Innovative Learning Blog
Give us an honest appraisal (venting?) of your journey around trying to produce your Capstone Project video script. How did you decide what editor (see Explore below) you might use? What problems did you encounter? How did you solve them? The intent is open a useful discussion that can help raise the bar for everyone.
I like templates such as the ones that I filled out for the Capstone Project video script. I think guidelines and templates are important. They serve as a scaffolding tool as well as jump starting device to get the project started and running in the right direction. They also help to clarify ambiguity and help make sure we don't veer off course. The ones that I filled out for the Capstone Project helped me define a clearer picture of what and how I want my video to presented. I chose to use WeVideo because at my school the tech expert, Mr. Vargas, makes all the school videos using WeVideo and/or IMovie, and I feel that either application will help me get the job done. One feature I like about WeVideo is that it is a Web based tool, meaning that I can access it via the web, do a free trial, subscribe yearly or monthly and quit any time. I am also a little familiar with WeVideo and completely unfamiliar with IMovie. At my school, I have seen quality, professional videos created by Mr. Vargas using WeVideo and I look forward to learning how to do it as well. To learn how to do a professional video using WeVideo is the most exciting project for me during this graduate program. Using video editing software such as IMovie and WeVideo have the potential to be a significant step up the SAMR latter from using premade video programs like Animoto or Powtoon. The only problem that I encountered filling out the templates was understanding the heading "Dramatic Question". I just looked at how other people came up with dramatic questions for their Capstone and then I understood what to do. Besides being time consuming, I didn't encounter other problems filling out the video script template. Despite the effort of time put forth in completing it, it was worth it because now I have a strong outline of how I want my video to look.
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What does being a good critical friend mean to you? What do you expect or would you like from others? Assuming you’ve had meetings with at least two critical friends, comment on how the process went and the benefits you received.
A good critical friend constructively critiques. They give purposeful and useful feedback that can be applied to improve something, such as our Capstone Projects. I expect there are many suggestions cohort members can provide to improve my Capstone. I expect that my cohort members will take the time to read what I wrote on my website and let me know if something doesn't make sense, something doesn't read clearly, or if there are grammatical errors. I also expect them to critique the fluidity and intuitiveness of the website. I foresee that my critical study buddies will give me advice on how to improve the design of the website. I will seek feedback on the design of each page. I want each page to be critiqued from the user standpoint. I want them to view my website not from the perspective of a cohort member, but from the perspective of an educator interested in learning about digital storytelling. I want my study buddy to ask themselves as they read through each website page: 1.)"Is the textual information explicit, interesting, succinct, approachable, useful, and meaningful?" 2.)"Are the graphics the right size and organized neatly? Does a page have to many graphics or does a page lack graphics? How can the graphics be reduced, deleted, or infused to improve the website page?" 3.) "How can the logo, slogan, and name of the Capstone be improved?" 4.) "Will my target audience find this website useful and informative?" 5.)" If you were my target audience would you use this website? How could it improve to be more useful?" 6.)"To improve the efficacy of the website, Is there any information that needs to be added or deleted?" 7.)"Any suggestions, comments, ideas, opinions, thoughts, doubts, or concerns are all welcomed!" I don't expect my cohort buddies to be tech experts that will troubleshoot all my problems, however, I do expect them to help me troubleshoot if they know how to solve the problem. I don't expect my critical critiquers to give me life changing advice that will take my Capstone website from being a graduate project to a billion dollar enterprise. I critique my own work all the time. Sometimes I give myself suggestions, try them out, and realize I need to go back to the drawing board. I realize there will be some advice that will just make total sense and can be applied right away. Other advice may end up being more of a brainstorming idea rather than an obvious critique. In the end, I expect the feedback process to be positive, friendly, helpful, and sincere. I expect nothing less from a cohort I know well enough to know that these expectations will be met. As a member of this Master’s program, you are helping shape the future of your school with regards to its 21st Century technology practices.
