My site supervisor left on a cruise for the Thanksgiving holiday on Sunday and will not return until this coming Sunday when this assignment is due. In an attempt to resolve the issues I needed for my action research, I consulted with several of my colleagues. I am lucky to be a campus instructional technologist (CIT) and have many colleagues who are Technology Leaders in their own schools. I contacted by phone two of my fellow district CITs who have masters in technology leadership to discuss my action research topics. On Monday I contacted Mindy Woods and on Tuesday I contacted Leslie Kennemer. I was very pleased with my discussion with these educators because it allotted us time to discuss issues we are often too busy to discuss. Our district implements programs per school decisions not at a district level. Mindy was helpful in discussing the one-to-one initiatives’ needs. Leslie was extremely helpful in ensuring the question was specific enough to actually narrow down for a short term research and not one that will require work in and information gathering in every subject area.
Since my school is looking into a one-to-one laptop initiative in the third and fourth grade classrooms, we discussed ways of utilizing that area of need as the main action research area. I decided on using “How can the utilization of a one to one laptop environment help improve Language Arts in third and fourth grade classrooms?” as my action research question.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Friday, November 19, 2010
Action Research week 1
Action research is more than just having a topic and finding information to prove what you already knew. With action research you consider a topic of interest that will benefit further study that will have an impact on your school community. Action research is not a passive form of research. You can find and utilize different types of action research. Four types of action research for principals in an educational setting are through university coursework, superintendent/district meetings, leadership teams, and professional learning communities.
I find myself actively involved in at least two of the four types of action research. Through my Lamar coursework, I am actively involved in university coursework. At my school level, I am involved in leadership teams. I find myself in the budding forms of professional leadership communities. I am sure with the correct protocols they would be much more beneficial.
Blogging can be utilized by educational leaders to not only address their own learning bu to share their learning with others. Blogs are a wonderful resource for reflection. If a leader wrote their reflection only a few others could benefit from their journal, whereas on a blog, anyone with internet connection can benefit from the leaders perspective. We must think more globally in education and even in our own reflections.
In the Leading with passion and knowledge written by Nancy Fitchman Dana she interview a principal who commented on action research by saying, "Rather than someone else telling me what I should be doing to my teachers and to my students, through engagement in inquiry I'm learning with my teachers and with the students in my building by closely taking a really hard look at what I’m doing and what I need to do to change it."
I find myself actively involved in at least two of the four types of action research. Through my Lamar coursework, I am actively involved in university coursework. At my school level, I am involved in leadership teams. I find myself in the budding forms of professional leadership communities. I am sure with the correct protocols they would be much more beneficial.
Blogging can be utilized by educational leaders to not only address their own learning bu to share their learning with others. Blogs are a wonderful resource for reflection. If a leader wrote their reflection only a few others could benefit from their journal, whereas on a blog, anyone with internet connection can benefit from the leaders perspective. We must think more globally in education and even in our own reflections.
In the Leading with passion and knowledge written by Nancy Fitchman Dana she interview a principal who commented on action research by saying, "Rather than someone else telling me what I should be doing to my teachers and to my students, through engagement in inquiry I'm learning with my teachers and with the students in my building by closely taking a really hard look at what I’m doing and what I need to do to change it."
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
EDLD 5363 Course Reflection
With a title of Video Technology and Multimedia, I assumed we would learn about innovative ways of using cutting edge multimedia tools. During the course we used Photo Story, video editing software, and audio editing software while working with a group of unknown people. Weeks one through three were reviews of tools I use on a daily basis.
Creating the PSA was a new experience for me. I luckily knew how to share large files over the internet which was a practical skill for this assignment since I had to share the video files with the editor on our team. When the assignment was first released, I was worried about working with a group of people I did not know. I found a group and met them all via email to begin. When our group reached 6 people, we realized we had to split. One group was geared to working with older students and adults. My group was geared to working with younger children. All six of us decide to meet via web conference on Toxbox. After the initial hour on the conference our group deiced to meet separately to discuss our PSA particulars. After the video conference we were able to collaborate functionally over a wiki I created for the large group. We also utilized email for direct conversations that required quick responses.
