PBL Meeting

On November 11, we met to present our Project-Based Learning presentations. I saw some fabulous ideas for PBL. Several of us chose to use personal finance as our PBL. Personal finance is something that students can relate to because they hear their parents complain about not having money, paying bills, and how much money Uncle Sam gets out of our paychecks. This is real life, and the students will see value in it.

Blog - Question # 3

What do you see as the educational value of blogs in the classroom? How about outside of the classroom? What role should teacher and students have in a blogging experience? In your view, and based on this experience, how can blogs be integrated appropriately and effectively in K-12 classrooms? Please provide concrete ideas and examples.

Blogs provide opportunities to collaborate and learn from people all over the world. Experts blog! What better place to learn than from the experts who blog about your interests! Blogging also allows you to share your thoughts about a subject/topic and then have others comment on your thoughts. Teachers can encourage students to blog. The blog can be used as an electronic journal for your students. The great thing about blogs is the input from others allows you to expand or modify your ideas, then blog again.  I would like to use blogs in my classroom (my system blocks blogs) for students to be able to share their poetry and writing. I believe students would work harder to produce more interesting work if they knew that their product is available for everyone to read. There's something about having an audience that helps ignite those creative fires. Blogging in the classroom could be a very valuable tool.

Blog - Question #2

What do you see as excellent features of blog(s) you participated in and why? What stands out from this blogging experience for you?

Collecting ideas from others is always excellent. Blogs can inspire, encourage, and inform readers, which is exactly what the blogs that I've participated in have done. The prompts help me to get started since I'm not a writer. Blogging is a powerful educational tool!

Blog - Question #1

What did you learn from this blogging experience about yourself and about blogs as tools for teaching and learning? What surprised you about this blogging experience? Why?

Since I am not a writer, blogging has been a struggle for me. I don’t feel that I have anything profound to say or to offer to others, but I do enjoy being able to follow the experts in the field of technology and education to see what new technology they are using or activities they are using with their students. Blogs have opened doors for professional development, and for that, I’m appreciative.

Blogging, in my system, is blocked. The “technology” person determines what can be accessed in the system. Unfortunately, he does not see the benefits of blogging. Blogging allows writers to express themselves for others to read and leave comments. This opens up a dialogue between the writer and the commenters about the topic that was blogged. Lots of information can be shared through a blog, so new ideas and different perspectives are developed through blogging.

I would love to have my class blog on a weekly basis. Students are more motivated when technology is introduced with the lesson. When writing for the world, students would be more attentive to their audience. Students would pay more attention to the message and the mechanics. Who wants to publish work filled with mistakes? My students would have access to information from others from all over the world. What a fascinating and exciting feeling it must be to have someone from the other side of the world to comment on YOUR blog. WOW!

Setting up a blog is as easy as 1, 2, 3. For some reason, I thought it would be more difficult. I am trying to decide if I want to invite my students who have access to the Internet at home to blog. I believe they would truly benefit from a blogging experience, and since we can’t blog as part of our class, then maybe they will gain the same experience from blogging at home. Yes, I think that will be my plan.

reflections on PBL

As a classroom teacher, I am asked daily, "When am I ever going to use this?" With Project-Based Learning, students see HOW they will use what they are learning. PBL uses real life problems to teach critical thinking skills. Students are more enthusiastic about what they learn when they see the relevance. Integrating technology into PBL challenges students to solve problems and create and publish their work for others to review. PBL is also cross-curricular meeting standards from various subjects in one project. Teachers can collaborate with each other to create a PBL that meets the needs of their students. Project-Based Learning show students how important education is in real life.

Project Based Learning - Personal Finance

Personal Finance

Introduction

            Real life is full of problems! Employers look for employees who are independent thinkers and problem solvers. Patients seek doctors who can diagnose and treat their ailments. Police officers and investigators use clues to solve crimes. So, how do you develop problem-solving skills? Educators are charged with the task of promoting critical thinking skills daily. Students must have opportunities to develop their problem solving skills. The Project-Based Learning Initiative offers students the opportunity to solve real-life problems.

