Multimedia Tools in Education - EEND677Z3
Artifact #1
Audio Recording of Story
I absolutely appreciated creating this audio file as an assignment for the course. Aside from this being one of my favorite children's books to read to my class, it was read aloud for a purpose. I have always implemented a listening center into my first grade classroom, but after reading the resources for this course, I now have a new appreciation for listening as a literacy skill. According to Mary Burkey of BooklistReader.com in 2016,
...students using [a read aloud application] attained 58% of the annual expected gain in reading achievement in just 10 weeks, putting them three months ahead of control students. Plus, the study group outperformed the control group across all measures, by three times in reading comprehension, nearly seven times in second-grade vocabulary, and nearly four times in reading motivation.
These statistics portray exactly how important listening skills are for students. Not only is listening to a story very engaging, but it improves reading fluency by providing a positive example, and improved comprehension. Being a teacher of young learners, I see how students gravitate toward our listening center on a daily basis; they simply enjoy listening to stories. It is even more remarkable to see struggling readers having such an authentic interaction with a text. These students do not need to worry as much on decoding; they can simply enjoy and understand the story. Because the book "One" by Catherine Otashi is such a special text to me, I am thrilled to have created this recording; I'm sure my students will be thrilled to listen to it in our listening center as well.
Sources:
Burkey, Mary. “New Research Shows Audiobooks Have Powerful Impact on Literacy Development.” The Booklist Reader, 29 Apr. 2016, www.booklistreader.com/2016/04/28/audiobooks/new-research-shows-audiobooks-have-powerful-impact-on-literacy-development/.
Sources:
Burkey, Mary. “New Research Shows Audiobooks Have Powerful Impact on Literacy Development.” The Booklist Reader, 29 Apr. 2016, www.booklistreader.com/2016/04/28/audiobooks/new-research-shows-audiobooks-have-powerful-impact-on-literacy-development/.
Artifact #2
Updated Newsletter
Parent-teacher communication is critical in any classroom across all grade levels. Consistent and clear communication opens up so many opportunities to help a student grow. How this information is portrayed is equally as significant, as I learned from this assignment. Many classrooms, including my own, send weekly newsletters as a form of communication; however, according to Janelle Cox of TeachHub.com, teachers need to create a mode of effective communication, and often times, newsletters are much too wordy to be effective (Cox, 2018). After contemplating this claim, I reevaluated my current newsletter. One resource I discovered from this course was a website called "S'more." This website provided the perfect outlet to design my updated newsletter to fit the criteria that Janelle Cox suggested: not too wordy, open space, new content that is central and eye catching, and a few graphics (Cox, 2018). In designing my newsletter, I implemented each of these aspects. It is crucial for parents to read newsletters to stay up-to-date with the most relevant assignments and happenings. In turn, parents will support their child to the specific occurrences of the classroom, creating a parent-student-teacher team relationship.
Sources:
Cox, Janelle. “Effective Communication via a Classroom Newsletter.” TeachHUB, 2018, www.teachhub.com/effective-communication-classroom- newsletter.
Sources:
Cox, Janelle. “Effective Communication via a Classroom Newsletter.” TeachHUB, 2018, www.teachhub.com/effective-communication-classroom- newsletter.
Course Reflection
I truly enjoyed the practical and engaging essence of this course. Many of the assignments are aspects of teaching and learning that can easily be implemented into my first grade classroom. As a whole, the one topic that will always resonate with me throughout my future coursework and in the classroom is the idea that educators need to be implementing multimedia in a meaningful and authentic way. Marie Norman of the Center of Teaching and Learning says it best, "...inserting a graphic or adding audio to a document isn’t inherently beneficial; indeed, such media can actually detract from student learning..." (Norman, 2016). Essentially, teachers must know how to appropriately and effectively integrate multimedia, as the result can easily be distraction as opposed to engagement. Effective integration of multimedia comes from critically analyzing the media to determine if it enhances the content, and addresses how students retain information from online sources.
