CEP 800 Lesson Plan Reflection

IMPLEMENTATION REFLECTION

on

INTERVIEWING SKILLS

This lesson is intended for Career Explorations for 8^th grade (Middle School). Implementation was a huge success and provided students a different approach to learning and participating in the classroom. Students will participate in brief (5 - 10 minute) mock interviews to develop skills in the interviewing process. Students will work with Audacity, a free, audio editor and recorder to record and edit live audio, cut, copy, and mix sounds together. It will give students the opportunity to listen to themselves as others would hear them. Verbal communication in an interview is a critical element with you getting hired or not. A concern in the school environment is the ability for students to communicate orally and being able to express themselves through voice.

Students learned the importance of oral communication, dialect, and having self confidence. Students also learned how to use Audacity for future use in their educational pathway. In the state of Texas, we follow a curriculum guideline called the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills or commonly known as TEKS. This is the official K-12 curriculum for the state of Texas and details the curriculum requirements for every course. State-mandated standardized tests measure acquisition of specific knowledge and skills outlined in this curriculum. Using this guideline, students were introduced to the following TEKS:

• 2B - make oral presentations that fulfill specific purposes using appropriate technology
• 4E - effectively use information and communication technology tools
• 7B - describe appropriate appearance for an interview
• 7C - students should make oral presentation

          Constraints associated with the lesson is the length of class time at 55 minutes. Students felt rushed to get a good recording answering all interview questions. If students were not able to finish their interview, it was a little difficult to resume where they left off from the previous day.

          Students were able to teach and learn from each other with supervision and input from the teacher. Once all instructions were given on how to use Audacity, students were excited about using it. The student behavior was what I thought it would be. It was hard for students to listen to their own recording. This was the first time most of the students heard themselves. Most could not believe that was how their voice was being projected. As a result, students wanted to redo and correct mistakes that they believed they had made.

          My lesson plan was intended to supplement and enhance the learning of mock interviews. In the past, students interviewed each other, but had no real evidence of how that did or came across to the interviewer. Modifications were provided for students by allowing note cards to be used and assistance from the teacher with editing Audacity.

          Teachers should have an understanding of how interviews works and what interviewers are looking for during the process. Teachers and students need to know the basic use of recording and editing using Audacity. I actively monitored the class to make sure participation from both students were ongoing. During this time I would ask students how everything was going and students provided feedback on what they thought about the interview process and how they felt about answering the questions. Each student was responsible for their own recording and must be able to show me their recording document for me to listen to.

          The role of technology is a major part in the lesson. Audacity gives you the advantage of being able to playback your interview and assess your thoughts on the process. Using this type of technology students were able to take ownership of their learning process. Students had basic question about the how the should answer certain interview questions. The technology part of the assignment , the students were motivated to learn that on their own.

          At the end of the lesson, students understood how important it is to sound professional during the interview process. Students now understand that they have to be able to communicate with all types of people.

CEP 800 Digital Storytelling

CEP 800 Audio Production

Click here to listen to my interview with two students from my Web Technology class, answering "How Email Works

Wicked Problem Project

Link to screencast Wicked Problem

Wicked Problem Project

(Authored by Marcus Clark)

CEP 812

Fall 2011

The Educational Need

One responsibility we have as educator, which is critical, is to improve the learning of our students. Having the ability to provide the correct assessment is both challenging and rewarding and shows what learning has taken place or lack of. Student assessment is for both student and teacher. The more we as educators know about students and their learning experiences, the better we can meet learning needs and establish a positive learning environment.

The Solution

Students learn a concept better when they have to teach it or when they have the resources that provide hands on experimentation. With student created tutorials, future students have a database of resources to refer to. Peer tutoring is a great way for students to hear and see information in new and refreshing ways. Students will use programs such as, but not limited to, Jing, Movie Maker, Prezi, Screencast, PowerPoint, Blogs, and Wikis. For example, students will take an objective like saving a file, and use Jing to capture their screen and record the steps to complete the task. After the completion of the recorded tutorial, students will watch other classmate’s videos and follow their tutorial. Students who viewed their video will in return provide feedback.

Scope

Using technology for student assessment will be ongoing throughout the school year. The tool will be used after each objective and standard has been taught or after each chapter is completed. Its important to ensure that students have an understanding of the objective and standard being taught before moving to the next one. If a student fails to understand say Chapter 1, the student will not connect to Chapter 2, which builds on information learned from the previous chapter. Students in grades 10 through 12, in Business Information Management (BIM) will be exposed to this type of learning, but is open to any educator, or any class that wants to incorporate it into their lesson design.

