Thursday, March 25, 2010
Final Project Description
After over a week of trial and error, I was finally able to embed the video with captions by utilizing about 10 different programs! I created the original presentation in Keynote and imported images that I created in Photoshop to build the template. I then captured the voiceovers with Pro-Tools recording software and mastered it with Adobe Sound Booth. Next I captured the video with Snapz X Pro once I had exported it in Quicktime format and scaled it to the final proportions that I needed. I found that I got a cleaner video by doing this, rather than having the program resize the video for me. I then synced the audio with the video in Final Cut Pro and exported it again, only to convert it to Flash with Adobe Flash Encoder. From here I added the captions, which was captured using Magpie (which gave me the most trouble) and combined the resulting xml file with the flash video within Flash. From here I published the video and uploaded it to a server so that I could embed it below within my blog. I ended up using Longtailvideo.com to embed the video, rather than just providing the link to the html file on the server created with Flash. Even then, it was a painstaking task. I had to try four different embed codes and swap swf player files and javascript out until I found a combination that worked. Thank God it’s over with! The video is cropped off on the right side because it exceeds the width of the column on this page, but you can enable the cationing that is barely visible on the lower right corner.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Engagement & Motivation
In this blog posting, I will discuss the methods and tools that I would utilize to ensure that I maximize student engagement within an online course. Prior to this course, I would consider my technical ability to be the only real contributing strength with respect to creating and maintaining courses within a CMS. I now feel much more prepared to carry out such a task. Understanding the pedagogical process from multiple perspectives has changed my thinking on how to approach developing an online course.
Prior to this quarter, my typical approach to designing an online course would include developing and incorporating as much multimedia as possible. Being a graphic design major, I love to create my own images and build aesthetically appealing templates along with motion effects, which I had assumed would assist in maintaining the viewers’ interest. I now know that these can be more of a distraction then anything else. It is always nice to have multimedia elements available to your students to illustrate or support other content on within the course, but I plan to implement these elements more strategically than I have in the past.
My first step to developing an online course would be to conduct a needs assessment. What do I want to achieve in this course and what do I want the students to retain? Next I would research various sources for reliable information. I would then begin to structure this information in an outline that best supports the needs assessment. I would strive to gather the most current information and diversify the manner in which it is presented to the end user. I would create each week as an independent lesson without sacrificing the continuity of the course as a whole. I would try to keep the content as original as possible and use mixed media when possible. When students become familiar with a process, this process becomes routine and the full attention of the student is no longer required. To prevent this, I would mix the lessons up just enough that the student does not get comfortable with the process.
In order to ensure complete engagement, there needs to be a demand for attention. Requiring immediate feedback is essential for facilitating this. I would require participation in synchronous meetings every other week as a debriefing for the previous two weeks and to introduce the tasks for the upcoming week. I like the fact that in this course, each lesson plan only became accessible at the start of that week. This way it is made certain that everyone is on the same page and the discussion forums are all pertinent. I would also require student feedback and create threads on a discussion board based on issues or topics that arise within the feedback. I would also offer multiple options for each week’s assignments in order to accommodate all learning styles, but keep the content identical. Lastly, I would ask that each student think and work independently and somehow incorporate their efforts into a collaborative assignment through the use of wikis. This would promote a perpetual learning process that would necessitate the attentiveness of all participants.
The key factors to my approach for developing an online course which maintains a student’s engagement and motivation include: Diversifying lessons and content, requiring participation and feedback, utilizing mixed media, providing options, and making a wide variety of resources available. By diversifying the lessons, I would ensure that students don’t get bored with repetitive tasks. By requiring feedback, I could monitor each student’s level of understanding and engagement and make adjustments where need be. Using mixed media would help maintain interest in the course content. Providing the students with multiple options in their weekly assignments would allow each student to choose what best stimulates their interest. Finally, by making a wide variety of relevant resources readily available, it would keep the students on task and reaffirm the stability of the course.
