Modeling « explore. create. share.

07Sep

Deep Dive MAET Style 47 Hour QF

After watching the Deep Dive videos about the design group IDEO (part 1, part2, part3), two “design groups” were formed (7 students in each group) to embark on the longest QF in the history of MAET.

Assigned on Monday morning of the final week of the MAET overseas program, these groups were asked to created the following by Wednesday morning at 8:30:

- Eight Web based multimedia introductions to each of the sections developed on the companion site for our text Sparks of Genius: http://sparks.wiki.educ.msu.edu/
(that is, the introductions could be any technology that can be embedded in a Web page (video, prezi, audio, combinations, etc.))
- These eight sections related to Sparks chapters as follows: Thinking Differently (chapters 1 and 2); Perceiving (chapters 3 and 4); Patterning (chapters 6 and 7); Abstracting (chapters 5 and 8); Embodied Thinking (chapters 9 and 10); Modeling (chapters 11 and 12); Playing (chapters 13 and 14); and, Synthesizing (chapters 15 and 16).

Project specifications:

- Each individual introduction should be one minute or less

- Each set of eight videos for each group should follow the same genre, approach, style, theme, etc. (that is, team 1 was to design a cohesive set of eight videos, and team 2 their own cohesive set based on a different approach)

- Each introduction should be designed to entice, encourage, compel, or otherwise convince K-12 teachers to read that specific section (collection of two chapters) of Sparks and the companion wiki pages

- Ideas for this project were to be focus grouped with year 1 and year 2 cohort students

Team specifications:

- Each team needed to determine a “lead adult” to lean on when guidance and structure are needed

- Each team will had $25,000 to spend in developing their project. This money could be spent on consulting with course instructors, or on focus groups with year 1 or year 2 students. (Creative questions cost $1,000 per question – technical or content questions cost $500 per question. Each 15 minute focus group with year 1 or year 2 students costs $1,000).

Evaluation:

- On Wednesday morning, all sixteen videos will be shown to a panel of experts. They provided a rating for each set of videos based on the following:

1. Overall creativity of the project
2. Creative use of technology in the project
3. Content accuracy based on Sparks
4. “Quality” as defined (or not defined) by Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

- Students were told only one set of videos would be selected for integration with the wiki, and that they would be “rewarded accordingly”

Hints given to groups:

- Focus on creativity, technology, and teaching. Don’t forget about the technology piece in your project (both in use and message).

- Because eight sections will be similarly themed, the “idea” for how to present you arguments is critical. Don’t move forward until you think you have that nailed down. Use some of the strategies from Deep Dive to make sure it is a killer idea.

27Dec

Good / Bad Design

Abstract: Equipped with some examples as a starting point, students identify and present examples of good and bad design in everyday life – from appliances to websites, in order to reflect on the essential features of good design.

Description: Over the course of the semester, or in a one-time-only brain reflection task, students are asked to identify examples of good and bad design. To illustrate what is meant by “good” and “bad” design, some examples are given in this PowerPoint file or through the Google Presentation document.

Some questions to think about – and to discuss in the presentation:

What does design do for us? I.e., why is design important?

What is common to all examples of bad design?

What was missing? What went wrong? Why?

What is common to examples of good design?

Examples of student work: You can also discuss this (and other issues related to good and bad design) in a virtual discussion group specifically created for this purpose, as in the original CEP 917 course. Go to the discussion forum...

History of the assignment:

27Dec

Key topics Wiki

Abstract: Students work in groups on an informative multi-tiered WIKI on a provided topic, working either in class or as a distributed work team.

Description: Students are assigned or chose groups of 3-4. Each of the groups will be assigned a topic (see sample topics for the courses CEP 800, 815, and 822 below). The task as a group is to develop a WIKI on this given topic. Students should think of themselves as being “experts” on this given topic who are introducing this topic to the other groups in the class via this WIKI. These topics provided will be relevant for the overall assignment (in the case of the original courses, CEP 800, 815, and 822 the development of a lesson plan) as well. The WIKI should consist of a series of pages, broadly described below:

A summary page on the front end of the WIKI that offers an introduction to the topic at hand. This page should address general issues of definition, categorization, broad themes etc.
This broad description should link to a set of sub-pages that offer an annotated list of key online resources about that topic. The goal is to not link willy-nilly to any resource out there but rather quality resources that could be useful to someone seeking to learn more about the topic (or sub-topics) brought up in the first page.

