Assessing Meaningful Learning

I found the tools discussed in “Assessing Meaningful Learning” helpful, especially the provided rubric gallery.  I was able to easily navigate to a sample rubric, and the format was pretty intuitive.  I can see myself returning to the rubric gallery in the future as a teacher.  The “Clickers” section left me wishing I could have seen it in action with maybe a demonstration podcast—something to help visualize its use would have benefited me.  The idea sounds good though and I don’t doubt its potential applications.  The “Inspiration” software looks especially useful for teachers who rely more on visual aid and are looking to create new lesson plans.  I consider myself a very visual learner, so I can see myself benefiting from it in the future.  Since I am planning to teach primarily adults, I imagine Inspiration would be more helpful to me than Kidspiration, but both look really helpful.

Technology Application Standards

(1)  The study of creative writing allows high school students to earn one-half to one credit while developing versatility as a writer. Creative Writing, a rigorous composition course, asks high school students to demonstrate their skill in such forms of writing as fictional writing, short stories, poetry, and drama. All students are expected to demonstrate an understanding of the recursive nature of the writing process, effectively applying the conventions of usage and the mechanics of written English. The students' evaluation of their own writing as well as the writing of others ensures that students completing this course are able to analyze and discuss published and unpublished pieces of writing, develop peer and self-assessments for effective writing, and set their own goals as writers.

(2)  For high school students whose first language is not English, the students' native language serves as a foundation for English language acquisition and language learning.

(3)  Statements that contain the word "including" reference content that must be mastered, while those containing the phrase "such as" are intended as possible illustrative examples.

(4)  The essential knowledge and skills as well as the student expectations for Creative Writing, an elective course, are described in subsection (b) of this section.

(Source: Texas Education Agency at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/)

My focus is primarily on teaching adult students, but for the purpose of this assignment I’ve chosen to hypothetically discuss TEKS in High School Creative Writing.  I would utilize the TEKS listed above by regularly assigning writing assignments to instill understanding of the writing process in students and by having them review not only their own material, but also the material of their peers.  This will create solid analysis skills needed for self evaluation, peer review and publishing.  I would help students set personal goals to write a certain amount of content over the course of the class and have them evaluate their own progress to achieve those goals.

In my opinion, the most important TEKS listed is for students to become used to and comfortable with sharing material with their peers.  Because creative writing is such a personal form of expression, many writers suffer from feelings of anxiety or insecurity when it comes to sharing their material with peers.  The best way to overcome this is to share their material on a regular basis until it becomes not only comfortable, but a desired part of the writing process.  Once a student is used to having peers review and critique their work, that fear transforms into a healthy need to receive feedback, and they become a much stronger writer for it.

Visualizing with Technologies

As someone who relies heavily on visual aid in my own learning process, I am a huge supporter of the sort of tools offered in Visualizing with Technologies.  In particular I enjoy tools that allow users to interact, so I have to say I found things like Sketchpad and TinkerPlots especially interesting because of how much I remember struggling in grade-school mathematics, and wonder how much that could help students like me.  I also love the idea of Discovering Education because since I was young I've been a huge fan of what the Discovery network stands for and does for kids.  Bringing Discovery videos into the classroom is a great thing, and I was pleasantly surprised by the number of pre-made lessons they offer for teachers--not just science teachers but for each of the core grade-school disciples too.  I also thought the Safari Montage packages were a clever idea to bring a good variety of visual programs into the classroom.  In general, visual support tools are incredibly important to me and the ones provided seem to be fantastic assets to any teacher.

I believe visual aid tools weren’t used enough when I was in grade school and that they serve a natural role in the learning process that was sorely missed.  It’s one thing to verbally explain something to a student—they may nod and claim they understand—but when something can be quantified through visual example, it’s far more likely to be retained.  When students see something being demonstrated or have hands on experience with something, they literally see their questions being answered and have something to visualize for future reference.  A student may think to himself/herself “I know how tiny the Earth is compared to the Sun because I saw a scale model of the solar system and thought ‘wow!’”  That retention more than likely wouldn’t occur if they were simply told information.  With the increasing popularity of things like mobile apps and online photo/video sharing, visual tools are naturally becoming more popular every day.  The fact is that people love to visualize things, and educators should strongly consider using that interest as often as possible.