Overview

Title: Personal Finance

Goals:

1.     Describe Problem-Based Learning Initiative (PBL).

2.     Discuss how to integrate real life problems into the curriculum to meet Georgia Performance Standards (GPS).

3.     Provide materials, such as the Personal Finance simulation, for PBL.

4.     Present a forum for teachers to collaborate and plan implementation of PBL.

5.     Provide tools and guidance for teachers on how to use the suggested technologies, Comic Life and VoiceThread, to implement the PBL to ultimately provide real life situations for the students at Long Cane Middle School.

Objectives:

            The National Council of Economic Education Standards are:

·       Standard 2: Effective decision-making requires comparing the additional costs of alternatives with the additional benefits. Most choices involve doing a little more or a little less of something: few choices are “all or nothing” decisions.

Students will be able to use this knowledge to:

Make effective decisions as consumers, producers, savers, investors, and citizens.

·       Standard 4: People respond predictably to positive and negative incentives.

Students will be able to us this knowledge to:

Identify incentives that affect people’s behavior and explain how incentives affect their behavior.

·       Standard 11: Money makes it easier to trade, borrow, save, invest, and compare the value of goods and services.

Students will be able to us this knowledge to:

Explain how their lives would be more difficult in a world with no money or in a world where money sharply lost its value.

            The NCSS Curriculum Standards for Social Studies are:

·       Strand 4: Individual Development & Identity

The student can:

Relate such factors as physical endowment and capabilities, learning, motivation, personality, perception, and behavior to individual development.

Identify and describe ways family, groups, and community influence the individual’s daily life and personal choices.

Work independently and cooperatively to accomplish goals.

·       Strand 6: Power, Authority, & Governance

The student can:

Examine persistent issues involving the rights, roles, and status of the individual in relation to the general welfare.

Analyze and explain ideas and governmental mechanisms to meet needs and wants of citizens, regulate territory, manage conflict, and establish order and security.

·       Strand 7: Production, Distribution, and Consumption

The learner can:

Distinguish between needs and wants.

Explain and demonstrate the role of money in everyday life.

Explain and illustrate how values and beliefs influence different economic decisions.

National Standards for School Mathematics:

Number and Operations Standard

·       Understand numbers, ways of representing numbers, relationships among numbers, and number systems.

·       Understand meanings of operations and how they relate to one another.

·       Compute fluently and make reasonable estimates

Problem Solving

·       Solve problems that arise in mathematics and other contexts

·       Apply and adapt a variety of appropriate strategies to solve problems.

Connections

·       Recognize and apply mathematics in contexts outside of mathematics.

NCTE Standards for the English Language Arts

·       Standard 3: Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).

·       Standard 4: Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.

·       Standard 11: Students participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members of a variety of literacy communities.

Georgia Performance Standards

·       SS6E4 The student will explain personal money management choices in terms of income, spending, credit, saving, and investing.

·       M6N1g The student will solve problems involving fractions, decimals, and percents.

·       M6RC1acd Students will enhance reading in all curriculum areas by:

o   a. Read both informational and fictional texts in a variety of genres and modes of discourse.

o   c. Demonstrate an understanding of contextual vocabulary in various subjects.

o   d. Explore life experiences related to subject area content.

Rationale

Long Cane Middle School (LCMS) serves 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th grades. There are about 1,000 students who attend LCMS in Troup County. With about 75% of the student body qualifying for the Free-Reduced Lunch program, LCMS meets the requirements of a Title I school.

The faculty at LCMS strives to implement programs that provide an innovative, technology-rich education for their students. The Problem-Based Learning Initiative incorporates real life problems with technology for students to gain critical thinking skills. Critical thinking skills are crucial in order for students to be able to solve problems in their real lives. Employers look for prospective employees who can think on their feet and solve problems without assistance. LCMS strives to provide opportunities for students to gain such skills.

