Content Proposal
Traditional Classroom evolving into a Blended Learning Environment
EDM-613 Media Asset Creation
Education Media Design & Technology MS Program
Full Sail University
Prepared by:
Domenic Colangelo
03/07/2010
I. Thesis Abstract
The proposal is to create a series of modules that are self directed and utilized in a high school setting. It allows the end user to develop skill sets that will help prepare their classroom for a transformation. The process will support the change from a traditional classroom to a blended learning environment. Many teachers would benefit from the flexibility of self-directed study and the personalization of mentoring. Implementing a strategy of building a blended learning environment from the bottom up increases the likely hood of acceptance and success. The development of a culture through enrichment activities and organizations can lay the foundation of a blended learning environment. These experiences will cascade across many classrooms and through out the school.
II. Introduction
(3-5 Paragraphs)
Our educational system is going through a transition unlike any other in our lifetime. The vision of where it’s going is generally accepted and some might even say it’s more of a naming convention than a vision at this point. The names used for the vision are mostly involving the term 21st century. Now that term might be accompanied by follow up words such as learning, teaching, and skills.
The traditional classroom is filled with student desks that lined up in rows and bunched together. The teacher stands in the front of the room with a dry erase marker in hand. Directions and notes are written on the board, while talking about the theory of things. This method has been the benchmark for education in the 20th century.
The first decade of the 21st century has ushered in an era of technology and skill sets that are becoming a necessity in the business world and are already intertwined in to our daily. Unfortunately our education system is not geared for using these things in our traditional classrooms.
The classroom teacher needs to emulate strategies and personality traits of people in other areas of our society. The characteristics of the entrepreneur, evangelist, and grass roots organizer can help. Many of our greatest innovations, businesses, and achievements became a reality due to people who emulate some of the attributes involved in these types of activities.
The majority of teachers work hard everyday and even the most organized educators often take their work home with them. It is an unfortunate aspect of the education profession, but one that all great educators know is a necessity to be successful in their classroom.
III. Goals and Objectives
(3-6 Paragraphs)
Instructional Goal
The creation of a culture in the traditional classroom that embraces the attributes of a blended learning environment that is built over time. This culture becomes a living entity and must be nurtured like any living organism. Another instructional goal is encouraging the idea that being creative complements a person and tapping into the learner’s inner passion is valuable in the education community. These goals can be supported by effective staff development, sufficient mentoring, and engaging curriculum.
Learning Domain
The media project cannot teach the end user all that they must know. It is a resource that can be used, but only effective when coupled with the affective domain. The right attitude to be self-directed and willing feels the passion in side of themselves. This feeds in to the cognitive and psychomotor domains. The course models can provide knowledge if done correctly and provide experience through the hands on experience activities.
Learning Objectives
The objectives that are important to fulfill in the blended learning modules are technology and non-technology in origin. Understanding the elements of your classroom’s physical space and cultural atmosphere. The value of collaboration with in your peer group and the effectiveness of peer mentoring. Utilizing self-directed curriculum as a solution when implementing differential instruction.
IV. Presentation
(6-9 Paragraphs)
Instructional approach
The building of knowledge is vital for a learner to take on challenging tasks. In the current social structure of high school aged learners it is a high priority for them to be social while they learn. Social networking drives the interest in web 2.0 tools and digital media content that these tools support. The social constructivism approach is appropriate for the current generation of high school aged learners.
Lesson Structure
The content will be presented in the form of training modules with the Learning Management System called Schoology. Each of the modules will support aspects of the creating a blended learning environment. The rationale is that the process is a transformation over time and that you can start with a few small things that are not related to technology, but support the use of technology in a blended learning environment.
V. Evaluation
(2-3 Paragraphs)
The measurement of learning is part of the learning process it self. There are many administrators and teachers that are not experienced in evaluating the use of technology by it self, let alone when used in conjunction with curriculum. The creation of evaluation tools goes beyond the rubric for a class assignment. A rubric should also be created for an evaluator on the assignments so they may gain experience as well through the endeavor.
