Mobile Lab

Last year CCS decided to convert all schools to wireless.  This was a huge undertaking to the point that not all of the schools have wireless access yet.  Once we were wireless my administration decided that we needed mobile computer labs.  We only have one main lab at our school for non-CTE classes to use.  Now with the use of Class Scape, Study Island and online testing, the main computer lab is never empty.  Each mobile unit contains 30 laptops that can be checked out from the Media Center and used anywhere in the building.  If the computer lab is full, the lab will come to you.  While I appreciate the fact that we have access the this technology, I did not think that I would need to ever use them. I am a computer teacher and have my own lab.  Last week my lab went down. Last year, I would have gone to plan B.  Yet this year I was able to call our Media Coordinator and check out a mobile unit.  We did have to sit in the Media Center as the techs were working in my room on the lab.  I was able to teach and my student enjoyed using the laptops!

Learning Object

Learning Object originates from "ojbective-oriented programming" which values the creation of objects that can be reused in mulitple contexts.  Learning objects has three parts: a learning objective, a unit of instruction that teaches the objective, and a unit of assessment that measures the objective.   The purpose of learning objects are to reduce content into manageable bites and tag it to increase flexibility, and use content for a different purpose, recycle content for new uses. The advantage of learning objects are saving money for companies by resusing the same content in a different place, customization of content, potential for interoperability across dilivery system sucah as WebCT. The disadvantages are removal of context from content runs, lack of learning object economy, no reward struccture, difficult to create and tie complex standards.

I personally like the idea of using learniung objects in my classroom.  I like the fact that my students have to ability to tag the items for future use.  To me this is getting back to the basics of teaching.  You have an objective, unit of instruction (teach) and you have unit of assessment for measurement (test). 

Cognitive Flexiblity Theory

I almost feel like the teacher on Charlie Brown….Wahwahwahwahwah (however you type that).  All these models are starting to run together.  I really had to read and re-read this theory to get a “decent” understanding of this theory.  This model would be best suited for the medical field.  One must be able to spontaneously restructure knowledge and respond to changing situational demands (like in the ER).   Students must be very flexible when they use their knowledge so the way they are taught is a huge factor in the type of cognitive structures they create.  This type of model also uses Case based real world scenarios.   This type of model allows the learner to build upon their knowledge, recall information and use that prior knowledge to find solutions. 

Once again I feel that the time to create and execute this type of model would be huge disadvantage for a high school teacher.  I am not sure that my students would even benefit from using this type model.  I think of my own abilities to even create this type of model and I am every so grateful to Dr. Oliver for allowing us to take on the roll of student versus creator.

Case-Based Learning

Case based learning is best suited for professionals: doctors, lawyers, business people, veterinarians, instructional designers and pre-service teachers. This type of model is typically used less in K-12 settings.  Case-based learning emphasizes learning in context.  Many learning models and theories may be chunked under case-based methods, including goal-based scenarios, anchored instruction, cognitive flexibility hypertext, and case-based reasoning. 

These cases allow students to benefit from the lessons learned from other persons.  Cases are like stories or story lines that students ready or interactively explore.  Cases can direct students toward a conclusion or provide the resources and context to discuss and debate issues dynamically. 

One of the pros I see to this type of model would be the amount of time required for the instructor to develop the cases for students to explore.  I am also not sure how this type of model would be the most beneficial to the types of classes that I teach.  There are other models that I would definitely use.  This would not be one of them.  I do see how this is perfect for the field that it was designed for (stated above in the first paragraph).  In order to train professionals you must give them real life scenarios to figure out.  If I were to use this model I would use YouTube, MovieMaker, or Google Video to present the cases. 

MOST

I did not realize that this was an acronym at first.  MOST: Multimedia environments that organize and support text.   MOST is something that I strive to include in every objective that I teach.  If you can engage the students from the very beginning you have a better chance of keeping them engaged for the remainder of the objective.  This method was designed to support broadly defined "literacy,"

or the abilities to read, write, speak, listen, compute, think critically, and learn on one's own.  I really like that this was designed for the at-risk learners.  I teach a lot of students who are considered at-risk.  This method also avoids the approach that students must master the subskills before building to higher-level thinking.  This method also allows struggling learners the opportunity to work in a motivating context.

When using the method it would be important to make sure that the multimedia supports your learning goals.  One barrier I see would be taking the time to make sure that you have correctly selected the appropriate multimedia. Another barrier I see to using this method is when you have a class with mixed levels: at risk, AIG and so forth. I would think that it would be difficult to select multimedia to accommodate all levels.   

There are all types of web tools that can be used; Moviemaker, Photostory, any program that uses a microphone and a storyboard type format.  I am really not very familiar with a lot of these. 

Star Legacy

Now this is a module that I can really understand, especially with the flow chart.  This module like the previous ones starts off with a problem or a challenge to solve.  It also uses prior knowledge to help solve the problem or complete the challenge.  Students have the opportunity to complete various activities to help them focus on solving the problem or completing the challenge.  These activities could be in the form of videos, simulations, labs, reading, etc.  Assessments give each student the opportunity to apply what they know and evaluate what they need to study more. A capstone project of task might also be included.  In the wrap up section, the lessons are summarized and students have the opportunity to reflect on their initial answers and how much they have learned. 

A challenge I see in this module is knowing the prior knowledge of all the students in my class, especially my EC students.  I think this module would also require a lot of supervision to assure that students stayed on task.  I can see my high school students loosing focus.  The positive side is that this type of module allows for all types multimedia.  I would use Googledocs, You Tube, Survey Monkey.

Anchored Instruction

Anchored instruction is very similar to goal-based scenarios.  Students work together in groups to solve a particular problem.  Anchored instruction was originally software (video), with authentic problems/cases explored by student.  Students then take what they know, and apply it to a problem then students must generate problems to solve. Students then develop solutions and present them to the class. One problem I see with this model is there seems to be less student involvement in the coming up with the problem (or the researching of the problem).  The problem and research is presented in the video or whatever multimedia was being used.  I do like that fact that like the recent previous models this deals with real world problems and situations. 

I could see myself using this in my field.  If I were to teach Business Law again this model would be a great way to present cases/situations to my students.  Once they have solved the problem they in turn would present it to the class.

A particular multimedia that comes to mind is voicethread.  My group used this in the last module we created.  This was my first time dealing with voicethread (really cool).