Mrs. Tiffany Thompson

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Learner Engagement within Distance Education

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Static and Dynamic Technologies

ConceptMapStaticandDynamic

Static technologies are those that are not interactive and do not (for the most part) evolve. Deeper understanding is not possible as these technologies are designed to provide a visual of other's interpretation of the material. For content, I focused on environment, podcasts, and websites providing assistance for others to learn. For collaboration, email, text, and group assignments remain static as they can be lead by others to control the learning environment and offer no further deeper understanding. For communication, phone calls, FaceTime, and discussion boards allow again learning to be understood from others' perspectives.

Dynamic technologies have deeper understanding and creative implications to allow the learner to share from their mind. Their knowledge base and life experiences allow them to share their learning in original ways. For content, student choice, Prezi, and various mind tools allow for students to construct from their originality. For collaboration, social media, online posters, and gaming allow for groups of people to come together and share individualistically. For communication, blogs, Skype, and wikispaces still allow for people to share their own ideas from their perspectives free from other opinions.

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Graphic Organizer

CCC GraphicOrganizer

For content, I chose Environment, Choice, and Assessment. The learning environment is critical in student engagement. It also has to be aesthetically appealing in order for students to feel comfortable. Student choice makes the content relative for students to connect to the information. When students have choice of how to show their learning it makes the content come alove for them personally. Some students have test anxiety. Some students have language differences or learning disabilities. Also, some students need to be challenged in order to try their very best. Therefore, assessments have to look different for different students. As the teacher, we need to know that every student GOT the standard and c an apply it inthe way they know how, NOT the one way cookie cutter type of traditional assessments.

For communication, I chose Email, FaceTime, and Text. Although, these are not the easiest modes of communication nor are they examples of newer technological advancements, they are more apt for my group of students (4th grade) to have access to and feel comfortable using. Email is a great mode of communication as it makes communication real at any time of day. You can send pictures, videos, or text to communcate a thought. FaceTime is a way for students to interact with one another via phone or iTouch. They can interact with one another while viewing their faces, body language, hand gestures or items that another student may be using to discuss whatever the conversation is about. Text is another communication tool that allows students to interact with short phrases and convey meaning with instant messaging.

For collaboration, I chose Wikispaces, Blogs, and Group Assignments. Wikispaces allow for a group of learners to add information that they know to be true. Students can log on and add information from wherever they are and collectively create a group of posts to inform others about a common topic. Blogs are very similar. Students can log on, view other posts and share their idea about the topic as well. Although, I do see how this could be a form of communication, especially for personal blogs, I believe educational blogs provide a safe forum for students to use other students post as a means of confirming their own understanding thus making it a collaborative concept. Group assignments obviously lend themselves to collaboration. A small group of students can come together with their own strengths and collectively show their learning in a powerful way making it possible for each other to gain more understanding from each other.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Revised Storyboard

Learner Engagement within Distance Education STORYBOARD

1 Title Screen Shot	2 Picture of an example of a traditional way of assessing student engagement within F2F format. (hands on application)	3 Picture of another example of a traditional way of assessing student engagement within F2F format. (students showing you)
4 Picture of an example of a traditional way of assessing student engagement within F2F format. (feeling the experience)	5 Picture of an example of a traditional way of assessing student engagement within F2F format. (doing the processes)	6 Picture of an example of a traditional way of assessing student engagement within F2F format. (using technology)
7 Picture of an example of a traditional way of assessing student engagement within F2F format. (experiencing different realia)	8 Picture of an example of a traditional way of assessing student engagement within F2F format. (teacher observations)	9 How different would learner engagement look within the distance education format? (title slide)
10 Key aspects of learner engagement within distance education. Video clip showing different methods of capturing online learner engagement.	11 Voice Narration slide	12 Best practices and authentic application of learner engagement. Video clip of students using technology actively engaged.
13 Conclusion to leave the audience wanting to hear more from the keynote speaker.