I also, learned about Creative Commons licenses. I had been at several conferences that discussed them but had never truly delved into their usage until this course. I now have a better understanding of its concept. On the PSA we decided that since it had video of my daughter who is eight, we wanted to limit others from editing the video for her safety. We chose a license that stated, "Chatting with Kids About Being Online by Leanne Knight, Patty Odom, and Stacey Thompson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommerical-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License."
The topics covered in EDLD5363 were extremely relevant to the skills required in my job. As a campus technologist, I use a variety of technology on a daily basis. In elementary school multimedia is a large portion of how I effectively assist teachers and students. I work regularly with video editing software both Adobe Premiere Elements and Movie Maker. I also help students and teachers in grades first through third create videos using Photo Story. I am actively engaged in helping teachers create podcasts using Audacity and posting the files to a site with an RSS feed. EDLD 5363 was a review of what I do on a daily basis. It was nice to re-examine all of the features of the different software I use regularly. I appreciated learning more in depth features of Audacity. While learning about video editing software I compared the free trial of Adobe Premiere Elements to Microsoft Movie Maker. I admit I wanted to learn some of the newer products for multimedia instead of the tools schools have been utilizing for the last ten years.
We need to remember we should be using twenty-first century skills with our students. Not only have we been in the twenty-first century for ten years but our younger students have known nothing else. As educators with a concentration in technology, we need to go beyond just learning these skills. We need to be utilizing as many up to the minute tools that have been released and have shown to be robust. We should never take a step back in technology or we have lost our audience. Many of the tools utilized in EDLD 5363 are tools that are becoming outdated with the utilization of web 2.0 tools. Photostory is a great tool but there are many newer ones being released that have better functions and will keep our students interested. We should be given an opportunity to learn about the newer tools since our teachers come to us as a guiding resource of knowledge in innovative technology.
Our team was extremely successful in completing the assignments. I do admit though that we were successful by pure determination on our parts. We would complete most of the PSA, then find out another component of the assignment which was not detailed in the online CourseWhere, emails from the IA, or rubric. Luckily, at least one of the team members was present in at least one web conference each week. Otherwise, we would have missed the new requirements that were added weekly. For example, on the PSA rubric and the assignment it never discusses the number of narrators. During a web conference. Dr. Abernathy said there should be at least two narrators. So our team had to edit our final PSA per her new requirement. Nowhere on the rubric does it discuss giving Creative Commons licensing but during a web conference, Dr.Abernathy was adamant the participants of the course add a license to their PSA. So, we had to edit our PSA yet again.
During production of the Photo Story I was confused about the personal digital story. I contacted my IA and she suggested I do a story on my partner. So may partner and I started construction of stories on each other. A few days later, I was in a web conference where Dr. Abernathy was adamant we do stories on ourselves. So, my partner and I had to recreate our stories. I ended up creating three different movies and had to decide which one best fit the rubric and Dr. Abernathy's expectations.
During the week our class had to compare video editing software, the assignment went between a podcast and a video assignment. I was confused again about what the actual assignment entailed. In one of Dr. Abernathy's web conference notes, it stated the video needed to be no more than one minute. The conference notes did not state whether the video was referring to that week’s assignment of the PSA assignment that was to begin the following week. With not knowing, I created two video tutorial and two tutorial podcasts. I created one that was under a minute and another that was more in-depth lasting around five minutes. I definitely ended up with a working knowledge of Movie Maker, Adobe Premiere Elements, and Audacity that week.
While working on the PSA, I learned how easy it is to work with a group where each member is hundreds of miles apart. We never met in person only through electronic means. I learned that I have an ease of use with cloud computing. I have used online web 2.0 tools on a regular basis for my own use and I teach teachers at my school their use. I discovered that if you have people who are willing, they will collaborate online. I thought I could only work with a group via face to face meetings and use online software as an alternative. Now I know online software can be used as a primary form of collaborating and reinforcement.
Creating the PSA was a new experience for me. I luckily knew how to share large files over the internet which was a practical skill for this assignment since I had to share the video files with the editor on our team. When the assignment was first released, I was worried about working with a group of people I did not know. I found a group and met them all via email to begin. When our group reached 6 people, we realized we had to split. One group was geared to working with older students and adults. My group was geared to working with younger children. All six of us decide to meet via web conference on Toxbox. After the initial hour on the conference our group deiced to meet separately to discuss our PSA particulars. After the video conference we were able to collaborate functionally over a wiki I created for the large group. We also utilized email for direct conversations that required quick responses.
