Helpful Internet Resources

Here are three websites that I've found really helpful in my teaching-- hopefully someone else will find them useful as well...

Center for Media Literacy
www.medialit.org

This is a fantastic website, primarily because it has a document which contains 25 free, downloadable media literacy lesson plans. These lesson plans are all well-organized around themes and are interesting and engaging. Media literacy is something that I have been incorporating into my transitions class, primarily because I see how much influence the media has on my students. Music, movies, television, and advertisements are so powerful and so prominent that they often overpower the other influences in my students’ lives.

TEL.A.VISION
www.telavision.tv

This is another great website that I have also incorporated into my Transitions class. Many of my students need help in setting goals, so this website provided an excellent project for them. Basically, the website allows people to easily create short digital story-like animations, complete with pictures, text slides, music, and effects. The project helped my students think about their goals, they had a great time adding music and other effects, and they were proud of their finished projects.

The Alaska Native Knowledge Network
http://www.ankn.uaf.edu/

The Alaska Native Knowledge Network is a collection of resources about the different Native cultures here in Alaska. One of the things that I like about this site is that most of the resources were created by native people, so they are not using secondhand knowledge and they are not insensitive. I have used this site to for many things, including finding new games for my Native Games class and researching traditional medicinal uses of local plants, among other things.

Alcohol, Assets and Me

Well, here it finally is, my digital story. I plan on using this story as a way to introduce a unit on Developmental Assets with students in my Transitions class. The class is designed for students going through a transition in their life, whether it is from a rural area to Anchorage, one school to another, one household or another, or any other major life change. Since their lives are changing and most of them don’t have a routine quite yet, I think it is important to talk about working on building positive things in one’s life now, to help them feel in charge of their life, rather than feeling like circumstances are taking them for a ride.

My story is actually quite personal, as I share details about my past experiences with alcohol. While it puts my reputation at risk a little bit, I’ve found that the one thing that keeps my students engaged and interested is a sincere personal story. I created the story map with this in mind, so hopefully it comes across as sincerely as I wrote it. From our discussions, I know that alcohol is something that affects the majority of my students’ lives, either directly or indirectly, and so I believe that this is probably the most important thing that they can discuss in this class.

Finally, here is the rubric that I would use to assess students on a digital project. This rubric emphasizes the student choosing a topic that they are interested in and then creating a connection with their audience, using planning and understanding of media guidelines and digital tools to help them achieve those goals.

I. Assistive Technologies for Reading

Ted S. Hasselbring and Margaret E. Bausch

II. Overview

In their article “Assistive Technologies for Reading,” Ted Hasselbring and Margaret Bausch describe how assistive technology can help students with learning disabilities. They detail how computer-based applications can help by providing reading support and reading intervention. One case study in Kentucky detailed how text-reader software supported numerous students who didn’t read at grade level by converting text to speech, allowing students who didn’t read at grade-level to keep up with their peers (see quote 3). Another study in Des Moines showed how reading intervention software targeting older students helped them to increase their reading levels to the point where they no longer needed special education services (see quote 4).

Continue reading this article assessment...

I. The Overdominance of Computers

By Lowell Monke

II. Overview

In “The Overdominance of Computers,” Lowell Monke argues that in a world increasingly dominated by computers and other high-tech tools, schools need to focus on providing students with real-life experiences and ethical preparation rather than providing technology training. He questions the commonly held assumption that computers increase achievement (see quotes 1, 2, 3), and makes the case that because computers symbolize and reflect reality, it is important that students first have a deep understanding of that reality. Without this understanding of reality and without ethical training, Monke argues that the children of today will not be prepared to make decisions about the value of new technological advances to human beings (5). Monke’s final recommendation for schools is to minimize the use of technology tools for younger students to allow them to develop a foundation of understanding of the world, then to give in-depth training not only on how to use high-tech tools in secondary schools, but on how to use them wisely.

Continue reading assessment...

