2.1 Content Standards & Student Technology Standards
Candidates model and facilitate the design and implementation of technology-enhanced learning experiences aligned with student content standards and student technology standards. (PSC 2.1/ISTE 2a)
Artifact: Internet Lesson Plan
Reflection:
As a culminating project for ITEC 7430, I was tasked with creating a Web 2.0 immersion lesson that was aligned to both student content standards and student technology standards. I designed the lesson for and implemented the lesson with my third grade music students. I had these students utilize three separate Web 2.0 tools: Noteflight, an online music composition tool; AudioBoo (now audioBoom), an online recording/podcasting tool; and ThingLink, an online platform for creating interactive images to which you can link different “things.” One objective for this lesson was for students to demonstrate understanding of musical form by creating an original composition and pairing with another student or group to create a musical arrangement that featured both their compositions. Another objective for this lesson was to use digital tools and resources to create an original product within the context of music.
This artifact demonstrates my ability to model the design and implementation of effective technology-enhanced learning experiences because I myself went through the process of designing and implementing the lesson in my own classroom with my own students and can personally attest to its effectiveness for students’ in-depth learning. This artifact also demonstrates my ability to facilitate the design and implementation of similar lessons in other teachers’ classrooms, as I included many supporting details that would be useful when helping other teachers with designing and implementing similar lessons in their own classrooms. These supporting details that are included in the lesson plan also demonstrate my ability to successfully design technology-enhanced learning experiences. These details include lesson objectives, student content standards and student technology standards, lesson overview, essential questions, assessment strategies, necessary resources, detailed instructional plan, classroom management strategies, troubleshooting strategies, instructional strategies for including higher-order thinking and communication and collaboration, differentiation strategies, and post-implementation reflection. The inclusion of these details, particularly the reflection, also attests to my ability to implement such lessons. The reflection section thoroughly describes the implementation process that occurred in my classroom, including descriptions of its effectiveness, students’ enjoyment, what went well and why, what did not go well and why, and ideas for improvement for future implementation.
This artifact also demonstrates my ability to align technology-enhanced learning experiences to student content standards and student technology standards. The student content standards in this lesson centered around singing melodies (1d) and performing melodies on instruments (2c), reading melodic patterns (3c), composing rhythms (5b), composing melodies (5c), arranging music into simple form (5d), and describing the relationship between music and the other arts (8a). These content standards were constantly reinforced at each of the three stages of the lesson: Noteflight was used for composing rhythms and melodies, AudioBoo was used for singing, performing, and reading their compositions, and ThingLink was used for arranging their compositions and recordings to create a simple form and relating their compositions and arrangements to the art of photography and/or digital drawing. The student technology standards are continually addressed through all three of these stages as well. Students had to apply their existing knowledge of music to generate their new compositions, recordings, and ThingLink products (1a). Students used technology to create these three cumulating works as a means of personal expression (1b). Students had to interact and collaborate with their peers to combine their compositions, create an original form, and publish their final Thinglink product (2a). Students used all three Web 2.0 tools to communicate their learning and skills (2b). Students contributed their ideas, compositions, and recordings to a team to create the final ThingLink product (2d). Students had to plan for and manage these three different Web 2.0 tools in order to complete their projects (4b). Students demonstrated safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology through skills such as not including last names and only using original content instead of using someone else’s work (5a). Students continually exhibited a positive and enthusiastic attitude about using the Web 2.0 tools to complete their projects (5b). Students had to demonstrate their understanding of technology systems by being asked to use three different Web 2.0 tools (6a). Finally, students had to transfer their knowledge of other Web 2.0 tools with which they had prior experiences to learn how to use the three tools included in this project (6d).
I learned many things from the design and implementation of this lesson. I necessarily became more familiar with the Web 2.0 tools that were included in this project. I gained experience with planning for both content and technology standards, as these were constantly reinforced throughout the lesson. The planning process tested by ability to complete pre-troubleshooting and to develop classroom management strategies for such learning experiences. The implementation of the lesson also gave me unprecedented experience with acting as “facilitator” rather than the “sage on the stage,” as is common in ensemble-based music classes. However, as mentioned in the post-implementation reflection, my students had some trouble navigating the Noteflight tool. Although they were familiar with paper-pencil compositions strategies, they had no prior experience with digital composition tools. To improve the quality of the lesson, I would either choose an easier tool for my students to use or pre-teach the Noteflight tool so students would know how to use it during the lesson.
The work that went into creating this lesson had a tremendous impact on my students’ learning, enthusiasm, and creativity. This can be measured by comparing their end-of-unit data with that of other classes and/or previous years to show how much more these students learned about the music content standards and student technology standards as a result of this lesson/project. The impact on student learning can also be demonstrated in the anecdotal data regarding my students’ opinions about the project. For example, I heard several comments throughout the project’s implementation such as, “This is the coolest thing I’ve ever done in music class!” and “I wish every class could be like this!”
