edim513 is not my first experience with inquiry. I have had professional development sessions and a couple of Exploratorium workshops on inquiry. What this week did was reinforce some of the material that was presented in those previous experiences.
The two discussion activities completed this week helped to accentuate the needs for differentiation in curriculum and presentation. Looking at the responses to our memorable/best learning experiences, it becomes apparent that there are many preferred ways of learning. In our transition to inquiry-based activities, it must not be forgotten that direct instruction, auditory, and visual learning are still valid methods for some learners.
The other discussion thread, which asked us to differentiate inquiry from non-inquiry activities, shows that there is no clear cut definition or example of classroom inquiry. Inquiry is a type of approach, but it can vary in its degree of implementation. A single activity can also belong to multiple degrees of inquiry based on the advanced knowledge and preparation of the students.
As we continue this course, I am prepared to learn more examples and key components of inquiry. Although I have already been exposed to it, and have integrated some inquiry activities into my classroom, there is room for more growth. I would like to explore more ways to engage the students. I would like to evaluate cohesive ways of transforming the entire content into a dynamic experience rather than a set of activities dispersed throughout a mostly direct instruction course.
In the next few weeks, I expect to engage in the material and learn from other experiences to improve the degree of learning in the classroom. My goal is to use the learning from this course to reinforce the learning goals of my courses rather than completion goals.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Sunday, December 11, 2011
EDIM508 Google Earth
Reflection Blog to accompany Google Earth Virtual Field Trip project.
Google Earth is a great, easy to use program. It has evolved many exciting features since I started using it. It is now more user friendly and requires little instruction. For this assignment, I revisited an older assignment. About 6 or 7 years ago, I added a Google Earth component to a volcanoes assignment. At that time, Google Earth was used a novelty enhancement. Students were asked to locate their volcanoes using Google Earth and use a picture from the program in either their presentation or poster. Google Earth really didn't offer much to that project in terms of learning. Used only as a source of graphics that could have been located more easily through other means, its inclusion was designed to create awareness of the program.
With the motivation of this EDIM508 assignment, I returned to the topic of Volcanoes. Now, instead of being an irrelevant attachment, Google Earth is integrated into the learning process. Students explore the volcanoes in Google Earth to learn about their features, to characterize types of volcanoes, and to relate volcanoes to Earth processes. This project was designed to allow students to work independently, a key benefit for its inclusion in alternative education.
Another benefit to conducting this activity online is the easy transition between resources. Beyond just looking at volcanoes, this format allowed students to explore some of the historical and cultural aspects of living around a volcano. Volcanoes played a prominent role in earlier civilizations, defining their gods and customs. Google Earth allows me to integrate this cultural information into the description boxes or create embedded activities for students to further explore the culture and history around specific volcanoes or volcanoes in general.
I was nervous about using Google Earth at first because of my limited experience in creating custom content for it. Compared to my first attempt at Google Earth in the classroom, I was now met with overwhelming material. Smithsonian's Global Volcanism Program has cataloged and created Google Earth placemarks for an abundance of volcanoes. I used their information as a starting point, and edited several of the placemarks for selected volcanoes to include references to Discovery Education and offer Google Earth instructional activities, as well as cultural and historical information about each volcano.
Initially, I had wanted to do a comparison of population surroundings volcanoes. After searching for a while, I found a working dataset. Unfortunately, I have not found a way to automate enabling/disabling this layer. With the population layer activity, many of the surface features are obscured. I was able to set it to display only above a certain altitude. Doing so forced it to be hidden when students are viewing the surface features of the volcanoes. Aside from developing a better method to show/hide the population data, the assignment needs more work to better analyze the hazards based on populations near the volcanoes.
In its current state, this assignment is not quite stand alone enough for my purposes. I will continue to enhance it. I think it could benefit from additional placemarks and volcano visits to visualize patterns of location, eruption, and design. However, there is a trademark between including enough volcanoes and requiring so many stops to make the experience tedious for the students. The possibilities are there. I foresee a similar activity becoming a part of the alternative and online versions of my Earth and Sapce Science courses.
Course and Student Information:This is designed for use with 9th-12th grade students in alternative education and cyber school settings. This will accompany instruction on volcanoes, earthquakes, and plate tectonics. It will address the following Pennsylvania academic standards:3.1.12B: Apply concepts of models as a method to predict and understand science and technology.3.5.12A: Analyze and evaluate earth features and processes that change the earth.
