Visualizing with Technologies

Digital Storytelling by Kate Kemker, was a selction in the chapter that we reviewed this week. It is an activity in which students create a storyboard, film the story, and then use technology to edit that video. It involves a great deal of critical thinking and teamwork. It also requires that each piece be done in sequence and that students really spend the time so that the next piece goes smoothly. For instance, if students didn't thouroghly create their storyboard, then they might not efficiently film, and then get to the end with editing and realize they are missing vital pieces. What I really liked about this activity, is that I feel as though it conveyed the concept that technolgy is not meant to takeover the entire classroom. Moreso, it is there to supplement the and enhance the lessons we already teach. I think this would be a great tool in any classroom, because you can truly create a story about anything. Even in mathematics, it could be used to create stories based around mathematical concepts in the real world. I think it would also be a great way to integrate different subjects.

One part of the chapter broke up different subjects and talked about visual technology and how it can be used to reinforce the concepts of that subject. I was definitley interested and excited to look at the math piece since I am working towards a certification in math. Some of them were familiar to me already. There were ideas for using graphing calculators, data sets, and statistics software. I have seen before some of these ideas, and i definitely feel that the abilty to visualize in math is critical. The concepts can be grasped so much more when we can show students why and how the functions happen, as opposed to just telling them. The one technology that I had never seen, but really intrigued me was the Geometric Supposer. Geometry is one of my favorite math topics, and I also think it tends to be one of the ones that is most struggled with. I think it was awesome to see that the students could test out differenct conjectures and see how they work and compare to others.

I think tv instruction is a great tool. However, just like any other tool we have discussed, I only feel that it is truly beneficial in limited applications and as supplemental to the primary lesson. TV has great qualites such as the visual aspect and also the ability to be consistent in lessons. If a teacher show's every student in every class the same video, then we are sure they are all getting the same consistent message; however, it does not promote very much hands on activity or discussion during the lesson. It is also harder for students to stop and ask questions in the middle of a lesson.

References:

Jonassen, D. Howland, J. Marra, R. & Crismond, D. (2008). Meaningful Learning with Technology. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.