Fostering creativity and innovation skills in preservice teachers through project-based learning
Lucas Vasconcelos
1. Author Information:
Lucas Vasconcelos is a second-year PhD student at the University of
Georgia in the program of Learning, Design, and Technology of the Career and
Information Studies Department. He also works as Teaching Assistant in the same university. He teaches an undergraduate-level class entitled Introduction to Computers for Teachers. Currently he is conducting an exploratory study on college students' motivation to learn Portuguese as a foreign language. As for leadership skills, Lucas Vasconcelos is also the current President of the Brazilian Student Association at UGA.
While pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Teaching English for Speakers
of Other Languages, Lucas has always been involved in research projects either as the main researcher or as a research assistant. As a result, Lucas has over five years of research experience on the use
of technology for educational purposes. Some of the key words about past
research projects he has participated include open educational resources, instructional design,
foreign language learning, web 2.0 tools, social media and linguistic practices on
web.
When studying at UGA in Fall 2011, Lucas took the Introduction to Computers for Teachers course as an undergraduate student. In other words, Lucas knows
the perspective of the student and of the teacher since he has been on "both sides of the table". He has experienced the expectations, frustrations, challenges, assignments and projects as a student, which gives him a more comprehensive understanding of that course. In addition, his prior experience as a teacher and researcher on Educational Technology makes him prepared to design and
implement a lesson that addresses students’ Creativity and Innovation skills through technology and Project-Based Learning. To
get to know more about the course he is teaching, you can click here and visit the class blog. You can contact Lucas Vasconcelos via e-mail at vasconce@uga.edu.
2. Examples of activities that integrate technology in the classroom.
This
is an example of a lesson plan that implements blogging practices in
Kindergarten. The
goal was to build strong relationships through daily communication that was
relevant and also provide a window into the authentic learning opportunities
that happen daily in the life of 5 and 6 year olds. This lesson plan addresses
many of the Standards: Creativity and Innovation, Communication and
Collaboration, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making, Digital
Citizenship and Technology Operations and Concepts. The technological resources
used were blogs, flip videos and cameras. This activity is classified as a
level 4 in the LoTi framework. The lesson instigates children to use
technological tools and reflect on them, but due to their age and to a big
number of students in the class the instructor is not able to take students to
deeper levels such as applying and implementing their knowledge in
interdisciplinary tasks.
2.2. At the movies
For this activity flip cameras will be used by the first and second-grade students to create many different kinds of movies to show their reading comprehension of a particular book, poem or literary genre. This lesson proposes an over-arching framework within which students can make their own choices, thus creating fluid groupings based upon interests and student choices, while enhancing creativity, collaboration and communication among all students. The used technologies are Audacity, Skype, Flip Sharing Group, and the class blog page. This activity can be considered at level 5 of the LoTi framework because they are engaged in authentic tasks, they are allowed to be inventive, they collaborate with other peers and students use higher-level cognitive skills when using technology to further enhance and showcase their reading comprehension.
2.2. At the movies
For this activity flip cameras will be used by the first and second-grade students to create many different kinds of movies to show their reading comprehension of a particular book, poem or literary genre. This lesson proposes an over-arching framework within which students can make their own choices, thus creating fluid groupings based upon interests and student choices, while enhancing creativity, collaboration and communication among all students. The used technologies are Audacity, Skype, Flip Sharing Group, and the class blog page. This activity can be considered at level 5 of the LoTi framework because they are engaged in authentic tasks, they are allowed to be inventive, they collaborate with other peers and students use higher-level cognitive skills when using technology to further enhance and showcase their reading comprehension.
2.3. How much does it cost?
Students from 6th and 7th grades demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology. Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information. Students use critical thinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems, and make informed decisions using appropriate digital tools and resources. The content for this lesson is directly proportional and linear relationships using verbal descriptions, tables, graphs, and formulas, and translate among these representations. As tools students use flip videos (or other video tools), mobile labs, a Wikispace and a Flickr account. This is a Level 4a activity since students are engaged in many mechanical tasks where they have to make calculations. There is an attempt to contextualize the content, but contextualization only happens after half of the lesson. Thus I would say problem-solving and creativity skills are more focused on last tasks.
