Analysis for Project 1

Prompt, Week 3: What have you learned from the analysis? What are you planning to do with it? Do a little brainstorming about what activities tied to your learning objectives that you might include in the design of your lesson.

The first thing I learned, on reflection, and on reading others’ plans is that I wish I had chosen a different topic. (My topic was the creation of an introduction to podcasting for teachers who are reluctant technology users, or just new to podcasting.)

This is a busy, busy semester. First, I wish I had chosen something- as others seem to have done- that could directly benefit my own work and teaching. For example, I have 23 new students signed up for the robot team. I will need to divide them into groups. Some will need to learn the basics of robot programming in the C language. Others will need to begin to learn the design/building process. I will work with these students on Saturdays, and I will need to make/manage learning resources for them. It is just another thing to get done. Had I chosen something like that for my project, I could have been killing two birds with one stone- analyzing their needs and creating lessons for them, while completing the project for this class. Sigh.

The other aspect of this project that was ill considered on my part (in terms of time management) was to envision it as independent instructional materials, not as a lesson with a teacher. While I think that is the correct decision in so many ways, and that materials developed for this will be useful to my school and to the instructional technologist with whom I am working, it does mean more work in the development of materials. So there you go…

What else did I learn from the Analysis phase? It is interesting to think about how to teach/motivate teachers who are hesitant to learn/adopt/use technology in their classrooms. They are so different from me. I have to work to understand what is helpful and  motivating to them, to understand what kind of instruction and materials will most effectively reach them. This will be an interesting experience for me, and I am especially interested in their evaluation that comes at the end. I hope to be able to refine the materials as a result of their feedback. Or at least learn what about the materials  was helpful/effective and to work with our instructional technologist to use the information to produce better instruction and support for those teachers.

So, based on discussion from Betty, the ed-tech lady, and from observation, there are concerns that come from the teachers:

• Lack of time and other things to do (meetings, tutorials, grading, planning, etc.)
• Embarrassment in face to face trainings- feeling like they are ignorant about technology
• Pace – often tech training sessions go too fast for them
• Opportunity to practice – too many tech sessions present information and ideas they are interested in, but they don’t have enough time to develop materials that they can use and/or practice the skills.
• Frustration – because of lack of practice time, when they try- later and on their own- to work with the ideas, there is often some problem that they didn’t anticipate/don’t understand that delays or stops them.

In considering these issues, it seemed like a good idea to develop online materials that the teachers could access at a time and place that is convenient to them. They could progress through the materials at their own pace. They would not be embarrassed, as they would be working on their own or with someone they feel comfortable with. A support structure could be built in, so that if they complete a section and have questions, they could get help. This approach seemed like a good idea, or at least worth a try – gathering information from the teachers who use it to determine if it was or was not a helpful approach.

In light of that, the activities will be:

• Written information for the teachers to read about podcasting, probably a web page.
• A podcast on podcasting- actually a vodcast- explaining different ways podcasts can be used for education: Podcasts to use in class presentations, podcasts to help explain topics, podcasts for student practice, such as vocabulary acquisition, podcasts on current events or world cultures, etc. Some written material will be provided in support of this, as well as links to a variety of podcasts.
• Some reflection questions about how the individual teacher might use podcasts in his/her own classroom.
• A screencast of how to use iTunes to listen to podcasts, to search for podcasts, to subscribe to podcasts.
• An assignment to describe one lesson per quarter that the teacher will enhance with the use of a podcast. The writeup will be submitted to the ed-tech specialist, and also included in the teacher’s curriculum map. A guide will be provided to assist the teacher in the write-up.
• A “where do you go from here?” vodcast (?) describing in simple terms the process of creating podcasts, and how teacher created podcasts may be used in the class; an invitation to learn more…
• An ending survey to evaluate the usefulness of the materials provided.

That’s my thoughts so far.
We’ll see how it all plays out!

 

Personal Theory of Learning

Prompt, Week 2: Write a description of your personal theory of learning and connect it to one of the theories listed in the reading for Activity 2.