Please research what your school’s educational technology mission statement is. Is there one? Is technology mentioned at all? In your blog, please write your school’s mission statement that incorporates technology and comment on it. How does their statement align with your personal practice? Does it meet the goals for your capstone? I am a second grade teacher at Napa Valley Language Academy, NVLA, which is a bilingual elementary school in Napa. NVLA does not have an "Educational Technology Mission Statement" Below is NVLA's Mission statement. Highlighted in red are the words "technology" and "21st century" and below is one line where it says "use technology effectively as a tool for research, compose and communicate information and ideas;" NVLA's School Mission/Vision Statement Napa Valley Language Academy (NVLA) is a K-6 Dual Immersion Charter School in the Napa Valley Unified School District. At NVLA, our vision is that all students will acquire the academic, critical thinking, and communication skills necessary to become self-motivated and competent, lifelong learners. We will provide a positive, safe and supportive family environment where teachers and students focus on learning, take risks and grow. Our program will place the highest value on authentic educational experiences emphasizing the acquisition of a second language, visual and performing arts, science and technology. Students learn respect for themselves; their community; and the larger, diverse world in which they live while developing a moral consciousness that will help them build integrity into their lives. Exit outcomes inherent in NVLA’s educational philosophy for the 21st century include:
I think after finding out that my school doesn't have a technological mission statement, and that there is only one phrase that vaguely mentions technology in the school's mission statement, I think my school needs to put more emphasis on technology in their statements. I know at my school we are doing a lot of innovative things, but it is not reflected on our website page nor our mission statements. I would love to be part of a committee that would enhance and define our school's technological mission statement and to embed that statement into our school's overall mission statement. Obviously, my school's mission statement and lack of technological mission statement do not align with my own practices nor my Capstone. I take solace knowing that my school just needs to dust off the old mission statement and infuse it with modern day technological mission statements. My school, the administration, and the direction of my school in terms of technology DOES ALIGN with my teaching practices and Capstone. I know I don't live in a perfect world, where every student of mine gets a computer device, which would be amazing, however, at my school, starting next year, every 4th grade teacher will have a computer device. Perhaps, down the line, my students will have more computer devices. Another technological practice at my school that aligns with my teaching is that starting in kindergarten, digital skills and digital citizenship is taught to all students via the Common Sense website and is taught by our full time computer specialist. This was the second time I have ever created a Google Forms document. Since I teach lower primary grades (second grade), certain technological tools, such as Google Forms, are hard to incorporate into teaching. For example, at my school, k-6, starting next year every 4th, 5th, and 6th grader will have a one to one ratio of students to computer devices. However, in my second grade classroom, next year I MAY receive 3 Chromebooks to be used among 25 students. At least two months of the year, any computer devices in my classroom are yanked away and given to upper grade levels for Statewide testing. Also, during testing, all teachers are told to turn off their cell phones and any Internet housing devices.
In an era of education trying to transcend literacy via technology, it seems counterintuitive to provide very little technology for lower primary grade levels, yank it away from them when there are upper grade level testing, and tell the teachers to not use an Internet device for periods of 2-3 hours during testing, which could last up to months. When technology catches up with lower grade classes, I think tools such as Google Forms and their Add Ons will become more relevant. I enjoy creating tests with Google Forms, however, my experience with Add Ons is very frustrating. I feel that middle school and high school teachers of this cohort, and tech savvy cohort members have had much more experience with Google Forms and Add Ons. I feel that this master's program has to do a better job at teaching Google Forms and the Add Ons. I used three Add Ons: Form Notifications, Survey Monkey, and Ultradox Trigger. Yet, I have know idea what an Add On is, how it is helpful, and if I actually used the three Ad Ons correctly. For future cohorts, I strongly recommend that there is a tutorial session for those that have had no experience with Google Add Ons and other Google Features that will enhance our Capstone and enhance our teaching. Having explored several capstone websites, write a blog about who you think the audience of your capstone is going to be and why? Also, really start thinking about your Learn More pages. What content do you think you will need to have on your website in order to engage and teach your audience about your research?
