Week 15: Final Presentations Round 1...Blended from the finest

Assignments: If you are missing an assignment, Dr. Foreman will email you...if you don’t receive an email you are fine.

Journal: Posting in the journal is part of attendance. Were we supposed to post in the journal or the forum about the assignments...the answer: JOURNAL. Post whether you completed all the assignments in the journal.

MENTAL NOTE: WHEN YOU TURN IN YOUR FINAL PROJECT, IT IS REQUIRED YOU ILLUSTRATE HOW IT RELATES TO A SPECIFIC LEARNING THEORY.

FINAL PRESENTATIONS:

Jill: How to Become an Active Listener
Webninar – An online seminar used an eLearning tool.
Tips:

1. Observe/respond to body language
2. Notice voice inflection and tone
3. Use open-ended question
4. Be attentive to schedule and concerns
5. “Am I listening or waiting for my turn to talk?”
   

After watching a short video with poor listening, we turned away from each other and analyzed how well the participants actively listened. This turning away simulates a Webinar where we can interact but not see. This analysis moved onto communication definition and analysis. We then worked on using active learning in communication. We watched another video, this time the better active listening and analyzed the positive points. Hearing the benefits people listed were interesting...why do we listen? We then talked about the Webinar activity...it is a bit impersonal and detached which made it hard to communicate honestly, but learning to get over it is part of the learning process.

Claudia: From Learning Theories to Learning Organizations
We reviewed the most applicable theories to learning organiziation: Behaviorism, Cognitive Information Processing, Constructivism.
Fundamentals of a Learning Organization:

1. Shared Vision
2. Personal Mastery
3. Mental Models
4. Group Learning
5. Systems Thinking
   

She then talked about key strategies for Learning Organizations. We then talked about Plan-Do-Study-Act Loop: A learning organization model.

Rob: Content Management Systems and Learning Management Systems
Rob updated the ITEC 800 moodle site for next semester...He is the culprit. He took the content from Dr. Foreman’s previous ITEC 800 site and integrated it with moodle.
Each week:

1. Blog entry from the previous week
2. Reading assignment as a forum, so students can interact about the topic
3. Assignment due that week
4. Forum for that week
5. Trivia Quiz
6. Graphic illustrating something covered that week
   

He then showed a custom moodle site he installed and configured it himself. He basically copied the content from the ilearn ITEC 800 site and was able to take all of it.
- Content Management Systems are systems that allow people without web development skills to put content online (I think that it is actually there to simplify the process so everyone is on a equal playing field, so skill set is not a factor).
- Learning Management Systems do all of this, but are interactive and thereby make them a learning experience...Moodle is a LMS.

Maura: Blended Learning
Blended learning is a combination of any form of instructional technology with face to face instructor-led learning. The goal is take the best of both and create the most effective learning experience. Example: classroom instruction with online experience. You run into the issue of synchronous vs. asynchronous learning (learning as content is delivered or with a time delay). M-Learning- using mobile technology to enhance learning, for example, after a face-to-face kickoff, all material was online and accessible via the web and pdas. Constructivism is the main learning theory for blended learning because of its differentiation. Implication of using: fewer in-person interaction, more work for the learner and the instructor, courses may never end...

Britt: Teaching for Understanding
Teaching for Understanding is a method for designing curriculum to help maximize understanding by students. Understanding is more about HOW TO rather than ABOUT. We then broke up into groups where we discussed understanding...what is something you understand? How did you come to that understand it? How do you know you understand it? We then discussed our results with everyone...Getting understanding requires thinking and doing. Assessing understanding also requires thinking and doing. Students should be able to think and act flexibly with what they know.
4 Key Elements:

1. Generative Topics – What do you want learners to understand?
2. Understanding Goals – What do you want the learners to understand about their topic?
3. Performances of Understanding – What will students come to understand about the topic?
4. Ongoing Assessment – How do you know if they understand?
   

We then learned about high level thinkers...those who can take their skills and apply them. Teaching for Understanding builds these skills. Working with this framework, teaching is thinking based, not knowledge based and very student centric.
Check out the website: http://pzweb.harvard.edu

Nicole: Instructional Technology and Sign Language Interpreter Training
- She started with her Digital Storytelling movie. It was interesting movie about her experience in South Africa at a Sign Language Conference.
Those who seek to become Sign Language Interpreters should take interpreter training...doing this requires the use of Instructional Technology heavily. Training programs are 2-4 year programs with high expectations of interpreting students. A large portion of the community consists of mentoring and continuing education, in addition to basic video skills because of the large amount of video in the training. A large portion of training is now including IT...in fact there are Interpreter Technology Training. Each trainer needs to be able to record, play, and hear their work for training and fine tuning purpose. The technology is moving away from VHS/Analog to digital, web based, such as iMovie and webcams. They are even working on natural language processing through audio to sign language display.

Susan: Wikis
Going off the information she gave a few weeks ago, we got to learned more.
Wiki: simplest database that could possibily work. Since they are editable, how can you protect the information...simple answer, those who are interested in valid information are more involved that those who are interested in sabotage...it take care of itself, but you can set security settings, too. Wikis are open editing in simple text formatting language. They store previous versions of the site. Security is low. Multiple authorship, communal, collaborative, and constantly changing. You can easily edit the site and view previous versions. Famous Wikis: Wikipedia (http://www.wikipedia.com)...the first ever was WikiWikiWeb (http://www.c2.com)...Corporate Version: Twiki (http://twiki.org/).
How to use them:

• Writing a collaborative research paper
• Peer editing through the wiki
• Beak-out groups at workshops/conferences can quickly publish and share their ideas with the rest of the group.
• Collaborative knowledge base like a class glossary on moodle.
  

Check out her wiki: http://itec800wiki.schtuff.com/


Dr. Foreman then talked about learning styles:
She discussed with 3 main theories:

• Auditory
  

- Learn from spoken instruction

• Visual
  

- Have to be shown visually

• Kinesthetic
  

- Learn by doing
No one uses one of the styles exclusively, and there is usually significant overlap in learning styles.

It is our responsibility as teacher to discover the learning styles of our students so we make sure to teach to those learning styles. We don’t students to be pigeonholed by their inabilities to learn from the methods the subject is being taught.

