Blog Post 8 (Part C)

Classroom Technologies

Technologies that students are using in the classroom are shared laptops among the other 3rd graders on their floor, classroom desktop computers, and the Smart Board. When I have observed students using technologies, they were signing out laptops to complete a PowerPoint assignment assigned by Mrs. R. For this assignment, students were asked to create a PowerPoint about their community history unit in Social Studies. They were asked to interview an older neighbor or grandparent and learn about what school was like when they were in 3^rd grade. Then, they made a comparison chart on each slide comparing what they learned from an elderly community member about school to what school is like today. In order for students to adjust their brains to making comparison charts on a PowerPoint, a connection is required between the ways students were used to making comparison charts with a paper and a pen to making one electronically using technology on the laptop (Martin). This connection between the two cognitive systems enhances the students’ cognitive abilities because it changes the way they think about certain things, such as creating comparison charts that will help them to better understand this history topic, so it is an effect through technology.

During WIN time in the morning or if there is any available free time throughout the day, the students are permitted to engage in educational games on the classroom desktop computers. Although students have this option, I have not observed students using the desktops during their free time. Rather, I have only observed students reading in their mini classroom library during their free time. As for the Smart Board, students use this to read the schedule for the morning that Mrs. R posts every day and to read the notes for worksheets that Mrs. R has the students fill in frequently.

Technologies that are facilitating conditions that make student learning possible are the laptops that the students check out to work on projects and the Smart Board. The students in Mrs. R’s class already know how to make a Power Point and can pinpoint important information to post on the slides depending on what Mrs. R is asking of them. Since they have been trained to use PowerPoint, the laptops allow the students to learn to work independently and applying their knowledge of a learned topic to a format of their choosing. The students know how to choose a theme, fonts, and pictures from google to enhance the individuality of their PowerPoints. Also, the Smart Board facilitates student learning through the notes that Mrs. R posts on the board. Every morning, students know exactly what is expected of them for the day and what they should be doing independently. I noticed that learning to accomplish tasks independently has been a huge goal for the classroom and the technology used in the classroom allows students to cross over that boundary and complete tasks on their own without the constant attention of the teacher. As for technologies that are impeding student learning, I have no observed this happening in the classroom; only positive outcomes arise from the use of technology in this 3^rd grade classroom.

As for technologies that facilitate the conditions that make teaching possible, the Smart Board definitely helps Mrs. R communicate to the students and share important messages and information with them. Rather than writing the notes Mrs. R wants to the student to know and study for upcoming quizzes and test, she is able to post them on the Smart Board ahead of time to save time during the school day and focus on students who may struggle to copy notes from the board. Also, when students are using laptops this facilitates the conditions that make teaching possible because she is able to walk around the room and monitor which students seem to really grasp how to use the laptops and stay on task, while other students may need extra support and reminders from her about using technologies. Also, which the online educational programs that are available to students, Mrs. R can assign students to work on some of these games at home to prepare for math and reading quizzes. Overall, I have not witnessed ways in which technologies in the classroom impede student learning and teaching, only facilitate and strengthen learning.

Blog Post 8 (Part B)

Access to Multimedia Technology

Currently, I am observing in Mayfield Center School in Mayfield village in Mrs. R’s 3^rd grade classroom. There are twenty-four students in her classroom and each one of them has access to different technologies inside and outside of the classroom. The technologies that are available to students to create their own digital stories are the four classroom computers located in the front of the classroom off to the side, laptops that are shared among the other 3^rd grade classrooms located in laptop carts in the reading specialist classroom next door, and the Smart Board located in the front of the classroom mounted on the dry erase board. When students are asked to go get laptops for a special assignment they are doing with certain lessons, Mrs. R must reserve a block of time for her students to take them out so there is no overlapping with the other classes. When the students retrieve the laptops, they know they are supposed to write their name and student number on a sign-out sheet that is located on the top of the laptop cart. As for the computers in the classroom, students are allowed to go on these computers during their WIN time in the morning if they are working on a project they need to finish up, i.e. a PowerPoint for a social studies project about community history. Using these technologies would be an excellent opportunity for the students to create their own digital stories in either a collaborative group or independently. So, the technologies are readily available, but they must be reserved by the teacher and the students must have an assigned purpose for using them. As I have been observing the use of technologies in the classroom, I have not come across any issues with any of the technologies in the classroom.

