» Points of interest: Using multimedia in a constructivist learning environment (Tse-Kian 2003) ICT in Education

» Points of interest: Using multimedia in a constructivist learning environment (Tse-Kian 2003) ICT in Education

Monica and Daves e Book Club

1. TITLE: Social Media and Literacy (The “e book club” experience) 

         DURATION:  2-3 weeks

2. STUDENT DESCRIPTION:

·       Adolescent students (13-15 years)

·       Subject: Language Arts (Literacy Strand)

3. SPECIAL EQUIPMENT NEEDED: Computer Lab./Laptop/Internet Connection
4. OBJECTIVES OF THE LESSON:

-  Cultivate higher level thinking in literary texts.

-  Make connections to text, within text, and among texts across the subject areas. Motivating students to draw their own conclusions and express them both written and orally;

-  Match reading to purpose--location of information, full comprehension, and personal enjoyment.

-  Analyze characterization as revealed through a character's thoughts, words, speech patterns, and actions; the narrator's description; and the thoughts, words, and actions of other characters.

-  Identify and analyze development of themes conveyed through characters, actions, and images.

-  Analyze how images, text, and sound in electronic journalism affect the viewer; identify techniques used to achieve the effects in each instance.

-  Identify, analyze, and critique persuasive techniques, such as promises, dares, flattery, and glittering generalities used in oral presentations and media messages.

5. MATERIALS AND WEB-BASED RESOURCES

-       Novel: The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

-       A classroom blog

-       A wiki page

-       Collaborative mind mapping
-   Optional Talk Group

6.    ASSESSMENT

-       Completion of all tasks

-       Using Web 2.0 rubrics 

7.     OUTPUT OF THE LESSON

-       Access and utilize a series of web tools

-       Motivate through digital and social media use

-       Read critically

-       Generalize ideas and draw conclusions

-       Communicate with peers in higher level of thinking

8. BLOCK PLAN

TIME	ACTIVITIES
Week 1	Teacher presents the text: The Woman in White and assigns chapter to be read students jigsaw their chapter. Teacher gives students the link where they will find the tasks for this lesson: http://web.bend.k12.or.us/dave.williams/Daves_Page/Monica_%26_Daves_Project.html Students download text: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/583    Teacher gives students classroom sessions to read text
Week 2	Students critically analyze the text read and write a summary on wiki page http://monica-daves-project.wikispaces.com/ Working in groups of 3, students analyze a character in the book and create a mind map of his/her important characteristics using Mind 42 http://mind42.com/pub/mindmap?mid=f48ace4a-942f-49ce-a499-837ae229e313.  Entire class is invited to add to character profile. Students are asked to go to THE e- BOOK CLUB BLOG PAGE http://davewilliams24.blogspot.com/ to express opinion about the content of book.
Week 3	Students/teacher read contributions in blog and make comments. Students are invited to the optional talk group assignment http://www.voxopop.com/group/8c6474e0-315b-4982-8d75-da4de140dd75 to further depth of responses and reviews

·      e Bookclub RUBRIC

A	Contributions are well organized and written in an interesting style. No grammar errors or spelling mistakes are made. They are very informative and deeply reflective. Contributes with other group members in writing and editing.
B	Contributions are well organized but written in a somewhat interesting style. Few grammar errors or spelling mistakes are made. They show some new reflective information on the topic. Assists group members with most of the writing and editing.
C	Contributions show little style and are poorly organized. Several grammar errors and spelling mistakes are made. They give some new information on the topic.  Provides minimal assistance to group members in writing and editing.
NOT YET	Contributions have no style and are poorly organized. Many words are misspelled and grammar mistakes made. They give no new information on the topic.  Provides no assistance to group members in any of the writing and editing.

Michelle and Dan's Group Project

MY DINNER WITH ALBERT
Group Project Guidelines

For this group project, you’ll need to dramatize an event in the life of Albert Einstein. You’ll have a number of options about how bring this event to life, but you want to make certain that it says something important about Einstein’s life and work.

