Michelle Loomis

EDU 315 Module #2

Due: 10/10/08

What technology do you see in use during these two video clips. How is it being used? What do you think the students are getting from this experience?

1. The main technological equipment used in the two video clips was a two way interactive video connection with a local university. The students view what a specimen will look like under an electron microscope, by using an interactive video from professors at a University. The students also use computers to research information about the specimen to understand what parts they are looking at under the microscope.

What do you think is the power of multimedia? How does it motivate students? How do you think effects their learning?

2. Multimedia is new to most students. New things tend to be more interesting to students. Therefore, they become excited when they are given an opportunity to use a new method. In this video clip students use their knowledge on research to create a multimedia presentation on wasps. This project provides an interesting way to show what they have learned. This method can be used instead of a paper or a test. This also allows students to research what they believe are important to know, and what they are interested in knowing. All of these reasons prove that most students will be motivated to create a multimedia production.

How can students be involved in developing assessment instruments? Why is this important in education?

3. Jim Deickmann lets his students create a way to assess themselves. He allows students to think about what would be important to include in the project. He emphasizes the content that should be included, technique, correct grammar, and other details that should be included in the multimedia projects. He also emphasizes that self evaluation and peer feedback are all important in the student’s assessment. Allowing students to assess their own progress is important because the students are the people who are creating the work. Therefore they are the ones who should judge and assess the work. He emphasizes that this is an important skill to use in the real world.

One of the arguments against the use of technology in schools is that it discourages teamwork, teacher/student relationships, and student/student relationships. What do you see happening in Jim Deickmann's class?

4. The students work in partners on their multimedia productions. This enhances teamwork, and student/student relationships. It also provides a lesson on cooperation and working together. Therefore, in the case of this class that statement is false. The complete opposite is true; students actually interact more with their peers, the teacher, and in a team.

In what ways can schools provide parents with information about school life, and include them in discussions about important school issues, such as appropriate technology use?

5. Parents can be informed by holding regular parent meetings, maybe in an open forum, about the teacher’s practices. This is important because parents might feel that their child is missing out on the fundamentals of education. By the teacher explaining how the new methods will help in the fundamentals parents will feel more comfortable. This might also help to provide interactions among the parents and the students by intriguing the parents into what the students are learning. It can be a learning experience for both parents and teachers.

Describe the role of the teacher as modeled by Jim Dieckmann. How is this different than that of the traditional role of teacher?

6. Jim Dieckmann is different than the traditional role of a teacher. In a traditional classroom, teachers would teach everything they would like the students to know, and have the students answer questions based on what they had been taught. Jim Diekmann’s classroom is a student based learning classroom. He allows students to come to their own conclusions, and develop their own learning. He is more the mediator in the classroom. By doing this he starts their thinking on a topic and allows them to choose the direction.

Describe Albert and Charles in this segment. What characteristics do they display here, that are different than the "typical" fifth grader and why do you think they show this?

7. The boys seem intrigued in the use of the technology. They interact with the work done at the University. They do this by responding to what they see, asking questions, answering questions, and synthesizing what they have learned. They also show their use of teamwork. The boys work with their classmates and also with the professors at the University to analyze what they have found. This is a skill that most children do not develop till much later in life.