as teacher and the ID tech world. However, I managed to come up with some goals that reflect my strengths and are supported by the reading this week.
I tend to be a good planner and always looking for ways to improve myself in the field of education, whether it be teaching or behavior management. I think the goals I have in place put those strengths hand in hand with each other.
The first goal I have is to incorporate more technology into my teaching. In other words, be competent in teaching with technology that would really engage students. “Competencies are defined as quality of being competent; as having suitable or sufficient skill, knowledge, experience or being qualified to performed a task,” pg. 272. I want to be able to be competent in the area of technology so that lessons are more creative and engaging and it looks really good on a resume as well. Being competent also gives me an edge over other candidates when looking for a teaching job. Not only that, but students may learn more from cool visuals and hearing videos. In other words, it tailors to different learning styles.
The second goal is to have special education certification. In the chapter, there is a whole lot of talk of ID tech people not being certified and whether or not they should. “Certification can be viewed as recognition by a professional organization that an individual has met an agreed set of requirements,” page 283. I think if someone is in a professional field in education, then certification might be necessary for ID tech people. I mean teachers have to be certified in order to teach especially with NCLB that we love so much. I put my special education certification as a goal because without it, I cannot teach special education. At least I have not that kind of luck. Anyhow, this what I thought of when I read the certification piece of the chapter. But having a piece of paper saying that you are certified does not mean you are competent in that area either. “The competencies should reflect the skills of professional instruction/training designers regardless of their current jobs, positions, titles, academic degrees,” page 273. But in the other hand, it is impossible to get a teaching job without certification.
My last goal is to be a better designer of instructional design with the kids I work with currently. Page 275 shows chart 27.3 in planning, analyzing, designing, and developing instruction plans. Needs assessments must be conducted to find out where the student is needing help. From there, the instruction is designed. Planning is a must as well preparation. I want to be able to further pinpoint the exact problem a child might be having. The biggest example I can think of is reading. I run a couple of reading group with strategic students. I have a couple who can read fluently, but have no or little sense of comprehension. I should be able to use ID to do a diagnostic to find out why they are having trouble and do the proper intervention for that and monitor their progress. I think by becoming better at ID, I could help some students.
I tend to be a good planner and always looking for ways to improve myself in the field of education, whether it be teaching or behavior management. I think the goals I have in place put those strengths hand in hand with each other.
The first goal I have is to incorporate more technology into my teaching. In other words, be competent in teaching with technology that would really engage students. “Competencies are defined as quality of being competent; as having suitable or sufficient skill, knowledge, experience or being qualified to performed a task,” pg. 272. I want to be able to be competent in the area of technology so that lessons are more creative and engaging and it looks really good on a resume as well. Being competent also gives me an edge over other candidates when looking for a teaching job. Not only that, but students may learn more from cool visuals and hearing videos. In other words, it tailors to different learning styles.
The second goal is to have special education certification. In the chapter, there is a whole lot of talk of ID tech people not being certified and whether or not they should. “Certification can be viewed as recognition by a professional organization that an individual has met an agreed set of requirements,” page 283. I think if someone is in a professional field in education, then certification might be necessary for ID tech people. I mean teachers have to be certified in order to teach especially with NCLB that we love so much. I put my special education certification as a goal because without it, I cannot teach special education. At least I have not that kind of luck. Anyhow, this what I thought of when I read the certification piece of the chapter. But having a piece of paper saying that you are certified does not mean you are competent in that area either. “The competencies should reflect the skills of professional instruction/training designers regardless of their current jobs, positions, titles, academic degrees,” page 273. But in the other hand, it is impossible to get a teaching job without certification.
My last goal is to be a better designer of instructional design with the kids I work with currently. Page 275 shows chart 27.3 in planning, analyzing, designing, and developing instruction plans. Needs assessments must be conducted to find out where the student is needing help. From there, the instruction is designed. Planning is a must as well preparation. I want to be able to further pinpoint the exact problem a child might be having. The biggest example I can think of is reading. I run a couple of reading group with strategic students. I have a couple who can read fluently, but have no or little sense of comprehension. I should be able to use ID to do a diagnostic to find out why they are having trouble and do the proper intervention for that and monitor their progress. I think by becoming better at ID, I could help some students.
My Google Site
I am a parapro for a boy who has behavioral issues. I learned of a system called 1 2 3 Magic from special education teachers I work with. Behavior management is always a big issue in education and I thought I can spread the word about 1 2 3 Magic to teachers who never heard of it.
The site is http://sites.google.com/site/behaviormanagement123magic/Home . The first page is introducing the system and shows the picture of the book. I chose that picture because it was appropriate and made the most sense to show what the book looked like. Below the picture are links to Amazon to buy the book as well as the video. Other websites that talk about 1 2 3 Magic are also there for more reference. The first page also has a clock gadget. I chose that simply because I thought it would be neat and those looking at the site would know what time it was without looking at another clock.
The second page tells how 1 2 3 Magic works. It also provides tips on using it. There is an image of a little girl on there. I chose that because I wanted an image of a child since the system is for kids ages 2-12. I thought a pictre of a kid would best support my page. I also have a dictionary gadget at the bottom of the page. I thought something educational would be good since this is an educational website. Using an online dictionary right there would be very convinent adn be educational. There is also a link to my blog for comments or questions.
The site is http://sites.google.com/site/behaviormanagement123magic/Home . The first page is introducing the system and shows the picture of the book. I chose that picture because it was appropriate and made the most sense to show what the book looked like. Below the picture are links to Amazon to buy the book as well as the video. Other websites that talk about 1 2 3 Magic are also there for more reference. The first page also has a clock gadget. I chose that simply because I thought it would be neat and those looking at the site would know what time it was without looking at another clock.
