· The cognitive art of educational technology: Getting what’s on the screen into your students’ long-term memory

· Patrick Crispen

· Patrick Crispen is an educational program designer for the Center for Scholarly Technology at the University of Southern California (USC).

· Pasted from <http://www.netsquirrel.com/crispen/about_crispen.html>

·

Thursday, February 19, 3:30 PM

Room: B110-112

· Can changing a few things in your PowerPoint presentations, web sites, and other technology-based teaching aids really improve your students’ performance and learning? In a word, “yep.” In this fast paced, one hour presentation we’ll discuss, in plain English, how your students process what they see on the screen and what research-based educational technology design and teaching methods either support or inhibit long-term learning.

· Presentation coming soon at www.netsquirrel.com – pending a reference page.

· Pasted from <http://www.ncce.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=660&Itemid=233>

· This is part 2 – part one is tomorrow – Back to School focused on what may not be true and what may not work (at least as well as we hope). This is the session where he will debunk the Multiple Intelligences of Dr. Howard Gardner.

· College is a fountain of knowledge, where everyone goes to drink

· Piaget’s Theory –

· Adaptation

· Assimilation

· Accommodation

· Schema

· Stages

· CONSTRUCTIVISM

· nature of knowledge

· You have goal oriented schemes

· Concept – forms of non goal directed

· Vygotsky

· Nature of Knowledge

· Concepts (spontaneous to scientific) (goed instead of goes or went)

· Functions – language thinking

· Learning and knowledge growth

· Zone on proximal development

· Learn from the expert then become the expert

· Scaffolding

· Two NEW theories

· Information processing theory

· Sensory memory

· We live in a world of stimulus

· Lasts .04 to 4 seconds

· Large capacity

· Content resembles the original sensation

· Perception => Gestalt

· Stimulus is meaningless without attention

· Attention

· A distracted mind can’t translate the stimuli without a reason or at least attention

· To get into the long term memory we have to have the students attention

· Attention Grabbers

· Motion

· Pain

· Intensity

· Novelty (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ahg6qcgoay4)

· Activboards

· Incongruity

· Emotion

· Personal Significance

· Social Cues

· Perceptions

· Working memory

· Where most learning takes place

· Storage and work space for thoughts

· 5 – 20 seconds for NEW information

· Infinite duration for prior information

· Capacity is 7 (+/-2) new items at a time for adults, children 4 -5.

· Duration of long term memory is indefinitely long

· The capacity is unlimited

· The content

· Explicit knowledge

· Implicit knowledge

· Declarative knowledge

· Procedural knowledge

· Conceptual knowledge

· Episodic knowledge

· Schema

· Images

· Schema theory

· Building blocks of cognition

· Schemata correspond to the meaning of a concept

· Meanings are encoded in terms of the typical or normal situations

· Six functions (see PowerPoint when posted)

· Attention is KEY

· The more attention the brain pays the more elaborately the information will be encoded and retained (Medina, 2008)

· The messages that grab are connected to memory interest and awareness or to large perceptible differences

· Interest or importance (arousal)

· Eliminate distractions

· The brain cannot multi-task

· We are biologically incapable of processing attention rich inputs simultaneously (see 7+/- 2)

· Studies show a person who is interrupted takes 50% longer to accomplish a task; not only that – he or she makes up to 50% more errors.

· Radio in the background – we block out the radio and the absence becomes a distraction

· Why disstractions distract

· Working memory is limited

· POWERPOINT

· Emotion affects learning

· The way students feel critically affects learning

· Fundamental role in

· Motivation

· Moment to moment problem solving

· Emotion forms the rudder that steers the boat

· Minimize extraneous cognitive load

· Communication is most effective when neither too much or too little information is presented

· Bells and whistles take up some of the 7 items a student can process.

· If you can’t tie your bells and whistles to the content get rid of it.

· "Angel share"

· Communication requires prior knowledge

· The more connections you create the easier it is for a student to retain the information

· Don’t start with vocab… start with what the students already know.