When using the technologies, such as laptops and the classroom computers, the students know what is expected of them and what the classroom rules are while using these technologies. Students are only allowed to use the computers for educational purposes, such as projects assigned by Mrs. R or math and reading educational programs that the Center school has downloaded on their computers. Although Google and other search engines are not blocked, sights such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other social media websites are strictly blocked; students do not know how to navigate around these computer blocks and go on these sights. The educational programs that students are allowed to use in their free time are Bedtime Math, Eureka Math Support, Reading for a Purpose, Reading on the Go, Reading on the Screen. These programs are very interactive and engaging for the students and can be played at school and at their homes. The laptops and the educational computer games available to the students are examples of effects with technology as these games scaffold students understanding of school topics; so, in this case technology is making the students smarter as they learn new math drills and reading skills to enhance their cognition (Solomon, Perkins).

I have not observed any students using the classroom computers, Mrs. R simply told me what was available to them. As for creating digital stories using WeVideo, this website would have to be approved by the principal for students to gain access to this website. The person I spoke with about the technologies available to students was my cooperating teacher Mrs. R. She has been teaching in this classroom for seventeen years and is very knowledgeable of the progression of technology in the classroom. When she first started teaching at Center, there was no technology available to students to work independently with or even collaboratively with besides the chalk board. Now, she said she is extremely content with the technologies that are available to the students because she believes students at a young age should become familiar with technology in order to be high school and eventually career ready in the future. There is a tech person who fixes laptops and desktop computers when problems arise, who Mrs. R said would be able to answer any questions I had about the technologies available to students at Center School.

Blog Post 7

Checklist Assessment for Digital Story:

In order to assess our digital story, my partner and I created a checklist that ensures that our digital story follows the guidelines for this assignment, as well as incorporating our own important aspects of how to effectively use multimodal compositions to make a topic meaning to an audience. Collecting from various course readings and examining the various facets of media grammar, we created this checklist of the top ten most important features that we believe make our digital story meaningful

Assessment:

1. _____There are visual elements in the video that create meaning for the audience
2. _____There are audio elements in the video that create meaning for the audience
3. _____Audio and visual aspects of the video work in tandem to express the broader concepts of the digital story
4. _____There is a logical sequence and fluidity transitioning through each frame of the video
5. _____There is a genuinely felt purpose for why students should learn this material
6. _____The story is engaging and the message and purpose are clear
7. _____The creators of the video are credible sources to reveal the information to the audience
8. _____ The video focuses on the local and then connects to global issues that the audience should know about

9.______The video connects to the lives of the audience in a meaningful way

10.______The video makes a clear and conscience effort to engage the audience

Blog Post 6

Storyboard and Script

Intro:

Black

Fade in quote on black screen.

Fade out quote

Fade in torch on black backdrop, flame flickers in image.

Begin dialogue: “Everyone living in the United States shares a common lineage with immigrants. My great great grandfather, Michael Houlihan, was one of many Irish immigrants fleeing their homeland due to the devastation of the potato famine and lack of work. At the age of eighteen, he was confronted with the bitter reality that Ireland could no longer provide for him. So, he boarded a ship to cross the Atlantic to the United States of America, knowing he would never see his family again. After a long voyage, carrying little with him, he successfully entered the United States, moved to Gutenberg, New Jersey, and began working on the railroad. Though times were tough and immigrants back then still faced much discrimination, he persisted, and now, roughly a century later, here I am, in Cleveland, Ohio attending a private university working to become a teacher all because someone had the bravery and will to better not only his life, but the lives of all his descendants who he would never know. Today, people from foreign countries still flee the hardship, poverty, and even violence that threatens their livelihoods in their native countries with hopes for prosperity abroad in the United States. Unfortunately, successful immigration into the United States today through legal processes does not provide a path to citizenship the way it used to.”