There are three phases to this project:

1) Pre-Production

Before you do anything, you need to make some plans. First, you need to think about how your group will work and make some decisions about the roles you’ll each play. Next, you’ll need to gather information about Einstein’s life and determine which moment best sums up what you consider an important theme in his biography. Finally, you’ll need to pitch that episode to your main investors (us).

Specifically, here’s what you need to do:

(a) Establish a Learning Group Charter. (See the attached form.)
Once you’ve completed the charter, give us a copy. Also make sure every member of your group has one too.

(b) Gather biographical information about Einstein.
There are a lot of sources of information about Einstein’s life and times. You can find numerous pages on the web and books in the library. One of the most exhaustive is Albert Einstein: A Biography (1998) by Albrecht Fölsing.

(NOTE: Under normal circumstances, there would probably be sources available from the reading list of the course and we’d put the work into compiling a partial list of potential websites, articles, and books to append to this assignment.)

(c) Choose the biographical moment you want to dramatize.
You can pick any event from Einstein’s life that actually happened and that you have enough information about. Above all, select something that you think sums up an important theme in his life or makes an important statement about who he was or what he accomplished.

(d) Pitch your idea.
Once you’ve selected the subject of your dramatization, you need to clear it by us. That will require two things.

(1) Have your people talk to our people and schedule a short meeting (can be virtual) where you can make the case for your project. Feel free to use any multimedia sources you’d like, but nothing beyond your presence is required.

(2) Each member of your group should write up a brief argument in favor of your selection, emphasizing why it says something important about who Einstein was or the nature of his work.

After your project is approved, you can move on to phase two.

2) Lights, Camera, Action!

Now that you’ve decided on your subject matter, it’s time to bring it to life. You have a variety of options here depending on your interests and resources. If you haven’t decided on the form your project will take until this point, you might need to go back and revise your Group Learning Charter appropriately so that everyone is taking up a role that matters.

You could actually make a short film.
You could just write a script and decide which Hollywood stars you’d like to play the main roles.
You could create an audio-play.
You could storyboard it out.
You could also, if you have access to animation software, create an animated film.
Or you could try something we haven’t though of.

If you want to check out an idea, talk with us. We’ll also need to approve the format of your production before you start on it.

3) The Reviews Are In!

Once you have your completed project, it’s time to turn it in. We will set up a website so that all of your projects can be uploaded.

It’s also time to reflect on what you’ve done. First, you will fill out a Peer Assessment Form for each group member, including yourself.

In addition, fill out one copy of the Group Assessment Form. Please keep your answers as brief as possible.

Finally, we’ll be evaluating your work. To do that, we’ll use attached grading guidelines.

* * * * * * * * * *

MY DINNER WITH ALBERT - LEARNING GROUP CHARTER

List team members names and the strenghths/weaknesses they bring to the group.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

List Learning Team Goals
Some ideas might include:
· Members are fully committed to common goal and mission.
· Members are mutually accountable to one another.
· Members respect one another and work collaboratively.





Identify Possible Problems; include a plan to address those problems.
Examples have been provided below. Replace these rules and solutions with your own. Keep those you feel apply. Add more if you wish.

Examples:

Work must be submitted on time/a couple of days before deadline. If work is not submitted on time, we will contact each other to lend support.

Work must be complete. If work is not satisfactory, we will meet to discuss (web meeting) and refine/improve.

All members must attend agreed on meeting times or notify other members of conflicts. If we set up an agreed upon meeting and a member does not show up, we will ask Dan to remind participants in the Announcements to check their email and group private forum.

All members must consider other member ideas, opinions, and input. All members must behave in a supportive and encouraging manner. If a member exhibits inappropriate behaviors towards others, we will re-visit our norm/ground rules.

All members must contribute equally. If a member fails to participate or contact us for several days, we will attempt to reach out again and copy Dan in our email and communications.

We will attempt to resolve all problems within our group by contacting members and discussing issues. If we cannot resolve issues, we will contact the Dan.

