EDTC 605 Multimedia
Reflection
My first artifact is my final project on blended learning in a Kindergarten classroom. This class has opened my eyes to how I could use iPads in my classroom as blended learning. Managing more than twenty Kindergarteners who seek individual attention is not an easy task. By adding iPads or computers to a station where children rotate through during literacy centers, is a step in the right direction. Instead of children being at an independent center playing games with no feedback and a chance to be off task they can be highly engaged using drill and practice software to practice phonics, math and handwriting. The teacher can then use reports generated to identify students’ weaknesses and strengths to provide even more individualized instruction. This allows for students to move at their own pace and at their own level of instruction.
Blended learning sounds great but what programs are the children actually using during this time? That leads me to my next artifacts. I discovered several great Open Source educational games that would push my students along with knowing their letter names and sounds. I created a video describing one of them, it’s called Childsplay. I also researched to find some great educational apps I would eventually use in my Kindergarten class as part of my blended learning model. My next artifact is a table of some of the apps I found. I have over half of them on my iPad. My kid’s favorite game is a higher level thinking game called Chickionary. The students are given letters and have to scramble the letters to come up with other words. It’s amazing to see them problem solving and helping each other to make a word.
NETS*T Standards
*Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity
*Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments
*Model Digital Age Work and Learning
*Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility
*Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership
21st Century Skills
*Creativity and Innovation
*Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
*Communication and Collaboration
*Information Literacy
*Media Literacy
*Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity
*Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments
*Model Digital Age Work and Learning
*Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility
*Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership
21st Century Skills
*Creativity and Innovation
*Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
*Communication and Collaboration
*Information Literacy
*Media Literacy
Research
I learned about the power of visual literacy in the classroom. I use pictures to help describe our vocabulary words each week. It helps my kids visualize the concept of a word. I had not thought of using pictures in a lesson. By researching, I found many ways I could use photos to teach skills like the beginning, middle and end and storytelling. Using images and manipulating them is a great way for students to share their feeling, express their view points, and display their knowledge with others. It is creative art! It’s a way for them to express themselves. It also helps teach critical thinking, and most of all it’s fun. I created a lesson plan below about taking five pictures and telling a story through different perspectives. Here is the link.
The idea of blended learning and using iPads in the classroom has impacted the way my classroom looks and feels. When I finally received an iPad in my room I experienced how useful it was in the classroom using the video camera and an app called iMovie. I videoed children learning, reading, teaching others, and I posted them on my classroom website. For example, I have videoed the kids holding up letter flashcards and the rest of the class said the name, sound and action for the letter that we had learned. In one month I had 225 hits on the video section of my website. They loved watching themselves. I know this caused them to learn their letter names and sounds dramatically faster. It was not just the parents using my website to learn about my
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classroom, but the children were using it to learn and see themselves. It inspired them to want to write better and produce high quality work so I would pick them to be in a video. There was something magical about the iPad camera. The idea of posting videos to my class website to reinforce what we are doing in the classroom is a brilliant idea. In a way it’s like the flipped classroom for the Kindergarten classroom!
Technology in the classroom encourages moving, talking, sharing, and communicating their ideas with others. It reinforces the idea that their opinion matters. These are part of the 21st century skills that today’s employers want to hire. I’ve learned that there is no one right answer to what model works best in a classroom. Just like the students teachers also have their strengths and weakness. Teachers need to collaborate together and talk about the students and how best to help them. No one has all the answers, so that is why it is helpful to collaborate.
Resources