Thursday 22 November 2012

Comments for Carol

Comments to Carol's DE Module

Is the Module designed in such a way as to reach/connect with and engage the learners for whom it is intended?

 I appreciate your comments about coming together for professional development under creative methods.
Like Mark, you also face the challenge of the teachers you're trying to support being so far away
And like Mark, you are targeting middle years teachers for their professional development in mathematics. 
You Make a really good point about the gap between learners. Some learners might be a great level standard and obviously before that. It's up to the teacher to find ways to engage  all. I guess part of your job is to help plan strategies to be a will to do that and to be able to maintain a working releationship with your teachers in your division. 


Is the content delivered in engaging, stimulating and challenging ways?

You mentioned that most the teachers teaching that are generalists and not specialists.  Perhaps mathematics is a struggle for them to teach. I like your approach that this would follow up an initial face- to - face meeting with teachers. In this way, they get to know you and hopefuly feel comfortable reaching out to you.


Are the learning activities, multimedia elements (if any) and assignments/learner assessment samples relevant, appropriate? Do they help extend learning?

You have included many screen shoots and resources. They are highly visual, age appropriate and interesting. I think teachers would use this as they are ready to go lessons and units. If someone is still trying to get comfortable teaching math, this is a great model for them. 


What is the best aspect of the Module? What is exciting, interesting, unique, creative?

I would say the best aspects are the screen shots as it gave me a clear idea of what you were trying to do. 


What would make it even better?

I think you could have included more towards specifics of how you diferentiate math instruction. I was looking for more examples or a goal and different strategies that could work with different students. 

All in all a good narrative. 

Thanks,
Ryan Hicks


Comment's for Mark



Response to Mark Edmonds' DE Module


Is the Module designed in such a way as to reach/connect with and engage the learners for whom it is intended?

You designed the module to the other asynchronous or synchronous which is great because for those that want to be work "live" can use it and those who want to work on their own time can do it too.  You have made it very simple to follow and you give not only good information on probeware, but where to find it being stored in the division to check out. 

Is the content delivered in engaging, stimulating and challenging ways?

While I have no background in science, I found that the plans were easy to follow. I thought that the Adobe Connect Meeting can be recorded is a nice feature. Your plans, materials and evaluation were all detailed. For me the subject matter itself is not engaging, which is no fault of your own. However, that could then be a challenge as how can these middle years teachers make their lessons engaging beyond just doing a good job of giving the information to the students. I would think just as important would be tips and ideas for how to get the students excited to use the probeware. 

You spoke of some of the teachers being digital immigrants, who need to feel comfortable with the technology while their students would likely feel comfortable with it right away. From what I see of the probeware it is very functional. I enjoyed your video on how to use the probeware.  I would also start to look at how to better engage middle years students with the probeware. You asked the question, "What else can this stuff do?" That is a great question and one where you could give your teachers ideas and lessons in interesting ways to use the technology. 

Are the learning activities, multimedia elements (if any) and assignments/learner assessment samples relevant, appropriate? Do they help extend learning?

You listed teacher professional development as the key outcome. I like the flexibility of Adobe Connect and its efforts to be more personal like a traditional classroom. The activities were well-done. They seem to match the subject matter and would be easy for a teacher to follow. The multi-media element was your video, which was informative and easy to follow. With the situation you are in geographically being so far away from all of your teachers this allows them to get to know you and your resources. Once they feel comfortable with you, they might be more inclined to contact you. 

What is the best aspect of the Module? What is exciting, interesting, unique, creative?

You made a good point about the aftermath of the amalgamation process in terms of PD opportunities becoming more challenging. The best aspect of this module for me was the information on probeware. I felt you were very detailed with the technology, how to use it, resources and where you could find it by listing all of the different locations. If I was a middle years science teacher I could see that you have made many efforts to be flexible, approachable and helpful. Although the technology could be intimidating, I would be put at ease know how you have made yourself available. While the challenge is laid out in terms of distance, you addressed this well with how you could connect and maintain a working relationship with your teachers. 

What would make it even better?

I had at times trouble following the report. I was looking for more information on Adobe Connect, and while there was information there, I did not find it convincing in terms of why this is a great resource. From reading your report to getting ready for our Adobe Connect session, I have spent 3-4 hours just on researching Adobe Connect and how to use it. I would consider myself someone fairly tech savvy, and yet I struggled to learn how to use Adobe Connect. You mentioned at the end a quote saying something like it is the best resource of it's kind, but for me the interface and ease of use were challenging.  Middle Years Science Teachers could be teaching five or more different subjects. It is hard to find the time to do PD in all of your subjects, especially ones you are not comfortable with. I would fear many teachers might have a similar experience as me and not give it a chance. 

I would be looking for solutions that were simple to understand and interfaces that were simple to use. Your video on the probeware an explanation of the probeware technology was excellent and thorough. I would suggest making similar videos for Adobe Connect such as how to set up an Adobe Connect session and some other resources to help teachers with this.

In summary, I would say this is a great narrative on some interesting, interactive technology. 

Great job Mark!









Comments For Sharon's DE Module

Response to Sharon's DE
The Circle of courage-at risk or challenging students
Northern Lights School Division in Northern Sask
This school division is piloting programs, being on the cutting edge of technology, integrating the varied cultural aspects of the communities into the classroom. Sharon focused on classrooms with an internet connection. A big concern would be getting more access to the internet, which she does address in her narrative. 
The languages they would be using in the division include Cree, Dene, Metis, French and English.
There would need to be translation done into all of those languages. 
I felt that this would be a powerful opportunity to connect with other people speaking the same language. Others speaking the same language might be far away, but you can stay in contact with them through chats, blogs, fourms, Skype, etc..

Sharon spoke of targeting professional development of the teachers with a wide range of ages and tech experience. This is a big challenge in any school division.
The students that are targeted in the Circle of Courage are those with limited access to behavioral support consultants

In the Motivation to learn section, you mention reasons why teachers would want to learn this including internal motivation, costs, less likely engage in a power struggle, understanding of their students and marginilization. I understand your point about student participation in the DE class being more involvement as we in this class realaize. On one hand it sounds easier (i.e. convenience), but the actual requirements are large. This would be an added challenge for a student already struggling to fit into the education system. While an on-line class addresses the remoteness, student by-in and feeling connected to the class would be as great a challenge. I'm not sure this is addressed as much as it needs to be in your narrative. For example, added supports, forums in addressing not only students fitting into the education system by the skills needed in taking an on-line course.  

I suppose the supports would also need to be the same for the teachers as you mentioned in the narrative as many teachers might not have delivered an on-line class before. Your plan for continuous monitoring of the resource looks great. 

I appreciate your mention of the digital divide. Perhaps with more users there will come more infrastructure to support it. Making the schools available to the community for access is a great idea.

I had a chance to look at the wiki. The information is outstanding. I would suggest trying to incorporate more interactive and visual aspects on the home page, as that is the first thing the student will see. For example, I think the "Belonging" and "What's It All About" sections are very easy to following, looks good, concise, and still gets across all of your information. It seems like a little thing, but if the reader opens up a page and it is a bunch of text they might not get their engagement. 

Great work Sharon!

Ryan Hicks