Prior to this quarter, my typical approach to designing an online course would include developing and incorporating as much multimedia as possible. Being a graphic design major, I love to create my own images and build aesthetically appealing templates along with motion effects, which I had assumed would assist in maintaining the viewers’ interest. I now know that these can be more of a distraction then anything else. It is always nice to have multimedia elements available to your students to illustrate or support other content on within the course, but I plan to implement these elements more strategically than I have in the past.
My first step to developing an online course would be to conduct a needs assessment. What do I want to achieve in this course and what do I want the students to retain? Next I would research various sources for reliable information. I would then begin to structure this information in an outline that best supports the needs assessment. I would strive to gather the most current information and diversify the manner in which it is presented to the end user. I would create each week as an independent lesson without sacrificing the continuity of the course as a whole. I would try to keep the content as original as possible and use mixed media when possible. When students become familiar with a process, this process becomes routine and the full attention of the student is no longer required. To prevent this, I would mix the lessons up just enough that the student does not get comfortable with the process.
In order to ensure complete engagement, there needs to be a demand for attention. Requiring immediate feedback is essential for facilitating this. I would require participation in synchronous meetings every other week as a debriefing for the previous two weeks and to introduce the tasks for the upcoming week. I like the fact that in this course, each lesson plan only became accessible at the start of that week. This way it is made certain that everyone is on the same page and the discussion forums are all pertinent. I would also require student feedback and create threads on a discussion board based on issues or topics that arise within the feedback. I would also offer multiple options for each week’s assignments in order to accommodate all learning styles, but keep the content identical. Lastly, I would ask that each student think and work independently and somehow incorporate their efforts into a collaborative assignment through the use of wikis. This would promote a perpetual learning process that would necessitate the attentiveness of all participants.
The key factors to my approach for developing an online course which maintains a student’s engagement and motivation include: Diversifying lessons and content, requiring participation and feedback, utilizing mixed media, providing options, and making a wide variety of resources available. By diversifying the lessons, I would ensure that students don’t get bored with repetitive tasks. By requiring feedback, I could monitor each student’s level of understanding and engagement and make adjustments where need be. Using mixed media would help maintain interest in the course content. Providing the students with multiple options in their weekly assignments would allow each student to choose what best stimulates their interest. Finally, by making a wide variety of relevant resources readily available, it would keep the students on task and reaffirm the stability of the course.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Annotated Bibliographies
Citation:
LaPorte, J. (2009). Integrity and Conscience among the Saber-tooth Tigers. Journal of Technology Education, 20(2), 1-6.
Summary:
In this article from the editor, the economic recession and its relation to the dishonesty in today’s society is compared to the dishonesty of educators within the school systems. The author values the unique practicality of education in technology. He mentions that as an educatory in the field of technology, you gain a better sense or “ability to now when you are about to be duped in the marketplace”.
With society becoming more and more complex, it opens doors for deceptive practice. Educators of technology should feel a certain sense of responsibility to protect the community from this deceptiveness. A comparison is then made between the deceitful practices in society and those in schools. Educators’ motives are questioned as well as the lasting impact that they’ve had on their students.
An analogy is made between the ever-growing complexity of society and the evolution of curriculum. Those courses that once held the most practical value are looked down upon and are now disappearing from schools. This is just an indication that we are heading to a “postindustrial economy”.
Review:
This article is a reflection on where we as educators came from and provides insight as to where we are heading. It is not so much informational as it is a personal revelation. It provides cleverly arranged analogies to show how the integrity of educators and society as a whole has transgressed over time. The author references many outside sources of literature as well as personal experiences to illustrate his perspective. Overall, this article is very insightful and thought-provoking.
Citation:
Kok, A. (2009). Understanding the Wiki Technology from the Systems Perspective. International Journal of Instructional Technology & Distance Learning, 6(10), 1-9.
Summary:
In this article, the interactions between the social and cognitive systems (externalization and internalization) are broken down as they apply to Wikis. The nature of the wiki is to facilitate knowledge through collaboration. The learning process is described through several theories, which substantiate the wiki’s effectiveness.
There are several explanations on how knowledge is shared and cultivated by way of wiki. Four different forms of knowledge acquisition are mentioned including: internal assimilation (quantitative individual learning), internal accommodation (qualitative individual learning), external assimilation (quantitative knowledge building), and external accommodation (qualitative knowledge building).