The second page tells how 1 2 3 Magic works. It also provides tips on using it. There is an image of a little girl on there. I chose that because I wanted an image of a child since the system is for kids ages 2-12. I thought a pictre of a kid would best support my page. I also have a dictionary gadget at the bottom of the page. I thought something educational would be good since this is an educational website. Using an online dictionary right there would be very convinent adn be educational. There is also a link to my blog for comments or questions.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
My Screencast
The student intern in the class I work in is doing a science lesson on the Earth's rotation and revolution around the sun. Therefore, I thought it would be cool to display a video showing the sun moving on a website as well as a page of terms and explanations. Students can see the sun actually moving with the months of the year and notice which parts of the Earth has the sun hitting on during certain months. It could be slower, but for the sake of the project, I just put that particular site there.
Chapter 22 Reflection - How it is like Chapters 21 and 18
After reading all three chapters that have to do with instructional design, I have found two major themes.
The first theme is groupwork or teamwork. The following quotes support this theme:
"Large-scale projects typically require a team approach...However teams themselves will vary depending on the type of organization and the complexity of the project." -Chapter 18, pgs. 176-177
"The GSTE calls for forming a Core Team or "Starter Team" of about five to seven key opinion leaders from all the major stakeholder groups, establishing a culture and understanding of systemic change, and expanding into the Leadership Team." - Chapter 21, pg. 217
Chapter 22 provides two good charts on pages 225-226 on organizing people in groups according to specialty.
The quotes and charts provided me with strong evidence that teamwork is a crucial element of instructional design. Team members must work together to achieve school goals such as implementing curriculum, raising test scores, and improving student behavior. Schools can take make a Starter Team that consists of a school board member, a principal, a PTA leader, and superintendent to help to meet the needs of all children who go to that district. I know from personal experiences that schools often have a multidisciplinary team when a child is referred for special education services. That is because there are so many areas of expertise. For special education, there is usually a school psychologist, social worker, special education teacher, general education teacher, parents, sometimes doctors, or other types of staff depending on the needs of the student. They get together to discuss goals and objectives for their student's IEP. That is one example I can think of as far as teamwork in a professional school setting. Teams that exist in our school is the crisis prevention team as well as administration. We all work together to ensure our students are getting their best.
The second major theme I got from all three chapters is the concept of problem solving. The following quotes best support this concept.
"Many instructional designers are tackling the problems associated with reducing design cycle time. Some seek to modify the design process itself." - Chapter 18,
pg. 179
"Step-up-to-Excellence (SUTE) is a process methodology designed to help change leaders in school districts create and sustain whole-district improvement." - Chapter 21, pg. 213
The diagram shows the steps to SUTE on page 214, which seems to focus on problem solving since they are trying to redesign the way things are done and performance to improve schools.
"Part of my role is to facilitate the development of learning and teaching strategies and introduce faculty to the distance learning production process." - Chapter 22, pg. 224
That last quote solves the problem of the lack of experience that faculty has in distance learning.
Problem-solving skills are very important in the educational system today. Without those skills, we would not have learning take place. We are always trying to figure how to raise test scores, improve behavior, or use the proper interventions to align with students' needs.
We need to as professionals always seek ways to improve on the performance of us as well as our students. This can be only done, however, in collaboration with other professionals. It is a job that we cannot do alone. Everyone must play their part on the team of education.
The first theme is groupwork or teamwork. The following quotes support this theme:
"Large-scale projects typically require a team approach...However teams themselves will vary depending on the type of organization and the complexity of the project." -Chapter 18, pgs. 176-177
"The GSTE calls for forming a Core Team or "Starter Team" of about five to seven key opinion leaders from all the major stakeholder groups, establishing a culture and understanding of systemic change, and expanding into the Leadership Team." - Chapter 21, pg. 217
Chapter 22 provides two good charts on pages 225-226 on organizing people in groups according to specialty.
The quotes and charts provided me with strong evidence that teamwork is a crucial element of instructional design. Team members must work together to achieve school goals such as implementing curriculum, raising test scores, and improving student behavior. Schools can take make a Starter Team that consists of a school board member, a principal, a PTA leader, and superintendent to help to meet the needs of all children who go to that district. I know from personal experiences that schools often have a multidisciplinary team when a child is referred for special education services. That is because there are so many areas of expertise. For special education, there is usually a school psychologist, social worker, special education teacher, general education teacher, parents, sometimes doctors, or other types of staff depending on the needs of the student. They get together to discuss goals and objectives for their student's IEP. That is one example I can think of as far as teamwork in a professional school setting. Teams that exist in our school is the crisis prevention team as well as administration. We all work together to ensure our students are getting their best.
The second major theme I got from all three chapters is the concept of problem solving. The following quotes best support this concept.
"Many instructional designers are tackling the problems associated with reducing design cycle time. Some seek to modify the design process itself." - Chapter 18,
pg. 179
"Step-up-to-Excellence (SUTE) is a process methodology designed to help change leaders in school districts create and sustain whole-district improvement." - Chapter 21, pg. 213
The diagram shows the steps to SUTE on page 214, which seems to focus on problem solving since they are trying to redesign the way things are done and performance to improve schools.
"Part of my role is to facilitate the development of learning and teaching strategies and introduce faculty to the distance learning production process." - Chapter 22, pg. 224
That last quote solves the problem of the lack of experience that faculty has in distance learning.
Problem-solving skills are very important in the educational system today. Without those skills, we would not have learning take place. We are always trying to figure how to raise test scores, improve behavior, or use the proper interventions to align with students' needs.
We need to as professionals always seek ways to improve on the performance of us as well as our students. This can be only done, however, in collaboration with other professionals. It is a job that we cannot do alone. Everyone must play their part on the team of education.
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