20% Project Reflection 6

20% Project Reflection 5

(I didn't create the YouTube video, just to be clear!)

20% Project Reflection 4

I stumbled upon an interesting facet of my research today, and that is adaptive hypertext and hypermedia. An interesting subject! Adaptive hypermedia can be used for a variety of different things, but it has very exciting future application for an educational setting. An adaptive hypermedia technology would be able to customize what the user sees based on their knowledge, goals, abilities, needs or even interests; it would do this by providing the hyperlinks that would be most relevant to the person using the technology—"the teaching tools 'adapt' to the learner."

One of the projects that is working with this idea is the InterBook, and it looks very promising. A paper on the subject called "Web-based education for all: a tool for development adaptive courseware" gave a ton of insight both into the project, and into the idea of adaptive hypermedia itself. The authors believe hypermedia is the best option for education, because "the hypermedia interface makes it theoretically possible for each student to find his or her own unique path through the hyperspace of learning material." They also mentioned three levels necessary to reaching the ideal adaptive hypermedia teaching tool. The first level would just be making a hypermedia-based course available that had all the necessary teaching material (explanations, definitions, examples, problems, quizzes, tests, etc.). However, they say this level is not enough on its own, because there are many inexperienced students out there who are less prepared to "cope with advanced hyperspaces" that are available on web-based applications. So, the second step is where the teacher comes in. The teacher will be able to mold generic courses to fit the needs of her classroom—and to the needs of her students—by choosing which topics to learn, and the order they should be learned in. This next part is where the adaptive part of adaptive hypermedia comes in! The authors state the goal for this technology in the third step, which is a very long quote, but I think it is important enough to put here in full: "The third step is to provide adaptive guidance mechanisms specially tailored to accommodate the current knowledge, learning goals, and information seeking tasks of that individual user. Guidance in this context addresses the problem of a users' unproductive wandering, refocusing them on their learning objectives, suggesting logical next steps to inform them about the knowledge structure of the hyperspace, or re-sequencing materials according to their demonstrated knowledge of content. In these cases, the knowledge implicit in the hypermedia is well defined and carefully structured, similar to that found in a textbook."

I found the idea of adaptive hypermedia extremely intriguing, and it made me very excited for the future of technology and education! I definitely want to mention this in my final presentation, perhaps as the next step in teaching with hypermedia, or the future of teaching with hypermedia.

Creativity and Innovation Project -- Final

We decided that BINGO was not the way to go for our lesson, and I am a little disappointed. I thought that would be a more fun way to represent our lesson - but I think the card exercise was probably more instructional. I am really disappointed in my performance though, and how I messed up my explanation of our lesson. I get really flustered when I am standing in front of people, and every thought in my head and everything I have prepared tends to fly out of my head! I feel like I let my group down in that respect, though I did help more than I thought I would be able to in the preparation of the project. So I am glad that I was able to help in that area! Overall, despite my gaffe, I think we did a good job. I think that we made a good use of our technology, but I am a little disappointed in the "fun" aspect of our lesson. I think our group dynamic was a little off, and there were some people who were doing more work than others, and that hindered us a little bit as well.

20% Project Reflection 3

I found an amazing report that has looked into hypermedia being beneficial in education, and in this report specifically, in teaching literature. The report is "Hypermedia and Response-based Literature Teaching and Learning: A Critical Review of Commercial Applications," written by Karen Swan and Carla Meskill at the National Center for Research on Literature Teaching and Learning, University at Albany. I have had all these great ideas concerning the applications of hypermedia in teaching and education, and it was so rewarding to see this report. It went over many of the possible advantages of hypermedia in the report, including: (1) the student’s ability to learn independently by controlling content (student-centered learning), (2) how hypermedia supports cooperative learning, enhancing “socially mediated learning processes,” (3) the student’s ability to learn by actively participating and building up their knowledge database, which makes the student more likely to internalize what they are being taught, (4) the ability to show different examples of knowledge in a format that the student can control, so that they can move at their own pace and in a way that makes sense to them, instead of in a linear fashion, (5) being able to reach all the different kinds of learners, visual, audial, and otherwise through various media, and (6), creating a stimulating, interesting, and engaging atmosphere for students to learn. It’s nice to have my ideas set into concrete points, and this source really helped me to do that. I was having a hard time explaining what I was talking about, and why I believed it could help, and this really helped me focus my thoughts on this project.

