Online Teaching and Learning

There are many technologies that qualify as an online experience that I would be able to use in my classroom. As a music teacher for 3^rd through 5^th graders, however, it is difficult to create an online experience since my school does not have adequate access to computers.

In the past I was a technology teacher for 4^th through 6^th graders and used many of these technologies. One that was easy to implement in my curriculum was WebQuests. I have actually used quality WebQuests in every teaching position I have had. These have proven to be fun, educational, and interactive, and they have also helped students develop some lifelong learning skills.

When I created my WebQuest last year, I used it to integrate Social Studies into the technology curriculum.  I had my 5^th grade students complete a WebQuest on European explorers, which is a unit that they study in their 5^th grade classroom. The students seemed very excited to learn their material in a different manner than they had before.

When using a WebQuest, I first modeled what a completed project would look like by showing the students an example project. This gave them some idea of what they were going to be expected to do. We had already discussed and practice accessing information on the internet, so I then reminded the students some of the skills we had already mastered. I also gave the students’ time for guided practice and independent practice, which took up most of the assignment. I felt that the students were well prepared for this assignment both technologically and content-wise.

I think that because of the age group I teach, RSS readers are a difficult technology to teach. I believe that elementary age students may not get the purpose or idea of RSS readers, and how to use them for educational purposes. I also feel that teaching elementary students about online resource validation may be a difficult process. These students are just learning how to access information, and though I feel it is important to teach them proper search strategies and resource validation, it may be a little too soon. This age group is more apt to use websites that their teachers lead them to in order to find information.

Wiki

This week I created my first wiki page.  I set up my wiki for my personal learning community at my school.  My PLC consists of the “Encore” teachers, and we are in the process of creating our plan for the rest of the school year.

This page gives us the opportunity to communicate without actually meeting, since we have extremely busy schedules during the school day. This will also allow us to share new ideas in a real time format. Whenever any of us find something interesting online, or have an idea that pertains to the rest of the group, we can share it instantly and not have to worry about forgetting. 

  

https://smit1466.wikispaces.com/

UDL Guidelines – Educator Checklist for Cyber Safety Lesson

My lesson plan had many aspects of the UDL. The UDL checklist did however make me change or add a few items to my lesson that I had previously not considered. I discovered that I need to be more explicit in my teaching of key terms before letting students begin independent work. I also need to account for students who may need more structure than this lesson originally allowed. This checklist was beneficial to me as a teacher as it made me view the strengths and weaknesses of my lesson in a way that I previously would not have. Below is a link to my UDL Checklist for my lesson on cyber safety.

UDL Guidelines Checklist for Cyber Safety Lesson Plan

MERLOT Peer Review

One resource I found on MERLOT was a cyberbullying StAIR presentation. Below is my peer review and evaluation of the presentation

Quality of Content:
1. Does the software present valid (correct) concepts, models, and skills?
• Yes
2. Does the software present educationally significant concepts, models, and skills for the discipline?
• Yes
Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching-Learning Tool:
1. What stage(s) in the learning process/cycle could the materials be used?
1. Explanation or description of the topic/stating the problem
• A PowerPoint kiosk that teaches what cyberbullying is and how to prevent it.
2. Demonstration of the curriculum/exploration of the problem
• This kiosk explains the topic, provides ample examples, quizzes the learners, and asks how to handle different scenarios.
3. Practice using the curriculum/analysis of the outcomes from solving the problem
• After each video or article you are asked questions to check your learning.
4. Applying the curriculum to "new" problems/application of the outcomes to other problems
• You are asked to read through 3 different scenarios and choose how the people in the scenarios should respond.
2. What is(are) the learning objective(s)? What should students be able to do after successfully learning with the materials?
• Students are asked to take the knowledge they’ve learned about cyberbullying and create a blog post about what they’ve learned.
3. What are the characteristics of the target learner(s)
• The target learners are 5th-8th grade.
4. Does the interactive/media-rich presentation of material improve faculty and students' abilities to teach and learn the materials?
• I think students would like the ability to link to videos and webpages to get additional information.
5. Can the use of the software be readily integrated into current curriculum and pedagogy within the discipline?
• This lesson uses Microsoft PowerPoint, which can be found in most schools.
6. Can the software be used in a variety of ways to achieve teaching and learning goals?
• You could present this lesson to a whole class using a projector, or you could have individual students complete this lesson using a computer lab.
7. Are the teaching-learning goals easy to identify?
• There are no specific goals listed in the presentation.
8. Can good learning assignments for using the software application be written easily?
• Yes
Ease of Use:
1. Are the labels, buttons, menus, text, and general layout of the computer interface consistent and visually distinct?
• Yes
2. Does the user get trapped in the material?
• No
3. Can the user get lost easily in the material?
• No
4. Does the module provide feedback about the system status and the user's responses?
• Yes
5. Does the module provide appropriate flexibility in its use?
• Yes
6. Does the learning material require a lot of documentation, technical support, and/or instruction for most students to successfully use the software?
• No
7. Does the material present information in ways that are familiar for students?
• Yes
8. Does the material present information in ways that would be attractive to students?
• Yes