Wednesday, April 24, 2019

Pros & Cons of Podcasting in AL


Pros
Cons
The use of asynchronous audio communication devices and spaces, such as podcasting has many pros. Podcasts can be

  • Viewed and listened to on many devices
  • Viewed and listened to via streaming or downloading
  • Listened to anywhere
  • Tutorials made by professors
  • Viewed 24 hours a day
  • Viewed an infinite number of times
  • Viewed on demand
  • Purposeful for multiple learning styles
  • Assisting to self-directed learners
  • Integrative (King & Cox, 2011, pp. 35, 37,38, 40, 68, and 81).

Using podcasts as part of the curriculum, it is “supported by Learning Management Systems (LMS), such as Blackboard, eCollege, and Angel” (King & Cox, 2011, p. 52). According to program coordinator Vicki Sutton, the availability of online learning using Canvas LMS, ZOOM, and Skype is an accessible platform for those not in close geographical location and this also makes it cost effective (Robinson, 2019).


Along with cons listed below, are some enlightenments to lesson the con status. There must be a redesign of instruction. Podcasting cannot become a lecture capturing system (King & Cox, 2011, p. 37). This platform requires a new way of grading, a rubric that supports deep level thinking. Therefore, this platform also requires the student to think in new ways to prove knowledge understanding and acquisition. (King & Cox, 2011, p. 72). “At the center of this paradigm shift is the transition from instructor-centered to student-centered learning strategies” (King & cox, 2011, pp. 52-53). Professor Cyndi Krebs also referred to this paradigm shift of educational focus (Hort, 2019). She stated that having an openness by the technology learning professor makes the difference in technology skill acquisition.

Although the evolution of technology may make podcasting development continually more interesting, it may also steal time from academic learning so that device discovery may take place (King & Cox, 2011, p. 61). According to Sutton, there is a vast differentiation in technology capabilities, so it is important to support those that are less technology savvy so that they can focus on the learning requirements instead of the technology skills required (Robinson, 2019).

Hort, M. K. (Producer). (2019, April 21). Interview with Professor Cynthia Krebs. Podcast retrieved from Canvas website: https://canvas.k-state.edu/info/
King, K. P., & Cox, T. D. (Eds.). (2011). The professor's guide to taming technology innovative perspectives of higher education: Research, theory and practice [Kindle version]. Information Age Publishing. Retrieved from Amazon.
Robinson, S. (Producer). (2019, April 20). KCCTO’s Technology for Adult Learner. Podcast retrieved from Canvas website: https://canvas.k-state.edu/info/

Wednesday, April 10, 2019

MO & G for HS Language Arts Curriculum



Target Audience
This is a hybrid technology integration training course for 20 high school Language Arts (LA) teachers that meets via a 30 minute ZOOM conference on Mondays, and in person for two hours on Fridays on weeks 1, 3, 5, 7. It’s based on the use of Microsoft Office and Google products. Participants taking this class will receive professional development (PD) credit for and stipends will be paid out of the district PD fund for 12 hours. Teachers attending the training will become the district cadre for teaching the use of MO and G products in LA classrooms throughout the district. When cadre conduct training during bargain agreement hours, they will not receive per diem; however, any training that the cadre conducts outside of bargain agreement hours will be paid the standard stipend.

Learning Objectives
  1. “Using a wiki for collaborative knowledge construction gives learners control over content organization and encourages students to develop a shared understanding of facts and concepts” (West & West, 2009, Location 1414). Successfully construct knowledge of building the following products:
    1. Microsoft Office Word doc
    2. Microsoft Office power point
    3. Google doc
    4. Google slides
    5. Voice over for power point
    6. Screen video
  1. “Contextual teaching and learning engages students in significant and relevant activities that help them connect their academic learning to real-life situations and problems” (West & West, 2009, ch. 2, loc 532). Use in-real-life teaching expectations for product topics such as:
    1. Essays
    2. Letter writing
    3. Visual art interpretation vocabulary
  1. “Technology is changing rapidly and technology-focused workplaces and collaborations mean that we need to have strategies to keep our professional practices up to date” (Donavant, 2011, p. 106). Traverse wiki properly and professionally: such as:
    1. Upload products
    2. Post responses
    3. Include photography in posts
Rational
“As for the primacy in the world society today, rapidly changing conditions result in an endless need for new processes, policies, and procedures. Therefore, the 21st century is accelerating the need for problem solving as a daily strategy for doing the work of the day” (King, 2011, p. 21). One of the benefits of using the infrastructure of cadre teachers is that financial resources can be paid to teachers and the experts will be local. All too often schools use a band aid approach and buy into an expensive program that has little purpose, leaving the teacher/learner of technology integration with a negative lived experience which then influences their motivation to try again (Kafyulilo, Fisser, Voogt, 2016, p. 315). This cadre of teachers will be experiencing social community for collaborative critical thinking while learning technology in this class. The wiki will act as an online community of practice for learning technology integration (Merriam & Bierema, 2014, pp. 120-123). They will also be learning technology while referencing their professional expectation in the High School classroom. King refers to “internalizing learning as their own; and developing 21st Century Learning skills simultaneously’ (2011, p. 23).