2.4. Online - On Stage and Action!
This is a year long study in which 4th grade children are matched with a class in a foreign country. They use free Internet resources to communicate with each other and learn about each other’s language and culture. They research topics on the Internet and from print materials. Together they study a common topic, view a professionally produced play, receive coaching from a visiting artist and write, produce, and perform an original play that takes place in their partner location. The objectives are to integrate technology with social studies, language, character building and the arts. The children will learn how to use email to write a letter, to post messages on a website, to participate in a group project both on line and during the theater component, and learn about theater from both audience and actor points of view. In both communicating with their e-pals and writing their plays they will learn to work together to achieve a common goal. As for the LoTi framework, this is a Level 5 activity because K-5 students are allowed to create original works as a means of personal or group expression based on their knowledge of arts, interactions with peers and contextualized inquiry-based activities. They tools used are ThinkQuest and camcorders, as well as other free online tools.
2.5. Learn it in 5
Learn it in 5 is a powerful library of how-to videos, produced by technology teachers, for the purpose of helping teachers and students create classroom strategies for today's 21st century's digital classroom. These step-by-step how-to videos walk teachers through Web 2.0 technology, demonstrating how to use Web 2.0 applications like blogs, social networks, podcasts, interactive videos, wikis, slide sharing and much more. A lot of videos either focus on how to foster creativity or show strategies that could be used to develop students' creativity and innovation skills. Since this is not an actual lesson plan but a multi-link webpage, I would say most of the strategies can be applied as levels 5 or 6 of the LoTi framework.
2.6. Teaching with Creativity
This a nice video about how to develop and teach with creative, low-cost resources in a community from Ghana. This video helped teachers find strategies to use a variety of resources, learning materials and very simple but effective tools to improve learning. Despite showing students at most in Middle School, the strategies described in the video can be applied to different grade levels since Creativity has no limits. As for tools, they show since flashcards until writing outdoors on the ground. As for the LoTi framework, many strategies are explained and I believe they can all be applied in the level 6 if carefully thought out.
2.7. You can do it: creating how-to videos
This lesson was designed to teach 6-8th grease students how to create instructional media by selecting a curriculum-based topic, developing a unique way to present the information, and creating a video to share. As tools they use iMovie, Windows Movie Maker, open office, digital cameras and sample instructional videos. Students are allowed to pick a subject and a topic of interest to work on. This activity is very flexible and students can really work on a video about something they are passionate about. I would say this is a level 4b LoTi lesson. Even though students work on goal setting and work on a product collaboratively and creatively, they do not expand their activities beyond the classroom.
2.8. What is a maker space?
This is great activity to foster student creativity, innovation and collaboration. This is not a regular course, but it works more as a lab where students can drop in and work on whatever they feel like, there are no instructions or guidelines and they can get as creative as they want. Kids have recycled materials, iPads, laptops, a 3D printer and many other cool tools. I would say this is a level 6 in the LoTi level because children can engage in authentic, student-driven inquiries and activities, develop a product and even reflect on it.
2.9. Education World
2.10. Empowering Student Voice through Makerspace
This is the results of an experience at Barrow Elementary School, in Athens, in which students are have their voices empowered through a diversity of activities on Maker Space, a moment when students engage in hands-on activities to build something they are passionate about. There is a video at the end of the post. As for the LoTi framework, I would say it is a level 5 activity because students really take their knowledge into interdisciplinary activities and applied it beyond the classroom.
3. Introduction
4. Lesson
In order to protect student privacy, some decisions were taken for this project. At any moment students will be
submitted to any type of hazard, uncomfortable or embarrassing situation. All
of students’ products will be carefully stored online in a secret account in the Cloud. Their identities will not be
disclosed and pseudonyms will be created as a strategy to keep their identities
safe. In order to use their final products, the instructor has to personally ask for their permission and explain how their identities will be kept confidential and how
there is no risk involved.
These are the criteria used to evaluate and grade students' lesson plans.
7. Standards
Since the focus of this course is directly related to the ISTE Standards, the purposes of this lesson are actually the standards themselves. Students have to:
8. Resources
Students from 6th and 7th grades demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology. Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information. Students use critical thinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems, and make informed decisions using appropriate digital tools and resources. The content for this lesson is directly proportional and linear relationships using verbal descriptions, tables, graphs, and formulas, and translate among these representations. As tools students use flip videos (or other video tools), mobile labs, a Wikispace and a Flickr account. This is a Level 4a activity since students are engaged in many mechanical tasks where they have to make calculations. There is an attempt to contextualize the content, but contextualization only happens after half of the lesson. Thus I would say problem-solving and creativity skills are more focused on last tasks.