If media is added but not related to the content or is distracting from the content, it may be doing more harm than good. Norman states, "Include graphics that enhance meaning, not ones that are just decorative" (Norman, 2018). Overall, if it does not provide a purpose, then it should be deemed invaluable. She also discusses how students, "...can only focus on a limited amount of information at one time." She elaborated that two visual pieces of information, such as a photo and text, may be more distracting than information presented in a visual and auditory sense, such as a photo and a recorded description of the photo (Norman, 2018). When thinking of the young learners in my classroom, I tend to use less text and more graphics; however, pairing the graphics with their auditory sense would allow students to use numerous senses to comprehend the information. Taking advantage of this idea brings a new light to enhancing content.
Additionally, I frequently consider student retention, and the best way to achieve this. In this course, I was introduced to the idea of the "F-Shaped Pattern of Reading;" throughout the course, I found myself frequently reverting back to this concept in my own learning. According to Kara Pernice of the Nielson Norman Group, "...the F-shaped scanning pattern is characterized by many fixations concentrated at the top and the left side of the page" (Pernice, 2017). The impact that this concept has on student retention of information is immense. As educators, we need to understand that very wordy, text-heavy information will only be partially retained by students. Because I am a first grade teacher, I do not expect students to read lengthy articles as is; however, I am now more aware than ever the importance of audio and visual, as well as concise, purposeful text. This information has provided me insight on how to create and design future lessons.
Overall, I found this course to be highly effective, particularly in the areas of appropriately enhancing content, and always considering student retention.
Sources:
Norman, Marie. Principles of Multimedia Learning. Center for Teaching and Learning | Learning House Inc., 19 July
2016, ctl.learninghouse.com/principles-of-multimedia-learning/.
Pernice, Kara. “F-Shaped Pattern of Reading on the Web: Misunderstood, But Still Relevant (Even on Mobile).” Nielsen Norman Group, 12
Nov. 2017, www.nngroup.com/articles/f-shaped-pattern-reading-web-content/.
If media is added but not related to the content or is distracting from the content, it may be doing more harm than good. Norman states, "Include graphics that enhance meaning, not ones that are just decorative" (Norman, 2018). Overall, if it does not provide a purpose, then it should be deemed invaluable. She also discusses how students, "...can only focus on a limited amount of information at one time." She elaborated that two visual pieces of information, such as a photo and text, may be more distracting than information presented in a visual and auditory sense, such as a photo and a recorded description of the photo (Norman, 2018). When thinking of the young learners in my classroom, I tend to use less text and more graphics; however, pairing the graphics with their auditory sense would allow students to use numerous senses to comprehend the information. Taking advantage of this idea brings a new light to enhancing content.
Additionally, I frequently consider student retention, and the best way to achieve this. In this course, I was introduced to the idea of the "F-Shaped Pattern of Reading;" throughout the course, I found myself frequently reverting back to this concept in my own learning. According to Kara Pernice of the Nielson Norman Group, "...the F-shaped scanning pattern is characterized by many fixations concentrated at the top and the left side of the page" (Pernice, 2017). The impact that this concept has on student retention of information is immense. As educators, we need to understand that very wordy, text-heavy information will only be partially retained by students. Because I am a first grade teacher, I do not expect students to read lengthy articles as is; however, I am now more aware than ever the importance of audio and visual, as well as concise, purposeful text. This information has provided me insight on how to create and design future lessons.
Overall, I found this course to be highly effective, particularly in the areas of appropriately enhancing content, and always considering student retention.
Sources:
Norman, Marie. Principles of Multimedia Learning. Center for Teaching and Learning | Learning House Inc., 19 July
2016, ctl.learninghouse.com/principles-of-multimedia-learning/.
Pernice, Kara. “F-Shaped Pattern of Reading on the Web: Misunderstood, But Still Relevant (Even on Mobile).” Nielsen Norman Group, 12
Nov. 2017, www.nngroup.com/articles/f-shaped-pattern-reading-web-content/.
Graphic Design
Why might incorporating graphic design into your classroom be valuable?