We investigated an Powerpoint presentation about analyzing learning styles visually by breaking down learning preferences in linear space then collaborating the data. For more information, visit the iLearn site and download the powerpoint. Also, check out the learning styles web site: ( http://www.advisorteam.com/temperament_sorter/register.asp?partid=1)


Highlight of the week: This more comes from the reading from the week before and thoughts on Constructivism. I like the idea of constructivism in its holistic and deep seeded approach to learning. That being said, I worry about it. We are so interested in finding that Silver Bullet, that single explanation to solve every teaching need. I don’t think that exists...Every situation requires its own style. We lean too heavily on Constructivism in education in this country and I think many of students are coming without enough basic or vocational skills as a result.

Thoughts?


Visit the ITEC 800 website at:
http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~foreman/itec800/index.htm

Visit moodle at:
https://ilearn.sfsu.edu
===================================
Matt Harris
Director of Technology
Ronald C. Wornick Jewish Day School
http://www.wornickjds.org/tech

BLOG Week 13: CDT, Motivation, and Constructivism

Thanks a ton to Maura who wrote this blog entry since I was unable to come to class this week:

November 16, 2005

Let’s take care of business first…
For final projects
Presentations will be on Nov 30 and Dec 7. If you would like to present on Nov. 30, email Dr. Foreman. All final papers/projects are due Dec. 7. Presentations should be less than 10 minutes. If you present on Nov. 30, you get a few extra minutes.

Have you turned in all your homework?
Go to your journal, and let Dr. Foreman know what homework assignments you have turned in. She will post on Moddle all the assignments she should have from each of us.

First part of class:
Dr. Foreman started class by asking if anyone learned anything this week that they would like to share. She spoke about the aha! moment. Did you find yourself connecting something that you learned before with something that happened to you recently? Michael, Nicole and Vaidis shared examples of tools they are using or have used at work, which they have learned will improve their ability to do their work. Jon’s research project is on just this topic, technology diffusion, so he introduced us to the term “early adopters”, people who buy in early and easily to technologies that help productivity at work.

Dr. Foreman continued with a discussion on constructivism, and 3 theorists associated with it:

Theorist Learning Theory Instructional Theory
Bruner Discovery learning If little schema, use discovery learning
Ausbel Reception learning
Vygotsky Scaffolding If more schema, motivation for learning is greater
With no scaffolding or schema, can’t have aha! moment

As a teacher, we need to know which strategy to use? This is why we do an audience analysis.

How can we provide scaffolding to students, offer the right amount of help? From the group that read ch. 7, we heard about the ZPD, the Zone of Proximal Development. What information is missing in order to learn to solve the problem? The farther away, the less scaffolding that is available.

Entry behavior-----------------Goal
What is the distance between these two?
Need to provide instruction to bring these two closer together

What is difference between learning theory and instructional theory?
Theory is a lens. What are we looking at?

Learning theory – focuses on learner, what is going on in learner’s mind, how the mind works. The three big that we learn in this class are Behaviorism, Cognitivism, and Constructivism.

Instructional theory – focuses on what the teacher does, what is the instructional strategy, what is best way to design instruction. All the theories we learn in this class are learning theories, except for Gagne’s theory, which is instructional

WHAT to teach? That’s the Curriculum
HOW to teach? Those are the Instructional strategies

Dr. Foreman reviewed Gagne’s Taxonomy, in further discussion about WHAT we teach
Verbal – verbal information used to explain
Intellectual – rules, discrimination, association
Cognitive Strategies – when to use what? Strategies based on experience. This is what experts do. Problem solving based on patterns and accumulated experience

Attitude – beliefs, value, motivation
Motor skills – physical behavior, demonstration of physical skills

Gagne’s Nine Events of Instruction is then used to teach, which is the HOW. But this si best used for training, or teaching short lessons or simpler skills.

For complex teaching, like online design and instruction, Gagne’s 9 events don’t work so well. Component Display Theory (CDT) (see ITEC moodle sight for link) by David Merrill, Gagne’s student. (Gagne set up Instructional Design departments at universities in Utah and Florida.) Merrill challenged Gagne’s taxonomy as too global, not very good for computer-instruction design.

CDT is two-dimensional instructional design model
What level of performance is needed for type of instruction.

Levels of Performance Find

(Discover)* Accomplished story teller invents good story based on what they’ve discovered. E.g. brought conflict in at exactly right time in story. Invent

a new way to balance your checkbook Research findings, Ph.D. work

Use Apply the rules for writing a good story, may not necessarily be a great story Demonstrate

the steps; show how to balance a checkbook Do experiments to see principles in action.

Remember Learn facts Remember definition, e.g. story telling; know the elements of telling a good story, such as conflict Know

the steps, like balancing your checkbook Memorizing principles

Teaching what?
Fact Concept Procedure Principle
Gray boxes: used very often
Yellow boxes: not often taught, reserved for higher level, graduate level work
*Top level: True constructivism

Now, based on the table, test what you’ve learned:

Performance-Content Analysis
Performance Level
Remember: requires the student to search memory in order to recognize some item of information that was previously stored
Use: requires the student to apply some abstraction to specific case
Find: requires the student to derive or invent a new abstraction

Content Categories
Facts
Concepts
Procedures
Principles

Identify the performance level and content category for each example
For example, answer to #1 is RF, for Remember-Facts
1. On a topographic map what is the symbol for a church?
2. Define positive reinforcement.
3. Read the following short story. Identify the paragraph that best represents the climax of the story.
4. Figure out a way to group students in a classroom that assures a range of ability, sex and ethnic background in each group.
5. What are the steps in balancing a checkbook?
6. Demonstrate how to clean a clarinet.
7. Write a computer program that will index and retrieve the class list.
8. What happens when water evaporates? Explain in terms of molecular movement and heat.
9. Read the following case study of an ecological system. In this system, the rodents are increasing in number. Predict some possible hypothesis based on your knowledge of life cycles and the interdependence of species in this ecological system.
10. Set up your experiment to assess the effect of tobacco smoke on plant growth. Report your findings.

Scroll to end for answers.

