I much prefer to create concept maps using a whiteboard or pencil and paper. I don't like to muddy up the concept with graphics that don't work. It is obvious that this is a technique that I need to spend more time on. I should have just canned the online software and went with Visio.
Concept, thinking or mind maps are considered an effective method to enhance student learning (Ogle 2000). Additional research and case studies showing improved ability to make connections and to establish relationships is located at Designs for Thinking - Research.
I created a concept map using WebinspirationPRO, a collaborative visual productivity tool, to model the following learning objective: Students will build a fully-functional customized user interface with macros, macro groups, command buttons and procedures to match the client specifications request within a four week period using Microsoft Office Access 2010. It was not appropriate for the assignment, so I created another one using Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2010. It covers a shorter period and more specific objectives.
Resources: "Designs for Thinking - Research on Thinking Maps®." the thinking foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2012.
Ogle, D. (2000). Make it visual. In M. McLaughlin & M. Vogt (Eds), Creativity and innovation in content area teaching (pp. 103-114). Norwood, MA.: Christopher Gordon.
A thread started by Kim J. entitled "Times have changed...but not really" really intrigued me. It is one of my pet soapboxes. I believe that children are not learning the how systems work by being allowed to start the game over. I am embedding my original posting below. To set the environment--it is still ski season here in the Pacific Northwest, it is a beautiful day, and I am sitting in my dining room where I can see the mountains and the sun, and I am working. Argh!
Phil Mahre
I am intrigued by the ideas of simulation and virtualization. Some of you may have heard of Phil and Steve Mahre--the Mahre brothers--who were World Cup and Winter Olympics skiers from Washington State. They had a reputation for running the course in their heads before they ran the gates on race day. It was said, and at this far date I cannot easily find a source, that they would stand at the top of the course with eyes closed and run the course mentally before jumping into the start gate. The difference between them and many students is that they knew how to ski and they had skied the course before. They were practicing tactics and stategy in their heads. They knew what would happen if they hooked a gate or lost an edge. However, they reported that the virtualization worked for them. Their many wins support their assertions.
I wonder how these "simulations" relate to what is being taught using a computer simulation. The Mahre brothers could ski before they raced at the Olympic level. Naomi’s point about simulations being controlled resonates with me. I know what it is like to fall in a race course, rocket out of both skis, and slide over salted snow face first. When I crash in Wii skiing, it doesn’t feel the same at all. Is there a price that we pay for setting up situations in which a student can "reset" the game and start over?
Unfortunately, this whole area is one of my pet soapboxes. I have tried step on and off it quickly; however, I could not resist the invitation.
I am on a quest to determine the difference between a Personal Learning Environment and an e-Portfolio. In my journey I ran across the work of Graham Attwell, the Director of the Welsh independent research institute, Pontydysgu. Attwell states that the question of the difference between an e-portfolio and a PLE "is a question which has bothered me for some time as I am involved in developmental projects for both e-Portfolios and Personal Learning Environments. And it could well be that there is little difference, depending on how both applications (or better put, learning processes) are defined. Of course, if e-Portfolios are seen primarily as a vehicle for assessment then the differences are clear." He adds that a "PLE may be seen as a tool (or set of tools) for not only presenting learning but for also (individually or collectively) developing a representation of wider knowledge sets (ontologies?)."
Resources:
Attwell, Graham. "Pontydysgu – Bridge to Learning - Educational Research." Pontydysgu – Bridge to Learning - Educational Research. N.p., 13 Apr. 2008. Web. 28 Mar. 2012. <http://www.pontydysgu.org/2008/04/what-is-the-difference-between-an-e-portfolio-and-a-personal-learning-environment/>.
Creating a better understanding of the use of Bloom's Taxonomy in writing course competencies
Discovering the Wisc-Online site and collection of RLOs
Researching and writing about using blogs in technology classes.
The last item is the one on which I spent the most time. I found lots of blogs about technology tools used in teaching and education; however, I found no examples of how blogging is used in technology classes.
