Week+10

= Week 10: How Students Learn in the 21st Century- Multimedia Presentations =

Agenda:
1) Group Presentations 2) Discussion of Articles 3) Changing Perceptions 4) Digital Portfolios

My Group's Presentation:
This week we presented the multimedia presentations that we have been working on. The goal of this presentation was to demonstrate the ways in which the 21st century student learns. My presentation was done with Kristin and Natasha. We used a variety of multimedia applications including; Comic Life, Garageband, iMovie (Mac's Movie Maker program), and the digital camera. You will find my presentation below.

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Multimedia Presentations:
Note: These presentations are listed in order of appearence.

1) Helen -Images are very clear, great flow of story to accompany the images. -Very interesting that she used all original images and projects. -Good display of the divide that exists between digital natives and digital immigrants

2) Karen and Jenny -Good examples of how to create student centered lessons using technology -Good display of the differences between 21st century learners and learners from previous generations

3) Jesse and Allison -Great introduction with bitstrips comic -Great demonstration of how we can use the technology while actually using it themselves in their presentation

4) Alex, Andrea, Daljit -This was an interesting presentation, I would suggest not shooting yourself in the foot by pointing out the flaws in your presentation before you even begin -Very neat integration of the smart board and Google forms into the video

5) Luca and Justin -Cool use of photoshop to overlay bitstrips characters -Good Audio -Interesting integration of social networking

6) Matt and Dane -Good investigation of the development of digital culture -Demonstrates the notion of using student centered learning as an effective teaching method

7) Kristin, Natasha, Taylor Please see above

8) Alex and Brad -Interesting investigation of how cell phones can be used in education -Very clear audio -Neat use of Gabcast

9) Lily, Pat, Steph -Clear Audio -Good look into what a digital native is -Good investigation of the practical applications that can be used in the school setting

10) Sejal and Lisa -Good display of Ian Jukes' message -Great audio -Neat visuals

11) Jenny and Laura -Great distinction between digital learner and the traditional learner

12) Steve and Graham -Neat integration of Marshall Mcluhan's "The Medium is the Message" -Really catchy sound -Great graphics

13) Shannon and Amanda -Good visuals some audio was hard to hear. Short but sweet, the message was delivered clearly and concisely.

Article Discussions:

The class discussion that developed in class today focused on the articles that we have been reading throughout the semester.

Acceptable Use Policies: I believe that acceptable use policies need to be in place within the classroom environment. These documents provide students with boundaries and structures for what is acceptable and what is not while working on the internet. I believe that these documents outline the fact that the web is a valuable tool but it can quickly become harmful and negative. By establishing the ground rules, students understand that they must be responsible for their actions.

What If? Technology in the 21st Century Classroom: From this reading I have discovered that technology is a powerful tool that can be used by students to improve their learning. This document has also made me aware that strategies are beign developed to allow for greater communication and collaboration to exist between different school boards and educational organizations.

Literacy is Not Enough: This discussion cemented Ian Jukes' notions in my mind. These fluencies should be developed within the student so that they are able to become the greatest person they can be and to reach thier full potential as students. One factor that I learned from this discussion was the concept of the cone of learning. By seeing that students only remember 10% of what they read shows me that as teachers we need to develop activities that get them involved and interacting with the information they are working with.

Attributes of a Digital Learner: This article reexamines the concept that today's students are neurologically different than their parents. This article examines the ways that today's students interact with information and develop their learning skills. One interesting concept I learned from this article is the pattern in which students read. The pattern is illustrated by the image to the right. Instead of reading in the traditional Z pattern, students read in an F pattern. This article also examines the fact that today's students are multi taskers and carry this attitude into their learnign activities. Therefore as teachers we should use these skills to develop quality learnign activities. One more issue that I feel is important for teachers is the fact that students like to learn about what is current and related to their own lives. Therefore, we should attempt to integrate the curriculum objectives into lessons that become a part of student life. An example of this is when I used reviews from the movies 2012 and Twilight to teach punctuation. Though I was not in a location that supported a computer and projector, this lesson could have been made "technical" by using a smart board to correct errors instead of simply displaying the text onto the chalk board with a projector and correcting it on the board.

For a copy of this article, open the PDF link below.

Changing Perceptions: In looking back over the semester I believe that I have increased my understanding of technological applications significantly. All of the applications that we have learned this semester can be integrated into a lesson to formulate quality excercises that allow students to expand their higher order thinking skills. I believe that the best thing that I learned this semester was how to create and publish podcasts. I have always been interested in these but never really knew how to make them. This course has taught me that you can easily formulate these audio presentations and integreate pictures and sound as well. Another aspect of this course that I liked was the different programs that we were told to download. All of these downloads and subsequent tutorials allow me to develop my own skills, which I can then use to model effective and interesting ways to use technology. I will use technology in many of my lessons and feel that I now have a number of valuable skills to offer to students. Though I possess these skills I am also cognizant of the fact that today's students are digital natives and therefore have the ability to teach me many new and interesting facets reolving around the technological realm.

Digital Portfolios: I have created both a digital and hardcopy portfolio. By creating my portfolio using Powerpoint I can easily make digital copies that I can leave with employers. Though I feel that I will be more confident using a hardcopy portfolio during an interview situation, I feel that explaining that I have a digital version as well will show that I am a tech savvy individual.