Free Web-Based Software Reviews

Office Suites
I've been using Google Drive for quite some time.  In fact, back in my day, it was still called Google Docs.  When I hired into St. Joseph Public Schools in 20012, one of the first things I did was set up a Google Drive for my fellow elementary art teacher and I to share our ideas and catalogue our lesson plans.  Google Drive, in a nutshell, has free equivalents of the main Microsoft Office applications - Word, Powerpoint, Excel - but with two huge added perks: accessibility and collaboration.  I can access my Drive from any location.  Most times, when working on homework or another project, I prefer to create a Google Document so that I can be sure to have it no matter the device on which I'm working.  Where Google Drive differs from Microsoft Office is that everything auto saves and I can access it without having to email it to myself or bring it up on the same computer.  Google Drive also gives me the choice on how to share the things I create.  I can share them with others as "view only" or I can give others the chance to edit what I share.  What's really cool is that when someone else is editing a document or presentation, I can see the edit in real time.  A recent addition to Google Drive is the ability to download the app to a device.  This allows me to drag and drop items that I would to appear on my Drive from my computer, and again, access them from any device.

Image Editing
Last year, I took a professional development class specifically to raise awareness of free iPad apps for art educators.  One of the apps introduced was Sumo Paint.  Sumo Paint was described as an app that was somewhere between Paint and Photoshop.  I hadn't given much time to the app until it was mentioned again this week.  I revisited Sumo Paint in order to make my screencast and found it incredibly user-friendly and intuitively designed.  A lot of the icons in Sumo Paint correspond to those in Photoshop, but I think the layout and options are quite a bit simpler.  I'm not an advanced user of Photoshop, so I'm not sure how Sumo Paint would compare for advanced techniques, but a lot of the basics of photo editing seem to be there.  One of the downsides to using Sumo Paint is that it doesn't link directly to other Adobe products.  For example, when I'm using Photoshop, I often bounce around and drag things to and from Illustrator and InDesign as well.  While I'm missing that level of correspondence with Sumo Paint, for a free app that has many capabilities, I really can't complain.

Screencast

I created this screencast as an aid to students and myself in my classroom.  I think this screencast would serve multiple purposes.  First, if a student were absent during the introduction of a 1-point perspective lesson, this screencast would help her establish the basics and get back up to speed.  Second, this tool could serve as a good refresher for students who don't remember the steps of a 1-point perspective drawing the first time around.  Finally, this screencast would save me time in repeating directions to students and would allow me to focus my energy elsewhere.  If I embedded this video on a class website, I could simply direct students to it and have them work independently.

Google Mapping Activity

My idea for this activity was to have students use the custom mapping tool to plan a day trip in Paris.  I would provide students with specific guidelines for what they had to include in their day trip and they would then have to find places and a mode of transportation to and from these places.  The guidelines for students might look something like this:

-Start the day in hotel or hostel.
-Find breakfast.
-Find a nearby park to eat breakfast.
-Find an afternoon excursion.
-Find a place to eat lunch.
-Find an activity to do after lunch.
-Find a place to eat dinner.
-Find a site that has a wonderful nighttime view.
-End the day in the same hotel or hostel.

In addition to students finding the aforementioned places, they would also have to show the method of travel they would take be it walking, bus, or metro.  What I would really like to do with this assignment would be to add actual walking, bus, or metro directions showing accurate paths and distances.  For some reason, I had a really hard time getting this feature to work.  It seems as if there are two different versions of this tool, Classic Google Maps and some updated version.  The updated version (which I was working with) didn't seem very well supported.  All the support tools reverted to Classic Google Maps.  Nonetheless, I was still able to add descriptions that detailed how I would get about, which would still prove a valid learning experience.

What's great about this lesson is that it could be extended in multiple ways.  First, students could write descriptions in French to practice grammar and composition.  Second, students could detail the prices of meals and excursions in order to understand prices and budgeting abroad.  Or, students could provide historical information about a particular place to gain a new historical perspective.  Overall, fun tool with lots of possibilities.  I only wish the help and tutorials provides extended to every version.

*Please note I only created the first half of this activity to provide an example of what students would be expected to create.