Additional References:
Google Earth is a great, easy to use program. It has evolved many exciting features since I started using it. It is now more user friendly and requires little instruction. For this assignment, I revisited an older assignment. About 6 or 7 years ago, I added a Google Earth component to a volcanoes assignment. At that time, Google Earth was used a novelty enhancement. Students were asked to locate their volcanoes using Google Earth and use a picture from the program in either their presentation or poster. Google Earth really didn't offer much to that project in terms of learning. Used only as a source of graphics that could have been located more easily through other means, its inclusion was designed to create awareness of the program.
With the motivation of this EDIM508 assignment, I returned to the topic of Volcanoes. Now, instead of being an irrelevant attachment, Google Earth is integrated into the learning process. Students explore the volcanoes in Google Earth to learn about their features, to characterize types of volcanoes, and to relate volcanoes to Earth processes. This project was designed to allow students to work independently, a key benefit for its inclusion in alternative education.
Another benefit to conducting this activity online is the easy transition between resources. Beyond just looking at volcanoes, this format allowed students to explore some of the historical and cultural aspects of living around a volcano. Volcanoes played a prominent role in earlier civilizations, defining their gods and customs. Google Earth allows me to integrate this cultural information into the description boxes or create embedded activities for students to further explore the culture and history around specific volcanoes or volcanoes in general.
I was nervous about using Google Earth at first because of my limited experience in creating custom content for it. Compared to my first attempt at Google Earth in the classroom, I was now met with overwhelming material. Smithsonian's Global Volcanism Program has cataloged and created Google Earth placemarks for an abundance of volcanoes. I used their information as a starting point, and edited several of the placemarks for selected volcanoes to include references to Discovery Education and offer Google Earth instructional activities, as well as cultural and historical information about each volcano.
Initially, I had wanted to do a comparison of population surroundings volcanoes. After searching for a while, I found a working dataset. Unfortunately, I have not found a way to automate enabling/disabling this layer. With the population layer activity, many of the surface features are obscured. I was able to set it to display only above a certain altitude. Doing so forced it to be hidden when students are viewing the surface features of the volcanoes. Aside from developing a better method to show/hide the population data, the assignment needs more work to better analyze the hazards based on populations near the volcanoes.
In its current state, this assignment is not quite stand alone enough for my purposes. I will continue to enhance it. I think it could benefit from additional placemarks and volcano visits to visualize patterns of location, eruption, and design. However, there is a trademark between including enough volcanoes and requiring so many stops to make the experience tedious for the students. The possibilities are there. I foresee a similar activity becoming a part of the alternative and online versions of my Earth and Sapce Science courses.
Course and Student Information:This is designed for use with 9th-12th grade students in alternative education and cyber school settings. This will accompany instruction on volcanoes, earthquakes, and plate tectonics. It will address the following Pennsylvania academic standards:3.1.12B: Apply concepts of models as a method to predict and understand science and technology.3.5.12A: Analyze and evaluate earth features and processes that change the earth.
Additional References:
- Data Sets:
- Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program - Holocene Volcanoes(available from: http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/globallists.cfm?listpage=googleearth)
- NASA Earth Observing System - Population Density(available from: http://neo.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/Search.html?group=64 and http://serc.carleton.edu/eet/aura/part_2.htmlUSGS Earthquakes and Plate Tectonics Data(available from: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/kml.php)
- Volcanoes in Historical and Popular Culture. USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory (CVO). Retrieved December 10, 2011, from http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/LivingWith/PopCulture/mythology.html
- Mount St. Helens. (2011, December 7). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 21:51, December 10, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mount_St._Helens&oldid=464488786
- Ragnarök. (2011, December 10). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 21:52, December 10, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ragnar%C3%B6k&oldid=465135697
- 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull. (2011, December 10). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 21:52, December 10, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2010_eruptions_of_Eyjafjallaj%C3%B6kull&oldid=465114655
Thursday, December 8, 2011
EDIM508 Five Minds
Video Blog/Reflect on using the five minds. The video is still rendering, but here's the transcript while you're waiting:
I am neither Digital Native, nor Digital Immigrant. Instead, I am a digital colonist focused onusing technology to enhance my quest. Modern achievements in communication, remote sensing, and simulationtechnologies feed my inquisitive and scientific approach to everything aroundme.
This approach is the basis of my instructional style: to help students learn and engage theirworld, to understand how it works and what individual relationships to it theymay have. Just as technology aids me inmy personal quest, it plays a prominent and evolving role in my instructionaldelivery.
Howard Gardner highlighted five distinct ways of thinking andlearning. Each of these ways of thinkingwill prepare students to pursue their long term goals. But, before I can assist the students, I mustwork on enhancing each of these five minds within myself.
