My MATLT e Portfolio - EDU697 - A Capstone Project *

My MATLT ePortfolio

                                                            by Carolyn Clarke

This ePortfolio is a culmination of my work for the Master of Arts Program at Ashford University.The course name was Teaching and Learning with Technology (MATLT) and I studied with Dr. Keith Pressey.  This course program  will discuss the program learning outcomes for enhancing technology in education.  

Introduction

In my presentation, I will be discussing the 8 Program Learning Outcomes. These outcomes are utilized in creating lesson plans using instructional design principles and theories. By using these strategies educators can ensure that they will create exciting and successful activities using technology to learn. I appreciate you stopping by to view my presentation.  The outcomes are as follows:

• PLO 1    Demonstrate knowledge and skills related to learning using technology
• PLO 2    Demonstrate knowledge and skills in current and emerging instructional technologies
• PLO 3    Design learning opportunities that apply technology-enhanced strategies to support the needs of all learners
• PLO 4    Apply research to support learning in a technology-enhanced environment
• PLO 5     Exemplify ethical practices of technology use
• PLO 6    Evaluate technology resources to facilitate assessment and evaluation. Utilize technology to  collect and analyze data, interpret results and communicate findings
• PLO 7    Utilize technology to collect and analyze data, interpret results and communicate findings
• PLO 8    Demonstrate the ability to make informed decisions regarding the use of technology in support of learning and leadership

Program Learning Outcome 1 & 2

http://www.slideshare.net/flowerpower626/discussion1-week1-einsteinedu697

In this activity the "Einstein Jeopardy Game" I used instructional design principles and theory to redesign a prior MATLT activity to demonstrate attainment of Program Learning Outcome 1 “demonstrate knowledge and skills related to learning using technology” and Program Learning Outcome 2 “demonstrate knowledge and skills in current and emerging instructional technologies”. 

I revamped this learning activity for that I created for a 3rd grade class. These students are above average students and attend a SCOPE class twice a week.  This game was created by me as a way of giving students a review on what we have learned. After reviewing or playing the  Einstein Jeopardy game,  I added a new slide asking the students to go one step further.  The students are asked to pretend they are a reporter given the opportunity to interview Albert Einstein. If they were able to ask him one question, what question would you ask him and why?

This is an excellent example of  the cognitivism theory because the students will all be active in the game as well as the assignment I want them to complete after the game.  I also believe  "Learning can be detected by observing an organism over a period of time and focus is on how learners remember, retrieve, and store information in memory" (Dabbagh, 2006).  It also hihglights an example of objectivism because "learning happens when a correct response is demonstrated following the presentation of a specific environmental stimulus" (Dabbagh, 2006). The Jeopardy game is a great learning activity and pretending to be a reporter puts them outside the box and extends the activity to using their imagination as well as their writing skills.

Students will learn how to hyperlink through this experience. They already know how to import graphics and some just need to master the hyperlinking effect. Once they have mastered how to create a PowerPoint of this nature, they can create one.  I have seen the SCOPE class create some very creative presentations using this Jeopardy game and they have been fun for the students. They have retained and remembered this information. This creation demonstrates learning outline 1 which demonstrates knowledge and skills related to learning with technology. It also outlines learning outcome 2 using current as well as emerging instructional technologies.

Program Learning Outcome 3

The first link is a Life Cycle of a butterfly. The second link is the video of the life cycle.

http://www.screencast.com/users/Carolyn26/folders/Jing/media/6b447c8a-9a71-4d68-9f1b-293091903d9d

http://www.screencast.com/users/Carolyn26/folders/Jing/media/418a014b-4e60-42db-bbd0-6bdb0807d1a2

            Reflecting on my personal experience and learning in prior courses, I  support my understanding of the importance of designing to support the needs of all learners.  I have selected a prior MATLT PowerPoint activity then redesigned it using Jing to demonstrate my attainment of Program Learning Outcome 3 to “design learning opportunities that apply technology-enhanced instructional strategies to support the needs of all learners”. The redesign demonstrates the use of instructional design principles and theory and explains my choice of principles and theories. I also have discussed any problems or issues I had with this redesign and what I did to overcome them.

