IEP Proposal - The Google Earth Challenge

For my next task, I will attempt to pull a rabbit out of a hat...or find some way to advance myself technically and incorporate this knowledge into a series of lesson plans. Thus I propose the

GOOGLE EARTH CHALLENGE!!

Until today I had never actually played with Google Earth - only viewed while others played. After a brief Internet investigation, I have found all sorts of SWEET stuff this program can do, including economic, demographic, transportation, and historic overlays on a topo map of the earth.

Apparently, if you have the latest and greatest version you can even view the night sky above your place of residence (or over the Sydney Opera house for that matter). You can "fly" a driving route between two cities or plot mountain adventures while measuring miles and elevation change. And this is what I know from the first hour!

This program appears to have a million and one applications in social studies curricula, and I aim to find the most spectacular ones. The other good news: this program is free to the general public, so I won't need any special funding to actually translate said lesson plans into my classroom.

Because at this point I have spent less than an hour playing with Google Earth, I am not sure what direction my lesson plans will take. I do know I have been very impressed in this brief amount of time, and am very excited to explore further. Check back for future updates on the Google Earth Challenge.

"The Overdominance of Computers"

A. Gustaveson
3/1/08
"The Overdominance of Computers" by Lowell W. Monke

For this assignment, I react to Lowell Monke's criticism of technology predominance in the classroom. This article can be found in the magazine Educational Leadership.

Overview
In his article "The Overdominance of Computers," Professor Lowell Monke asserts that we need to cut back on student technology use. Society's dependence on computers has left our children devoid of a connection with reality. Particularly in elementary school, students should be more involved with hands-on modeling and social interaction, not working with abstract computer processes.

Reference Points

1. Educators fear that eschewing classroom technology will mean students are not prepared for the 21st century working world. This has led to an overuse of computers.
2. Monke believes that technological preparation in the early years should center on instilling sound moral judgments, not actual computer use.
3. The power of technology plus personal distance from its consequences might result in a lack of self-control on a student's part. This is why ethics and morals are so important to instill.
4. We need to balance students' high-tech existence with physical and community interactions. Spreadsheets cannot teach "commitment, loyalty, and tradition" (22).
5. One study of 174,000 fifteen-year-olds found the more computer access a student had, the lower their overall test scores.
6. Moral judgments and decisions are required to deal with many of the problems technology has created: cloning, nuclear weapons, etc.
7. Technology should not be rejected outright during early education; instead of distancing the student from reality, any use should strengthen a child's internal resources.
8. Computer use should be introduced with a student's ability to process abstract thought (i.e. at the junior high level).
9. Teach technical skills in the final two years of education, so students are armed with up-to-date information, not obsolete knowledge.

Reflection and Significance

Monke has clearly articulated a problem that deserves focus in any educator's mind - providing a framework of meaning for our increasingly virtual world. Too often we fail to ensure our students know the how or why behind technology. Why is this source less reliable? How can we know that? How can this program help me solve a problem I will deal with in my own life? Why do I need to understand the link between computers and morality? These questions are less flashy and harder to answer than figuring out the mysteries of Movie Maker or posting blog entries, yet they must be the foundation from which technology usage proceeds. Educational access to computers should come only after this conversation has occurred. I will keep this in mind when designing my own curriculum.

I believe Monke makes an equally valid criticism of the supplanting of hands-on activities by video and computer games. This is particularly detrimental at the early stages of development. This fact needs to be supported by curriculum developers and education boards across the nation. Technology should play a limited role in elementary schools and an increased role as the student ages. High school educators need to ensure the balance between virtual and reality is maintained. In the words of Monke, "we should not be intensifying children's high-tech existence but compensating for it" (21).

Rubric for "Lost Children of Kenya"

My students have finished creating their current event narratives and are ready to present to the class. Now it's my turn. How will I be grading their presentations?

Current Event Narrative

"Wow" factor (degree to which the presentation caught the audience's interest):

1 2 3 4 5

Narrative is fact-based and draws info from at least 3 different sources:

1 2 3 4 5

Audience has a good understanding of the event after watching the movie:

1 2 3 4 5

Persuasiveness or objectivity (depending on your purpose) of presentation:

1 2 3 4 5

Ability to respond to questions from the audience (knowledge of event, easy to hear and understand, eye contact):

1 2 3 4 5

Process (met project deadlines, has a finished and polished piece, narrator's voice is clear on movie, pictures match story, effects do not distract):

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

I made the last category, Process, count double. I figure if this is where the majority of a student's time will be spent, it should be worth more points.