Incorporating graphic design into any classroom is extremely valuable, but particularly so for young learners. Almost every lesson that I teach involves some sort of visual aid to help students understand the content on a deeper level. For example, on the first day of school, students need to begin learning our daily routines. I have created a visual flow chart for the class that shows real pictures of our classroom, and step -by-step instructions on how to come into our room, unpack, and begin work on a daily basis. Not only does this provide specific directions for students, but they remember what to do everyday when they can see a visual direction. According to the article, The Power of Visual Communication Infographic, "...people tend to remember an impressive 80 percent of what they see and do" (2018). This extremely significant statistic proves the importance of incorporating visual aids. As a first grade teacher, I witness an abundance of varying abilities in regards to reading. Some students come into first grade as a experienced readers, and others are just beginning to blossom their literacy skills. Because of this, visual aids provide a platform that all students can understand and benefit from, rather than simply stating directions or writing directions that students may not be able to read.
Thinking about how our students absorb information, how might we better support the learners in our classrooms?
I strive to incorporate visuals wherever I can in the classroom. One area that I would like to incorporate more visuals is for student assignments. Specifically, I would like a set of symbols that are common among our grade level that represent specific tasks; the symbols can be printed on student tasks or posted on the board. For example, instead of a written direction indicating to read a passage, there simply could be a visual of a student reading. This way, when students are completing an assignment or worksheet, they can refer to the symbols and follow the directions. I find that students, even ones who can read written directions, tend to skip over the details. Having common symbols that represent direction steps would help students understand directions on a deeper level, and follow them successfully.
Envision an activity, unit or event that is approaching how might you incorporate some of the design principles?
An event that is quickly approaching is the first weeks of school. During this time, it is critical to establish very specific rules and routines for the young learners. I plan to introduce the direction symbols immediately, and begin utilizing them as they are introduced. Additionally, I would like students to begin experimenting with creating visuals and symbols of their own. It would be meaningful and engaging if we created a class symbol at the beginning of the year that represents our rules and beliefs as a classroom of diverse learners. We could create this together on Google Drawings after determining some foundational aspects of a successful classroom. This would be similar to creating a class contract; however, it incorporates more visual features and creativity, and encourages student ownership of their attitudes and behaviors.
* Please leave any comments on the "About" page.
Incorporating graphic design into any classroom is extremely valuable, but particularly so for young learners. Almost every lesson that I teach involves some sort of visual aid to help students understand the content on a deeper level. For example, on the first day of school, students need to begin learning our daily routines. I have created a visual flow chart for the class that shows real pictures of our classroom, and step -by-step instructions on how to come into our room, unpack, and begin work on a daily basis. Not only does this provide specific directions for students, but they remember what to do everyday when they can see a visual direction. According to the article, The Power of Visual Communication Infographic, "...people tend to remember an impressive 80 percent of what they see and do" (2018). This extremely significant statistic proves the importance of incorporating visual aids. As a first grade teacher, I witness an abundance of varying abilities in regards to reading. Some students come into first grade as a experienced readers, and others are just beginning to blossom their literacy skills. Because of this, visual aids provide a platform that all students can understand and benefit from, rather than simply stating directions or writing directions that students may not be able to read.
Thinking about how our students absorb information, how might we better support the learners in our classrooms?
I strive to incorporate visuals wherever I can in the classroom. One area that I would like to incorporate more visuals is for student assignments. Specifically, I would like a set of symbols that are common among our grade level that represent specific tasks; the symbols can be printed on student tasks or posted on the board. For example, instead of a written direction indicating to read a passage, there simply could be a visual of a student reading. This way, when students are completing an assignment or worksheet, they can refer to the symbols and follow the directions. I find that students, even ones who can read written directions, tend to skip over the details. Having common symbols that represent direction steps would help students understand directions on a deeper level, and follow them successfully.
Envision an activity, unit or event that is approaching how might you incorporate some of the design principles?
An event that is quickly approaching is the first weeks of school. During this time, it is critical to establish very specific rules and routines for the young learners. I plan to introduce the direction symbols immediately, and begin utilizing them as they are introduced. Additionally, I would like students to begin experimenting with creating visuals and symbols of their own. It would be meaningful and engaging if we created a class symbol at the beginning of the year that represents our rules and beliefs as a classroom of diverse learners. We could create this together on Google Drawings after determining some foundational aspects of a successful classroom. This would be similar to creating a class contract; however, it incorporates more visual features and creativity, and encourages student ownership of their attitudes and behaviors.
* Please leave any comments on the "About" page.