The Research

I discovered forums like The National Teaching and Learning Forum, where teachers collaborate through email and blog usage. There are many teachers who have showed interest in addressing the educational need of student assessment. Articles from NCET and ALTER will be used such as "Using Technology to Assess Student Learning", along with information from programs such as Prezi, Screencast, Movie Maker, and PowerPoint. 
Google and Yahoo were the main search engines to provide information that was viable. It was difficult to find exact resources containing the exact phrase I was searching for. While performing this search I didn’t realize how much reading was necessary. It’s important to get a full understanding of the information that is presented to determine if it relates and can be applied to the goal I am searching for. Next time I perform a search for resources, I would search more using online libraries for books and articles.

Application of TPACK

Implementing technology to improve student assessment will require the educator to continue learning as technology advances. Each tool that is capable of providing assessment will need to be explored by the teacher to get a full understanding of how it should be used in class. Jing will provide a visual of what the student understanding of how to perform at task really is. For example, having a student change the line spacing in a document. Having students use Jing to show how to complete this task will show if students actually know how to perform the task without taking unnecessary steps. The steps should show the student right clicking and selecting paragraph, then click on indents and spacing, and finally changing the line spacing. This tool will also require the student to practice the performance task repeatedly before applying and recording their steps.

The use of Prezi should be considered as a tool for teaching presentations. Prezi will be used as a substitute and extension of learning Microsoft PowerPoint and Open Office Impress/Presentation This software allows the student to play with the various visual elements and transitions, making it easier to create standard PowerPoint presentations. The use of Prezi is similar to what was done earlier when learning to create slide-show presentations. By allowing students to explore with different visual presentations, it changes the attitude of learning how to present a powerful standing presentation of information. The Prezi software opens up a new world between whiteboards and slides that was not available prior to this technology.

Effective teaching comes with an awareness of the common misconceptions and ways of looking at them. There is a misconception from students that to have a good PowerPoint presentation, there needs to be loads of information and images covering a slide. Students will be taught the importance of quality not quantity. There are multiple alternative teaching strategies that may be applied. For example, providing strict guidelines of what the teacher wants to see. Nothing more and nothing less. A second strategy may consist of having no boundaries, letting the student think on their own. Leading to the educator providing individual feedback to each student. To extend the learning and understanding of the student, that same information used in the PowerPoint can be applied to the software Prezi. Students will be able to see a difference in presentation styles among the programs and decide which works better for that particular assignment. This allows students to make connections between the learning objectives and content ideas.

Plan for Implementation

The plan for implementation during this course will require me to adjust the daily lesson plan delivery to my students. I will need to rework the time frame for each objective and standard being taught. Student created tutorials will require me giving the students time to create their projects based on what they have learned. I'm estimating an additional 2 weeks for completion. 

The assessment will become deeper as a result of what I have learned during the course and the work on my Wicked Project. For next year or next semester for my students, a plan will be in devised that includes a time frame that has a place for creating student tutorials.

I will know that I was successful based on the student’s ability to collect and analyze the standards taught and present that information correctly using technology. Throughout the course, students will be commenting on each tutorial created and provide commentary if and when the learner used the information. Based on the tutorials used, I will be able to tell if the students received an understanding of the standards. In their presentation, students must show each step to what they are trying to explain. For example, saving a file, students will use a program such as Jing to show and describe the steps that will show the visitor how to save a file.

Click here to view this implementation.

Formative

The project was not quite implemented as plan, although we as a class were able to accomplish the task, I wanted every student to have access to Jing on their own computer. The main objective of this assignment was to assess if the students learned and were able to save a file correctly. When it was all said and done, the project was implemented.

Summative

Overall, I was impressed with how quickly students learned to use Jing. We explored both screen shots and video capturing with this assignment. The project was to create a tutorial on how to save a file. The objective of the assignment was to assess students understanding of how to save a file. After the completion of the assignment, students will view another student’s project to see if the tutorial works. Students will access student blogs to view and provide a comment to two other students. Click here to view one student’s tutorial on how to save a file.

Recommendations

I would have the IT staff in our district to load the software onto the student’s computers before the beginning of the school year. Given the slow delay that students were experiencing with Jing, I would look into using or having another program on standby such as Screencast-O-Matic. To ensure quality voice recordings, I would locate a room that was big enough and one with carpet to reduce noise distractions.

I would recommend others who would like to implement the use of Jing or any other similar program to make sure that the program is available to every student. Also make sure that you have enough equipment for all students to use. If students are not actively engaged in the project, you may experience behavior problems. Be proactive and have additional work available to those who are waiting for other students to finish.

In Conclusion

You now know that the technological pedagogical content knowledge refers to the knowledge and understanding of the interplay between CK, PK and TK when using technology for teaching and learning according to the article, (What is Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge? by Schmidt, Thompson, Koehler, Shin, and Mishra). Students are fully engaged while taking responsibility for their own learning. Not only are students just learning anymore, they are becoming an expert in the standards and objectives set by the teacher, and progressing into peer educators.

