UDL Book Builder Assignment

UDL Book Builder Assignment

     After discussing this project with my ELA teacher Mrs. Kennedy, i decided to build my book around the idea of tolerance and accepting others.  Through working in a jail i have noticed that many of my student lack many of these characteristics and are often judgmental towards people they see as being different.  This book is meant to help the students see that just because someone is different from them does not mean that they are a freak or a loser.  The world is made up of all different types of people and Mrs. Kennedy and I thought this would be a great topic to use for her ELA class.  With that being said we both also agree the using UDL Book Builder in the classroom would be a great way for students to create their own stories to share with us.  My students often have great ideas and stories that they like to discuss in class and Book Builder would be a cool tool for them to use to express these ideas and work on their ELA and technology skills.  I could see us using UDL Book Builder as a way to assess the students creativity, planning, and ELA writing skills by having them create a story of their own that shares a message of tolerance.  I think it would be awesome to see what our students can do with this project.  Furthermore i think that other teachers could use the book that i created int heir lessons as a way of teaching tolerance to their students.  While it may not be an award winning book, i still think the message given is strong and concise.  Many different classes on many different grade levels could benefit from using my book in their classroom.  The lessons set forth in the book do not only apply to students in jail.  We are seeing the topic of bullying starting to become a mainstream issue that schools across the US are tackling.  My book shows this bullying and how it is unfounded and wrong.  I hope you all like my book and feel free to leave comments and suggestions!

Link to my book:

 http://bookbuilder.cast.org/view.php?op=share&book=3f0dfd3b1abda87fc1d84abaf22b3f5d&sid=7498

Week 7 assignment

Week 7 Assignment:

Assignment #1:

Article 1:  

"Theories and Practices of Multimodal Education: 

The Instructional Dynamics of Picture Books and Primary Classrooms"

     After reading this article i think that using Multimodal practices in the classroom is a great way to enhance reading and prepare students for a more dynamic age of reading and deciphering text.  In this modern world it is apparent that simply reading text out of a boring old textbook is not properly preparing our students for an increasingly digital and confusing world.  The purpose of multimodal learning in these primary classrooms is to collaborate with students to look at the different elements in picture books that help to convey the meaning of the author and illustrator.  The article gives us examples of how teacher implemented these designs into their classrooms through having students create their own book pages after reading a book about a doughnut.  The students showed good knowledge and understanding of how these different elements such as text size, color, orientation, and use help to convey certain ideas.  Personally i think that this multimodal education is just an extension of teaching literacy to students who learn in different ways.  It points out all of the different elements that come into play and how they all shape reading and writing.  I think elementary school teachers should continue to use this practice in order to help our young students prepare for a different world.

Article 2: 

"Using the ADDIE Model to Design Second Life Activities for Online Learners"

     Through reading this article I have learned that Second Life (SL) is an interesting game and definitely could be used to help facilitate education and learning.  This particular article discusses how a class of graduate students were tasked with learning and interacting on SL in order to complete certain assignments that helped the students learn more about the game.  The near face-to-face aspect of Second Life was utilized to set up class meetings and little "field trips," to places like museums, all of which took place in the game on the students home computer screen.  The article goes on to discuss the pros and cons associated with Second Life and how it can be used in education.  Some of it's good characteristics are the ability to chat both via text and by using a microphone and headset.  Teachers can also use Second Life to set up virtual field trips to cool places that will help students learn.  Some of the negatives associated with Second Life are that it is basically a free roaming world, so at any time a person could wander into your group and interrupt the lesson that is taking place.  Another con is that when multiple people are talking at once the ability to understand who is saying what can be difficult, which is why headsets and microphones are the best ways to communicate.  Furthermore i think that in our increasingly technological world, Second Life can indeed be a great way to facilitate education and collaboration.  I am interested into looking into its use in educational circles more closely because i do indeed think that this game has a lot of educational value.

Assignment #2:

Second Life

(drew886 (my character) screen shot)

      After creating an avatar and roaming through the Second Life world i have found many cool and interesting things about the game.  I have discussed the game along with multimodal learning with my ELA teacher Mrs. Kennedy and through our discussion we have come up with what we fell are some good ways to use the game for ELA learning.  Some of the ways Second Life can be incorporated into ELA instruction are:

-using the microphone chat feature to give oral presentations

-using the microphone chat feature to hold class discussions and interactions

-using the text chat feature to respond to questions posed from other students of the teacher

-going on educationally based field trips to relevant areas

-having students work together in class and outside of class via Second Life to improve their ELA and technology skills

-collaborating in groups to solve problems and work with one another.