Philosophy of Education Video

While I don't think that all of my beliefs about education can be summarized in a 90 second sound byte, I've discussed some of my philosophy in the video found here. Of course, it is easy to have a philosophy of education-- the difficult part is to be able to live up to your own beliefs in the day to day tasks of teaching; constantly evaluating whether or not your actions are aligned with your philosophy. I'm certainly working at it, and I think as time goes on my actions are beginning to live up to my philosophy.

After leaping over several technological hurdles, I've finally been able to post my Energy Conservation Project presentation here. Unfortunately my presentation was longer than the memory capacity of my camera, so the last few minutes were unavailable.

To be quite honest, I don't consider myself to be very good at giving presentations that will be seen by my peers, and so I was a bit hesitant to watch myself on video. I believe that I already had a decent idea of my areas in need of improvement, but seeing a recorded version of myself gave me a bit more objective view of things. I'll try to focus on the positive side first-- I didn't sound quite as incoherent as I felt like I was at the time. That's not to say it went as smoothly as I would have liked, but I think that my personal perception of my presenting abilities clouds my view in the moment and makes me assume the worst.

There is a fairly long list of things that I think I could improve upon. In no particular order, here are a few of them:

• Eye Contact: I need to face the audience more and the projection less.
• Pace: This is something that I have been working on, but still have difficulty with. I normally communicate at a very slow pace that betrays my rural Alaskan upbringing, but when I am doing any sort of public speaking I tend to speed up erratically. This is probably the most important presenting skill that I need to work on, considering the average pace of my students.
• Organization: Usually I do a fair job of organizing presentations, but for some reason I didn't feel that this particular one was well organized. I think part of the problem was that my talking points on the slides weren't clearly worded, leaving me with a few moments of gaping "uhhh..." while I remembered what I wanted to say.
• Confidence: My nervousness is still evident, though I think I have improved slightly over the course of time.
  
• Voice: This isn't actually something I could improve upon, but does anyone like to hear their own voice on video? I just plain sound weird...

Luckily, I'm much more comfortable in front of my students, and so my teaching tends to be a lot more relaxed and coherent than my peer-level presentations. However, pace is an issue that still comes up for me: while I generally have learned to take my time while lecturing in class, if something unexpected happens (technology issues, students leading the discussion too far away from the subject, etc.) I tend to speed up, which only exacerbates the issue. Hopefully, with a bit of effort and the gradual process of becoming more comfortable over time, I think I should be able to overcome this hurdle.

"Tools for the Mind"
Mary Burns

I. Overview

In "Tools for the Mind" Mary Burns makes the case that computers are being used ineffectively as instructional tools in many school districts throughout the United States. She identifies four main reasons that computers are not being utilized to promote higher-order thinking:

1. Professional development for teachers focuses on technology skills, rather than on how and when to use technology to promote student learning.
2. Districts are not providing sufficient support (equipment, training, time, etc.) for teachers to incorporate technology wisely in the classroom
3. Excitement about new technologies overshadows whether students are really learning
4. No distinction is made between "higher-order" and "lower-order" applications
   

Burns defines these two categories of computer applications in the following way:

1. Lower-Order: Applications that offer few opportunities for problem solving, analysis, and evaluation. Burns uses Microsoft PowerPoint, Word, Publisher, and Front Page as examples of this category
2. Higher-Order: Applications that offer opportunities to practice analytical and critical thinking skills. Examples given include spreadsheets, databases, and Geographical Information Systems.
   

Burns laments that most schools today use primarily lower-order applications, limiting the usefulness of computers to promote critical thinking skills. She advocates that in order to overcome this teachers must focus on critical thinking, and use technology only when it furthers that goal, and that districts need to provide professional development that shows how technology tools can be used to promote higher order learning rather than simply teaching educators how to use various types of software.

II. Quotes


The Evils of PowerPoint and Word?

1. "...the most commonly used applications are what I call show-and-tell applications-- PowerPoint, Word, Publisher, and Front Page..."

2. "PowerPoint does not lead students to delve deeply into the writing process or wrestle with complex and conflicting conceptual information."