The key focus of the article is the interaction between different systems which result in the building of knowledge. As knowledge is documented and revised in a collaborative effort, new knowledge is introduced. Thus, a wiki is not just the sum of a group’s prior knowledge, but a “true creation and circulation of new knowledge”.
Review:
This article really goes into elaborate detail on the learning process and interaction between both external and internal thought processes. Several theories are explained and illustrated to show how they are applied through a wiki site. Though there were different theories from different time periods, they were all tied together nicely to reinforce the argument that a wiki is “not just a technology, but a true philosophical way of intending work”.
Citation:
McAndrew, P., & Brasher, A. (2009). Automatic Generation of Audio Content for Open Learning Sources. Journal of Interactive Media in Education. 5, 1-19.
Summary:
Digital Talking Books (DTBs) with embedded functionality can be utilized within the eLearning arena, not only to improve accessibility, but the overall learning experience. Detailed descriptions document how values can be assigned to content and coded so that it can be referenced quickly and easily in an open learning environment. An open source software framework system known as DAISY (Digital Accessible Information System) can transport content into an accessible form.
Through manipulation of program code, the functionality of the software can be modified to meet the needs of different educational domains. For instance, charts and graphs can be made accessible (converted to audio) for math and science. These modifications would be made possible by way of a feedback component form the learner to the teacher.
Many different scenarios and schemas are presented to show how this software could be implemented as a tool for a more efficient learning process. One example is that sections of podcasts could be tagged and archived in a way that they could be recalled based on their content (without having to play the file from the beginning). Cost efficiency, development, and possible issues are also discussed.
Review:
It is almost scary to know that these complex tasks that were once only capable of being completed by a capable human are now being handled by computers processing sophisticated program code and algorithms. If a computer can change it’s state of response based on a user’s actions, it is essentially learning and adapting to its user. Many of the proposals listed in this journal article seem to be a bit ambitious for now, but are definitely feasible in the near future. As mentioned in the article, these systems have their flaws, but are steadily improving as research continues.
Citation:
Stroud, S., (2010). The Classroom in 3D. THE Journal.
Summary:
This article discusses addresses the introduction of 3D technology into the classroom. With the recent release of 3D ready projectors, more and more educational establishments are equipping themselves for the next wave of instructional technology. With the introduction of the 3rd dimension into the classroom, educators hope to enhance their students’ learning experience.
Teachers are excited about these projectors’ capacity to project multidimensional presentations that they hope will help illustrate things such as “complex spatial concepts” in geometry, images of cells in dissections, and virtual fieldtrips. They also foresee it enriching subjects such as astronomy, history, geography, art history, and earth sciences.
Review:
The users hopes and reasoning behind purchasing the equipment is discussed in more detail than the capabilities of the actual equipment within this article. The author does mention that there is limited content available for this technology at this time and that several companies are currently developing 3D media specifically for education. The article is not so much informative from a technological standpoint as it is exciting to know that this technology is becoming more accessible.
Citation:
Cook, J., Pachler, N., Bradley, C., (2008) Bridging the Gap? Mobile Phones and the Interface Between Informal and Formal Learning. Journal of the Research Center for Educational Technology, 4(1), 3-18.
Summary:
Studies were conducted in this article to research the formal and informal relationships when it comes to using mobile phones for learning. High-end mobile phones were issues to a small group of university students to use in a week-long project for a masters level course. Students were all given the same model phone and all data transmitted (text,photos,videos etc.) was captured within an application on the phone.
Following the completion of the assignment, data was retrieved and categorized to formulate a set of research questions. Variables that were taken into account during this process included: User biographies, technical skills, functionality of devices used, attitudes towards learning, and attitudes towards social networks. Qualitative data was then taken from the interviews and analyzed using a narrative case study technique. From here, two themes were explored: Affective issues (attitudes towards functionality of the device) and phone usage in a learner’s formal and informal practice.