In general, I feel confident with disciplinary andsynthesizing minds. These are twotraditional views in a scientific approach. I will continue to seek connections and collect knowledge to piecetogether my understanding of more modern phenomena such as string theory or thelarge hadron collider. I will continueto encourage my students to think beyond isolated facts, adding a holisticappreciation to scientific knowledge. Toenhance my personal discipline mind, I will remain current on research throughpublished updates through RSS, Blogs, and Youtube. I intend to incorporate as much currentinformation as possible into my instruction. I will emphasize the fluid nature of science and the revision of basicassumptions about the universe.
I feel next most confident about respectful and ethicalminds. As Science is based oncollaboration, critique, validation, and feedback, respect and ethics areessential. To enhance these minds, Iwill seek out alternate viewpoints, domestic, foreign, oppositional, andother. I will utilize NASA’s DLNservices and online collaborations to reinforce the global nature of scienceand science instruction. I will enrollmy students in online collaborative efforts, such as Voicethread, Wikis, NASA’sReal World/InWorld, Project Globe, and S’COOL
My creative mind is in need of the most attention. Creativity is far more than arts, though itis often difficult to express. Throughthis course, I have explored online tools that tap into creativity withouttechnical skill. Prezi, Glogster,Xtranormal and others to be discovered offer chances for creativity. I intendto continue exploring these options and looking for similar tools to add justthe creative content without cumbersome productions. More importantly, I await the opportunity formy students to show me more ways to use these tools and others as they expresstheir creative minds.
This course laid the framework for five minds. The next step is to thoroughly engage themand guide my students to do the same. Fortunately, there are many resources to assist in this process.
Gardner, Howard. Five minds for the future. Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business School Press, 2007. Print.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
EDIM508 Global Respect and Collaboration
Julene Reed’s article Global Collaboration and Learning remindsus of the evolving nature of knowledge and information. Reed highlights information from ThomasFriedman and Daniel Pink imparting concerns about globalizing economies andresulting changes in education systems. Reed further suggests that changes in communication technology be usedto enhance the global and collaborative nature of education (Reed, 2007).
Howard Gardner further evokes the need for collaboration andglobal understandings:
In a world composed o f a fewhundred nations, speaking thousands of languages, and more than 6 billionpeople … we can no longer simply draw a curtain or build a wall… [We] must somehow learn to inhabit neighboring places – and the sameplanet – without hating one another, without lusting to injure or kill oneanother, without acting on xenophobic inclinations even if our own group mightemerge triumphant in the short run” (Gardner , 2006).
It is without question that international and cultural barriersare quickly transcended in the globalizing world. In order to best prepare students to functionin the workforce and society of this flat world, we must go beyond contentknowledge, processing, and technology skills. We must include the skills of collaboration and foster the “respectful mind.”
In terms of Science, I intend to do this through twoapproaches: historical and modern. Science is a collaborative effort; unfortunately, there are manyhistorical examples of criticism, steadfastness, and belligerence in thedevelopment of scientific thought. A keyexample of this conflict between collaboration and long-held beliefs is seen inGalileo’s conflict with the church over his DialogueConcerning the Two Chief World Systems. Byexamining the historical development of scientific thought, students willdevelop an understanding of the collaborative (though not always easily so)nature of science. Defining and applyingthe definitions of laws, theories and hypothesis students will focus on theprocesses of communication and review inherent in modern science.
Space exploration is another exemplar of the evolution ofscientific collaboration. Evaluating thetransition between the space race of Sputnik and Explorer through Apollo andSoyuz with collaborative approaches such as Apollo-Soyuz Test Project,Shuttle-Mir, and the International Space Station will encourage students torecognize the value of collaboration and respect for culture and view.
Aside from just examining examples of collaboration, I alsointend students to experience it. Through online interactions with NASA’s Digital Learning network,students can learn directly from Aerospace investigators, participate inwebconferencing, and interact with other classrooms. Through NOAA’s OceanExplorer program,students will maintain near real-time connectivity with oceanographicresearchers. Through NASA’s S’COOL andProject Globe students will collaborate with other classrooms to collect andshare data.
Science is as collaborative as ever and the resources toenable interactivity are increasing. Continually exposing students to examples of current research andapplication, as well as participating in collaborative programs will fosterstudent respect, collaboration, and global participation.
References
GLOBE Program. (n.d.). GLOBE Program. Retrieved December 1,2011, from http://globe.gov/
Galilei, G. (1953). Dialogue concerning the two chief worldsystems, Ptolemaic & Copernican;. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Gardner, H. (2007). Five minds for the future. Boston,Mass.: Harvard Business School Press.