Is it fair to say I am a hodge-podge, accepting and rejecting willy-nilly parts of all the different learning theories as they serve my current mood and needs? I learned some time ago not to let cognitive dissonance distress me too much; otherwise I would probably be a basket case by now….

But let me make my case.

Objective Model of Learning.
I like it. While I don’t think Skinner should have experimented on his daughter to the extent he did, behaviorism is the way to go in many cases. I worked for quite awhile at a wilderness camp for emotionally disturbed and delinquent teenage girls. The girls lived at the wilderness camp all but 4 days of every month, and their stay in the program was about a year and a half. While there were many components to our work with the girls, the essential therapy strategy was based on William Glasser’s Reality Therapy theories. When applied consistently on a daily basis, it seemed to work to consistently bring the discussion back to “What was your behavior?”, “What was the result?”, and “Is that really working for you? Is it getting you where you want to be?” I know that behaviorism or objectivism isn’t the answer to every educational setting, but I think that it does have advantages in certain situations:

Every teacher must manage her classroom and the behaviors of the students in it. Often, Skinners ideas are very workable for this basic element of classroom success. In addition, there are some parts of classroom instruction, I think, that work best when given to the students. Lecture-style teaching has a bad reputation, but some of education is giving students some basic information that will provide a foundation for their work and learning. For example, I am teaching a robotics class. I give the students the information on how to write a basic program, how to access and direct the motors, how to connect the robot to the computer to download the program. I think lecture or demonstration style teaching is effective for this part of teaching.

Constructivist Model of Learning.
I like it. I do believe that we each construct knowledge. A presentation by a teacher is going to be received by students in different ways, based on their knowledge, experiences, and how they perceive the world. If we do not acknowledge that fact in our teaching, we are not effectively reaching all our students. Constructivism makes us consider how people learn- different stages of learning. I am a great believer in using manipulative materials for learning. I think they help build a foundation for more abstract knowledge and learning. Back to personal experience: I was terrible at algebra in high school. My engineer dad sat down with me almost every night trying to help me learn it. But his knowledge of algebra, and his teaching style was pretty much identical to my classroom teacher. I know that he and I both experienced frustration with my inability to understand an learn it. One of the primary factors in choosing a college major was that it could not require me to take any more math than necessary. I ended up as an English major. I had to take 12 hours of math and science, with only one of them required to be math. Guess what science I took? Geology, because it seemed non-mathy. I have, more or less, overcome my math learning disability, and now have a theory of how it occurred. I was good at math up through 8th grade. Most of it required simple computation, which I could do. When math became more abstract- algebra- I couldn’t step up because my foundation was a basis. I had simply memorized and applied the rules without really understanding them. Exponents are a good example. I am clear on the idea the three squared means you multiply three times three. The answer is nine. But I was an adult before I realized that calculating the area of an actual square was a model for three squared. How could I not realize that there was a reason we called it the square of a number? I don’t know. I just knew that squares were some of the easiest to memorize on the multiplication tables!

This experience tells me that if I had had more experiences with math through an exploration of objects in the real world, I might have been more prepared for algebra. I needed a different teaching methodology in the lower grades in order to be successful at later, more abstract stages.

Enough on that topic. Let’s move on…

Cooperative Model of Learning.
I like it. Sort of. I don’t really like it, and in most learning situations would prefer to learn on my own and work on my own. But, I understand the importance of students learning to work with others. Most of us cannot be successful in the world without learning effective teamwork and communication. I think cooperative learning is a good approach for some students. It helps them to learn from and to work with others. But even if cooperative learning is not the most effective methodology for the construction of knowledge, there are essential skills which are learned through working with others. Students learn to effectively communicate their ideas, they learn planning and organizational skills, they learn to be responsible to the others in their group. And, since they are responsible to their peers, they have a somewhat more authentic audience for whom they are producing their product. Last, I do believe that sharing and discussing acquired knowledge improves the learning. Communicating knowledge refines your understanding. Listening to others’ points of view extends and enriches understanding. And the social interactions around a learning topic seem to aid not only in retention of knowledge, but in the ability to apply it. We all know that one of the secrets of teaching is that we develop a better understanding of the material we teach. The process of teaching, explaining, elaborating lead to a deeper understanding.

