Module 6

This module has helped me think about self directed learners and the role of differientiation in the following ways:

Students need to be taught skills as well as content. Time management, organization and collaboration are some of the skills project based learning incoporate. Formative assessments provide the student with a means of evaluating their performance in the above skills. Providing a variety of differientiated instruction aims at meeting the needs of all students. Graphic organizers such as KWL and T charts give the students a chance to compare information or process previous knowledge with newly acquired knowledge. Groups give the students a opportunity to assess others and themselves and practice the skills needed to collaborate or work with others. Projects are easily adapted to special needs, gifted and nonnative speakers. They are flexible enough to bend to the needs of the learner.

Module 5

This module has helped me think about student centered assessment in the following ways:

Assessments need to be detail oriented and very clear for the student. There should be little room for misinterpretation. Assessment should monitor progress but also direct the student in where they are and what they still need to do. Assessments should guide the teacher and the student. It should provide the students an opportunity to revise or change direction by directing the student to what the teacher wants. It should also give the teacher an insight in to the learning of the student and their progress. A variety of assessments are needed for this to occur. There should be assessments that monitor progress, check for validity of information and learning. Assessments can assess not only learning, but time management and collaboration between groups.

Module 4

How can technology be used most effectively to support and assess student learning?

Creating the student sample was very useful. It helped me to focus on the material or content I wanted the student to grasp and how the project would make that content meaningful. It also helped to direct my instructional strategies and narrow down the activities I would need to include. I was also able to pinpoint what technology I wanted to students to learn in order to create the best newsletter possible. My students will need some lessons on internet searching, organizing their research using notefish.com and how to create a newsletter. I'll be using jing to walk them through these tools.

Module 3

This module helped me think about the impact of the internet on my student's learning in the following ways:

The internet is a great source of information but can be overwhelming and time consuming. Students need to be led to search for information in a careful, precise manner to save time. Search engines and the use of detailed search techniques help to zero in on the desired information. Students also need to be taught how to find good, reliable information and present it using the correct citations. It is our tendency to believe everything we read because it is in black and white. It takes time to question the validity of a website. The internet also provides a great opportunity for collaboration and sharing. Social networking sites give studen access to working together on a project or assignment while each staying at their own home. Group time is extended beyond the classroom without becoming an intrusion.

This module has helped me think about using standards, CFQ's, or formative assessment in the following ways...

Standards and CFQ's help to provide a foundation on which to build my project. It gives my project a direction and accountability. Formative assessment gives me more fluent communication on how my students are assimulating the information. With more formative assessment, I am able to gauge my students progress and understanding of the content.

Module 1

This module has made me think about my role as an instructional designer in the following ways.

This module has made me aware of how much I lead my students in learning rather than create self directed students. I incorporate a variety of instructional strategies to facilitate learning but tend to get caught up planning activities instead of stepping back and taking time to figure out where my students are in the learning process. We have a lot of material to cover and I feel rushed most of the year. So I tend to get caught up in presenting the material as well as working them through the material without having the time to do more formative assessments. The project based learning would give me a way to do this. I try to give my students lots of different ways to learn the material but dread projects. Students procrastinate even when I offer timelines and assessments along the way to ensure they are working. I have had many students turn in the same project or not turn in one at all. We do not have a lot of resources at school for student resource. Every computer lab is a classroom and the library books up fast. I am thrilled to say that as of last year I now have a smartboard. This I use daily. Unfortunately, many of my students do not have access at home to the internet. It is frustrated because I would love to incorporate more wikis, blogs, and podcast into my lessons.