Final Week

I thought this week of assessment and hardware/software evaluations was good. We had to also complete our Pecha Kucha presentation and I honestly say that this has been difficult for me. I can't seem to get the slides to auto advance while I record into VoiceThread. Since I am leaving a comment, VT believes I am leaving a comment for just that one slide and will not advance until I am done. I find it difficult to advance the slide myself after exactly 20 seconds so I am trying to rely on the automatic advance, which of course isn't working for me. Hopefully I will get this soon.

The evaluation of software was interesting, but I believe we may have evaluated a few of these programs in another class. Even though I didn't get the same thing as last time (which would have been bad), I still found that Author Stream was a solid program. Group 1 has three online presentation programs that compete against PowerPoint.

I can see trying out a few of these online options with my students, however because they are online and our network is undergoing some renovations, I may wait until our network is a bit more reliable until moving to an entirely online option. I will have to explore more of these options to make an informed decision on which one would be best for my students. There are so many options out there and we all want the program to do everything that PowerPoint can do and more. Isn't it funny how some of us will compare things to PowerPoint, even when there are better programs to use?

Week Four

Wow, what a week (or two) it has been. We've learned so much and the text, DigiTales, has demonstrated that the more we learn, the more we learn how much we don't really know. But it is nice to hear that we can only learn what is necessary. Beyond that, we will learn as we need to.

I've found that there are a lot of different elements to creating a digital story. The use of Animoto is awesome because of ease. I even had a class use it to show me some holiday photos this year and the posts are coming in like crazy. My students really like it and I've heard some of them say that they plan to use it outside of class. I think that is great, but once their membership runs out after 6 months, they'll have to get a free version. :)

Another aspect to telling stories in a digital world involve recording a voice over. This is where I am most afraid because my best stories involve feedback from my audience. In a digital story, the only feedback is that of your computer screen, which if you haven't noticed, isn't much at all.

Integrating pictures and images can be challenging as well, however the photo a day assignment was very useful in helping us take photos of things we wouldn't have seen before. It was sometimes difficult to post every day, but it was easy once I got onto the computer. I'm looking forward to finalizing our last project and finishing this course. It was fun and a lot of hard work went into creating these digital stories.

Week Three

I'm having a lot of fun with this class. There are so many different sites out there that I had no clue about, until this class. Thanks Louis! I love the VoiceThread site, and it looks like Animoto will be awesome too, but I'm currently waiting for the registration process to be accepted.

The readings this week were great, especially in Presentation Zen. I go a lot out of the different slide techniques and when I revised my original presentation, I tried to use as many of the Zen ideas as possible. I feel really good about it but I also feel as though I can do much more with it. I was a little overwhelmed with revising it though because I chose a presentation that had 29 slides in it to start. Revising that proved took a while longer than I expected, however I think the revision was well worth it...at least it's a step in the right direction.

I'm not sure if Overwhelmed is strong enough...

This week I found myself struggling to keep up. What a challenging week of assignments and not to use it as an excuse, but it's difficult not having the weekend to work on projects because of Military commitments. But, I'm still working and things are getting done, just not as quickly as I thought based on the time it should take to complete each project.

This week we learned a great deal about impacting your audience through a more simplistic format. Planning a presentation by going analog - getting away from the computer and back to using simpler forms of creating ideas that focus on what is most important for a presentation. I found this to be most informative as I typically would stare at the computer screen attempting to discover something that I am supposed to present about. Usually this does occur, but after how long of sitting there and re-writing countless times. Simple planning and getting away from technology would be better suited for presentations.

Presentations that lack stickiness are often not well remembered, in which case you have audience members leaving wondering if they will ever get those 20 minutes back. That is not a desired response from your audience. However, proper planning and focus can turn the most boring topic into a fun and exciting time.

I remember teaching a unit that discussed how to count rhythm. This was before we had an Interactive White Board in my classroom, but it used old images of rhythms and I would draw notes and ask students to count it, without really teaching them much of anything. Now, with the help of the Smart Board, the presentation and the lesson are more much enjoyable and educational as the students can write answers, discover what was wrong and what was write.

