Jason Sterling’s blog

Yes and No... It's all situational. However I do believe that in most cases a challenge with one solution will take away from students ability to explore alternatives to the conventionally thought answer or solution to a problem. Most often in life there are more then one of way of doing things and also many different strategies of getting to a similar goal or solution to a problem. By creating a problem with one definitive answer you make things very black and white and leave no room for a grey creative area where the problem could be tackled from a different perspective. So many times in the history of the world, different outlooks on a problem of led to discoveries of talents, inventions, etc... 

 How can students be motivated to continue exploring, revising and refining their designs – to do meaningful interative design – when their common refrain is “It works, so I’m done”?

 One way would be to judge creativity as a mark... Another would be to stress uniqueness of designs... But a good strategy would be to have a science fair type contest where designs are judged not based on if they work, but more how appealing they are, how interesting they are, and how innovative they are... Competition brings out the best in everyone, for the most part. 

Week 9 – Powerpoint Visualizations with Technology 

Chapter 9: Textbook Questions – 1, 2, and 4

1) Technology allows us to see the world in an entirely new way. Computers and computer software have revolutionized the way we see and interpret information. Presentations were changed by powerpoint. Spreadsheets by excel. Maps by map quest and google. And it just continues to evolve. For example, the software we in class last week with the bubbles that represented the data of countries to show trends in economic development. That software has changed stats and trends from mundane number on a piece of paper to visually simple way of understanding the same data. Even the program Scratch and the music program we used last week have changed C++ and music notes into an entirely new visual concept that allows us to see and interpret information differently. 

2) Google is probably the best example of an entity that has redefined our concept of the world. Through various programs and features they implement on Google is able to actually create a global village out of the world. Google Earth is especially interesting. You can view the entire planet, get address, information of areas, view buildings in 3D. It gives an average person with the internet powers that couldn't have been dreamed of 10 years ago. Google Earth has made the world seem a lot smaller when we use its features, from our home we can view virtually the entire planet and find out information about what we are viewing. Someone who doesn't have the opportunity to travel can go on google earth and just whiz around the planet; they have created a global community. 

 4) According to the chapter in the textbook, students who have mathematical minds think best using visualization. This type of learning/thinking is best for solving math problems, geometry, graphs etc... I am not this type of thinker, and im actually quite bad at thinking this way. When im doing math, I find it hard to see the problems in my head, or do calculations in my head, and even if Im capable of doing them, I'm not quick. And its not surprise to me after reading this chapter, why Im bad at math. This type of learning can be practiced and should be taught to kids at a young age to promote and develop these skills. It will better allows kids to succeed  at math and other areas of study that require visual learning. 

 Week 10 - Visualizing and Technology 

Textbook Questions 5, 7, and 9 

Is it ever possible to learn from television alone – that is, learn how to do something merely from watching television instruction?  What meaning will it have after only watching the show?  What meaning will it have after you try it yourself?

Yes. Well it most certainly works for me. I've learned more about general knowledge, life experiences, and skills then possibly any other medium of technology. T.V shows have taught me about interpersonal relationships and  other life lessons, as a kid I learned to read and count from shows like Sesame Street, and instructional shows have taught me various skills which I still remember to this day. Two great examples would be when I watch The Food Network and when I watch Hockey Night in Canada and then show the instructional segment with Ron Mclean and Kirk Muller. With The Food Network on various occasions I have not only learned how to cook something I didn't know how to cook, I have learned different skills involving preparation methods, grilling techniques, how to marinade something properly etc... Through watching I learn these skills and then when I go and put them to use in the kitchen and after a little practice on my own I've mastered the skills. By just watching the T.V and not practicing, I still learn and still gain knowledge but I still dont have the first hand experience necessary to be fully proficient with the skill. The same goes with the instructional hockey segment of Hockey Night in Canada. They teach skills during the segment and more often then not after watching and making sense of there explanations and what I see, I have performed these skills flawlessly when playing hockey in the near future; proof that one can learn from instructional television.  

Video production is a constructivist activity; that is, students are learning by constructing an artifact.  What other kinds of constructivist activities can you think of using?

When growing up in middle school we were required to take Shop Class and Home Eq. Both involved constructing an artifact and I learned a lot of from both. In Shop I used to tools and machines to build devices of wood and hydraulic tubing. Through creating my final project which was a mini put machine, I learned a lot about design, the science of engineering, safety, teamwork and how to use tools and machines properly. In Home Eq our projects involved sewing and involved cooking. Cooking ended up being one of passions in life today, and I have this class to thank. I learned i lot about design and presentation from sewing (and how to use the machines) and from cooking I learned the basics of baking, how to use a oven, how to sauté, how to blend, how to chop etc... These are all skills I have carried on throughout my life.  