Cognitive Information Processing Model of Learning.
I like it. Really, how can you argue with this? It is clear to any teacher that not all students learn the same way. Some learn better visually. Some are auditory learners. Some tactile-kinesthetic. Some are artistic, creative. Some right-brained, logical, orderly. Some want the big picture first. Some build knowledge through the details or outline. Some like light. Some like dark. Some need a comfy environment. Some like a more formal setting. Some this. Some that. In our classrooms, we may not be able to perfectly meet the learning styles and needs of all students, but we can build variety into our lessons. We can offer different ways of entering instruction and different activities. We can build in flexibility to better meet the needs of more students.

Cognitive information processing is not just about learning styles. This model also involves an understanding of how learners process information. It considers input into cognitive processing channels; how much information can be held in short term memory to be applied to a task, and how information moves from short term to long term memory. Naturally these are important issues to consider when designing effective instruction.

Sociocultural Model of Learning.
Hmmmm. I must confess I don’t like it. I don’t think everything is relative. I think there are judgments you can make about good and bad. I think there are values that are important to convey to students. Do I think that I am always right or that my values are the best ones- that there are no valuable insights that can be offered by others? No. Of course not. But I also think these two things:

1. Anyone who thinks you can teach, convey knowledge and information absolutely devoid of value judgments is probably wrong. In the same way that we recognize that learners construct knowledge based on their own experiences, we also must accept that we do the same. Everything we learn, think, and do is colored by our background, education, and experiences. We cannot divorce ourselves from that fact. Even the act of making the case for instruction devoid of interpretation, or saying that this learning model is better, is an act of judgment. I think we honor our students more by acknowledging that we make judgments, but trying to examine and discuss them, and trying to welcome other points of view.

2. I think that honoring the experiences and perceptions of minority students is covered in the theories of constructivists: the idea that learners construct their own knowledge. That does not imply that we are all the same. That honors the idea the different people perceive things differently.

Last, on this issue, I think the sociocultural model rejects the idea of any objective reality. While reality can be colored by our perceptions, I think it would be very difficult to teach, even to operate, in a world where we deny the existence of objective reality. Further, if we believe everything is subjective, how do we work to have dialogue, to construct a reality in which we can all participate- living and working together? Surely it is necessary to have at least some basic elements that we all can agree on.

The end (aren’t you glad? I am!)
In conclusion, I seem to subscribe to the Blended Model of Learning. I think each model (except sociocultural) have ideas that can contribute to improved teaching and learning. I think if I were to observe a master teacher, I would be able to find elements from each of these models present in their instruction. I think the instruction might start with a global overview and a good essential question. There might follow some instruction, the conveying of basic information. Next I might see a variety of activities, allowing the learners to interact with the ideas in various forms. It would most likely include some opportunities for students to work together and discuss ideas. While there might be a test at the end, there would also be some authentic performance or product, through which students demonstrate their ability to apply the learning in creative ways.

 

Instructional Design, Part I

Given what you have read about instructional design (Bichelymeyer’s article on the ADDIE model), how important is it to what your future work goals are?

According to the article, instructional designers don’t have “a consensus definition, clear focus, distinct boundaries, established links between research and practice, or any obvious added value when compared to other fields.” The one thing IDT professionals do seem to have in common – the ADDIE model- “does not guarantee quality, does not work efficiently, is out of date, and doesn’t even reflect the real work of instructional design.”

In light of those issues, I’m having a hard time trying to come up with a statement about its relevance to my goals. I have two questions.

First: “How is IDT related to CECS?”
Bichelmeyer explains that Indiana University offers courses in Instructional Systems Technology, Library and Information Sciences, Telecommunications, Informatics, and Learning Sciences. I am in a program for Computer Education and Cognitive Systems. I must confess, looking at the names of these programs, it is hard for me to tell what each does, and how they are distinct from one another. And, is CECS a separate, distinct course of study? Is it the same as one of the above-mentioned? Is it a blending of several of them? Is it its own distinct field? Really, I just don’t know. So if the researchers had given me the survey and asked me to describe this field, I probably would have been just as vague and useless!