This week was very difficult and I hope that next week is slightly less intense. But I am really enjoying taking pictures everyday and posting them on Posterous.

Digital Storytelling, Week 1

Wow, what a first week of class. I am very excited to learn about this topic of digital storytelling and how it can influence my future presentations and/or family. This week we read the Presentation Zen and I learned a great deal about how to better my future presentations to make them more effective (which is always a goal of mine), but also to really feel that my students may actually retain the information presented.

The first part of the book discussed how the use of PowerPoint has been a negative on many presentations around the world. The use of this program, or really any slide-share program, must be thought out carefully and deliberately. Each presentation is different so if a presentation does not need such technology, don't complicate the issue by adding it.

We also read about digital storytelling in the book DigiTales. This book is a great tool as it discusses how each one of us can tell our own stories, and keep them in a digital world...forever. I think of my Nana, who is approaching 90 years this upcoming year, and how awesome it would be to document her life growing up in Minnesota and joining the Marine Corps. Moving to Hawaii and meeting my grandfather, who was also a Marine, eventually falling in love, having 5 children and eventually settling down in Wisconsin. Digital storytelling is all about collecting those memories and documenting them, including printed photo's, documents, or other stories, and putting them all together into one presentation. What a great opportunity.

We also learned a great deal about how presentations online can be great stories, and some not so great. I viewed a few sites from the digital storytelling site and found some interesting sites that I would not ordinarily search. These are still great tools, even if just to learn what not to do.

Great week, looking forward to the rest.

The Interactives

I really enjoyed "The Interactive" idea located on the learner.org web site. I worked through the cinema interactive to see how this idea would work for high school students in the arts. I was thrilled to see how the student would learn about just everything involving the cinema. All the way from the brief history of screenwriters to the grip, actors, camera person, or director. The student can then create and interact with the site by doing things like writing a short scene to be included in the cinema. It also allowed the student to try producing their own film, asking them to manage everything involved in creating a movie. The interactive part involves the student making the choices leading up to the actual creation of the film.

I thought this was a great strategy in showing students how one decision can make or break a particular concept, assignment, or life situation. This is a great tool for teaching ideas that fit "outside the box."

Concepts in Module 4

This week's strategies discussed identifying similarities and differences, homework and practice, and generating testing and hypotheses. I can say as a music teacher that there is a strong possibility I will not use some of these concepts in my classes, there are some that warrant thoughts and possible implementation in our curriculum.

Identifying Similarities and Differences: I understand this strategy is potentially very beneficial in other courses of study, however in music the way I use this is by identifying to the student how a performance or performer sounds compared to ours. I use specific examples in class by playing a recording of a professional group performing a certain selection or type of piece we may be working on for our concert. I sometimes avoid playing the exact piece for the class as I want the students to develop their own "ear" for how their music fits into the entire ensemble. However if I demonstrate a professional group performing a similar piece, I can show how that groups sounds and discuss how we can improve to make our group sound as good as the professional group. We are always making goals to help students strive for the very best, but these goals are realistic and worked on in lessons and sectional work.

Homework and Practice: Here is where we have really changed our strategies this year. In the past, our goal was to get students to practice a certain number of minutes each week. What we found was that students were ultimately changing the truth on these "practice charts" and sometimes even forging a parents signature before turning in for credit. We then went to a system where the student had to diagnosis some simple goals for each practice session and document the goals, then play specific etudes and/or exercises to help achieve the goals of the practice time, and then work on concert specific material. All of this was written on a "practice record" that documented the students practice time by use of written concepts. This was a great step forward but not quite what we needed to accomplish good student practicing.

We are now piloting a program called Smart Music. This computer based subscription helps students become involved in practicing by showing them on the computer screen what was done correctly and identify what was done incorrectly. The students are now given instant feedback and assessed on each performance of the music, lesson, or etude. Not only do students have access to the one book they may have been learning from before, but now they have the ability to work out of older books, other concert band and/or jazz band music, they can record their own music, work on scales, exercises and etudes specific to their instrument, and all of this is right on their computer screen. The student can practice and perform the assignment however long they wish and each time the system records the student so s/he can hear exactly what they sound like. It will then help identify for the student where the focus should be. This is not in any way a replacement for teacher instruction because it doesn't "teach" the student the concepts, but rather assess if the student is performing a concept or exercise up to a specific level of achievement.