Personal Finance from Interact, A Learning Experience is a simulation that will provide students opportunities to make life decisions. Fate cards will hand students obstacles and opportunities. Students will apply and interview for a job, open a checking and savings account, buy an automobile, pay rent and bills. These real life tasks will offer opportunities for students to become familiar with the vocabulary of economics. Exposing students to a Personal Finance simulation will provide a life-long learning experience.

Prerequisites

 The skills needed to successfully implement the Personal Finance simulation begin with organization. Teachers will need to organize and plan the initial handouts for students. Basic computer skills, knowledge of Excel or Office for spreadsheets or tables, and Comic Life and VoiceThread are required to integrate technology into the simulation.

Comic Life is a user-friendly program that is available to be downloaded at www.plasq.com. A 30-day free trial is offered to preview Comic Life, and there are two packages to choose from: Comic Life and Comic Life Deluxe. For a small fee, Comic Life can be downloaded and used to create and publish comics using personal images, clipart, or artwork. Teachers will enjoy watching students use their creativity and imaginations to improve reading and writing skills in an innovative way that better relates to them.

VoiceThread is a user-friendly website that allows users to create VoiceThreads, conversations around a certain medium. VoiceThread allows you to create three VoiceThreads at no cost. Students can contribute to the conversations in several ways: record their voice with a microphone, type a message, through video or webcam, telephone, or a file upload. VoiceThreads can be shared with others several ways: embed, email, or make public on the Internet.

Resources

            The resources needed to make this Problem-Based Learning Initiative, Personal Finance, a success are as follows:

·       Internet ready computers

·       Access to Excel for spreadsheet

·       Comic Life download from website (http://plasq.com/comiclife/ )

·       VoiceThread website (www.voicethread.com)

·       Personal Finance simulation from Interact, A Learning Experience (www.interact-simulations.com )

·       Clipart or pictures to use with Comic Life and VoiceThread

Clipart websites: http://www.pics4learning.com, http://school.discoveryeducation.com/clipart/,

 http://classroomclipart.com/.

·       A disk or thumb drive

·       LCD projector

Process

            Personal Finance by Interact Simulations deals with realistic scenarios and financial data. It teaches students financial concepts and allows students to make simulated financial decisions and discover the consequences. The Personal Finance Simulation is broken down into 3 phases. In Phase 1 students choose an IDENTITY. Students will develop a persona for their identity, and in the next few weeks, students will make decisions for their identity from minimum wage jobs to retirement. Students pay bills and manage credit card debt. Important decisions such as purchasing a car are part of the decision-making process. Students will create a VoiceThread of their job interview to be evaluated by the CEO (teacher) of the company from which they are seeking employment. As new vocabulary is introduced, students will use Comic Life to create a comic that explains/defines the vocabulary words from the unit.

            Phase 2 of the simulation involves applying for higher paying jobs, choosing a health plan, and mortgaging a house while maintaining accurate financial records of bills paid. Students will create another VoiceThread for their interview for the higher paying job to submit to the CEO of the company.

            Phase 3 of the simulation involves retirement and computing net worth of their IDENTITY. Students will demonstrate knowledge acquired by completing a 3-step assessment: reflections of decisions made on behalf of the IDENTITY; a financial-related vocabulary test; and the personal skills of writing checks and maintaining registers.

Feedback

            Often teachers are expected to carry out the new expectations put upon them without allowing teachers to provide adequate feedback. Please take time to answer each question completely.

1.    Were instructions easy to understand and follow?

2.    Were materials easily accessible?

3.    Were you able to access Comic Life and VoiceThread?

4.    Were you able to create a comic and a VoiceThread to use in your classroom?

5.    Would you use Comic Life or VoiceThread with your students?

6.    Did your students use newly acquired vocabulary in the correct context?

7.    Did students maintain accurate records?

8.    Were students motivated to participate in the simulation?

9.    Were the technologies integrated easily?

10.Would you use this simulation again?