20% Project Reflection 2

While I was researching this week, I came across a lot of articles with negative views about technology immersion. The thing is, though, that most of these were talking about our generation and future generations being too involved with technology in general, and not the kind of technology immersion that I am really talking about. But I didn’t just ignore these articles, because I wanted to ponder what some arguments against my project might be. I wanted to see if there were real problems with what I was suggesting and researching, and how they could be overcome. However, I ended up concluding that these two things weren’t really in the same ballpark. Using technology immersion in teaching and for learning is not the same thing as immersing yourself in technology to the exclusion of everything else. What I want to focus on is immersing a student in a learning experience, and it just so happens that technology is the best possible medium we could use to get this experience. 

There are two types of technological immersion, transparent immersion and hypermediacy immersion. Transparent immersion is just like, if you are reading on an e-book, and you forget that you are using technology. But hypermediacy immersion is what I want to focus on—you don’t get drawn into the content because you forget about the medium, you get drawn into the content BECAUSE of the medium and all of the different things you are able to do with it. On this project, I want to be able to focus on hypermediacy immersion, and interaction with the content/subject matter through that immersion.

Creativity and Innovation Project -- Day 4

Our group REALLY could have used one more day in class to work on this project. We got a ton of work done today, with all of us contributing to the powerpoint through Google Docs. We got a lot done, but it would have really been nice to have another day to finish it completely. I am a little scared with this project, though. I came in to the group with them already having worked on it two days. I have been trying as hard as I can in order to catch up and also really contribute to the group, but it is hard going. I tried to get them to explain some of their ideas to me, but they would just gloss over their ideas, so I couldn't completely grasp what they wanted to do. I tried to ask a couple more times, but they just seemed irritated. They seem reluctant to assign me to do anything, and I don't really blame them, but I really want to contribute to the group, and help them out. I think I helped a lot in our last day of class in making the powerpoint, but when everyone was being assigned work to do on their own, I wasn't given anything to do. I kept asking about it, but they asked me to do something that I didn't understand (and when I tried to ask about it, they said there wasn't enough time to explain), and then they just said they would send out an email. I offered to do something that I knew I could do (make the BINGO cards) but they refused. I still haven't gotten an email, but I really want to help our group, so I tried to come up with something helpful on my own. I emailed them about an idea of creating special cards for a Go Fish type game. For example, a card might have the equation 4 x ? = 16, so the value of that card would be 4. The person who had it could ask if anyone had any 4s, and they would have to look through their own cards for an equation with the missing number 4 (but they would all be different equations, not just another 4 x ? = 16, so you have to solve different equations to get the card value). I know that I loved to play Go Fish when I was little, and I think this could be both really fun and good learning experience for kids. I haven't yet received an answer, and I just hope that this all turns out okay!

I'm sorry this is late, but I was hoping that I could get a little more information on what was going on before I posted.

20% Project Reflection 1

I am taking a class in Digital Humanities, and one of the things we touched on was immersion in technology. This really intrigued me, both as an English major, and as a topic for this project. I think that technology immersion has great potential in the classroom, and I know that there are many websites and apps that use this immersion that could really appeal to kids, and help them learn. It is a way for them to engage with something instead of just reading it (like Alice for the iPad) or looking at it (www.monet2010.com), etc.

I think the book aspect of technological immersion is very interesting, especially if you believe that schools will one day be using iPads and e-books/apps to teach their classes. This could open up SO many opportunities for this kind of learning! Think about the typical algebra problem, where train A is going one speed, and train B is going another -- how much could it help a student to actually visualize the problem being asked? How much would it help them to see what they are actually looking for, to be engaged in the problem, to have some kind of control over it? I think it would be an amazing teaching tool! Plus, personally, word problems were always my weak point. There were so many elements, and I could never understand what I needed to figure out in order to solve the problem. I couldn't get from point A to point B so that I could then get to point C, because I would be lost in the problem. I didn't know what I needed to look for. But if I had something like this, I know that it would be a completely different learning experience, and that it could help a lot. I have been thinking and researching a lot about it, and using technology to immerse the student in what they are learning could be a very, very powerful tool.