Generating Testing and Hypotheses: This strategy ties in with what was discussed above. The analysis of the student work is tested within the smart music program. The student must then hypothesize the correct outcome and work to achieve a higher level of performance. This is done with the help of the teacher to show and demonstrate how to achieve such a level. However it is on the student to be tested on the concept that was assigned and be able to perform it at a level required for each grade level.

Module 3

It took me a while to complete this assignment because I was moving into our new home. This past summer, our home was destroyed in the Tornado that struck Eagle. What I thought was going to be the end to a very long summer/fall for my family by moving into our new home, has left me unfulfilled. My wife is really struggling with our new home. I can't blame her! It's been a difficult time for all of us here and with a 9 month old baby, it makes the situation even more challenging. As I'm sure you can tell, I'm hanging on by a very short thread. I'm trying to be as strong as possible for my wife and daughter, but I leave for work every day and my wife stays home with our Ella. I know this is off topic, but it's just something I needed to get out in the open.

Back on topic, I explored three of the following sites; Exploratree, Webspiration, and CmapTools. Each brought a different way of mapping ideas.

ExploraTree was a great site to use that had pre-made idea trees and many different maps. To get students thinking outside the box, this site would be good to see the whole picture of an idea or topic for future research.

Webspiration took the idea map to a whole new level. I like the different colors for each idea the maps give automatically. Webspiration looks like Exploratree, just 5 steps ahead.

CmapTools I did not enjoy as much. The opening page was nice because of its simplicity, however I felt that my students would struggle to find the small icons under specific parts of the map. This made things confusing as you had to hunt more for the map you wanted or needed.

Reflection on strategies this week

It's funny, but I have been thinking about this post for a while now and have discovered that I recall much easier the lessons that have gone bad compared to those that have gone well. Is that unusual? I find myself evaluating why a specific lesson had gone badly and reflected on how to make improvements. However when I think back to lessons that have gone well, I guess I did not make the mental reflection or spent time thinking about it again because it went well.

Throughout this degree program, I have learning about all of these exciting programs and/or online systems to use in my classroom. The conflict I am currently facing is what to use that will best fit my students? At my district, we are learning a lot about new technologies and what it is new that can help students better learn the material. However with all of the information on what is new and always changing, I do not want to become a teacher who constantly switches between programs. I don't think it is an issue of always wanting the newest/best option, it is more about settling down with one choice and I have not found that one system yet that does everyone I want it to do. Should I lower my expectations and realize that every piece of technology has its limitations? Given that technology is so advanced and in a constant state of flux, I don't believe I should sacrifice my high expectations. I expect the best out of my students and I hope that my students expect the best from me.

Feedback

An article we had to read this week was entitled Feedback that Fits, by Susan M. Brookhart. The discussion was on how to improve feedback to students so that learning for that child is paramount. Often times teachers can get into a routine of one type of feedback, immediate. This isn't always the best way and usually is not an efficient way to teach the student anything at all.

Feedback can be constructive but also demonstrate to the student the need for a possible other solution. The arts is a great way to help students develop this level of thinking. Often time, students in the arts are motivated to continue working on particular task but in order to complete the task, there might be a series of alternate options.

Teachers should learn that to truly get students to learn what it is we're teaching them, we have to empower the students and help with motivation and praise. Praise is not simply given outright, but used in a manner than motivates the student to discover another possible way of completing the assignment. Relating the feedback to the goal of the assignment is necessary for the student to understand where s/he must improve. We may be surprised at the outcome when a student understands what it means to fix something but not have the teacher point out the solution.

Reflection on the meta-analysis of teaching and learning

This was a bit heavy on the data than I usually read. But the work was done and for that I am grateful that I didn't have to do it. :)

I found from the reading that in classes where technology was used moderately (approximately 20% or more of the time), students were found to be more on task significantly more than in classes where technology wasn't used, or used infrequently. This wasn't much of a surprise to me however if a teacher finds a way to enhance the curriculum using technology, can that be measured in time using technology if the students are gaining an better understanding of the material?

