The use of multimedia including Power Point in the classroom has implications. The implication of using a program like Inspiration is that it can help visual learners understand material. Inspiration makes it easy to add graphics to an outline which can help show what the outline is about. Scanners can be used so that students can scan their assignments to turn them in. Also, teachers can scan in assignments so they will not have to type them. Power Point can highlight the main points in a presentation and lends itself more to multiple intelligences. Some of the values of Power Point in the classroom are that it is more pleasing to the eye and one bullet is presented at a time. It is helpful because it is an outline to remember what one is talking about and what one needs to talk about. Power Point can be used for lectures and presentations.
Benjamin Bloom came up with a system to define the types of questions asked on a test. According to Bloom the types of questions (or competences) that appear on a test include knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Certain questions are related to each competence. For example, under the competence of knowledge one question might be “What happened after this point in the story?” Other things related to each competence include certain verbs and possible activities in which students can show their understanding of the material. For example, under the competence “comprehension” a verb used for it might be “explain.” An activity related to explanation might be to “Cut out or draw pictures to show a particular event,” as described in http://www.teachers.ash.org.au/researchskills/dalton.htm. I like the thought of Bloom’s theory being used to “direct the students to the realization that reading has a greater and more diverse purpose than just the simple recall of facts” as described in http://www.ops.org/reading/blooms_taxonomy.html, however, I would have liked to see an example that showed how a specific question could do that. I liked that the website about the comprehension of Bloom’s taxonomy gave examples about a specific story to show how Bloom’s theory could relate to a story.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Sunday, September 23, 2007
blog 4
The section “Defining relationships.” from the “Mapping Student Minds” article reminded me of what we did in class the other day with the visual outline as well as the rubric assignment. First we were given an example to work with and then we were given specific assignments to work on. I thought it was interesting to read about how in-depth an assignment related to the environment could be, what with the collection of data, the making and revision of outlines, and the presentations for the different cases that people were making. After reading the article I thought about how the article demonstrated how technology can be used in school, which is what our class is about. Ms. Owen used a lot of technology (the online database, the mapping tool, the Palm Pilot data form, and the WISE database) to help the students sort their data.
At first it was kind of difficult trying to understand the causal maps. I think that was because the arrows pointed up and down but the direction of the arrows did not indicate whether or not the relationship was positive or negative. I felt like if an arrow was pointing up it should indicate a good or positive relationship, whereas with the downward pointing arrows I felt like they should indicate a negative or bad relationship. I looked at the class grade causal map some more and saw how, despite how the arrow that came from “Absence” was pointing upward it was not positive (by that I mean that having a lot of absences would not cause a student to get a better grade). The thickness and red color of the arrow showed that absences greatly decreased the class grade. That helped me understand the causal map better, but I still feel like it would have helped even more if there had been a video clip that showed the teacher explaining the relationships in the causal maps to the students.
At first it was kind of difficult trying to understand the causal maps. I think that was because the arrows pointed up and down but the direction of the arrows did not indicate whether or not the relationship was positive or negative. I felt like if an arrow was pointing up it should indicate a good or positive relationship, whereas with the downward pointing arrows I felt like they should indicate a negative or bad relationship. I looked at the class grade causal map some more and saw how, despite how the arrow that came from “Absence” was pointing upward it was not positive (by that I mean that having a lot of absences would not cause a student to get a better grade). The thickness and red color of the arrow showed that absences greatly decreased the class grade. That helped me understand the causal map better, but I still feel like it would have helped even more if there had been a video clip that showed the teacher explaining the relationships in the causal maps to the students.
Friday, September 14, 2007
blog 3
I can relate to the portion of the article “Oh, the Changes We’ve Seen” on page four that describes how the use of a computer frees us from using up a lot of time by using a paper and pencil. I know that it would take me a lot longer to write a ten page paper by hand than it would be to type it. I also like how I can move around sentences or portions of sentences easily, whereas it would be time-consuming to erase and re-write the words by hand.
This week I learned about rubrics, Backflip, and creating a newsletter. I learned how to create a rubric using Rubistar’s templates as well as how to create and edit my own rubric without using a pre-done template. I learned to research which rubrics are available before making one from scratch. I learned about how rubrics can be beneficial for students and teachers by putting the responsibility back on the student and keeping teachers honest. I also learned that if a parent asks about why a student got a certain grade I can show him or her exactly what information was missing according to the rubric. I learned how students can use Backflip in their research, which will make them think twice about copying and pasting the information from those sites. I learned that using Backflip can be more efficient than book marking a page because of the descriptions that show up next to sites. I learned how to create a newsletter by using the header, creating columns, inserting word art, and drop capping the first letter of the first word on the page.
This week I learned about rubrics, Backflip, and creating a newsletter. I learned how to create a rubric using Rubistar’s templates as well as how to create and edit my own rubric without using a pre-done template. I learned to research which rubrics are available before making one from scratch. I learned about how rubrics can be beneficial for students and teachers by putting the responsibility back on the student and keeping teachers honest. I also learned that if a parent asks about why a student got a certain grade I can show him or her exactly what information was missing according to the rubric. I learned how students can use Backflip in their research, which will make them think twice about copying and pasting the information from those sites. I learned that using Backflip can be more efficient than book marking a page because of the descriptions that show up next to sites. I learned how to create a newsletter by using the header, creating columns, inserting word art, and drop capping the first letter of the first word on the page.
Sunday, September 9, 2007
blog 2
Reflection about tools: I had not thought of a listserv being used for lesson plans but it seemed like a good idea to be able to group a lot of people with a common interest to have access to a setting in which they can ask a large group of people for information without a lot of difficulty. I did not know about the briefcase tool but it seems like an easy way to upload pictures for people to see. I also thought it was interesting to read the portion on the yahoo.com site that said one could make a “private,” “everyone,” or “friends” folder to allow only certain people to see or post on it.
Reflection about the reading: I thought the article on how misconceptions affect learning was interesting. I didn’t know that technological tools could be used to identify a student’s misconceptions and guide them towards what is true. I had not heard of Discourse and Classroom Performance System. I would have liked for the author of the article to expand on how to organize information effectively.
Thoughts about Netiquette: Some of the information in the Netiquette article was new to me. I didn’t know that it was illegal to send chain letters. I was surprised to find out that many people get 100 messages a day through e-mail. I wonder where the author of the article got that information from and whether or not most of that is spam. I didn’t know that when a person replies to an e-mail he or she is supposed to include the original message. I also wasn’t aware that an employer has the right to read an employee’s e-mail.
Reflection about the reading: I thought the article on how misconceptions affect learning was interesting. I didn’t know that technological tools could be used to identify a student’s misconceptions and guide them towards what is true. I had not heard of Discourse and Classroom Performance System. I would have liked for the author of the article to expand on how to organize information effectively.
Thoughts about Netiquette: Some of the information in the Netiquette article was new to me. I didn’t know that it was illegal to send chain letters. I was surprised to find out that many people get 100 messages a day through e-mail. I wonder where the author of the article got that information from and whether or not most of that is spam. I didn’t know that when a person replies to an e-mail he or she is supposed to include the original message. I also wasn’t aware that an employer has the right to read an employee’s e-mail.
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