Second: What about ADDIE?
If ADDIE, whether considered as a model or framework, is indeed a foundational element, what does that really mean? The steps of Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement, and Evaluate do seem remarkably similar to what people do in many fields. It seems a lot like the steps taught in math problem-solving, the steps of scientific method, the process one would go through in developing a new business or a campaign to market a political candidate. So is it actually just applying these processes to the field of learning, paying particular attention to delivery systems that involve computers? For now, I will use that as the basis of my definition.

If this is a reasonable working definition

applying educational theory and the ADDIE process to the development of computer- based learning resources

Then I think that instructional design is definitely related to my professional goals. As a teacher, I have two primary focuses when I consider the use of computers in education.

1. One focus is on what students need to be able to do. What computer skills will they need to prepare them to live and work effectively in the 21st century? Students learn a lot on their own, but I question whether they understand how to use the tools for learning. Being good at AIM is one thing, but using that ability to facilitate work or school communication is another thing. Fluency in using telecommunications will be essential. Students also need to develop critical thinking skills and apply them to the online information they find. I think it is up to teachers and professors at the secondary and college levels to help students come to a more sophisticated use of the tools available to them. Some of the concepts of ID relate to what I teach my students. ID, is more relevant, perhaps, to how I teach, which brings me to my second focus.

2. How can computers help us teach better? Instructional Design seems to be more focused on distance education and/or the creation of a training products through which students can learn independently. Still, I think many of the concepts can still be applied to my classroom. At least some of the learning tools I use are intended for my students to use independently. It might be using a wiki to create review materials, participating in a discussion board to discuss an ethical issue, or using a blog to organize and reflect on their learning. I look at it as blended learning. A teacher is present to facilitate and direct the class, but much of the work is computer-based. It may be independent, or it may encourage collaborative online communication and sharing of knowledge. In any case, when I develop and implement these learning tools/structures, I believe I should work to apply the principles of good instructional design.

 

Instructional Design, Part II: ADDIE and Dreaming in Code

According to Bechelmeyer, the criticisms of ADDIE are that it:

• is ineffective and inefficient,
• is costly,
• doesn’t necessarily lead to best instructional solutions,
• doesn’t take advantage of tools that allow for less linear approaches to design, and
• doesn’t reflect how practitioners in the field actually do their work.

I have been reading a book, Dreaming in Code, by Scott Rosenberg. It chronicles the work of Mitch Kapor and a team of software developers trying to create an open source, personal information manager. The book examines the difficulties encountered in trying to write a major piece of software. Many have tried to make this process more efficient only to experience frustration. In one section, the author describes the “Waterfall Model” of software development which divides a project into discrete phases: definition of requirements, design, implementation, integration, testing, and deployment. Sounds a lot like ADDIE. The problem is that the waterfall method just didn’t work. Rosenberg says that it seemed logical but “in practice it almost invariably led to delay, confusion, and disaster.” The waterfall method had a bad reputation, and was pretty much abandoned by the late 80’s.

What was wrong with it? Real work often doesn’t follow the plan that efficiency experts lay out:

• Creativity is often non-linear. Procedures that are rigid and linear stifle creativity, reducing the quality and innovativeness of the product. A rigid procedural approach may also drive away the most talented people.
• A problem that was generated in Step 1 may not show up until Step 4 or 5. A good model must allow for looping back to previous steps, possibly even starting somewhere other than at “the beginning”. Often design and development are iterative processes. Neither ADDIE nor the Waterfall Model seem to allow for that.
• Problems (bugs) are by their nature frequent and often unpredictable. They may be easy to fix or surprisingly difficult and time-consuming. And they don’t show up according to a planned schedule or procedure. They may pop up at the most inopportune times.

Another attempt to improve the process and predictability of software development was the Capability Maturity Model (CMM), which defined the qualities of a good software development company. The levels describe how the companies plan, schedule, track, and manage their process. This model drew its inspiration from W. Edwards Deming’s theories on manufacturing efficiency and quality. While this model provided a helpful approach, it is seen as overly bureaucratic and stifling. It could be argued that creative fields do not adapt well to the processes that are effective for manufacturing.