Include the following in your agreement:
· Meeting schedule—
· Attendance expectations—
· Agenda—
· Roles to avoid frustration and conflict—
· List tasks to be completed
· Assign responsibility for all tasks –
· Develop and post a timeline and checklist –

* * * * * * * * * *

MY DINNER WITH ALBERT – PEER ASSESSMENT FORM

Student being assessed: __________________________

Student making the assessment: _______________________

For each aspect, rate the student on a scale from A to D using the following guide:
A: did this very well
B: did this adequately
C: did this less than adequately
D: did this poorly

Pre-Production
Contributed to the Learning Group Charter

Helped to gather relevant information in a timely manner

Participated in discussion of what biographical moment to dramatize

Took an active role in preparing the group’s pitch

Participated fully in the pitch meeting (including prepared materials, discussed approach, raised questions)

Lights, Camera, Action!
Fulfilled their role as outlined in the Learning Group Charter

Attended scheduled group meetings

Offered productive ideas and feedback to others

Listened to other members’ ideas and feedback

Cooperated with other group members on completing tasks

Overall
Based on everything you’ve written above, how would you rate this student’s overall performance?

* * * * * * * * * *

MY DINNER WITH ALBERT – GROUP ASSESSMENT FORM

1) Evaluate the Group Learning Charter that you started out with.

(a) In what one way did it help your group finish this project?

(b) Name one change you would make to the charter in retrospect.

2) Evaluate how your team performed overall.

(a) What two things did your group do well?

(b) What two things didn’t work or could have been improved?

* * * * * * * * * *

MY DINNER WITH ALBERT – GRADING GUIDELINES

Tasks	4 (Advanced)	3 (Competant/meets expectations)	2 (Progressing/does not fully meet expectations)	1 (Beginning/does not meet minimum expectations)
Group Learning Charter	The charter was completely filled out; answers were thoughtful and comprehensive	The charter was almost completely filled out; answers showed some thought	The charter was mostly filled out; most answers showed some thought but others were incomplete	The charter was not completely filled out; answers were short, irrelevant, or incomprehensible
Biographical Episode Selection	The episode selected clearly showed a message about Einstein’s life and work.	The episode contained a message about Einstein, with some extraneous material	The episode bore some relation to a message about Einstein, but was mostly disconnected	The episode did not say anything comprehensible about Einstein’s life or work
Argument for the Episode	The argument made in favor of the selected episode was thorough, compelling, and used evidence effectively	The argument covered most bases and used evidence to good effect, but also contained several holes/errors	The argument made some good points, but didn’t use evidence effectively and missed important elements	The argument made in favor of the selected episode was not well constructed, unreasonable, and used evidence poorly
Accuracy of the Portrayal	The portrayal of the episode was consistent with known historical facts	The portrayal was mostly consistent with known facts, with a few errors	The portrayal got some facts correctly, but made errors or included some things that did not happen	The portrayal diverged substantially from known historical facts or imagined events that did not happen
Realization of the Message	The final product clearly articulated a message about Einstein in all its parts	The final product communicated a message about Einstein, with some extraneous elements	The final product mostly communicated a message about Einstein, but other parts were unconnected to this message	The final product communicated no recognizable message about Einstein
The Overall Finish of the Product	The final product was in a polished state; there were no major glitches or unfinished elements	The final product was mostly finished with a very few loose ends or unpolished elements	The final product was partly finished, but other parts were messy, incoherent, and/or incomplete	The final product was largely unfinished, incoherent, contradictory, and/or messy

Gayl & Sue's Integration of Technology and Instruction Group Learning Lesson

Integration of Technology and Instruction

Students: Undergraduate students in a Special Education Teacher Cohort Program at an Oregon University

Purpose of the Lesson: Investigate the integration of technology in teaching by applying the TPACK (Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge) paradigm. This paradigm is based on the concept that "the teacher interprets the subject matter and finds different ways to represent it and make it accessible to learners." (Mishra & Koehler, 2006) In their article, Mishra & Koehler go on to say that using technology is a great way to achieve accessibility for all learners A reading is attached with this description.