Second part of class:
We broke into groups to teach each other about chapters 7 and 9. We spent 30 minutes putting together powerpoint presentations to teach each other.
Ch. 7 presentation by group #1 on Interactional Theories of Cognitive Development (link to powerpoint on Moodle)
Ch. 9 presentation by group #2 on Motivation and Self-Regulation in Learning (link to powerpoints)

Answer key:
1. RF
2. RC
3. UC
4. FC
5. RP
6. UP
7. FP
8. RP
9. UP
10. FP


===================================
Matt Harris
Director of Technology
Ronald C. Wornick Jewish Day School
http://www.wornickjds.org/tech

Week 12: Research, Google, Wikis, and Cognitive

Ok...so we are not going to the library...the library is coming to us...and those who haven’t had enough time in BH 170 with Digital Storytelling, we are residing in there...

MENTAL NOTE #1: Write journal entries about class. There will not be prompts. Just reflect on what was covered in class...

MENTAL NOTE #2: Patrick is making us look bad...he is just too good of a student.

In the light of getting going on our independent research topics, we had a special guest speaker: Athena Nazario, a librarian from the Department of Ed. If you would like to get a hold of her, email her at anazario@sfsu.edu

Athena began by introducing to The Yes Men about two guys that pose themselves as members of the WTO in order to flush out some of the indecencies. They created a web site (http://www.gatt.org) that looks EXACTLY like the WTO website (http://www.wto.org)...these guys so successful in their endeavors they were invited to represent the WTO by outside parties who thought they were real...their website used to come up first on Google if you entered WTO as a search criteria instead of the official WTO website.

Given the open nature of the web, opinion and inaccuracy is a something that is always a danger on the web. This is why we still have a library and the library has a website ( http://www.library.sfsu.edu). You should create a library pin, to do this go to library pin/library record link on the web page. This will allow you to view records in the library easily.

Books:
To view the book catalog at SFSU, click on InvestiGator...to gain access to book catalogs from other schools, click on Link+ (twice). You can request books from other institutions and they will deliver it here. You need your name, user id, and pin...you can keep the book for 3 weeks and renew it online (only once)...so is that 6 weeks then? For documents, click on Document deliver then request books and you can see the 3 ways to get books from other libraries.

Note: Research Advice & Instruction -> Research Guides — CHECK IT OUT

Articles:
ERIC – Educational Resources Information Center (check out one of the handouts..THE ONE THAT SAYS USING ERIC). ERIC is a database that indexes and abstracts articles from education journals and documents from non-journal sources, from 1966 to present. These are all peer reviewed...it sounds like something pretty useful...REMEMBER that Google only searches for web pages and has its own definition of relevance bases on words appearing in the page.
- With the ERIC interface available off the SFSU library web site, the results are organized by tabs (Journals, Peer-Reviewed Journals, Conferences, Books)

For specific documents, click on Document delivery...check out Ingenta. This will allow to search for an article or document that can be downloaded or faxed to you. Although they cost money, SFSU will eat the cost as long as it costs <$35. If the cost is over $35, you can use the Illiad system to get a copy of the article, BUT IT TAKES ABOUT A MONTH.

For a full list of databases that our school has access to click on Databases -> List all databases.

When searching a database (NOT google), if you want to search for multiple concepts/words, you need to insert an AND..i.e. John AND Jack, not John Jack...without the AND the search will look for the string John Jack.
- For synonyms, use an OR, i.e. Pig OR Hog
- For combination of a prefix or suffix, use a *, i.e. Comp* will search for any word that starts with Comp

Journals:
Check out CUFTS ( http://lib-cufts.lib.sfu.ca/CUFTS/sbt.cgi) for specific journals. Go to Electronic Journal Listing under the Database section in the library main site.
- In ERIC...something that is marked ED is an ERIC document and not a journal entry, so the entire document is available.
- For those that say they are available online, but turn out not to be...go to the second floor in the library to check out the document in Microfiche. Documents before 1995 are available there.

Check out PROQUEST to learn about information related to your field, dissertations and theses. Go to the Database search and enter proquest.
- Results with page preview and page image are full text...others you will have to request through illiad.

Check out the following databases:
Education Abstracts
JSTOR
Academic Search Elite
Communication and Mass Media Complete

Currently there are no Instructional Design or Instructional Technology databases...but there will be...right now we fall under both Technology and Education

Check out Athena’s web page for good links and contact info:
http://online.sfsu.edu/~anazario/

Highlighted sites:
http://www.theyesmenmovie.com/
http://wto.org
http://gatt.org
http://democracynow.org
http://truthout.org
http://www.library.sfsu.edu
http://www.eric.ed.gov

This information is covered in part in ITEC 797, which most students push off to the end of their Master’s program, but should taken earlier.


Susan introduced us to her research topic: Wikis. Wikis are websites that anyone can come in and edit. She is using http://wikispaces.com to host her wiki (for free). She showed us the ins and outs of wikis and how powerful and useful they can be...I can’t wait to see her full presentation.

Check out her wiki:
http://itec800.wikispaces.com

We got a chance to log into our wikispace site and add content...this is powerful...and easy.


Digital Storytelling DVD Update:
If you WANT your digital story on the DVD please email mattyh@alumni.calpoly.edu this week and I will include you...
...if you want a copy, please bring $5 to class (for materials) and I will make you a copy.


We are all going to get a chance to learn from each other in these research topics. There is such a broad range of topics being brought forth is going to be such a benefit for our class. I can’t wait to hear the presentations on these topics.
- For us this will all lead to our own personal learning theory.


And now on to Cognitive Development:
We watched a video (produced some time in mid-1980s if I had to guess) about children and cognitive development. It spoke of how children and babies develop. Babies are dependant on others for their survival, so how do develop? What are born with? What do they develop?
Cognitive Theory: babies have innate inborn abilities, then experiences the world and builds on those abilities. Babies develop their understanding and perception of reality through experience.
Schema is the way we try to organize ideas. Babies build their schema related to reality through experiences within that reality.
Assimilation – taking in pieces of information and reacting to it.
Accommodation – Change in state or schema once information has been assimilation
Equilibrium – provides the motivation to learn more about our world.

Piaget’s Stages of Development

1. Sensory Input
2. Pre Operation
3. Concrete Operational
4. Formal Operational
   

HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK: Are we breeding children that can’t find information...but they know how to search for it? Research is becoming a lost art, in my opinion, but searching effectively or the immergence of the googling society is so prevalent that we are breed information searchers rather than researchers.

Thoughts?