Creativity and Innovation Project -- Day 3

Today in class our group had to pick a game; first, we had to play the game, and then we had to come up with new rules or a new way to play the game that made it more fun. Unfortunately for our group, we picked Liar's Dice, and had NO idea what it was, or how to play, even after looking it up online! This really tested our creativity skills, but I think we came away with a pretty good game, and a pretty good idea of the importance of creativity in a lesson. If you are engaged in what you are doing, if something keeps your interest and your attention, then it is going to be most likely that you will learn a lesson from it! That is why our lesson project has to have a creative angle to it—so that we can keep our students engaged and actively learning! For our project, we decided on having BINGO be our lure. Everyone will be handed a BINGO card to follow along with the lesson's presentation, where we will have math equations. When you solve the math problem, you check your card to see if that answer is anywhere on it. Eventually, someone will call BINGO, and win the prize! So, the game piques the students' interest (because, seriously, who doesn't like BINGO?) and their stake in the game gives them incentive to want to solve the math problems...Not even to mention the prize for the winner(s)! I think this is such a great idea, and I know it would have worked on me in school; I have, for some reason, always been competitive when it comes to BINGO—even though it is largely based on chance, like which card you get, and which numbers randomly get called. Even though it is a simple game, it is one that so many people enjoy, and I think that is why bingo is such a great choice for this lesson!

Creativity and Innovation Project -- Days 1 & 2

Sadly, I wasn't able to be in class on the first two days of this project, but my group for the stop-motion project let me join with them! I will be working again with Molly, Ann, and Chloe, and I'm very excited for what we are going to do. When I got into class, I asked Molly to tell me what they had decided so far, and it seems like a great idea! Our lesson is going to cover the standard MCC3.OA.4, which states that students must be able to "determine the unknown whole numbers in a multiplication or division equation relating three whole numbers." I know that math has always been a tough subject for me, and I would have loved to have a lesson like this one to make things fun, and really catch my attention! By the end of our lesson, we want to be able to teach the students to quickly answer various multiplication and division problems (correctly) that have a part missing. For example, they would have to solve an equation like 2 x ? = 4. They will have to fill in the question mark in order to solve the equation. But we want the students to see how multiplication and division relate to one another, and how you can use each to solve for the missing component in the other—using multiplication to solve for a missing number in a division problem, and vice versa. To do this, we are going to have a quick introduction or recap on how to use one to solve the other. Then, we get to the fun part, and we distribute the BINGO cards! We will have unsolved equations in our presentation, and the answers to those will be the numbers on your BINGO card. This lets the students actively engage in the lesson, and have fun at the same time.

Communication and Collaboration Toolkit

I have learned a lot about communication and collaboration over the years as a student, and I keep learning about it every time I come across these kinds of situations where I have to work with a group, like I did with the latest stop-motion project. One of the things that I have found so harmful to a group's communication is when someone gets their feelings hurt, or someone is a bully. I have been in groups before where people aren't open to hearing other people's ideas, and I have been in groups where there are people who are overly sensitive to critique. This little photo caught my attention when I was looking through pinterest, because I have mentioned a couple times in my earlier blogs that I thought our group was good with communication by avoiding things like this:

Whenever ideas were flying around, and someone's got dropped, we were never hurt because our communication was so good. Any one of the things on that list, though, could have caused our communication to come to a standstill, and that's not good for anybody in the group. It's just a good rule of thumb to keep in mind. The group needs to realize that it will do its best when feeding off of each other's ideas, but in addition to that, they also need to be sensitive of those people's feelings who don't get their ideas across as well, or get them rejected. 

