Student Prezi's

Greetings everyone!

As some of you have seen, Prezi is a web-based presentation tool, which allows its users to create and use presentations fully online. Additionally, Prezi has the capability for its users to collaborate fully online without the need to be in the same location. A HUGE benefit especially when group members are absent, not in the same city, or even in the same country.

In an effort to share "Best Practices" and highlight student successes (2 for 1), I've included the links to the highest scoring Prezi's for each of my Geometry Honor's classes. They were to create original math problems (aligned with the section they chose) both varying in difficulty and including a real-world application. Click on the links below; you will be able to access/view/navigate the various presentations from these students.

Period 1 -

http://prezi.com/igc7sfznxdaj/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share

Period 2 -

http://prezi.com/5culgdymctit/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share

Period 5 -

http://prezi.com/zslji1ebvpcw/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share

Period 6 -

http://prezi.com/zibzqhfe3nay/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share

As always, if you'd like any support in incorporating this into your curriculum, I'd be happy to brainstorm some ideas and share more instructional content with you.

Cheers!

-Mark

Professional Development…again? -_-

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Those are usually the words and faces we make when we hear about another teacher training, or what we call in Broward; Professional Development. Interestingly enough, through all my years of teaching, I have always questioned the effectiveness of our professional development teams, especially with Instructional Technology. All too often our trainings on “innovative technology” (yes…I intentionally used quotations) are mostly lectures and demonstrations of dated software and web-apps, which, at some point in time were cutting-edge or innovative, but those days have long since passed. These trainings are usually staffed by one person to a room of 40-50 teachers, with varying computer skills, instructional preferences, and content areas, forced to sit in the training, when REALLY, they’d rather be in their rooms getting caught up on grades for their. This may or may not pertain to me J But really…how effective can these trainings be? We get credit when we sign in, sit through it, and complete the evaluation online at the end that does not ask relevant questions to provide meaningful feedback to the trainer.

There are a number of elements missing from these trainings inhibiting maximum effectiveness. The major piece missing: successful use of an Instructional Design Model. In fact, I doubt one is used to begin with. By how to use the ASSURE Model (http://www.instructionaldesign.org/models/index.html) and comparing that with the trainer’s delivery instruction, much is missing as summarized below:

Analysis of Learner: An analysis of the learner usually consists of nothing more than a “Raise you hand if you’ve used…” of “How many of you have experience with…” What? How is that going to give anyone really data on their audience?

State Objectives: IF the trainer mentions any learning objectives at all, they often are very broad and vague versus directly explaining what the learner should expect to be able to do at the completion of the training. 

Select Methods, Media and Materials: The “go-to” materials, media and methods are usually a projector and computer with a PowerPoint.

Utilize Methods, Media, and Materials: Often the trainers opt for direct lecture/ “instruction” for the majority of the instructional time. Interesting how we must teach in “student-centered” environments, but that expectation does not hold true when the teacher becomes the student.

Require Learner Participation: Learner participation is often not required, as again, the audience’s focus is on watching and listening rather than any type of hands on activity. Furthermore, there is nothing ever to submit or turn in as evidence of participation or completion. Often, I’ve observed colleagues “checking out” of the trainings, mostly because they feel the training has little value to them and their instructional practice.

Evaluate and Revise: The only element used 100% of the time is the evaluation at the end. Participants are required to complete the evaluation to receive In-service points, so I might question the accuracy of the evaluation results as well as how it might be used for revision. I have not seen much changed, which leads me to believe little to no revisions have been made based on these evaluation results.

So how do we change this? I suggest teaching more relevant topics with regard to technology. Ipad/Tablet computing, Web 2.0 tools, Interactive White Boards, and maybe even Digital Storytelling are topics more current and relevant to today’s teaching. I also suggest doing away with the “Mandatory” nature of these technology-based staff developments. That method of teaching does not generate results; neither does having a disinterested/unmotivated learner endure such training. Why not create different learning modules and lessons for teachers to complete (similar to an online course) where they proceed through the modules at their own pace, completing various activities (relevant to the task), to conclude with some form of deliverable that must be submitted as demonstration that the learner did in fact participate and learn something. Additionally, I propose having a variety of these courses from which teacher can choose from based on their own skill levels and professional interests. Why make a teacher sit through an entire presentation on creating a Podcast in Garageband if they can barely even upload photos to their Dell desktop?

Interesting thoughts…right? What are yours?

-Mark O

Highs and Lows of Learner Response Systems

As with everything ed tech related, using learner response systems (LRSs) for instruction can be viewed as a double-edged sword. A learner response system uses wireless technology to connect hand-held devices (used by the student) to the teacher's computer. These devices predominantly are used to facilitate student interaction and engagement with a lesson. (Click here for an example) In my classes, we use these devices mostly for formative assessment during a lesson and occasionally for quizzes (self-paced) if I've properly planned and prepared.