· We construct reality using prior learning, predispositions and context

· People love chunks – People automatically group elements into units which they attend to and remember (Kosslyn, 2007)

· Encoding: ZPD/Mirroring

· Watch one, do one, teach one works

· Mirroring (watching others and inferring their emotions and implicits goal recruits some of the same neural systems involved in planning…

· Physical activity is candy (Medina, 2008, p. 22)

· Plan how you will get attention

· Emotions matters

· Structure your content

· Give the big pic

· Explain why this matters

· Provide a roadmap

· Fill in blanks and define key terms

· Tie content to existing schemata

· Chunk your content

· Four items per chunk?

· WRONG – use what it takes to share the information – even MORE if the kids already know it

· Don’t make the students search for what is important

· Text size, weight, decoration – remember the accessibility piece

· Use images for new information (but be careful about the cognitive load)

· Images in a presentation provides no benefit if students already understand the content

· FONTS – avoid all uppercase, all italics, or all bold – you need them for attention grabbing

· Don’t underline – it cuts off the pesky, quirky descenders (the tails of letters)

· Use different fonts only for emphasis or to specify different classes of information

· Robin Williams font research and guidelines

· Don’t use different colors to impart information

· Re: Color blind students

· Use fonts that are easy to read

· There are no reading speed difference based on serif or sans serif fonts

· There are personal preferences

· Animation

· Use novel animation and transitions to direct
attention

· Use novel sounds for the same reason

· Use both sparingly (for the love of God!)

· Don’t be ashamed to use your content as a memory aid for you

· Know what you can skip

· SLOW DOWN!
Incorporate real world, concrete examples

· Resources and references

· MBE – Mind, brain and education (http://www.gse.harvard.edu/academics/masters/mbe/, http://www.wiley.com/bw/journal.asp?ref=1751-2271)

· Clear and to the Point –

· Brain Rules – Medina, J (2008) – 12 principles for surviving and thriving at work, home and school

· Cognitive Development and Learning – JP Byrnes (2008) big bucks – $92 paperback

·

· http://www.amazon.com/Clear-Point-Psychological-Principles-Presentations/dp/0195320697

· Screen clipping taken: 2/19/2009, 4:26 PM

The next big thing in educational technology isn’t podcasts, wikis, or e-portfolios. Nope. The next big thing is accessibility—making sure that the content that you and your students create and post to the web can be accessed by people with disabilities. Some states even have policies or laws that mandate accessibility. In this fast paced, one hour session, we’ll cut through the FUD [fear, uncertainty, and doubt] and introduce you to the concept of accessibility and universal design, explain what the law does and does not say about the classroom content you post online, and introduce you to a bunch of accessibility resources you and your students can start using today.

Pasted from <http://www.ncce.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=651&Itemid=233>

What is accessibility – removing barriers for your students and the public to perceive, understand, navigate and interact with the content you create.

What are the barriers?

Visual

Blind

Low Vision

Color blind

Language Processing

Auditory

No Speakers

Deaf

Motor Physical

Fine motor

Any variety

Accessibility

is not just for impairments

Text only is not an option

It doesn’t make it boring

It’s not expensive

Benefits

Best practices

Increase your audience

Transparent

Easier to update

Streamlines so they load faster

Better compatibility

Higher keyword density

Up to 15% OF THE PUBLIC has some disability

Population is aging

CSU accessibility technology initiative

Section 508

Rehab act of 1973

Prohibits fed agencies from buying developing information technology that is in accessible to people with disabilities.

Compliance is voluntary NOT mandatory

Applies to agencies not to schools

It’s still a good thing.

WCAG Web content accessibility guidelines.

Magpie – free captioning tool.

60% of teens frequent sites like MySpace and Facebook. This session discusses the impact and application of Online Social Networks on teaching and learning and will demonstrate the current scope of OSN’s while introducing techniques for collaborative social learning. This session encourages hands on interaction with social networking sites.

Chris Haskell – Boise State University http://www.drhaskell.net

Cool teacher podcast – BSU EdTech

Pre-service teacher program.