Currently software development models favor lighter, quicker, more responsive methods for software production. A description of the Agile Software Development Model states that they favor:

• Individuals and interactions over processes and tools.
• Working software over comprehensive documentation
• Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
• Responding to change over following a plan

This is a very different description than CMM, Waterfall, or ADDIE. It honors the talents of individuals as well as allowing for flexibility and creativity in the design process. The last item seems to say it all: this model values responsiveness over a rigid planning process.

I have compared models of software development to models of instructional design. Is this a fair comparison? I think it is. Software design requires determining initial specifications, developing a design, implementing the design, and testing it. Those same steps are necessary for instructional design. In addition, an instructional product must be attractive, it must follow good educational theory and practices, and it must take into account varying experience levels, abilities, and learning styles of students. These elements suggest that instructional design, like software design, is a complex process; making a good instructional product requires highly skilled, creative people working within a flexible process.

It seems to me that instructional design is in its infancy compared to software design. While ADDIE is a good starting point, this field could learn some lessons from the struggles of the software industry to create a good development model. While ADDIE’s elements seem appropriate, its implementation process doesn’t yet seem flexible enough to account for the way skilled, creative people really work.

 

Philosophy Quiz

I guess this is a disclosure thing.
The philosophy quiz was interesting, and apparently, I am an existentialist.

What philosophy do you follow? (v1.03)

You scored as a Existentialism

Your life is guided by the concept of Existentialism: You choose the meaning and purpose of your life. “Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does.” “It is up to you to give [life] a meaning.” –Jean-Paul Sartre “It is man’s natural sickness to believe that he possesses the Truth.” –Blaise Pascal More info at Arocoun’s Wikipedia User Page: “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Arocoun”

Existentialism 80% Utilitarianism 65% Justice (Fairness) 45% Kantianism 45% Apathy 5% Nihilism 5% Hedonism 5% Strong Egoism 0% Divine Command 0%

 

CECS 5210 Introduction

Hi, I’m Deb Goudy. I live in Farmers Branch. I am a high school computer teacher and the Computer Department Chair at a Dallas high school. (For email and school name, see Moodle post).

I’m fairly good with technology: the courses I teach include Flash animation, Maya 3D Modeling, AP Computer Science, and a robotics programming course. I also coach ESD’s robotics team, which participates each year in the BotBall competition. The AP courses use Java, and the robotics classes use C. I am currently developing a computer game design course which will be taught in the spring and use the Python programming language.

Of course, with these classes, it is clear that we use computers in my classrooms. But, to me, using the computer only for the applications being taught is not enough. I should also always be working to understand how technology can be used to improve the teaching and learning process. For example, how can I incorporate online resources, like Tapped In, Google docs, or Second Life to facilitate and enhance the content of my classes? And, as a computer teacher, I think that I should be a role model to other teachers for using technology as a part of learning.

I am on the curriculum committee at my school. We use Atlas to map and to examine our curriculum. We review the maps and set goals for improving teaching and learning at school. While we are looking at best practices, I am also always looking at the role of technology in education. As the computer department chair and a curriculum committee member, the following questions are pretty much a constant part of my work and thinking:

· How can technology be used to improve teaching?

· What technology skills should students develop to be successful in college and careers?

· Where can technology skills best be taught? (Which should be taught in a computer class and which should be integrated into other subjects?)

· How can we help, train, encourage core subject teachers to include not only the use of technology but also the teaching of technology skills as a part of their core subject matter?

What I want to learn from this class is how to be more effective in the use of technology for teaching and learning. If I am to be a leader, I should know the best practices in instructional design. In the same way that an instructional designer must consider the needs of the client when creating a product, it is important for me to understand the needs of different teachers. How does a math teacher using technology differ from an English teacher in their instructional needs? How can I be effective working with teachers who have different philosophies and approaches to teaching?

 

critical thinking, problem-solving, and creativity

I am continuing my thoughts on this topic from the class discussion post.   I think I disagree with the book, and although I expressed my opinion on the discussion post, there is more to it, and I didn’t think that was the place to go on as much as my tendency toward diatribe might make me . . .