            The MATLT design activity I chose was a lesson I designed for a first grade class.  The lesson describes the cycle of a butterfly.   In my initial PowerPoint presentation of the life cycle of a butterfly, I inserted graphics along with a visual description of each cycle.  After clearly defining the stages of the butterfly, I included a video of the cycle of the butterfly into my PowerPoint.  I also added a review page where the teachers could engage the students on a review.   In addition, the class went outside and collected some leaves.  A butterfly net with eggs was purchased and over the course of a few weeks the children were able to see the actual life cycle beginning stages until the butterflies emerged from the chrysalis. When the cycle was complete we took the butterflies outside and let them fly away.  It was a great experience for the students as well as for me because I do not remember ever doing this as a child. I believe that by adding the butterfly net into the classroom, the children were allowed to ask questions regarding the cycle and at each stage they became more and more excited to be part of such an exciting experiment.

            When redesigning my instructional strategy, I decided to incorporate Jing into my presentation so that I could narrate along with the visual description and the pictures. I also incorporated the 7 X 7 rule cutting down on my use of words in my PowerPoint just highlighting the important parts.  In one of our previous classes, I know that we learned that sometimes less is more.  However, I am trying to reach all learning styles and by adding narration, I felt that I could reach my whole audience and all multiple intelligences.  By adding narration on the first few pages I was able to apply learning styles for some of the multiples intelligences.  I covered the visual-spatial intelligence because students could see the description as well as the picture provided.  This presentation also demonstrated the linguistic intelligence.  "Linguistic intelligence involves sensitivity to spoken and written language, the ability to learn languages, and the capacity to use language to accomplish certain goals" (Smith, 2008, para. 16).  The narration of the video allows children with" bodily-kinesthetic intelligence the potential of using one’s whole body or parts of the body to solve problems"  (Smith, 2008, para. 19).  My  instructional strategy would justify the constructive learning theory, Albert Bandura's observational learning, social interaction and asking questions.  

         When I got to the page where I wanted to embed the video using Jing, I had a really hard time trying to accomplish this task.  I am not an expert on Jing and I have not used it on a regular basis.  I reviewed the tutorial and found out that I was unable to embed a video into an open Jing screen cast.  I tried several times even capturing the video and trying to cut and paste into my other Jing project.

            I learned that I could embed the video into a blog or a website or even another document, however, I could not embed it into my current Jing screencast.  I believe I improved the presentation from its original state.  I was clear on describing, narrating and visually explaining the life cycle of a butterfly for a first grade class composed of all learning styles.

Program Learning Outcome 4

             

http://cclarke26.blogspot.com/

In Program Learning Outcome 4, I gave my third grade class an assignment of creating a blog on a historical figure in American History.  I asked them to expand on some highlights of that Person's life. What were they famous for? Did they invent something? How he or she change the course of history?  I asked them to use hyperlinking and incorporate some graphics to tell the story. My link is an example of what I wanted them to create. I think this was a great assignment for these kids. Currently my son has created a blog in his 9th grade class.  He is currently learning how to buy and sell stocks. I think  this is a great way to teach students and prepare them for the future.

Program Learning Outcome 5

I created weblog for this program learning outcome 5. However, I had a hard time trying to get the link to work Therefore I have embedded it this way.

Famous People in America Weblog

Introduction

You have all learned how to blog. Now I would like you to work as a team and create a Weblog. Pretend that you are historian. A historian is a person who studies and writes about history. Your assignment is to choose an American in history who has changed our lives and tell us about the contributions they made to America. It is important that you and your group work together. Tell us why your person is famous and include some pictures of your famous American by using the hyperlink feature.

Task

Would you like to meet a famous American?

Here are some helpful questions you should research about the famous American that you choose:

What is interesting about them?

Why are they important?

What was difficult about the time they lived in?

How did they change our lives today?

Was he or she an inventor? A president?

What contributions or achievements did he or she make to our country?

Did he change the world? 

How would our lives be different if they had not stood up for what they believed?

Each historian will have a job:

Illustrator:

The illustrator will find one or two pictures of the famous American to hyperlink or insert into the Weblog.