The topics (from CEP 800, 815, and 822) are:

Developing information literacy, technology skills (in students)
Meeting the diverse needs of your students, assistive technologies, particularly through the idea of Universal Designs for Learning (UDL)
Social and ethical uses of technology (particularly digital equity, intellectual property, and copyright) and healthy practices in the use of educational technology
Using Technology to Facilitate/Develop Creativity and Critical Thinking Skills in Students
Using Technology to Engage in Professional Development & Leadership

Examples of student work:

Assignment History:

22Dec

Socially Sourced Feedback: The Experiment

Abstract: In this exercise, students are connected to experts in their field for feedback coming from another “expert” beyond the instructor. Using a combination of Jing + Screecast applications, the external reviewers comment on students’ online products (in the original case, modules for an online class).

Description: Ongoing thoughtful instructor feedback without question plays a large role in student learning. However, students tend to appreciate getting feedback from additional people in the field. If available, instructors can tap into their diverse Personal Learning Network (PLN) to match up students with a broader set of reviewers of their work. For example, in teaching “CEP 820: Teaching K12 Students Online” with the culminating project of creating a complete online course module, instructor Leigh Wolf was “lucky to have a large and diverse Personal Learning Network” consisting of “professors, MAET alumni, PhD students, practicing teachers, online learning experts,” and so on. By asking friends and colleagues to access a student course and use Jing + Screencast.com (both free tools) to record their reactions, feedback and suggestions for improvement, an instructor can provide students with an “extra set of eyes” on their work that might be somewhat different from his or her views and preferences. Ideally, one would specifically target people in one’s PLN who would match well with the students’ background or project at hand.

In the case of the student-created online-course modules of CEP 820,online modules were sent to reviewers who’s professional experience and interest matched the content at hand (see examples of such matches below).

Challenges regarding this exercise:

There is a risk in relying too heavily on one’s PLN to provide students with reviewers. At the end of the semester, something like this is the icing on the stress cake. It helps to time the submission of the final project 4 weeks before the official end of the semester to try and alleviate some of this stress.
The process is tedious to manage. Until someone develops a way of making the revier/reviewee process a little more automatic, it has to be done manually. This requires minute attention to detail, making sure the right hyperlinks were going to the right people and making sure no one fell through the cracks. With everyone using different course management systems, keeping track of all the access points can be a bit of a challenge.
Not everyone may turn their assignment in on time. Even understanding instructors who realize that things happen, especially with courses such as CEP 820 where students are working adults, many carrying 2 or more courses plus a full time job will realize that it is not fair to the external reviewers to send them late reviews (as they too have full plates.) In those cases, teaching assistants or gracious volunteers and the instructor may have to fill in for the late submission reviews.
It is unlikely to be able to match everyone up with the “perfect” person — in all likelihood one will have to stretch things a bit when it comes to content experts. This is fine as long as some other relevant expertise can be provided, as in CEP 820 where all reviewers were experts in online/hybrid course creation and pedagogy.

The upsides regarding this exercise:

Students may potentially get connected to AMAZING people they would not otherwise “meet.”
The PLN reviewers are able to experience an alternative form of assessment (using Jing & Screencasts) in a “low-risk” setting, i.e., with students in a course such as CEP 820. In the past, external reviewers expressed appreciation in learning how to use screencasting as a form of assessment/evaluation.

Additional considerations/lessons learned:

It may pay off to be relatively explicit with reviewers regarding the technical side of the reviewing task and to give them some tips on microphone and recording techniques.
Only ask external reviewers to perform one review
Adjust the final project due date even earlier – 5 weeks before the end of the semester? - to avoid the end of semester crunch.

Examples of student work:

Troy’s review of Erin’s “6 Traits of Writing” on Weebly Unit
Jessica’s review of Emily’s “American History” Moodle Unit
Sean’s review of Marc’s “Jared Diamond unit for World History” in Blackboard

History of the assignment: 16 brave souls were willing to participate in the experiment of socially sourcing feedback for students in CEP 820 and graciously offered their precious time to assist in this experiment:

01Nov

The 60 Second Lecture

Abstract: Students create a highly focussed 60-second lecture on a topic in their fields along suggestions made in the context of online-courses.