I also, learned about Creative Commons licenses. I had been at several conferences that discussed them but had never truly delved into their usage until this course. I now have a better understanding of its concept. On the PSA we decided that since it had video of my daughter who is eight, we wanted to limit others from editing the video for her safety. We chose a license that stated, "Chatting with Kids About Being Online by Leanne Knight, Patty Odom, and Stacey Thompson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommerical-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License."
The topics covered in EDLD5363 were extremely relevant to the skills required in my job. As a campus technologist, I use a variety of technology on a daily basis. In elementary school multimedia is a large portion of how I effectively assist teachers and students. I work regularly with video editing software both Adobe Premiere Elements and Movie Maker. I also help students and teachers in grades first through third create videos using Photo Story. I am actively engaged in helping teachers create podcasts using Audacity and posting the files to a site with an RSS feed. EDLD 5363 was a review of what I do on a daily basis. It was nice to re-examine all of the features of the different software I use regularly. I appreciated learning more in depth features of Audacity. While learning about video editing software I compared the free trial of Adobe Premiere Elements to Microsoft Movie Maker. I admit I wanted to learn some of the newer products for multimedia instead of the tools schools have been utilizing for the last ten years.
We need to remember we should be using twenty-first century skills with our students. Not only have we been in the twenty-first century for ten years but our younger students have known nothing else. As educators with a concentration in technology, we need to go beyond just learning these skills. We need to be utilizing as many up to the minute tools that have been released and have shown to be robust. We should never take a step back in technology or we have lost our audience. Many of the tools utilized in EDLD 5363 are tools that are becoming outdated with the utilization of web 2.0 tools. Photostory is a great tool but there are many newer ones being released that have better functions and will keep our students interested. We should be given an opportunity to learn about the newer tools since our teachers come to us as a guiding resource of knowledge in innovative technology.
Our team was extremely successful in completing the assignments. I do admit though that we were successful by pure determination on our parts. We would complete most of the PSA, then find out another component of the assignment which was not detailed in the online CourseWhere, emails from the IA, or rubric. Luckily, at least one of the team members was present in at least one web conference each week. Otherwise, we would have missed the new requirements that were added weekly. For example, on the PSA rubric and the assignment it never discusses the number of narrators. During a web conference. Dr. Abernathy said there should be at least two narrators. So our team had to edit our final PSA per her new requirement. Nowhere on the rubric does it discuss giving Creative Commons licensing but during a web conference, Dr.Abernathy was adamant the participants of the course add a license to their PSA. So, we had to edit our PSA yet again.
During production of the Photo Story I was confused about the personal digital story. I contacted my IA and she suggested I do a story on my partner. So may partner and I started construction of stories on each other. A few days later, I was in a web conference where Dr. Abernathy was adamant we do stories on ourselves. So, my partner and I had to recreate our stories. I ended up creating three different movies and had to decide which one best fit the rubric and Dr. Abernathy's expectations.
During the week our class had to compare video editing software, the assignment went between a podcast and a video assignment. I was confused again about what the actual assignment entailed. In one of Dr. Abernathy's web conference notes, it stated the video needed to be no more than one minute. The conference notes did not state whether the video was referring to that week’s assignment of the PSA assignment that was to begin the following week. With not knowing, I created two video tutorial and two tutorial podcasts. I created one that was under a minute and another that was more in-depth lasting around five minutes. I definitely ended up with a working knowledge of Movie Maker, Adobe Premiere Elements, and Audacity that week.
While working on the PSA, I learned how easy it is to work with a group where each member is hundreds of miles apart. We never met in person only through electronic means. I learned that I have an ease of use with cloud computing. I have used online web 2.0 tools on a regular basis for my own use and I teach teachers at my school their use. I discovered that if you have people who are willing, they will collaborate online. I thought I could only work with a group via face to face meetings and use online software as an alternative. Now I know online software can be used as a primary form of collaborating and reinforcement.
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