Master of Arts
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Showcase of Work
Just as there are many ways to envision how a light bulb might be designed and look, I believe there are just as many ways that students can learn the content needed to be successful. It was with this thought that I chose the Master's in Educational Technology program because it was my desire to find new ways help students connect with content. In other words-light up more light bulbs! Below I present examples of work that showcase my desire and skill-set to help students reach and connect to the content, from theory to classroom to outreach.
Cognitive Theory Concept Map and Screencast
Mastering Theory
I would like to start with this project, because it really articulates where I come from and where I want to go as a teacher. This project, "How Technology Supports Learner-Centered Principals" combines a concept map, created using bubbl.us, and recorded using Screencast.com. The title really says it all. This combination of fast, free tools make it easy not only for my students to create their own products that have them build their understanding of a topic, but allow them to be at the center of the learning itself.
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Understanding Understanding Project
Mastering Theory
This website displays the information for the Understanding Understanding Project-completed as a small group during the summer hybrid program. This video research project was created in order to see how people understand their own knowledge of a particular topic or idea. We were placed in groups to formulate questions and record individuals explaining "how they know what they know". We then worked to edit and compile video footage and find, organize, and present information (in various formats) through our website. I really enjoyed completing this project because it helped me to understand the difference between "knowing" and "understanding" and how technology can play a role (good or bad) in creating those states. Our group chose to examine ideas about the shape of a raindrop.
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STand Alone Instructional Resource (STAIR)
Mastering Classroom Resources
Learning doesn't have to be "fun", but it should be engaging. Engaged learners are much more likely to connect and remember content, but it is often hard to achieve that when students have been absent or are better suited to learn outside of a large group. This STAIR utilized Microsoft PowerPoint to support students in uncovering how a bill become a law in the United States.
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The Wicked Problem Project
Mastering Classroom Resources
This project tasked us with solving a "wicked" (tough), real-world problem that we faced in our field and to come up with technological solution to it. During my student teaching, I was placed in a district that faced serious funding issues and we only had one classroom set of textbooks, with no way of having students access text outside of the one hour we saw them. Here I work through the issues surrounding the possible solution of providing students with tablets or e-readers in order to connect with the content. Working through the various steps to this problems really helped me develop the skills to not only analyze a problem thoroughly, but to decide if and what technology can be applied to remedy a situation.
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Online Course Management System "Mock-Up"
Mastering Classroom Resources
Username: Sparty Password: Sparty
Perhaps the most obvious way that technology and online learning helps students connect with content knowledge goals is that it gives them more "stuff" to work with: pictures, journal entries, videos, newspapers, paintings, podcasts, vidcasts, etc. But, it also gives them more ways to make content connections with each other and the world around them-blogging, discussion forums, video chats, and email, all give students a way to express themselves in an environment of endless tools to support them-dictionaries, translation tools, voice recording to name a few. The more times a student interacts with, and "manipulates" content, the more likely they are to retain that information. Nowhere does this come together better than in Course Management Systems (CMSs). After much exploration with other sites (i.e. Coursesites, Google Classroom, Edmodo, etc.) I have utilized Haiku to create a sample hybrid (classroom and online time) unit on American Imperialism.
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The DreamIT Project
Mastering outreach by leading with example
The focus of this particular piece is not so much about showcasing a tool or tech skill as it is demonstrating my understanding of just how powerful a role technology can play within my content area. The purpose of this project was to identify an issue of content that we would like to change for the better utilizing technology to help us obtain our goals. Through this project, which could serve as the foundation for a technology proposal, I explore the role of technology in helping students understand the construction, and problematic nature, of historical narrative.
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