Review:
This was an interesting article, which has a lot of relevance to the current issues that educators face on a daily basis. Though the nature of the study is very pertinent, the matter in which it was conducted was very loose. There were no clear-cut criteria or forms of structured analysis developed. Each step just kind of transitioned to a new phase of the experiment without any real guidelines established. As a result, the conclusion was for the most part inconclusive. It was simply stated that there are needs for conceptual work to bridge the gaps between formal and informal learning and that there was a lack of ability to conceptualize effective use of phones for learning. This is an assumption that I believe most people would make without the need of research and analysis. After all, phones are primarily a social device and have just recently been introduced into the education arena.
LaPorte, J. (2009). Integrity and Conscience among the Saber-tooth Tigers. Journal of Technology Education, 20(2), 1-6.
Summary:
In this article from the editor, the economic recession and its relation to the dishonesty in today’s society is compared to the dishonesty of educators within the school systems. The author values the unique practicality of education in technology. He mentions that as an educatory in the field of technology, you gain a better sense or “ability to now when you are about to be duped in the marketplace”.
With society becoming more and more complex, it opens doors for deceptive practice. Educators of technology should feel a certain sense of responsibility to protect the community from this deceptiveness. A comparison is then made between the deceitful practices in society and those in schools. Educators’ motives are questioned as well as the lasting impact that they’ve had on their students.
An analogy is made between the ever-growing complexity of society and the evolution of curriculum. Those courses that once held the most practical value are looked down upon and are now disappearing from schools. This is just an indication that we are heading to a “postindustrial economy”.
Review:
This article is a reflection on where we as educators came from and provides insight as to where we are heading. It is not so much informational as it is a personal revelation. It provides cleverly arranged analogies to show how the integrity of educators and society as a whole has transgressed over time. The author references many outside sources of literature as well as personal experiences to illustrate his perspective. Overall, this article is very insightful and thought-provoking.
Citation:
Kok, A. (2009). Understanding the Wiki Technology from the Systems Perspective. International Journal of Instructional Technology & Distance Learning, 6(10), 1-9.
Summary:
In this article, the interactions between the social and cognitive systems (externalization and internalization) are broken down as they apply to Wikis. The nature of the wiki is to facilitate knowledge through collaboration. The learning process is described through several theories, which substantiate the wiki’s effectiveness.
There are several explanations on how knowledge is shared and cultivated by way of wiki. Four different forms of knowledge acquisition are mentioned including: internal assimilation (quantitative individual learning), internal accommodation (qualitative individual learning), external assimilation (quantitative knowledge building), and external accommodation (qualitative knowledge building).
The key focus of the article is the interaction between different systems which result in the building of knowledge. As knowledge is documented and revised in a collaborative effort, new knowledge is introduced. Thus, a wiki is not just the sum of a group’s prior knowledge, but a “true creation and circulation of new knowledge”.
Review:
This article really goes into elaborate detail on the learning process and interaction between both external and internal thought processes. Several theories are explained and illustrated to show how they are applied through a wiki site. Though there were different theories from different time periods, they were all tied together nicely to reinforce the argument that a wiki is “not just a technology, but a true philosophical way of intending work”.
Citation:
McAndrew, P., & Brasher, A. (2009). Automatic Generation of Audio Content for Open Learning Sources. Journal of Interactive Media in Education. 5, 1-19.
Summary:
Digital Talking Books (DTBs) with embedded functionality can be utilized within the eLearning arena, not only to improve accessibility, but the overall learning experience. Detailed descriptions document how values can be assigned to content and coded so that it can be referenced quickly and easily in an open learning environment. An open source software framework system known as DAISY (Digital Accessible Information System) can transport content into an accessible form.
Through manipulation of program code, the functionality of the software can be modified to meet the needs of different educational domains. For instance, charts and graphs can be made accessible (converted to audio) for math and science. These modifications would be made possible by way of a feedback component form the learner to the teacher.
Many different scenarios and schemas are presented to show how this software could be implemented as a tool for a more efficient learning process. One example is that sections of podcasts could be tagged and archived in a way that they could be recalled based on their content (without having to play the file from the beginning). Cost efficiency, development, and possible issues are also discussed.
