Teaching with Technology

Students in ED 510 have been investigating a variety of technology resources used for teaching and learning. Their findings have been published in screen capture videos - enjoy!

• A Craddock - Cloud Storage
• J Minyard - Maker Spaces
• B Need - Digital Storytelling
• S Thomas - 1:1 Initiative

305 students master lecture capture

As stated previously, this semester's ED 305 group has really been doing great work...

Most recently 305 students created lecture/screen capture videos about a variety of technology resources used for teaching. Their presentations were created with Prezi - which in itself is a challenge for new learners. When discussing assignment expectations with the class, I explained in past semesters students were REALLY selfish with their use of graphics throughout their presentations - and challenged this group to really step it up. And guess what? They did!

The presentations submitted had more graphics than any group to date! Not only that, but the information presented was accurate, informative and engaging. I am, once again, very proud of their commitment to excellence!

I have recognized a few submissions below - while these are not necessarily perfect, they include some aspect of the assignment requirements that I found noteworthy.

• C Gilliland: http://www.screencast.com/t/l4vBWVTss9f - Overall very well done. Very engaging from the beginning, which opens with a question. Lots of graphics and constant presentation movement.
• A Cowan: http://www.screencast.com/t/Jzd9FuvKvQfv - Overall very well done. Very engaging from the beginning of the presentation. Throughout presentation lots of graphics, good information, continuous movement, with little visual lag time. Improvements include closing the ads on videos and fixing the sound on the others, but the digital storytelling message was still obvious even without the sound.
• K Goad: http://www.screencast.com/t/x27VLRWW - great presentation skills – used questioning to engage from the beginning and throughout the presentation. Nice mix of text and graphics, however, more zooms are needed to avoid excessive visual lag time.
• M Hall: http://www.screencast.com/t/mTVwyMvmI39 - great presentation skills – very engaging from the start and continues throughout – will make you excited about QR codes! Improvements include more zooms to decrease visual lag time.
• R Duvall: http://www.screencast.com/t/By0hcmUCzt - Very well explained - presentation provided a good understanding of clickers. Nice mix of text and graphics. To improve – more zooms – there were some instances where visual aspect of the presentation progressed slowly.
• A Baugher: http://www.screencast.com/t/gAcM7Ikj6j - lots of graphics – good presentation skills – overall nice job explaining cloud storage. Improvements include adding additional zooms to avoid lag in the visual aspect of the presentation – and capture less of the screen, only the presentation.

Based on the work completed by this class so far, I can hardly wait to see their final projects - teacher websites!!! They will probably blow it out of the water!

More GREAT student work

This weeks assignment in ED 410 Technology Integration was to prevent management strategies for one-to-one classroom computing. One particular student took the state with her super presentation. Enjoy! If the video doesn't play, you may view at http://www.screencast.com/t/z5CIVxXAuNb

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

James 1:2-4 ESV 

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

I humbly thank my wonderful family for their support in all that I do. Robert Robbie Cowan, Robert Drew Andrew Cowan, and Hunter Cowan Hartselle, Decatur, AL