Cook Up a Lesson with Technology Integration

Lesson with the Effective Use of Instructional Technology:

1 c. of Content Knowledge
1 c. of Pedagogy Knowledge
1 c. of Technology Knowledge
1 c. of SAMR
1 c. of Technology Tools
1 c. of Software or Applications
1 Set of Teaching and Learning Strategies
1 Batch of Common Core Standards
1 Batch of National Education Technology Standards for Students
1 Dash of Teacher Creativity

Mix Content Knowledge, Pedagogy Knowledge, and Technology Knowledge with Common Core Standards and Technology Standards to create a base for the lesson. Blend in Technology Tools and Applications guided by SAMR for appropriate use and a Set of Teaching and Learning Strategies. Add a dash of teacher creativity. Deliver the lesson to the class.

We spent two weeks examining all of these ingredients and more. Over time standards, technology tools, applications, and pedagogy will change and improve but these concepts remain. As a curriculum and instruction specialist, this class should give you the ability and skills to evaluate and guide Learning in the Digital Age.

Dennis

News Flash - Updated ISTE Standards for Students 2016!

ISTE has published the new 2016 Standards for Students. They were announced at the international conference last week and members can download them. I placed a pdf on the top of the Moodle site. The permission from ISTE to use this is for academic research. Take a look!

Curriculum 21 Word Cloud

Applying Theoretical Frameworks

We have looked at two theoretical frameworks. In fact, the Mishra/Koehler article devotes the end of the article to a discussion of frameworks and their application. Theoretical frameworks "provide a lens" to study concepts and provide a context to look at complex systems.  Borrowing from the authors:

Philosophers of science have argued that one of the most important functions played by theoretical frameworks is that they guide observation. As Chalmers said, ‘‘Precise, clearly formulated theories are a prerequisite for precise observation statements’’ . In other words, observation statements cannot be made without using the language of some theory, and in turn, these theories determine what is investigated. Thus, frameworks play an important role by guiding the kinds of questions that we can ask, the nature of evidence that is to be collected, the methodologies that are appropriate for collecting this evidence, the strategies available for analyzing the data, and finally, interpretations that we make from this analysis.

The SAMR Model provides another framework providing context for technology integration. The implication is that we can test or study effective and appropriate use technology in the classroom using the model as a guide.

I like theoretical frameworks and their application in large studies and dissertations. Frameworks that are well cited and well known in the field provide a sound contribution in the literature providing a launching pad to more research. 

Dennis

Class in the Comfort of Your Home!

The class did a great job hanging in yesterday to get everyone connected and operational. The session gave us some real time experience in online learning using WebEx. It is not unusual to take a fair amount of time to get everyone up and running on the first attempt of a conference like this. If we were to repeat a class meeting on WebEx the login would go a lot faster.

Many of the WebEx, Adobe Connect, Go to Meeting, experiences involve large numbers of people with chat as the only method to communicate with the presenter. Our application had all 12 of us using picture and audio. Using a format like WebEx presents a challenge when everyone is able to speak but you all did well. If our group was much larger it would be more difficult to manage the conversation. 

Here's a few tips on conferencing on a personal computer...

• Use dim lighting in the background. Avoid windows and other light sources behind you.
• Lighting your face with lamps behind your laptop on both sides provides the best result.
• Use headphones and a mic for best result. iPhone headphones works ok as long as the mic is in a good position. I have a picture of the USB Plantronics .audio 400 headset I use. It is a folding headset I can throw in my bag. It is old and has been beat up but still works well. A bit pricy - $42 at Amazon. 
• Mute your mic when you are not speaking. 
• Test everything ahead of time.

Dennis

Where Are My Bookmarks?

Mimi asked a great question today. (Miriam, I hope I spelled Mimi correctly!) Once class is over and the class Moodle access goes away, where can we find the links to all of the apps we have shared in class. I went to my Delicious site to show where they can be found. That link is here. Alas, I haven't visited that site for a while and wouldn't you know, they have dramatically changed the interface. I must admit, too, that I have not updated the site lately.

Indeed, you can find most of the links there but it is not very friendly to just browse through my 153 bookmarks. So I have a summer project to update the list or find a new application that may provide a better way to search and browse the list. I opened a free Diigo (dee-go) account to check it out. My account is at diigo. I will play with that for a while to see if it is a better choice. If so, I'll upgrade to the non-ad version and give it a go ($7 per year). But the jury is out - I'll let you know. There are other bookmark apps that I will investigate as well.

For now, I'll keep my Delicious account. The link is also at the top of the class Moodle page.
Dennis

Here We Go!

And we're off! Thanks for a good start - it was great to meet everyone. I hope I was able to make clear the expectations for class and the assignments. I will continue to give you the tools for Assignment 3 and the Major Project. We will go over developing a blog in more detail tomorrow.

You folks are breaking new ground in this class and Bob's class with the use of WebEx. We'll make it work to get our material covered successfully!
Dennis