So here is more. I think these topics are related, and in terms of the book’s interest in e-learning, it might be correct to categorize these words as interchangeable. The book seems to be written mostly from the point of view of business, and in terms of what a business might want to accomplish, this is a fair characterization. But I come to this discussion from the point of view of a teacher, and to me, the terms are different.

Critical thinking, to me, is an analytical process. It is reading with a questioning, perhaps even challenging mind.  Who wrote this? What is their point of view? What is fact? What is opinion? Are the conclusions justified? Or, when solving a problem, critical thinking is analyzing what you know and what you don’t know. What approaches can you take to find out more? What data are you getting and what does it mean? What assumptions are you bringing to the table that may or may not be justified. It is classic (real) experimental process. In that respect, critical thinking is a component ofproblem-solving.

But problem-solving involves more. One element of problem-solving is identifying whether or not you actually have a problem. If so, what is it really? The analysis usually takes place after you make some determination of what you want. And that is a relative state of being. It is perception. There are many scientific discoveries that came as a result of accidents. What someone thought was a problem was really an opportunity in disguise.  This can be true of a glue that didn’t stick well enough (that turned into sticky notes) or it can be true in terms of human interactions in business. Sometimes a conflict between people at work is an opportunity to learn more, to see something from a different perspective, to find a different way of doing things, and may lead to new business opportunities.

And now, creativity. The best problem-solving probably involves creativity- thinking outside the box. Again, it may involve a different point of view. But, I think creativity can exist outside of problem-solving. I can’t think that when da Vinci drew sketches for a helicopter that he was trying to solve some existing, urgent problem. When a jazz musician is improvising with his peers, is he solving a problem? When an artist is painting, is he solving a problem? Is writing a novel problem-solving? Perhaps so, in all cases, but the nuances of these kinds of activities and performances seem to me to have a different character than the type of problem-solving the book is addressing when it asks the question, “Can creativity be trained?” And when the authors write their guidelines, like using job-specific cases as a context to teach problem-solving skills, they are no longer looking at human creativity. They are looking at how to make better workers. And, yes, the training for that would be different than asking the question, “Can creativity be taught?” 

Well, that was my daily exercise in analysis. Was it problem-solving? Not unless you consider the problem of what to write for my last official blog entry, and if that were my only goal, I think I could have found a shorter, easier topic. Was it creative thinking? Probably not; I don’t think I created anything here, nor thought about this in any deep ways that others haven’t. It was critical thinking, though, as I questioned the point of view and purpose of the authors and questioned their assumptions.

Last thought. . . this blog has been fun. I hope I will still write in it even when it is not a weekly assignment.

 

CSCL (Computer Supported Collaborative Learning)

Quick note: It is hard to keep up with teaching and learning in late April when students and teachers have spring fever and the hockey playoffs are on and Dallas Stars are being awesome!! 

I was interested in this topic. As I said in my post on the discussion forum, I used a discussion forum, complete with chat with a group of students in a robotics programming course last year. I liked it a lot. One of the things I liked was that I just felt free to experiment with the environment with students. I didn’t have strong expectations about it one way or another, so it was interesting to just try different things. One of my goals was to work with students to develop the idea of chat for educational purposes, not just for social ones. There are so many new Web 2.0 capabilities, and it frustrates me when schools look at how students are using them, then make the decision to block them at schools. I understan the concerns. But my view is that instead of worrying and fretting over how students will misuse the technology, we actively adopt it and show students how to use it for useful purposes.

It makes me remember when I worked at a wilderness camp for emotionally disturbed and delinquent teenage girls. We allowed them to have knives, even though some of them had fighting problem. The idea was to teach them that knives were a tool, not a weapon . . . to teach them the appropriate care and safe use of knives. I feel the same way about technology. It is our role and duty as responsible adults o teach students the polite, respectful, appropriate use of the tools, not to turn a blind eye to them.

Continuing the CSCL discussion, though, I have also been more actively using a wiki and Google documents to assist in students’ collaborative work. I think these are effective tools, and in the links provided in this lesson, I was pleased to find other open-source, Web 2.0 resources. Cool. Too much stuff, too little time!!!

