Serial Concept Map assignment was worked on throughout the entire semester. Altering between self and peer evaluations, each iteration was improved upon while the lesson of concept mapping was outlined. In the slideshow below, you can see Iterations #1-4 and the final iteration, along with the feedback given between each iteration.
The guiding questions was “How to technology-based approaches in instruction impact teaching and learning?” From there, concepts are used to answer the question by exploring relationships, or links. Throughout the iterations, you can see the development and addition of relationships/interrelationships formed as I dove deeper into the guiding question.
This video was created to show the story of a college student that learns how to use an online calendar and mobile reminders to be successful in college. Using one-minute videos helps convey a quick, and strategic message to students in an easily comprehendable minute. My plan is to create a series of one-minute videos to help students develop success strategies while in their first year in college.
Through the tool EdPuzzle, I was able to create an assignment for my students in an Introduction to Research course. Learning about how to conduct a literature review is one of the learning outcomes of the course. With the annotated video, knowledge checks were strategically based for maximum engagement with the assignment.
Even in higher education, educators are scrapping to find ways to keep students motivated to learn and provide instant feedback with realtime assessment, like in EdPuzzle.
The tool below was created for students in the LEARN program. It gives context of a video I pulled from Youtube to a very specific program and how this one lesson contributes to the grater experience for the students within the program.
The objective of this infographic is to illustrate (in an easily digestible format) that LEARN is a unique experience for a selective LEARNing Community.
I was able to create an infographic to help students create a connection with the impact of the LEARN program. Since GenZ students (the generation now entering college) ask a lot more “Why?” questions, I want to communicate why they are being required to attend workshops and seminars by depicting the long-term impacts of the program. If I fuel the students with answers to the “Why?” questions, I hope to ignite internal motivations to be successful within the program I coordinate.
I broke down the learning objectives with a partner of Voki, a Web 2.0 tool that can be used as an instructional strategy or a learning tool. Voki is a way to give another face or voice to a new topic in the classroom. Check out the references at the bottom of the GoogleDoc to learn more about the strategies of using Voki to cover all learning outcomes using Bloom’s levels of learning.
To view the Google Cardboard example above, buy a Google Cardboard device, download the mobile app, Google Cardboard, and follow the link in the caption above.
I found a great article from the Journal of Education Technology & Society that described the effects of VR/AR in a Physics classroom (Liou, Yang, Chen, & Tarng, 2017). VR was described as reducing the cognitive load and burden when a student interacted with the simple virtual environment, thus increasing motivation in practice and experiential learning (Sweller, 1994; Bandura, 1986). To provide support through inquiry based learning in VR/AR environments, these STEM instructors found that both AR and VR had significant effects on students’ learning performance (Liou et al., 2017).
For example, if an environment was broken down into simple learning environments, like a research lab in Biology or Optics, we could record a video of the research environment with audio of a lecture describing the tools and materials within the research lab. If faculty mentors, were to use this VR strategy to orientate new students (graduate and undergraduate) into their physical lab space and particular machines that need to be mastered before actually using, it would save time and increase motivation of students to learn and complete tasks.
References
Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ, US: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Liou, H. H., Yang, S. J., Chen, S. Y., & Tarng, W. (2017). The influences of the 2D image-based augmented reality and virtual reality on student learning. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 20(3), 110-121.
Sweller, J. (1994). Cognitive load theory, learning difficulty, and instructional design. Learning and instruction, 4(4), 295-312.
Since I teach introduction to research courses and a large portion of our spring semester curriculum is writing succinctly with a scientific tone, I would utilize a photo editing package to distort a photo for a class activity.
As an exercise, I would ask the students to succinctly describe each consecutive photo as the photo became more, or less, distorted. After practicing with the whole class, I would then as the students to describe, with a limited number of words, the picture to a partner so that the partner can draw what they are hearing.
This quick class activity would be a great exercise in communication and presenting quality details in a succinct format. After comparing the photos given to “Student A” and the photos that were drawn by “Student B” the students will start to evaluate details versus unnecessary language. Eventually the word/character count would become as short as a “Tweet”.