Video feedback has been called a “mirror with a memory.”  Why is seeing yourself on television such a compelling and incisive experience?  How do you see yourself? Why is that so powerful?

 It is is so powerful because it allows one to see them self as the rest of the world sees them and allows one to be there own critique. This helps develop the skills as you can see what you are doing wrong for yourself and thus can work on exactly what you view as being a problem. For me, I have had this experience first hand. I am an avid water skier and at a younger age was even competitive with it. But it wasn't until I watched a video of myself doing a water skiing course, that I took the jump to becoming the skier I am today. By watching myself, I corrected all these fundamental errors people were trying to explain to me, but I couldn't fix because it didn't look to myself like I was doing anything wrong. Having video footage of myself, made me my own critique and allowed me to fully understand what I needed to improve by viewing my flaws. 

 Weekly Reflection

 Best class of the year hands down. This class taught me a skill I will most definetly continue to refine and will for sure use for recreational and academic purposes later in life. We got to mess around with movie maker and got to go and make a movie. I loved the freedom in this class and had a ton of fun making the movie I made with Alicia, Jess, and Dave. Although, I swore in the movie, (and I'd like the apologize for that), I thought we did a good job for our first time with the program. I'm still learning how to use the program better and eventually If i am able to afford my own camera, I think skills I've learned are going to allow me to create some amazing movies with the program. After watching others and my own video I saw that there was much I could do to make mine better the lightening, sound, clarity and picture was not amazing and next time I make a movie I will keep those things in mind.  

No complaints about the class, I enjoyed watching others movies and I had a great time. 

Week 11 – Digital Storytelling

 There were no questions from the textbook for this week, however I did read and enjoy Barrett's article. She talked about electronic portfolios and what goes into making them and the skills necessary to create an effective one. Many of these skills are ones that we have implemented into creating power point presentations, and more recently with our movies. Also she discussed, preparing before creating portfolios, and suggested things one should ask themselves before creating the content of a portfolio. This questions could be changed around a bit and applied to creating power point presentations, websites, and movies. 

As for this last class, it was quite enjoyable, and involved us becoming more familiar with movie editing and gave us time to work on our final project. Me and David, got the idea from you to make a video of us presenting our powerpoint presentation. We made this power point this semester for a marketing class and worked extremely hard on it. It didn't incorporate buttons but since we didn't need to go back and forth to guide our way through the presentation it didn't really need buttons. The montage at the beginning was especially difficult to create and by adding sound to it, it looked even more professional. We had a combination of images of the BMW 3-Series and powerful words to describe it going back and fourth simultaneously using effects from powerpoint to create an almost video like look that gave our powerpoint a very exciting and strong start. This class we looked into finding programs to allow us to capture a video of the screen while we present the powerpoint. I found a few programs, and Im going to try them out this week on my spare time. 

Week 12 – Assessing Meaningful Learning with Technology

 Textbook Chapter 10 – Questions 1, 2 and 3

Is assessment really a separate activity from learning?  What circumstances may impact whether it is or isn’t?

Although I do believe them to be technically separate activities, assessment is an integral part of then learning process. Without assessment learning would not develop as efficiently and effectively. And, without learning, there would be nothing to assess. So they are separate but they are interdependent. With out proper assessment, learning can be effected, you need to be criticized in order to learn from your mistakes and realize what you don't know and what you are doing wrong. Circumstances that impact if assessment is separate from activity depend on what kind of learning and what is being learned. At times, with simple tasks no assessment is necessary to learn. But with tasks that involves complex skills like learning a hockey skill, you need assessment as a part of learning to properly learn that skill.  

How do you use assessment activities as a way to generate feedback that can improve learner performance?  After reading this chapter, are there ways you can see how technology can contribute to this? 

Assessment involves both a positive and negative (constructive) assessment. Both can improve a learners performance, but they key is giving a balance between positive and negative and to watch what you say when you say it. Too much positive will not allow for improvement and too much negative will halt improvement because the learner will be unenthused. Technology can contribute to assessment and feedback and in number of way. The primary ones discussed in this chapter were e-portfolios, clickers, and rubrics. All of these technologies can easily integrated into the classroom and will make for great forms of feedback. One used heavily when I was in high school and still at times in university is the rubric. This offers categorized feedback which is the most effective as is gives students specific assessment on different aspects of their work.   

How can you use technology to make assessment activities less threatening to learners or maybe even a positive experience?

The best way to make assessment more positive is to not put a huge weight on the assessment, and allow the students to be comfortable with the way they are being assessed and the technology being used. Another way to make it positive is to make the feedback (both the look and comment of the feedback) less intimidating. Be kind and warm yet constructive in our feedback not generic and cold like some technology feels it.  

