Course Reflection EEND677Y - Multimedia Tools in Education

      I really enjoyed learning about the different multimedia tools during this course and experimenting with how to incorporate them into my classroom. One type of media and article that really stuck with me was "The Power of Visual Communication" and the use of infographics. I feel that this article and the module as a whole struck me for several reasons. One reason, was there was great information shared in the article. The article stated that people remember 10% of what they hear, 20% of what they read, and 80% of what they see and do. This statistic was just so significant to me and my role as an educator. My goal is to provide my students with information that they will learn and retain. With this kind of data, it is easy to see how my teaching will benefit significantly from making modifications to include activities where students will see and do, to increase their memory on the topic. Additionally, I also noticed how my own interested peaked when reading infographics. It is easy to see how this type of multimedia would grab student attention and help them to better understand the topic. 

    One discussion that I really enjoyed with my classmates was the twitter conversation for Module 3. I really appreciated everyone's insight into how they were using audio in the classroom. One aspect I appreciated was that it really made me reflect on my use of audio in the classroom. Although I feel that my use of audio as an editing and revising tool in writing has been very beneficial for my students, I realize there are so many other opportunities available. I really appreciated hearing my colleagues' ideas of how they were using audio in their classrooms. Since that conversation I have already introduced one project where I had students use audio to share some research that they completed. I look forward to using some of the ideas I heard from other members of this class and increase the way I am using audio technology in my classroom. Additionally, I really enjoyed the story clip, "The Well" and hearing my classmates' reactions to this story. It was such a moving story, I love to be able to share those conversations. Finally, I really appreciated the twitter format for this discussion. 

   I feel that this course has provided me with great opportunity to grow as a connected educator. I feel that through the multimedia tools that we have explored in this class, the ideas that have been shared by my peers, and the projects that I have created, I have really expanded my skills in using technology in my classroom. I feel that at the beginning of this school year when 1:1 technology was first introduced, I was stuck in the Substitution and Augmentation levels of the SAMR model. I was using the technology available, but not really using my resources to their fullest potential. However, as I think about projects that I have worked on in this class, and the assignments that they have inspired in my classroom, I truly feel like I am moving up in the SAMR model. I feel that through the different multimedia tools I am utilizing in my classroom I am entering the Modification and Redefinition levels of the SAMR model. 

   Although I feel that I have grown as an educator, I feel there are areas I can continue to grow my learning. One area where I would like to continue to grow and explore is the area of infographics. I mentioned earlier in the post how this topic really struck me as significant. I really enjoyed creating projects involving the infographics and using the information provided from the resources. However, at this point, although I have shared some of these graphics with students, I have not had students create graphics. I feel like this would be a great next step in my growth as an educator. I think about the significant benefits of this type of multimedia and I think a logical next step would be to have students start creating their own infographics. I can think of several areas of our curriculum where this kind of activity could be implemented. In Social Studies, students could make infographics about the states or regions we are studying. In Science, they can create google drawings to show their understanding of a certain scientific concept.In Writing, they could create a graphic that would support their informative writing pieces. I think that this would be a great next step for myself as an educator, as well as my students. 

   I am so excited to continue to integrate different multimedia into my classroom. As a teacher I have already integrated screencasts and infographics as resources that I have created to share information with my students. I have already begun projects where students are using WeVideo to record audio and video to show their understanding of a specific topic. I was so amazed to see the quality work my students were able to create during their first experiences with the program. I am so excited to continue to incorporate these types of learning experiences into the classroom and continue to see my students' technology skills grow. It has been so rewarding to see my students to actively engaged in projects where they are enjoying showing their knowledge and understanding.

   I really enjoyed the resources presented in Module 8. I thought the Ted Talk about the virtual laboratory was so interesting and such an amazing step and resource in higher level education. I found all the various tools out there amazing. I have seen some of these different resources, such as Google Cardboard and Google Expeditions and Aurasma shared at different tech conferences. Although these seem like amazing resources, it is not something that I have felt I have the ability to bring into my classroom. It seems like most of these apps require some kind of mobile device, such as ipads or iphones. We have just recently gone one to one with Chromebooks. I would love to incorporate some of these kinds of activities if I could with the Chromebooks, but that does not seem like an option at this point. The Google Expeditions seem like such an amazing tool that I would love to incorporate, but with a price tag of almost $10,000 for a class of thirty, this doesn't seem like a realistic option at this point.