Visit the ITEC 800 website at:
http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~foreman/itec800/index.htm

Visit moodle at:
https://ilearn.sfsu.edu

===================================
Matt Harris
Director of Technology
Ronald C. Wornick Jewish Day School

Digital Storytelling...Once Upon a Saturday in Late October

8:55 am...I was actually early...a couple of us were. There is a ton of food...that is one of the best reasons to come...

9:20 am...We have printed our scripts and are ready to share in the circle...is mine going to be as ill-prepared as I think? Leslie told us to keep in mind that we are speaking to a specific group as a specific person...remember who you are and who you are speaking to.

The scripts alone, without the digitized elements, are so powerful. People really came prepared for this...these should turn quite well. Leslie reviewed a couple of the scripts and went into depth about the content and tone of the script...how will it play out on screen?
Leslie’s comments and suggestions about my work was VERY helpful and succinct. Her questions and suggestions were very thought provoking and helped reshape my project.

While listening to other people’s stories, I am so intent on hearing the message and feeling the story I am not worried about the way the story is told. I am listening to HIM or HER, not IT. This is an interesting lesson to take in...what do we really hear when we listen to a story?

“When all else fails, write a letter to someone.”

10:30 am...We broke up into 2 groups to speed up the process of peer evaluation for our work. While the setting was more intimate, Leslie worked with us and her control over the group remained. I partially wish I was in the other group because I felt their ideas were probably more free flowing than in our group where we listened to Leslie.

We are focusing so much on the scripts, and I have to ask the question...how important are they? Are we going to spend equal amounts of time on visuals and audio? Or is this an exercise to deal with the story? If this is designed to tighten the story why are we concentrating on the tone of words...only words?

11:30 am...break...

11:45 am...back to it. We are working on revision and scanning. People are putting the finishing touches on their scripts and getting their last minute photos scanned in for the digital project.

12:30 pm...Sound studio demo...we are starting the project creation...pre-production is over. Leslie is giving us a demo of Sound Studio, which is very intuitive...which is nice. She is talking about sound quality and file management. Once you have your voice in the computer...make sure you Normalize. Doesn’t sound to hard.

I am anxious to get to the technical portion of the project. I feel comfortable with my story and script and I am chomping at the bit to get it going...and finished. I can see it in my head and I want to get it done so I don’t lose anything.

12:45 pm...Leslie is letting us go...but she has to tell us about iPhoto and iMovie. In order to get your photos into iMovie (easily) you have import your photos into iPhoto and create an album. Once that album is created you bring them into iMovie.

IN iMOVIE, MAKE SURE YOUR KEN BURNS EFFECT IS OFF...otherwise there will be a lot of cleaning up to do. You can use it if you want...but add it later. Make sure your default time for the photo is 5 seconds.

She is talking about the timing convention: Hours:Minutes:Seconds:Frames there are 30 frames per second.

Now, she is talking about the clip view and the timeline view...remember that in the timeline view, you are looking at the clips based on clips and length...clip view it is just order.

Titles...try ‘em out. They are pretty simple...maybe you start with the title.

When you see a red line, it is RENDERING, so let it finish...it is making the clip or title or whatever ready for viewing.

In order to get your audio into the project, go to FILE -> IMPORT and import your audio. It will import directly to the timeline at the playhead.

Between clips, you may want to use transitions...ONLY FADE IN, FADE OUT, WASH IN, WASH OUT, AND OVERLAP because they don’t destroy the clips they use...any other ones are USE AT YOUR RISK.

Leslie suggest that you get a rough draft first before you get your transitions in, but has been told not to do that, just make it the way you want it. We are editing around the voiceover audio...so build from there.

She is talking about editing audio and splitting clips...

1:00 pm... AND THERE OFF!!!! Everyone is working like crazy to get their work done.

5:15 pm...after tons of work and and issues with saving/exporting WE ARE DONE...and getting to watch them...

They have turned out amazing...now I am heading home...let’s see if we can do something with the finished products later...stay tuned.

-Matt





===================================
Matt Harris
Director of Technology
Ronald C. Wornick Jewish Day School

Week 11: More lesson plans -- From paper airplanes to juggling...brought to you by the number 9...am I lying?

PREVIEW: Digital storytelling blog coming soon...

More presentations today...

1. Brian:
Order of Operation – He taught all about PEMDAS. Parenthesis Exponents Multiplication Division Addition Subtraction...then he gave us a mnemonic device to remember the order: Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally. He then gave us to a couple of examples to do on scratch paper. We ran into a little disagreement on answers, but he kept his cool and laughed about it...I applaud you.

2.Vaidis:
The Sun – With the aid of Flash, Vaidis taught us about The Sun. He started about talking about stars...then moved onto the sun. He talked about facts about the sun. First, it is a star. The Sun is 91 million miles away. It takes 8 minutes for the sun’s light to reach us. Sun’s diameter is 870,000 miles. The Sun’s surface is 11,000 degrees (F), the center is 27,000,000 degrees. The sun is made up of gases. The Earth receives 3 billionths of 1% of the Sun’s heat.

3. Matt
Juggling – With a member of the crowd, Matt showed us how to juggle. You start with 1 ball and throw it from your dominant hand to non-dominant in a nice arc to eye level...then switch. After that add a second ball...it takes practice.

4. Dorothy
Removing a page from a catalog – She showed us a poorly removed page...then she taught us how to remove a page with thread. She handed out magazines to try out...we need to cut a piece of thread twice a long as the page length. Place the thread between the pages you want to save...fold over. Put pressure on the page...pull the thread together.

5. Quetzal
Loading a film camera – In case digital cameras go out of style and you have to teach someone how to load a camera, he taught us how to do so. We all know what film is and what a camera is...then he gave us a mnemonic device Feed (the film into the reel) Insert (the film into the other side of the camera) Lock (the cover down) Move (the film forward until the film frame says 1).