Review:
It is almost scary to know that these complex tasks that were once only capable of being completed by a capable human are now being handled by computers processing sophisticated program code and algorithms. If a computer can change it’s state of response based on a user’s actions, it is essentially learning and adapting to its user. Many of the proposals listed in this journal article seem to be a bit ambitious for now, but are definitely feasible in the near future. As mentioned in the article, these systems have their flaws, but are steadily improving as research continues.
Citation:
Stroud, S., (2010). The Classroom in 3D. THE Journal.
Summary:
This article discusses addresses the introduction of 3D technology into the classroom. With the recent release of 3D ready projectors, more and more educational establishments are equipping themselves for the next wave of instructional technology. With the introduction of the 3rd dimension into the classroom, educators hope to enhance their students’ learning experience.
Teachers are excited about these projectors’ capacity to project multidimensional presentations that they hope will help illustrate things such as “complex spatial concepts” in geometry, images of cells in dissections, and virtual fieldtrips. They also foresee it enriching subjects such as astronomy, history, geography, art history, and earth sciences.
Review:
The users hopes and reasoning behind purchasing the equipment is discussed in more detail than the capabilities of the actual equipment within this article. The author does mention that there is limited content available for this technology at this time and that several companies are currently developing 3D media specifically for education. The article is not so much informative from a technological standpoint as it is exciting to know that this technology is becoming more accessible.
Citation:
Cook, J., Pachler, N., Bradley, C., (2008) Bridging the Gap? Mobile Phones and the Interface Between Informal and Formal Learning. Journal of the Research Center for Educational Technology, 4(1), 3-18.
Summary:
Studies were conducted in this article to research the formal and informal relationships when it comes to using mobile phones for learning. High-end mobile phones were issues to a small group of university students to use in a week-long project for a masters level course. Students were all given the same model phone and all data transmitted (text,photos,videos etc.) was captured within an application on the phone.
Following the completion of the assignment, data was retrieved and categorized to formulate a set of research questions. Variables that were taken into account during this process included: User biographies, technical skills, functionality of devices used, attitudes towards learning, and attitudes towards social networks. Qualitative data was then taken from the interviews and analyzed using a narrative case study technique. From here, two themes were explored: Affective issues (attitudes towards functionality of the device) and phone usage in a learner’s formal and informal practice.
Review:
This was an interesting article, which has a lot of relevance to the current issues that educators face on a daily basis. Though the nature of the study is very pertinent, the matter in which it was conducted was very loose. There were no clear-cut criteria or forms of structured analysis developed. Each step just kind of transitioned to a new phase of the experiment without any real guidelines established. As a result, the conclusion was for the most part inconclusive. It was simply stated that there are needs for conceptual work to bridge the gaps between formal and informal learning and that there was a lack of ability to conceptualize effective use of phones for learning. This is an assumption that I believe most people would make without the need of research and analysis. After all, phones are primarily a social device and have just recently been introduced into the education arena.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Captioning
Embedded below is the video that I captioned. It is one of the shortest videos that I created as part of the training we provide to Intern Site Coaches in the district. A lot of the text and captions overlap, but the quality of the video decreased once uploaded to Youtube, so they still serve a purpose in this case. I used Magpie 2 on Mac initially. It wasn't too difficult to learn, however I was unable to open my video within this application (I had no problem with audio files). The final output is a xml file which must be added as a component of the movie and published within Flash.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Online Assessment
I have posted a quiz on Quiz Star with questions pertaining to the information covered in this course thus far. I only have 1 student assigned to the course, but everyone is welcome to try it with the user account information below.
Site: http://quizstar.4teachers.org/indexs.jsp
Username: bnewberry
Password: etec674
I have never created a Rubric before, but I chose to set it up on a point based system where each point is equivalent to a certain percentage of the total score. It is as follows:
Site: http://quizstar.4teachers.org/indexs.jsp
Username: bnewberry
Password: etec674
I have never created a Rubric before, but I chose to set it up on a point based system where each point is equivalent to a certain percentage of the total score. It is as follows:
Total of 28 possible points. Each point is equivalent to approximately 3.57% out of 100%. The point level assigned to each question was set based on the questions relevance to the course. 4 points being the highest for questions derived from actual class activities or discussions. 3 points for questions derived from the text. 2 points for questions that are somewhat relevant. 1 point for questions having little or no relevance. This quiz is by no means representative of a typical quiz that I would assign to students in an online course. It is merely an example for the purposes of this class.