Who will be the audience for my Capstone? The audience will be every grade level teacher and parent. My target will specifically be lower primary teachers and parents. The reason I want to target lower primary teachers and parents is because they are the most reluctant to incorporate digital technology, such as digital storytelling, into their teaching/parenting. There is so much focus on literacy in the lower primary grades, many educators/parents feel that digital literacy takes away from literacy. Many educators/parents also feel threatened from the social media outside world. They may concerns for cyber-bullying, and inappropriate research/interaction with the outside world via the Internet. They also feel threatened by technology, whereas a student at any grade level intuitively embraces technology. The Capstone will prove how digital literacy will transcend a student's/child's literacy skills and how digital citizenship classes will ensure/promote/advocate technological student safety. The website will provide scaffolding so that any teacher/parent can transcend from a Word doc user to an Animoto/Powtoon/Wevideo/Spark/Edpuzzle/Screencast-o-matic user. The Capstone will explicitly explain the importance of digital storytelling and/or other digital exposure and how the digital exposure will benefit each student academically, socially, and in their future careers. The website will serve as a Transliteracy Bridge for lower primary parents and educators to cross at an early age so they don't feel frightened for their children entering the Web 4.0 world and instead feel invigorated that their children are getting a head start in real world applications compared to most other elementary schools. A lot of primary parents/educators haven't dived into technology as much as upper grade levels, so it is important for them to have an inviting and informative place to transcend from Word doc parent/teacher to Animoto/Powtoon/Edpuzzle/Wevideo parent/teacher. The website will assure parents/teachers that while they are on the path of learning and creating a path for their students/children, that the technological path is legitimately safe and accessible. The reason I don't want to target students, is because they don't need any convincing to try technological tools. They also don't need guides to help them because usually within minutes the student has surpassed the teacher's technological intelligence after exposing them to applications such as Animoto. Learn More Pages: The Capstone will be simple. The interface will be Google friendly, with the least amount of text needed. It will be explicitly clear that my website was built for my audience. To lower my audience's anxiety the website will be designed with intention and efficiency. For the website to be useful, it will be engaging, succinct, practical, and meaningful. I will have two types of How to Videos and How to Textual Instructions. One will be for the teacher and one will be for the parent. The aim will be to inform how to create a safe/educational digital learning environment at home for the parent and at school for the educator. The lessons that I showcase will be applicable not only for Room 26/NVLA/Mr. Hall's class but for any parent/educator who have the desire to teach their child/student digital skills, digital literacy, and digital citizenship. The assessments will be set up for teachers but applicable for those parents that are eager to assess their child's engagement with digital literacy skills. What has been or now is your experience with Google Forms? Is it intuitive? What challenges did you encounter when building your form? Do you think this tool would be beneficial for your teaching practice?
My only experience with Google Forms was with a homework assignment we did for this master's program. I created a basic quiz. I definitely think that it's intuitive. I enjoyed using the simplicity of it and I think I will use it in the future. I think that I could see Google Forms being very beneficial in creating authentic assessments. Instead of relying on a textbook to provide me an assessment, I can create my own based on the standards and content that I deem most important. Since it is easy to access, easy to learn how to use, and efficient at creating a document quickly, I think that this service should not be overlooked by educators. I also think that it can be incorporated into the Capstone very easily by formulating a questionnaire for the audience. It would provide an interactive feature to the Capstone as well create meaningful and useful data gathered from the users that participate in the Google Forms questionnaire. The pitfall I run into in using Google Forms is access to technology. I teach 2nd grade, and not every student in my classroom has a computer device. At my school, second grade teachers are given onlty three Chromebooks for their classroom. In today's world, even at 2nd grade, we need more than three laptops per classroom, especially if we are expected to incorporate 21st century technological programs such as Google Forms into our teaching. The one time a day we can bring our students to the school computer lab the students are forced to use a phonics based program, which means having them take tests using Google Forms during their computer lab time takes time away from their required education. My main goal of this master's program is to become better at incorporating technology into the classroom, learn new technological tools to improve my teaching and better prepare students for the 3D/4G/social media world that we live in.
I look at the Capstone as the final project where I will be able to incorporate everything that I have learned and apply it to a meaningful, informative, and originally created website. I don't look at the Capstone as a final project needed for graduation, although, without the completion of it I don't graduate. For me, this program is much more than a certificate of completion. This program, and this Capstone, is about broadening my technological horizons not only as a professional educator but also as a curious individual with interests in learning new technological tools. I am very excited to create my own website and to learn how to make the website interactive, stimulating, and useful. I look forward to the Cohort support this semester. This is the first semester that we have had "study buddies", and I think that there is power in having colleagues collaborate and offer feedback. I already have two study buddies in this cohort, although, I feel I can rely on anyone in this cohort to offer assistance and support. This cohort is a positive and strong cohort. I feel that this cohort understands the difference between constructive critique and destructive critique. I think it is vital for the study buddies to maintain the positive culture that we have created and established in the first two semesters of this program. My only group norm is to maintain contact with each other. We need to give timely feedback and stay connected within a reasonable time frame. For example, it is important that we respond to each other's e-mails and texts within a reasonable time period, such as 24-48 hours, and that we don't virtually disappear for weeks on end. This last semester is going to go quickly and the homework assignments need to be finished quickly as well so that we can give timely feedback. |
AuthorMy name is Joe Hall. I am an elementary bilingual teacher in Napa, CA. Archives
July 2017
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