Writer:

The writers will type a paragraph, and some famous facts about this person to include in the Blog. You will all work together to put the presentation together.

Process

Each person in your group has a specific task for the assignment. Use your helpful hints sheet and research one or more of the websites. There are books on the table for you to use as well. You can also go to the school library and search the catalogue for any books that may be helpful. Gather all your information and create a weblog on your famous person. It should be about three paragraphs. When everyone has completed the assignment, we can discuss them in the classroom.

Helpful Hints

Use the following links below to find information about biographies of famous Americans.

Britannica for Kids - This website lists all the presidents

Social Studies for Kids – This web site gives you many facts about pets of the presidents, presidential libraries and personal information about each president.

Kidport Reference Library – A guide to famous Americans

Great Websites for Kids - This website gives you a variety of famous Americans to choose from and provides many interesting facts about each person.

You may also use the school library to search the catalog for any books that may help you.

You will be presenting your presentation to the class, so make sure you have answered all questions posted and be prepared to answer questions from the class.

Most importantly we will all have time to work in the computer lab to get this assignment finished.  Please make certain that you only go to the websites that have been assigned.

I have created a weblog that you can use as an example. Please go to http://cclarke26.blogspot.com/

If you have any questions, please do not be afraid to ask and I will do my best to assist you.

Evaluation

These rubrics will be used to grade your group work. Please keep these in mind as you complete your project:

Project Rubric

	1	2	3	4
PowerPoint Content	There is little information or knowledge on famous American.	Includes important information about famous American, but there are 1 or 2 incorrect facts.	Includes important information about American Subject knowledge is good.	Includes important information with details. Subject knowledge is excellent.
Writer	More than four misspellings or grammatical errors.	Four misspellings or grammatical errors.	Three or fewer misspellings or grammatical errors.	No misspellings or grammatical errors.
Illustrators	There is no photo of famous American	Photos are included, but are of no significance to the famous American.	Photos are included but none are hyperlink is not working correctly.	Includes required amount of pictures and are hyperlinked or inserted correctly.
Requirements	None of the focus questions were answered.	Two or three of the focus questions were answered. Factual information included.	Four of the focus questions were answered. Factual information included.	All focus questions were answered and factual information was included.
Presentation	Unable to hear and could not answer class questions.	Rehearsed, able to answer a few questions.	Well-rehearsed, able to answer most questions.	Well-rehearsed, able to answer all class questions.
Points

Participation Rubric

	1	2	3
Contributions	Rarely participates in discussions or ideas	Usually participates in discussions or ideas.	Always participates in discussions or ideas about
Interactions with Others	Rarely listens, shares or supports other members of the group	Usually listens, shares or supports other members of the group.	Always listens, shares and supports other members of the group
Focus on the Task	Rarely focuses on task, lets others do the work	Usually focuses on task and focuses on what needs to be done	Always focuses on task. Completes work in the amount of time given
Points Earned

Project Points ______+ Participation Points _____ =  Total Points _______

          As I reflected on my personal experience and learning,  I have selected a prior MATLT Program course activity that demonstrates attainment of Program Learning Outcome 5 to “exemplify ethical practices of technology usage”.  I have redesigned the activity using instructional design principles and theory. 

         The MATLT design activity I chose was a lesson I designed for a fifth grade class.  The lesson is an English lesson which requires my students to create a blog.   In my initial PowerPoint presentation I asked them to write a story about somewhere special they had been over the summer vacation or perhaps throughout the year. It could be a family vacation or a trip to the zoo or another city to visit a friend. I wanted them to practice their writing skills and I felt that this creation of a blog who be a great way to enhance their technological skills as well as their grammar. These students would be attending middle school the following year and I really wanted their writing to be creative and passionate. I wanted to get them prepared to start writing those papers in the future and I wanted them to enjoy it. 

            I told to make it exciting. I wanted them to write their story and make it a place where we would want to visit.  I asked them to create a hyperlink to anything that their classmates would find interesting. I also suggested they insert some graphics when talking about the city or place they visited so we could paint a mental picture in our minds. 