6. Rob
Multiple Homepages in Firefox – Since Firefox has tab browsing available, you can have firefox load with multiple homepages. Normally, you just go to preferences and go to homepage. To do multiple, create a new bookmark folder, give it a name (i.e. Startup pages), and add bookmarks for the pages you are looking to use for your homepages. Go to preferences and under homepage choose from bookmark ... Choose the startup page folder instead a simple bookmark...when you come back to the homepage it will open several tabs. He even had a webpage: http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~wonderob/itec800/

7. Azure
Knitting – It turns out most of the men in the class had never knitted before...hold me up in shock. She taught us parts of the knitting: the yarn is called Skane, sticks are needles...the first thing you have to do is Cast Off: you need a tail (slack) then tie on a needle two times...make sure to have some slack (18- 24 inches). The needle with the cast should be in your dominant end...the non tail end should be wrapped around your forefinger and the tail is wrapped around your thumb (your thumb and forefinger are in an L-shape)...after that you put the needle under the thumb...my testosterone took over after that and I got lost. Vaidis has told me he is now an expert, so if you have questions, ask him.

8. Britt
5 Spanish Classroom Commands – After a very nice greeting in Spanish, Britt gave us an overview of what we would be covering and told us the English was going to stop soon. She gave us 5 commands in Spanish that we could use. Included in this she gave us non-verbal cues to use while using these commands...for example, when you save Levántense ustedes you should stand up to demonstrate. Then we played Simon Dicé (Simon Says)...I won!!! So did like 20 other people tho. Then we filled out the handout by translating the Spanish phrases into English.

9. Patrick
Health insurance – There were a couple of people who didn’t have health insurance. The goals of the lesson was to describe the 3 types of health insurance policies: PPO, HMO, Major Medical. PPO: Perferred Partner Organization. HMO: Health Maintenance Organization. PPO...you can go to any doctor you want, but it costs the most (plus it is complex). Keep an eye on the monthly cost, the deductible, and the co-insurance (the percentage the insurance company is going to pay). HMO...your network of health, but you can’t leave the network for attention. Keep an eye on the monthly costs and the co-pay (the $ amount you have to pay for a visit). Major Medical...basically a PPO, but with a HUGE deductible and low monthly payments. Only use the MM if you have major issues. He then gave us scenarios/cases and had us choose which plan would be best.

10. Nathan
Lying – Most Americans lie at least 5 times a day. We came up with body triggers that show when people are lying. Clue 1: Body language — looking away, fidgeting...Clue 2: Inconsistencies – look for mistakes in the details...Clue 3: Resistance – look for defensiveness...Clue 4: Accusation – shift of blame...Clue 5: Use your intuition – your gut can be right, listen to it...Clue 6: Ask if they are lying – they might own up...Listen carefully to the person Instincts, use ‘em Ask questions for consistency Repeat details, make them do this. We then broke up into groups and played 2 Truths and a Lie to see if we could figure out which one was the lie. I have never lied...so this was difficult...:) Actually, no one got my lie.

11. Maura
Paper airplanes – What a grab!!! She talked about an airplane that is perfectly engineered and won’t fly a mile...then showed us the planes. She gave examples of folded paper (including an amazing dollar bill t-shirt). Using paper examples taped to wall to keep us up to date. After we finished we tested our products by sending them across the room...it was quite fun. Mine had a broken wing or a poorly trained pilot because it veered to the left.

12. Diana
Adding 9s - Magic 9s...this only works with 9s...we are going to talk about adding 9s to single digit number, for example, 9+1, 9+4, etc. With Magic 9s...from the smallest digit, make it one less and put a one in front of it. 9+7...6...16. Then we worked a partner to recount what we had learned, then put it into practice.

13. Adam
Maps – He made feel like 5 year olds...on purpose. Then we talked about places we would like to go. Once in that frame of mind, he asked how we would know how to get around...maps of course. Then he explained how a map is a representative model of a real place. Each map has scale...in order to determine the correct information, you have to pick a map with an appropriate scale. He then talked about relative position and finding places on a map. North is up, South is down, West is left, East is right. Relative location is showing where places are located relative to others. Absolute location talks about the exact location by giving a coordinate. Now, assuming there is a Martian in the room, draw a map to the bathroom and give directions.

14. Judy
Magic Knots – After passing out small strings, she showed us some interesting knots that went away. The magic appear knot...there is too much to explain. It was a neat trick where in one fell swoop a knot appeared from the rope she was holding in one hand. The she showed us the magic disappearing knot...I have termed that if there is string or yarn involved I should take a time out...Very interesting demo.

Leslie Rule came back and passed out evaluations for the students that worked on the Digital Storytelling. Bring them back next week.

Next week we will meet in BH 168...but we are going to the library. So if you are late go there...but keep your voice down.


Highlight of the night: What makes a good lesson? Being engaged or good information? Because I have been engaged and not learned a thing...same thing for good information...

Thoughts?


Visit the ITEC 800 website at:
http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~foreman/itec800/index.htm

Visit moodle at:
https://ilearn.sfsu.edu

===================================
Matt Harris
Director of Technology
Ronald C. Wornick Jewish Day School

Week 10: Gagne's Taxonomy...You had me at attention.

So, I lost a bet with myself...I actually found the room. I thought after 2 weeks off, I might not be able to find class, or somehow be disoriented when I walked into class...well we are off and running, and even though 80% of the class was late, it felt like old times.

An interesting Blog happenstance...we are receiving BLOG SPAM...someone (or some people) have been leaving SPAM comments on our blog. Someone even spoofed Dr. Foreman...I love technology/morals.

Dr. Foreman clarified our Independent Research/Final Project...in previous ITEC 800 classes, students did both a Final Project and Independent Research. This term we are combining them. Students are to do research on a topic relevant to ITEC and present it to the class and how it is tied into Instructional Strategy. The IR/FP can be in any form: report, powerpoint, video, web page, etc, but Dr. Foreman prefers powerpoint.
During the time off, Dr. Foreman visited the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) conference and learned a lot about Digital Storytelling. She is taking that knowledge and experience to Rwanda next summer to help educate Rwandans and help them come to terms on some level with their experiences during the genocide. For more info on AECT, visit http://www.aect.org

On Nov 9, we will be visiting the library to learn more about research. They will show us a bunch of tools for good research procedures.

Then we moved onto the lessons:

1. Jill
Icebreakers – We were each given an envelop with 4 cards with adjectives. We were told to choose the cards that DON’T describe us at work...I found I was not Courteous... We then walked around the room and traded our non-descriptive cards and traded them with others. After that we picked our MOST descriptive card. We shared our favorite cards and described how they helped us in our jobs. We got to learn more about each other from what we each thought of ourselves.