Through out the series of training modules the learner will be exposed to different aspects of a blended learning environment. Creating a foundation of knowledge and skills that can be used to start the evolution process in their classroom.
VI. References
Demski, J. (2009, May) Assess, Instruct, Repeat. The Journal.com, 36, 30-36.
Demski, J. (2010, January) Winning back home schoolers. The Journal.com, 37, 20-21.
Demski, J. (2009, August) Space Craft: Innovative architecture is bringing form to the function of 21st century learning. The Journal.com, 36, 34-38.
Fletcher, G. (2009, May) A matter of principals. The Journal.com, 36, 22-28.
Fox, C. (2009, June/July) More than Machines. The Journal.com, 36, 23-26.
Mccabe, C.K. (2009, May) Get them to try something new. NEA Today, 27, 38-39.
Knobe, M. (2009, June/July). Hungry for help: Schools of Education must fuel a digital revolution in teaching. Edutopia, 5, 30-32.
Schaffhauser, D. (2009, August) The VOD Couple. The Journal.com, 36, 19-23.
Jehlen, A. (2007, November). Professional development. NEA Today, 26, 36-37.
Gordon, D. (2009, May) Profile: Steve Paine. The Journal.com, 36, 18-20.
Michaelsen, L. & Sweet, M. (2010, January/Febuary) Team Based Learning. Nea Today, 28, 38-39.
Ramaswami, R. (2009, May) Even! But no longer odd. The Journal.com, 36, 38-44.
Schaffhauser, D. (2009, September) Which came first-the technology or the pedagogy? The Journal.com, 36, 27-32.
Schaffhauser, D. (2009, May) Scale. The Journal.com, 36, 30-36.
Shore, J. (2009, September) Carla Wade Profile. The Journal, 36, 14-16.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Week 1 Readings
The reading provided some insight, affirmation and clarity on things. After reading the assigned chapters, it occurred to me that teaching skills such as problem solving, story boarding, etc.. bridge what was implied in the text. We see only what were programmed to see and thinking outside the box.
In the spirit of the cliché “the glass is half full’ and looking at the bright side. The author spoke of “speaking to the passion” as a motivation for the student. In today’s educational system with the broad spectrum of learning styles, differential instruction is geared toward the passion of how a student learns. The use of Auditory and visual materials fulfills the passion aspect of learning.
The time I heard the idea of giving and “A” up front was from the movie “Dangerous Minds” when the teacher gave them all an “A” in the beginning of the course. Their job was to keep it by doing their assignments. There is a scene where the student stated it was the first time he ever had an “A” and didn’t want to lose it.
The “A” held great value to him and was a big motivator. However, the support of the teacher in various ways in mentoring him to keep it was also important. It’s balance that must be aligned and maintained over time to succeed.
In the spirit of the cliché “the glass is half full’ and looking at the bright side. The author spoke of “speaking to the passion” as a motivation for the student. In today’s educational system with the broad spectrum of learning styles, differential instruction is geared toward the passion of how a student learns. The use of Auditory and visual materials fulfills the passion aspect of learning.
The time I heard the idea of giving and “A” up front was from the movie “Dangerous Minds” when the teacher gave them all an “A” in the beginning of the course. Their job was to keep it by doing their assignments. There is a scene where the student stated it was the first time he ever had an “A” and didn’t want to lose it.
The “A” held great value to him and was a big motivator. However, the support of the teacher in various ways in mentoring him to keep it was also important. It’s balance that must be aligned and maintained over time to succeed.
Week 1 Free Choice
The trend I have seen in my 6 years as an educator is the focus on passing standardized tests, stacking up on AP courses to boot GPA points, and being involved in so many extra-curricular activities that nothing is enjoyable and the quality of achievement is sub par. This was very apparent when I was a girls soccer coach and placed in too situations where the girls were double booked or stressed out from overload.
