5333 Week 3

     The story I would like to explore is that of the learning environment for my students. I work at an inner-city school right in the heart of Columbus Ohio. I love the school I work at. It is a fun place to work that is always full of life and laughter. With that being said, it is also one of the most overstimulating places I have ever been in my life. Teaching there can be hard, it can be hard anywhere. But more importantly, it seems like a hard, sometimes impossible, place to learn. I want to tell my story from the point of view of the students, even the students who sometimes cause the distractions. The name of the story will be "How am I supposed to learn today?" this will be a commonly used phrase when I am telling the story. The hoped impact would be educators having some more perspective and empathy for students. The challenge will be learning in this environment, the transformation will be for the reader, and the resolution will be a changed mindset about understanding their challenges.

    This story would be used in an educational environment more in a PD setting. I think these are things we all know about, but are easy to forget in the heat of the moment. It is really difficult to have empathy when someone is essentially destroying something you are passionate about. This will never take away that feeling, but could possibly cause that one second pause we all need sometime. It will somewhat be a Nancy Duarte story map switching between the "good students" and the "bad students". Since this story is for educators, the standards should be for them too. The most important standard will be 2.2.a, advancing a shared mission. That is the goal is to advance the shared mission of having empathy for our students, while still holding them to a high standard. I think some teachers hold the standard without empathy, and others have the empathy but dont hold the standard. I think this story can help with both.

    I think the pixton app was a great way to tell a story, but I also really enjoyed creating a podcast for my intro class, so I am pretty torn between the two. The way I would assess this is the same way I would assess anything, to see if it had it's desired impact. I think if it has that on the other educators in the calss then it can be assessed as successful. I think Ohler's was the most impactful reading for me. I knew what I wanted to write about, but I didnt really have a direction to it. The different arcs made me realize that it needs to have some sort of end goal. Ohler's different maps made me realize how all sad stories have a way of teaching us a lesson and something to leave with. I think this is what inspired me to possibly make the end of the story(since it's told from the students POV) as a plea to have some empathy from the educators that serve them.

5313 Week 3

 When looking at How People Learn II written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine 2018 and comparing it to Gura's thoughts on a creative learning environment, one thing really stands out. Gura has an interesting thought that creativity can be both taught and grown. I think this is really interesting because we often view it as a fixed thing. However, better understanding of our selves and how we learn(what the learned from the infographic), makes me think that you could be taught better or grow even more. The ISTE student standard that stands out is 1.1.b. Creating a customized learning environment allows us to be more likely to be creative and gives us more space for our metacognition, executive functioning, and self regualtion.

References

Gura, M. (2020). Fostering Student Creativity. EdTech Digest the State of the Arts, Creativity, and Technology 2020: A Guide for Educators and Parents. p. 7.

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2018). How people learn II: Learners, contexts, and cultures.Links to an external site. Washington, D.C.: The National Academies Press.

5313 Week 2

     Authentic work is work that uses "application of knowledge and skills, rather than just routine use of facts and procedures" (Newmann, King, and Carmichael, 3). To me, this is every teachers dream. Traditional work that consists of drilling and killing a lot of tedious steps is tough to consistently attack day in and day out. Learning new information can often feel like a losing battle. This can make the monotony of a school day really drag on. In contrast, applying information can feel empowering, therefor increasing the motivation. According to our reading, the criteria or components of authentic instruction are construction of knowledge, disciplined inquiry, and value beyond school. When looking at one of these specifically I would look at disciplined inquiry. The empirical data that sticks out to me about this is figure 2 on page 21. This shows that regardless of grade, writing is the bigger gainer over math. I think the main reason for this is that disciplined inquiry. Having the skills needed to not just regurgitate facts but have nuanced opinions on them is what makes writing high level as well as more enjoyable.