4 points= 14.28%
3 points= 10.71%
2 points= 7.14%
1 point=3.57% Monday, February 15, 2010
New Media
The new media that I chose to try this week was Voicethread. Voicethread is a tool for having conversations around media online. It is similar to a chat forum with audio, but is designed for the purpose of commenting on specific media files. An example would be a teacher sharing a slideshow presentation with his class online. The teacher could highlight, pause, and write notes directly on the screen while talking and Voicethread wil record these actions with audio and archive them for students to access.
Voicethread is set up so that you can post via telephone, webcam, text, file upload, or microphone. You are able to share a link to your media and invite friends to post threads or even embed your media page within their sites. It is also possible to export your media as a movie for use on TV, computer, iPod, iPhone, etc.
Users within Voicethread are represented as icons on the screen. You can upload your own images to create your own identity, which will be displayed on the sidebar. Users can then click on your icon to listen or view your comments. A single user is able to have multiple identities within the same account and create separate posts without having to log out. This is a graet feature for teachers who plan on having multiple students posting from the same computer.
When I first tried Voicethreading, I was skeptical on its effectiveness as a tool in online education. Now that I have taken the time to try all of the features, I am convinced that it will be a huge contributer to the e learning arena. With this technology, teachers can update their presentations live and make them accessible to students at any time. Students can even download the original presenation file in read only format to print. I see Voicethread being especially powerful for use within the K-6 grade range. As Dr. Monaghan mentioned, children at this age always want to share what they've created or learned and if you can leverage this enthusiasm, it can make for a flourishing learning environment.
Overall, I was very impressed with this new media tool. It is great for producing instructional videos or tutorials to be distributed online (without the need of additional software). It is very flexible in that you can upload any file as the focus of discussion, whether it be a picture, text document, video etc. Once created, the Voicethread page can be resized and embedded anywhere on the web. It even has the option to automatically export to various popular social networking sites. This is great for archiving resources within your own personal sites. I know that once Voicethreading is discovered by educators that utilize the web, it will become an integral component of their instruction.
For more information on Voicethread visit: http://voicethread.com
Voicethread is set up so that you can post via telephone, webcam, text, file upload, or microphone. You are able to share a link to your media and invite friends to post threads or even embed your media page within their sites. It is also possible to export your media as a movie for use on TV, computer, iPod, iPhone, etc.
Users within Voicethread are represented as icons on the screen. You can upload your own images to create your own identity, which will be displayed on the sidebar. Users can then click on your icon to listen or view your comments. A single user is able to have multiple identities within the same account and create separate posts without having to log out. This is a graet feature for teachers who plan on having multiple students posting from the same computer.
When I first tried Voicethreading, I was skeptical on its effectiveness as a tool in online education. Now that I have taken the time to try all of the features, I am convinced that it will be a huge contributer to the e learning arena. With this technology, teachers can update their presentations live and make them accessible to students at any time. Students can even download the original presenation file in read only format to print. I see Voicethread being especially powerful for use within the K-6 grade range. As Dr. Monaghan mentioned, children at this age always want to share what they've created or learned and if you can leverage this enthusiasm, it can make for a flourishing learning environment.
Overall, I was very impressed with this new media tool. It is great for producing instructional videos or tutorials to be distributed online (without the need of additional software). It is very flexible in that you can upload any file as the focus of discussion, whether it be a picture, text document, video etc. Once created, the Voicethread page can be resized and embedded anywhere on the web. It even has the option to automatically export to various popular social networking sites. This is great for archiving resources within your own personal sites. I know that once Voicethreading is discovered by educators that utilize the web, it will become an integral component of their instruction.
For more information on Voicethread visit: http://voicethread.com
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