Outcomes: Learners will be able to apply the TPACK paradigm when integrating technology into their instructional strategies.

Groups: Class participants will work in groups of 3-5. Groups will be assigned based on the ages and present level of performance of the students in their practicum placements.

Technology for the Online Lesson: Each group will be assigned a discussion and work area that is only available to the group members. Students will have choices on the chat area they wish to experiment with. Some ideas include (but are not limited to) : https://www.zoho.com/projects/ ; tinychat.com and/or Elluminate if available Discussions and sharing will take place in this area. To create a final product for submission, participants will co-create a lesson plan on the typewith.me site. The rubric for required components of the lesson plan will be provided by the instructor.

Group Project: The group will choose a lesson/unit topic that they might deliver in their practicum placement. The lesson can be anything from reading and/or math to activities of daily living or social skills. Individual group members will be assigned to individually investigate one of three topics.

1. Content of the lesson/unit to be taught as it relates to the classroom curriculum
2. Technology tools that could be used in the instruction-their function and operation
3. Delivery (Pedagogy) of the lesson to the students involved in the curriculum
Activities

Independently:
1. Read the TPACK Article
2. Think of a lesson /unit that you might teach to the students in your practicum placement. Post a description of your students and the lesson on the class web site under your group’s work area

In the group work area:
1. Describe your students and the unit/lesson you want to teach them

2. Review postings by the others in you group.

3. Decide which lesson/students you want to use for your project

4. Assign each group member to do research on one aspect of the assignment
a. Technology that could be used in this lesson
b. Specific content to be addressed
c. Instructional strategies to be used to deliver the content

With your group on www.typewith.me (instructions on using this tool can be found at http://educationaltech-med.blogspot.com/2011/01/type-with-me-quick-educative-online.html): Develop a lesson plan based on the format provided by the instructor. Also be sure to include a copy of the collaboration effort that was used on typewith.me

Self-evaluation: Each project participant will use the grading rubric as a self rating and submit to the instructor

Technology Group work Lesson plan format

Standards Addressed:

Students/Grade Level:

Objectives of the Lesson:

Content of the lesson: include introduction to content, culminating activities and assessment methods..

Instructional Methods (Pedagogy: include plans for addressing student interests, student readiness and student learning styles.

Technology Use: include all technology used, reasons why that particular technology was chosen

Unfortunately I was unable to figure out how to copy the rubric onto this page - mainly it involves the following:

• Unit Content: Standards Met, Objective clearly stated and met, rubric included



• Instructional Delivery:performance levels taken into consideration, learning styles and student interest



• Technology Integration: Used by both Teacher and Learner



• Project Development: Online collaboration clear

TPACK:

Mishra, Punya., Koehler, Matthew J., 2006. Technological Pedagogical Content
Knowledge: A Framework for Teacher Knowledge. Found at
http://punya.educ.msu.edu/publications/journal_articles/mishra-koehler-tcr2006.pdf

Mallory and Eileen's Group Project

Group Project: Small Business Record-keeping
Mallory Smith & Eileen Casey White

Objectives:
1) Identify different types of bookkeeping methods used by small business owners.
2) Recognize the strengths and limitations of each method.
3) Develop local contacts within the small-business community who may someday serve as mentors or advocates.

Background:
There are many different types of accounting systems used in small businesses, from hand ledgers to sophisticated software. To understand the different ways of record-keeping, students will interview at least one local business owner in their communities. Prior to beginning the group work the students must work together to draft a contract that outlines the expectations that the members have of one another as well as the steps that will be taken if a student fails to meet the expectations that the group has agreed to.

Activity Set-up:
Students are assigned in groups of 3-4, based on the type of business they are interested in (e.g., retail, personal services, consulting, food service, sales, etc). Each group needs to establish a wiki or Google doc site to serve as their common point of information sharing. They may use Eluminate or other communication tools to organize their work, set timelines, and support each other’s progress. Each group needs to produce the following:

• a link to their final shared planning document
• a PowerPoint or Prezi presentation of their experience
• answers to the interview protocols in some form, with references to the week’s readings.