By viewing instructional screen casts, most students learn how to successfully complete an objective. Students are able to transfer their knowledge of the concepts involved in the process and apply it to their created tutorials. I will continue to use screen capturing and recordings in my classroom. I believe that it will provide a new way for students to learn and become comfortable performing the objectives and standards of the class. On the next project, I want students to create tutorials using Jing to show how to bold, italicize, underline, and change the color of the font and type.

Group Leadership Project

Part 1 - Moodle
Part 2 - Moodle
Part 3 - Moodle

We decided as a group to use Prezi for the visual presentation and Jing as the video recorder to facilitate online. Prezi was an easy choice for us to make because of all the great features that are provided. Inserting media into our presentation was simple and provided a high quality result. Jing was chosen because of the familiarity and the simplicity of use. Jing allowed the video recording to be uploaded to Screencast, a free online storage and sharing program in just one click.

During the development process of the final product, I learned about features in Moodle that I didn’t know existed. I also learned that to produce a successful project, you need to communicate on a regular basis through all means of contacts. Kyle and I stayed in touch constantly to offer assistance and input when needed. I also learned organization played a huge role in the completion of our project. We used the skills that each possessed and maximized our strengths for the betterment of the project.

If I had to do this assignment again, I would create a more detailed time line for myself, which would eliminate the “deadline feeling”. The earlier you are able to complete an assignment, the more time you have to think “how can I make this assignment better”. At the end of the day, being on the same page as a group allowed for a great experience.

Professional Learning Plan

Professional Learning Plan on Prezi

My Professional Learning Plan for CEP 812, Fall 2011.

In my personal growth plan, I want to make a difference in how we, as a district, use the technology that is available. One of my technology goals is to design a program for our CTE department that “makes sense”. I have been discussing ways to improve our department with our curriculum director. I have been asked to provide documentation and resources about creating a better CTE design. We have had meetings to discuss how we can improve our department that will be beneficial to the education of the students.

During my course work in CEP 810, an area of weakness that I needed to improve in was group work and collaboration. I wanted to initiate group contact and be more of a presence. I feel that I have made positive steps in accomplishing this goal. During CEP 812's group leadership project over a Course Management System, I made myself available to the group by providing my cell phone number, email addresses, and with the use of Google Docs and Vyew for communication. It is evident that I have made a conscious effort by the number of contacts I have made with the group.

The second goal that I set, was to implement what I have learned into my classrooms. This goal has been reached and is continuing to get better. This year, students were exposed to screen capturing and recording. The assignment involved students being able to teach other students how to use tools in a writing document such as Microsoft Word. Students created tutorials that will be used to teach upcoming students that are enrolled in my class. Students will be able to access these resources through my Course Management System created with Haiku.

A goal that I want to have accomplished between now and next summer is having my class 85% online. There is a great deal of work that I will need to complete and organize. One major tool that I will need to complete is my Course Management System, which I am currently working on. I have chosen to use Haiku and is currently in the process of building and updating it regularly. Having it available for students will give them a set place to go if they have any questions about what is expected of them and the goals and objectives of the class.

I plan to continue learning all I can about emerging technologies, with the help of my professors and members of the MAET community.

PART D - Findings and Implications

Part D: Findings and Implications

The project was not quite implemented as planned, although we as a class were able to accomplish the task, I wanted every student to have access to Jing on their own computer. The main objective of this assignment was to assess if students learned and were able to save a file correctly. When it was all said and done, the project was implemented.

Overall, I was impressed with how quickly students learned to use Jing. We explored both screen shots and video capturing with this assignment. The project was to create a tutorial on how to save a file. The objective of the assignment was to assess students understanding of how to save a file. After the completion of the assignment, students will view other student projects to see if the tutorial works. Students will access student blogs to view and provide a comment to two other students. Click here to view one students tutorial on how to save a file.




I would have the technology staff in our district to load the software onto the students computers before the beginning of the school year. Given the slow delay that students were experiencing with Jing, I would look into using or having another program on standby such as Screencast-O-Matic. To ensure quality voice recordings, I would locate a room that was big enough with carpet to reduce noise distractions.




I would recommend others who would like to implement the use of Jing or any other similar program to make sure that the program is available to every student. Also make sure that you have enough equipment for all students to use. If students are not actively engaged in the project, you may experience behavior problems. Be proactive and have additional work available to those who are waiting for other students to finish.

I will continue to use screen capturing and recordings in my classroom. I believe that it will provide a new way for students to learn and become comfortable performing the objectives and standards of the class. On the next project, I want students to create tutorials using Jing to show how to bold, italicize, underline, and change the color of the font.