2.4. Online - On Stage and Action!
This is a year long study in which 4th grade children are matched with a class in a foreign country. They use free Internet resources to communicate with each other and learn about each other’s language and culture. They research topics on the Internet and from print materials. Together they study a common topic, view a professionally produced play, receive coaching from a visiting artist and write, produce, and perform an original play that takes place in their partner location. The objectives are to integrate technology with social studies, language, character building and the arts. The children will learn how to use email to write a letter, to post messages on a website, to participate in a group project both on line and during the theater component, and learn about theater from both audience and actor points of view. In both communicating with their e-pals and writing their plays they will learn to work together to achieve a common goal. As for the LoTi framework, this is a Level 5 activity because K-5 students are allowed to create original works as a means of personal or group expression based on their knowledge of arts, interactions with peers and contextualized inquiry-based activities. They tools used are ThinkQuest and camcorders, as well as other free online tools.
2.5. Learn it in 5
Learn it in 5 is a powerful library of how-to videos, produced by technology teachers, for the purpose of helping teachers and students create classroom strategies for today's 21st century's digital classroom. These step-by-step how-to videos walk teachers through Web 2.0 technology, demonstrating how to use Web 2.0 applications like blogs, social networks, podcasts, interactive videos, wikis, slide sharing and much more. A lot of videos either focus on how to foster creativity or show strategies that could be used to develop students' creativity and innovation skills. Since this is not an actual lesson plan but a multi-link webpage, I would say most of the strategies can be applied as levels 5 or 6 of the LoTi framework.
2.6. Teaching with Creativity
This a nice video about how to develop and teach with creative, low-cost resources in a community from Ghana. This video helped teachers find strategies to use a variety of resources, learning materials and very simple but effective tools to improve learning. Despite showing students at most in Middle School, the strategies described in the video can be applied to different grade levels since Creativity has no limits. As for tools, they show since flashcards until writing outdoors on the ground. As for the LoTi framework, many strategies are explained and I believe they can all be applied in the level 6 if carefully thought out.
2.7. You can do it: creating how-to videos
This lesson was designed to teach 6-8th grease students how to create instructional media by selecting a curriculum-based topic, developing a unique way to present the information, and creating a video to share. As tools they use iMovie, Windows Movie Maker, open office, digital cameras and sample instructional videos. Students are allowed to pick a subject and a topic of interest to work on. This activity is very flexible and students can really work on a video about something they are passionate about. I would say this is a level 4b LoTi lesson. Even though students work on goal setting and work on a product collaboratively and creatively, they do not expand their activities beyond the classroom.
2.8. What is a maker space?
This is great activity to foster student creativity, innovation and collaboration. This is not a regular course, but it works more as a lab where students can drop in and work on whatever they feel like, there are no instructions or guidelines and they can get as creative as they want. Kids have recycled materials, iPads, laptops, a 3D printer and many other cool tools. I would say this is a level 6 in the LoTi level because children can engage in authentic, student-driven inquiries and activities, develop a product and even reflect on it.
2.9. Education World
Kelly
Ickes, who teaches at Novak Elementary School in Marion, Iowa,
submitted this week's lesson, a WebQuest about hiking Iowa's parks and
trails.
Brief Description
Students research Iowa's parks and trails, plan a day trip to one of the places they learn about, and write a fiction story based on the information they find
- See more at: http://www.educationworld.com/a_tsl/archives/00-1/lesson0026.shtml#sthash.jkkP1Giz.dpuf
This lesson plan described how students research Iowa's parks and trails, plan a trip to one of those places they learn about, and collaboratively write a fiction story based on the information they find. This is a nice plan to foster Collaboration and Communication and Creativity in K12 students. Even though there is no much clear evidence of which tools students use, I am sure they use search tools such as Google, websites and maps to identify the best park to visit. This lesson plan allows students to be Brief Description
Students research Iowa's parks and trails, plan a day trip to one of the places they learn about, and write a fiction story based on the information they find
- See more at: http://www.educationworld.com/a_tsl/archives/00-1/lesson0026.shtml#sthash.jkkP1Giz.dpuf
2.10. Empowering Student Voice through Makerspace
This is the results of an experience at Barrow Elementary School, in Athens, in which students are have their voices empowered through a diversity of activities on Maker Space, a moment when students engage in hands-on activities to build something they are passionate about. There is a video at the end of the post. As for the LoTi framework, I would say it is a level 5 activity because students really take their knowledge into interdisciplinary activities and applied it beyond the classroom.
