EdTechWalden

This website allows you to get a basic tour of the new Blackboard environment (Blackboard Learn) through a tour that includes a narrated screen cast video. It is not interacted, but it is sufficiently detailed to give a thorough overview. It is better than most tours at their because it provides an introduction with the newest Blackboard, whose navigation as a instructor is significantly different from prior versions.

This website offers project ideas for new math teachers new to the project based learning realm.

Created by Yale University human resources, but can also apply to other organizations.

please visit my wiki to see the components of my 8847 project

Please visit my ning for my 8847 project on Using Comics to Engage Students in Reading and Writing

The multimedia application on this website adequately addresses the learner centered approach in its design. It does so in a number of ways, in particular in how it allows the learner to manipulate the multimedia application and then represents the outcome of that manipulation in the form of a cartoon video. Mayer held that the brain possesses dual channels, an auditory and visual processor, and each processes the information separately, later merging these two experiences together to create knowledge (Mayer, 2009, p. 64). This multimedia site works on both aspects of knowledge building in that it includes both and auditory and visual graphics. However, once the introduction is completed the auditory component does not contain any content related information so the user can chose to mute the sound (Mayer, 2009, p. 64). The strength of this multimedia is that it allows the user to manipulate the video itself. For example, students chose a gas, and then select its level in the atmosphere (high-medium-low). From there, the multimedia video plays and shows them in about a thirty second video what would happen on earth in an accelerated time progression in order for students to see the impact the gases have on the atmosphere. However, it is technology centered as well because it includes lots of different graphic elements within the same application, some that can be directly manipulated by the user and others that cannot.

This multimedia application is definitely learner centered. First, it is structured so that there is a repetitive vocabulary so that the learner can tune in and follow along the sequence of the video, which Mayer argues is important to the process of active learning (p. 71). It is also structured to help the learner organize the information. In this case, it is not as Mayer described his example as learners visualizing cause and effect relationships (p. 71). Rather it is structured so that you have a bland graphic, a man talking, explaining the information which he then repeats essentially as the screen shifts to show a visual of what he is describing. This allows for the third process of Mayer's active learning, integration, to occur because the auditory and visual channels coincide so that the brain has time to merge the two separate sources of input into a single knowledge node (pp. 64, 71).

This particular multimedia example is a video about the greenhouse effect, and its title is an engaging aspect that attracts learner by referencing a commonly known children's story. Mayer described the technology centered approach as being based in how and what technologies can be incorporated into the learning process (Mayer, 2009, pp. 10-11). It is definitely technology centered first and foremost. Throughout the video, it uses a great deal of overlaying video with static images or content so that the eye is engaged and drawn into the movement happening on screen. In this case, it meets with Mayer's assumption of dual coding in its design, in that it operates both on an auditory and visual channel (p. 64). In this case, in order for the learner to construct knowledge the auditory channel is the most important because the video images themselves really just augment the commentary, rather than presenting identical content visually. The images are stunning; there are amazing 3-D representations of earth, and video of the first atomic explosion. While these images are captivating, they don't serve as a second representation of the content itself. The learning that takes would not be considered active learning by Mayer's criteria, because there it is not structured in such a way that the learner does not have any repetitive elements to select and focus on in order to sequence the content in order to build knowledge (p. 71). Also, there is not an opportunity for the learner to integrate the visual and audio components to build knowledge, because the content is primarily in the audio while the video images are more oriented toward holding the learner's attention instead of presenting content or concept related information (p. 71).

Interactive black and white comic creator with prompts for students to fill in characters, bubbles, backgrounds, props

Interactive comic site explains copyright policies

Site contains tools for free and easy comic creation with three styles--quickie, regular, large format

Work space for housing workshop-in progress

For delivering course workshop- In Progress