ADDIE Project

Hello again friends. This week we will be taking a look at cirriculum projects. We will be using the ADDIE model. ADDIE stands for Analyze Design Develop Implement and Evalaute. So today we were asked to complete the Analyze section so here it goes...

1.      Who is the audience?

-          20 eighth grade students

2.      What do they need to learn?

-          To create supplemental activities for students to increase their knowledge of the scientific method and laboratory safety so more time can be spent in the lab not outside of it.

Instructional Goals

-          To make the site easy to navigate.

-          Eliminate the need for unnecessary links or pop ups that can become a distraction to students

-          Incorporate text video and gaming technology into each lesson to accommodate every type of learner

3.      Concept map- See Concept Map at the bottom

4.      What are the delivery options?

-          Sites such as Google could be used for the individual activities as well as links to BrainPOP and the National Science Foundation can be used to provide additional information. Also a link to the unit page would be available on the class website

5.      What constraints exist?

-          Some students may not have access to the internet at home

-          Some connections may not be fast enough to run the videos and game content

-          Students may rush through the assignment just to “get it done” and not really get the quality learning we expect.

6.      What will the students do to determine competency?

-          The lessons will be based in a video game style. The students must complete small assignments within each level.

-          The last assignment at the end of the level will be a quiz. A minimum score must be obtained before they can move on.

-          A lab safety and scientific method test will be given at the end of the unit to ensure competency.

7.      What is the timeline for project completion?

-          Research of sources (1 week)

-          Design and Development of game (4 weeks)

-          Classroom Implementation of the program (3 weeks)

-          Summative assessment and student feedback (1 week)

8.      What are the classroom/ Web learning differences?

-          Students will be doing this at home so I am not there to supervise. Parental involvement will be critical.

-          Students may need a few classes for me to navigate them through the ins and outs of the program.

-          Students may run into some IT issues that I may not have already addressed.

9.      What are the pedagogical considerations?

-          Information must be presented in many different ways in order to accommodate many diverse learning styles

-          Formative assessments will be taken seriously and if evidence shows otherwise that particular student(s) will be removed from the program

Tablets in the Classroom

Well blogger friends I am back. This time through I unfortunately will not be talking about potato chips. (Sorry all you pickle chip lovers.) Instead I will be switching my focus to tablets. Yes folks we will be talking about IPads in the hands of students.
Today's topic comes from the k-12 Horizon Report. This report focuses on the up and coming technology that could soon be in the hands of our students. Well of all the new and exciting thins going on in the world of technology why would I pick the tablet? There are many reasons why I love the tablet but I will limit it to just two today so that I don't find myself writing another novel.

First of all I own a tablet. It was a birthday present from my parents and I am very thankful for all the ease of accessibility it has brought me. You see I own a laptop but its going on being seven years old. And for all you computer junkies out there you know that the older a machine gets the slower it gets. (My first laptop lasted me almost nine years so I'm hoping this one will do the same.) Also as time goes on many of the operating files become obsolete and let's face it my computer weighs a ton and is such a burden to carry around. With the tablet I have been able to explore its potential in terms of education apps. While granted most of the apps are built for younger audiences I find its potential to be extraordinary. While messing around with my tablet I found one geology app. So I downloaded it and gave it a shot. (Because what kind of teacher would I be if I didn't experiment with the new technology.) The app was really useful. It was able to give me a contour map (a map with various height lines) for famous geologic sites from around the world. (For those of you who have ever had to do this by hand this app will truly save you time and energy.) The large screen and easy touch access also make it a great tool for today's classroom.

The final reason I love the tablet actually comes from my past. When I was twelve years old my family and I moved from a small town in New Jersey to a medium sized town in Washington state. As I was reading the Horizon report I came across Snoqualmie Valley School District and my jaw nearly hit the floor. Snoqualmie Valley School District is where I went to middle school. The middle school is experimenting with a program in which students and teachers are using the IPad to find areas of weakness throughout their studies. Well I have to say Snoqualmie Middle School I am jealous. Why couldn't we have had IPads back in 2003. It definitely would have made class way more fun. I have attempted to reach three of my former professors to see how they enjoy using the IPads in their classrooms. Hopefully my friends they will remember me and get back to me soon.

So overall the large screen the lightweight and the cross curriculum uses make the tablet one of the new and exciting technologies that should be in today's classrooms.

Educational Technology and the Future

So welcome to my blog. My name is Julie Anderson. I am a recent graduate from West Chester University who is persuing my Master's degree in Secondary Education. For EDT 510 we were asked to create a blog inspired by Karen Cator's video and the National Educational Technology Plan.

While watching the video I was inspired by the passion that Karen Cator had for technology. She showed the auidence that technology has the power to connect us instead of dividing us like it had been previously thought. She mentioned that in order for the United States to be successful in creating new educational technology we need to spend more time in research and development. Karen mentioned that in the US we spend less than 0.1 percent of our budget on research and development. Potato chip companies spend more of their annual budgets on research and development than educators do. Imagine a world where we only had plain potato chips. Goodbye days of barbeque salt and vinegar and even (dare I say it) pickle chips. Imagine your Fourth of July party only containing one brand and one flavor of potato chip. How boring would that be? So why do we do that to our children? So one of my questions to Karen is: Can teachers be a part of the research and development team? I don't know about you but I would love to try out new products. If companies can test products on people why not educators?

One of the things that disturbed me while reading the National Educational Technology Plan was the notion that all educators have some sort of formal training when it comes to educational technology. In my own personal experience I have found the opposite. With all the budget cuts that higher education institutions have been experiencing I am finding that educational technology classes are the first ones to be cut. When I started my undergraduate carrer in 2007 educational technology was very much a part of the cirriculum. By the time I started in the program in 2008 most of these courses had been removed. I (despite the warnings from my advisor) took these classes. I found that I was learning new and useful techniques that I was able to carry into my other teaching experiences. So how are we as teachers expected to learn about the latest and greatest invention when other parties find these courses to be obsolete.

Well my friends I feel like I have typed a novel and its only my first blog. (Yikes!) I promise there will be more to come but for right now I am all out of words and ideas. Today I will leave you with the words of Benjamin Franklin:  Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.