Interactivity #3 Feedback

All group spreadsheets and blog posts comprising Interactivity #3 have now been formally assessed and final scores have been posted to your Engrade accounts. 

The average score was quite high (86%). Some individuals and groups excelled at this assignment; other individuals unfortunately missed the target or did not participate at all.  However, most groups worked together very well to create an organized, content-specific inventory. Well done.

If you had points deducted from your individual score, it was probably for one or more of the following reasons:

• Your contributions to the group spreadsheet was minimal, last-minute or less-than substantial (up to 20 points).
  
• The group spreadsheet lacked a coherent organizational structure (10 points). Chapter Three in the course text provided you with a possible structure for categorizing your technologies (e.g., content management, authoring tools, collaboration, etc.).   While you were not required to use this particular structure, you were required to organize your technologies into some coherent structure. It was unacceptable to organize your inventory according to individual group names or to have categories assigned to specific group members. The group assignment was to produce one cohesive inventory—not multiple ones. Organization was worth 10 points according to the assessment rubric.

If you were docked points, please re-view the original Interactivity #3 guidelines and your Google spreadsheet prior to contacting me with questions or concerns. If you are still confused about your assigned score then send me an email with your specific concern to set up a phone discussion.

It is important that you understand the basic functionality of Google Spreadsheets, as each of you will use it for Interactivity #4 and also for the final project of the semester. If you are curious as to how Google Spreadsheets can support your teaching, [this is a good starter resource].

Interactivity #2 Feedback

**NOTE that in most cases, FEEDBACK on your INDIVIDUAL SUBMISSIONS was sent to each of you through ENGRADE.  My space is limited for feedback, so apologies in advance for 'short hand' communication.

The average score was a low C (70%) for this second interactivity.

There were many excellent (100-point) submissions that magnified all of the requirements of the assignment. You did not need to be particularly creative to earn 100 points, you just needed to understand and follow precisely the technical guidelines for this assignment.

The most common mistake was including an additional narrative (or in some cases, multiple paragraphs) to "explain" your ideas. Instead, your image and caption should have been able to stand together as one coherent message. Perhaps you interpreted the guidelines of "Successful upload of image and caption as a blog post" to mean something more than creating a single post with just an image and caption? It's hard to tell (This is another reason why emailing me ahead of the deadline with any questions of clarification will make the biggest difference in your submission scores).

Another common mistake was including in your caption and/or image a technology that was post-1990 (your parameters were the years 1820-1990). Keep in mind that schools are much slower to adopt new technologies, so although the personal computer may have been invented in the 1980s (larger computers in the 60s and teaching machines in the 50s), computers were not a major influence on schooling until fairly recently—computer labs were rare. Depending upon your subject area, they may not have been a major influence at all in schools. So school-based specificity as well as content-area specificity was essential for this interactivity.

There is also much confusion about technology itself.  Music itself is not a technology.  They ways you communicate or compose it are, e.g. a pen, iTunes, software, CD player.  However, iTunes is not a music education content-specific technology.  It all depends on how you use it.  Listing iTunes as a technology for the classroom is similar to listing a pencil, a book or a laptop computer.  It doesn't mean or accomplish anything unless you know what to do with it—meaning, what makes it content-specific.  Your URLs needed to point to something specific. 

Interactivity #3 Guidelines Now Available

For guidelines to the third interactivity, [click here] (these are always available). Please note it is a group activity, so I strongly encourage you to begin work on it as soon as possible and to anticipate technical snafus. I have changed the deadline to give you an . It is due no later than 5:00pm EST on Friday, March 25.

Yikes! Time Flies...

Greetings all - my apologies for being so radio silent! Confusing with an online course, I know. I'm in the middle of a move, so am tight with time. I'm posting the third interactivity in just a few minutes and will give you a few extra days to work on it—the least I can do. I'll be posting general feedback to Interactivity #2 later this evening. I'm really enjoying reading your blogs! Huge thanks for your patience. Lisa Phillips

Interactivity #1 Feedback

Scores for Interactivity #1 have been posted in Engrade.  You all truly love your phones and laptops—so do I!  The average scores were high, but I confess, you were lucky.  I didn't post the scoring rubric for this first assignment.  It's below.  But it will show you what I was (and will) look for.  Clear writing.  Reflective thinking.  Following directions...