There is an article in NEA today that touched on taking tougher courses to boost college admission odds. In my school district our school grade has been reformulated to reflect different criteria and some of it is the number of AP courses taken and AP Exams passed. Too many students take AP classes and are either not at that level or our unable to do the amount of work necessary to succeed in the class, let alone pass the AP exam.
I wonder where the days of inspiring a student to be interested in the content and they begin to love being in the class have gone? There is so much focus on the standard tests and the remedial teaching strategies in the classroom that creative inspiration has gone to the wayside.
There is an article in NEA today that touched on taking tougher courses to boost college admission odds. In my school district our school grade has been reformulated to reflect different criteria and some of it is the number of AP courses taken and AP Exams passed. Too many students take AP classes and are either not at that level or our unable to do the amount of work necessary to succeed in the class, let alone pass the AP exam.
I wonder where the days of inspiring a student to be interested in the content and they begin to love being in the class have gone? There is so much focus on the standard tests and the remedial teaching strategies in the classroom that creative inspiration has gone to the wayside.
Week 1 Project: Content Proposal
The moment I heard we had to do a content proposal it brought a sense of “ugh” inside of me. I had figured we would do a few paragraphs in a word document and move on from there. The reality of it was that a mini thesis paper was what it ended up being.
However, after reading through the sample a few times I came to realize that it would help me tweak my media project. I already knew what I was doing and had begun creating it prior to the class starting. In the end I think it will improve my thesis because I will be ensuring that practical application of the media project with the thesis since they are interconnected.
However, after reading through the sample a few times I came to realize that it would help me tweak my media project. I already knew what I was doing and had begun creating it prior to the class starting. In the end I think it will improve my thesis because I will be ensuring that practical application of the media project with the thesis since they are interconnected.
Week 1 Comment
Week 1 Choice...Gender Differences
There are a number of gender differences to consider. Different parts of the brain function differently between the sexes and therefore impact men and women differently. For example, the cerebellum contains neurons that connect to other parts of the brain and spinal cord and facilitate movement, balance and speech. There is a much stronger connecting pathway in the female brain between the brain parts therefore females have superior language and fine-motor skills while males tend to be less intuitive. another example of gender differences is in the cerebrum. The cerebrum is the upper or main part of the brain controlling conscious and voluntary processes. Females use more volume than males therefore resulting in females being greater at multitasking. Lastly, neurotransmitters which are biochemical substances that transmit nerve impulses at the synapses clearly affect differences in how males and females brains process data.
Given these biological brain differences one could assume that learning differences will occur between the genders. With Females being more verbal and males more spatial, a need to consider how to train the combined genders so effective learning can take place is imperative. Most studies have shown that there is little differences in how men and women learn yet there is still many other studies that can show marked differences in the brain and behavior that contribute to the differences in how the learning takes place within the brain.
If females tend to better at verbal abilities and rely heavily on verbal communication then the need for web 2.0 communication technologies is imperative to the communication necessary for learning to take place. Whereas males tend to be heavily right brained and show better spatial abilities such as measuring, mechanical design and geography. These spatial cues can be brought forward to the learning table to allow the male learner the opportunity to learn successfully.
posted by tanya doll at 8:39 pm
labels: biological, female, gender, learning, male
2 comments:
the hinkler report said...
It is very interesting to read about how the brains of men and women are wired differently and therefore, causes them to learn and understand differently. It adds another wrinkle (pun intentional) to the ideas of Brain Based Learning and Multiple Intelligences. As we have learned in our courses, people have many different styles of learning and may prefer one area of the brain to another. This fact has added great responsibility to educators to make sure that their lessons suited these learning styles. Now add to this the gender difference and you can see why many educators get frustrated at trying to teach. I think you are on the right track to solve this by incorporating technology into the classes that is based on your research for gender learning abilities. It also seems clear to me that this is why there needs to be a greater emphasis on getting more educators to use a constructivist approach to learning. In doing so, there is a greater chance to use multiple sources or ways to gain the needed knowledge. Also if the learning is more student-centered the more intuitive women will naturally gravitate to the sources that allow them the best understanding. It does make me wonder though, as to whether the differences between males and females are going to increase of decrease over the next few years. As we have also been told in our courses, technology is re-wiring the brains of today’s students. They perceive communication, literacy and other forms of daily life very differently than of just a few generations ago. Will this change in the brain add to the difference in how we learn, or will it allow us to view the information we need in so many styles that we will be sure to find the data we are looking for? I hope it is the latter. Good luck with your project, it sounds very interesting.