I have decided that my best course of action is to post my findings to my peers in our class discussion thread and invite them to help me find resources. I am including a small portion of my posting to the class site below and also asking if anyone has any ideas about where I can find resources on using blogging in technology courses, please add a comment. I primarily teach database design, construction, and report writing. I teach both F2F and online.
My week was extraordinarily busy. I interacted with several of my peers and had meaningful interchanges with a few. My efforts at collaboration were weak; however, it is the nature of this time of the quarter.
In order for me to require students in my technology classes to blog, I have to be convinced that they will truly be gaining something from blogging that they are not realizing though our extensive use of threaded discussions. Students do participate in the threaded discussions, where we explain problems, offer solutions, present links, and form study groups. We do utilize blogs and forums in the classes as part of our research. I encourage students to sign up for forums and to follow technology bloggers. These resources allow us to ask and receive responses to questions that might otherwise go unanswered. I make regular use of my access to experts in my field through groups on LinkedIn, and I encourage my students to join in the discussion.
It is written at the application level or above in Bloom's taxonomy
It is measurable and observable
I have a particular interest in Bloom's Taxonomy, because I was unfamiliar with it until a few years after I had started teaching full time, and in writing competencies, because we are constantly rewriting competencies for our courses--as we should be.
I find it very difficult to find a movie that has profound impact on my life. I can name books and songs but not movies. As I thought about it, the movies that stuck with me the most were war movies. I don't like "shoot 'em up" movies. I think it is the sacrifice and often the futility that most impacts me. I ran through a number, like Blackhawk Down, the Last of the Mohicans, and the Deer Hunter, before deciding on Gettysburg.
Gettysburg chronicles a short period leading up to and the three days of the battle at Gettysburg. The concept of predestination is stressed repeatedly in the deep religious beliefs of the Confederate leader and serves to support the battlefield heroics.
My favorite character is Union Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain and believe that Jeff Daniels does a great job of portraying the idealist professor from Maine. Who, by the way, went on to do more great things.
I am embedding a scene from the movie that I used in teaching inspirational leadership theories. In this segment, Chamberlain inspires a group of "mutineers" to achieve higher performance levels by articulating a vision. The inspiration music help a bit too. ;-)
At first I did not like this assignment. I could not think of any movies that had truly impacted my life--or so I thought. The movies do impact my life by causing me to learn more, but it ends up being the books on which the movies are based that I remember.
Gettysburg: This movie caused me to read the whole series of books on and leading up to the Civil War by Michael Shaara and Jeff Shaara. The last time I studied American history was in high school. Textbooks in those days were highly sanitized. My delving into American history stimulated me to apply for two National Endowment for the Humanities’ Landmarks Workshops where I learned about the auto industry in Detroit and the steel industry in Cleveland. Both industries played a large role in shaping the management techniques we still use today.
Blackhawk Down: This movie has caused me to question my values and beliefs. My most memorable quote in the movie is given by Abdullah 'Firimbi' Hassan (played by Treva Etienne): "Do you think if you get General Aidid, we will simply put down our weapons and adopt American democracy? That the killing will stop? We know this. Without victory, there will be no peace. There will always be killing, see? This is how things are in our world." http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0265086/quotes The year after this movie came out, I got to spend five weeks in Southern Africa. Although a very different environment, I was more aware of the assumptions I held about about Africa and Africans. Being more open to the experience allowed for richer learning.
My two latest "life changing" movies are 1) North Face and 2) The Way Back. Both are historical drama, which tends to be my favorite genre. I found these movies through books and found more books through these movies. My husband's maternal grandfather died in the Soviet Union in the late 20's while working on the railroad. No one alive now really knows what happened. One of the characters in The Way Back went to Russia to work on the railroad and ended up in a gulag. My interest is even more peaked.