Description: The 60 Second lecture is a trend that is sweeping through online courses (see this article in the Chronicle of Higher Education These lectures are gone in 60 seconds). As the article says,

“Take a 60-minute lecture. Cut the excess verbiage, do away with most of the details, and pare it down to key concepts and themes. What’s left? A “microlecture” over in as few as 60 seconds.” A course designer for San Juan College, a community college in Farmington, N.M., says that in online education, such tiny bursts can teach just as well as traditional lectures when paired with assignments and discussions. Skeptics, however, argue that lectures involving sustained arguments, such as literary analyses or explanations of complex equations, cannot be boiled down in this way. With these limitations in mind, the goal of this assignment is to create a 60 Second Lecture on a topic in your field. While boiling your topic down to its very essentials, consider the information provided on this page that lists handy tips for creating such lectures.

Examples of Student Work:

01Nov

Picturing Words

Abstract: This assignment asks students to define 10 vocabulary words graphically with a concrete image that captures the words essence, thus breaking out of the infinite regress of using words to define other words.

Description: At the heart of the assignment is an “old school” task: “Define 10 vocabulary words, and learn their meanings.” But, inspired by Michael Hughes (a CEP 818 alumnus), we are adding a “tech” component in that the definitions have to be graphics that illustrate the essence of the words. How about that for breaking out of the infinite regress of using words to define other words!

Gather as much information about the range of meanings of the word to be learned as possible – be sure to get a thorough understanding of the word in order to match it up with the most fitting picture. You will most likely have to make a decision between multiple possible visualizations of the same (more or less abstract) term, such as “eclectic,” but your choice should be a deliberate one. Don’t just go with the first image that “somehow works.”

Post your ten images to your blog – we will discuss your choices and those of your classmates in class/via blog responses, to see firsthand the range of possible meanings a given word can carry.

Purpose: This assignment works on many different levels:

1) Students have to truly understand the word to come up with an appropriate picture.

2) Second, engaging in this activity makes the words (which are often quite abstract) “concrete” in their minds in a powerful kind of way. There is of course an interesting paradox here. Words, these black squiggles on a page are often the most abstract form of representation – receiving their strength from this abstractness. The word “eclectic” for instance is a really abstract representation of the idea of eclectic. Making the word concrete in an image gives it a “here-now-ness” that helps understand its meaning.

3) Third, and the flip side of the paradox, the danger of becoming too concrete via images, is undermined by the sheer variety of pictures that students have come up with to represent the same word, which is why students are asked to view and comment on each other’s work via blog posts and/or in class. This means that students receive a rich range of possible meanings of a given word, and through that the concrete and unique nature of “an” image is broken down.

4) Fourth, the assignment brings a layer of visual literacy to a standard “old school” purely verbal task, pushing students to think about issues related to the strengths of visual versus verbal representation.

5) Fifth, and finally, putting it online means that this assignment and student works can now be easily shared with others (as Michael did with Punya, as his students do with each other, and we are doing now via this website).

Examples of Student Work:

Here are some links to work that his sixth grade students have done. Some of the images the students came up with are just wonderful[H1] .

[H1]Some of these links may need verification

29Oct

Storyboarding Challenge

Abstract: Using film-production story boards, students record and communicate their ideas for scenes on an educational topic.

Description: For this quickfire we will be looking at the usefulness of storyboarding. The storybaording process is a very important step in creating any type of planned video shoot. Storyboarding allows for the ideas about your video project to be expressed verbally and then put onto a visual board so everyone involved can see the tentative layout and flow of the video project. The storyboard allows for the identification of all the scenes or parts of the video, these can then be handled individually in smaller chunks and then put together to create the final video. Storyboarding will also allow for the ease of adjusting and modifying the video as you progress through the project.

A more detailed definition of storyboards… Storyboard Resources/Templates: AFI Storyboard Process

Step 1: I will put you in groups and hand your group a secret topic. (The secret topic can be ANYTHING, a math problem, case study, foreign language scenario, be creative, you can do this with any discipline!) – Alternatively, Chose Topic (change, creativity, design, leadership, learning, technology)

Step 2: On storyboard paper, draft the scenes of your planned presentation. Each scene should run 10 seconds. (Here is a storyboard you can use - http://bit.ly/1uKliQ – you can change the number of scenes and length depending on how much time you have.) You have 10 minutes to complete this task.

Step 3: Take your group storyboard and pass it to the group on your left. (This “surprising twist” in the assignment highlights the importance of communication and storyboarding!!)

Step 4: Now, you must execute the storyboard you were given. Record each scene (in sequence). You have 10 minutes to complete this task.

Step 5: If you have laptops, stitch the 3 scenes together – if not, turn the Flip in to the instructor.

Step 6: Watch the creations!

29Oct

Capture a Concept

Abstract: Students produce 30-second video clips reinforcing a discussion of compelling educational experiences.

