Map/Chapter 21

The map I created has several Historical Black Colleges and Universities(HBCU's) placemarked. When students are approaching their junior or senior year in high school, I would have them research a historical black college or university. The students would have to state why they chose the college, the history of the college, their intended major if they where to attend, and map the distance from their home to the college or university.



View Larger Map


Chapter 21: Trends and Issues P-12 Educational Change

Educational change (improvement) is a term that most districts struggle to achieve. Chapter 21 helped me to understand why most districts struggle with making a positive change and never achieve a significant improvement. The first point that really stuck out and reminded me of my own school district’s which is currently struggling with making an improvement is the system employed when trying to make changes. In my district we operate using a piecemeal system. The improvements usually consist of changing one or two parts within each individual school in an effort to achieve educational enhancement for the students. Initially, during the planning process the entire school is enthusiastic about making improvements because we (the staff) all know that there is a great need for improvement. By the end, after implementing the new changes we are usually left feeling frustrated with little if any success.

After reading Chapter 21, I realize that in order for our district to improve we must look at making a district wide ecological systemic change. According to Squire and Reieluth (2002), ecological systemic change is based on a clear understanding of interrelationship with interdependencies within the system of interest and its “systemic environment. The two models (GSTE and SUTE) discussed in this chapter both offer assistance in helping a district reform to an ecological system. With the example given the districts that tried this process ended with successful results. I believe that when a district is in need of major reform, there should be an in-depth look at either model. Both models could prove to be resourceful for many districts.

However, in order for a district to make significant change one must have the proper funds to support change. With our current economic status, hoping for an ecological systemic change is just a dream for some. My district, as well as other districts, is in a financial crisis. We have encountered a tremendous amount of lay-offs, class sizes have increased and support staff has decreased to the bare minimum.

Due to the lack of financial support, we must look for ways to improve districts where cost is not a major factor. Even though there has not been much success in using a piecemeal system. There must be a low cost way to achieve reform in all districts. If you look at struggling districts, one must conclude that we know why a change is needed, but the question is how and who will fund the project.

Chapter 18 and My Reflection

When looking at how industrial design can be used in the business sector and in an educational setting, there were at least two points I found to be similar. The first was technology based training. In the business sector more corporations are moving toward training their employees by using technology based training programs. According to Industry Report, 1999, only 20% of training is delivered via internet this allows corporations to reduce cost and training time. Technology based training programs have also become more prevalent in the educational setting. According to one of our classmates’ reflections, there are some districts that have implemented classes via internet where students can participate online. Even though this form of training has not been incorporated in my school district, I believe that in the future more districts will move toward the use of the internet for instructional based learning. The second similarity between business and education is globalized training. In the business sector instructional designers have the task of creating software that meet the needs of different cultures. Likewise, with the rise of ESL students, educators have the task of creating lessons that meet the need for students of different cultures. When comparing business with education there are quite a few similarities as well as differences. I believe the end result leads to both sectors looking for ways to increase efficiency, lowering the budget and assisting with global interaction.

As I reflect over this course for the last 8 weeks, I have learned a lot of new innovative technology tools that will not only help me as an educator but my students as well. Here is a list of some of things I have learned:
• Photosharing
• Podcasting
• Blogging
• WIKI
• RSS
After the first assignment of creating a blogger account, I thought this class was going to be a piece of cake. To my surprise, some of the projects proved more challenging than others such as Wiki and podcasting. With my chaotic schedule, initially it was difficult for me to phantom the idea of working with others to accomplish a project. With the help of the discussion panel and having group members who were understanding and considerate of others’ ideas and opinions we successfully completed our project. Another project I found challenging was creating a podcast. I recorded several podcast before I felt comfortable with choosing one to post. Nevertheless, I have enjoyed all of the projects this far.

The only drawback I find with this course is when you encounter problems. Even though there is a discussion panel for each project, it is difficult for someone to fully assist with an issue if they have not experienced the same problem. This is where expressing yourself thoroughly plays an important role. Ever little detail, which I sometimes forget, is needed in order for someone to assist when you experience technical difficulties. If one detail is missed, you can easily become baffled and at your wits end trying to correct the problem.

Overall, I am enjoying this class and the lessons learned will enhance my performance as an educator. With technology on the cutting edge, this class is giving me the confidence I need to successfully integrate technology into an educational setting.

Podcasting/Chapter 14 HPI

Human Performance Improvement (HPI) is a term that most businesses and organizations aim to achieve. When looking at the field of education in comparison to the HPI philosophy, I realize they are similar. According to Reiser and Dempsey, HPI is a term that has three perspectives: vision, concept and desired end. As educators we use the same perspectives when teaching students. Our primary vision is to enhance students’ learning. We study and analyze state curriculum's and goals to ensure that students are taught according to their grade levels. Then we develop various concepts known as lessons in the education field. These lessons are usually well designed and taught, and many times re-taught in an effort to help students obtain the initial vision. The last perspective is the desired end. In education, the desired end is for all students to gain knowledge of the subject area taught, while enhancing their overall learning experience. I believe that the term HPI is what we as educators do daily. Even though the term HPI is not generally used when looking at education, an educator’s job is to enhance human performance and assess student’s daily learning ensuring improvement. Therefore, I believe that HPI is a term that can incorporated into various professions.