Details
This wiki will be used as a classroom collaboration setting. Students will locate and view instructional videos with opportunity to question or discuss within the wiki. Weekly, participants will post and upload docs and power point/slides. They will respond multiple times weekly to colleague work. Screen video building will require collaborative work and negotiation. Peer editing will occur throughout assignments via online and in person. This peer collaboration builds environment and attitude for participants to self-reflect, self-management and self-monitoring (Garrison as cited in Merriam & Bierema, 2014, p. 68).

Suggested Activities
K-12 public schools are incorporating technology devices in an effort to become 1:1 (one device per one student). Teachers must continue time investment to meet standards of teaching, curriculum development, assignment creation, grading responsibilities, reflection practices, and revisions; in addition, they must now invest time in technology learning. Incorporating common technology products is imperative for evolution of the 21st century classroom. Activities include:  creating Microsoft Office Word documents and power points; Google docs and slides: voice over capabilities; and screen video building. These activities are being practiced using the teaching expectations for the high school English teacher.

Agenda

Week
Title
Day
Description
Week 1
Intro
M
  1. ZOOM introduction to class
a.       Confirm Google drive
b.      Confirm ownership of Microsoft Office
c.       Create a 100 word introduction to bring to class on Friday
F
  1. Friday Collaborative perusing of the class wiki
a.    Discussion of social platform
b.   Training video collaboration
  1. All must post self-intro 100 words max
a.       During class respond to at least class members 30 words max
Week 2
MO docs
M
  1. Prior to ZOOM, watch instructional video posted on wiki about creating a MO Word doc
a.       ZOOM is open for instructions, questions, and concerns
W
  1. Create and upload on wiki a MO Word doc of instructions on essay writing, include the rubric
a.       Edit
b.      Font
c.       Margins
d.      Inserts
  1. Save doc
a.          Name and rename document
b.         Create files
  1. Doc requirements
 .                    Single spacing
a.          Two pages total including the rubric
F
  1. Class responsibilities due on Friday
a.       Respond to the work of at least three colleagues
b.      Maximum 50 words
c.       Respond to the My Experience - MO Word doc about your experience creating a MO Word document
Week 3
MO Power Point
M
  1. Prior to ZOOM,  watch instructional video posted on wiki about creating a power point
a.       ZOOM is open for instructions, questions, and concerns.
b.      Remind students they will be giving a five minute power point presentation on Friday
W
  1. Create  a MO power point
    1. Edit
                                                              i.      Themes
                                                            ii.      Font
                                                          iii.      Add, remove, change order of slides
                                                          iv.      Add, remove, change text boxes
                                                            v.      Add images
                                                          vi.      Add links
    1. Save
  1. Power point requirements
    1. Describe the process of writing an essay
                                                              i.      Include the sections
                                                            ii.      Include proper grammar, font, spelling
                                                          iii.      Include citation expectations
                                                          iv.      Include pictures on at least three pages
                                                            v.      Twelve pages maximum
  1. Add a title and five sentence description to the Power point Title & Description post in our wiki
a.       DO NOT UPLOAD YOUR POWERPOINT
F
  1. Class responsibilities
    1. Five minute powerpoint presentation during class
                                                              i.      For the sake of class time, two rooms will be used for the presentations
                                                            ii.      Act as audience member for nine presentations by your colleagues
    1. Respond to both slides that you viewed by posting a picture and making a comment by Monday
                                                              i.      Maximum 50 words
    1. Respond to the My Experience - MO Powerpoint
                                                              i.            Maximum 50 words by Monday
Week 4
Google doc
M
  1. Prior to ZOOM,  watch instructional video posted on wiki about creating a G doc
a.    ZOOM is open for instructions, questions, and concerns.
W
  1. Create a Google doc of instructions on letter writing, include the rubric
    1. Edit
    2. Font
    3. Margins
    4. Inserts
  2. Share document with two colleagues
  3. Doc requirements
    1. Single spacing
    2. Two pages total including the rubric
F
  1. Class responsibilities due on Friday
    1. Leave comment at the end of each document shared with you
    2. 50 words maximum
    3. Respond to the My Experience - G doc about your experience creating a G document
Week 5
G Slides
M
  1. Prior to ZOOM,  watch instructional video posted on wiki about creating slides
    1. ZOOM is open for instructions, questions, and concerns.
  2. Discuss transfer between MO and G products
    1. “Save as” and drag-and-drop
    2. Alignment issues
W
  1. Create a G slide about letter writing - historically, cover letter, letter to politician, letter to self, etc.
    1. Edit
                                                              i.      Themes
                                                            ii.      Font
                                                          iii.      Add, remove, change order of slides
                                                          iv.      Add, remove, change textboxes
                                                            v.      Add images
                                                          vi.      Add links
  1. Slide requirements
    1. Describe the process of writing a letter
                                                              i.      Include the sections
                                                            ii.      Include proper grammar, font, spelling
  1. Add a title and five sentence description to the Power point Title & Description post in our wiki
F
  1. Class responsibilities
    1. Pare and share with two colleagues
    2. Respond to both slides that you viewed during class
                                                              i.      Maximum 50 words
    1. Respond to the My Experience - G Slides
                                                              i.      Maximum 50 words by Monday
Week 6
Add Voice
M
  1. Prior to ZOOM,  watch instructional video posted on wiki about adding voice to power point
a.       ZOOM is open for instructions, questions, and concerns.
W
1.      Add voice recording to your already created power point
2.      Upload your new power point on wiki
F
  1. Class responsibilities due on Friday
    1. Respond to the work of at least three colleagues
                                                              i.      Maximum 50 words
    1. Respond to the My Experience - Adding Voice to Power point about your experience adding voice
Week 7
Screen videos
M
1.      Prior to ZOOM,  watch instructional video posted on wiki about creating a screen video
a.       ZOOM is open for instructions, questions, and concerns.
2.      Create pairs for collaborative screen video building
T, W, or Th
  1. Collaborate in person or online on screen video building
  2. Create and upload a video visual art interpretation vocabulary
  3. Video requirements
    1. Five minute maximum
F
  1. In class video viewing
    1. Watch at least seven videos of your colleagues
    2. Post responses on wiki of five videos that you observed
                                                              i.      Begin first with title and creator
                                                            ii.      50 word maximum
Week 8
M
  1. On ZOOM discuss final assignment titled: Classroom Use of ______________
  2. Choose any of the practiced mediums
    1. Length should be sufficient for understanding, but not so long it interrupts IRL
    2. Include the following sections
                                                              i.      Introduction
                                                            ii.      Positives about the product
                                                          iii.      Three examples of how this product could be used in a high school classroom
                                                          iv.      How you overcame barriers
                                                            v.      Two ways you will facilitate the use of this technology in school’s curriculum
                                                          vi.      Future
W
Work
F
Final project due - post or upload to wiki