There are also a ton of online tools you can use to collaborate with your group, while in the same room, or in different cities! The Internet provides all types of workplaces for groups, such as Google Docs, where everyone shares a document and can add to and edit the text. This is not only good for writing a paper, but it can be a helpful way to brainstorm ideas without being in direct contact with every member of your group. The Dropbox is also helpful in this way, as it allows you to share files between computers and people. 

There are so many useful tools on the Internet for collaboration, and this picture just shows a few! All of these services and more can be a humongous boost for working together. Technology is making it easier than ever to work successfully and efficiently in groups.

Working on Stop-Motion

DAY ONE:
Working on our stop-motion project (how to do makeup) was really a lot of fun. I was the photographer for the majority of the video—we wanted to do the whole thing in one session, since it would be hard to get the makeup exactly the same a second time. Since I have class right afterward, I had to hand over the iPad to a group member (Chloe) to finish up after class time was over (which was sad, I was having fun!). I think our group dynamic was great, I found it very easy to share my ideas as well as understand what everyone was trying to get across. We all put our own flairs in there, and made it our own, while still keeping the group cohesion! I'm pretty sure I would have run into time trouble without the help of my group, because I am a little bit of a perfectionist, and I wanted to line up the next shot exactly with the last one, but that was taking way too much time. My group had to tell me to pick up the pace a bit, which I am very grateful for. I don't think anyone felt defensive over what they were doing when someone made a suggestion, which I have seen in some of the groups I have worked with in the past. We all wanted to make the best video we could, and so we all appreciated each other's input. I think our group worked really nicely together, and I think we are going to end up with a really cool, instructive video. One of the big things we didn't get to do during that first filming session, however, was the voice over—which is going to be a major part of making our film into a how to video, instead of just something neat to watch. I am looking forward to putting the finishing touches (including the voice over!) on our project during the next class period!

DAY TWO:
My group decided against doing the voice over. It's true, it would have been a little difficult to sync it up in the right places, but I think that it would have made our video more instructional. I do think it turned out really cool looking, though! I went through and took out some of the bad shots where we caught people in the frame by accident, so it looks more clean. There was a problem with the camera adjusting itself for the light, so we do get that strobe effect in places, but with the time we had, I think we did a really fantastic job.

Stop-Motion Project

I'm really looking forward to our stop-motion project! As soon as I heard the idea I was so excited, it seems like something I would really like to do. I was a little sad that my group decided to do makeup (I'm not the girliest of girls) but I think we all like where our idea ended up. I think it is going to be a lot of fun, and it is going to look pretty cool. We are going to do a How To video, with the topic being makeup. We are thinking about terming it "stage" makeup, though, because the kind of makeup we are thinking about is not your everyday look. We decided that we wanted to go with a bolder look, so that the changes we were making really stood out from picture to picture. Our group was going back and forth between whether we should or should not show the makeup brushes in our video, too. On one hand, it's supposed to be instructional, but on the other hand, it would look way better if the makeup seemed to just be appearing on the face. We decided to go without the brush, and do a thorough voice over to make up for the lack. I am actually going to be doing the voice for our video—though I'm going to need a lot of help, since I don't know a lot about the topic! The other girls are really well-versed on our subject, though, so I feel very confident. I think that we all have a really good idea in mind for what we want to do, though I am a little worried about having it completed by Tuesday. I think if we are to keep that deadline, our group may have to meet outside of class in order to totally finish our project. Either way, I'm very excited to get started!

Social Media Image

I want my social media image to represent a professional, respectable person. If someone were to look at my internet presence, I don't want them to find anything that might cause them to have second thoughts about my character. I have a Facebook profile, but I really don't use it very often. However, one of my short term goals would definitely be to go back through my pictures and posts to make sure that there is nothing embarrassing or inappropriate on there. I currently have my profile settings very private, so that you can't see any of my information unless we are friends, but I know there are ways of getting around things like that! And anyway, if my boss wanted to friend me, it would look bad to refuse and look like I have something to hide. I also thought it was a good idea to post about things and join groups that are relevant to my professional interests. That way people can know what I am all about, and get a sense of what is important to me. I want to set this as my long term goal, so that people can see that my thoughts and interests remain focused over a period of time, instead of just a quick burst with no followthrough.