            In my PowerPoint, I spoke of what I wanted my students to learn, what they already knew and where they could find information to create this blog.  I gave a website to link to so they could create their account. We reviewed this in class as well.  I also gave my students an example of a blog I created. It was called "The Theater" and I included the link for them so they could read my blog.

            When redesigning my instructional strategy, I decided to create a Microsoft document with instructions on how to create a weblog.  I felt they had learned enough and were ready for an assignment that would give them an opportunity to do some research on the web and then use that information to create a story on a famous American.   I gave them a series of questions I wanted them to answer and also allowed them to work in groups of three or four with every student having a task to complete.  I felt that working in groups would give them a chance to work together as a team and brainstorm.  Each person has a unique gift to implement.

            The students also were beginning to master the art of hyperlinking, so I asked them to create a few hyperlinks in their story.  As I did in my previous lesson, I gave them a link to an example I had created to give them an idea of what I expected from them.  I believe this project would be a great opportunity for everyone to contribute something special and unique, so each piece would come together.

            I believe in choosing this assignment I have allowed the theory of Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences to again be used here.  In this project, children of visual-spatial intelligence could be the students that are locating the pictures or doing the research. These students are looking at the completed project and what they foresee. The linguistic learners will be using their writing abilities to complete the writing portion of this project.  "Linguistic intelligence involves sensitivity to spoken and written language, the ability to learn languages, and the capacity to use language to accomplish certain goals" (Smith, 2008, para. 16).    My  instructional strategy would justify the constructive learning theory and observational learning as well, because this project require social interaction working together as a team and asking questions amongst themselves.  When completed they would be sharing with the class and the class would be allowed to ask questions.  I would hope that my students will have done a great job in their research so they would be able to answer any question about their famous person.

            As adults. we know we must work together as a team to get the job done. I want my children to understand it is important to get the facts and work together to enter not only the correct information but to add it in a way that is ethical and follows the rules of copyright as well as netiquette.

            When discussing my redesign process, I have no complaints.  I love to write and I love to create something that my students will find interesting. Creating a blog or Weblog is a time-consuming process.  The only problem I had with creating this blog was trying to remember my password to get onto my blog. The one I created last year has a different email. I think I spent more time on trying to find the password and making sure that the links worked and would bring you right to my blog.  Other than that, I find this to be very entertaining and fun. 

            Regarding ethical issues, everything has to exemplify the ethical practices of technology usage.   When adhering to the Code of Ethics you must remember your integrity. Whatever put out there people may see and you want it to be proper and right.   You need to follow the rules set forth by your teacher.  You are responsible for what you write so you have to remember that you are creating an image of you on the web.  "Codes of ethics establish generally the minimum acceptable standards in behaviors, conduct, and practice expected" (Heldman & Mangano, 2009, para. 2).

Program Learning Outcome 6 & 7

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ZXRZFPV

         AS I rflected on my personal experiences and learning l selected a prior MATLT Program course activity that demonstrates attainment of Program Learning Outcome 6 to “technology resources to facilitate effective assessment and evaluation” and Program Learning Outcome 7 “Utilize technology to collect and analyze data, interpret results, and communicate findings”.  I redesigned the activity using instructional design principles and theory.  I included an explanation of which principles and theory I chose and why.  I also included a discussion of any design and implementation challenges experienced during the redesign process and how they were overcome.

            The MATLT design activity I chose was a PowerPoint presentation that involved creating a survey using Surveymonkey.com.  In one of my previous classes, EDU652 Instructional Design and Delivery, I learned how to create a survey. What are the best practices?   What does the educator hope to accomplish in creating the survey?   What types of questions do you ask? How do you design the survey to get the most out of it? 

            In a corporate environment, I think a survey can help to increase productivity.  In a corporate and educational environment, a survey provides feedback to the educator and the employer on assessing a program or a project.  Surveys are created to measure the progress of learners, exercise independent learning skills, measure the effectiveness of learning modules and motivate learners" (Earl, Lampe & Buksin, 1998).

