Voki test

EDCI 5825 Blog post 6/16

What are some ways that you can create authentic collaborative projects in your current/future classroom?

History is a subject that lends itself easily to the use of technology in the classroom, from powerpoint presentations and visual aids to projects connecting different classrooms, schools and even countries. To create authentic, collaborative projects in a future classroom, it would be important to assess the abilities of my students and even their general interests. There are many people who have great ideas for projects or lessons with technology and find themselves at a loss when their ideas don't work. It may be that they have a great idea, but implement it with students that are not familiar with the technology or simply do not have the mastery necessary to utilize it.

A collaborative project that is easily used in history or social studies would be groups of students working together to create a webpage for a historical person, place or event. This project would encourage collaboration and organization among students. A wiki page would be an easy framework for this type of project, as mentioned in Schrum and Levin (2009, p. 50).

Another project that could be engaging and informative could involve students corresponding with other classes, in neighboring schools or even further away about similar work they are doing or working on a collaborative project. This could even be useful in classes about geography and culture by allowing students the opportunity to correspond with students and others from foreign lands, learning from them directly.

Creating authentic collaborative projects is more of adapting others work to your own classes and students, because as much time as we think on it, someone will probably have already done what we come up with. Its really about making the project better, implementing it best for your students and making it enjoyable.

Levin, B. B. & Schrum, L. (2009) Leading 21st Century Schools: Harnessing technology for engagment and acheivement. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

EDCI 5065 in-class assignment

aka, stump your classmates

1. Explain in your own words what egocentrism is, what stage(s) in Piaget’s theory it can be found and why.

A. Comprehension

B. Egocentrism in Piaget’s theory is contained in the Sensorimotor and Preoperational stages. They do not have the mental ability to understand that other people may have different opinions and beliefs from themselves. These stages contain egocentrism because the child has not yet conceptualized that others have differing views.

2. Explain the difference between development learning theory and social learning theory.

A. Comprehension

B. The development learning theory states that learning involves changes in cognitive process and abilities. In Piaget's view, early cognitive development involves processes based upon actions and later progresses into changes in mental operations.

The social learning theory states that learning occurs through interaction between individuals, often on with more knowledge in a particular area. This theory requires large amounts of contact with these “experts” for intellectual as well as cultural learning

3. Invent a new “teaching machine” that differs from skinner’s model + the internet; what does it entail.

A. Synthesis

B.  A new teaching machine that could be used in contemporary classrooms that differs from Skinner’s model and the internet entails an intranet in the classroom where the teacher is connected to computers directly, and can submit questions onto the screens of the students. The students then submit answers and get feedback from the teacher instantaneously. More instant feedback could be achieved with images or symbols (smilies etc) that express the teachers general feeling on the assessment.  

EDCI 5065 T2P Week 3

Adventures with a Swede, a Russian and an American 
T2P

Observations on the Human Guinea Pigs in Group 1

Taking risks with lessons and units is an essential part of learning how to become a "successful" teacher (someone who enjoys the success of students as an affirmation for their work). The days class in Week 3 was certainly new to all of us a pre-service teachers as well as an experiment by GNA Garcia. While it was slightly hectic, it did show all of us that chaos and plans breaking down can create something new and important. While the real guinea pig of the lesson were in class Monday, the refined experiment today helped to show all of us the importance of change and the risks and rewards. As witnessed by the class in another class, Jigsaw groups are good tools for teachers to use and can create interesting results.

With the plan of the day calling for various groupings of students, it allowed people to practice transmitting information as well as mixing different content areas together. Its always a shock to hear how people without the same skills and background in History that I have explain theories to me. That kind of collaboration is always different, but in-keeping with an important theory of teaching, working with different learning styles (Gardner etc).

Big if....


Following todays class I was concerned with my ability to come up with a cause-effect statement that would be comprehendible to me, much less others, but when in doubt, shoot from the hip.

If students are presented with a complicated, trying task then it is important to provide an opportunity for collaboration and discussion because often it is other views and other ideas that may be foreign to individuals that provides the most interesting answers.

Teaching new lessons and trying new approaches is similar to trying to pose 10 puppies for a picture, you end up with not exactly what you wanted, but it can turn out alright.

EDCI5825 Blog 1

All of the four instructional models use the Internet as a major tool in the learning of the students. Internet workshops and Internet inquiries involve students independently accessing information and working, then after gathering the information sharing it with peers and the instructor. These methods allow students the practice to access information independently, while still allowing the instructor to guide the student. Using bookmarks is important because as Leu (2002) says it “limits random surfing and exploration of sites unrelated to your unit, an important child safety issue, especially in the younger grade levels.”

The Internet project model is more under the control of the instructor, as is the WebQuest. These models allow the instructor to guide the learning more hands on. These models can allow the students practice working in groups, both large and small. For some of the projects mentioned by Leu in his videos, it would be possible to break the class into small groups, while other projects would require or be easier with the whole class working in unison.

All of the models have uses, but the WedQuest is something that would be useful for factual learning or assessments, but not for understanding. This could be used in lower grades to teach broad facts or ideas, but it is hard to see this model providing students with deep understanding.

The Internet project is something engaging and different for students, but I can’t see it being something useful for teaching major concepts or even really being useful in higher levels of education.

An Internet workshop would be a good tool to use with younger students while an Internet inquiry would be useful for older students, due to the need for more research on the part of the student. An Internet inquiry also allows for more freedom of choice, an important part of engaging older students.

Leu, D.J., Jr. (2002, February). Internet Workshop: Making time for literacy [Exploring Literacy on the Internet department]. The Reading Teacher, 55(5). Available: http://www.readingonline.org/electronic/RT/2-02_column/

EDCI5065 T2P Week 2

    While dissecting the various sources and cases to uncover the how the author or "source" thinks that people learn and how the develop competency, it is inevitable that a preservice teacher would find ideas that they agree with, or ideas and practices that they despise. To come up with an individual idea of how people learn and how they develop competency in the subject area, a preservice teacher must reflect on how they learn, as well as how others learn, and what would provide them with assurance that their learners had become competent in the area. This combination of methodology and assessment allows a teacher to ensure that students are learning factual information, as well as formulating their own ideas and theories, which is important in a "good teacher".
    If an educator has positive, "correct" ideas on how people learn, that apply to the general population of learners, then it is possible to educate learners and have them develop competency in the specific area, as well as skills that can cross disciplines.


If a teacher employs a wide variety of learning activities throughout the daily lesson, then students will become engaged and involved in the lesson because by varying the activities, the teacher can access different methods of learning and be more effective in imparting information to the students.

EDCI5065 T2P Week 1

    To pack a day of instruction with many theories and methods of learning, especially the first day, is important for a teacher as well as the learners. By using various methods, non-standard assessments and other tools, a teacher can get a feel for their learners and find out where they are with the content and hopefully comprehend which theories and ideas work generally for the learners.
    It is important to try the various methods of learning early in class to prevent learners who might not respond to the dominant method employed by the teacher from falling through the cracks. Recognizing learners with different needs or strengths is important to ensuring each individual gets the most possible out of the course.