Lost Children of Kenya

This project is envisioned as a future assignment for any Social Studies class. No matter which specific subject I end up teaching, I plan on starting each day with a current events discussion. This digital storytelling project is meant to take my students one step further in having them really "own" one such event.

The Assignment:
You will be producing a documentary about any event that has moved you in the last three weeks. It is your job to create a compelling story that both informs and moves your audience. As such, you will be creating a fictional account, but one that is based heavily on facts collected from newspapers, magazines, tv news, etc. In other words, create a story that could have been.

In addition to creating a digital story, you will be responsible for providing the facts on which your stories are based. You will need to draw information from at least three different sources.

Before you start on your movie, make sure you can identify:

• your purpose
• the effect you wish to have on your audience
• why should the audience care?
• how is this problem bigger than the characters in the story?

The following movie, Lost Children of Kenya, has been created as an example for this project. Use it as a guide to expectations regarding your finished product.

Step One in this process is creating a visual portrait of the story (VPS) you wish to tell.

VPS for Lost Children of Kenya

I created a character named Rasina Saisi who witnesses the violence in post-election Kenya. I have detailed three of the problems she faces while living in Nairobi. Each event was reported in the news, and thus is something any Kenyan child could have witnessed. Unlike most stories, you will notice this VPS lacks a formal resolution. The violence continues, thus, so does the story.

Step Two is taking this visual story map and transforming it into a movie using Movie Maker or a similar program. View my completed movie at youtube.com. (One factual correction -the slide with the anlayst's estimate of national economic shrinkage should read "over the last six weeks", not three.)

The interview with Rasina is set to a photo montage. These were snapped during the five weeks following the Kenyan election. Some of the photos are from various websites, while others were scanned from a local newspaper, the Anchorage Daily News.

Reflection

Having actually completed this assignment, I can say it was a lot of fun, I learned some interesting things, and it is a project I am excited to undertake with my future students. I think they will really enjoy getting to put their own "spin" on a story while simultaneously learning about the situation.

Ideally, after showing his or her movie to the class, the producer would entertain questions from the audience. This will give the creator further opportunity to show off his or her knowledge as well as create dialogue and awareness within the classroom about geopolitical events around the world.

The tricky aspect of this project will be ensuring a balance between fact and fiction while students are developing their stories. *Let's not get completely carried away with the creative side now, folks.*

Movie credits:

Anchorage Daily News, 1/25/08 - 2/17/08

You Tube "Kenya Song"

The following websites: euronews, children of africa, daily mail, the sun, affordable housing institute, the razor, shanghai daily, jimmy mccarty, cbs news, boston globe, un4saken.net, itn.co.uk, ny times

My Educational Philosophy

For the last assignment of the semester, my task was to create a movie detailing my educational philosophy. Well, perhaps detailing isn't quite the right word, as it was supposed to be 90 seconds long. See my finished Movie Maker product here.

For all my avid readers, don't fret! The end of the semester does not mean the end of this blog. I shall return with more tech projects and musings next semester! Until then, remember:

"Man's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions."

-Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.


Sources for movie clips:
http://jcomm.uoregon.edu/images/minorityworkshop/group.jpg
http://www.elcamino.edu/studentservices/highschool/images/Web3.jpg
http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/pubaf/pr/photos/2005/D1941105_GIS-300.jpg
http://images.jupiterimages.com/common/detail/80/88/22198880.jpg
http://www.safepassageohio.org/photos/COFFIN3.jpg
http://www.english.heacademy.ac.uk/images/funding/happy_students.jpg
http://www.pptbackgrounds.fsnet.co.uk/images/a-earthg1.GIF
http://www.marcom.com.au/mediacentre/md_highschool2.jpg

"Tools for the Mind"

A. Gustaveson
11/12/2007
"Tools for the Mind" by Mary Burns

In Assignment #7 I react to Mary Burns' suggestion that educators treat all technology equally. I am guilty as charged! Her article can be found in Educational Leadership.


Overview

Author Mary Burns cautions educators against a common technology trap: failure to realize that not all software programs are created equal. In the rush to use technology in the classroom, teachers often overlook the fact that many programs fail to develop higher-level thinking skills. We tend to use "show-and-tell" applications like the Microsoft Office suite that do not engage students' critical thinking skills. Rarely do we employ spreadsheets or database projects, which offer students the opportunity to get involved in complex learning activities.

Burns offers advice on avoiding this trap (or climbing out of it if you've already succumbed).

