CEDO 525 Week 3 Strategies

Cooperative Learning
"...Cooperative learning focuses on having students interact with each other in groups in ways that enhance their learning. When students work in cooperative groups, they make sense of, or construct meaning for, new knowledge by interacting with others" (Pitler, 139). Whenever possible, I use this instructional strategy in my classes. It seems that most students enjoy learning in this manner. In regards to the section on "multimedia", I enjoyed the rubric - "Rubric for a Cooperative Multimedia Project" and also the "Group Roles in a Cooperative Multimedia Project". They are both good examples to use & modify to fit many of the projects I do in my classes. I also liked reading through the subsection titled "Collaborative Organizing" because I employ many of these applications already. When looking over 'shared calendars' I really liked the idea of having the student groups create a shared calendar & then share it with the teacher to allow the teacher to monitor progress. I use Google calendars (embed on our class wiki with all of the due dates for assignments, tests, projects, etc) with all of my classes but haven't thought of using them like suggested above. Also under the same subsection is 'shared bookmarking.' Currently I only use social bookmarking personally; I collect all of the amazing resources I get from my PLN on Twitter & use Delicious & Diigo to keep them organized online. In my Web Tools class my students created a Diigo account where they will keep track of the resources they use for a group project. The last topic under this subsection is 'course management.' My school has had several conversations about getting Moodle up and running but that conversation hasn't gone anywhere yet (although Moodle is "free" it is really expensive to get up & running with the hardware & Internet costs).

Reinforcing Effort
"...reinforcing effort enhances students' understanding of the relationship between effort and achievement by addressing their attributes and beliefs about learning" (Pitler, 155). I do believe this in an important instructional strategy but am having some trouble accepting the suggestions illustrated in this chapter. Many of the suggestions include public recognition of students who are demonstrating effort; one example in the text talks about having a bulletin board in the main office displaying stories of "students putting forth a strong effort to achieve" (Pitler, 162). Does this type of public recognition need to take place? What about writing positive comments on the student's paper, a sticker saying "keep it up", or have a conversation one-on-one with the student expressing & reinforcing the effort put forth?

Graphic Organizers/Mindmap Applications

The three mindmapping applications I chose include the following:

Bubbl.us

• Free & collaborative
• Create online
• Share, email, or print your mindmap
• Embed on website, blog, or wiki
• Save your mindmap as an image file

Webspiration

• Free & collaborative
• Create online
• A few more "bells & whistles" - can change basic text boxes into different shapes & pictures
• Change between outline view and graphic organizer view depending on learning style & needs

Mindmeister

• Free & collaborative
• Create online
• Even more "bells & whistles" - depending on the word/phrase in the textbox, it will search & find images, videos, and links that match for an easy addition or customization of your mindmap
• Can make your mindmap public or private
• iPhone app & available on Google Apps Marketplace

It was interesting that as I looked at each application, they progressively got more and more advanced (for lack of a better term). Bubbl.us seems very basic with Webspiration building in a few more "bells & whistles" like customizing the look/feel of the textboxes. Mindmeister takes Webspiration one step further by creating an application that tries to "think" for you. What do I mean? The software actually looks for images, videos, or links online that relate to the word/phrase in the textbox. All three applications are easy to use, free, meant to be collaborative, and are available via the Internet. A feature that I really like about Webspiration is the ability to switch between the mindmap view to the outline view iwht a click of a button. However, my overall recommendation goes to Mindmeister. I like the "forward thinking" of the application & think it is really neat it suggests and predicts information or images that relate to the information in the mindmap.

The Use of Advanced Organizers in the Learning & Retention of Meaningful Verbal Material

(article by David P. Ausubel)

I was very reluctant to read the article once I saw the copyright of 1960. I thought to myself, "WHY are we reading an article that is 50 years old?!" in a technology class. After reading the article, it appears that the issue (struggle with student knowledge retention) was the same as it is today. With the help of graphic organizers, it helps students organize the information in a manner that will assist them in remembering/retaining the information in a more meaningful and long lasting way.

My favorite part of this article is the following: "The metallurgical topic was chosen on the basis of being generally unfamiliar to undergraduates in liberal arts and sciences (i.e., not ordinarily included in the chemistry courses), but still sufficiently elementary to be both comprehensible and interesting to novices with no prior background in the field. Really?!?!?!!? Reading/learning about the "metallurgical properties of plain carbon steel"...I thought this guy said the topic was going to be "interesting to novices".