There needs to be more research done on this topic and the meta-analysis even shows how this analysis can be effected by policymakers and the money spent on such studies. When researching these areas, recognition is needed to each individual school/classroom in which the research is done.

Reflection on Principles of Teaching and Learning

The article from Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence entitled Principles of Teaching and Learning is a great learning tool for teachers. The topics covered offer tips to teachers on different learning strategies and assessment ideas.

I found this article to be very worthwhile by its examples to the different content areas in teaching. As educators, we develop skills to help us multi-task and manage many ways in which to teach the material. It encourages teachers to try new ideas like simulations or using technology to enhance the current curriculum.

In the article, it separated the learner and teacher. I was particularly interested in the learner #5, where it discussed setting clearly defined goals for the students and then following up with each student by providing clear feedback. I think this is great when done consistently. Teachers have a huge job and if we can set goals for our students and help them achieve those goals by providing feedback to each task, students learn how to better organize their work.

Reflecting on teacher principle #7, effective teaching involves refining our courses based on feedback and reflection. I do this with every class I teach. I provide my students with a detailed exit survey that can be anonymous and helps me better my skills and keep the curriculum current and relevant.

Last Week

This last week, actually two weeks, has been awesome. We have learned a great deal involving copyright law, ethics and security to children while on the internet at school/library. These are great topics that really give teachers valuable resources to help students learn how be safe while on the internet.

Personally, I believe teachers go through copyright pretty regularly but may not understand all aspects. For example, last year we had a teacher create a power point on Black History Month and wanted to display it over our CCTV (Closed Circuit TV). She had to add music it the presentation and she wanted to simply get tracks from current CDs. Luckily we were able to help her find public domain music to add to the presentation and informed her that she needed to site the sources of her project. She had no idea about the music and was happy that we helped.

Research on Search Engines and Alerts

I found this weeks assignments to be very interesting. We have been working on search engines, Google Alerts, and the value of Wikipedia. These topics have been great to research and learn about because it is not something that I actively think about when I am on the internet or searching and doing research.

I admittedly do not use Wikipedia but after the assignment this week, I may begin using it more frequently. I think I will always be a little skeptical on the accuracy but as long as I understand that going into the site, I can be successful with my research.

I really enjoyed learning about Google Alerts. This is where you can set up a topic, say for example Milwaukee Summer Festivals. Google alerts will e-mail you news, blogs, videos, or everything based on that search topic. You can then select how frequently this alert is sent to you and how many results are sent. This is a great tool to use for finding out news in your community or school district. I have found that the larger the district, the less information is sent to staff regarding community news, happenings, or even news about the district. Google alerts will help solve that issue.

Where have you been?

Dear Blog, I am sorry I have not written in a while. Let's just say, this is a summer that will never be forgotten. I've missed you and I'm sure you have missed me, so let's move forward and I will tell you all about the summer some other time. :)

I am now onto my forth class in the program and it is called Internet Learning Resources. I am very excited about this course because I feel that I need probably the most work on this topic than any of the others we have encountered thus far. However, I say that with great reservations as I am also trying to catch up on work from the previous course, so I am working simultaneously on projects from two different courses.

As stated in one of the classes, this program is teaching so much more than I ever expected to go. I was overly confident when we started the cohort, but am now realizing that my knowledge of the internet was just scratching the surface. I know it is a little cliche to say, but feel that the more courses I take the more I realize how much I do not know about the internet and it's possibilities.

Course Reflection

In the past several weeks, I've learned so many things about computers that I either didn't know before, or thought I knew but really had no idea. There were so many components to a computer that it is necessary to do a lot of research to find the right thing for the job that is needed.

I'm not going to lie, this course was a lot of work. But I don't think there is much to be done about that because every assignment had a purpose that must be covered in this course before we move forward. The only other thing I could think of doing as an alternative would be to lengthen the course slightly to give a little more time for the reflection aspect.

