Thursday, February 24, 2011
Podcasting Project
I will be podcasting about the Harlem Revolution for 2nd graders. I will be focussing on the art, music and poetry of the time period.
Friday, February 18, 2011
A Sucessful Podcast on Spiders
This is a podcast about the work of photographer Nic Bishop and his fascination with spiders. I chose it because there was no extraneous information, just the basic facts about spiders. I also chose it because it is of an elementary level, although if you are creeped out by spiders I would not suggest it!
Can also be seen on youtube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiYyIUL1lYU
Techniques That Reduce Extraneous Cognitive Load and Manage Intrinsic Cognitive Load during Multimedia Learning
"Techniques That Reduce Extraneous Cognitive Load and Manage Intrinsic Cognitive Load during Multimedia Learning" by Richard E. Mayer and Roxana Moreno is an interesting article about how people learn best. The article started with some information that I thought was obvious, but I know teachers still teach this way sometimes. Mayer and Moreno proved that you should always model and explain simultaneously. They say you shouldn't do this because of extraneous processing, but to put it simply, students can get confused and forget things that are important if you separate the information.
Mayer and Moreno also had an extremely interesting section called "Research-Based Principles for Reducing Extraneous Cognitive Overload." In this section they explained the results of their research that concluded children learn best without interesting, attention grabbing clips, or music or nature sounds. This was shocking to me at first, but then I realized that the children will only remember the clip of lightning and the cool music, rather than the information. I must agree with Mayer and Moreno that information should be "concise rather than elaborate" (137).
Although Mayer and Moreno seem to be asking for a more boring classroom, they are also asking for a more educated one. The article really made me have to chose between being a "fun" teacher and a "good" teacher.
Mayer and Moreno also had an extremely interesting section called "Research-Based Principles for Reducing Extraneous Cognitive Overload." In this section they explained the results of their research that concluded children learn best without interesting, attention grabbing clips, or music or nature sounds. This was shocking to me at first, but then I realized that the children will only remember the clip of lightning and the cool music, rather than the information. I must agree with Mayer and Moreno that information should be "concise rather than elaborate" (137).
Although Mayer and Moreno seem to be asking for a more boring classroom, they are also asking for a more educated one. The article really made me have to chose between being a "fun" teacher and a "good" teacher.
Friday, February 11, 2011
TPCK in the Classroom
While reading the article "Introducing TPCK" by Matthew J. Koehler and Punya Mishra I was constantly remembering my fieldwork time at Hunter College Elementary School. HCES is fully supplied with technology; Smartboards, Macbooks, ect., which were used yet never fully incorporated with the curriculum as the TPCK process desired. Students there have a separate technology class where they learn typing and how to use Microsoft Office and the internet correctly. Then in the other classes the Smartboard is used the same way as a blackboard with chalk. I could not help but wonder which teaching style is better?
I assumed that HCES has a separate technology class for the 2nd graders because it is important for second graders to learn how to use a computer properly and professionally for future classwork. Maybe the TPCK model should be used with older grades who have already mastered the skills separately. However it must be mentioned that the majority of the students, who were born in 2003, already knew how to use the computer properly. They were already excellent at typing, and knew how to use the programs provided for them.
I believe that the TPCK model wasn't used at the school simply because the teachers weren't comfortable using technology seamlessly in their classroom. The teachers were having problems with the Smartboards and seemed to ignore them whenever possible. I believe that this was best for the class because a teacher who is constantly fumbling around with unknown technology is wasting valuable class time. However I believe that as a teacher who was born with computers, like the students at HCES, I should be able to incorporate technology fully in my classroom and use the TPCK method.
On another note, I would like to discuss the article itself a little more. Some other aspects I found extremely interesting were the use of examples and language to explain. My favorite example in the article is "although by today's standards we rarely consider writing to be a technology, early cultures found writing to be 'an external, alien technology, as many people today think of the computer'" (6). The comparison of the computer to writing, and placing both actions under the heading technology, really cemented the benefits of the computer. This reminds me of how, as a group of young teachers, we should be able to bridge this gap.
Another aspect that I found interesting was calling teaching technology a "wicked problem." In reading the previews of your responses I think many others picked up on the phase. I believe that in simply using a different phase that is still well known caught all of our attention at a time in the article when many of our minds start to wander. I thought this was interesting as an attention grabbing tool.
I assumed that HCES has a separate technology class for the 2nd graders because it is important for second graders to learn how to use a computer properly and professionally for future classwork. Maybe the TPCK model should be used with older grades who have already mastered the skills separately. However it must be mentioned that the majority of the students, who were born in 2003, already knew how to use the computer properly. They were already excellent at typing, and knew how to use the programs provided for them.
I believe that the TPCK model wasn't used at the school simply because the teachers weren't comfortable using technology seamlessly in their classroom. The teachers were having problems with the Smartboards and seemed to ignore them whenever possible. I believe that this was best for the class because a teacher who is constantly fumbling around with unknown technology is wasting valuable class time. However I believe that as a teacher who was born with computers, like the students at HCES, I should be able to incorporate technology fully in my classroom and use the TPCK method.
On another note, I would like to discuss the article itself a little more. Some other aspects I found extremely interesting were the use of examples and language to explain. My favorite example in the article is "although by today's standards we rarely consider writing to be a technology, early cultures found writing to be 'an external, alien technology, as many people today think of the computer'" (6). The comparison of the computer to writing, and placing both actions under the heading technology, really cemented the benefits of the computer. This reminds me of how, as a group of young teachers, we should be able to bridge this gap.
Another aspect that I found interesting was calling teaching technology a "wicked problem." In reading the previews of your responses I think many others picked up on the phase. I believe that in simply using a different phase that is still well known caught all of our attention at a time in the article when many of our minds start to wander. I thought this was interesting as an attention grabbing tool.
Friday, February 4, 2011
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