    When looking at the first section of NETP's universal design for learning, the thing that really sticks out to me in terms of authenticity is multiple means of expression. Giving students some freedom on how they are expressing their knowledge lets students express themselves in a way they are most comfortable. When students are more comfortable, it becomes easier for them to focus more brain power on that authentic thoughts and nuanced elaboration. A good example for me in my class would be an upcoming research project. As a special educator, a lot of my students struggle with writing. Technology has a vast array of modes in which students can show the knowledge learned from research. This would be a much more authentic lesson because of the fact that I would be measuring the actual standard (showing you can accurately research a topic) more specifically, and not just their ability to write.

    An obvious connection between the two is that they use 3 main principles that both stand alone and work together. In terms of tying the two sets together the most obvious is value beyond school and extending learning. I believe the most effective part of construction of knowledge is that it makes the learning more engaging. Lastly I think disciplined inquiry is truly the root of enhancing our learning. The example I used is that this assignment will extend learning by increasing their proficiency in multiple modes of presentation which can help them with a variety of careers. My example enhances the learning by giving them the opportunity to not focus on the writing as much and engage in that authentic thought about their subject. Finally, my example will engage the learner by hopefully increasing that precious time on task.

References

1. Office of Educational Technology. (2024). A Call to Action to Close the Technology Access, Design, and Use Divides: National Educational Technology Plan. Department of Education. Retrieved from: https://tech.ed.gov/netp Links to an external site.
2. Newmann, F. M., King, M. B., & Carmichael, D. L. (2007).  Authentic instruction and assessment: Common standards for rigor and relevance in teaching academic subjects.  State of Iowa Department of Education. Introduction, Chapters. 1 & 2 (30 pages). Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1T9JNAZgLfKvXAX7JoaOJElkkZS5Xf-lp/view?usp=drivesdk Links to an external site.

5333 Week 2 Blog

     The story I looked at this week was Bear 71. It was a very interesting story told from the point of view of a bear in Banff National forest in Canada.  The story does a really good job at having you feel like you are hearing form the bear directly. The story talks about not only the obvious negative impacts humans have on bears like deforestation, pollution, and hunting. The bear also discusses some not so obvious negative impacts, and some we even feel like are helpful. It really gave me an introspective look at the fact that as helpful as shooing a bear away from a city is, it wouldn't have to be if the city wasn't there in the first place. The immersive experience really increases the amount of emotion you feel as apposed to if I read this in an article. The graphics make you feel like the park is controlled in a really futuristic "digital overlord" vibe. It really shows how soulless managing a place like that can be, even when the place is filled with so much beauty. The music plays into this with a futuristic depressing instrumental as a background throughout.The story is extremely interactive and even has an option for VR.

    I think educational benefit from this story can be very different depending on the learner. Obviously for someone who is working in the area of nature/animal conservation, It can help educate them on how the other side of the important human and animal relationship feels. This could lead to people thinking outside the box on different things they can do to resolve the issues brought up be bear 71. I also think it can be educational for anyone who goes into a career to help an area of need. This will cause people to think about why they are having that need in the first place. This would be great for learners who are 15+. I think any younger than that and the consumer lacks some world knowledge and ability to look at stories from different sides. I think the ISTE standard that best aligns specifically for the creation of this story is 2.4.C which is using collaborative tools This standard talks specifically about real world learning. Bear 71 is a great example of technology giving students real world learning.

The biggest connection this story utilizes is connecting the "reader" to their own morals. It is just super depressing. The tangible lesson here is that basically humans just shouldn't meddle in their affairs which is simply never ever going to happen. This made it really hard for to be able to tell what type of story it was. It really felt like there wasn't much arc to the story, it felt down the whole time. Ohler does clearly tell us that sometimes the resolution can simply be that the problem is fully addressed. I fell like our story does a good job of that. In a way, this is a personal story. It is Bear 71's personal story. It is a story about not only a place in her life, but THE place in her life.