For almost each assignment, we needed to reflect on our process in our blog or comment on other students' work. This was necessary for some sort of "classroom discussion," but it was also time consuming given the other massive assignments. Don't get me wrong, after thinking about it, it makes sense to have that portion of the course. However, I had a hard time keeping up with the reflection part.

This was a great course and I learned a great deal about computers. I am excited that we are all now on equal footing when it comes to computers, so now the program can move forward together and we can keep learning as much as possible.

Holy Computers Batman!

I'll just go on the record right now by saying that I "thought" I knew about computers, but really it was just a fantasy. The course I'm currently taking, Computer Systems: How They Work, really opened my eyes to ideas and technologies I had not known about before.

It it an understatement to say that I've learned a lot. This particular course offers a wealth of information in a very short period of time. I am surprised at how much we have done these past 6 weeks. All of the information we have learned has connected to my personal and professional life. Although I am not allowed to take apart a computer at school and fix it (replacing memory or hard drives, etc), I am now comfortable doing that on my own home computers. I have even begun researching how to update my current 4 year old desktop. With the knowledge I learned in this course, I realized that I will be able to update the computer by only updating specific components and not the entire computer. This knowledge will be extremely useful in the future and give me the confidence to do minor repairs at home.

We all know that technology is always evolving, but what I have learned recently has built my confidence in my computer knowledge and many of the day to day tasks on the computer and/or network. My wife and I have a wireless network with a networked printer, 2TB RAID backup drive, 3 owned computers and 1 business computer, and 2 gaming systems that use the wireless network. We have a new daughter in our family so of course we are taking loads of pictures. Learning about backup and security has just reaffirmed my philosophy of maintaining proper home security. I hope to teach my daughter this when she gets older so that she is safe when technology is advancing all around her. As parents, we will need to make plans to keep her safe and keep our information secure.

Managing My Computer

Managing a computer can be a lengthy task. So many aspects of it come into consideration. Perhaps one of the biggest reason why some of us have difficulty managing our computers is time. We believe that this process takes so much of our time, yet we fail, or maybe just forget, to understand that the alternative can and will be much more time consuming that we ever imagined.

For those of us who have ever had a computer crash or get a virus, we understand what time it takes to get your system up and running again. What about the files you ask, well if you hadn't backed up your system or protected your files, you have just lost it all.

The funny thing is, many of the things we should do to protect our computers really don't take all that much time at all. Something that I do to help me keep my system in good shape is that I setup calendar reminders. Simply set up a task item in your calendar and have it repeat itself every two weeks, or every month. Doesn't matter, you set the schedule however you feel best.

One of my favorite programs to run is CCleaner. This program scans your system for unnecessary files and deletes them. Files like cookies, internet pages, and yes, it will even scan your registry for those lines of code that weren't removed when you uninstalled that program.

Beyond using the CCleaner I also protect my computer using Nortan Symantec security systems (download from the US Army - only the best), and more recently my wife and I purchased a network drive to back up our computers. I have never felt that my files were more safe than they are right now. (Hopefully making that statement didn't just jinx me!)

We were able to purchase a RAID drive so everything is backed up twice, without us having to do it manually. If you don't know about RAID, it is basically a redundant drive that mirrors another drive. So we have a 2TB hard drive, but since it is mirrored, we have 1TB to back up our files and the second drive is a mirror. This is helpful in case one drive fails for any reason, we still have our files.

I'm looking forward to the upcoming classes regarding our component research. I was just given the okay from the Mrs. to update our desktop computer so that it runs much faster. I can't wait to get started but I am also waiting to learn what some classmates have found on their research.

Under the Hood, again?

I never thought that this assignment would be as much fun as it was. I have never taken pictures of my computer before. Seeing some of the slide shows and watching some of the videos on building computers, installing memory, etc, really inspires me to do more. The videos we had to watch were, let's say, a little dry.