2. Matt
Dollar Bill T-Shirt – We learned how to create a collared T-Shirt using a Dollar Bill. We went through step by step how to use origami to create the T-Shirt. Matt put a webpage up on the project that had the steps visually and demonstrated the steps in front of the class. The steps were very complex and many students got lost, but the idea of following a procedure came across. It was interesting to learn a procedure and see how much people could take in. There were varying levels of ability, but everyone got something.

3. Jon
Web Accessibility – Being able to access the web by everyone with or without disability. We talked about those who have disabilities and how they would interpret web pages: vision impaired, motor skill impaired, color blind. He then used a screen reader to read a web page for us...it was quite difficult to understand what was posted on the web page. He then did this again with a properly formatted page that was designed to be accessible to blind users. When we looked at the page and noticed how much content there was and how easily ALT tags can make them more accessible to blind users.

4. Susan
Circumference of a Circle – We learned how to find the circumference of a circle. Susan explained what the circumference tells about a circle: circumference is the perimeter of a circle. She described the diameter and radius and their relationship. Then she showed us how to find the circumference using the diameter and PI (3.14). We then were given real examples to complete on our own. Susan did a VERY good job of following Gagne’s 9 events of instruction.

5. Candelario
Vowels in Sign Language – He probed for input from people to see how many people knew the vowels. He then demonstrated, with people from the class, the 5 vowels in sign language. It was impressive to see how many people already knew the vowels in sign language. He then went over mnemonic devices to remember the vowels, which I liked a lot. His humor also helped out quite a bit.

6. Sacramento
Numbers in Spanish – Again, the amount of people who knew the content already was impressive, but the lesson still worked well. Sacramento had us break up into groups and go over the numbers. This worked well because the number of people who didn’t know was just as high as those who did. This way, those who didn’t understand still received attention and weren’t overwhelmed by those who already knew the information. He then showed us a Flash site with interactive numbers that actually said the number in Spanish and wrote in on the screen.

7. Xavier
New Hire Tutorial – Xavier showed us a Flash site that explains important information that new hires would need to know. He then showed us a simulation that new hires would use to test out their new found knowledge in a controlled setting.

8. Michael
Counting to 10 in Japanese – He asked us to count in English...which I could actually do. Then he went over a VERY engaging activity to learn how to count to 10 in Japanese using mnemonic devices. I found really funny and interesting...ask me if I can count next week...I might end up telling you that NANA’s ITCHY KNEE IS CRAZY under the SUN.

9. David
Speaking Chinese – He probed for prior knowledge to see if any of us had to been to China or knew Chinese. He then went over some important Chinese sayings for visiting a restaurant. Yao = want...Bing Soy = Iced Water...thus Yao Bing Soy = I want Iced Water. Tea = tsa.

Leslie Rule came to class and gave an overview of what we will be covering on Saturday.

First, what we need to bring:

• Script...up to 200 words. 12 pt font, double spaced...half a page. NOT TOO MUCH.
• 10-20 images (10 really good ones)...preferably digitized. Scan in photos at 1440x1056 @ 72 dpi
• Piece of music...digitized form, CD or MP3 file...preferably instrumental. The lyrics should not get in the way. The tone of the piece and the beat is the most important.
  

We are going to be reading our scripts, so the spelling doesn’t matter...it will be read aloud. So, practice the scripts before class. We will be doing peer editing to refine the scripts.

Breaking down the story

1. Finding the experience — what do I want this story to be about?
2. Telling the story – How do I convey this message?
3. Create the piece on the computers
   

Then we begin...
We will be using Sound Studio to record the voiceover. Move the sounds into iMovie...and then go to town.

We will learn how iMovie messes things up...specifically in transitions.

Given the iMovie experience of the class, we should be able to talk more about the stories themselves and how to publish them and use them in the classroom.

We talked about actual quotes from real story tellers...this was interesting to me...up to this point, I had missed the point of doing this activity. I mean I know how to use iMovie, in fact, I teach students how to do this...I like the idea of getting a message across and that is the point. I understood this before, but the eloquence was lost on me. I was lost in the technology and honestly felt this was going to be a waste of time...sorry to say. But now, I feel stronger about what I can create...we’ll see how all of this goes...

What is the emotional truth about what is covered? What real basis does our story root from? How deep can go into the real message of the story?

MAKE THE STORY GOOD. TELL A STORY WORTH TELLING.

We talked about defining moment in our lives. On the order of Robert Frost’s The Road Not Taken...we wrote a short story of taking a road, a defining moment about something in our lives. It was difficult to pick a single event and transcribe it on a 3x5 card, but I think that was the point...you pull out the important points and streamline the process when you don’t have as much BS or rhetoric in the way.

We shared some of our stories...it was interesting. The tone of each story was just as important as the stories themselves.

Leslie shared with us the dramatic arc: Desire – Action- Resolution – Reflection. <-- Remember this for the story! Be careful to only say what needs to be said...be economical and brief.

MENTAL NOTE: BRING FOOD!!!

Highlight of the night: The story is the thing. The story is the thing. How do I make myself a good storyteller?

Thoughts?


Visit the ITEC 800 website at:
http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~foreman/itec800/index.htm

Visit moodle at:
https://ilearn.sfsu.edu

===================================
Matt Harris
Director of Technology
Ronald C. Wornick Jewish Day School

Week 7: Learning Communities -- and what a community we have!

Learning theories for the week...we talked about specific learning experiences and how to view them in terms of schema, context, and learning trajectories. I like this activity because it takes the (excuse me for saying this) banal and boring textbook learnin’ and apply it to not only real world issues, but real world issues that personally effect all of us in class. I think that this week’s subject is the most relevant given its links to community learning. All theories aside, Humanity is a learning community.

In discussing learning communities, we talked about the digital world as a learning communities. For example, sharing knowledge on the Internet. Moodle is our small little learning community. Google is a great gateway to tons of learning communities. We live in a special time because our learning and knowledge are growing and molding and building at exponential rates because the Internet breaks down the barriers that have separated us in the past. We have so much at our fingertips...

Similarly, we talked about the computer in general as learning tool...from logo to multimedia to HTML to today. The computer is a social learning tool. But how are we going to use it? We have made many strives, but there is a lot more to do. Researchers are looking into various ways to figure this question out. They bring their knowledge together as pieces to a large puzzle... How does the vast knowledgebase of the Internet play into this? How does Generation Y and their needs affect this? What will happen to our changing workforce?

