Week Five: Post 2 - MidTerm Reflection

“The death of education but the dawn of learning.” 

--Stephen Heppell, CEO Heppell.net LTD., UK

Course Objectives:

• Provide instruction and modeling regarding digital etiquette and responsible social interactions related to the use of technology and information.

As this question relates to digital communities concerning this class, I have not specifically addressed this objective.  I will share what I currently do and see the integration of more technology moving in the same direction.

In the arts, we are very careful about how we introduce any idea concerning the possibility of “critique” or evaluative procedures.  For my students, I have created a continuum of how we enter into a critique process, whether it is digital or first person direct. 

by Timm Judas, 2012

First we establish norms of proper response and interaction etiquette.  Second, our first experience with critique is only positive, “What do you like about your work?” and “What do you like about another work?”  Third, direct criticism is always framed within the responses of, “Have you thought about this?” and, “If this were my work, I would.........”  I model, and we practice these types of interactions and types of responses.

• Promote and demonstrate effective use of digital tools and resources. Familiarize students with Web2.0 tools that may be used professionally or within the classroom environment to establish deeper learning experiences through proper curricular standard driven development.

I have started to address this objective through an online quiz format that will eventually lead to a final exam.  There were two things that I took away from the VIDEO: Confessions of a Converted Lecturer: Eric Mazur.  First, the course syllabus should not include the content of the course but rather the “Learning Outcomes” of the course.  “Shift Focus from [teaching] to helping students learn.” (video, Mazur, 16:37)  Second, his only quiz that includes four questions.  The first three are questions from the reading and the fourth is, “What do you have questions about or what are you confused by?”  He then designs his peer teaching questions for the following day to include these identified questions/concerns.

• Become familiar with current technology issues, trends and technology use within the K- 12 environment. Discuss how technology use impacts student learning outcomes.

If we think about the research that Eric Mazur presents, it is depth of discovery and understanding over “coverage,” or as stated in the Common Core Standards for Math and English, “breadth” where students gain the best chance of moving further in their true understanding of presented ideas.  His research also shows that a student who is  more to able to solve “conceptual” problems will also score better on conventional questions.  However, the inverse is not true.  A student who scores well on “conventional” (memorized) information, typically will bomb “conceptually” based questions.  Building on Mazur’s ideas, well designed conceptually based problems that utilize technology as part of the “solving” process will lead to more authentic, therefore deeper understanding of their learning.......it will support their ability to, as Mazur says, ”build their mental models.”

I am now using EBlogger, Diigo, GoogleNews and GoogleReader.  They have become a daily peruse.  I am transitioning from folders on my tool bar to highlighting and tagging blogs, articles, videos websites using Diigo and have started creating tags within my documents so that I can search my hard-drive more easily.  I am starting to “curate” my information.

So, on the continuum of this Objective, I feel as though I am moving from a high  application of use into the understanding of systems that will best support my style of teaching and aligning with students individual styles of learning.

• Design and implement digitally-based learning experiences with multiple and varied formative and summative assessments

"Tea Time" by Sally Williams, 2012

I am in the middle of this process.  This class is helping to focus this, through identification and application suggestions and successful models.  These will inform  how I ultimately create, shift and tweak their usage in my classroom as formative and summative assessments.

• Establish a core personal learning network of technology leaders to follow. Utilize this new network of educators as personal professional development.

I am part of a developing core of technology leaders in our area schools and supervisory union.  I do need to expand outside the confines of our river here and see what other best practices other Arts and Music educators are involved with and are building.

• Use knowledge of digital tools and technology applications to facilitate experiences that advance learning, creativity, and innovation in both face-to-face and virtual environments.

I think that I have addressed this throughout this post’s comments.  I do not envision blogs or wikipages becoming part of my immediate programming.  If I can work out a clear and direct way to post images of student work, I will then use blogs as a formative critique assessment.  This is one of the areas that I want to still pursue.  Currently, there are no other teachers in our school using blogging with their students.

• Evaluate, adapt, and reflect on emerging tools and trends by participating in local and global learning communities and by reviewing current research and professional literature.

“Reviewing current research and professional literature.”  I am on it. “Participating in local and global learning communities.”  Not so much.

“Evaluate, adapt, and reflect on emerging tools and trends.”  I am, by nature a reflective person.  I think of it like this.  The art that I make is all over the place.  I am versed with most media; photography, sculpture, clay, collage mixed-media, ceramics, painting, printmaking and so on.  I don’t believe that everything needs to be painted, photographed or created in only one media.  Part of the process as an artist is the dialogue the creator has with the created.  Part of the process as an educator is the dialogue the educator has with the student.  So, part of the process of education is understanding the needs, skill, ability and voice of the student.  Not all students are meant to be great painters, but all students should be comfortable at expressing their point of view, through what ever media connects to them.  

I treat information, technology and the act of making the same way as I create a mixed-media work of art..  I have a barn full of stuff.  For the most part, I have that inventory stored in my head.  When I come to create a work I start with the pieces from the barn and develop them.  What evolves is a synthesis between what is created through the dialogue of what my needs are as the creator and what the object will allow me to do.  If I find that what I have in the barn will not work, then I search for what will.  

"Saint Joan" by Timm Judas, 2012     22x42

The artwork that I have included here is an example of that.  I collected the wire dress form from the middle of the street in Boston.  It has sat in my barn for over twenty-years waiting for the other components, which were painting techniques, maps of Europe, one of my daughters senior pictures, the play “St. Joan” by George Bernard Shaw, stained glass techniques, and the digital photo-transfer processes, that I just learned this past year and developed for this piece.

I am always reflecting about all the information and things that I have in my life.......you never know from where the next great ???? is going to come.