Things 8-14 Capstone Reflection

A. How will you use these technology applications to improve learning experiences for your students and/or improve your own practice?

Things 8-14 provided me with a variety of ways to enliven my classroom instruction. Engaging my students to be active learners is one of the challenges that I face as an instructor. These seven "things" demonstrated to me a variety of new ways in which I can enhance my current instructional methods. From presenting material through Photo Story 3, to developing presentations using Prezi, or by adding countless video clips to my daily lesson plans, these "things" provided me with new tools, resources, and ideas for incorporating technology into my daily teaching. Many of the seven applications also provided me with ideas for ways in which I could add more multimedia content to my "Face of the Classroom" website. While working through these last seven "things", I have been encouraged to develop and find new digital resources to improve the current content available on my website.


B. What effective teaching and learning strategy(ies), based on the work by Marzano (http://gets.gc.k12.va.us/VSTE/2008/ ) will these technology applications address, to make a difference in the learning experience for your students?

Please see each individual "thing" for a listing of the specific Marzano teaching and learning strategies that are addressed by that particular technology application. Below is a more descriptive listing of how the strategies relate to the certain specific applications.

1. Identifying Similarities and Differences - Marzano's first strategy did not have any direct applications from things 8-14.
2. Summarizing and Note Taking - This second strategy is addressed in several of the presentation tools such as Photo Story 3 and Prezi. Students generally will engage in the summarizing of information whenever they need to gather information and develop presentation on the topic. Furthermore, even while students are observing another presentation or an online video, their minds are being encouraged to take mental notes of the content being presented.
3. Reinforcing Effort and Providing Recognition - Students are greatly encouraged to perform better when it can be demonstrated to them that their effort has noticeable benefits. Several of the technology applications from things 8-14 are helpful in that they reinforce students' effort. Quizlet for example is a study tool that will help students recognize the benefits of investing time into preparing for tests. Furthermore, rubrics made through Rubistar how the effort given and quality of an assignment relates to the grade they will receive. Data tools and Google forms both help educators to assess student work and provide feedback.
4. Increasing Value in Homework and Practice - This strategy by Marzano could be addressed by any of the things that are published to a teachers "Face of the Classroom" website. For example, by posting links on my Weebly website to specific TeacherTube videos, I could encourage students to increase their knowledge of a topic while at home.
5. Using Non-Linguistic Representations - Marzano's fifth teaching and learning strategy of using non-linguistic representations is addressed by several of the applications that are visually oriented. Editing digital images with Picnik, telling digital stories with Photo Story 3, watching online videos, or exploring the earth with Google Earth are all ways to help visual learners in their learning.
6. Incorporating Cooperative Learning Effectively - Having students work in groups while making Prezi presentations would be an effective way to incorporate cooperative learning. 
7. Setting Objectives and Providing Feedback - Setting objectives was addressed by the use of Rubistar to make rubrics. Rubrics also provide a concise way to provide students with feedback on their projects. Google forms and data tools are other resources that allow teachers to evaluate students and in this way provide feedback to their work.
8. Generating and Testing Hypothesis - This teaching and learning strategy is addressed by the Copyright lesson because students are required to make ethical decisions whenever they are confronted with the temptation to use copyrighted material.
9. Utilizing Questions, Cues, and Advanced Organizers - Marzano's last strategy was addressed by the digital flashcards made using Quizlet. The flashcards question students and require them to give a response.


C. Choose one of the seven things and describe an activity or lesson you could use in your classroom. Include in the description how the lesson meets either a Michigan curriculum standard or another Educational Technology standard.

A lesson that I would like to do with one of the seven "things" is to have my geography class students plan a vacation/trip to Australia using Google Earth. I could tell them that they have a certain amount of money to spend and a certain length of time for the trip and then have them plan the details of the trip such as their route, the places they plan to visit, where they plan to stay, and how they plan to travel. Using Google Earth while planning this trip would help in calculating distances for travel and finding points of interests.

One of the Educational Technology standards that this project would meet is NETS-T: 1.b which states that "teachers engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources." While students plan a trip to Australia, they will be engaging in a real-world activity that simulates what thousands of people are doing every day. This standard will also be met by this project since the students will be required to use Google Earth and perhaps other digital tools while planning their trip.