In his article on alternative assessment Buhagiar article (2007) enumerates six uses of assessment created by Caroline Gipps and Gordon Stobart in 1993. The list that follows equates each of those uses to a technique that was used in Module One of our class:
Screening: Screening was utilized by determining which of us could use the tools that were required for the course and which could not use them without assistance from the instructor or classmates. The module incorporated a variety of tools that required finding outside Web sites, checking and responding to e-mail, finding tools that allowed editing of a page, finding, completing and submitting a survey, locating and reading on-line materials, demonstrating understanding by reviewing the materials, and responding to others using course tools. I am certain I missed some. Regardless, the introductory activities should surface where attention may be required.
Diagnosis: Similar to above, the diagnosis portion could determine how assistance was received by the learner who needed it, who waited until the last minute (like me), who was quick to offer assistance, and who needed that assistance most often.
Record-keeping: Record keeping assures that students completing this program have actually completed the required coursework, which supports the objectives of the course. There needs to be some assurance to stakeholders that the certification or diploma received was the result of meeting the objectives and not simply buying a degree. Creating activities that learners complete allows the instructor to have some degree of assurance that objectives are being met.
Feedback: The feedback in this module came in many forms. How easily were the learners able to follow the instructions? Was additional instruction or clarification required? Are the peers providing quality feedback to one another or do they need to be assisted in understanding the nature of quality feedback? The survey completed provided information to the instructor and, ultimately, to the institution about the demographics and interests of the students. The survey also provided information to the instructor that could strengthen the feedback he provides to students by understanding more about who they are.
Certification: Learners certify by demonstrating mastery of certain objectives. In Module One learners are asked to address the objectives of 1) Define, compare and contrast standardized and alternative assessment techniques, 2) Illustrate the role of formative and summative assessment in an online course and program, 3) Interpret and practice the use of a wiki as an online assessment tool, and 4) Practice and demonstrate use of a discussion as an informal assessment technique. Activities were created addressing each objective, each had an outcome, and each could be assessed for level of completion.
Selection: Selection was used in a variety of ways. The movie discussion allowed students to self-select into discussions that were of interest to them. The assessment discussion allowed for the same outcome. The survey and other assessment techniques explored here can allow for the instructor to select certain groups. For example, the instructor may pair technically stronger learners with technically weaker learners, or learners with common or disparate interests to try to stimulate conversation, or place late posters with early posters to use peer pressure to stimulate earlier response to questions.
Which tool did you like best and why? I liked the survey best, then the movie discussion, and finally the wiki.
What assessment advantages does it offer to your own course design plans? I like to know where my learners are coming from. Sometimes I have a group of technically skilled students and I can introduce challenging discussion items that prepare them for future classes. Sometimes I have technically challenged learners and our discussions, tips, and tools are intended to make them better prepared for the requirements of the current class. Additionally, I may have a whole group of Accounting majors or Medical IT majors. When I have students all in one field, I can address the materials more directly to the nature of the work these students will likely be doing.
I had some difficulty determining that these were the six techniques that we were to discuss, because I expected them to refer specifically to alternative assessment. I decided to go with them anyway as several were clearly used in the three opening techniques of the ice-breaker, wiki, and survey.
I seem to be survey-challenged. I took the survey the first day or two after the class opened and really liked it. Then I discovered I had not taken the survey. I was thinking that I had just forgotten to click "Save" again. Been there, done that. But no; it was a different survey. I looked all over the site for the first survey I had taken and never did find it. I had to change my comments in the discussion, because I didn't like this survey as well.
I recall writing in the first survey about two things that are meaningful to me: 1) meeting Conrad Anker in a restaurant in Tingri, Tibet in 2007, and 2) journeying to Xibalba, the Mayan underworld, in Belize. The comments I made said something about my interests. The second survey did not leave me with the same feeling of having expressed something about myself.
Resources:
Buckman, Ken. "What Counts as Assessment in the 21st Century." Thought & Action 23 (2007): 29-37.
Buhagiar, Michael A. "Classroom assessment within the alternative assessment paragdigm: revisiting the territory." the Curriculum Journal (2007): 39-56.