March 3, 2010 4:26 PM
stand and deliver said...
Comment on Tanya Doll Blog
It is always interesting to see “theory” put in motion with a practical application. In my school district there has been a pilot of gender only classes in an elementary and middle school. The coming school year it will expand to an entire elementary and middle school sites where the project has been piloted. It has been a great success with very little attrition. The program is voluntary and well supported by the parent community.
Comment Domenic Colangelo
Sources
Author: Tanya Doll
Original author URL
http://tanyadollhouse.blogspot.com/
Comment on author URL
http://fitandfierce2009.blogspot.com/
There are a number of gender differences to consider. Different parts of the brain function differently between the sexes and therefore impact men and women differently. For example, the cerebellum contains neurons that connect to other parts of the brain and spinal cord and facilitate movement, balance and speech. There is a much stronger connecting pathway in the female brain between the brain parts therefore females have superior language and fine-motor skills while males tend to be less intuitive. another example of gender differences is in the cerebrum. The cerebrum is the upper or main part of the brain controlling conscious and voluntary processes. Females use more volume than males therefore resulting in females being greater at multitasking. Lastly, neurotransmitters which are biochemical substances that transmit nerve impulses at the synapses clearly affect differences in how males and females brains process data.
Given these biological brain differences one could assume that learning differences will occur between the genders. With Females being more verbal and males more spatial, a need to consider how to train the combined genders so effective learning can take place is imperative. Most studies have shown that there is little differences in how men and women learn yet there is still many other studies that can show marked differences in the brain and behavior that contribute to the differences in how the learning takes place within the brain.
If females tend to better at verbal abilities and rely heavily on verbal communication then the need for web 2.0 communication technologies is imperative to the communication necessary for learning to take place. Whereas males tend to be heavily right brained and show better spatial abilities such as measuring, mechanical design and geography. These spatial cues can be brought forward to the learning table to allow the male learner the opportunity to learn successfully.
posted by tanya doll at 8:39 pm
labels: biological, female, gender, learning, male
2 comments:
the hinkler report said...
It is very interesting to read about how the brains of men and women are wired differently and therefore, causes them to learn and understand differently. It adds another wrinkle (pun intentional) to the ideas of Brain Based Learning and Multiple Intelligences. As we have learned in our courses, people have many different styles of learning and may prefer one area of the brain to another. This fact has added great responsibility to educators to make sure that their lessons suited these learning styles. Now add to this the gender difference and you can see why many educators get frustrated at trying to teach. I think you are on the right track to solve this by incorporating technology into the classes that is based on your research for gender learning abilities. It also seems clear to me that this is why there needs to be a greater emphasis on getting more educators to use a constructivist approach to learning. In doing so, there is a greater chance to use multiple sources or ways to gain the needed knowledge. Also if the learning is more student-centered the more intuitive women will naturally gravitate to the sources that allow them the best understanding. It does make me wonder though, as to whether the differences between males and females are going to increase of decrease over the next few years. As we have also been told in our courses, technology is re-wiring the brains of today’s students. They perceive communication, literacy and other forms of daily life very differently than of just a few generations ago. Will this change in the brain add to the difference in how we learn, or will it allow us to view the information we need in so many styles that we will be sure to find the data we are looking for? I hope it is the latter. Good luck with your project, it sounds very interesting.
March 3, 2010 4:26 PM
stand and deliver said...