            When creating a survey, an educator hopes to "To assess learners and  certify that students have mastered certain knowledge and skills” (Horton, 2012, p. 216).  The educator also hopes to " “To assess opinions and preferences, To determine whether training was successful, to analyze organizational culture and to discover where training may be needed” (Westgaard, 1999).  Another good reason for creating a survey is that it gives individuals a chance to speak their mind and say things  on a survey that they normally might not say face-to-face.  Many times surveys can be done anonymously.

 

            By completing a survey you can still get the feedback on any given subject.  It allows educators or employees to see where there is a strong need for improvement. A survey can also give educators an opportunity to see if the students like what they are learning.  A survey also provides for suggestions.

            There are several ways to design a survey. You can create yes and no questions. You can give the learners multiple choice.  You can give individuals several ways to choose their answer.  When you provide a multiple choice, however, you hope you can get as close to their real answer as possible.  You can also ask individuals to provide a true or false answer. This type of design will test the learner's abilities to make a definite decision.

            The next step is what kind of questions are you going to ask?  You can start with broad general interest questions that are easy for the respondent to answer and then ramp up the level of difficulty.  You want to keep it simple.  Use Rudyard Kipling’s method: what, who, when, where, why and how. These are sufficient for 90% of questions we ask” (Horton, 2012, p.245).  The most important thing to keep in mind is that you want to combine your questions effectively.  You also want to do not want to make the survey too long.

            When I was taking my EDU652 class, I had just transferred my son into a new middle school. There had been some issues with him in the county school where I reside. I thought if I moved him into one of the county schools where I am employed, he may be able to have more resources available to him.  My county is a much smaller county and only has one middle and one high school. However, the county in which I am employed has several in which I could enroll my son.

            I really thought the new school opened up many opportunities for my son.  So when I created my survey, I created it as a mother who had just enrolled her son in a new school and if I was receiving this survey, these are the types of questions I would want to be asked of me.   The topic was called "How Has the New School Made a Difference in Your Child?"  In reviewing this survey,  I still feel that I asked the right types of questions. The middle school in the county where I live could not provide the right amount of resources or after school programs that I felt would help my child to develop and grow in the middle school years. Middle school is tough enough.  I really felt that Daniel was not getting the education he deserved.  I feel the administration was not doing enough in the county where I live when it came to the middle school.  I feel that in creating the survey I created, the administration would know they were providing the right elements to give my son the great education he deserved.

I cannot say that my son stayed in that school. It was a middle school and he completed his last year there, however it gave me the tools to be more insistent on programs and things that I feel would help my son to be more successful and I feel that I have paved the way in some areas in my county to improve on giving more resources to our children. My son has since started high school in the county in which we live and he is adjusting well.  I think the high school has improved and will continue.  It was the middle school that was lacking.

            In creating a survey that demonstrates of my attainment of the program learning outcomes, the first one being "using technology resources to facilitate effective assessment and evaluation” and the second one, “utilizing technology to collect and analyze data, interpret results, and communicate findings," I felt that creating a survey would be an excellent idea. I decided to create a survey and give it to my students - the same students that learned how to create a blog.  I felt designing a survey about blogging would give them an opportunity to tell me how they felt about my lesson.  I also felt that creating this survey would utilize all three principles of theory.

            The objectivism principle which says " Instruction utilizes consequences and reinforcement of learned behaviors" (Dabbagh, 2006). By following my instructions they were able to create the blog.  In writing their blogs it also proves that "Learning can be detected by observing an organism over a period of time"  (Dabbagh, 2006).  The cognitive principle places "emphasis on the building blocks of knowledge and emphasis on structuring, organizing and sequencing information to facilitate optimal processing" (Dabbagh, 2006). It also "focuses on how learners remember, retrieve, and store information in memory" (Dabbagh, 2006).

This would give them a chance to offer feedback on what they learned and what they had problems with as well as give suggestions on how to make the next assignment on blogging easier to understand.  

            The constructivism principle shows how " learners build personal interpretation of the world based on experiences and interactions" (Dabbagh, 2006).  This survey would allow me to see who has mastered the writing assignment.  I would even consider letting them create the next blog assignment.