Audio recording started: 8:50 AM Thursday, February 19, 2009

Components of Social Learning
Albert Bandoura, 1977

Observational learning – students will avoid interaction until a use is demonstrated by an authority figure.

People learn from one another… (through) observational learning, imitation and modeling. Ormond, 1999

Students learn the most from their peers. Opinion, constructs, skills, behavior, beliefs

Social networking sites have replaced the neighborhood game of chase.

Percentage of 13-17 year olds who: (according to Pugh research)

Hang with friends	37	Blog	28
Trad email	22	Maintain web	27
SocNet Message	47	Share creations	39
Cellphone	70	Create content	64
Text	60

Facebook is used by 88% of college students. The closed environment greatly increases privacy and privacy options. Much safer.

If you know kids are going to be somewhere put up a poster. Don’t we do this in our buildings? Why wouldn’t we capitalize on student exposure to facilitation instruction? The experts already exist in the classroom!

Use lesson summaries from students! Video/Audio/Images. Chris’ students use their phone, but you could easily do this with video/webcams.

Mathway – Step by step problem solver on Facebook. SONJA Geeky Math!

There is a bit of a preaching to the choir feeling in this session. Bummer.

Chris does have some information about a social networking site that can be more appropriate for younger children.

He’s not suggesting that Facebook become curriculum, but allowing a way to leverage existing content for use in the classroom.

Because of the asynchronous communication they don’t pushback as much.

Advertising policies may be an issue in some school settings.

Facebook has a sliding advertising policy based on age groups.

1.  The mouse is incredibly touchy and there’s no way to change it.  The good news is that the bluetooth mouse connects fairly painlessly.

2.  The screen resolution even at it’s “best” is too short to run Activstudio or our district VPN software.  They both require a minimum height of 800 pixesl, and this only goes to 576.

Other than that it’s good.  I’m taking it to NCCE in Portland.  We leave tomorrow.  It should be fun.

1.  I wonder if Superintendents get together over a “soda” in the spring and say, “Ya, we cancelled school on December 17th.  BOY did we miss THAT one.”  I realize that they are acting in the best interest of the students and the community, but boy oh boy, I just drove through the entire West half of our district and it was cold, but there is nothing worthy of cancellation.

2.  Clay Bennett was named Man of the Year by Oklahoma Today Magazine (http://deadspin.com/5112146/clayton-bennett-man-of-the-year).  Wow.  So a lying, conniving, backstabbing, gay basher loving redneck is the Man of the Year!  Very impressive Oklahoma Today, what’s next?  Jeffery Dahmer’s postumus award from the Vegan Union for refusing to eat cows?  Perhaps Gerry Ridgeway being deputized by the King County Sherriff’s office for his hard work alleviating the prostitution problem in King County?  WOW!?!

3.  I wonder if I’m the only person who has thoughts that run through his head in the form of a Facebook status.  It’s kind of obnoxious to be mowing the lawn and silently think to yourself, “Sean is mowing the lawn.  Could it get any better than this?”

4.  Why aren’t there more talk radio stations on FM?  On my drive to work I like to hear people talking.  I love music, don’t get me wrong, but I want to hear someone talking when I’m driving.  During the day the only choices are left wing wackos* and NPR (who are mostly publicly funded left wing wackos).  It’s fun for a bit, but then I get my ire up and I have to listen to Dan Brettler talk about the great sale at Car Toys just so I don’t get all kinds of hacked off.

5.  There was more in my head when I got here, but now it’s all gone.  Perhaps I’ll look on the floor or maybe the inside of my hood to see if my thoughts fell out.  Nope, nothin’ there.  Fleeting thoughts are but for a moment and then they’re gone.

All the best!
Sean

No offense to my democratic friends – you’re not wackos, but your radio hosts sure are! J

I am a sleuth. Wanna know how to make Adobe Air work in Vista?

Let me show you.

After you’ve installed Adobe Air you can begin to work with these applications.
1. But first you have to download a .air app, such as The ISTE ICOT and save it to your desktop.