We began talking about appropriate computer uses for kids. How early do you get them on the computer? How much time should they be on the computer? We talked about computer time as it relates to childhood obesity. The computer is a tool, but is it detrimental? They can’t write anymore...but is that something we should focus on. These kids live in a different world. We need to teach to that world. Kids now have different needs because they live in a different world. Technology is transparent...whereas for us we see the computer not the community.

The Blog is our own learning community...another nice little plug...

Funny moment of the night: Dr. Foreman mentioned she is going to summarize chapters from the textbook and move away from it a bit...this was met by muffled ROARING APPLAUSE. We all agreed that the textbook is dry and disorganized with inappropriate examples...maybe we are helping future 800 students.

Dr. Foreman changed the final project: instead of a final project, now a research project. Students are asked choose a topic, research it, and present it to the class. Instead of producing new knowledge, research and summarize existing knowledge. The form of the project is open: video, document, web page, etc.

After the break, Dr. Foreman “forced” us to visit other students ilearn entries for this week and comment on their learning communities and trajectories. This lead to a small group discussion where we further defined “learning community” and learning trajectory. It was interesting with my group because they brought in interpersonal communities and tech-based communities...there are several similarities, yet the tech community of learning grays out the line between various trajectories...one’s interaction with the community changes that person’s trajectory use by use. We had trouble really understanding and defining (especially finding an example of) outbound trajectory.
For outbound activities...we talked about passionate people having a real problem creating outbound trajectories, that is to say, it is hard to let go.

And then...we got to meet each other. As a refresher of people’s names and personalities, we re-introduced ourselves.

Mental Note: Try the Quiz on the top of Moodle!!! THE FINAL TEST QUESTIONS WILL COME FROM THIS QUIZ AND THE QUIZZES IN CLASS

In two weeks, when we meet again, we are going to talk about Gagne’s taxonomy. Learn the five different taxonomies and how to teach them. Then learn the 9 events of instruction.
- Pick 1 taxonomy and write a lesson plan using that taxonomy. This lesson should take 5-7 minutes. Make sure to apply the 9 steps. Group 1 will present lesson plans the first week back..Group 2 presents the second week back.

Mental Note #2: Don’t come to class for the next two weeks...if you do you are going to be very lonely.

Mental Note #3: And don’t forget about the Saturday classes. It will be in BH 170 from 9-5 pm. Bring FOOD!!!

Leslie Rule came in and invited us to the KQED Digital Storytelling Festival on Saturday and Sunday and Narrative Archeology on Friday from 6-9pm (using iPaqs w/ GPS for the storytelling).

HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK: Humanity is the ultimate learning community...and hopefully all of us are on the insider trajectory? Are we on a boundary trajectory?

Thoughts?


Visit the ITEC 800 website at:
http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~foreman/itec800/index.htm

Visit moodle at:
https://ilearn.sfsu.edu

===================================
Matt Harris
Director of Technology
Ronald C. Wornick Jewish Day School

WeeK 6 - Meaningful Learning and Schema Theory -- No prior knowledge present

Here we are again...and I think I actually got everything done. I rechecked Muddle about 5 times, clicked on every link and I think I got it figured out...

Meaningful learning and schema learning theory have various requirements. Meaningful learning requires 1. Learner’s condition 2. Learning Environment as a foundation for good learning. Schema learning theory includes the what and the how. What is the item, procedure, etc. and How do I identify it and its key features. For example, what is a dog? How do I recognize a dog if I have never seen it before. But for this to work, you have to build upon prior knowledge.

We talked about learning experiences related to meaningful learning for the week. It was interesting and engaging to hear what people had to say. Some people had personal learning experiences, others had personal teaching experiences. Each learning experience was rooted in EXPERIENCE. The best way to learn is through meaningful experience.

Bartlett experimented with effects of prior knowledge...this lead us to an experiment. Dr. Foreman took 7 volunteers...I was not one of them...I decided to observe (if you believe that I have a bridge to show you). Dr. Foreman told a story to the first person to come back in and had that person tell the story to the next person, and so on. It was amazing to hear what people remember from the story. People lost info from the story in the most interesting ways:
From
#1-#2: Names and specific details were lost (dynasty, symbol meanings, character names), change from mirror to glass
#2-#3: More details, (loss of # of roosters, rafters) maintained the meaning of the dream concept
#3-#4: loss of more details especially of the dream, additions of “folktale”
#4-#5: Added the “farmer”, changed the order of the meaning of the dream
#5-#6: Not much loss
#6-#7: Not much loss
#7- Dr. Foreman: Only detail from the dream was the broken glass, he visit a Buddhist Monk, all become clear when you become king, and the Buddhist Monk becomes and advisor.

The only constants throughout the storytelling was the concept of the dream, the fact it was a Korean Tale, and the person who had the dream became king...the rest was misinterpreted or lost.

--- This really makes you think about human history. Quite a bit of human history was maintained through storytelling and folklore...if stories were told over centuries how much was lost? How reliable is our non-written history? But then one realizes that the meaning survives...that is the beauty of human memory, we keep what is important and hold on tight.

Another learning quiz...I am glad she isn’t grading these because I don’t retain details from a book very well at all!

• OK yeah...this one was harder. Period. Discovering the answers in the book took a bit of time.
  

Gestalt theory — visual interpretation theory, “the whole is more than the sum of its parts” ,
The following create cohesion and meaning

• proximity
• similarity
• continuity
• closure
  

Memory theory:

• Organize – put things into categories
• Loci Method – visualizing locations of items
• Initial letter – take the first letter and make a word out it
• Rhyming – Use rhyming with phrases
• Imagery – form a mental picture of the word in action
• Pegword – for when order matters, object association rhyming with the number in the order
  

And of course, we couldn’t have an ITEC 800 class without talking about Muddle...we are responsible for all assignments on the old site linked on to Moodle, but only post the ones that ask for posts.

Mental note: Look at the lesson plan and get ready to present it to the class after our 2 week break.

Highlight of the week: Memory is SO interpretive. It is amazing what we remember, how we remember, and why we remember. Is it that we choose what to remember on a subconscious level? Why do I remember traumatic events more than peaceful ones? Why can’t I keep items from the text in my head for more than a day...it sure isn’t staying in short-term memory? I think we are in charge of our own memory, it just takes discipline and effort to get it to really work for you.

