Enthusiasm about doing what one does everyday, does not come naturally to all. But Tom Ward's talk on technology usage in his classroom indicated his genuine enthusiasm for teaching. Technology education has its own learning curve, but the past few years has seen so much advancement and accessibility to smart phone applications, super smart devices and what not, that most present generation secondary school students are already adept in using them.
S(Substitution), A(Augmentation), M( Modification) and (Redefinition) or SAMR model is a framework for implementing technology integration in the class room. Substitution is the first level where students tasks involve use of a familiar program in different forms ( Google docs, Word etc).
Augmentation is where students use additional functionalities ( like Google doc sharing) to learn. Modifications is when students' tasks involve modifying their tasks using the program ( like getting feedback from peers when one shares a document) and Redefinition is when students' are able to perform tasks that were once unimaginable ( like global interaction between students using google doc). Students even at elementary school levels, use technology for tasks like documenting essays and giving certain types of quizzes . By the time they reach high school, their knowledge base about technology usage is quite deep and most students in the US would be able to perform tasks at the M and R levels.
So when Tom Ward spoke about using Vine to capture 6 second videos for content learning, it really impressed me. I believe that for some students it is harder to focus for 1 minute on video and extract useful information than focusing and extracting information with in 6 seconds. So if we split 1 minute worth of content rich video into ten 6 second chunks, I would hypothesize that students will make an effort to understand content and reproduce it better. Nevertheless each of these 6 second videos need to be handcrafted for best delivery of information. And my hands are twitching to test this theory in my own classroom.
I am not sure if I would use twitter, but definitely 'Vine' is on my plate. I personally do not like twitter for teaching purposes as I feel it provides a space for '140 character gossiping' over the web.
But as an educator, a meaningful video would be something I would love to incorporate just for the purposes of better understanding of the content.
Great blog post! I agree that Tom's enthusiasm for teaching was definitely evident, and contageous! I was so absorbed in his presentation that I hardly took any notes, and have been searching for the model he had mentioned. I'm so glad you posted it!
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ReplyDeleteNice post! You seem to imply in your blog that students can't pay attention for more than a minute. I was wondering if that's what you experience in your classroom at STEM Academy. Do you see that students become unfocused that quickly? I agree that making six second VINE videos would force students to summarize an idea or concept and present it in a clear and concise manner. It is necessary to help students develop this skill in the classroom. However, we also have learned in our classes that we need to teach and model persistence, especially with literacy. Are we benefitting the students if we don't expect them to be able to concentrate for longer periods of time? I'm sure there is a balance between these two ideas, but it's difficult to know when use them.
Thanks Wilbur for those comments. I agree that science literacy needs perseverance in reading and writing text.. but video is different. Students might miss learning from it because of audio visual stimulation.. but chunking it to 6 seconds might make them learn because it is too less a time to lose focus.
DeleteGreat explanation of SAMR. It makes it very clear and is quite concise. Also nice of you to notice Tom Ward's enthusiasm. And I think you are on to something with the idea that restrictions encourage precision in understanding. Yes, indeed. I am starting to understand what all of this Vine business might be good for. I would use it it to improve economy of expression. The concentration of ideas. What is most important? You certainly have to decide what is most important with Vine. A class project could be a competition to express the most in those six seconds. (Express the most of something, or express something the best?) What are the new criteria for a Vine creation? How does one unpack, interpret, and respond to a Vine creation? Is there a limit to concision?
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