So why the double-edged sword comment? I'll begin with the negatives and end on a high-note. The only issue I've had with using LRSs during lessons deals with student immaturity. CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT IS A MUST! As with most technology in the classroom, when classroom management slips, as does the quality and effectiveness of the lesson and subsequently student learning. I first used LRSs during my second year teaching. While eager to try new things, I had not properly "planned for the worst" and arranged the devices to be used in the most effective way. I had the students choose whichever device they wanted and respond (via text) some of the responses. As you could imagine, with lower level freshmen and sophomores mixed with high levels of anonymity, the words that popped up as responses were...lets just say...less than desirable and pretty offensive.

So how does one best use these devices? First (now I know) assign a student to each device. The truth is, they REALLY like to use these devices. It becomes a game and often a race to see who can get the answer in the fastest and of course, most accurate. Assigning each device increases the accountability factor, which does minimize the immature choices from the students. My next suggestion is to cater your questions to the level of the audience. KNOW YOU STUDENTS! Can they handle texting in an answer or would it be best for them to respond numerically, T/F, or Multiple Choice? Lastly, be sure to assign some sort of value to their responses. Inevitably, the novelty will wear off, and students will want to know how you will use their responses. Points for participation, quizzes, or maybe even have it be some form of game where the highest scoring (team) wins something? Again, I feel your audience must dictate how you use these devices. Push them and hold them to a higher level yes, but keep the goals attainable.

Once YOU are set and ready, using LRSs is SO much fun! When used properly, they do encourage engagement in all students; even the most shy and timid learners. In my experience, they provide another means of taking the focus off you as the instructor and back on content and material where it belongs. Once you have properly designed and implemented LRSs into your lesson, most will be impressed by the increased level of student engagement in the lesson and class. No doubt!

Good luck and have fun with them!

-Mark O

Storyboard for a math related digital story.

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Greetings!

As mentioned in past posts, I am working on creating a lesson that uses digital storytelling in a mathematics context. The example I created is for my 9^th/10^th grade Geometry Honors students. While this example focuses on calculating the area of polygons the lesson could theoretically be applied to other mathematical topics, not just those in geometry. My ask is that you look through the storyboard below and provide me with feedback on what you see. This includes: likes, dislikes, strengths, weaknesses, critiques, errors, etc. Any thoughts and comments you feel would improve the example I will produce would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your support!

-Mark O

Digital Stories in Math?

As I have worked my way through the Educational Technology program at UCF, several of our courses have focused on various type of Digital Storytelling. We have covered Me Story, Digital Booktalk, and Change Story while exploring effective technological techniques and processes to create quality products. While developing our products, we learned the valuable learning experiences and achievement benefits students gain by researching, creating, and presenting their digital stories and evaluating the stories created by their peers. For me, however, as a math teacher, I understood the value of Digital Storytelling in terms of improving literacy, but had been (until recently) skeptical about seeing such results with mathematical content. However, after extensively researching the topic, I found evidence that story could possible prove equally effective in a mathematics class; not just the language arts.

The beauty of storytelling is the fact that most find high levels of familiarity in telling a story; it is the way we talk, interact, and often relay information. How this can be applied a mathematical sense is integrating a story (maybe a personal experience) with a real-world high school mathematical problem or concept. In my classes, I envision my students correlating elements of story with a real-world mathematical concept to create a Digital Story. Their end product should tell a story while applying mathematics to a real-world problem while containing instructional value by providing a solution to the problem. Difficult? Maybe, but not impossible. 

The biggest obstacle to overcome will not likely be the math concepts, but the creation of the digital story. My students, while in the process of learning, are not as proficient in the media creating area, as we will need. With that being said, I would incorporate progress checkpoints for key pieces of the final project. These checkpoints would include a developed story (with correlated real-world mathematics connection), a storyboard, the associated audio piece, and a complete rough draft before the final submission. Of course, each element would be evaluated for accuracy and content using a predetermined rubric.

Keeping in mind the technology levels of my students, I would plan to have a sub-lesson for each section of the project prior to the checkpoint. The lesson must begin with some sort of explanation as to why we’re doing this. (Not my favorite question to be asked, but important to answer nonetheless.) This article gives a quick and easy explanation as to the value of using Digital Storytelling in the classroom to reach students in the YouTube Generation. To ensure a high quality product, in addition to teaching content, each piece of the Digital Story would have a lesson involved to thoroughly explain its importance in the overall process. I would include suggestions on appropriate tools to use for each portion, examples of high-quality products in addition to self-generated “How-to” tutorials of me using my preferred creation tools. While I would encourage my students to use the tools I suggested, there is value in having them search for their own tools, applications, and sites to support them in their process. Websites like Go2web20, Discover Education, and Cool Tools for Schools offer NUMEROUS links to Web 2.0 tools that will support them in each step of the creation process, and often have instructions or tutorial on how to easily and effectively use their site.