(click image to enlarge)

The most common point deduction was in the REFLECTION category—specifically the lack of reflection on the negative aspects of your 3 chosen technologies.  Without identifying the negative trade-offs of using a particular technology, you aren't truly being reflective (and arguably in denial about its influence).  I read waxing tributes to technology, but few thoughtful concerns and criticisms.

The second most common reason for point deduction was not comparing your experiences with those of the students in the videos. Remember, you had 750 words (some of you went way over... please don't) to play with to provide evidence that you viewed the videos and were reflectively contemplating your own uses as compared/contrasted to what you viewed. If you only posted around 300 or 400 words, then chances are your post sorely lacked in all areas within the rubric above.

I was surprised that many of you focused on only the fairly recent technologies that you "can't live without" as opposed to thinking about those technologies that have influenced you the most across your entire lifespan. Haven't books, pens and paper, and TV made a major impact on you as well? One of you commented that no interesting technologies developed in the 60's, 70's and 80's.  Really?  I also notice that many of you throw around the word technology without any real meaning attached to it. Hint: Technology does not simply refer to computers. But we'll read more on that topic a bit later.

If you are confused at your score for Interactivity #1, then please do the following (in order):

Review the assignment guidelines for Interactivity #1
Review the general feedback above
Review your own post for Interactivity #1

Your Online Profile

At this point, everyone should have their blogspot set up with a professional profile that includes a photo. (I'm making the presumption that you'll be using this blog as a professional resource in this class... and possibly in your teaching future as well.)  As I mention in the section on Online Professionalism, deciding how to represent yourself visually and literally as a teacher takes some careful consideration. At the same time, there is beauty in simplicity.

Make sure that you are recognizable in your photo.  Some of your photos are too dark, a couple of you are wearing sunglasses. (A potential employer should be able to recognize you from your profile photo). Also, try to obtain as clear (high quality/resolution) of an image as possible. Blurry or low-light photos just don't look professional. And avoid cheerleader/sexy poses.  That's OK for your Facebook page (which your employer will most likely scope out too by the way) but not for here.  When in doubt, just keep it simple and be yourself—as a professional teacher, that is.

If you have not yet posted a photo, what are you waiting for?

2nd Interactivity - Due March 6

Due: 5:00pm EST Wednesday, March 6

A reminder that all of your Interactivities are available on this blog, but I wanted to remind you that Interactivity #2 is next in line for your attention.  Please pay careful attention to the grading rubric below.

The first interactivity asked you to self-reflect on your own relationship to communications technologies—and how that relationship might be similar to and/or different from those of the young people that you will teach. At this point, you should be more aware of those technologies that have most influenced your own life and also aware of their negative as well as positive influences. This second interactivity asks you to look back into history to more deeply understand how communications technologies have influenced (for better and worse) the formalized education process through schooling. The purpose for looking backward is to understand how to move forward in renewing schooling to meet the needs of the 21st century.

1. View this 9-minute video that presents a visual history of technology in schools from the period 1900-1990. Ask yourself: Which technology influenced education in my particular content area the most during this historical time period?
   
   
   
   
2. Read Chapter 2 in Rethinking Technology and Schools and the supplementary article, A Social History of Media and Technology in Schools. Based on your reading of these 2 texts, choose one technology that you think has had the greatest impact (for better or worse) upon formalized schooling in your content area between the years 1820 and 1990. Your chosen technology must be grounded in historical evidence from the assigned readings.
   
   
3. Choose or create an image that visually illustrates the impact of this technology upon schooling in your content area. You may find an image on the internet, take your own picture, or create one using a software program. There is no limit to your creativity with this image, as long as it represents how this chosen technology has realistically impacted schooling in your chosen subject area between the years 1820 and 1990.
    
4. Upload your image to your blog and create a single line caption or tagline to explain the message of your image. You may use only one sentence or phrase to describe your image. If you use more than that, points will be deducted from your final score.

This interactivity is worth 100 points and assessment will be as follows:

• Choice of technology (grounded in historical data contained in the assigned readings) (3 points)
• Graphic representation of technological impact on schooling in your subject area (3 points)
• Contribution of text/caption to the overall meaning of your message (3 points)
• Successful upload of image and caption as a blog post (1 point)
• Recommendation: Search through other blogspots and view your classmates' images. Provide commentary or questions to earn your online participation for the week.