In all seriousness, I did enjoy & relate to the last paragraph of the article. It reads as this...."The suggestion was offered that the greater use of appropriate (substantive rather than historical) advance organizers in the teaching of meaningful verbal material could lead to more effective retention." That's what we all want, right? More effective retention! Furthermore, "this procedure would also render unnecessary much of the rote memorization to which students resort because they are required to learn the details of a discipline before having a sufficient number of key subsuming concepts. I think the use of advanced/graphic organizers more definitely help students to organize information and make those connections to prior knowledge which leads to learning rather than memorizing.

CEDO 525 Week 2 Strategies

Cues, Questions, & Advanced Organizers
After reading this chapter in the text, I realized that I employ many of the strategies suggested. I usually start out a new chapter/concept with a KWL. I found it to be extremely easy to set up in a Google Doc, make it a public document, post it to my wiki, and direct my students to fill in the K & W section prior to starting the unit. At the end of the unit, the students can then go back into the KWL Google Doc and fill in the L (What I Learned) section. It is a nice summary of the knowledge gained over the course of the unit and also a great way to clarify or clear up any misconceptions that might show up in the "Learned" section. In addition, I provide the students with a skeleton outline that they fill in while we are talking about a particular topic. The skeleton outline includes the key terms and the basics of the main points, and students are then able to fill in the missing information or add details where needed. Many of my students have opted to fill in this information right on the computer rather than have a "hard copy" of their notes. This electronic form of notes is nice because they can add links or pictures to their notes for more explanation; they can also upload their notes to Google Docs or email them to themselves to have at home or school. Another tool I use on a regular basis is graphic organizers like Webspiration or Mindmeister. I really like the powerful additions that Mindmeister has - adding links, pictures, videos, etc. The students are able to summarize or brainstorm using this tool. They are also able to answer the essential questions that are pulled from the unit. The students know that if they can answer those essential questions that the concepts have been mastered. As described in the text, I think using multimedia is also a great way "activate prior knowledge and develop a mental model to understand new information (Pitler, 82). In my Web Tools class when I'm introducing a new web application, also head out to YouTube to find a short explanatory video. I really enjoy the "In Plain English" videos by CommonCraft. They do a great job of explaining a concept/application in such simple terms and allow the students to make those connections or predictions.

Nonlinguistic Representation
The first question that pops into my mind after reading the first two pages of this chapter is, "Hmmm, how can I convince my principal to let me buy a Wii for my B&IT department?" I can tell him that it is to improve my nonlinguistic learning activities. Now...if only there were games that relate to my content area?!? Maybe there are...I guess I've never looked! :) The section that sticks with me most in this chapter is the "Multimeda" section. While reflecting on my class, both past and present, most of my students respond the most to multimedia. One tool that I've been playing with and allowing my students to play with is Prezi. It is a powerful tool that allows the use of multimedia - pictures, text, videos, links, etc, and the author organizes all of the information on a canvas rather than individual slides. This allows the author and viewers to zoom in and zoom out on the details of the concept being presented and get a great sense of relationship with all of the information in the presentation.

Summarizing & Notetaking
"Remember that one of the generalizations from McREL's research on note taking is that the more notes taken, the better, and one of the recommendations for classroom practice is that students should be taught a variety of note-taking formats." This point resonates with me; thinking back to my years in primary, secondary, and post-secondary school, I don't remember a teacher ever teaching me how to take effective notes; nor have I, now as the teacher, ever taken time to teach this important skill. I provide tools and different applications for the students to take notes but I haven't ever taught the students how to filter through the information to decide what to write down in order to create "good notes" to study from at a later time. Hmmmm, interesting & something to think about. Another point from Chapter 6 that jumps out at me (regarding "Multimedia") is this: "When students experience multimedia, they sometimes get caught up in the entertainment factor and neglect the critical analysis of the content necessary to create useful notes they can use for further study. When teachers introduce multimedia into their classrooms, they must ensure that students stay focused on distinguishing trivial content from essential content, coalescing minor points into major themes, and personalizing their notes based on their learning styles." Having students use multimedia for summarizing and notetaking, many times, like the text mentions, the students get caught up in the fun-ness of the application/process and need to be reminded or redirected back to the task at hand. I usually let the students take the few minutes to be caught up in the "entertainment factor" so they can get it out of their system; if I allow them a few minutes to enjoy the tool and explore, they are more likely to stay on task once I gather them back and redirect their attention back to the summary/notes/project/etc.

