Loeffler Week 2 Readings

The key point that stood out for  me in this week’s assigned reading was the  management of limited cognitive resources during learning, and the need for an evidenced based practice.

 When managing  cognitive resources Clark and Mayer (2008) discuss three kinds of demands on cognitive processing capacity.

Extraneous processing -   instructional designers are challenged to “create learning environments that minimize extraneous cognitive processing”.  Extraneous processing can occur when objectives are not supported and with poor instructional design. 

Essential processing - Designers need to  manage essential  processing with the selection of material and lesson complexity.  

Generative processing  - Fostering generative processing is a deeper understanding of core material which can be  enhanced by the organization and intergradation of learning material  to establish and support  learner motivation.

 I though Clark and Mayer (2008)  discussion on research was important. As a nurse I have strived to base my career on an evidence based practice. When working with student nurses or mentoring new grads I strongly encourage them to establish an career based on research findings. Research gives credence to ones practice whether it be nursing, instructional design, or teaching. 

Relating Chapter 2 with Current Events

So I would love to have a little discussion on this blog about Idaho State Superintendent, Tom Luna's technology plan that he is proposing for the State of Idaho's Education in K-12.

For those who don't live in Idaho, the plan has 2 major components that are driving the most discussion and debate. The first is that every student (in 9th grade) would receive a laptop that would follow them through high school and they could keep it afterwards. (Very similar to what Maine and New York have done).

Here are some links to articles about their work:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/04/education/04laptop.html?pagewanted=all

http://www.pbs.org/teachers/learning.now/2007/05/schools_drop_laptop_programs_b.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25782209/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets/

The second portion of the plan is that every student will have 2 online courses as part of their graduation requirements to prepare them for possible online education in the future.

After reading this chapter and looking at the learner-centered approach rather than the technology-centered approach it got me thinking about what would be the best course of action when comes to not only developing multimedia, but the best course in which to present the material for our students (especially relating to Tom Luna's plan).

An online class or even a hybrid would give students the option to learn differently and find out what would work best for them. However, I have also seen a high level of high school students (both good and bad students) fail online classes offered by the Idaho Digital Learning Academy, due to a lack of personal management and motivation for learning (even though I believe the instructional material was developed in such a manner to be learner-centered).

I think that as educational technologists we should be the ones with the answers on the best course for Idaho to take, but sometimes I feel so clueless when others ask me about Luna's plan that I have started with the generic answer saying, "it's all in the implementation," which has me worried since the majority of Idaho teachers are against the plan - which almost seems to be setting it up for failure before it even begins.

Crescitelli - Week 3 - Oh Statistics!

Hi everyone. This may be an interesting post. Now, I am no braggart, not by any means, but I am a relatively sharp guy. I have just read pages 46-48 in the reading for the 4^th time. I have highlighted and taken notes, but I am going to admit that I can’t make heads or tails out of what they’re trying to relay in the explanations of probability and effect size. And I’ve been a math teacher for the past 20 years!

The explanation of standards deviation is vague and the rounding of all numbers to a standard deviation of 10 actually confuses the example. Figure 2.4 on page 47, I believe incorrectly displays SD=10, when it is shown as SD=5. Now, how they take that understanding and relate it to measure of probability really threw me. I cannot figure out, by text or graphic, where the example shows p < .05. Page 47 talks about probability being .05 or less but doesn’t relay how that number was calculated. Where does that number come from, and how was it calculated? Can anyone help here?

Then I just about lost it thinking about effect size. Dividing a number by an unrealistic standard deviation of 10 when the artificial difference between the control group and the test group is 10 yields an effect size of 1. ¿Qué? Of course it does. The book rounded everything so much; it’s hard to make real meaning here.

Now, I looked at a recent math test for comparison. The average standard deviation in my math class is around 40, sad but true. In a heterogeneous classroom, this is often the case. I know, I’m looking for a high average and low standard deviation, but reality is reality. For me to have any statistical significance in terms of effect size (according to page 48) using the understanding of standard deviation (using an ES of .5 as moderate), the mean score on my tests would need to yield a difference of 20 points. Wow! Looking at the mean for my tests and quizzes this year, I don’t think trying to yield a difference of 20 points in mean is possible. The mean in my room is often in the low 80s.

But I digress. How do the rest of you use data like this to make determinations about instructional practices? Do any of you find this information complex? How do you interpret research statistics?

Wickesberg - Week 2 Reading

Greetings:

This week's reading started off with an interesting scenario. From the moment I read the description, I could picture a co-worker; fascinated by the latest techno-gadget. He always has an “idea” of how to incorporate technology into learning. The best part about this, he doesn’t even work in the training group. He has no idea about cognitive overload or how it affects the way people learn. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy  technology as much as the next geek but I have learned it can be good or bad depending on the scenario it’s used in. For me, this week reconfirmed  three things:

1. Vegas-style media usually creates extraneous processing.
2. Learning occurs when people engage in appropriate cognitive processing.
3. Integrated text and images are more effective than separated text and images.

Looking forward to reading your posts.

Cheers,

Travis

Take a look at this blog

Hi Class,
Here is an interesting blog post by Dr. Barbara Schroeder (the professor who created our 513 Multimedia course). It is about interesting ways you can incorporate multimedia into your classrooms. Take a look: http://itcboisestate.wordpress.com/2011/01/31/beyond_papers/
You might also want to subscribe to her blog.

Regards,
Diane

Introduction - Christina Talley

Hi everyone,

I enrolled for this class a bit late, but am hopefully right on track now!

I will be finishing my MET program at the end of the summer semester, and this is one of the first classes that I decided I wanted to take when I started the program. I am always drawn to multimedia when viewing webpages, be they instructional or just for fun, so I am really looking forward to learning how to integrate them with my materials better.

I'm currently working as a HR consultant, and am also a freelance writer. However, my ultimate goal is to get into education in some capacity--and classes like this help form a great foundation.

In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my boyfriend and our pets. I also love gardening, and can't wait for winter to be over!

I hope everyone has a successful semester and I look forward to getting to know you all better.

Week 3 Readings

I have to admit, I love learning about how students learn and by the end of my MET degree, I would like to create a learning module explaining these concepts to my students. I think it would be very helpful for them to understand how they learn and why teachers assign certain projects, papers or journals.

What intrigued most about this weeks readings (Chapter 2):

• Dual Channels- I probably instinctually knew about this concept, but never realized it was a principle of learning. A few years ago, I remember viewing a powerpoint/audio presentation and knew right away that I understood the material much better. Experiencing this technique was one reason I decided to pursue the MET program, I wanted to learn how to create multimedia projects such as the one had had seen. Looks like I finally made it to the right course J
• Active processing- I knew about the first part of active processing, paying attention, and the last part, relating it to “old” information. But, the concept I had not thought about was the importance of learners organizing the materials. Again, I think I do this instinctively, but I will be going through my lessons to make sure I give the students ample time to complete this stage.
• Load Management- people can only attend to 5-9 bits of information in their working memory. It is important to try to reduce the cognitive load by using graphics and images and keeping materials clean and simple.

It is my goal to incorporate these techniques into my lessons and my multimedia projects so that my students will learn and retain information better. It is also helpful to me as I’m trying to learn an immense amount of material in a short amount of time.