I realize that it's just a machine, now how sexy can that be? But I really do have fun working with the computer and it's components. Wow, you'd think I would actually know how to build one then too, right?!? WRONG! I can't build one...yet. :)

The research that we're working on now will definitely help me understand the computer components much better. Knowing what a processor does and what it looks like will help us all know how a computer works and how to possibly replace a part if it goes bad. Just think, if our hard disk drive all of sudden stops working, won't it be more cost effective to know how to replace it yourself? Taking the computer into a repair store may cost hundreds of dollars, in addition to the cost of a new hard drive. Now, it can be without taking it in and it will cost you less. Maybe you can use that little extra you'll save and put it towards a better quality or higher storage capacity hard drive.

What I know about Computers

I would say that I know enough about computers to always get me into trouble. That said, you can imagine when I need to fix something or update something, things may not always go as planned. It seems as though the more we learn about the technology, the more difficult it becomes to fix them because what we may know about how to fix may be already outdated.

I have two computers at home, one desktop named Bertha, and one laptop (sorry no name was given). Bertha was built from scratch by a friend and is getting pretty old. About a month after it was built, the dual processors were released. :( Sad for me but that's what happens sometimes. Since then we've had some problems but now that we installed Windows 7, those problems are only speed related - probably relating to the non-dual core processor.

I already know how to access the BIOS and boot sequences to make me dangerous. I would like to learn more about them so when changes are made, it doesn't mess up everything on the computer.

The other thing I would like to start learning is how to build or update my current system to an updated system that runs faster and more efficient. This would force my wife and I to use that computer more than our laptop. Right now we use the laptop primarily, probably because that computer is much faster than Bertha.

With the second class starting, I'm excited to get going on it after a little break. Let's Roll!

Video Chat

I can honestly say that this is one of the coolest topics to discuss. However, given my school's current technological status, I am not sure how effective this will be in my classroom. In talking with my librarian, who just happens to have taken this grad program 2 years ago - but not online :), she told me that our current bandwith is only 10MB. Luckily, we were one of the winners of a grant that will increase our bandwith to 100MB starting next school year.

This added bandwith will allow for video chat and streaming online. I am very excited about this and hope that it will help move my district closer to offering courses online.

For the time being then, I'll just have to make do with the webcam I have installed on my laptop or the one I purchased on sale a year ago. It doesn't give a very clear picture, but that's alright. I tell you though, sometimes it is nice to be able to just sit here and chat online and not worry about what I'm wearing. This is my first weekend off for 3 weeks now and I have a chat session planned with my group and I haven't changed out of my pajamas yet. :)

How does this all apply to my classroom, well receiving this grant will now allow me to feel better about chatting with clinicians from far away. I still plan to try this in a few months, but I might ask someone I know, just in case things don't go as planned.

For those interested, here are a few links to other audio/video chat programs:
Skype - great for calling around the world.
TokBox - very nice for sending a video e-mail.
Sightspeed
ooVoo - very much like Skype but newer.
UStreamTV - this is more a program that allows one to broadcast a video, not chat in real time.

My plan is to use one of these online chat programs with my classroom as a distance learning tool, possibly trying it out as a clinic session, or making a call to someone for teaching advice. At home, my wife and I can use this to video chat with a friend in North Carolina and California. I'll be talking with both of them soon and will recommend getting one of the programs above.

Last weekend my group and I attempted chatting over video from our Ning network. It was challenging and we eventually ended up using the audio only, but we learned a valuable lesson in the process.

What does it mean to me?

Getting my Master's degree has been a lifetime goal of mine. I also hope to some day get my doctorate in conducting, but one thing at a time. :)

I have always been very tech-savvy, so this whole master's program being online is right up my alley. I know already that it will help me in the classroom as I will be able to post videos and show them our new smart board. The students at school are very excited about technology too and I wonder sometimes if my students could use more technology in my class, how would that effect their learning. I know I already have a lot to learn about the smart board and other online tools, but these students have learned so much already too as digital natives.

My goal as I work towards this degree, is to incorporate as much of these lessons into my own classroom and hopefully bridge the digital gap between me and my students.

Master's Program Begins

I began this blog because I am very excited to start working on my Master's Degree. I am working towards a Masters in Instructional Technology through Cardinal Stritch University.

The course meets online on Wednesday evenings and we are beginning by learning about Google accounts, Nings, and Blogging. I am ready to begin. Are you ready to read about it with me?