Digital Storytelling

For this post, I've embedded Prezi that I created with some thoughts on Digital Storytelling. While a lesson including Digital Storytelling may seem intimidating, it can be a tremendous learning experience for all involved (teacher included!)

-Mark O.

Got Space?

As our classrooms have quickly evolved into being more digital, projects and assignments have also shifted from being traditional to a more online or digital platform. While Web Apps and Web 2.0 tools have supported this transition, several projects and assignments still require computer based applications and…storage. Ahhh storage. When working on projects and assignments, it is a necessity. We teachers use storage for everything from media masterpieces to lesson plans. Students use storage for projects, essays, and other files required for their courses. While my district allots storage space on a server for teachers and students (I believe), one can only access those files while on campus. And, let’s face it, while that’s all nice and great, the majority of the creating and assembling happens off campus. With increases in technology and storage capabilities, the issue has moved from the amount of storage, to having the ability to access our files whenever and wherever we need them.

Fortunately for us, we have a great deal of options to choose from aside from lugging around a notebook, netbook, or tablet computer everywhere we go.  Flash-drives, external hard drives, and cloud computing have become increasingly convenient with a variety of price-points and storage capacities. Which is the best? That question does not have an easy answer as everyone has different needs and requirements. For me though, there’s a definite winner, but it would not be sufficient to simply leave it there. That being said, I’ll share my experiences with each so you, the reader, might be able to generate a more informed opinion.

Flash drives have become quite the common storage device. They’re small, portable, usually inexpensive, and can have a functional amount of space for the price. I did a quick perusal of Bestbuy.com and found they have a huge number of options to choose from. Prices ranged from $3.99-$200+ with capacities between 2.0GB-128GB. More space usually correlated with a greater cost, but I did learn that some of the more expensive devices with less space included more advanced security features, which I imagine, are used for more personal or classified documents. Below are examples of some frequently used flash drives from my 5^th period students. Most of my students carry these for class because, like I mentioned, they do not cost a lot of money and can hold a good deal of information.  

 

For me, one of the main reasons I prefer not to use flash drives is that 1) I fill them up too quickly, thus requiring me to have more than one (like the key-chain in the picture) and 2) I lose them. In teaching for over six years, one could imagine how many files I have accumulated. I honestly cannot tell you the number of flash drives I have had (and lost) throughout my teaching career. What I DO know is at one moment I'll have three on a key ring when I get to work and only two when I leave. Luckily, the one that fell off was not the most important of the three. Regardless, something had to be better, so I decided to buy the “next best thing.”

Once completing a little product research, I decided to purchase an external hard drive. The external hard drive I purchased cost about $80 and could hold up to 320GB. Bestbuy.com has (and had back then) a great selection as well ranging in price from $50-$200+ and from 80GB to 4+TB. Like the flash drives, the greater price corresponded to either more space or additional security features. Below is an image of my external hard drive attached to my PC at school.

When I first bought the device, it worked wonderfully! I had plenty of room, could take it anywhere, attach it to any computer, and despite it costing more than a flash drive, I felt the $80 was worth it. Over time however, I experienced (and still do) quite a number problems with it. The most important being the cable does not connect well to the device. This is most likely due to the frequent insertion and removal of the cable. Originally, it clicked in and stayed to function as designed. Now, the cable rests “connected” so any movement of the external hard drive while “connected” is problematic. In addition, the security features have malfunctioned for some reason and now, are TOO effective. I sporadically cannot download or put new files on the hard drive, I can only view them, which is a problem.  

After losing flash drives then not being able to add, remove, or alter files on my external hard drive, I decided to ditch the hardware and take it to the cloud, and I could not be happier. I created an account with Dropbox.com, downloaded the app to my computers (PC and MAC) and to my iPhone. The biggest point to emphasize is Dropbox’s ease of accessibility. Wherever you have Internet or cellular service, you can use Dropbox. It is fantastic! In addition to being able to access my Dropbox from virtually anywhere, creating an account to receive 2GB of storage is free! Once created, you can earn 500MB of space per person you refer to Dropbox who creates an account up to a specified number of Gigabytes, again, for free! Below is an example of my Dropbox account on my iPhone.

The iPhone app works very well in addition to working with other apps on the phone; so again, accessing your files is simple and can be done practically anywhere. The application for the computer works similarly. Once downloaded, it acts like a normal folder on your hard drive, but syncs with the cloud as soon as a file is changed. It’s quite amazing to upload a screen capture from my phone (as I did in the image above), then see the file immediately available on my Mac, PC, iPhone, and in my Dropbox account online (assuming I had a browser open). If that is not the epitome of accessing your storage, I do not know what is!

So, there you have it. Using cloud computing for storage is my favorite. It's inexpensive (free), highly accessible, and can potentially provide you with a substantial amount of space. Additionally, you need not worry about loosing files or device mechanical/technological failure. Really, with using cloud computing for storage, what more could you ask for?

-Mark O