Outcome Five

Synthesize best practice research and apply these findings to the development of effective communication techniques to foster active inquiry, collaboration, and guided interaction in positive Instructional Technology learning environment.

Project Description:

For Multimedia II I designed a Captivate learning module where students would work their way through a series of videos, and activities to learn some of the history behind the Red Scare and the McCarthy Hearings of the 1950’s and draw comparisons between that and their reading of the Crucible. The videos and activities were structured in a way that would guide them through a process to foster the understanding they would need to recognize the correlations and draw the comparisons needed to connect history with the play. The Captivate module used multimedia to more effectively communicate the information, combining text, images, audio, and video to build a better learning experience. Using the module student would be able to work at their own pace and the multimedia experience would enhance their understanding.

Demonstrates Mastery:

Using multimedia to build a more complete learning module is support by numerous studies throughout the years. It is well documented that a mixture of text, images, audio, and video creates the most comprehensive educational environment and accesses many multiple intelligences and learning styles. Activating multiple areas of the brain at the same time through varied sensory input helps students focus and assimilate new information through greater connections to existing knowledge, creating an environment conducive to understanding complex ideas and theories.

Reflection:

Since I created the module I have used it two times with my college prep 11 classes with great success. Students have enjoyed the process of working through each video and activity, whether a formal assessment or writing assignment, at their own pace rather than being led as a group through the discoveries they find along the way. This assignment has proved to be a resounding success with other teachers as well who have used it with their classes as well to similar results. It has become the best way to introduce and reinforce a difficult idea for students to grasp and make the necessary connections.

Project Title: Connecting The Crucible Captivate Module

Class: DMET 542

Project Title: Local Nonviolent Resistance Project

Class: DMET 520

Project Description:

The Nonviolent Resistance projects asks students to connect their reading of Civil Disobedience to current events that matter to them. Students will begin by looking through Time’s Top Ten Nonviolent Protests and choosing one to conduct research into and report on its effectiveness, place in history, and what motivated it. Once they have researched the historical aspects of a nonviolent protest, they will look more locally to find an issue that they feel a personal connection to and organize a hypothetical nonviolent protest that they could be a part of. Emphasizing community connections and the concepts promoted by Thoreau in Civil Disobedience, students will design and organize their protest through a letter, a leaflet with their core ideals, and plan for a rally or other nonviolent protest that will be presented to the class.

Demonstrates Mastery:

This project is an effective way to link the abstract ideals set forth in Civil Disobedience and link them through time to a more relevant protest that has occurred and a more personal cause that the students choose. By applying the ideas of Thoreau to their own protest, students can experience a fraction of the desire and fortitude that Thoreau felt when he protested slavery and wrote Civil Disobedience, providing them with more complete and authentic learning. The experiential nature of the project allows them to work collaboratively with other students and to connect their learning to their own personal beliefs in a deeper way than a traditional lesson could.

Reflection:

Building the lesson plans and materials for this project was an experience that taught me about the effect that a personal experience can have on enhancing student learning. It is always difficult to find ways to relate the material from class to a student’s own experiences, especially when much of what we study was written more than 100 years ago. Finding ways to convince students that those ideas are not only relevant to today’s world, but can also impact their lives is sometimes impossible. This project provides an avenue for students to connect with a difficult text with lofty ideals that helped shape this country into what it is today, and helps ensure that people have ways to fight back against things they perceive as wrong. I believe that getting students to become more aware about things that are happening beyond their social media world, and showing them how they can make a difference is as important as the authentic learning that this lesson provides.

Local Nonviolent Resistance Project

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