3. Introduction
As instructor of a course
that fosters teaching and learning environments through the use of technology,
one of my responsibilities is to teach preservice teachers to use and manage
technology in educational settings. The course is designed and structured
according to a Project-Based Learning approach and the content follows the ISTE
Standards. Even though the course was originally created for preservice teachers, students from different majors take it as an elective. The course structure has proved to be very engaging and motivating and the numbers of students seeking to attend it has increased of the years to the point that every semester around seven sections are offered in different days and schedules.
The supervisor of this course the the teaching assistants have created a community of knowledge sharing where we work together to improve ours and others' teaching experiences. The lesson I designed for this project will be shared later on with my colleagues and hopefully they will even offer different ideas to continue improving it. This lesson focuses on the unit Creativity and Innovation,
whose purpose is to instigate and develop students' creativity and innovation
skills through the use of technological tools. Moreover, they reflect on how to implement technological resources learned in class in a hypothetical class by designing a lesson plan.
For my Individual
Integration Project, I decided to work on that unit for a few reasons. First of
all, I will be able to apply that lesson on both sections I teach in a week from now and observe how different groups of students, with have their unique dynamics, react to this lesson. Second, Creativity and Innovation are very intriguing topics to me.
I am passionate about one finding its creative persona, developing original
ideas, taking risks and thinking outside the box. Finally, this project will
allow me to share the results with other current teaching
assistants and our supervisor in order to receive feedback from them and, if it proves to be meaningful, to include this lesson in the class syllabus and project list.
As an overview of the
teaching techniques used for this lesson, there will be three major moments in
this lesson unit: Instruction, Production and Implementation. Instruction
consists of teaching students how to use the app myCreate to create and share
animated stories. During Production students will create a storyboard, a
voice-over script, props, take pictures and put all those resources
together to build an animated story. And finally, Implementation refers to students designing
a lesson plan where they hypothetically plan on using the app for a specific learning setting.
With regards to the Level
of Teaching Innovation Framework (LoTi), I believe this lesson unit can be
categorized as level 6. College students will be engaged in addressing a
real-world instructional situation when creating a learning object for their
hypothetical classes; they choose a content/subject based on their needs and
preferences; they get to know a variety of technological tools that could be
used to accomplish the same task; and, finally, at the end of this lesson
technology will be perceived as a process, a product and a tool to that can be
used to achieve their specific goals.
4. Lesson
This lesson plan is
estimated to take two weeks of class. Since the sections I teach are only fifty minutes long
and meet three days a week, a total of six class meetings is estimated for
this lesson. The purposes align with the ISTE standards for technology in
education, which are:
1. To apply
existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes.
2. To create
original works as a means of personal or group expression.
3. To use models
and simulations to explore complex systems and issues.
4. To identify
trends and forecast possibilities.
Technology will be used not
only as a means to achieve the final product for this lesson, but also as a
resource or a process. Students will generate creative ways of implementing
technology to foster students’ creativity and innovation skills. First of all,
preservice teachers will learn how to use the app myCreate, which can be used
to easily create and share animated stories. Second, they will create a
storyboard to guide their ideas and a script to complete their voice-over. The
following step is to use craft materials to create their own props and take
pictures with the app. And finally, they will design a lesson plan for a
specific grade and subject in which they use and/or their students use the app.
Even though the app myCreate is not free, there is no cost for students because it was previously installed in iPad minis they can use. The app has proved to be pretty
versatile, intuitive and very easy to use, even by kids. Students can also use
their cameras or other devices that take pictures. However, since all the
content must be put together in the app, I strongly recommended them to use the app to avoid technical problems and extra work. This app and this lesson can be adjusted to different majors, subject areas and grade levels. They allow students to be creative and work on a topic that is meaningful to them. Technology, then, is learned in a contextualized, meaningful and constructive way.
Timeline of events –
Creativity and Innovation Lesson
|
|
Day
|
Overview of activities
|
Oct 20
|
Introduction to
the Stop Animation Project:
1. How to be creative: ice breaker activity. Examples of creativity in schools. Explanation of ISTE Standards for Creativity and Innovation
2. General guidelines, FAQ, rubrics, analysis of former students’ videos
|
Oct 22
|
Learning the tool:
1.