Concept Mapping Activity

Here's an example of a concept map I did using the French verb être (to be).  This example could be one that I would create for students as a study tool to learn the different parts of speech of a verb, but more than likely, I would use this tool to have students create these maps for themselves.  I found a lot of reward in having to think about the different parts of speech and map it out.  A variation of this concept could be for the instructor to pick a different part of speech, i.e. present tense, and have students create the present tense for multiple verbs.  I also see the potential of this tool to be used to check for student understanding.  The only downside to this is that because bubbl.us functions on the web, students would have the ability to look up verbs.  However, I could always create a blank concept map and have students fill in the blanks.  Overall, very intuitive, user-friendly tool that holds a lot of potential.

Reading Response Week 4

Application

In addressing “Application” question 1, I will show how the instructional design of the proposed problem of teaching unit costs differs using Behavioral Learning Theory, Schema Theory, and Situated Learning Theory.

In order to teach unit costs using Behavioral Learning Theory, I would present learners with three different prices and sizes of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Bean (the jelly beans that range in flavor from strawberry to vomit), their goal being to find which of the three price/size combinations is the cheapest per ounce.  Perhaps the steps to solving the problem are done in an electronic fashion that provides antecedents along the way.  For example, if a student is using the correct division to solve the problem, that student might be met with a pleasant sound or a visual cue that suggests that she is on the right path.  But if a student deters from the correct way of solving the problem, the student might be met with an unpleasant sound or some kind of warning.  Another fun twist on this scenario using Behavioral Learning Theory is that the teacher could put a pleasant flavored bean next to the correct solution to the problem and unpleasant flavors next to the wrong solutions.  If students think they have arrived at the correct answer, they can eat the bean and receive direct reward or punishment based on their choice.  

Teaching unit costs via Schema Theory would involve students having prior knowledge of measurements, comparisons (greater than, less than), division, money, and decimals.  I would begin teaching them about unit costs by checking for understanding of the aforementioned items.  I would then be sure to provide them with a calculator to make sure that the process of problem solving is as automated as possible.  It is hopeful that students would have a vast schema of all the above items so that when solving a unit costs problem, they could “use existing schemas to interpret events and solve problems,” (38).  

Finally, teaching unit costs with Situated Learning theory would involve more of a real-world experience.  With this theory in mind, I would start by having students divide into small teams.  Each team would have the task of gathering an item for a party.  For example, one team would be responsible for cups, another for plates, etc.  The task would be for students to purchase enough of their item for the party while documenting their choices.  For example, team A, who could be in charge of cups, would explain why they made their selection for buying the cups they did and show the price/cup of the other choices they were considering.  

Chapter 14

I found chapter 14 to be interesting in that I can see areas were my school district is implementing HPI practices amongst staff members, but also in encouraged practices that relate to teacher/student interactions.  Conversely, there are also areas in my school district that I think still fall under the “single-solution, miracle interventions,” mindset (137).  

In general, if implemented correctly, the ideas of HPI could transform any group of people to have “valued organizational results” (138).  I think the problem is that key components often get overlooked or left out.  For example, my school district has a mission statement, clearly states our goals, and uses an evaluation system that provides direct feedback.  We don’t, however, provide training opportunities for all, have clear rewards and consequences for poor performance, or support many career development opportunities.  I think that if our school district fully embraced an HPI model, we would see improvements in collaboration, collegiality, and student performance.

I think the ideas of HPI - “to achieve, through people, increasingly successful accomplishments that are valued by all stakeholders” - could be beneficial for students as well.  When we think of HPI at a student level, the original intent of implementing it in workplaces might switch, but the ideas are the same.  Already, I think I have a lot of the ideas in place within my classroom.  For example, I have clear expectations for behavior and projects, provide students with appropriate materials, give timely feedback on projects, and have the ultimate goal of shaping minds to be successful in society in place each day.   

Podcast

After checking out a few educational and art related podcasts for this assignment, I finally landed on one to profile that I think encompasses everything I like in a podcast: Education: NPR.  I know this site is more of a composite of educational related radio stories not necessarily by a single source, but it's an excellent resource for everything from statistical analysis to quirky stories in typical NPR fashion.  There were a couple things I really love about the site.  First, it's not just a site for educational related podcasts, but also for educational blogs and articles.  Second, the podcasts themselves are generally around 4-6 minutes in length; not great for the long distance commuter, but definitely a good bite-sized chunk of time.  Finally, the site is easily navigable, updated almost daily, and tracks listening activity.

