Critical evaluation of a website

http://www.martinlutherking.org/

This site seems very bias and not super accurate in its content.  I don’t see an author or any contact information except for a discussion forum you can join.  The subheading Why the King Holiday Should be Repealed!  sounds like the underlying message is different than what a person looking for information about Martin Luther King might be looking for.  I am not noticing spelling and grammar errors, but am surprised that there would be explicit language on the page.  I don’t find a date on the page.   The information is easy to read and has headings to show organization.  It does source Newsweek magazine page numbers, but not links to the sources of information.

I would not recommend an educator using this site as it seems bias, the content may be twisted, and the explicit language. 

The site leads you to links within the site.  The pictures are appropriate for the site, but don’t necessarily add to the site.  I don’t feel the information is valid and authoritative and maybe is why it is listed first for us to view.

http://www.dhmo.org/

First thing I notice is I can donate to the cause (I don’t yet know what the cause is, but they want my money).  I appreciate that the site is looking for feedback, but “The success of this site depends on you, the citizen concerned about Dihydrogen Monoxide. We welcome your comments and suggestions. “ doesn’t sound very professional.  The spinning skull and crossbones also doesn’t appear to be very professional.  I see Tom Way is the author.  There are links to other sources of information.  The information is very organized.  There are not tabs along the top that you often see in a professional site.  The site was last updated today.    When I searched “Tom Way DHMO” http://www.csc.villanova.edu/~tway/bio/ I found that Prior to pursuing his graduate studies, Dr. Way worked in the television and film industry in Hollywood for 10 years. His professional endeavors now include a position on the board of directors for a software and Internet services company, freelance software engineering and web site consulting, and Director of Research of the successful science satire web site DHMO.org. He is an accomplished professional magician, writer, actor, filmmaker and marathon runner.

When I searched Dihydrogen Monoxide I learned they are just referring to water. Based on this information I would not recommend this site.  It is a hoax.

http://www.savetherennets.com/index.php

I am so excited about this cause that I just sent away for my very own rennet.  Just kidding.  This is site describes something that I didn’t believe after reading about it, but upon referencing it on Google, I found out more about rennets.  It appears that in the UK (if not other places) uses the stomach lining of some animals to make cheese.  There are tabs along the top of the webpage which makes it organized and easy to use.  There are some links to other information and a way to contact the makers of the webpage.  I think this website is ok.  I would recommend it to someone to use to learn about the treatment of and uses of this animal.  It is biased information.

I have learned that it is important to evaluate websites before selecting as the best source of information.  I learned several years ago from a coworker about the importance of having students gather research from good sources of information.  I have seen why this is important as my students do research on their topic of their selected service-learning topics.  Students are too often willing to use their first website for information or a wiki.  It would be good to have students evaluate sites for their effectiveness and accuracy.

I am somewhat surprised that feedback has such a high effect on learning.  I know quality feedback is important in student learning.  I need to research quality feedback to see what I can improve upon.  I know we learned about different levels of feedback in cognitive coaching.  Something interesting that I learned is how valuable feedback from the students to the teacher can be.  I do include the opportunity for students to give feedback to me after each project.  I have made many changes to class organization, instruction, and documents we use in class after listening to what my students have to say.  Sometimes it is the questions they ask that let me know that I needed to provide examples, models, or instruction to make improvements in my effectiveness.  I was surprised that I had a conversation with a parent the last day of school who felt that my class required too much deep thinking.  This parent was also surprised that I included student feedback as one part of the student evaluation in reflection.

Quality instruction certainly makes sense as score high in the zone of desired effects.  The instruction we have had in the Teacher Leadership Academy and Cognitive Coaching is exceptional and we, the students, notice and appreciate the craft of quality instruction.

I was surprised that computer assisted instruction scored low where there seems to be a push for more computer assisted instruction.  I do realize there was a note that the research was from several years ago.  I think some students probably do well with this type of instruction, however, I have watched students push buttons impulsively with little thought to their learning.

I can use this learning as a teacher leader by sharing quality practices with my colleagues and students.  If my students are accustomed to giving me feedback, maybe they will make it a practice in other classes.

The last few weeks of school can be a struggle for me to keep focused on the current school year.  I am most excited to begin refining processes and identify changes to make for the upcoming school year.  One day I sat in the middle of the classroom as students were working on very active hands on projects and I just observed what was going on within the classroom.  I wrote pages of ideas, changes I could make to improve the layout of my room in terms of functionality.  In reading about Hattie’s research and about Visible Learning, I feel that my day of just observing and note taking allowed me to reflect on my students’ interaction with the physical environment.  Additionally, I conferenced with students about my ideas looking for their feedback to make changes that would be most beneficial to them.

I generated a list of skills shared in the Doing What Works site under developing spacial skills in girls and helpful feedback techniques.