2. Students test the tool
with iPad minis.
|
Oct 24
|
Setting up the
environment:
1. Form groups of 2
2. Choose grade level, subject and topic from Georgia Standards or Common Core Standards.
3. Start working on storyboards and voice-over scripts
4. Work on props with arts & crafts materials (construction paper, scissors, googly eyes, markers, colored pencils...).
|
Oct 27
|
Work in progress:
1. Finish up
storyboards, voice-over scripts and props
2. Take pictures with
the app installed on iPads
3. Voice-over should be done as homework due to noise in class.
|
Oct 29
|
Finishing up
1. Work on voice-over
2. Work on any final
editing
3. Publish the link to
the video on their portfolios with a small description of it.
|
Oct 31
|
1. Watch everyone’s
videos. We will have popcorn!!
2. Design a lesson plan
integrating the tools myCreate and storyboard in a hypothetical class.
|
5. Student
Work
During
this lesson, students will have five different types of products. The first one
is their storyboard, where they create a script with some illustrations of the sequence of events that will be used for the video. The second product is the voice-over script, which consists of a all the dialogues or narration that will be used during the video. The voice-over is usually finished after the storyboard and follows the same sequence of events. The third product is the video props. Students will use construction paper, markers, scissors, colored
pencils and all sorts of arts and crafts materials to create their props. For instance, they can create trees if the video talks about the four seasons, or parts of the human body if they are explaining the digestive system. The fourth product is the pictures they will take and upload to the app later on. The average of pictures per project is 100-200. I usually say that the more pictures, the smoother the video. The next deliverable is their final product, the stop
animation video, wherein they assemble all prior deliverables.
During the overall project, pre-service teachers were able to learn through the eyes of student. They learned how to use and manage technology to develop creativity and innovation skills collaboratively. They also get to experience themselves the challenges, the frustrations, the expectations, and many other aspects related to this project from a student's perspective. After all that, the final task of the lesson is to position themselves on the other side of the table, from a teacher's perspective. Their last deliverable is a lesson plan where they have design a lesson plan wherein they implement a technological tool in a hypothetical educational environment to develop their students' creativity.
During the overall project, pre-service teachers were able to learn through the eyes of student. They learned how to use and manage technology to develop creativity and innovation skills collaboratively. They also get to experience themselves the challenges, the frustrations, the expectations, and many other aspects related to this project from a student's perspective. After all that, the final task of the lesson is to position themselves on the other side of the table, from a teacher's perspective. Their last deliverable is a lesson plan where they have design a lesson plan wherein they implement a technological tool in a hypothetical educational environment to develop their students' creativity.
6. Assessment
Throughout
the project the instructor will provide feedback on the aspects enlisted below. By acknowledging how challenging it is to provide feedback to many groups of students (since I teach two sections of this course),
students are encouraged to seek help not only with the instructor but with their partners, and with another groups. Interaction is highly encouraged.
Two forms of assessment will be provided to students: formative and summative assessment. Besides helping students with feedback, assessment will also be used as a means to account for participation and to
keep track of their progress. Formative assessment will be provided in class while students are engaged in the projects. Instructor will oversee students' stations and look at how they are progressing, answer questions, solve any technical difficulties, offer different ideas to provoke students and even offer personal opinion upon request. The list below includes the main anticipated moments when formative feedback might be needed:
- Technical difficulties in using the app
- Creating a storyboard for a 1-2min video
- Writing a voice-over script for a 1-2min video
- Making creative prompts
- Taking pictures using an iPad or any other device
- Recording a voice-over with a high-quality resolution
- Uploading the video to their personal portfolio and to the class YouTube account.
- Designing a lesson plan.
Summative
assessment will be offered on the final video and on the lesson plan. Once
all the groups finish their videos and upload them, we will
watch them (and I'll probably bring popcorn and refreshments to class). The videos will be graded according to the rubrics presented
below. No additional assessment method is necessary in this case since students
will have plenty of feedback throughout the whole lesson.
Rubrics – Stop Animation Video
|
|||
Aspect
|
No score
|
Partial score
|
Total Score
|
1.
Length of the video
|
Length
of video is < 0:50 and > 2:10 minutes (0)
|
Length
of the video is between 0:50s-2:10min (5)
|
Length
of the video is between 1-2min (10)
|
2. Clear sequence and organization
|
There is no clear sequence of events (0)
|
N/A
|
Followed
a clear sequence of events based on a storyboard of script. (10)
|
3.
Knowledge about the app
|
Students
were not able to use the app (0)
|
N/A
|
Students
demonstrated knowledge about the app (10)
|
4.