-allowing students and parents to meet virtually with teachers for homework help or any other questions.

-having students listen to the teacher and interact by asking questions or gesturing in an online lecture style classroom.

-having student interview random SL users to work on journalism and writing skills.

-having students understand meaning and importance via voice recognition and text recognition when speaking with others on SL

Week 6 Assignment

Assignment #1:

     After creating a Gamestar Mechanic account and exploring the website I have seen that many teachers are using games in many different ways in the classroom.  First of all teachers are not only having students play games but they are also having students design games in the classroom.  Through designing these games students gain motivation to succeed and learn in the STEAM areas, which are science, technology, engineering, art, and math.  The website is designed to be used for students in 4th through 9th grade however I think that gaming and game design can take place at any grade level.  In dealing with ELA in the classroom Gamestar, along with the other gaming sites we have discovered do a great job in having students use ELA skills to work through the gaming.  Many of the games on these sites, along with the designing games on Gamestar, utilize prompts and written directions that students must follow in order to complete the tasks listed.  In this sense the students are reinforcing their ELA skills by doing tons of reading for analysis and direction.  Teachers often take this a step further by having students assess the work they are doing on the computers with writing activities and other types of ELA reinforcement.  Another ELA aspect that Gamestar specifically has is the fact that when students create games they are given feedback from other players on how they feel the game was made and what problems or strengths the game may have.  This gets students writing and responding to one anther and is a great way to motivate students to want to write!

Assignment #2:

     After reading and experience gaming websites and philosophies of other teachers I have been able to really think out my opinion on the issue.  I can see why some teachers may either like or dislike using video games for schooling purposes however I feel that the advantages vastly outweigh the disadvantages.  

     From a teachers perspective, I think that games are an amazing way to teach as long as the games are used appropriately, with good support and debriefing.  Through trying out many of these games and working my way through the Gamestar website I have found that gaming is something that my students are very accustomed to, which is all the more reason why we should adapt it to our curriculum's as content area teachers.  As an ELA teacher I could see a huge benefit in using gaming in the classroom as a way to empower students to learn by giving them assignments that they may truly love to complete.  The best learning takes place when students are motivated and empowered to complete and compose their own individual works.  What better way to do this than through gaming.   

     As a technology specialist I would also push the use of gaming in the classroom.  I have read and seen first hand how many students (97%) play video games outside of the classroom.  As a specialist I would encourage all different content areas to explore that gaming possibilities within their subject areas.  Every subject form Math to Science can benefit from using gaming in the classroom.  Furthermore I feel that we would be doing our students a disservice if we didn't include game creation into engineering and technology classrooms.  I think if teachers were told about these advantages and all the different ways to implement gaming into their curriculum they would see the advantages it could have.  With that being said, it would be my responsibility as a technology specialist to inform the various teachers of these advantages and how they may be reaped.

Assignment #3:

      For my game script/scenario I choose the topic of the Age of Exploration.  I think this could be a fun game and could also incorporate ELA and Social Studies skills and standards.

 http://dl.dropbox.com/u/22816861/Age%20of%20Conquest%20Game%20Scenario.pptx

Assignment #4:

   After having an Edmodo account for over a week now I can see many different advantages of it that I did not know about from the outside looking in.  When it comes to using Edmodo for ELA purposes, the possibilities for classroom and homework use are practically endless.  One of the best things about this program is how easy it use to use and manipulate due to the fact that it looks and works so much like Facebook.  Many students who are middle to high school aged are very familiar with Facebook's functionality which makes Edmodo a great way to seamlessly integrate technology into education.  This fact does not make it a great ELA tool, but it does make it become a great tools through its ease and usability.  Since students know how to use the site it allows teachers to create assignments knowing the students should have no issues completing them.  The assignment feature allows teachers to create writing assignments, essay topics, book questions or anything else an ELA teacher could want to assign.  Along with this feature, the ability for students to post on each others work and comment on different things can help to foster an environment deep in collaboration and technology, two things which are necessary in helping to improve ELA skills.  Unfortunately at this time I am not able to use Edmodo in my teaching due to correctional internet restrictions, however if I was able to use it I would definitely try to implement the website as a classroom staple.  There are so many ELA and content area possibilities to Edmodo and I would love the opportunity to try out the website with a class of my own!