CEDO 525 Feedback That Fits

After reading the article "Feedback That Fits" (http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/dec07/vol65/num04/Feedback-That-Fits.aspx), I have been thinking about/reflecting on the way I provide feedback to my students. One of the main points of the article says, "Feedback should be specific enough that the student knows what to do next, but not so specific that you do the work. Identifying errors or types of errors is a good idea, but correcting every error doesn't leave the student anything to do." In one of my classes, the students do a written research report on a given topic. The students are told that they can submit their report ahead of the due date, and I will look it over and give them feedback so they know if they are right on track or if modifications need to be made. After reading the section in the article called "A Tale of Two Feedback Choices", I realize (again, with one of those 'DUH' moments) that the feedback I'm providing to the students who submit their work early is mostly about the mechanics of the research paper and not about the content itself. 99% of the feedback I have given students is about the grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc. rather than feedback on the content of the assignment. In Figure 2, there are many great examples of suggested feedback that provide a great basis for some constructive feedback points. I like how many of them are worded and will try to use them as a platform for writing more effective feedback on student work in the future.

CEDO 525 What Works In Classroom Instruction

A few things stand out to me from this article...

"...examined the effects of student learning in a small group versus working individually when students were using technology. They found that small group learning had more positive effects than individual learning." I'm glad to hear that the study found this since this is how my classroom is run most of the time. I am very fortunate to have a tiered computer lab as my classroom so whether it be in my business classes or technology classes, the students are always working on the computers during their learning activities. The majority of the time during the learning activities, the students are working with a partner or in small groups. Two + heads are usually better than one! :) I think it is good for students to share their ideas, talk about differences they might have which often times creates questions that they ask me for clarification, and the students have the opportunity to teach, support, and challenge each other during the small group collaboration.

"...students in classrooms where technology was moderately used were found to be on task significantly more of the time than students in the other two groups - in which technology was infrequently used or in which technology was slightly used." Again, this is really nice to hear since my students are using technology during 90+% of the class time on a daily basis. This point isn't surprising to me though. It makes sense that students are more on task when using technology because technology is often times fun and engaging....and also the way that our students have grown up learning.

"...more and better research needs to be funded and conducted by researchers in this area." I realize research is important but I always struggle with how research studies are conducted. I used to be very involved with a national, well-known charity but decided to use my time and talents elsewhere after seeing how frivolous their spending was. For example, the planning committee would meet once a month to talk about the yearly fundraiser and the organization would pay for our lunch (~15 people, ~$12 lunch per person, once a month every month = $2,000 every year that goes towards restaurant bills for the volunteer committee versus that money going towards research for the organizations main focus). So, I know the research needs to be done to know the most effective way to use the technology but there are so many schools out there that don't even have the technology available or the professional development funds to teach the teachers how to use it. How much money is spent (or wasted - depending on your viewpoint) on the research that could be used to get the technology into the schools and as staff development for teachers to learn how to use it? I realize the research done by Marzano might not have been done in this manner like I mentioned with my personal experience but when I hear "research" is being done, my personal example is the first thing I think of. Like most first impressions, they are lasting impressions...

CEDO 525 Principles of Teaching & Learning Article Reflection

During the first class on Wednesday night I was very confused when Robert Marzano & his strategies were first mentioned. I'm glad, after the instructor asked how many people were aware of what she was talking about, that I wasn't the only one out of the loop. However, after reading through the "Principles of Teaching & Learning" article, I realized that all staff at my school was given a book to read & implement the strategies of Robert Marzano a few years back. While reading the article, I thought to myself, "Hmmm, this information seems awfully familiar!" and it was then that I realized I already read one of Marzano's books.

The teaching principle that stands out to me most is "Effective teaching involves aligning the three major components of instruction: learning objectives, assessments, & learning activities." This principle is very straight forward & logical. It makes sense to have clearly laid out objectives, learning activities that align with the objectives, and finally, assessments that check the understanding from the learning activities to see if the objectives have been learned by the students.

The learning principle that stands out to me most is "Students' prior knowledge can help or hinder learning." This principle is so simple and makes me almost want to say "DUH" out loud, but yet, I haven't ever really thought about it in this manner. I've really only thought about prior knowledge helping in their learning but never about the flip side. It a student has prior knowledge about a certain topic but the information is incorrect, it will certainly hinder the new learning. A way to clear up some of the misconceptions that students might have before teaching a particular topic/concept is to use a KWL (what you KNOW, WANT to know, and then reflecting later about what was LEARNED). During the various phases of completing the KWL, the teacher has multiple opportunities to correct any misunderstandings in the prior knowledge or after the fact with what was learned.