Compliance with Georgia Standards or Common Core Standards
|
Topic
of the video does not comply with any of the standards (0)
|
N/A
|
Topic
of the video complies with at least one of the standards (15)
|
5.
Image resolution
|
Poor image resolution for props and/or background image (0)
|
A few pictures with poor resolution or different backgrounds (5)
|
Good
image resolution and consistent background (10)
|
6.
Audio resolution
|
Most
of the video has audio problems (0)
|
A
couple of parts with audio problems (10)
|
Clear,
comprehensive audio resolution (10)
|
5.
Creativity and originality
|
Video is not creative or original (0)
|
N/A
|
Topic
and props were very creative (15)
|
8.
Lesson plan
|
Lesson
plan is not well designed and does not include the app. (0)
|
Lesson
plan does not present a good application to the app (10)
|
Lesson
plan is well designed and implements the app creatively (20)
|
TOTAL
|
100
|
||
These are the criteria used to evaluate and grade students' lesson plans.
Rubrics – Lesson Plan
| |||
Aspect
|
No score
|
Partial score
|
Total Score
|
1. Goals (from students' perspective
|
Goals are not included in the lesson plan (0)
|
Goal needs elaboration (5)
|
Goals are well described (10)
|
2. Topic / content
|
Topic / content is not included in the lesson plan (0)
|
N/A
|
Followed a clear sequence of events based on a storyboard of script. (5)
|
3. Grade level
|
Grade level is not included in the lesson plan (0)
|
N/A
|
Students demonstrated knowledge about the app (5)
|
4. Compliance with Georgia Standards or Common Core Standards
|
Lesson plan does not comply with standards (0)
|
Lesson plan complies poorly with standards (7.5)
|
Topic of the video complies with at least one of the standards (15)
|
5. Subject area
|
Subject area is not included in the lesson plan (0)
|
N/A
|
Good image resolution and consistent background (10)
|
6. Student work
|
Poor description of student work (0)
|
Further elaboration is needed in students' work description (10)
|
Clear, comprehensive audio resolution (20)
|
5. Assessment
|
Poor description of assessment strategies (0)
|
Further elaboration is needed in assessment strategies (7.5)
|
Topic and props were very creative (15)
|
8. Technological resources
|
Technological resources are not included in the lesson plan (0)
|
Further elaboration is needed on how technology will develop creativity (10)
|
Technological resources are effectively applied to develop students' creativity (20)
|
TOTAL
|
100
| ||
Since the focus of this course is directly related to the ISTE Standards, the purposes of this lesson are actually the standards themselves. Students have to:
- apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes.
- create original works as a means of personal or group expression.
- use models and simulations to explore complex systems and issues.
- identify trends and forecast possibilities
8. Resources
The
resources I plan on using for this lesson and that my students will be able to
use are:
- myCreate app video tutorial
- iPad minis
- Crafts materials
- Storyboard tool and website with information
- Website with definition of slow-motion
- Links to Georgia Standards and Common Core Standards
- Stop Animation videos from former students
- YouTube account
9. Reflections
My
expectations for the application of this lesson are directly related to the
goals I set. First of all, students should be very engaged and participate in
all the steps for the stop animation production. By participating students will
learn how to use the app myCreate in iPad minis, creatively choose a
topic, make props, articulate their storyboard and voice-over
script, create the video after taking all the pictures and design
a lesson plan where they implement the tool.
Regarding
technology itself, I hope students will see it, at the end of the lesson, not
only as a tool that will allow them to make a video. They should be aware that
technology can become a catalyst to further expand their learning capabilities
and, in this lesson, their creativity and innovation skills. I hope students
will be able to understand the use of technology not only from the student’s
perspective, but also from the teacher’s since they are preservice teachers who
should experience some critical thinking on how to implement technology in
education.
As
difficulties, I anticipate that students might get a little overwhelmed at
first with the number of milestones they have to accomplish before having the
actual product done. However, students are encouraged to work in groups, which
means they not only share ideas but also responsibilities. Working in groups of
two, then, will not make them overwhelmed. I also anticipate students having
technical problems with the tools and that is why I already chose a couple of
links to short YouTube videos teaching them how to use the tools and answering
FAQ. Finally, I intend to talk to the groups about their responsibility
on delivering the video. If students do not show up in class, their partner
still needs to accomplish the tasks in order to get the video done. The purpose
of this conversation is to make students aware of their responsibility to make the video and of possible deducted points due to lack of participation.