Thoughts?

===================================
Matt Harris
Director of Technology
Ronald C. Wornick Jewish Day School

Week 5 - Information Processing Model (if memory serves...)

Muddle, er, Moodle has struck me again... I kept visiting the ilearn site all week so I could make sure I knew what was due this week, but there was an Assignment due this week that either was mentioned in class (which is the most likely answer) or I just did not understand where to look for it. Well, we had a graphical representation of the Information Processing Model due...yeah, I missed that...or MAYBE, I failed to retrieve learned information because of a failure to encode, retrieve, or through interference.

To start the class, we had a discussion about the Research topic and the Glossary in Moodle. By the end of the term, each student is supposed to have researched a topic related to learning. Mine, obviously, is Blogging. Through the research, we are supposed to add a one page into the glossary about our research topics. In our summary of the concept, we are supposed to formulate how specific learning theories are applied. This, of course, all leads to our final project and our personalized learning theory.

I am still grappling with my own theory. Right now, I think my learning theory is one of personalized learning. I think there are so many factors into learning, there is no Silver Bullet (as they say in software development). Each person learns differently...it is figuring out their learning modality that provides the real challenge.

Mental note: Comment on 2 other people’s forum entries.

Dr. Foreman also highlighted the BLOG and how I am going to attach the blog posts to Muddle (darn I did it again...Moodle) each week...in fact I am typing this blog entry while she is talking about it... I wonder if people will find this useful...

Pop Quiz...not graded...this was a review of Behaviorism (through Information Processing, BTW). The quiz asked specifics about what we learned last week, not the spirit of what was learned. We had to even recall the inventors of certain theories...was this to illustrate a point of the IPM? Then we had to verify our answers...I won’t repeat the words I used when I realized how many I had gotten wrong...
- For me, I did not learn anything from the quiz itself...but after our group discussion I saw strong value in the test. Is that not constructivism?

Another Pop quiz, of sorts...this time we were separated into two groups...I have no idea what the other group did, but we were shown 20 items for 60 secs then sat down and wrote down what we remembered. I think I made up some of my responses...we’ll see.
OK, I thought we were the control group...we were not. We received instruction and hints, the other group was on their own. I got 18...I missed the Post-Its and the Screwdriver (tho I will say I thought there were post-its and wrote it down, but put a question mark down)
- The control group did really well. They should have averaged 7, but they averaged 15. We actually had someone get 20 and someone get 19.

The short term memory should only be able to hold 7 +/- 2 items, but we learn how strategies and techniques to encode that information so it doesn’t just die there. I think mine are all sub-conscious...I just remember, but others have mnemonic devices and story telling to keep that information around. How can we use this with students?

Knowledge is broken down into facts, concepts, procedures, and principles. With knowledge we can 1. remember (recollect info), 2. use (apply information), and 3. find (discover deeper meaning).

From the video, I remember the following the most: SCHEMA – Frameworks of pre-conception, physical alteration associated with memory, PEG WORD MNEMONIC associating using related concepts, Chunking – rehearse to make the info stay longer, Memory is networked, memory is encoded – stored – retrieved.


Highlight of the week: I think that Information processing is a misnomer...there is little processing here, which is to say there is little evaluation or thought. I think it would be more aptly named Information Retention and Regurgitation Model.

Note: Quiz on Chapter 3 is probably coming next week. Look at page 76 for further information.

Thoughts?


Visit the ITEC 800 website at:
http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~foreman/itec800/index.htm

Visit moodle at:
https://ilearn.sfsu.edu

===================================
Matt Harris
Director of Technology
Ronald C. Wornick Jewish Day School

Week 4 -- Behaviorism at its finest (in a digital video storytelling format)

Oh, Behaviorism, where have you been all my life? Well, it has been around a lot longer than I have been alive, so all around me I guess.

We talk about Behaviorism in great detail in class tonight.

Before I talk about that, I am going to highlight something from the reading. I was always under the impression that Negative Reinforcement involved punishing the learning for incorrect behavior. But that type of reinforcement is aptly called Punishment. Negative Reinforcement actually refers to ignoring negative or incorrect behavior in favor of the positive.

Our OVERALL goal for the class: Come up with a personal learning theory?
- I kind of wonder where my bias and experience will play into that...I am already formulating a personal theory from what we have been discussing...will that change? I hope so...

The highlights of behaviorism (from a video we watch)

• Pavlov – conditioned response
• Stimulus – Response Theory — control stimulus creates controlled response
• John Watson -- “All behavior is learned”
• Skinner — observation and manipulation of conditions
• Operant Conditions — ABC — Antecedent (thirsty) Behavior (turn faucet) Consequence (reward w/ water)
• Positive Reinforcement – Add positive reinforcement
• Negative Reinforcement – Remove negative stimuli
• Theory of Behavior Modification — 1. Define objectives 2. Establish Operant Level 3. Identify Reinforcement 4. Execute Reinforcement 5. Evaluate Progress
• “Learning has only occurred when behavior has changed”
  

We also our instructor for digital storytelling from KQED. She showed us some emotionally moving examples from children where they used video, still, and iMovie to tell us something about themselves. We will be creating something similar in our 8 hour seminar (which is usually 2-3 days).
- One thing she mentioned was the death of the 5 paragraph essay... On a personal note, I think she is incorrect and I disagree with her. I think the art of writing is dying and that will hurt our children. Without the ability to cohesively formulate and support an argument on paper, children will not be able to communicate effectively in this world and will be left behind...but like I said, person opinion.

We signed up for one of two dates: October 28th or Nov 5th. As a result WE WILL NOT HAVE CLASS ON OCT 12 or OCT 19.

NOTE: For the Saturday class, come with the following: 10 images, music, and a half page (double spaced) written story for the movie.

For more info on KQED’s digital story telling initiative, visit: http://dsi.kqed.org/index.php

Highlight of the week: I am wondering if the digital story telling is really only a learning experience for the creator rather than the viewer. I think the learning experience is HEAVILY weighted in the learners corner.

Thoughts?


Visit the ITEC 800 website at:
http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~foreman/itec800/index.htm

Visit moodle at:
https://ilearn.sfsu.edu

===================================
Matt Harris
Director of Technology
Ronald C. Wornick Jewish Day School