Can’t believe #CUGradChat for @CU_GARS is still going strong since its first live broadcast in 2013. It’s an innovative tool to simulate community, recruit new graduates for the @CU_HESA program, and capture story of current students in the program. #SAgrad #SAchat #SAtech
The concept of assigning a selfie in class is to make the learning scenario a more authentic experience through social learning (Bandura & Walters, 1977).
After reading the ‘ECONSelfie’ article (2016), I discovered that creating a selfie assignment for students to demonstrate their understanding of a topic and create original material ranks in the higher levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy (1956). Below was my submission for “Technology in Learning.” Imagine if you designed your curriculum with a demonstration, evaluation, and creation activity assignment like the Selfie in Learning. You might be surprised the submissions you receive.
In 2013, the Clemson University Higher Education, Student Affairs (@CU_HESA) graduate program wanted to find a way for prospective students to make a decision about Clemson before having to travel to South Carolina for face-to-face interviews (@CU_GARS). I, in a recruitment and selection position, was able to train and put a team together to broadcast our first live Google+ Hangout On Air accompanied with live chat on Facebook and Twitter. This was an innovative strategy to connect with a prospective, self-selected community at the time, and I believe still is an innovative technique to promote story from peers to peers. The idea to promote community and to give space for peers to interact and share lessons learned online is one I try to use with the learners I interact with everyday. Currently, I have a Facebook group, a GroupMe chat, and discussion posts within a Learning Management System (LMS) for the L.E.A.R.N. program. In these spaces, students are able to interact in an online community environment, and share their stories when prompted. In the future, I would like to create a more interactive space for the peer mentors, or student leaders, within the scholarship program to recruit, and begin to train, the next cohort of peer mentors. Since the current peer mentors have already been trained in the art of storytelling, I would like to have the peer mentors in the spotlight on a live broadcast to share their stories and leadership development. This way, we would be able to share their stories digitally to spread the impact of their leadership skills, recruit the next cohort of leaders, and use their stories as positive examples of the program.
References
Al-Bahrani, A., Holder, K., Moryl, R. L., Murphy, P. R., & Patel, D. (2016). Putting yourself in the picture with an ‘ECONSelfie’: Using student-generated photos to enhance introductory economics courses. International Review of Economics Education, 22, 16-22.
Bandura, A., & Walters, R. H. (1977). Social learning theory(Vol. 1). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-hall.
Bloom, B. S. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives. Vol. 1: Cognitive domain. New York: McKay, 20-24.
My first idea to use QR codes was for a scavenger hunt on UCF’s campus for students new to the campus to physically explore the campus and learn about the resources by using QR codes at the specific offices (Cauley, 2011). Miller also references scavenger hunts as a normal response as a way to utilize QR codes within the classroom (2014). Since I found my idea as repetitive, and not that creative, I wanted to look deeper into ways I could use QR codes to help promote learning. Miller’s list of twelve ideas helped me jumpstart my brainstorming (2014):
Teaching students to effectively utilize QR codes and other virtual reality (VR) options could help when students start creating research posters. Using technology to strengthen undergraduate research posters for STEM-related projects could help students communicate their technical research to a wider audience by using exemplars (Miller, 2014).
I have used QR codes to help in saving trees and assigning class assignments (Miller, 2014; Cauley, 2011). Since I work in a small office, saving money on ink and paper is a large concern. For a long URL to a class assignment, I would shorten the URL and post the QR code on a Powerpoint presentation. This way, students could follow to the assignment whichever way they were most comfortable with on their mobile device.
Cauley’s list emphasizes QR codes to assign homework assignments or to link to important forms (2011). I utilize QR codes to mostly help with completing in class assessments (Cauley, 2011). I do believe that giving a student feedback via QR code would be an interesting and individualized experience (Cauley, 2011). I would be willing to try giving a QR code for feedback on a student’s writing connected to a video of me giving solid, individualized advice on how they may be able to better their writing. This effort could help me build rapport with my students.
Colleen M. Smith 