Each student will also write an individual paper expressing how they felt the group worked together, if there was an equitable distribution of responsibilities, and how each student participated. In the paper, students should also reflect on the distribution of points among members; that is, if they were to assign points for this project, would they assign everyone equal points and if not, what point value they would give to each student.

Interview protocols:
Each group needs to include at least these questions in their interviews and findings:
Systems:
1) What type of record keeping system did you use when you first started your business?
2) What is your current system?
3) Why did you choose the first method?
4) Why did you change?
Best Practices:
1) What 3 “best practices” in record-keeping have you discovered that you would recommend to those starting a business?
2) What 3 things would you change about your record-keeping experience if you could do it over again?
What You Learned (Student):
1) What did you learn from the interview(s) that you didn’t know?
2) How will this assignment change how you manage your own financial records?
Contact Information:
Include the business owner’s name, business name, and email.

Assessment / Evaluation:
The students will be graded both individually and as a group. The individual student grade will be determined based on all of the group members’ assessment of each individual (as described in the group’s papers), the student’s individual paper, and his/her ability to adhere to the requirements set forth by the group contract.
The group will be graded on the relevance of the site that they jointly develop, the thoroughness of the interview that they conduct with the business, and the final presentation.

Group Work / Presentation Rubric: (100 points total)

• Planning site was established with evidence that all group members participated: 10 pts
• Each group member asked all relevant interview questions: 10 pts
• Group recommended “best practices” in record-keeping for the companies: 10 pts
• Group identified practices that the business owners would change: 10 pts
• Group described any new insights based on the project: 10 pts
• Group explained any changes that they plan to make in their own business finances based on their findings: 15 pts
• Each group member made connections between their experiences and the class readings on record-keeping: 15 pts
• Presentation included information about all interviews: 10 pts
• Presentation quality, completeness, and effectiveness: 10 pts

Sara Barlow & Carissa McCann's Group Project Assignment

Introduction

The topic of our group project assignment is how to create a “Collaborative Online Teaching Strategy Handbook” and will consist of small groups of faculty members (between 3-5) coming together to create a wiki or similar collaborative space to share successful and creative online teaching strategies.

Learning Outcomes

After completing this project, participants will gain skills in:

• rubric creation and evaluation;

• collaborating with peers, as a successful virtual team;

• choosing, maintaining, and contributing to an online environment, like a wiki, as a group;

• building on their personal experience and knowledge of e-tools through their own contributions and research, and through others’ contributions as well; and

• creating a usable product (online teaching handbook) through this collaboration.

Potential Project Resources

Students will be free to use a variety of online resources to help them complete their projects, including but not limited to:

• Wikis
• Google Docs
• Elluminate
• Rubistar
• Email

Project Outline

Each member of the group will first individually investigate the different online collaborative tools available to them, and then decide as a group which tool they would like to use. For instance, one group might decide to use Google Docs, while another group might decide to use a wiki. It is recommended that an Elluminate synchronous webinar will be used at this point to discuss their findings and next steps. They can then utilise this tool as and when they think appropriate.

The groups will then create a rubric through Rubistar, which they will use to evaluate themselves and each other at the midpoint of the project and at the end of the project. This rubric will be approved by the instructor before participants proceed. (20 group points)

Once the rubric has been created, the group members will create a plan for the process of the project. They will decide how the tasks will be carried out, how the wiki will be designed, and the ways in which to summarize information at the end of the project to create the online teaching strategy handbook. They will then build the tool collaboratively. (40 group points)

Each participant will then post resources and teaching strategies to the collaborative online environment they chose with an annotation on how those resources could be used to improve online teaching. Each member needs to contribute a minimum of five ideas or strategies. (10 individual points)

During the final part of the project, the group members will create a summary of the best online teaching resources and strategies out of those that were contributed and present this to the rest of the class as the final product of the project. This final project will be evaluated by peers and the instructor using a questionnaire devised by the instructor (10 group points).
Each group member completes the rubric evaluation for themselves and their group members. (10 individual points)

In addition, each group member will also write a one page reflection piece on working as a team in an online environment. They should include what they thought they offered to the team and why it did or did not work well. This part will be individually evaluated by the instructor based on how well the participants addressed their experiences throughout the project (10 individual points) .

