Confessional questions

I will be explaining the confessional assignment a little further in class on Monday, November 5. In general, you are asked to create an audio recording, no more than 3-5 minutes, of you responding to questions regarding technology use in education. You may respond/reflect on some, all or none of the questions listed below. I would like for you to think about historical perspectives on technology (i.e. where have your experiences both as a student and teacher led you in your thinking about technology in education), and how those perspectives may have changed. You can respond based on activities/experiences in this course, through your work in the school or just in general. Please do not feel you have to be course-specific (meaning, this assignment can/should extend beyond the scope of this course). Also, if there is something else you feel strongly about sharing but does not correspond to the question prompts below, feel free to share regardless.

•What do you remember as your initial reaction to technology use in the classroom?

•What activities throughout the course may have changed your reaction?

•What is your current reaction to educational possibilities through technology?

•How has your level of comfort toward incorporating technology in your lessons changed?

•What types of activities would help increase your confidence and probability of incorporating technology in future lessons?

Confessional and Audacity

For one of your final activities, you will need to create an audio recording of you responding to some questions and general reflections. If you don't have a method for recording and saving audio files, you can use a free program called Audacity to create an MP3 file of your voice/narration and MANY schools are using the program to create podcasts, record narration for digital stories, student projects, etc. It is a great program to become familiar with.

You will also need a way to actually record your voice, such as a microphone. If you don't have a microphone, you can just plug a set of headphones into the microphone jack on your computer; the earbuds act as a microphone. You lose some quality, but it will serve the purpose.

If you need to download Audacity, go to:

Windows: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/windows
Macintosh: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/mac

Also, in order to create the Mp3 file, you will need the LAME Mp3 encoder that accompanies Audacity. Follow the instructions on the download page:

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/help/faq?s=install&item=lame-mp3

I will be providing additional instructions to use the program shortly. In the meantime, feel free to play around with the program. Your confessional will be due the same day as your final project (November 17).

Instructional Video Lesson

Your assignment for the week well be to create a lesson plan centered on an instructional video you found on United Streaming. To complete this assignment, you will need the following items:

1. Locate a "short" video clip to use as part of a lesson (no less than 30 seconds, no longer than 5 minutes)
2. Develop an objective for the lesson
3. Describe an activity to introduce the lesson
4. Create a script to include:
- introduction to the video (what do you want the students to gain?)
- pause/stop points at several points throughout the clip
- questions, discussion points and activities to provide focus throughout the video
5. Describe an activity to culminate the lesson (what will you do to use or measure the information from the video?)

For this assignment, you will need to create a complete script for step 4. The introductory and culminating activties need only be a brief description.

For additional tips, see Video Utilization Stategies on the WBRA website:
http://www.wbra.org/html/edserv/ntti/nttipdf/Video_Utilization.pdf

United Streaming Tips

For more information on using United Streaming, access the Professional Development section when you log in.

* Log in to United Streaming (trcuser; user)
* Click the Professional Development link (on the right side of the screen)
* Go into the Trainer's Toolkit (the QuickStart guide should help, check out the UserGuide and PowerPoint presentations also)

If you come across any problems or have any questions about how to do something, please don't hesitate to let me know!!