As a culminating project for ITEC 7430, I was tasked with creating a Web 2.0 immersion lesson that was aligned to both student content standards and student technology standards. I designed the lesson for and implemented the lesson with my third grade music students. I had these students utilize three separate Web 2.0 tools: Noteflight, an online music composition tool; AudioBoo (now audioBoom), an online recording/podcasting tool; and ThingLink, an online platform for creating interactive images to which you can link different “things.” One objective for this lesson was for students to demonstrate understanding of musical form by creating an original composition and pairing with another student or group to create a musical arrangement that featured both their compositions. Another objective for this lesson was to use digital tools and resources to create an original product within the context of music.
This artifact demonstrates my ability to model the design and implementation of effective technology-enhanced learning experiences because I myself went through the process of designing and implementing the lesson in my own classroom with my own students and can personally attest to its effectiveness for students’ in-depth learning. This artifact also demonstrates my ability to facilitate the design and implementation of similar lessons in other teachers’ classrooms, as I included many supporting details that would be useful when helping other teachers with designing and implementing similar lessons in their own classrooms. These supporting details that are included in the lesson plan also demonstrate my ability to successfully design technology-enhanced learning experiences. These details include lesson objectives, student content standards and student technology standards, lesson overview, essential questions, assessment strategies, necessary resources, detailed instructional plan, classroom management strategies, troubleshooting strategies, instructional strategies for including higher-order thinking and communication and collaboration, differentiation strategies, and post-implementation reflection. The inclusion of these details, particularly the reflection, also attests to my ability to implement such lessons. The reflection section thoroughly describes the implementation process that occurred in my classroom, including descriptions of its effectiveness, students’ enjoyment, what went well and why, what did not go well and why, and ideas for improvement for future implementation.
This artifact also demonstrates my ability to align technology-enhanced learning experiences to student content standards and student technology standards. The student content standards in this lesson centered around singing melodies (1d) and performing melodies on instruments (2c), reading melodic patterns (3c), composing rhythms (5b), composing melodies (5c), arranging music into simple form (5d), and describing the relationship between music and the other arts (8a). These content standards were constantly reinforced at each of the three stages of the lesson: Noteflight was used for composing rhythms and melodies, AudioBoo was used for singing, performing, and reading their compositions, and ThingLink was used for arranging their compositions and recordings to create a simple form and relating their compositions and arrangements to the art of photography and/or digital drawing. The student technology standards are continually addressed through all three of these stages as well. Students had to apply their existing knowledge of music to generate their new compositions, recordings, and ThingLink products (1a). Students used technology to create these three cumulating works as a means of personal expression (1b). Students had to interact and collaborate with their peers to combine their compositions, create an original form, and publish their final Thinglink product (2a). Students used all three Web 2.0 tools to communicate their learning and skills (2b). Students contributed their ideas, compositions, and recordings to a team to create the final ThingLink product (2d). Students had to plan for and manage these three different Web 2.0 tools in order to complete their projects (4b). Students demonstrated safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology through skills such as not including last names and only using original content instead of using someone else’s work (5a). Students continually exhibited a positive and enthusiastic attitude about using the Web 2.0 tools to complete their projects (5b). Students had to demonstrate their understanding of technology systems by being asked to use three different Web 2.0 tools (6a). Finally, students had to transfer their knowledge of other Web 2.0 tools with which they had prior experiences to learn how to use the three tools included in this project (6d).
I learned many things from the design and implementation of this lesson. I necessarily became more familiar with the Web 2.0 tools that were included in this project. I gained experience with planning for both content and technology standards, as these were constantly reinforced throughout the lesson. The planning process tested by ability to complete pre-troubleshooting and to develop classroom management strategies for such learning experiences. The implementation of the lesson also gave me unprecedented experience with acting as “facilitator” rather than the “sage on the stage,” as is common in ensemble-based music classes. However, as mentioned in the post-implementation reflection, my students had some trouble navigating the Noteflight tool. Although they were familiar with paper-pencil compositions strategies, they had no prior experience with digital composition tools. To improve the quality of the lesson, I would either choose an easier tool for my students to use or pre-teach the Noteflight tool so students would know how to use it during the lesson.
The work that went into creating this lesson had a tremendous impact on my students’ learning, enthusiasm, and creativity. This can be measured by comparing their end-of-unit data with that of other classes and/or previous years to show how much more these students learned about the music content standards and student technology standards as a result of this lesson/project. The impact on student learning can also be demonstrated in the anecdotal data regarding my students’ opinions about the project. For example, I heard several comments throughout the project’s implementation such as, “This is the coolest thing I’ve ever done in music class!” and “I wish every class could be like this!”