10. Level of Teaching Innovation (LoTi)
9.1. Reflections on my peer's feedback
I agree with most of your comments, however I was not able to make modifications and address all of them due to constraints in the classroom I am teaching. I provide a rationale below.
Lindsey's suggestions followed by my rationales:
1. Students submit deliverables at specific points to receive feedback.
I could not address this suggestions because it would be time-consuming for me to provide written feedback to all my students (I teach tow sections of this course). I also feel the spoken, more informal feedback is more constructive to the because they receive it on site, while engaged in the activities, and because they can redo or make adjustements to their products as we talk. In order to provide written feedback to students they would need time to work on adjustments i the following class and I that would add at least a couple classes more to this lesson.
2. Proof of learning objective: students say what they want to learn out of this project.
This is a pretty nice strategy to help them keep the focus on the desired skill/knowlegde but in this specific context all pre-service teachers will have a very similar learning objective: to use, manage the myCreate app as an educational technological tool. In more than 90% of cases, students create a video based on a topic that they already know a good deal about. Thus, lthe focus of learning is not on the content itself, but on the use of technology for educational purposes. Therefore, I would receive very similar answers such as "to learn how to integrate knowledge in the classroom through the eyes of a student".
3. How will students use what they learned when they design the lesson plan?
That was a great suggestion and I added a paragraph addressing this question under the Student Work topic.
To sum it up, I described how students will experience the frustrations, challenges and expectations related to this kind of lesson and. based on their experiences as a students, they create on of their own wherein they implement a different technological tool to develop students' creativity and innovatino skills.
Elizabeth's suggestions followed by my rationales:
1. Students can think of how this lesson can be modified or adapted to different technologies, especially because the app I used is not free.
I appreciate this suggestion and I also made modifications on the project. However, I changed the idea a little bit. By asking students to modify the lesson would restrict their ideas and creativity. That is why I allowed them to choose the grade level, the subject, the content and even which standards to address. I believe they will feel much more comfortable and creative working for a totally different hypothetical environment than being restricted to the one we have. It is a nice idea, but I just want students to be as much creative as possible!!
2. Feedback day: to jigsaw the groups and make students talk about their projects to receive peer-review.
I did not incorporate this on the project because I believe it would be a distraction for students who are working on multiple small products and deliverables to achieve the final product (the video) to stop their work and give feedback to others. I know peer-review is very important and may become a very productive strategy for academic improvement but in this case I don't want to interrupt students' creativity process. In addition, they already have peer review from members in the group and from instructor.
3. Students use Today's Meet or Google Drive to share ideas and collaborate.
I would use these tools are more needed for long-term, semester-long projects. The stop animation project is very hands-on, full of small activities and tasks and it goes by really fast. So I feel like the biggest collaboration happens in class within and between the groups and instructor.
I agree with most of your comments, however I was not able to make modifications and address all of them due to constraints in the classroom I am teaching. I provide a rationale below.
Lindsey's suggestions followed by my rationales:
1. Students submit deliverables at specific points to receive feedback.
I could not address this suggestions because it would be time-consuming for me to provide written feedback to all my students (I teach tow sections of this course). I also feel the spoken, more informal feedback is more constructive to the because they receive it on site, while engaged in the activities, and because they can redo or make adjustements to their products as we talk. In order to provide written feedback to students they would need time to work on adjustments i the following class and I that would add at least a couple classes more to this lesson.
2. Proof of learning objective: students say what they want to learn out of this project.
This is a pretty nice strategy to help them keep the focus on the desired skill/knowlegde but in this specific context all pre-service teachers will have a very similar learning objective: to use, manage the myCreate app as an educational technological tool. In more than 90% of cases, students create a video based on a topic that they already know a good deal about. Thus, lthe focus of learning is not on the content itself, but on the use of technology for educational purposes. Therefore, I would receive very similar answers such as "to learn how to integrate knowledge in the classroom through the eyes of a student".
3. How will students use what they learned when they design the lesson plan?
That was a great suggestion and I added a paragraph addressing this question under the Student Work topic.
To sum it up, I described how students will experience the frustrations, challenges and expectations related to this kind of lesson and. based on their experiences as a students, they create on of their own wherein they implement a different technological tool to develop students' creativity and innovatino skills.
Elizabeth's suggestions followed by my rationales:
1. Students can think of how this lesson can be modified or adapted to different technologies, especially because the app I used is not free.