Evaluation/Survey

Please take a few minutes to complete the 5-question survey at this link:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=7TJbMEu_2btAD18uAXvIm63A_3d_3d

Conclusion

            Real life problems are not as easy to solve as the problems teachers create in their classrooms, but what educators realize is that students need practice developing critical thinking skills. Educators are always looking for ways to make education meaningful to their students. Problem-Based Learning Initiative addresses those needs by using real life situations to develop and improve problem- solving skills. Teachers understand that there is more than one way to skin a cat, and PBL provides opportunities for students to gain and improve their critical thinking skills making them better problem-solvers and productive citizens.

Link for VoiceThread: Interview for a cashier’s job at Hoggly Woggly Grocery Store

Comic Life example for vocabulary words:

Table for Account Register:

Date	Check #	Pay to the Order of:	Debit	Credit	Balance
11/1		Payroll		$450	$450
11/3	501	Hoggly Woggly Grocery	$70		$380
11/3	502	Georgia Power	$48		$332

References

Beringer, J. (2007). Application of problem based learning through research investigation. Journal of            

     Geography in Higher Education, 31 (3), 445-457.

Comic Life – www.plasq.com

Demographics for Long Cane Middle School – http://lcms.troup.k12.ga.us/

Personal Finance – Interact: A Learning Experience – www.interact-simulations.com

Starkman, N. (2007). eLearning: going the distance. T. H. E. Journal, 34(2), 18-24.  

     http://search.ebscohost.com.

VoiceThread – www.voicethread.com

eLearning: Going the Distance

Starkman, N. (2007). eLearning: going the distance. T. H. E. Journal, 34(2), 18-24.   http://search.ebscohost.com.

Traditional schooling is not for everyone! Well, the traditional brick and mortar buildings with a chalkboard, twenty-five desks in a classroom, worksheets, tests, and 1 computer for the class are not for everyone. So, how do you get an education if traditional school is not for you? The answer.....technology.

Online classes/virtual high schools offer a traditional education in nontraditional ways. Since 1996, Virtual High School has offered nontraditional students an opportunity for an online education. Nontraditional students are those students who do not fit in the traditional mold of a student in a regular classroom taking notes to the teacher's lecture. Students who have interests outside of school that require flexible schedules such as athletes training for the Olympics, Motocross riders, actors/actresses, or someone who is medically unable to attend traditional school still need an education. eLearning provides the opportunity.

Online classes/virtual high schools also offer content that students may not have access to in their high school due to lack of funding. Students who want to study a foreign language that is not offered in their high school may turn to online classes to study the language of their choice. Online classes broaden the scope of what students study in high school. Students who attend traditional high school can benefit from online classes, also.

Online classes/virtual high schools are under constant scrutiny to maintain an optimal structure for online learning. Students who take online classes should be held to the same rigorous standards as those who attend traditional classes. Evaluations/surveys are used to maintain the standards. The number of students who take online classes is growing, so regulations for those classes are expected to meet the states' standards. Constant revisions and improvements promote this.

Reflections on Movie Maker

Windows Movie Maker is a downloadable program that uses pictures, images, video, music, and recordings to create movies. Once all the images, video, and music are all in a folder together, it's just a matter of importing the information into Movie Maker.  After the information is imported, all you have to do to create a movie is drag the image into the storyboard or timeline. You can add narration and music to your movie then.

Creating the movie was the easy part. However, I had a difficult time saving and posting my movie to the required site, so I can't elaborate on how to successfully post your movie.

Here's a link to my video that my professor sent to me:
http://www.westga.edu/~dbaylen/7464_MMKatrina_gmb.wmv 

Movie Maker

Hurricane Katrina was a devastating natural disaster! My husband worked in Slidell, Louisiana, from October 2005 to February 2006 in the disaster relief group for BellSouth. The pictures and video were taken by my husband and a coworker. We have a connection with the people in Louisiana, so I created this as my project.

The link to the video posted on YouTube is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2n7VH9MNYk

Article Review - The World of Digital Storytelling

Ohler, J. (2005, December). The world of digital storytelling. Educational Leadership,  44-47. 