Global Collaboration and Learning | EdTech Magazine. (n.d.).EDTECH. Retrieved December 1, 2011, fromhttp://www.edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2007/09/global-collaboration-and-learning
NASA - NASA DLN - Part of NASA LEARN (Learning Environmentsand Research Network). (n.d.). NASA - Home. Retrieved December 1, 2011, fromhttp://www.nasa.gov/offices/education/programs/national/dln/index.html
Reed, J. (n.d.). Global Collaboration and Learning | EdTechMagazine. EDTECH. Retrieved December 1, 2011, fromhttp://www.edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2007/09/global-collaboration-and-learning
The CERES S'COOL Project. (n.d.). Education Resources fromthe Science Directorate at NASA Langley Research Center. Retrieved December 1,2011, from http://science-edu.larc.nasa.gov/SCOOL/index.php
Thursday, November 24, 2011
EDIM508 Content Creation
Instead of having a single discussion with one or two students, I created a discussion board on our courseware server. The students were provided with this prompt:
This prompt was inserted into the student courseware without any advance notice or preparation, and access to the discussion was granted for two days (21 Nov - 22 Nov). This activity was the first time student collaboration and discussion has been encouraged within the alternative education program. We received two basic responses:
1 - Students who refused to participate unless it was directly tied to a grade
2 - Students who enjoyed the experience and the interaction with each other
The second category far outnumbered the first. I was encouraged by the response. Similar to topics in our current course EDIM508 discussions, students responded well to the social environment. Some of the comments included comparisons to facebook. Based on the response, I now have a new challenge: come up with more prompts to create a regular opportunity for such student dialog. At this point, I am considering once a week and I have also offered students to make topic/prompt suggestions for future use.
As for creativity responses, many of the students lacked any expansion on the technology theme. I added a second prompt to the discussion: Many of you are writing that you would like to see more creativity in the classroom, especially with concern to the offline activities. Do you have suggestions for this? Are there tools you have used that you think can better use your creativity to show that you know the material in the class? Have you used prezi, voicethread, glogster, wiki, xtranormal, or any other online tools? Do you prefer research projects, simulations, presentations, or reports in place of offline activities? But this prompt was added later in the day and due to the structure of our system received little attention from the students.
Many of the students discussed creativity in generic terms, focusing on imagination and creation. A few highlighted the use of creativity in the classroom. Many emphasized the lack of creative opportunities in the current program offerings (students complete nearly all of their work through online courseware tutorials and tests). Few of the responses indicated creativity in assessments and course assignments. Most of the course related creativity responses were in the forms of instructional delivery. General environmental considerations were also raised for creative influence.
I was disappointed by the lack of technology in student discussions. I received several responses indicating a desire for more animation and video in the online courseware, as well as one response suggesting that any assessment projects would be an improvement over the courseware provided multiple choice assessments.
Full results (with some off topic discussions edited out) of the student responses are available at
https://docs.google.com/document/d/19RnjfpG1XiooM6JGXt9WeRt2IgOSrSPXaI7oS0uK9dk/edit
What is creativity? What is the role of creativity in the classroom? What do you value about your learning environment? What would you change (or like to see changed) to support creativity, digital media and technology?
This prompt was inserted into the student courseware without any advance notice or preparation, and access to the discussion was granted for two days (21 Nov - 22 Nov). This activity was the first time student collaboration and discussion has been encouraged within the alternative education program. We received two basic responses:
1 - Students who refused to participate unless it was directly tied to a grade
2 - Students who enjoyed the experience and the interaction with each other
The second category far outnumbered the first. I was encouraged by the response. Similar to topics in our current course EDIM508 discussions, students responded well to the social environment. Some of the comments included comparisons to facebook. Based on the response, I now have a new challenge: come up with more prompts to create a regular opportunity for such student dialog. At this point, I am considering once a week and I have also offered students to make topic/prompt suggestions for future use.
As for creativity responses, many of the students lacked any expansion on the technology theme. I added a second prompt to the discussion: Many of you are writing that you would like to see more creativity in the classroom, especially with concern to the offline activities. Do you have suggestions for this? Are there tools you have used that you think can better use your creativity to show that you know the material in the class? Have you used prezi, voicethread, glogster, wiki, xtranormal, or any other online tools? Do you prefer research projects, simulations, presentations, or reports in place of offline activities? But this prompt was added later in the day and due to the structure of our system received little attention from the students.
Many of the students discussed creativity in generic terms, focusing on imagination and creation. A few highlighted the use of creativity in the classroom. Many emphasized the lack of creative opportunities in the current program offerings (students complete nearly all of their work through online courseware tutorials and tests). Few of the responses indicated creativity in assessments and course assignments. Most of the course related creativity responses were in the forms of instructional delivery. General environmental considerations were also raised for creative influence.