That statement gives one a little pause, though. If you think about it, it has some pretty serious implications for teachers. Even though some of these resources may be time-savers in the long run (I think that collaborative techniques can free teachers to be more of a mentor, distribute more of the learning responsibility among students when done well), there is a lot of work to be done to create good learning activities for students. First, teachers must learn to use the applications. They then must set up learning tasks, teach students to use the applications, and monitor students’ use of those applications. I think I am pretty good at learning new things in technology, and I feel overwhelmed with all the new things. What should I spend my time on? What things are worth the time in terms of good teaching. When I decide something is worth it, how do I find the time to create (and refine) the content that I plan to use with students? And, I work in a computer lab every day. I can try something new almost at a whim. But what if I also had to schedule the time for my classes to be able to access the resources. Plus anticipate how much time they will need to learn to use the technology + how much time they will need to complete the activity. . . It’s an overwhelming job. I think if we really want to modernize education and prepare students for 21st century learning and working, then we have to allocate more time for teachers to learn, plan, and prepare.

I have started reading a book, lately- Dreaming in Code. At least in the beginning, it has a lot to say about the idea that it is practically impossible to anticipate the time necessaryt to create good software. Things just take longer than you imagined/planned for. I think it is much the same with teacher use of technology. Everyone knows that we should spend more time in teacher training. But in the practical day-to-day world, we don’t allocate nearly enough of it. And even if we were to follow the recommendations for training time, I think we would find that it takes even more than we expected. It’s a dilemna, a difficulty, a challenge. I think it is important that we not underestimate the time element in creating and monitoring good, computer supported, learning tasks and environments.  

 

evaluation

The materials that we looked at this week were very interesting to me, especially the external links. I found them very relevant and useful. My school has several curricular goals and one of them is assessment. We are trying to encourage teachers to use more variety in assessment, more authentic tasks, etc. I especially liked the LTDI Evaluation Cookbook. I thought the format was interesting, fun, and easy to understand. Each type of evaluation was clearly explained, and I think this resource would be useful to teachers who are interested in trying something new. The variations sections were interesting and helpful, and the included links provided a good resource for additional information, so users are easily able to research each evaluation type in more depth without being overwhelmed by the detail as they are trying to apply the information. It is a great resource, which I think I will use and share.

 

happy problems, aka lemons and lemonade

It’s been a week of happy problems . . .

First, in the storms, my electricity was out for a little more than 24 hours. Result- some spoiled food in the fridge and some questionable food in the freezer. What makes it happy? I cleaned out the fridge. Completely. And I didn’t have to think about most of it. is this still OK? Is this the turkey soup from Thanksgiving? or Christmas? or last Christmas? It all went, and the fridge is very clean!! Yea!!

Second- same scenario as #1 – the electricity was off at school as well as my house. We got the day off. There were various things I could have done, but using the no electricity as an excuse, I spent the day reading a book. Very relaxing and refreshing.

Third, I went to school on Saturday intending to work with at least a couple of members of my robot team. Since we are having some car trouble(overheating/needsa new water pump), my daughter dropped me off at school and used my car to go to her job. No kids showed up. I couldn’t leave. Result- I cleaned out the cabinets in my classroom and got some stuff organized that I wouldn’t have otherwise.

Fourth, same scenario as #3, except that during Saturday, needing to get out a bit, I visited the butterfly garden at my school for a little relaxation. The teacher who has been passionate about the butterfly garden left school at Christmas because of health problems. The butterfly garden is definitely showing signs of neglect. Result- I talked to some people today; we are going to organize a group of freshmen and sophomore students to work on it and dedicate our efforts to the teacher who cannot be with us right now. It will bring the students together and it will give them a way to show their appreciation for him and his work. Plus, it will be fun and we can wear jeans that day. Cool new thing to look forward to as the school year winds down and kids need something to inspire them. And who doesn’t love plants and butterflies???

I’m sure there are more, but mainly this reminds me that when things seem like they are not going well, there is often a benefit, hiding in the wings, if only we will recognize and act on it. Good message to remember next time life is seeming lemon-y.