According to Jason Ohler, author of "The World of Digital Storytelling," students are gaining more confidence with using technology. Digital storytelling employs technology to tell the student's story; however, often the story weakens as the use of technology strengthens. Students are excited to experiment with and use technology. It is the teacher's job to make sure the story doesn't suffer at the expense of technology. One way to do that, according to Ohler, is to encourage the use of story mapping. Windows' Movie Maker builds the movie on a storyboard and timeline. Students can see the progression of the story and make sure the story flows in a logical manner. Digital storytelling offers students opportunities to experiment with their creativity and taps into the inner movie star in us all.

Synectics for Creative Thinking in Technology

 Hummell, L.  (2006). Synectics for creative thinking in technology education. The Technology Teacher, 66(3), 22-       27.  Retrieved October 4, 2009, from ProQuest Education Journals. (Document ID: 1169096171).

Synectics is a creative problem solving process developed in 1961 by William J. J. Gordon and George Prince. This process helps students solve problems by following a set of prompts that relate familiar to unfamiliar or unfamiliar to familiar. Students use what they know about something familiar and apply to the unfamiliar to create something new following these steps:

1. Define or describe the current situation or problem.
2. Write down ideas about direct analogies.
3. Write down your reactions to personal analogies.
4. Explore compressed conflicts and form an oxymoron.
5. Write down new direct analogies.
6. Reexamine original situation or problem.

Students learn to follow these steps can apply them to problems in almost every aspect of life. Problem-solving is a life-long skill that benefits everyone.

Reflection on Comic Life

My experience with Comic Life was a positive one. I enjoyed creating a comic for action verbs. Students would enjoy using their creativity to create comics of all sorts. The program allows users to add special effects to the images. It was fun to play around with the different special effects. Now if I could just figure out how to make those animated images actually say what is in the bubble. Ha! That would be a movie, wouldn't it?

Comic Life Example

This is an example of a way to integrate technology with an assignment that is typically boring for students, action verbs. Students can create a list of action verbs to use to create comics. Comic Life is a user friendly program that teachers and students can use to create and publish comics using pictures, clip art, or artwork. Students are able to demonstrate their creativity while publishing quality work. Comic Life is a fun interactive program.

Comic Life

In order to successfully integrate technology into the curriculum, middle school and high school teachers need to participate in professional development workshops to expose them to the current technology available to meet writing and literacy requirements. To meet the reading and writing needs of students, teachers are constantly looking for more innovative and age-relevant ways to present those skills. Comic Life is a Web 2.0 tool that students/teachers can use to create and publish comics to enhance learning opportunities. Middle and high school students enjoy Manga (Japanese anime), and Comic Life will provide students with the opportunity to create their own comics. Students will write a story and create a comic strip to tell their story. Students can share their comics with others to enhance reading skills. Students will be more actively involved in learning, and they will have an opportunity to be more creative using this technology. Comic Life gives teachers one more way to present information that will be interesting to the students.

In order to use Comic Life, teachers and students will need basic computer skills such as point and click. Users will use the mouse to drag the template and images into the panel to create a comic. Students should be able to compose a story, choose images to represent the characters, and create dialogue to tell the story. Creativity is at their fingertips with Comic Life.

The steps for creating a comic using Comic Life are:


• On the computer desktop click on Comic Life.

• Choose a template and drag it to the panel template

• Choose your image from the album and drag it on the panel template

• Create a comic with images that look hand-drawn by adjusting the details

• Add balloon by dragging it on the panel template

• Double click on “Your words here” or hit return to edit the textbox

• Then hit enter or click outside the text area to save the new text.

• You can resize the balloon by dragging the green handles.

• Drag and drop caption on the image and double click to edit text.

• For titles - drag and drop a new window will open

• Click save and project is finished.

• You have several options for exporting the comic strip. You can also create a Portable Document Format (PDF) file.