3. [on PowerPoint] "It may be a wonderful entry-level tool for teachers wading into the technology waters. But as the default tool of choice at the middle and high school levels, it fails to promote deep, complex, or even developmentally appropriate learning."

Why Aren't "Higher-order" technology tools being used?"

4. "Higher-order tools, for the most part, are not as user-friendly or visually appealing. They are time-intensive to learn, integrate, and use."

5. "Many districts have concentrated on professional development that trains teachers in skills instead of teaching them how computers can enhance student learning."

6. "Spreadsheets may receive their most rigorous workout in computer classes, but often in a decontextualized, mechanical fashion (entering data, formatting columns, and so on)--a lower-order use of a potentially higher order tool."

7. "For example, students can use GIS to indicate a geographic area's vulnerability to natural disaster, identifying constraints such as floodplains or areas subject to coastal erosion."

High Order Technology Tools

8. "Teachers need to show students how to evaluate the information's veracity, reason logically, come to evidence-based decisions, create relevant new knowlege, and apply this learning to new situations."

9. "Spreadsheets demand both abstract and concrete reasoning and involve students in the mathematical logic of calculations. They enable learners to model complex and rich real-world phenomena."

10. "Database design can help students systematically organize, arrange, and classify data according to established criteria. Such activities require students to think inductively and deductively."

III. Personal Reflection


It is fairly evident that Burns isn't a big fan of Microsoft PowerPoint and other so-called "Lower-Order" applications (quotes 1-3). She seems to feel that these "entry-level" tools aren't developmentally appropriate for middle and high school students (quote 3). While I agree that critical thinking and analysis should be what educators aim to impart to their students, I think that Burns overlooks or dismisses many of the challenges we face in using technology to promote critical thinking.

I believe that the biggest challenge educators face in incorporating higher-order technology is time. Burns admits that higher-order technology tools are time-intensive to learn. This, I believe, is the reason that educators are taught technology skills rather than how to use applications to promote higher-order thinking. Teachers' time is limited, as are professional development opportunities, and unfortunately, if you do not know how to use an application, it is impossible to use it to teach analysis and critical thinking. This is also the reason that students in computer classes are taught how to enter data and format columns-- without these basic skills, one can't move on to higher order processing. While the upper levels of Bloom's Taxonomy are excellent goals, one can't simply skip the first levels.

Burns also fails to mention another limitation: space in the curriculum. With the emphasis on state content-standards, standardized testing, and "covering" the material, educators don't have the freedom to devote a large portion of the curriculum to teaching students how to use the technology necessary to do projects that incorporate higher-order learning. While I would absolutely love to have students do a GIS project such as the one that he mentions (quote 7), I think it would be nearly impossible to fit into any high school course. I spent an entire trimester at a fairly competitive university to learn the skills necessary to do something along the lines that Burns mentions; many people earn doctorate degrees doing GIS research of that nature.

Finally, there is the issue of the Digital Divide-- something that seems to be overlooked by many authors of instructional technology articles. I have some students who don't know how to copy and paste text, while others are fairly tech-savvy. The time required to bring one student from copying and pasting to using GIS software would be immense-- meanwhile, keeping the tech-savvy students engaged and continuing to learn would be challenging. This brings up a good explanation for why school districts tend to focus on applications such as Word and PowerPoint-- both of these tools are increasingly becoming necessary in the workforce, meaning that every student needs to learn how to use them effectively. While spreadsheets, databases, and GIS software all promote higher order thinking skills, they are all specialized tools not necessary in many jobs.

While there are many points I feel have been overlooked or deemphasized in Burns' article, I do fundamentally agree that educators should strive to incorporate technology into classrooms in a way that promotes higher order thinking skills. In math and science classes in particular there is ample room to integrate these tools into the curriculum. Evaluating, Modeling, and Classifying are at the heart of these subjects, and these higher order applications (see quotes 8, 9, and 10) give students the tools to use their critical thinking skills to answer complex, real-world questions.