Torch blows out

Fade out

Fade in picture Mexican immigrants

(businessinsider.com)

“Today, hundreds of South American and Mexican migrants are fleeing their homes to escape gang violence and drugs that have become so common place in their worlds. The migrants pack up their belongings and leave their homes behind in hopes of better life in the United States. Because the citizenship process can take up to 40 years, many of the migrants feel that traveling through the desert and entering the United States illegally is their only option.”

(investigations.nbcnews.com)

“Because the conditions in the desert are so life-threatening, many of the migrants traveling to the United States do not make it to their final destination.”
(fade in desert sound effects)

(roselawgroupreporter.com)

“After the grueling journey through the desert walking, riding on top of trains, being carried by professional smugglers, the migrants who are lucky enough to survive the desert cross over the Mexican border and into Arizona and are arrested by Border Patrol. Border Patrol’s “Prevention by Deterrence” policy gives them the right put the immigrants in mortal danger in the desert in hopes of separating the immigrants from their friends and family they are traveling with and killing them.”

(latinamericanheraldtribune.com)

“When arrested, Border Patrol keeps the migrants in detention centers, which are equivalent living conditions to prisoners. They are detained there for 30 days minimum and then thrown onto a bus and dropped off at random locations in Mexico to fend for themselves.”

(https://derechoshumanrights.wordpress.com)

“We are all immigrants in this country and, above all, we are all human beings that inherit this planet. Don’t we all deserve dignity and respect? What can you do to protect the rights of human beings?”

(Instrumental version of “This Land is Our Land).

Blog Post 5

Observations in the Classroom

 

The past times I have been the Center School Mayfield classroom in Mrs. R’s 3^rd grade room, students have been working independently on a Community History lesson using laptops to create a PowerPoint. With the project, the students were asked to interview a grandparents, neighbor, or anyone they knew from a much older generation and ask them about what their school days were like growing up. Then, the students took the information they gained from their interviews and designed a PowerPoint where they compared the interviewee’s days in school many years ago to their school environments presently. In these PowerPoints, students made comparison charts where on one side, they wrote about who they interviewed and the elements of their school environments that were unique to them and on the other side of the comparison chart the students wrote about their elements unique to their generation in schools.  For example, in the “Back Then” column, students wrote phrases such as, “Walked to school everyday” or “Used chalkboards.” In the “Now” columns, students wrote phrases such as, “Take the bus” or “Use smartboards.” Each student presented their PowerPoint on the smartboard at the front of the room as the rest of the class sat on the carpet and listened.

This project ties in perfectly to our class discussions and readings on multimodal composition and digital storytelling. As third graders, these students were able to create PowerPoints with pictures, different settings and colors, and text in order o tell a story about what going to school was like over 50 years ago. From my observations, students were extremely engaged in these projects both creating them and listening to the presentations. This type of digital storytelling provided students with a different perspective on the histories of how schools used to be and how schools will continue to change over the years. Although I was only in the classroom one sessions before the students presented their projects, I noticed that every student seemed to know how to create a PowerPoint and mess around with the design in order to make it appealing, which was very shocking to me. My conclusion was that most of the students have different devices at home that helped them to be familiar with this type of multimodal composition. When incorporating multimodal composition into the classroom, the teacher should first be aware of how many students can create PowerPoints with ease so the technicalities of this style of learning does not frustrate them rather than improve their learning.

4th Blog Post

Blog Post 4

Blog Post 4

First multimodal text: Immigration and Refugee Protest

 

I would pull this multimodal text up on the smart board for the whole class to see as we discuss the immigration and refugee crisis happening all over the world as part of a social studies lesson. The author of this photo is Immigration News, which is an online news source based in Australia. The purpose that the author of this photo illustrates is a protest happening in Australia which is fighting against an immigration ban that may occur in Australia. Many people are opposed to this immigration ban because of how much immigrants have positively contributed to Australia’s economy. The genre of this photograph is a protest in a political context, where the audience is Australians who may not know how much refugees and immigrants have built up the economy and allow it to remain stable and functioning. The author wants to persuade the audience to be aware of this ban and the negative impact this refugee ban would have on Australia’s economy.