Comment on Tanya Doll Blog
It is always interesting to see “theory” put in motion with a practical application. In my school district there has been a pilot of gender only classes in an elementary and middle school. The coming school year it will expand to an entire elementary and middle school sites where the project has been piloted. It has been a great success with very little attrition. The program is voluntary and well supported by the parent community.
Comment Domenic Colangelo
Sources
Author: Tanya Doll
Original author URL
http://tanyadollhouse.blogspot.com/
Comment on author URL
http://fitandfierce2009.blogspot.com/
Week 1 DQ Topic 2
Topic #2: Tech in your workplace: How has your workplace kept up with tech or not kept up with tech? What kinds of tech things have you bought to use in your classroom/presentation?Please give examples (and have a little fun with the idea...).
There is a range of tech products were using in the classrooms. The most widely used is the ELMO document camera. This helps in activities where different strategies are used to work through text. “Chunking”, “out lining”, and “Cornell notes”. They are useful only as a better version of a traditional overhead projector with transparencies.
Its as interesting as the transformation from a chalkboard to a dry erase board. The teachers like them, but it’s a case of an improvement to their old process rather than an innovation and creation of interactive curriculum.
The use of smart boards that we already have on campus is where innovation can be made, but there are a variety of issues that hinder their use by teachers. The number one reason is the technology mindset is lacking with the majority of teachers and the demands that they currently have in there daily routine.
Just having training on how to use a smart board will only work with self-directed teachers. They will invest their personal time and invest in the transformation of their curriculum. The rest of the teachers need a structured plan and mentoring with the creation of the content and the implementation of the curriculum when the students get their first experience in it.
There is a range of tech products were using in the classrooms. The most widely used is the ELMO document camera. This helps in activities where different strategies are used to work through text. “Chunking”, “out lining”, and “Cornell notes”. They are useful only as a better version of a traditional overhead projector with transparencies.
Its as interesting as the transformation from a chalkboard to a dry erase board. The teachers like them, but it’s a case of an improvement to their old process rather than an innovation and creation of interactive curriculum.
The use of smart boards that we already have on campus is where innovation can be made, but there are a variety of issues that hinder their use by teachers. The number one reason is the technology mindset is lacking with the majority of teachers and the demands that they currently have in there daily routine.
Just having training on how to use a smart board will only work with self-directed teachers. They will invest their personal time and invest in the transformation of their curriculum. The rest of the teachers need a structured plan and mentoring with the creation of the content and the implementation of the curriculum when the students get their first experience in it.
Week 1 DQ Topic 1
Topic #1: Briefly share an experience about using media (visual and/or auditory) in class or during a presentation, focus your comment on any work-arounds or solutions you used when the tech wasn't quite working or when the tech wasn't adequate to do what you had originally planned.
I had a small group of interns doing a presentation for the counties UTA (Urban Teaching Academy) summer camp. The audience was primarily high school students and some staff from the various campus sites. It was focusing on 21st century skills and web 2.0 tools. There was an Internet connection issue with the videos the students made for the Facebook examples.
We talked about the options and determined they would have to focus more on how the tool was used instead of how to use the tool. The students told the story of how the youth of Iran used Facebook to communicate with the outside world during the Presidential election protests. One of students explained her first hand experience with a friend in Iran during this time.
The students already use Facebook so they would not be interested in a tutorial of Facebook, but both the digital natives and digital immigrants were excited about the interaction with people of a different culture on the other side of the globe.
I had a small group of interns doing a presentation for the counties UTA (Urban Teaching Academy) summer camp. The audience was primarily high school students and some staff from the various campus sites. It was focusing on 21st century skills and web 2.0 tools. There was an Internet connection issue with the videos the students made for the Facebook examples.
We talked about the options and determined they would have to focus more on how the tool was used instead of how to use the tool. The students told the story of how the youth of Iran used Facebook to communicate with the outside world during the Presidential election protests. One of students explained her first hand experience with a friend in Iran during this time.
The students already use Facebook so they would not be interested in a tutorial of Facebook, but both the digital natives and digital immigrants were excited about the interaction with people of a different culture on the other side of the globe.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)