Podcasting

I’ve recently learned more about something I've already come to love: podcasting.  Podcasting, derived from “iPod Broadcasting”, is a new form of media which allows broadcasters to upload audio or footage to the internet and for viewers to download it for later viewing.  Unlike traditional broadcasts which could be missed, podcasts are watched at the viewer’s time of choice, giving them a distinct advantage over traditional media.  But it’s also more than that.  Because they are uploaded to the internet, viewers use software called “podcatchers” which allow them to subscribe and receive notifications when more content is uploaded by the broadcaster, giving podcasters and their viewers a unique connection that had not existed before.

Podcasting is similar to other Web 2.0 applications in that it gives the power of creation to the average person and allows them to collaborate with other podcasters, or even their viewers.  Multiple podcasters could podcast together, or exchange valuable information through their casts.  However, the difference between podcasting and other Web 2.0 applications is that podcasting does not directly involve the viewers in the constructive process.  It is the dissemination of a broadcaster’s information, while the viewers simply receive the information.  They may provide feedback to help the podcaster, but their role is more passive than other applications which involve contribution from everyone.

I own a PC, Kindle tablet, and cell phone which all can play MP3’s.  I use all of them to listen to podcasts on a regular basis and learn a lot from it, so I naturally believe there are significant advantages to using podcasts as educational tools.  But it honestly depends on what sort of learner you are, in my opinion.  Personally, I learn more easily when I can pause and rewind something until I completely understand.  But that can’t be done in a traditional classroom setting with live instruction.  On the other hand, podcasts are limited by the same thing that gives them an advantage.  If the information in the podcast is unclear no matter how many times I watch/listen, I cannot ask for clarification like I can in a classroom.  I can see myself using podcasting when educating in the future, but I want to make sure the information can be quickly and easily clarified when necessary.

Web 2.0

Despite never having heard the term "Web 2.0" before, I felt I already had a solid understanding of what it was once I saw the video explaining it.  I think most of us probably understood an amount of it, but the video sort of said "Hey, you know those things you use almost every day?  Yeah, that's Web 2.0."  I was aware of what a Wiki is (not just Wikipedia) and how resources like it are different than older methods of information sharing.  Having said that, I wasn't aware of specific resources like VoiceThread, which looks very interesting compared to traditional threading.

I think the advantage of Web 2.0 over Web 1.0 is fairly obvious (assuming older resources are called 1.0).  Being able to pool everyone's information into one database--whether that be a Wiki or some type of thread--is incredibly helpful and intuitive.  To an extent I believe collaboration over dissemination is a huge step forward in education, and the fact students can now offer input and teachers have tools to help streamline the whole process is pretty incredible.  It all goes back to the idea that students should be able to create instead of just being handed information, and I feel the Web 2.0 concept is a strong move in that direction.

Copyrights/Fair Use

Before today I felt I already knew more about copyright and fair use policies than most of my peers, thanks largely to my hobbies.  But I also knew I still had a lot to learn, so it was no surprise the information provided taught me quite a bit.  For example, The Educators’ Lean and Mean No FAT Guide to Fair Use had several good ideas that hadn’t occurred to me, such as the three common sense rules of thumb.  Using copyrighted material would generally be okay as long as it is contained in an educational location (classrooms can be online or physical), you are using a legitimate copy of the material, and the material is not available for sale for educational purposes.  I feel more confident about using educational material with those rules in mind. 