The point allocation will be group 70% / Individual 30%


Example of Rubric made by the group for self and peer evaluation

CATEGORY	4	3	2	1
Contributions	Routinely provides useful ideas when participating in the group and in discussions. A definite leader who contributes a lot of effort. Submits five or more quality strategies or ideas.	Usually provides useful ideas when participating in the group and in discussions. A strong group member who tries hard! Submits four quality strategies or ideas.	Sometimes provides useful ideas when participating in the group and in discussions. A satisfactory group member who does what is required. Submits lower quality posts or two to three sufficient strategies or ideas.	Rarely provides useful ideas when participating in the group and in discussions. May refuse to participate. Does not submit any ideas or strategies, or posts low quality work.
Quality of Work	Provides work of the highest quality. Each idea and strategy is meaningful and the participant adds in-depth comments as to how the strategy could best be used.	Provides high quality work. Most ideas and strategies are meaningful and the participant adds sufficient comments as to how the strategy could best be used.	Provides work that occasionally needs to be checked/redone by other group members to ensure quality. The ideas and strategies that are shared are not well explained.	Provides work that usually needs to be checked/redone by others to ensure quality. There may be a lack of posts or no posts, the ideas/strategies contributed if any are not well explained.
Final Summary Task	Participant is extensively involved in the process to compile the final summary for the project. He/she contributes ideas for how best to pull the information together and helps others to organize their ideas as well.	Participant is adequately involved in the process to compile the final summary for the project. He/she contributes some ideas on how to go about the process.	Participant's involvement is limited. He/she contributes minor suggestions.	Participant is not involved or very minimally involved with the final summary and makes few, if any, suggestions.
Focus on the task	Consistently stays focused on the task and what needs to be done. Very self-directed.	Focuses on the task and what needs to be done most of the time. Other group members can count on this person.	Focuses on the task and what needs to be done some of the time. Other group members must sometimes nag, prod, and remind to keep this person on-task.	Rarely focuses on the task and what needs to be done. Lets others do the work.
Working within a Group	Almost always listens to, shares with, and supports the efforts of others. Tries to keep people working well together. Is a great team player.	Usually listens to, shares, with, and supports the efforts of others. Is a good team player.	Often listens to, shares with, and supports the efforts of others, but sometimes is not a good team member.	Rarely listens to, shares with, and supports the efforts of others. Often is not a good team player.
Problem-solving	Actively looks for and suggests solutions to problems.	Refines solutions suggested by others.	Does not suggest or refine solutions, but is willing to try out solutions suggested by others.	Does not try to solve problems or help others solve problems. Lets others do the work.
Time-management	Routinely uses time well throughout the project to ensure things get done on time. Group does not have to adjust deadlines or work responsibilities because of this person's procrastination.	Usually uses time well throughout the project, but may have procrastinated on one thing. Group does not have to adjust deadlines or work responsibilities because of this person's procrastination.	Tends to procrastinate, but always gets things done by the deadlines. Group does not have to adjust deadlines or work responsibilities because of this person's procrastination.	Rarely gets things done by the deadlines AND group has to adjust deadlines or work responsibilities because of this person's inadequate time management.
Monitors Group Effectiveness	Routinely monitors the effectiveness of the group, and makes suggestions to make it more effective.	Routinely monitors the effectiveness of the group and works to make the group more effective.	Occasionally monitors the effectiveness of the group and works to make the group more effective.	Rarely monitors the effectiveness of the group and does not work to make it more effective.

Source: Rubric Made Using: RubiStar ( http://rubistar.4teachers.org )

THANKYOU!