Description: For this Quickfire Challenge we are going to explore several components of compelling educational experiences.

Form random Groups of 4
Each group will select a topic statement from the basket that is incomplete (change[H1] , creativity, design, leadership, and technology)
Each group will create a 30-second video that finishes the incomplete sentence.

Technical Requirements Specifications

Use a Flip Cam (or other small video camera that does not require rendering to view) to record up to 30 seconds of video on your concept sentence.

Video Length: 30 seconds MAX
Editing: No Editing required…linear 30 seconds is just fine.
Time: 1 hour to think and shoot
Presentation: 30 minutes (5 minutes for each group) to present video and talk about your decision process for shooting your video.

Examples of Student Work:

[H1] Incomplete sentences could be made available to instructors via a link

29Oct

Personal Learning Network Visualization

Abstract:

Description[H1] :

Think about your PERSONAL LEARNING NETWORK.

Who do you connect with?

Where (when) do (did) the connections take place?

What types of things do you learn from these people?

Represent the network visually.

Examples of Student Work:

[H1] I need more info on this one – I can imagine a drawn network map with info-rich nodes…

29Oct

Digital Footprints

Abstract: In a two-pronged submission (visual product and written commentary), students reflect on their personal and/or professional use of different technologies over a period of time to illustrate the evolution of different touch points with technology in their lives.

Description:

Visualize your use of technology over a period of time. You may choose to focus from birth – present. You may choose to focus on only your use of technology in a professional setting (classroom, work, etc.) You may choose a 5-year chunk of time (say 2005-present)

This assignment has two purposes:
The first is to have you take a step back and reflect upon how your life intersects with technology, personally and professionally. The second is to give you an opportunity to explore your creative side and to give you a chance to explore new technologies.

Inspiration and Examples

Here are a few blog posts to get you started thinking:
http://weblogg-ed.com/2008/2008-toolssitesextensions-i-use-list/
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/01/2008-web-20-companies-i-couldnt-live-without/

When you are making your personal timelines, don’t forget about the detritus – the stuff that “fell off” your list or that you ended up not using – those things are important to think about too.

Here are a few sites that will really stretch your imagination:

Fernanda Viégas has done some amazing work in the field of technology use visualization

Mountain:
http://alumni.media.mit.edu/~fviegas/projects/mountain/index.htm

Post History:
http://alumni.media.mit.edu/~fviegas/posthistory/index.html
Edward Tufte is the king of visualization!
http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/books_vdqi’

Information Aesthetics is a great site for data visualization

How just how do I expect you to this?

This is the part where you let your imagination and desire run wild. The beautiful thing about this is that you are being graded on an individual basis – it is not a competition among peers. If you are new to this – run up to the corner store and buy a new box of crayons – draw out your visualization on paper and scan in your creation. If video is your medium, make a video. If Excel is your thing, make charts and graphs. It is an opportunity to explore new technologies (Camtasia, videocasting, podcasting) or to push the boundaries of technologies you already know (digital cameras, PowerPoint, Word.)

Grading and Expectations

This assignment is worth 30 points and 20% of your overall grade in the course.

You will be graded on three areas which are fully articulated in the Rubric [H1]

Commentary (10 points)
This is the written part of the assignment where you articulate exactly what you have done AND what you learned about your personal history. Justify the time period that you chose and the methodology you used to create your visualization. Explain any new technologies or techniques that you learned to produce the product. If you felt limited by your skills, explain what additional skills you would need to do exactly what you wanted to do. Go beyond the surface and talk about how this reflection process made you see yourself in new ways or confirmed prior suspicions. (The commentary should be between 500-1000 words.)

Design and Aesthetics (10 points)
Don’t let this category scare you. It is included so that you pay attention to how form and style impact your message.

Originally and Content (10 points)
Don’t let this category scare you either! Emulating or copying the STYLE of others is completely acceptable – taking something and just inserting your content, is not.

Word of Caution

You have about 2 weeks to complete this project. Thus, keep your plans manageable. I am not expecting a 20-minute podcast or documentary film. Try to bundle things in a sensible sized package. Alternatively, don’t wait until the last minute! It will take a reasonable amount of thought and work to produce a solid product.

How to submit

Submit your commentary (.doc file) and product to the drop box below. Your product must be in a digital format (picture, video, audio, etc.)

Examples of Student Work:

[H1]Rubric would have to be made available via fresh link

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Deep Dive MAET Style 47 Hour QF

Good / Bad Design

Picturing Words

Storyboarding Challenge

Digital Footprints

LESSON ARCHIVE

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