2. Locate the saved file on your desktop and right click, and select, OPEN WITH > CHOOSE DEFAULT PROGRAM

3. Select browse.
4. Scroll to and select: Common Files

5. Double click on Adobe Air:

6. Double click on Versions

7. Double click on 1.0

8. Double click on Air Application Installer

9. Click on OK
10. The application should open
11. Click install and you’re on the road to Errfree Air.

Sean Valley, Instructional Technology Specialist

How do teachers show that they are proficient in the technology we expect them to use?  We expect them to use a lot. 

 
Each of our classrooms has the following equipment:

• An Activboard
• A Document Camera
• A ceiling mounted projector
• A teacher computer with Office Professional (Outlook, Word, PowerPoint and Excel are expected to be used, OneNote is currently being encouraged)

Teachers are also expected to use an electronic grade book at the secondary level as well as content specific applications.

We offer training in all of these products where teachers are paid to go to a class for two hours where they are trained on the software and then are given time to create products they can use in their classroom the next day.

Is proficiency as simple as maintaining your Webgrader grades so that students and parents can access their grades each day?  Is it as simple as uploading an Activstudio Flipchart to share with grade level teachers in the district?  Or is it more involved?  Where a teacher not only uses a flipchart as an electronic whiteboard, but is creating them during planning time and providing opportunity for students to show their understanding as well.

Or, is it ultimately a sliding scale where every teacher is expected to show the minimum proficiencies of being able to email, share a newsletter, and grades (where appropriate) in the first year, and then the expectations increase as you progress through your career?

This also brings about a potentially bigger question of how to we ensure that our principals (who are not using this technology in a classroom everyday) recognize the signs of good use of technology versus good showing of technology.

There are many questions.  We’re about to begin to address them for our district.  I wonder what other people are doing to answer these questions.  I know that ISTE has a potential tool they will unveil at NECC next week.  I am excited to see what we come up with.

My dad was career Air Force, of course most of that career was over by the time I was born, but I was there for the final five years of it.  In fact, my dad was in Southeast Asia when I was born.  For my 39th birthday this March my dad gave me the handwritten note that the MARS operated had received through the network of ham radio operators from Shelton, Wa to where ever my dad was in SEAsia.  As a three time dad now, I look back, and think what was it that my dad taught me and my brothers that I want to make sure I teach my daughters and son.

Everyone deserves respect:  After 21 years in the Air Force my dad became a junior high school teacher.  Now if there is a group of kids who require patience, understanding and respect, it’s 12, 13 and 14 year olds.  As an art teacher, my dad often saw the kids no other teacher wanted to have, and for years after, while I was in high school and college those kids would stop me in the halls or on the street and say, “You’re Mr. Valley’s kid aren’t you?”  I would cower and say, “Yes,” because these were the kids who were in fights all the time at school.  I was scared, but they would shock me each time, and say, “Your dad was the only teacher who ever liked me.”  I hope I treat every one of my students with the same respect with which my dad taught his.

You can’t quit: Whether it was baseball, at which my brothers excelled, and I kept really good score; or my paper route in the middle of a wet Washington January; or X-Country in high school; mom and dad said, “You can’t quit.  If you start something, you have to finish it.”  That didn’t mean you had to turn out the next season, or that you couldn’t leave the paper route after a suitable amount of pain and suffering, but you had to stick with it and give it a chance.

Delegate: Ok, this one was tough for me, because my dad’s form of delegation was this, “Sean, change it to channel four, I want to watch Ray Ramsey’s weather report, or Bruce King’s sports,” but the theory is the same: you don’t have to do all the work.  Of course, you have to do a lot of it, but when that gets hard, go back to the previous teaching. 

Have others double check your work: My dad is an artist of the highest degree.  He sold paintings on the riverside in Zaragoza, Spain in the 1950′s.  As an artist in a small town, my dad was called upon to be a sign-maker.  Sign-makers have to spell things correctly.  My dad is an artist, not a sign-maker.  There’s a difference, and making a sign for a the schol distric levy, is different than making a sign for the School District Levy.  Fortunately for my dad, and the Shelton School District’s levies in the 1970′s and 80′s, my mom was an English major and a major proofreader. 