Rubric for Final

________ Introduction - 10 points. The purpose of the medium used is supported by viable school district resources. Proper paraphrasing of should situate the sections of the paper.
________ Positives - 15 points. Include at least three positive points, citing examples for support. Be detailed in describing these points. Encompass the emotions, confidence, and efficacy that was experienced
________ Classroom examples - 30 points. Clearly describe three examples, giving careful consideration to the technology product being used. Describe how this technology will enhance student learning.
________ Overcoming barriers - 10 points. Barriers are what prevent technology from being incorporated as a vehicle of learning by the teacher. Describe two barriers that you experienced and ways that you overcame them.
________ Facilitating - 20 points. Clearly describe two facilitation procedures that you plan to use to incorporate this technology into teacher classrooms. Include size of group, location, time, and a synopsis of procedures.
________ Future - 10 points. Describe future technology skills, products, platforms, or spaces that you would like to incorporate into your catalog offerings. Explain how these will make classroom different from the same topics being taught without technology.
________ Grammatical Structure - 5 points. Properly tend to grammar, spelling, syntax, and purpose of language. Keep the tense in agreement.

References

Donavant, B. W. (2011). Narrated digital presentations. In K. P. King & T. D. Cox (Eds.), The professor's guide to taming technology (pp. 15-30). [Kindle version]. Information Age Publishing. Retrieved from Amazon.
Kafyulilo, A., Fisser, P., & Voogt, J. (2016). Teacher design in teams as a professional development arrangement for developing technology integration knowledge and skills of science teachers in Tanzania. Education and Information Technologies, 21(2), 301-318.
King, K. P. (2011). Voice, empowerment, and impact.  In K. P. King & T. D. Cox (Eds.), The professor's guide to taming technology (pp. 105-120). [Kindle version]. Information Age Publishing. Retrieved from Amazon.
Merriam, S. B. & Bierema, L. L. (2014). Adult learning linking theory and practice. San Francisco, CA:  Jossey-Bass.
National Writing Project. (n.d.). Retrieved April 9, 2019 from https://www.nwp.org/.
Oklahoma Council of Teachers of English. (n.d.). Retrieved April 9, 2019 from http://www.okcte.org/.
Oklahoma State Department of Education ELA Standards-By Grade. (n.d.). Retrieved April 9, 2019, from https://sde.ok.gov/documents/2016-01-25/ela-standards-grade.
Oklahoma State University Writing Project. (n.d.). Retrieved April 9, 2019 from https://osuwritingproject.okstate.edu/.
Thoma, J., Hutchison, A., Johnson, D., Johnson, K., & Stromer, E. (September/October 2017). Planning for technology integration in a professional learning community. The Reading Teacher, 71(2), 167-175.
West, J. and West, M. (2009). Using Wikis for online collaboration: The power of the read-write Web [Kindle version]. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Retrieved from Amazon.


Pros & Cons of Podcasting in AL

Pros Cons The use of asynchronous audio communication devices and spaces, such as podcasting has many pros...