Digital Storytelling Week 1 Blog

 Hello,

    My name is Trent Fry and I am a special education teacher in Columbus Ohio. I am a mild/moderate intervention specialist for 11th and 12th graders at an inner-city high school right in the heart in Columbus. I am originally from Oklahoma, and got my undergraduate at the University of Oklahoma. I started my teaching career in Oregon as a high school teacher, and then spent a year doing online teaching in Colorado. I have taught at schools with very diverse demographics in terms of ethnicity and socioeconomic status. 

    I have spent most of the week thinking a lot about what I want to write my digital story on. I thought about writing about my parents and how they inspired me to be an educator as they were educators themselves. I considered telling the story of how teaching at different types of schools has grown me as a teacher. I think I have settled on a question that I think about on a daily basis with my students at my current school. How are they supposed to learn today. The compounding factors of things going on at home and at school make it hard for me, as an adult, to stay regulated. I cannot imagine trying to learn in that environment at times. A lot of my kids have great families and academic work ethics. Regardless of this, the things going on around them can make it really difficult. 

    I teach an english 12 class and I think this would be a good thing for them to expose them to more and more modes of media. As a special educator, writing essays is obviously the worst way for them to express themselves. They may have a disability that effects their writing, but that doesn't mean it effects their ability to express themselves. They often have lots of great ideas, that they struggle to put into effective writing. I think to do this assignment effectively, it would have to come after exposing my students to different modes of expression. My school doesn't have one to one technology, which means their exposure to different things can be low. However, with it being a small class, I have enough for each of them each day. I think my goal would be to sprinkle in the different media methods throughout smaller assignments so they can make up their mind on which type of media they would want to tell there story with.

    The reading that resonated with me the most was the Staley and Freeman research from 2017. Growing up in a school a lot like the one in this research, I felt a connection to it. It made me think and realize just how similar this school, my alma mater, and the school I currently teach in are. Staley and Freeman specifically reference students as "non-university bound"(2017).  I think that as students get farther into high school, thinking this is the end of your education can often diminish ones drive. I think an assignment like the one I am considering doing is one that would inspire some personal connection to not necessarily look forward to their education, but too look back and summarize it for themselves.

References:

Staley, B., & Freeman, L. A. (2017). Digital storytelling as student-centred pedagogy: Empowering high school students to frame their futures. Research and Practice in Technology Enhanced Learning, 12(1), 1–17. 

EDUC 5313 Week 1 Blog

 Hello,

    My name is Trent Fry and I am currently a special education teacher in Columbus Ohio. I teach 11th and 12th graders at an inner-city high school right in the heart of Columbus. I have also spent years teaching in both Oregon and Colorado. In the past, I have done some teaching online. I loved this experience, and the competitive aspect of getting one of these jobs made me want to get my masters. I think eventually I would like to be some sort of technology liaison for a school district. If not, I would be interested in eventually getting into EdTech sales or corporate training.

    Creative communicator 6.a is something that always catches my attention as it specifies the area of using multiple different tools within technology. I think this is awesome for my students specifically because of the fact it gives them some freedom on how they express the things they have learned. We do a lot of writing, but their flow of ideas is much faster than their ability to write well. The standard on speaking and listening, "SL.11-12.2 Integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) in order to make informed decisions and solve problems, evaluating the credibility and accuracy of each source and noting any discrepancies among the data" is perfect for my students expressing themselves. This allows them show creativity and self expression while expanding and sharpening their technological tool belt. This is especially great for any assignment when expressing an opinion is called on.

    I think this standard (both ISTE and OAS) embodies Triple E perfectly. It empowers our students to ask the questions of themselves as apposed to the teachers asking the questions and deciding for them. Teaching 11th and 12th graders this is what we want. Shifting the learning farther and faster to them is exactly what we are looking for. I think it focuses mostly on engagement. The goal of anything created should be to engage your consumer. Students determining their strengths and which mode of media is best to engage the consumer of said media will not only fulfill standards, but fulfill life skills.