Comic Life is one way to meet reading, writing, and publishing standards. Integrating technology into the curriculum motivates most students to explore and expand their knowledge base. Students need to create and publish their own work, and Comic Life is one way for students to experience the joy in publishing their work for others to enjoy.
 
 

Twitter 101: Are you Tweeting?

Conner, M.. (2009, August). Twitter 101: Are You Tweeting? T + D, 63(8), 24-25,27.  Retrieved September 19, 2009, from ProQuest Education Journals. (Document ID: 1833987711).

Twitter is a social networking microblog. In 140 character-"tweets," people share their business, knowledge, and insights. Twitter offers opportunities to learn from experts that you "follow." (Imagine the professional development you gain from following experts in the field of technology or education.) "Following" someone means that you can read their tweets. When experts share, you benefit. For example, an educator may tweet a website that enhances a lesson. As the follower, you read the tweet and visit the website to see if you can use the information. In a matter of seconds, you are expanding your abilities in the classroom.

Twittering allows people with common interests to connect and expand their circle of influence. Don't think that Twittering is too complicated to learn. There are tutorials all over the Internet. The information/education that is at your fingertips is mind boggling. Take a few minutes to visit the website: www.twitter.com, then answer the question: "What are you doing now?"

VoiceThread

Web 2.0 is AMAZING! My newest experience has been with VoiceThread. I can't begin to list the uses for this technology. I created a tutorial for diagramming simple sentences. This application could be used specifically for homebound students to keep up with lessons that are being taught at school. Also, students who are homeschooled can benefit from such technology, but it's not just for teachers to use! VoiceThread is easy enough for students to create their own. I believe once you turn students loose with this technology, their imaginations will soar! Their creativity will shine! Enthusiasm will be heightened! VoiceThread will be their favorite new technology, too! The equipment needed to create a VoiceThread is minimal. You do not have to have a webcam, but if you do, you can use it with VT. A microphone allows you to record your voice as comments to the VT. It is as simple as pushing the record button. VT will bring new ideas into your classroom. Visit http://www.voicethread.com/ to find out about how you can integrate this  technology into your classroom. Also, here is the link to my VT: http://voicethread.com/share/609537/

Article Review - with attention on data collection

Sadik, A. (2008, August). Digital storytelling: a meaningful technology-integrated approach for engaged student learning. Educational Technology Research & Development, 56(4), 487-506. Retrieved September 3, 2009, doi:10.1007/s11423-008-9091-8.


This article describes the research to determine how students and teachers benefit from using digital storytelling. The teachers were selected for their ability to easily integrate this technology into their curriculum. The materials needed for digital storytelling are computers with Internet access, digital camera, scanner, PhotoStory software, and a printer. The eight teachers that were selected to participate attended an orientation to learn about digital storytelling.

The teachers divided their classes into small groups to collaborate on their chosen topic. Students were able to use the digital camera or the Internet to gather pictures to tell the story. The students then used the pictures to develop the script. Students organized the information into a story. When the students completed their assignment, they presented their digital stories to the rest of the class. The researchers used a rubric to assess the stories.

A carefully designed observation tool for teachers and students was created to examine the quality of student engagement. Also, interviews were conducted with the teachers to ensure the teachers were supportive of integrating technology, especially digital storytelling, into their lessons.

The results of the study show that the overall product that was produced was were acceptable; however, the overall connection from the story to the objectives of the story was questionable which proves that not all students wil learn from these stories. Some students had a difficult time sequencing their stories, and some students did not have the timing of the sound with the pictures.

Teachers seem to be most concerned with the effectiveness of student learning with digital storytelling. Integrating technology into the curriculum takes time, and most teachers do not feel they have the time to integrate technology and cover all the material students need to pass the high stakes tests.

I would LOVE to be able to work on integrating technology into the curriculum. Maybe when I become a media specialist, I will have the opportunity to create technology integration plans to help the teachers on my staff.

I think the researcher tried to cover all the bases in collecting and evaluating the information. The researcher did not show a bias to integrating technology. He seemed to be forthcoming with the final results of the research.