 Week 12 Reflection:  Assessment with Technology and Final Project’s

This was pretty much the last class, sigh*. And it was relaxing to boot, which was nice. I spent the class working on my final project with David and we made some progress. Also, we got to see one other persons final project which was nice and gave me a perspective on how I want to do my own project.  

Jason Sterling

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EDTP-200 

                                                            Integrating Technology into Physical Education

Throughout the duration of this class we have discussed various ways in which technology, if implemented correctly, can allow for a more efficient and effective learning experience in a classroom environment. As well, we also discussed how creative intelligence has been undermined in education by the lack of importance placed on less scholarly subjects such as, Physical Education, Art and Music. Personally, I feel by creativity and excellence in these strains of intelligence could be drastically improved if technology was incorporated into these areas of study. The following paper will describe specifically how technology can be integrated into Physical Education by analyzing four resources: a web quest, two Internet articles, and an interview with an experienced Physical Education teacher.  

1) A web quest

http://www.freewebs.com/mscarmon/mainmenu.htm

This web quest is geared towards students in grade 7 – 9 (middle school) and provides some very interesting information about how technology can be used in physical education. The site offers a five-day program for physical education students where each day a new task is given to complete that involves technology and physical education. As well, a survey is given to the teacher at the beginning asking preliminary questions to see which types of technology the teacher is familiar with and which types are already being used to promote a better physical education class. Some of the main ideas that are discussed in this web quest is how to properly use heart monitors, how to keep track of progress using excel, how to teach skills using power point and how to use online quizzes to check understanding.

This resource conjures up some great ideas and is very descriptive in explaining how they should be used. However, I feel better use of technology could be possible and I feel they didn’t have enough ideas on the topic. Some aspects I felt could have improved this web quest would be if they explained how video footage could help correct flaws in the fundamentals of certain skills and how workout technology could help keep students in better shape.

            As teacher trying to improve my class, I would follow the five-day program they explain and see the results. Also, I would take the survey at the beginning and see what parts of the classroom I could start using technology in effectively. The web quest also offers background information on many technology subjects and offers links to other web quest. I feel that reading through these would allow me to be more knowledgeable when teaching students and thus have a more effective classroom.

2) Journal Article:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb3218/is_200409/ai_n13130827

This article discusses how integrating technology into physical education classes is an important goal for the American government. As well, it discusses the importance of using technology to teach physical education in our modern world and why we must start to stray away from traditional methods of teaching physical education. The majority of the article discusses the importance of training teachers in college to use technology in the classroom.

  The article suggests that physical education teachers must be more familiar with computer programs and Internet application to better implement these aspects into physical education and health education.  One example of a suggestion they make is using excel to make a healthy weight/height/performance tracking application and to make the program goal orientated for students.

As a teacher I would improve my classroom by taking a step back and enhancing my own ability to use technology. The article describes how programs with technology in other countries have an edge on the USA’s physical education system and technology is stated as one of the main reasons why. To become a superior teacher and to improve the lives of my students I would retrain myself to come up with new methods of how to use technology in physical education.

3) Website: http://www.pesoftware.com/Technews/news.html

            This site describes how to effectively use a camcorder to teach skills and safety in physical education. The site starts with talking about how to select and use a camcorder properly and then moves on to a sample lesson plan. The example they use in the lesson plan is how to teach archery safety and skills to a class incorporating the use of a camcorder.

            I think is a great resource for any physical education teacher. The concept of a camcorder being used to teach skills and safety can be incorporated into any aspect of the physical education curriculum.

            If I were a teacher this would with out a doubt be a crucial resource for me. Using video footage to teach students is probably the best way to teach them. Most people learn visually and by turning instructions into a movie, I feel not only would students listen better, but they would also absorb the information better too.

4) Interview with Physical Education teacher: Mr. Bidak

Mr. Bidak has been teaching Physical Education at Crescent School in Toronto for over 30 years and has just recently retired. He was my middle school gym teacher and homeroom teacher, and thus I learned a lot about health and sports from him. In this interview, conducted over the phone, I asked him a few question about the importance of technology in physical education and what he would recommend for future teachers. He told me how he had witnessed a complete evolution of the way physical education was taught with the advent of technology in the classroom. Although Mr Bidak is now in his late sixties, he still explained how near the end of his career he still managed to keep up-to-date with technology and how it helped him and his students a lot. He explained how he kept track of marks, progress, and health statistic using excel. He explained the use of the beep test (a running drill that uses tape-recorded evaluation system)  to track the physical fitness of his students. He also declared that the right technology when working out is crucial development of physical fitness. Although he told me he felt giving instructions face to face rather then using video footage would be more effective, he admitted that using a video camera to capture individual students flaws when performing skills would be a huge help to correcting there mistakes and would work far better then he himself explaining the flaws.