The design choices the photographer uses to get the message across are strategic and accurately convey the context in which this photo was taken. The emphasis of this photo is on the protest sign that reads, “TREATING REFUGEES AS THE PROBLEM IS THE PROBLEM.” With the people writing with calk underneath the sign and the smiling women holding the sign, the author frames the sign with protesters to focus the emphasis on the sign and the type of protest this is. The sign is written in contrasting colors (black and red) to strongly convey the message of this protest: treating refugees like they are the issue is creating the issue in itself. Immigrants and refugees are helping to stabilize the economy and without them the economy would break down. The red lettering of the “IS THE PROBLEM” draws the attention of the reader to the message that problems are being created when human beings are being treated unfairly for unjust reasons. The way the photograph is organized in such a way that it displays the people framing the sign, which demonstrates that we are all human beings that should be fighting for the dignity of one another. There is a boy with darker skin drawing next to a girl with lighter skin and dark hair both crouching down on the same level drawing with chalk to promote their cause. This alignment of the people also contributes to the message that as human beings we are all one and should treat each other as equals. Although the sign is a little bit zoomed out to have space for the people, the proximity of the sign and the wording on the sign make it evident that the words on the sign are the focus of the multimodal text in the rhetorical situation.

This photograph and the elements that make up this photograph are meaningful to the students and conveys an important message. By demonstrating the types of events that take place at a protest, when showing this picture to my students they will understand that a protest is a peaceful gathering of people where they promote causes. This photograph communicates to the audience that when people in our world experience injustices and inequality, then citizens unite as one to try and get their voices heard and change the government policies that infringe on the rights of human beings.

Source: “Australia.” Immigration News. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2017. <https://immigrationnews.com/category/australia/&gt;.

Multimodal Text #2:

The poem “Leave of Absence” by James E. Schevill.

 

During a social studies unit of World War II or a literature unit on poetry, I would print this poem off the internet and pass around copies so each student receives one and can mark it up as we read it together and have a class discussion about it after reading. The author of this poem, James E. Schevill, is an American world-renowned poet who experienced some of the tragedies occurring in Germany during the Nazi Regime in 1938. Although he was not a prisoner at Auschwitz, he gained a sense of the terror the prisoners felt every day and decided to write a poem about the day Auschwitz was liberated as well as how the people felt outside of the prison. Schevill’s purpose in writing this poem is make known to the rest of the world what the prisoners of Auschwitz experienced and what it felt like to finally be free of the barracks and returning to their homes. The audience of this poem is for all people, young and old, who may not have ever tried putting themselves in the shoes of the prisoners and thought about what life would be like after being rescued from those horrendous conditions. The genre of this poem is a war poem in the context of World War II in the Auschwitz concentration camp on the day of liberation.

The emphasis of this poem is in the second stanza on the seventh and eighth lines where Schevill writes, “Walk up to the mirror and say hello/ but the shine in your face is not as before.” This is the central message of the poem that the author wants the audience to understand. Here, he reveals to the audience that after prisoners were liberated from the concentration camp, they were not the same people as before; they have experienced tremendous tragedy which they will never forget and most-likely not recover from. Because the lines do not rhyme, the words are the contrasting elements of this multimodal text. The poem is organized so that the first two stanzas have nine lines and the final stanza only has six. This poem demonstrates to the audience that poems do not have to rhyme or possess a certain number of lines, which is important for my students to know about poems. The structure of the poem is aligned to the left because it reads like a book, but is in fact a poem. The proximity of the words of the poem are distant and small, conveying the message that many of the people who endured Auschwitz were forgotten after they were liberated, but for them the nightmares continue to face them every single day.

This poem is extremely meaning because it allows for the audience, in this case my students, to understand what the prisoners in concentration camps experienced even after they were rescued. I want my students to be able to read this poem and put themselves in the shoes of the speaker. Although the author was not a prisoner of WWII, he is knowledgeable enough to share his thoughts and emotions on the subject as well as speak for the prisoners who cannot share their experiences. Also, I want my students to understand that poetry does not have to possess a certain rhyme and rhyme scheme, but can simply tell a story in a few powerful words.