Don’t wish your life away: This one, my dad probably doesn’t even realize I remember.  I was probably 12, walking on the strip of grass between our house and the Myrick’s house next door.  I said, “I wish I was 16 so I could get my driver’s license.”  Dad replied, “Don’t wish your life away,” and left it at that.  I have thought about that occasion hundreds of times as I’ve grown older, and now I tell my seven year old daughter not to wish her life away whenever she wants to be older.  Your youth is precious, but so is every part of your life.  There may be rough patches, but they’re the things that make you stronger.  I’m glad I didn’t wish my life away, because there’s not a piece of my life I would trade for the world.

Sing in church: Ok, this is easy for me, I am a singer, I have four years of 400 level music classes to prove that.  My dad played trombone in high school, I’m not sure he was ever a singer, but as I sang in church today, I remembered my dad leaning into me at church as a kid, singing an octave lower than the rest of the church.  I loved hearing that bellowing voice, there’s something very comforting in knowing that voice is still a phone call away.

There’s a time to be funny: For me, this is a tough one, and for my kids it’s even tougher.  Dad is the king of the pun, and most of them are BAD!  I inherited that skill, and I’ve passed it on.  The important part is that when it’s time to get down to the task at hand, you have to leave the puns behind.  You can still have fun doing what you’re doing.  But having fun, and being funny are two entirely different things!

There’s a reason for football on TV: Football is on TV to be watched.  They don’t spend millions of dollars to put a game on TV so that it can be the background for some party, no matter how delicious my mom’s cinnamon rolls were at the annual Rose Bowl Party!  Of course, dad was a coach, and he loves to watch the games for the strategy and the performance, so perhaps he comes at it a little differently.

Be proud of who you are and where you’re from: My dad and I were born in the same town.  It’s a town that thousands of people are glad they escaped.  I proudly tell people that I grew up in Shelton.  Sure, I joke about our crazy little timber town and how Walmart killed the downtown corridor, but when I joke about it it’s funny.  When my wife jokes about it… it’s just mean.

Thousands more lessons:  Both my mom and dad taught me a lot.  I can honestly say I am a teacher because I saw how they taught.  It wasn’t a job for them, it was a passion.  My mom loved kids.  My dad still loves kids, and I am so very proud to say that I am one of the kids my mom and dad love most!

Happy Father’s Day!

I dialed, they answered, they said, “Let me put you through to the bar,” the hold music started, I walked the eight minutes to Red Robin (my office is at the other end of Redmond Town Center), I finally hung up when I walked in the door, no one ever picked up to even say, “Hey, we’ll be with you in a moment.”I explained this to the hostess, she sent me to the end of the bar to order.  I ordered.  One time, the waiter in the area said, “You’re waiting for take-out, right?”  He never said, “boo,” for the next 20 minutes as he took the order of the man sharing my table, served him water, a drink and then delivered his food.  I watched this nice guy take a few other orders, and comment that he was glad he had a girlfriend when an attractive guest came through the bar and grabbed her Take Out order.  He wasn’t so worried about his girlfriend when the gentleman who proceeded the attractive lady got his order.  This is when I began to get a little antsy.  These two guests had been able to place their order over the phone.  Why hadn’t I?

I was a little more aware of the end of the bar now as I discovered this would be the source of my food.  I noticed the bartender talking about a Banzai Burger, looking like he wasn’t sure who to whom it belonged.  I said, “That’d be mine.”  He said, “the clucks or the banzai?”  “Banzai.”  “We’re looking into that,” and off he went to investigate.  Shortly there after the attractive lady walked back in.  I asked if they had given her the wrong order, “Yep.”  “Banzai?”  “Yep.”

Matthew, the bartender, gave her her clucks and then offered a fresh banzai for me.  Another ten minutes while they made my burger and I was on my way. 

It just sucks when you have the perfect lunch in your head, at a place you’ve eaten 100′s of times before and it gets all mangled.

Just food for thought.

*** Update – Got a call from Red Robin today.  They’re gonna buy me lunch!   Whoo Hoo.