Digital Citizenship Lessons

This past week ED 305 students were engaged in creating interactive and engaging digital citizenship lessons using SoftChalk. For many of these students this is their first attempt at writing a full lesson - and it's certainly their first attempt at a digitally published lesson! But they had NO FEAR!

This is a truly special group of 305 students - they are engaged in the content and have a strong desire to achieve great results. At least 90% of the class included "above & beyond" work, as part of their lesson - this means they did more than was required, stepping up to meet the challenges presented to them. What a wonderful character trait - this will serve them well throughout their career.

As is always the case, a few students submitted some truly exceptional work -

• R Duvall: https://www.softchalkcloud.com/lesson/serve/wyV4z3KjL7Jh6u/html - Overall excellence! Very nice lesson.
• M Price: https://softchalkcloud.com/lesson/serve/gsInwaNCx4mWLD/html - Overall excellence! Very nice lesson.

These lessons were excellent!

Other lessons that were submitted that either were overall just really good or had a few special bells and whistles include: 

• K Goad: https://www.softchalkcloud.com/lesson/serve/YtrDb0vouA5jkw/html - Overall great job! The consistency between pages makes this lesson easy to read and it includes lots of engaging and interactive content.
• B Flemming: https://www.softchalkcloud.com/lesson/serve/Ey1f8bc7iOUXVQ/html - Overall great job! Each page is consistent, reads easily and is engaging and interactive.
• M Fouse: https://www.softchalkcloud.com/lesson/serve/V1j4q8RLQHo3Kn/html - Overall great job! Lots of interactive and engaging content.
• C Gilliland: https://www.softchalkcloud.com/lesson/serve/JOYQDM3xwAhXn6/html - Overall great job! Lots of interactive and engaging content
• M Passwater: https://www.softchalkcloud.com/lesson/serve/zIxejhUvYqoVdt/html - Overall great job – LOTS of SoftChalk activities embedded in the lesson plus other extras.
• K Miller: https://www.softchalkcloud.com/lesson/serve/csn1SlmkDA6aEJ/html - Overall very good – lots of bells and whistles and nice display of content
• R Chaparro: https://www.softchalkcloud.com/lesson/serve/1D46ZGgamoSYnV/html - Custom template and very interactive and engaging lesson
• S Hogan: https://www.softchalkcloud.com/lesson/serve/o0eU2VdWaNvRM6/html - overall very good lesson – even embedded a poll from poll everywhere!
• K Callahan: https://www.softchalkcloud.com/lesson/serve/cmqvCDhpXKNQRe/html - good use of white space. The lesson text is visually appealing.
• M Hall: https://www.softchalkcloud.com/lesson/serve/yxrQaKzvAG2HZw/html - nice job including interactive materials throughout the lesson
• A Cowan: https://www.softchalkcloud.com/lesson/serve/8OlqM4mc1vuBKA/html - great videos and text poppers on the images

Thanks to the entire 305 group for their hard work! I really appreciate the effort.

Flipped Presentations

ED 307 students completed a flipped classroom lesson, after which they were required to perform some independent investigation about the topic and present their findings via an animated video. This  assignment is typically a "student favorite" in 307.

Overall the videos were really great - the content presented was "spot on" and for the many "first time" animated video makers, the videos were actually quite good. Congrats to all 307 students for their hard work.

The criteria I use to grade the flipped classroom video submissions is based on (1) following the video requirements, (2) thoroughness and correctness of content and (3) creativity. I typically find that "creativity" is where the big differences are between submissions. Taking a step outside of the box is a scary venture for many students - but their efforts are applauded in 307.

Check out these videos that I feel are "spotlight" worthy -

-          D Cornett - http://screencast.com/t/w9iIljHNXUv - very creative approach to this project. Animation needs some work – but nice first attempt.

-          R Driver - http://goanimate.com/videos/0y6zQI8BKh7o?utm_source=linkshare&utm_medium=linkshare&utm_campaign=usercontent – “outside of the box” presentation of materials. Animation needs some work, but nice first attempt.

-          Danielle Frazier - https://plotagon.com/28632 - Plotagon video, which is a relatively new animation product with some really nice features. The story line is not overly creative, but nice job with the animation.

-          A Slone - http://goanimate.com/videos/0He3elpNVarI?utm_source=linkshare&utm_medium=linkshare&utm_campaign=usercontent – Nice job with change of scenes and multiple characters and conversations

My Super Students!

My 305 students are hitting it out of the park early on this semester. Last week they learned about Google Drive, completing an assignment in which they created a document, presentation, and survey, linking the 3 together. Grades were very good overall - so thanks all for your hard work!

This assignment has an "above & beyond" component, providing students with the opportunity to do more than is required for additional points - the following students went the extra mile -

1. Rachel C
2. Keri C
3. Olivia H
4. Matthew H
5. Morgan P
6. Kayla G
7. Stephanie H
8. Jada C
9. Mary F
10. Christian G
11. K Shubert
12. R Duvall

Keep it up 305!

Partnership for 21st Century Skills - ED 305 class review

How did the mission of P21 become clearly defined?