Source: Schevill, James E. “Leave of Absence by James E. Schevill.” Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2017. <https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/browse?contentId=24068&gt;.

Multimodal Text #3: Advertisement for Global Warming

 

I would present this billboard to my class during a science unit discussing global warming. The author of this advertisement is the organization WWF, which is an organization that works in over 100 countries to protect the future nature of our planet. They promote the use of clean energy, recycling, and animal protection in order to conserve the natural beauty of our planet. They advertise against global warming because this is a man-made issue and they encourage the audience to do their part to act in avoiding destroying our planet, which is their purpose. The audience of this advertisement, which is a billboard on a highway, is all people driving on the highway who will see it as well as advocates for WWF and a cleaner planet. The genre of this advertisement is going against global warming in the context of doing our part to keep the global temperatures down; essentially, this advertisement demonstrates what is currently happening to our planet.

The emphasis of this ad is on the picture of earth sitting on top of an ice cream cone that is melting. The author assumes that audience knows what happens when an ice cream cone is left in a warm area for a long time: the contents melt down sides of the cone. The black background of the advertisement contrasts the colors of the earth and the cone, immediately drawing the attention to what is happening in the center of the picture; also, the radiant white-ish circle coming off the focus draws in the attention of the audience. The proximity of the cone and earth melting are right in the center alignment of the advertisement, which makes it clear that this is the focus and this is happening to our planet when we do not use green energy.

This multimodal text is meaningful to my students because rather than just reading about global warming from a textbook, this image represents something that is familiar to them where they can put an image to the concept of global warming. When teaching this lesson in my science classes, I would use this advertisement to strongly emphasize that global warming is occurring every day and there are actions we can take as inhabitants of this earth to attempt to keep the temperatures down.

Source :”Endangered Species Conservation.” WWF. World Wildlife Fund, n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2017.

3rd Video Game Blog Post

As I play my final rounds of Bloons Defense Tower, I am realizing how useful video games truly can be in the classroom, but only during a time of the day meant for free time. In my ideal classroom, during the students’ free time they would use technology as a means of education without realizing it. Rather than students spending their free time using technology in which ever way they please, I would only allow certain games to be played in the class that are available to students and Bloons Tower Defense would be one of these games. When playing this game, as the player I forget that I am doing subtraction in my head and observing where balloons are slipping through the cracks so I can strategically place my next tower. When students play this game, their minds are being challenged without them feeling as though they are in an academic setting, even though they are.

In the online article “Games in the Classroom: Overcoming Obstacles” on the Mindshift: How We Will Learn website, Jordan Shapiro discusses some of the reasons that video games are looked down upon in the classroom, such as teachers are unsure of quality games that enhance learning, they do not know how exactly they would incorporate games to instruction, and insufficient time for gaming. All of these obstacles can be overcome by allowing certain educational games to be played during free time. This would give students the autonomy to choose educational activities in video game form.

2nd Video Game Blog Post

As I continue playing Bloon’s Tower Defense, a major issue that continues to arise is my impulsivity to buy the more valuable towers and then run out of money when I need it the most. I am still trying to master the art of placing the towers in the correct spot to pop as many balloons as possible. At the beginning of the game, the player is given forty lives, in other words, forty balloons are allowed to pass through the exit until the game is over. At first, this seems like a large number of lives, so as the player I feel this game could not be that difficult. But, as I continue to immerse myself in the game, I understand that forty balloons pass through rather quickly when I am also trying to keep track of how much money I have, how much each tower costs, and how much I should spend on each tower to minimize the number of balloons passing through the exit.