Program Learning Outcome 8

http://cclarke26.pbworks.com/w/page/61605169/Virginia%20Regions%20by%20Carolyn%20Clarke

         In Program Learning Outcome 8, which states, "demonstrate the ability to make informed decisions regarding the use of technology in support of learning and leadership, I chose a prior MATLT Program course activity that I designed for the 4th grade history class. The 4th grade class is studying the Virginia Regions in the State of Virginia.  In my wiki I described my learning objectives for the class.  As a class we have been studying this part of history and we are now preparing for the SOLs.  I wantet to make sure they could name the five regions and name the rivers in these regions. I also want to know what these areas produce. What are they famous for? What products and industries are manufactured in these regions?

            I gave them a link to a PowerPoint presentation that provided a study guide for them to use.   After they have completed this activity, they were requested to click on a link to a short quiz on what they have just studied in preparation for the SOLs.

            I had a really hard time coming up with a redesign for this design. I thought I did a really good job on my design and I could not think of a way to redesign it.  I wanted to create something I had not yet created throughout this course.  I finally decided to add a #6 to my Pbworks design.  I asked my students to create another blog. This blog would be about writing  about one of the trips we took this year to some of the historical places in Virginia. We visited, Jamestown, Virginia and learned about the settlers. We visited Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson in Charlottesville, Virginia and we visited Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington, our first President.  I asked them to pick out a few highlights of their trip and write a summary inserting some graphics and hyperlinks. After completion of this assignment, we would discuss them in class as well as read them aloud.

            This assignment allowed my students to think more creatively and really add some data into their stories.  I wanted to see real creativity in this written assignment.  This assignment was is all about making the connection with each other.  As Pentland points out,  "Big data is all about connections"  (2012).  I know they all talked about the trip on the bus traveling back to school, but this assignment gave them a chance to look back in retrospect and point out the highlights of their trip and what made it all worthwhile.

            I think this writing assignment is a perfect example of the cognitive principle.  First of all, the learner is an active participant. By visiting these historical places  he or she is able to get a first-hand look at an important timeline in our nation's history.  The theory also states that "Focus is on how learners remember, retrieve, and store information in memory" (Dabbagh, 2012).  The student will remember and retrieve the information so he can write his assignment.  The theory also states that it "Examines the mental structure and processes related to learning and learning is viewed as an active process that occurs within the learner and which can be influenced by the learner" (Dabbagh, 2012).

            This assignment also provided examples of the constructivist theory.  By writing and creating a descriptive story about their class trip into history students can, " Create novel and situation-specific understandings by "assembling" knowledge from diverse sources appropriate to the problem at hand (flexible use of knowledge)" (Dabbagh, 2012).  In visiting these historical places in history there is an enormous amount of learning that can be achieved.  Having visited these places with both of my children,  I have gained knowledge that I never knew before going and have a great memory instilled in me as well.

            Lastly, I believe that the assignment provided a level of objectivist theory and principle as well.  There is "Emphasis is on observable and measurable behaviors" (Dabbagh, 2012).  These trips require quite a bit of walking and there is so much to see that students can observe and retain this information because there is so much emphasis on what we see.  When visiting Jamestown, I remember the ships, one named the Susan Constant, one of three ships that sailed from England to the new colony of Virginia.  It was one of the largest ships at that time to sail over in the 1600s.  I have never been much of a history buff until that time, however now it is something that I always remember.   History is a great way to reflect on where we have been and where we are going.  Hence the breadcrumbs of our life. 

Closing Comments

I have never been a teacher and I know I have repeated this line time and time again throughout this course. That being said, I think all of these Program Learning Outcomes are important and they compliment each other.  I know as an educator everyone will come into consideration when creating lesson plans for my students.  When I was a Technology Administrator, I was more concerned with Learning Outcome 8 because I was making informed decisions that supported the use of technology and leadership. I was learning how to incorporate iPads into my school and was instructing the teachers on how to implement them into their curriculum. That was a leadership position. I was supporting leadership and id not even realize it.  There is so much politics in the school system, you just do what you have to, but when it was all over and everyone was adjusting, I had realized that I made a difference. It was an amazing feeling.

As I move forward I am confident of the tools that Ashford University has instilled in me to be successful. I have strived to give my very best and will continue to do so as I move forward Learning and Teaching with Technology.