Let's review the findings of the Are they really ready to work report: http://www.p21.org/storage/documents/key_findings_joint.pdf

Let's visit the P21 website: http://www.p21.org/

We are going to play in some Google drive products:

1. Google document: https://docs.google.com/document/d/19fFrT-l1JdFIw-jyNMzIePiBM_nfk6n1aYzIHTzmM6I/edit
2. Google presentation: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1qfaxSmmi1bll-4Dvpdldl2yDd8sOEgmMmUy8UvsrYtI/edit
3. Google form: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?usp=drive_web&formkey=dC1jR2FzUTZYdXBldGFEUXZmck1PVEE6MQ#gid=0

If an educational act is to be efficacious, it will be only that one which tends to help toward the complete unfolding of life. To be thus helpful it is necessary rigorously to avoid the arrest of spontaneous movements and the imposition of arbitrary tasks.

                                                                                                                         ~ Maria Montessori

The exciting world of ED 305

Today brings to start a new semester for ED 305 students at Athens State University! These pre-service teachers will learn new technological techniques and about the many resources available to them. I hope they are as excited about this semester as I am!!!

By the end of this semester in ED 305, you will have the knowledge and ability to...

• Design and Develop a teacher/class website
• Design collaborative exercises using Google Docs
• Create course specific digital imagery
• Design, develop and implement online multimedia
• Create interactive course lessons using SoftChalk
• Create and deliver presentations using presentation software
• Design and develop multimedia course lectures

The following is a list of previous student projects - YOU TOO will have projects like this in four short months!

• Teacher Website: http://meaganlspears.wix.com/m-spears-classroom
• SoftChalk Lesson: http://www.wendycowansteachingit.com/2014/10/amazing-student-work.html
• Video Productions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vimj22nKm4g
• Stop Motion Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqplqCRkX9A
• Lecture capture: http://www.screencast.com/t/U7Citw7dMdi5 
• Classroom blog: http://kristilynnkruse.com/other/classroom-blog/
• Digital newsletter: http://us6.campaign-archive2.com/?u=14441a39950b3dad1b05e7bcf&id=be136e385a
• Deliver content in a virtual environment: https://athens.blackboard.com/webapps/bb-collaborate-bb_bb60/recording/launchGuest?uid=2362d04a-5169-4837-a12a-73d7f18ad59f 
• Create digital art: 
  
• 
  

Inquiry-Based Learning Project

ED 307 students completed a module on inquiry-based learning. To begin the lesson, a brief overview was provided, leaving students with many unanswered questions....

1. What is the student’s role in inquiry-based learning?
2.  What is the teacher’s role in inquiry-based learning?
3. What does research say about student achievement/success when using inquiry-based learning?
4. What are the best practices associated with inquiry-based learning?
5. What are the steps involved in using inquiry-based learning in the classroom? 

To answer these questions, students were encouraged to search the Internet for information, determine relevance and correctness of information, and then organize the information in a mind-map, using MindMiester. Students then created digital presentations of their findings.

307 students complete this assignment each semester, but the presentations linked below are some of the best ever submitted. These students did an OUTSTANDING job - I am very appreciative of their hard work - work that is definitely worth sharing.

1. Alisha: http://www.screencast.com/t/EQ8xrgWju 
2. Barbara: http://youtu.be/-626K_YAyDg
3. Savannah: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQbywV6w5R

If you had questions about inquiry-based teaching/learning before watching these videos, I'm sure they are answered now. Way to step up 307 students!!!

A bit more about MindMiester - it's a must have resource for the classroom. Here's why -

1. It's a great mind mapping tool that allows multiple forms of media to be attached to the map (videos, links, etc.). 
2. Lots of design choices
3. Mind maps can be shared and used collaboratively
4. MindMiester includes a presentation component
5. Apple and Android apps available too
6. And there's a FREE version!! But for those who have a little $$ to spend, there are educator discounts.

Be sure to check it out.

Teaching with Technology Presentations

ED 305 students really stepped it up with their teaching with technology presentations. For this project, students are encouraged to implement best practices for creating and delivering digital presentations. Overall the 305 students did a great job. One area of shortcoming for most students was the use of graphics in the presentation - I think this is mostly due to the availability of open-source graphics that matched their content.

One area where just about every student did an outstanding job was with presenting the information. There was VERY little reading of content. Most students discussed their content in a manner that made the presentation enjoyable and easy to listen to and learn from. I've never had a group of students do so well on this particular area.

A few students that I would like to recognize for their submissions are listed below. While these presentations may not be perfect, I've detailed the aspect of the presentation that was particularly good. You will notice that most of these had a nice presentation rhythm, with few extended periods of time on a zoom.

• Dylan Fisher: http://www.screencast.com/t/VKECm2xv - Excellent format and presentation skills. Provided a very nice overview of types of assistive technologies
• Kristi Kruse: http://screencast.com/t/GSctobXpXIa - Great word and graphic use along with presentation skills
• Brooke Kuykendall: http://www.screencast.com/t/wpBu9moI1o - Excellent word usage and lots of zooms. Presentation skills were good also.
• Erin Navy: http://www.screencast.com/t/SGm5jfkx4 - Very dynamic with excellent word usage.
• Jacob Ryan: http://www.screencast.com/t/ZrH80UC3k - Just an overall good job. The presentation included all required elements and was designed fairly well and presented nicely.
• Meagan Spears: http://www.screencast.com/t/lULVVIJ4DSDe - Overall really good job.