From this experience, I learned that Bloons Tower Defense is more than just a video game, it is a cognitive virtual interactive environment or cognitive VIE. According to John W. Rice in his article “Assessing Higher Order Thinking in Video Games,” “The complex nature of advanced three-dimensional environments offers multiple affordances for students to engage in higher level learning. The notion of affordances, that clues to how things work in an environment are evident through sensory cues” (90). In order to succeed in this game, sensory cues, such as receiving the signal that balloons are rapidly coming out of the entrance and you must strategically think about where to place the towers to pop them is the key to this game. Also, addition, subtraction, and the use of angles and measurements must be understood and utilized to succeed and all in a short amount of time. Higher level thinking is definitely at play while engaging this game.

1st Video Game Blog Post

The video game I chose to play is called Bloons Defense Tower. The object of this game is to strategically place towers in the field that are in a good position to pop the balloons that float down a stone path towards the exit. As the player, you do not want any balloons to make it to the exit, so you must think about where you will place your towers so that does not happen. Another component of this game is the more balloons your towers pop, the more money you receive. After the first round one balloon slipped passed my tower but all of the rest were pooped, I know have $511 and 39 lives; you start out with 40 lives and each time a balloon makes it to the exit you lose a life. There are 5 different kinds of towers you can place in the field and they all cost different amounts, so you can buy different towers to place but that will take away from the money you have earned. Also, each tower has a different way and method of popping balloons. Also, you have the option to buy piercing darts for $210, which pops two balloons at the same time, or long range darts for $100, which shoot pops balloons that would typically be out of the towers’ range. As you progress to each round, you have to anticipate the next round will get more difficult, meaning more balloons will be coming out of the exit. This also forces you to strategically plan in a short amount of time.

In Gee’s article, “Good Video Games, the Human Mind, and Good Learning,” he claims, “humans think and understand best when they can imagine (simulate) an experience in such a way that the simulation prepares them for actions they need and want to take in order to accomplish their goals” (24). I found this statement to be extremely true while playing this game. As the player, you are asked to place yourself in the position of the towers and think about where the best place for you to stand would be in order to pop as many balloons that are in your range. This idea also aligns with Gee’s learning principle in the same article that is “Manipulation and Distributed Knowledge.” In this principle, Gee describes how human action and our perceptions are connected, therefore we base our actions off of our perceptions for truly any decision in life. In this game, the player only has a perception of where the best place to implant a tower may be, so the player takes actions following their perception of what they believe is the best placement. The player uses the towers as tools or manipulatives in order to accomplish their personal goal of beating the level and moving onto the next level. As someone who never enjoyed playing video or computer games, even though many times I was forced to by older brothers, I enjoy playing this game because it challenges my mind and has many different components to it that make playing this game more intriguing, such as the money aspect and picking out different towers to buy and place.

 

 

Introduction Blog Post

1. Grace
2. Shaker Heights, Ohio
3. I plan on teaching a grade between kindergarten through 3rd grade after I graduate from John Carroll next May, but I am not sure which one. In my free time, I love snowboarding and hiking; I am currently planning a drive to Colorado this spring break with my roommate to do those two things. Also, I love to dance and I practice yoga regularly; I am a strong believer in holistic healing methods for the mind and body as well as the power of music and movement. After recently returning from the Arizona/Mexico Border on a John Carroll Immersion trip, I plan to delve deeper into the humanitarian crisis occurring at the border through my own research and teaming up with organizations on campus to raise awareness with my immersion group.
4. For me to take intellectual and creative risks in a course and feel comfortable, I must feel supported by the instructor. In past experiences, when the instructor loses patience with me or fails to support my risks, I feel discouraged and end up disliking the course altogether. When the instructor supports my choices and offers to help me in areas where I struggle, I end up truly benefitting from the course.
5. The article “What Reading Does for the Mind” by Anne E. Cunningham and Keith E. Stanovich greatly influences my duties as a future teacher. This article discusses how a child’s enjoyment in reading and interests in reading early in life directly affects their knowledge and academic success later in life. As a future educator, I have always felt that it is my duty to encourage children to love reading in order to expand their knowledge base and become successful students. As an avid reader of all types of genres, I have first-hand experience of the importance of the joy of reading at an early age.
6. Dr. Shutkin, when did you realize that technology was the field you would specialize in?