To give you an idea of the range of stories Education: NPR covers, I'll share a couple.  The first I listened to was one related to how schools in Pennsylvania are using the sharing of personal stories in front of a crowd to build empathy in students.  The podcast talked about how after Columbine, officials at the school thought that if they could get students to open up and relate to others, students would be less likely to feel isolated and thus less likely to commit violent crime.  This podcast then went into the personal stories of a few students and gave the reactions of students hearing the stories.  The stories were heavy and sometimes hard to listen to, but showcased the true vulnerability of these students and the support of their peers.

Another podcast I listened to followed a reporter interviewing 4th graders in the Bay Area about the Common Core.  The podcast started off by him asking the students if they know what the Common Core is and how they would rank the difficulty of the Common Core Standards.  It then transitioned into the students explaining math techniques taught with the Common Core and the reporter admitting that he knows little of the techniques they're using.  He counters by offering the technique he was taught, of which the students know nothing about.  It's an interesting bit that makes one question the process by which students arrive at a solution.

Other such podcasts on Education: NPR include: Does Smuggling a Cow into School Make You a Creative Genius? and Anatomy of a Great Commencement Speech amongst hundreds of others.  It's fun and educational.  Check it out!

Social Bookmarking

The social bookmarking tool, Delicious, was new to me, but something that I thoroughly enjoyed and I’m sure will continue to enjoy.  Obviously, there are a lot of applications for this type of tool in education.  Delicious would serve as a wonderful collaboration tool for sharing and organizing professional sites amongst teachers.  It would also be a great tool for organizing different categories of reading that teachers can share with their students.  Another, perhaps less likely application, would be a type of sorting game that students with their own Delicious sites could play.  I imagine students finding different artists’ websites and tagging them to fit into particular categories.  For example: Modern Art, Surrealist Influenced, Cubism, etc.  Students might also categorize the personal websites of their peers.  This could lead to an interesting discussion about what categories were chosen and why.  It could also be used to check student understanding of particular movements of art.

Podcast Synopsis

After checking out a few educational and art related podcasts for this assignment, I finally landed on one to profile that I think encompasses everything I like in a podcast: Education: NPR.  I know this site is more of a composite of educational related radio stories not necessarily by a single source, but it's an excellent resource for everything from statistical analysis to quirky stories in typical NPR fashion.  There were a couple things I really love about the site.  First, it's not just a site for educational related podcasts, but also for educational blogs and articles.  Second, the podcasts themselves are generally around 4-6 minutes in length; not great for the long distance commuter, but definitely a good bite-sized chunk of time.  Finally, the site is easily navigable, updated almost daily, and tracks listening activity.

To give you an idea of the range of stories Education: NPR covers, I'll share a couple.  The first I listened to was one related to how schools in Pennsylvania are using the sharing of personal stories in front of a crowd to build empathy in students.  The podcast talked about how after Columbine, officials at the school thought that if they could get students to open up and relate to others, students would be less likely to feel isolated and thus less likely to commit violent crime.  This podcast then goes into the personal stories of a few students and then gives the reactions of students hearing the stories.  The stories are heavy and sometimes hard to listen to, but showcase the true vulnerability of these students and the support of their peers.

Another podcast I listened to followed a reporter interviewing 4th graders in the Bay Area about the Common Core.  The podcast starts off by him asking the students if they know what the Common Core is and how they would rank the difficulty of the Common Core Standards.  It then transitions into the students explaining math techniques taught with the Common Core and the reporter admitting that he knows little of the techniques they're using.  He counters by offering the technique he was taught, of which the students know nothing about.  It's an interesting bit that makes one question the process by which students arrive at a solution. 

Other such podcasts on Education: NPR include: Does Smuggling a Cow into School Make You a Creative Genius? and Anatomy of a Great Commencement Speech amongst hundreds of others.  It's fun and educational.  Check it out!

Link to Delicious

Here's my Delicious page.