Digital Age Learning Culture

 

As an educational leader I model quality educational experiences for my students and for the staff in our district.  I volunteer to have district administration in to practice evaluations, teachers to view my classroom in a building lab classroom group, and by volunteering to meet with staff in the district to help them implement service-learning projects and project based learning.  I empower my students and help them to develop and implement problem solving strategies that can be used beyond my classroom.

After learning about Universal Design for Learning and understanding the importance of creating engaging learning environments with supports for all students, reflect on how you intend to change the way you teach using these new found ideas, or how you have already been using them.

I teach two elective classes that are very student focused.  I have already written the UDL plan for my service-learning class.  Students select a topic of interest as their service-learning project. Students research to develop understanding of their selected topic, brainstorm options and develop a plan, implement their plan, and reflect throughout and after their project are complete.  Our access to technology has varied each semester I have taught this class.  Ideally, all students have a device and access to the internet to research about their topic, research possible plans to impact the problem, make contacts with topic experts through email or phone calls.  Additionally, in an ideal world all students would have a fully key boarded device to type their understanding and plans then share them with me in Google docs so I can provide prompt feedback in this project.  Students would also have access to a device that would take photos and videos to document their project in action.  Students would also have various technological reflection options throughout their project and after their project. 

The second class I teach is Innovative Solutions.  It has been through a lot of changes since its creation.  It is a hands on problem solving class. 

Students participate in various challenges that allow them the opportunity to implement the four goals of the class: 

1.     develop perseverance to become increasingly innovative

2.     develop risk taking to become increasingly innovative

3.     develop use of process (engineering design process or problem solving process)

4.     develop self assessment and reflection to become increasingly innovative.

The challenges vary to provide experiences and capture a variety of interests.  Ideally, students would have access to a device to research inquiry questions the students develop, research designs that other people have tried to build onto, devices that could be used to create videos of their tests that could be used for evaluation, or to post the videos so other students could provide feedback on the designs and tests or shared with families to provide as communication of class work.  Currently, students self evaluate and provide evidence to support their self assessment.  I would like to explore an online survey that would collect students self assessment for each project, then could be used for the student to see their progress through time.

Both of my classes require deep thinking and creating.  Students have choice and voice in each project.  I set aside class time after each project to get feedback from my students to improve the format of the class and the projects.  Students self evaluate their work and I conference with students about their evaluation using cognitive coaching techniques.

My goals for this summer are to increase my understanding of and use of technology in the classroom  and to develop multiple representations to make the class goals make more sense and to feature more examples of innovation .  Lastly, I want to help students with transferring the knowledge they develop in my classes to other classes and life situations.

Do we really need technology in the classroom?

I feel we must have technology in the classroom.  If we are educating our children for the twenty first century we must incorporate technology into education.  I know my own children and many to most of my students have more technological awareness and understanding than I currently do.  I have not grown up using technology the way today’s youth are using technology.  They use expect from technology things that I would not have thought to expect.  I recently watched a young child tapping on a wall that had the image of a projected computer screen the child expected the image to interact with her.  I would not have thought to try to interact with this projected image.

Our youth are creating using technology.  Why not incorporate this desire to create within their self directed and self paced learning?  The first video talked about sharing your creations with others, a “valid audience.”  In my Innovative Solutions class students are creating products for the various challenges we do in class.  The first marking period I invited parents in to watch student presentations to showcase their creations.  Subsequent marking periods I moved away from formal presentations as I wanted the students to feel their work was more fluid works in progress through the engineering design process instead of a onetime “right or wrong” answer.  I have wondered about having the students save their favorite projects for a showcase of their best work, but I am concerned about the space needed to house all the projects.  Tonight, I am wondering how can I utilize technology to help with this idea?  What if students create a video exploring their solution to our class challenges (projects), post the video for other students and parents to view and leave feedback. 

Sir Ken Robinson has so many thought provoking ideas about creativity or how we squash it.  I had the pleasure of hearing him speak in San Jose at the National Service Learning Conference several years ago.  His comment about, “technology is not considered technology if it happened before you were born” is interesting. 

What does technology make possible to do that we can't otherwise?

One thing that technology has made possible is connecting with anyone you want to connect with.  John Seely Brown’s video was fascinating.  I see how embracing change is very important. Technology helps us make change.  Some people are generally more comfortable with change than others.  Developing a “questing disposition and curiosity” will help our learners develop as thinkers and learners. John used great examples of gaming to explain how people want to be evaluated (score) and how people create challenges and change for themselves.  The influence of digital media on surfing makes me wonder how I can help my students to develop that type of passion to make progress in their learning.  How can I provide a platform for my students to build something new?  Technology also helps us create.

 

What would you say to a teacher that was reluctant to use technology in their practice?

I would guess that a teacher that is reluctant to use technology in their practice is probably not comfortable with change or doesn’t yet have access to or experience with using technology.  If we are in the business of educating for the twenty first century we need to incorporate technology.  Technology needs to be integrated into learning in opportunities for students to practice researching, analyzing, synthesizing, and creating to develop into self directed learners.