I was disappointed by the lack of technology in student discussions. I received several responses indicating a desire for more animation and video in the online courseware, as well as one response suggesting that any assessment projects would be an improvement over the courseware provided multiple choice assessments.
Full results (with some off topic discussions edited out) of the student responses are available at
https://docs.google.com/document/d/19RnjfpG1XiooM6JGXt9WeRt2IgOSrSPXaI7oS0uK9dk/edit
EDIM508 Glog
Having completed the Prezi assignment before Glogster, I was disappointed with the limitations in editing interface and content of Glogster. I missed the ability to zoom in and out, and stretch/scale objects and boxes within the content. Frequently returning to the scrollbars instead of being able to drag navigate the editor made for a cumbersome experience.
Glogster seems far more restrictive than Prezi, so I don't think it will get as much use in my classroom. What I might use it for is a quick/simple layout project. Because Glogster is so limited, it will offer less distraction in style and effect for the students than other media projects. When the material to be covered is specific and limited, Glogster may serve as an option for students. However, I would not be likely to introduce Glogster to the students after I had already completed Prezi assignments with them.
More specific to this assignment, I chose to create the glogster around a topic on Thunderstorms. I appreciate the opportunity to maintain a single contact point for the students (as in Prezi). The images, links, and text information located on a single interface allow me to highlight the ideas I want students to focus on. This will be especially useful in the Alternative and Cyber environments I work in, in which students work more independently than traditional classrooms. The Glogster interface will allow students to access the resources with little difficulty or need for additional instruction.
This assignment was also my first experience using the Quiz Builder at Discovery Education. I already have many "assignments' at Discovery Education, but the bulk of them have been created as an easy way to direct students from online courseware to the specific streaming video resources selected to supplement each topic. The Quiz Builder allowed me to provide additional instruction and assessment opportunities. In practice, I will likely start with quiz builder assignments to verify that students have viewed the extra resources provided (the current courseware allows them to check off even if they do not access the link). To maintain the consistency within the courses, I will likely keep writing assignments and video responses in an additional file which students will submit to digital dropboxes within the courseware. Integrating the Discovery Education assessment results into the courseware is possible, but must be done manually and in a cumbersome manner.
To date, I have offered one Glog assignment. Early this year, I offered a student the chance to explore it and prepare a course project as a glog in a pilot fashion. Initially, she found it difficult to navigate and edit her Glog, but was soon on her way to developing a project on public health. This experience was before Prezi, so now I am uncertain about the likelihood of returning to Glogster.
Link to Glog: http://menakerj.edu.glogster.com/tstorm/
Embed Code
Glogster seems far more restrictive than Prezi, so I don't think it will get as much use in my classroom. What I might use it for is a quick/simple layout project. Because Glogster is so limited, it will offer less distraction in style and effect for the students than other media projects. When the material to be covered is specific and limited, Glogster may serve as an option for students. However, I would not be likely to introduce Glogster to the students after I had already completed Prezi assignments with them.
More specific to this assignment, I chose to create the glogster around a topic on Thunderstorms. I appreciate the opportunity to maintain a single contact point for the students (as in Prezi). The images, links, and text information located on a single interface allow me to highlight the ideas I want students to focus on. This will be especially useful in the Alternative and Cyber environments I work in, in which students work more independently than traditional classrooms. The Glogster interface will allow students to access the resources with little difficulty or need for additional instruction.
This assignment was also my first experience using the Quiz Builder at Discovery Education. I already have many "assignments' at Discovery Education, but the bulk of them have been created as an easy way to direct students from online courseware to the specific streaming video resources selected to supplement each topic. The Quiz Builder allowed me to provide additional instruction and assessment opportunities. In practice, I will likely start with quiz builder assignments to verify that students have viewed the extra resources provided (the current courseware allows them to check off even if they do not access the link). To maintain the consistency within the courses, I will likely keep writing assignments and video responses in an additional file which students will submit to digital dropboxes within the courseware. Integrating the Discovery Education assessment results into the courseware is possible, but must be done manually and in a cumbersome manner.
To date, I have offered one Glog assignment. Early this year, I offered a student the chance to explore it and prepare a course project as a glog in a pilot fashion. Initially, she found it difficult to navigate and edit her Glog, but was soon on her way to developing a project on public health. This experience was before Prezi, so now I am uncertain about the likelihood of returning to Glogster.
Link to Glog: http://menakerj.edu.glogster.com/tstorm/
Embed Code
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