Reference Points

1. When first introduced as a curriculum tool, educators widely believed computers would build higher-order thinking skills in students. Technology would transform learning.
2. In the era of NCLB and budget cuts, education officials are now scrutinizing the role of computers as an instructional tool.
3. Research has failed to link technology use with improved student learning. What is contributing to this gap between intention and reality?
4. Common behavior patterns among educators have relegated computer use to focusing on lower-level skills: a. Professional development trains teachers in skills, not in practices that capitalize on technology's potential uses.
   b. A desire to equate technology with increased learning. We have forgotten to step back and assess if gains are actually taking place.
   c. The tendency to "classify all software applications as cognitively and instructionally equal" (49). The result? A reliance on products that engage lower-level skills. Applications like Word and PowerPoint are easy to use but do not build critical thinking skills like a spreadsheet or simulation program can.
5. Teachers incorporate such former "show-and-tell" programs into learning activities more often because they are user-friendly and take less time to master.
6. School districts can help teachers capitalize on technology's instructional potential by offering professional development that focuses on assessing a tool's ability rather than just its use.
7. Professional development should highlight technology use that is aligned with a particular learning goal. This gives teachers a real-life model to imitate in the classroom.
8. Technology should naturally align with the four areas of teaching (content knowledge, curriculum, instruction, and assessment) not trump them. The bottom line: don't force it!
9. Give educators the tools to use computers to their fullest potential before asserting that technology is not improving student learning.

Reflection and Significance

After reading this article, I realize I am one of the typical teachers Burns mentions. When I use the SmartBoard to display DOL or to show a video clip, I pat myself on the back because I have integrated technology into my classroom. I rely on technology to capture learner attention. I never stepped back to assess the level at which I was engaging my students. I never thought about using technology specifically to develop higher-order thinking skills. In the future, I hope to put my new-found awareness to work researching some of the programs (simulations, GIS, online collaborations) Burns' suggests to activate critical thinking skills.

Burns states teachers "need opportunities to work together with colleagues to plan rich, preferably interdisciplinary activities in which technology serves to extend learning in ways that would not be possible without its use" (53). Yes, that would be ideal! While I understand where this demand is coming from, I do not see it as a viable solution. It seems the key to every educational problem lies in teachers focusing more time on this or that. With funding shortfalls and the current political landscape, it is not reasonable to expect teachers will find more time to pursue any of these suggestions. If she wants to promote real change, Burns should find a solution that exists within the present realm of possibility.

Teaching Self Critique

Installment #2 of my "Eating Locally" project was making a video of my presentation to my class. After watching and critiquing my teaching style and presentation methods, I have come to the following conclusions:

PROS

• I do a good job playing off comments and questions; I can generally incorporate them in my presentation and continue on without losing my place
• When I was up there presenting, I felt like a robot. Day-to-day I spend very little time lecturing, so to get up in front and speak for 20 minutes seemed very foreign, and made me uncomfortable. I worried I was boring my students. Watching the video, however, I seem more natural and comfortable than I felt at the time. Class interaction was solid (although compared to what it normally is in that class, low). On review, I thought my volume level, enunciation, and inflection were fine, and not too robotic at all. This also made me realize something about my preferred teaching methods - not relying on the lecture format!
  

NEEDS IMPROVEMENT

• I use my hand when I talk. A lot. While it didn't seem particularly distracting during the presentation, I fear I might go over the top on other occasions. I need to find some way to keep my hands still, at least part of the time.
• I like to lean! Again, it seemed to come across as natural, not laziness, in the video (from my perspective). However, I did notice that when I leaned against the table for a few seconds, the way my body was positioned I was shutting out a handful of students. If I simply must lean, I need to remember to not do so from a position where I have my back (even partially) turned.
• I need to check student understanding more often. This was just a "fun" activity, so I could afford to have students tune out as long as they were being quiet. I didn't attempt to draw in those I wasn't sure were paying attention. In a real lesson I would need to do more questioning to check progress and attentiveness.
  

LESSONS LEARNED

• The break where I had to re-align the SmartBoard lasted FOREVER when I was teaching, but watching it on the video, I realize it only lasted a few seconds. I remember worrying that total chaos might erupt because I had to briefly pause to deal with technology. The moral of the story? I don't HAVE to fill up every single second. Don't be afraid of silence.
  
• I did not feel completely prepared before giving this "lesson." I think this contributed to my fear of sounding robotic. I realize that the more comfortable I am with my subject, the more clearly I will be able to formulate my presentation. This will translate into feeling more natural in front of the class.
  

Though the thought of watching myself teaching was nerve wracking, it turned out to be a rather painless experience. This was a pretty sweet project all in all.

For a teaser of me teaching, click here. Sorry you only get thirty seconds! Due to technical difficulties, I was unable to upload more to the Internet.