Challenges and Favorites

Blog Response Prompt:

What are you most excited about having learned about Multimedia in Instructional Design? What will be most challenging for you as you leave this class and move forward in your teaching education?

The most exciting thing that I have learned about Multimedia in this class is just all the different types of items that are available. There are so many options out there and a lot of it is free. With all these items available to teachers we should be able to make class a fun learning environment. The challenging things are going to be having the means to do it all. Some classrooms just do not have the computers and other technology to do all that we may want to do. Moving forward is not that easy when many classrooms are stuck unable to move at all. I think that is going to be the most difficult just having the ability to provide to all students what we may want to do in the classroom.

Changing Learning Styles

What do you need to change in your thought process or learning style(s) to begin to adapt to R-Directed thinking for the purpose of creating 21st Century learning environments for students?
I am a L-Directed thinker so to change my way of thinking to a R-Directed thinker would be difficult. I have to go from thinking analytically to thinking aesthetically. I would to begin to become a visual learner less of a book learner. In order to make it a better environment for students, I believe by using more presentations and multimedia ways to have a more conducive learning environment for the 21st Century students and R-Directed thinking.

Learning from Experience

Thinking back to find a lesson that I did that was not designed well, it was hard to find one. But I did figure one out, back in high school we had a new teacher. He wanted us to do a project on Hamlet but he did not give us really an idea of what he wanted and the projects were all over the place. I think in order to make the project better it would be to have a more defined goal and final project for the students. In order to incorporate multimedia into the project, I think it would be fun to have a blog with students in England. Get their perspective on the Hamlet, since that is where it originated. It would be interesting to get their point of view. In order to assess it would be interesting the conversations that happen between the students. They will be assessed on the caliber of the conversations that are held between the students.

Essential Conditions for Technology Integration

Do you feel that this article encompass the Essential Conditions for Technology Integration? Why or Why Not? Cite information from the article to support your answer.
I think that the article encompass the Essential Conditions for Technology Integration. The teachers have presented their students with a new way of learning to help them do better in class. She made what she called a StudyCast, it was review notes on a cd or mp3 format. So students could listen to these while doing pretty much anything and review for the test all at once. Also having the ability to put the test on a cd will help a student with a learning disability. This way the student can take the test with the rest of the class and making them feel more a part of it all. Then the blogs helped the students learn more the subject and work with other students. This enabled them to have a new viewpoint of the material. I believe all of the examples listed in the article are great examples of how to integrate technology into the classroom effectively.

Web 2.0 Tools

Web 2. tools I think are very useful. Especially when it comes to science. There are some experiments that are just too much to do in the classroom but to have a tool that would enable us to do the experiment on the web is great. They can allow the students to have more fun in the classroom while still learning. Of course there are some tweaks that need to be made to make them more effective but they are on the way to being a great asset in the classroom. I would like to see more ideas of where they are going with science. I do feel science is better learned hands on but there are limitations to that and I think the web 2.0 tools can unblock those limitations.

Chap 1 and 2

Chap 1
Chapter one concerned its self with what the students wanted to learn. Ways they wanted to learn what make things better for them in the classroom environment. This is very important to consider because if the student does not feel they can learn then they will not learn. Especially when it comes to technology students need to feel comfortable with whole process or else they will not be conducive to learning and nothing will get through to them. Technology is the future and we need our students to embrace that future with us and that way they are more inclined to learn and place their input to help the learning process. Like the book states we want our students to be empowered learners.

Chap 2

Chapter two was about how to implement the plans of technology on how to make the student an empowered learner. The model the book stresses is the DDD-E model. They feel it can be a useful tool, it allows students to be creative but also keeping a structure so the student can learn all that they need to learn. The model means Design, Decide, Develop, and Evaluate. It allows for a lot of room for movement but also has that structure that keeps the student on point. I think it is a very useful model and should be implemented into curriculum especially when it involves technology.

What's in the News

Article: Technology's Impact: A New Study Shows the Effectiveness and Limitations of School Technology
By Richard J. Coley
http://www.electronic-school.com/0997f3.html

Summary: There was a study done to see how effective technology is in the schools. After the study was done some benefits to technology was clear. Computers give students an individualize lesson. They are able to get instant feedback while working, they are also able to see the reasoning why their answers were incorrect and why the right answer is correct. The computer is very patient with the students and does not judge them. So the students have more motivation to learn more. Kulik did a study and made several conclusions from the study. Students seemed to learn more in less time through computer based learning. Students have better attitudes towards computers when their classes include computers. However in some of the cases students attitude toward the subject matter did not improve. Lower achieving students began to perform better because they could pace themselves and there was more structure available to them. Others things happened to improve due to computers, attendance rates went up and student involvement went up as well. Some things are little harder to see if there was improvement. That is with cooperative learning and cognitive thinking. It is difficult to have computer based learning work on that and to judge it as well. There are a lot of kinks to work out in order to for computers to have more of an impact. Practical and methodical issues are the main concern for future of technology in schools.

Response: I feel that the article brings up a lot of good points. There conclusions from the studies are ones that I would have expected to see. I think they are on the right track on to bringing technology into the schools. I would like to see more studies done to see what types of improvements they are making in order to get out the kinks in the system.

My View: Technology is needed in the schools. I feel by performing these studies the schools will see that technology is needed in order to have the students performing better and to have schools doing better. I truly believe that schools need technology.

Questions: What is being done to work out the kinks? What are their plans to implement technology in more schools? How will they perform studies to see if cognitive thinking is being done?

Learning Inventory

Based on your learning style inventory. Which type of multimedia learning is most challenging for you and why? What multimedia tool do you want to learn more about?
Active Learner, Sensing Learner, Visual Learner, Sequential Learner.
I think that the most challenging multimedia tool for my type of learning would be listening to mp3. I have some professors that put their lectures in a mp3 format and that can be difficult for me since I am a visual learner. I would like to learn more about interactive notes and smart boards.

Digital Immingrants vs. Digital Natives

I thought the article really hit the nail on the head of what is like between us and our parents. There is a real difference between the digital natives and the digital immigrants. It is sometimes difficult for me to explain things to my parents especially my mother. There is a real communication barrier, it is like we are speaking a different language or have an "accent" that is hard to understand. I would to hear more about a way to break the translation, make it easier for the digital immigrants to understand the digital natives. There is still a lot to be uncovered on the potential of being a digital native. I would like to see what can done for this upcoming generation because they are going to more native then the digital natives are now and there will be that gap there just like there is a gap between digital natives and digital immigrants. I wonder what changes would need to be done for everyone to understand what is going on in the world.