Reivew of Audio Visual Technology

Title:  Audio- Visual Technology as a Tool for Teaching Conducting by karen M. Yeisley

Conducting is a very abstract and difficult concept for 4th graders to grasp. At any point there are 26 students to one teacher, this dose not provide much time for the teacher to help out each student.The audience was 26 4th graders at a school in Rockville Maryland in a music class.

There were 4 variables, the first was can the student conduct a song in 3 and / or 4 using a standard conducting pattern. The second variable was can the students demonstrate on task behavior at least 90% of the time. The third variable asked students to evaluate themselves using a likert scale. The fourth variable asked students to evaluate others performances verbally.

The first goal was measured with a rubric provided by the Montgomery County Public Schools. The second goal was evaluated by teacher evaluation, and as previously stated the third goal was measured with a four question likert scale and the fourth variable was evaluated aurally. The final performance was recorded so that students could see what they needed to improve on.

The findings for this study were interesting. The first goal was was succeeded by 77% of students conducting in 3 and 96% of students conducting in 4. The second goal was not achieved because students did not follow rules. as well as some students wanted more time infront of the camera, some did "silly motions" and others got "very nervous". (p. 121) The third goal indicated that students did find reflecting on their own performance helpful. The fourth goal was met but not at a high level, with more time more students could achieve a higher success rate on this goal. It was found that three weeks is not enough for a lesson like this. Small groups may have been more effective.

This study was interesting. I feel that The video camera could have been used differently in this class. When it comes to fourth graders you have to give them some time to be "silly" infront of a camera other wise when you do go to use it for a lesson they will get their silliness out then. I agree that three weeks is not an adequate time frame for a lesson such as this one. I would have spent the time a little differently and allowed at least half a lesson to be dedicated to practice in small groups as well as time to "play" infront of the camera, or get use to being on camera. I may have even brought the camera in a few weeks early and just kept it on in the back of the room so that students could get use to it. I might also do a test performance with the students so that they could take home a copy of their performance on DVD so they could learn from it. 

Recording someone so that they can see their own work is a very powerful method of teaching, if someone is suppose to be up infront of people a lot it is worth recording them in a group situation so that they (the person being recorded) can get any nervous jitters, or quirky motions out of themselves. 

Out of all the studies this one seems the most straight forward to explain to a colleague. I would explain to them that when they or someone else is performing it is worth while to go back and review the performance, especially if they are going to have to do it again. It is worth seeing where you stumbled and where you excelled. 

Utilizing Auacity

Title: Utilization fo Audacity Audio Editor to Differentioate Practife for Learing Diabled Students by Katherine L. Fedalen

     All the students at the study school have average of above average IQ, but have a learning disability of some sort requiring specific modifications to their learning. Many of the students have challenging assignments however they are unable to complete the readings. The audience for the the study are the teachers attending the professional development project.The variables being tested were the "Application of the knowledge of Audacity and a lesson plan that integrates the new technology" (p. 97) The variables were tested through assessment data collected over the nine week project. 

     The project resulted in 4 of the 5 participants mastering the technology and all 5 creating usable lessons using Audacity. Two of the participants used their new found knowledge to differentiate homework. I feel that the study was a success and that Audacity is a fantastic free audio editor. I wish that there was more data than 5 people, but as with all new technology it is  sometimes difficult to get people to adapt. I have used audacity before for creating little recordings of myself as well as for editing music for projects. I feel that Audacity can be used in all fields, one use I see for it is the ability to create recordings so that when a person is performing their task (such as folding sheets) they not only have the training from a classroom setting but now they have a back up with them for a little extra guidance. I would say that Audacity is a free audio editor that allows you to record as well as edit voice, music or any other sound. It can be used to export the music or voice so that anyone can listen to it. This could help your employees learn something new or it could reenforce something you already taught them. 

Implementing a Course Delivery System

Article Title:Implementing a Course Delivery System to Assist 9th Grade Students with English Research Projects by Stephen M. Dolney

The problem for this article was that the 9th grade students had to complete a research project based on the novel To Kill A Mockingbird.  The students had to explain its significance to the text. The project required the students to do research on their own and in class, as well as work collaboratively. Even though the school subscribed to many online databases (much like many schools) the students tendent to ignore them because they were cumbersome to  access from home because of necessary passwords. There were 19 special education students as well as students who did not test into any of the magnet schools and were from the Interdisciplinary studies program.

The variables being tested using the course management system Moodle were:

1. Knowledge or the historical context To Kill a Mocking Bird
2. Student fulfillment of the project requirements
3. students displaying a positive attitude towards Moodle 

The variables were tested by student presentation for the historical context, self assessment for the requirements, and the final requirement would be met if "at least 70% of the students agreed with or agreed strongly with statements on the self assessment" (p. 58 of the reading)  

The results indicated that the project was an overwhelming success. A large chunk of the students (97%) completed the project. The self assessment indicated that students did indeed complete the project early or on time. The results for the third requirement were what interest me most, "students overwhelmingly indicated that they agreed or strongly agreed with all nine statements on the survey." (p. 62 of the reading)

I thought the study was done very well, I have only had minor interactions with Moodle myself but I found it to be very useful and interesting when I did use it. It was interesting to me to see that so many students in a high school setting found it useful. I have seen professors use it at a college level and I feel that after reading this study that it could easily be brought down to lower grade levels with success.

Moodle or other course delivery systems can be very useful in many fields, for me I feel that Moodle could be a great way for companies to train their staff on new software or hardware. It seems as if you could use this for a quick lesson or a whole project.

I would explain a course delivery system to my colleagues as a flexible learning system that allows educators to craft lessons and allows students to view and submit material as necessary. A course delivery system can also be used to monitor the progress of students.

Summary of Skype Interviews

edit: Title: Using Skype to Improve Student interivews by Gayle Dietrich

For this study two schools were chosen to test weather or not Skype would provide to be a better medium for interviews than in person. The two schools consisted of mostly minority students, one school was a science, technology, engineering and mathematics school (STEM) all male school, the other was a co-ed middle school. The problem in this research was weather or not Skype would be a better medium for interviews. The audience for this research was school teachers or any level that  provide interviews for their classrooms.

The variables involved were the students and their ability to use Skype to provided insightful interviews with officials.  Skype its self was also a variable since you could do an inperson interview.  

Skype was tested by allowing students access to it under teacher supervision to conduct interviews with officials in the community. Students were instructed in how to proceed with an interview. Students then practiced with each other and with teachers to get acclimated with Skype. 

Gayle Dietrch found that by using Skype students interest in conducting interviews went up, along with the achievement gap of students. Schools were also more likely to conduct interviews using Skype than by not using Skype.  

I thought this study was very well done. I have found Skype to be particularly useful over the past few years to communicate with my wife and with siblings when they are over great distances. I feel that using it in a school setting is a very good idea because of its ease of use for students and teachers. I don't personally have a classroom, however when it comes to the business environment Skype is much more economically feasible than some of the other teleconferencing options. I also feel that for teachers it could be a way to include students who have been out sick for an extended period of time since you could Skype them in to the classroom.  

When I talk about Skype around my current colleagues as well as around other business acquaintances I know, most of them are already aware of Skype and its usefulness, but to the people that are unaware of it tell them that Skype in a free application that allows person to person communication with or without video over the internet no matter where you are in the world.

Assignment

For each study you will post a blog entry that should do the following: Summarize the research in a paragraph.

What was the problem?

Who was the audience?

What was the variable (being tested)

How was it tested? What did they find?

What do you think of the study?

How could you use this in your own context?

How would you explain this to your colleagues?