Shane+Fletcher's+Cool+Tools+Review+and+Application+Plan

= Michael Shane Fletcher ECI 509 Cool Tools Review/Reflections and Application Plans =

Think Quest
Think Quest is an online collaborative site for educators and students to share and participate in research projects. It is designed to encourage students to use research skills and networking programming to collaborate on a given topic and create their own website and place to publish new concepts learned. This program has thousands of current projects available around the globe, and teachers can create their own. I will be using this program as a place for my staff to develop projects and work in collaboration with others within our school, district, state, country and/or world. Through a series of training sessions following the New Literacies Institute model, my staff will take NC Standard Course of Study goals and objectives and align them with resources and links that will help students develop a working understanding.

Second Life
This cool tool is a virtual world where participants create their own Avatar and identity. It is a social networking tool that allows people from all over the world to interact with one another in real time. The session was centered on the concept of a staff development tool, since it is only available for adults. (There is Teen Second Life, which could be used with high school students) The school staff could meet, interact, share information, chat in real time, upload images and websites, and do all of this while at home on their computer. I see some great opportunities for collaboration from colleagues in education around the globe. It’s another example of the “death of distance” referred to by Dr. Zhau during the New Literacies Institute. With this technology, we can bring in experts without having to pay for transportation and we can collaborate as a team without having to rent a facility or gather in one location, which also involves the amount of space required. Thus, the gathering could be as small or as large as needed.

ACRE
This session allowed me to better understand the upcoming changes in state curriculum development and accountability. The NC Department of instruction is developing newer standards to incorporate 21st century skills into instruction and in assessment. An opportunity to help write new essential standards and provide online resources for NC educators was shared with participants and we were encouraged to participate in this process. Technology skills are still separated into their own set of goals and objectives, and ways to encourage teacher use of these were discussed. Teachers should remember that they are required to address these standards as with any of the other standards, and seek ways to merge them in with lessons.

Fizz
I was familiar with Fizz from the video contest this spring. My students used Lodge’s song “Center of the Universe” to develop a video about the scientific process. Students can use Fizz to have a safe environment to upload and share videos on many different topics. This would enhance learning not only for the students using Flip cameras and making the videos, but through the sharing and viewing of other videos. Students can learn from each other through the site, as well as with those within their own classrooms.

Quest Atlantis
This online gaming system teaches a variety of goals and objectives through developed quests that students participate in. More topics are being developed and the site is well protected. It is also provided for free by being sponsored by grants. Students can interact with other students and work together to meet quest goals within the system. This is powerfully motivating for students who may have difficulty in reading. The collaborative piece through chats can help lower performing students achieve goals in a less intimidating environment than a regular classroom. Being a gaming environment also motivates students to participate and thus hold their attention. It is limited by the existing quests, but more are being developed and educators may want to participate in that practice to help the program to grow and to address specific learning needs.

=Application Plan - FIZZ=

Description – This application plan would be conducted early in the school year to help illustrate the scientific inquiry process for students. This particular lesson is just one of several foundational lessons. The specific goals are for students to learn how to create, conduct and communicate findings from scientific investigations. Utilizing flip cameras will allow the teacher to provide students an alternate way to communicate findings from the usual stand and deliver methods. Students will be given many opportunities throughout the year to choose their method of delivery after scientific investigations like this have been conducted. They will have a variety of partners to conduct experiments throughout the year.

Technology
Objective 2.06 Objective 2.07
 * 1) Demonstrate knowledge of the advantages/disadvantages of using multimedia to develop, publish, and present information to a variety of audiences. Strand - Multimedia/Presentation
 * 1) Identify, discuss, and use multimedia terms/concepts (e.g., multimedia authoring, web tools) to develop content projects as a class/group. Strand - Multimedia/Presentation
 * 2) Use rubrics to evaluate multimedia presentations for elements (e.g., content, organization, accuracy, design, purpose). Strand - Multimedia/Presentation

Science
Objective 1.08 > Communicate findings. Objective 1.09 Materials Teacher will prepare supply table. Teacher will introduce the goals and objectives for this lesson. Teacher will ask students to make predictions about the items on the table. Teacher will take facilitator role and move about room to observe the processes used by students
 * 1) Use oral and written language to:
 * 1) Defend conclusions of scientific investigations.
 * 1) Use technologies and information systems to:
 * 2) Research.
 * 3) Gather and analyze data
 * 4) Visualize data.
 * 5) Disseminate findings to others.
 * 1) Empty Film Canisters
 * 2) Alka-Seltzer tablets (generic are fine)
 * 3) Small plastic containers of water for each group/pair.
 * 4) Aluminum Pie pan (or any tray is useful to catch spills…THERE WILL BE SPILLS!)
 * 5) Science notebook
 * 6) Writing Utensil

Students will design a science investigation using materials provided Students will conduct experiments and record data in notebooks Students will use Flip Cameras to give an oral sharing of information they have learned from their science experiments. Students will post videos to FIZZ site. Students will review one another’s videos and listen for common themes and terms used. Students will write common words and descriptors down and create a final class definition/explanation. NOTE: This could be done as a poster – Student drawn and decorated or use Wordle.net

Assessment Student created Rubric for Video Presentations Teacher will observe process and determine if students have gained an understanding of how to create, conduct and communicate a scientific inquiry investigation