                Also I found the “cheat sheet” really helpful, because the line between legal and illegal definitely blurs when technology is involved.  This was also stated in the information provided, but even before I read it I felt that technology is several steps ahead of the law.  Sometimes even law-makers don’t know whether something is in violation of copyright, and this makes borrowing copyrighted material even more hazardous in today’s industries.  Even if you believe you’re following the law, you have to remember that the laws you’re trying to follow may not exist yet for that technology, which means it’s open to the interpretation of the copyright holder.  Of course you can always challenge a claim made against you if you believe you’re within the bounds of the law, but if those laws don’t exist yet it could take quite a while for it to be resolved.  Remember, technology is a very complicated and fast moving thing, and the law struggles on a daily basis to keep up with it.

MAPping Information, Before and After

When I woke up this morning, I was a lot like most college students these days. I felt I already had a pretty good understanding of how to use a search engine thanks to being the product of a digital generation—and by that I mean I knew how to Google.  I admit I’ve never understood the other “big ones” out there, mainly because Google has always been enough for my needs.  With the exception of minor experience with Alexa, I wasn’t aware of the web-analysis tools out there.  Sure, I knew they existed, but I didn’t know where to find them or how to use them.  Because websites can be so misleading or outright malicious, I’m very interested in new ways to view and study them.  In general the MAPping Information has been very welcome news to me.

In the future I definitely want to keep using techniques like the AltaVista commands.  I can see lots of academic uses to help me with my focus.  For example, typing “host:edu + [topic]” looks extremely helpful to search for things like “creative writing”.  Also I find myself wishing I had known about “easywhois” a long time ago.  I’m pretty sure it could have saved me a headache or two in previous classes, so I’ll be sure to remember it in the future.  I think the tools provided are quite helpful, not only to double-check myself in the future but also to accurately determine the integrity of students’ work.  I plan to share these tools with both peers and students whenever appropriate, and hopefully spare them a few headaches too!

All in all, the MAPping Information Activity has been exceptionally helpful.  Whether I’m poring over data or critiquing a paper, some part of me genuinely enjoys critical analysis (crazy, I know), so I feel confident I’ll naturally return to these techniques in the future.  If I had to choose a negative feeling after what I’ve learned, it would be the regret I have of just now learning it.  The ability to easily look up publisher information or specify academic material in a search engine would have been extremely valuable to me from the beginning.  But I suppose wishing I could have had a good thing sooner is the good sort of problem, now isn't it.

Introduction

Hello everyone!  My name is Mason Gray.  I’m an oldest child from Sulphur Springs, Texas, and a four year veteran of the Air Force.  At heart, I'm a creator and love creativity-driven pastimes like writing fiction, reading fiction, playing video games, and very basic programming technology. Until around the 9th grade I was not very good at English in school, despite being a bit of a bookworm.  In fact, I remember being quite embarrassed that I couldn't understand the basics of grade-school English while my peers seemed to have no trouble at all.  But something clicked for me in high school, and I've excelled at it ever since.  In my service time in the Air Force I worked with a lot of advanced technology, and discovered a second love.  I discovered that I genuinely enjoy pushing technology in ways it was never intended, creating something new and exciting.  I don’t have experience teaching officially, but I hope these traits are a sign of good things to come in my goal of becoming a professor of creative writing.  I hope to draw from my talents and use technology in ways that are unique, engaging, and maybe just a little wild.

As both a writer and someone who heavily uses technology, I believe technology plays an increasingly important role in the creative process, and I hope to see our education systems embrace that potential.  I strongly feel it's is a powerful aid in that process, and that it allows us to capture our imagination beyond traditional pen and paper (though I still use those too!).  I remember having an imagination in grade school that was never fully utilized, and I want to have a part in changing that for future generations.  I want to make a difference in people's lives by helping them connect with their creative side, and I plan to use whatever technology is available to that end.

I am of the philosophy that the spirit of creation does not change, only the tools we use do.  I’m sure many people resent the advancement of technology because it’s unfamiliar, but in my experience, art is a constant thing that technology revolves around, not vice versa.  Technology helps to express what words alone cannot, and it’s easy to forget that at one time even the pen was cutting-edge!  Personally, I look forward to seeing our own cutting-edge tech dwarfed by something bigger and better, and I'm excited to see how that will aid in my passions, and the passions of my students.