I appreciate this suggestion and I also made modifications on the project. However, I changed the idea a little bit. By asking students to modify the lesson would restrict their ideas and creativity. That is why I allowed them to choose the grade level, the subject, the content and even which standards to address. I believe they will feel much more comfortable and creative working for a totally different hypothetical environment than being restricted to the one we have. It is a nice idea, but I just want students to be as much creative as possible!!
2. Feedback day: to jigsaw the groups and make students talk about their projects to receive peer-review.
I did not incorporate this on the project because I believe it would be a distraction for students who are working on multiple small products and deliverables to achieve the final product (the video) to stop their work and give feedback to others. I know peer-review is very important and may become a very productive strategy for academic improvement but in this case I don't want to interrupt students' creativity process. In addition, they already have peer review from members in the group and from instructor.
3. Students use Today's Meet or Google Drive to share ideas and collaborate.
I would use these tools are more needed for long-term, semester-long projects. The stop animation project is very hands-on, full of small activities and tasks and it goes by really fast. So I feel like the biggest collaboration happens in class within and between the groups and instructor.
10. Level of Teaching Innovation (LoTi)
This
lesson is classified as level 6 according to the LoTi framework. This project-based
lesson is student-centered since students are the main source of knowledge and the
main agents in the construction of the aimed final products and achievement of
the ultimate goals. The level of cognitive skills they have to use
increases throughout the project as they accomplish the tasks and advance to
higher-order thinking tasks, being the last one the creation of a lesson plan
where, based on their experiences as students with the tool, they synthesize
and implement their knowledge in a lesson plan to be used in a hypothetical
class, grade and subject.
Once
they are allowed to choose their topics, it is expected that students be
highly motivated towards putting their ideas into practice. In order to boost
their creativity and help them have a better understanding of the assignment,
examples and resources are provided such as links with definitions of
Slowmation activities, examples of other stop animation projects, and other
needs that might come up.
11. Diverse Needs of Learners
Diversity
of needs is addressed in this class in multiple ways. I have students from
different backgrounds, majors, ethnicities and cultural identities. That being
said and grounded on my own experience as an international student, I adopt a
very clear sense of openness to different cultural perspectives and opinions by
always respecting and accepting students’ points of view. I am also trying to
achieve equity when treating my students and making sure all of them are
assessed and graded fairly, according to the same criteria. That is one of the
reasons why having rubrics is very important.
I
admit acknowledge that students have different learning strategies, paths and
needs, and that is why I designed this activity to be very open and flexible. I
would say it is flexible enough to “give them plenty of room” to be creative
but also with guidelines and directions that should be followed. I believe when
students are allowed to decide which grade, subject and Educational Standards
they will comply with they will be engaged in meaningful, creative and highly
cognitive skills, interacting with their partners and expressing themselves
through creativity. In addition, teacher provides scaffolding in all the stages
of this lesson, which means students have an outsider overlooking their
progress and guiding/provoking/asking questions about their learning path.
12.
Evaluation
These
are the multiple methods that will be used to determine the lesson’s
effectiveness:
-
Student engagement and participation on the projects
- Formative Assessment on student’s products: storyboard, props, voice-over, video.
- Summative assessment on stop animation video and lesson plan
- Students’ reflection and self-evaluation about the lesson.
Student Reflection Form:
1. How was your overall experience in this lesson?
2. Which positive aspects can you highlight from this activity?
3. What could be improved to improve engagement and motivation?
4. Which challenges did you have and how did you overcome them?
5. On a scale from 0-10, which grade would you give yourself and why?
Kelly
Ickes, who teaches at Novak Elementary School in Marion, Iowa,
submitted this week's lesson, a WebQuest about hiking Iowa's parks and
trails.
Brief Description
Students research Iowa's parks and trails, plan a day trip to one of the places they learn about, and write a fiction story based on the information they find
- See more at: http://www.educationworld.com/a_tsl/archives/00-1/lesson0026.shtml#sthash.jkkP1Giz.dpuf
Brief Description
Students research Iowa's parks and trails, plan a day trip to one of the places they learn about, and write a fiction story based on the information they find
- See more at: http://www.educationworld.com/a_tsl/archives/00-1/lesson0026.shtml#sthash.jkkP1Giz.dpuf
Kelly
Ickes, who teaches at Novak Elementary School in Marion, Iowa,
submitted this week's lesson, a WebQuest about hiking Iowa's parks and
trails - See more at:
http://www.educationworld.com/a_tsl/archives/00-1/lesson0026.shtml#sthash.jkkP1Giz.dpuf
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