As for this week’s podcasting project, I must say this is one of the technology tools that I enjoyed the most and probably would have used daily. Currently, I am teaching a young 3’s ECDD class where the students are a little too young to experience hands-on learning with podcasting. When I taught 2nd grade, podcasting would have helped tremendously especially with our daily literature circles. In theses circles, students read various books and recorded themselves using a small tape recorder with a microphone. Students were allowed to choose other students tape recordings to follow as they read the books. I realized when students have an audience they try harder and perform better. They were excited to listen to their own and classmates’ recordings. This proved to be a fun and educational way to get all students involved in reading. Now that I have learned about podcasting, I definitely would have integrated this tool into my literature circles. This would have given the students the opportunity to merge modern technology with literacy. I believe that podcasting would have added an astronomical effect to my literature circles. The students would have been able to publish their readings onto the internet. Parents and others around the world would have had an opportunity to listen to the students. I plan to inform other teachers about podcasting during my school’s next professional development meeting.

Explore learning styles and multiple intelligences to help students' access content and develop their potential.

http://media.podcastingmanager.com/112755-105310/Media/TT014%20Learning%20Styles%20and%20Intelligences.mp3?ref=rss



My podcast site
http://tamarawarren.mypodcast.com/2008/10/My_First_Time_Using_Podcast-150264.html

Chapter 3 "A History of Instructional Design and Technology"

The Internet and Web have been progressively growing in all sectors of our lives. In today’s society most businesses and schools rely heavily on the internet to complete everyday tasks. Most innovative technology tools, in the beginning, were used regularly then soon tapered off. The Internet seems to be one that is continually growing and may never taper off.

The Internet has proven to be a resourceful tool in grades K-12. For example, school districts use the Internet to email parents and for advertisement; while, teachers require students to use it for research. However, I can not see using the Internet as a tool for instruction in grades K-12. If that were to happen then there would not be a need for a traditional class setting. Students would log-on to the internet from home and all their lessons would be accessible. In these grades, school is not a place where only academics are taught, this is where most students are taught social skills. In America most jobs require social interaction. The goal of school is to build a community of learners. These types of communities are what help make our country stronger and advance further. Just picture if there was only one person designing, creating and building a new invention. How long would it take? Therefore, businesses create team of people to produce things. In order for a team to be successful at completing a task, they must rely on the social skill of the entire team in order to achieve a common goal. Moreover, the Internet or Web has had some influence on education but may never be the primary source of the way instruction is presented to learners in grades K-12.

Images, Video, and Map

This is my Godson Andrew before he won the race



My Favorite Gospel Video




Here is a map of WMU

View Larger Map

Photo Sharing and Chapter 2 Trends and Issues

Working with Flickr, a photo sharing site, was fun and interesting. In the past, when asked to share photos I would email selected photos as an attachment. Now that I have a personal site, I can direct friends and family members to my site http://flickr.com/photos/tamarawarren/ which will allow me to share most cherished memories. As a young 3’s-preschool teacher I take photos daily. Most of my students’ lessons are hand-on activities. Therefore, photos are used as an aid to help assess their learning and skills. The students and parents are usually impressed when they see themselves or their children working hard. These photos are displayed weekly around the classroom and in the hallway. On several occasions parents have asked for copies of photos. Now that I have gained knowledge of a photo sharing site, I can easily give parents the site address and they can choose the photos they wish to download. If I were teaching older students, it would be awesome to see what kind of photos they would display. Nevertheless, I would be a little leery about the kind of photos they display so I would implement strict guidelines to follow to make sure there were not any explicit photos. For example, I would implement a lesson centered on the theme “All About Me”. Some students have trouble expressing themselves in writing when asked to tell about themselves or their lives. Therefore, I would have them create an “About Me” photo sharing site in an attempt to help the students learn about each other. I truly believe in the old saying “pictures are worth more than a thousand words.”
Chapter 2 “What is Instructional Design?” was informative and helped to enlighten my view on the process of instructional design as well as the process I use in creating lesson plans. After reading chapter 2, I realize that the process in which I create lesson plans go hand and hand with the core elements of the instructional design process (ADDIE). For examples the A in ADDIE stands for analyze. When creating lessons, one must first analyze the need for the lesson. In my school district our core curriculum list objectives that the students need to achieve. The D stands for design. Lessons must be designed around the objectives. The other D in ADDIE stands for develops. When creating a lesson the appropriate material should be gathered in order for the lesson to be a success. “ I” another element in the process of instructional design means implement. That is the actually teaching of the lesson and the last element is E. The E in ADDIE stands for evaluates, which is what most teachers do after a lesson has been taught to see what needs to be re-taught. In conclusion, if ADDIE can be used to create simplistic lesson plans, there are no limits how it can be resourceful in helping various groups work on projects.