Pecha Kucha

Do you all know what Pecha Kucha is?  I had never heard of it before!   It is a very strict format of no more or less than 20 slides which stays on the screen for 20 seconds or less! That's not a lot of time!  Some other key components to a Pecha Kucha is having a lot of high quality graphics and not a lot of text.  I could see how this format would be very beneficial especially for online classes.

I began by making myself a script.  I knew 20 seconds wasn't very long, and I needed to plan what I would say carefully.

Next I created my powerpoint presentation with graphics and text.  

Finally with my script in hand I used Screencast O Matic to capture my presentation.

Here is my presentation!

As far as the SMAR model I would place this in the augmentation category.  PowerPoint, Keynote, and Google Slides are all software programs that have existed for years.  Pecha Kucha is simply a model of creating presentations to increase engagement.  By cutting down on text, increasing graphics, and limiting the time presenters are forced to get to the heart of their content and make it as engaging as possible.

Screencast O Matic

What makes an online video engaging?  According to a study done by Melanie Hibbert at Columbia University there are five components which make an online video appealing to students.  

1. The content of the video should directly relate to the content of the course.

2. The instructor uses a conversational tone and humor while delivering the content.

3. The content of the video is not something the students could have just read as text.

4. A high quality production.

5. The video length is 4 minutes or less.

So with all of these factors in mind I created a video showing first year teachers how to create online report cards using Edline software.  I felt this was important because there are multiple steps to this process, and while there are written directions, many teachers need these directions shown to them multiple times. 

So let me just say that was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be.  When I first tried it, I didn't pay attention to the time because I thought there is no way this will take longer than 4 minutes.  Well my first attempt was 8 minutes long.  So I had to redo it, and I felt like I was rushing to keep it under 4 minutes!  

Screencast O Matic was so easy to use.  It was also super easy to upload it to youtube!  I had no idea that if you have a google account you also have a youtube channel.  I thought it would be super difficult but it really wasn't, and once it was uploaded to my youtube channel it was really simple to embed the video in the blog post...way easier than Jing!

As far as the SMAR model goes, I would place this application in the modification level.  Students could read text and directions, but by creating a screencast you are able to show them first hand what they need to know thus modifying what they had before. They are also able to rewind and watch multiple times if necessary.  T

Prezi

I've heard of Prezi before, and have dabbled a little here and there, but this is the first presentation I have created all on my own!

Here it is!  Habitat Prezi

All in all it was pretty easy, especially if you choose a template that is already made for you.  I typically use PowerPoint to create presentations, so I probably could have done this a lot faster with PowerPoint simply because I'm more familiar with it.  I liked how easy it was to insert youtube videos into Prezi, and I have to admit that Prezi has a certain stylistic component that PowerPoint just doesn't have.  I think it is easier to add more slides and pictures in a PowerPoint presentation, also powerpoint has the option of adding timing to the transitions (to be fair I don't know if Prezi does or doesn't I didn't play with that aspect). Prezi recently added a collaboration piece of technology, which is similar to Google Slides.

In terms of the SAMR model I think Prezi is simply a substitution technology.  It takes to place of other presentation models like Powerpoint or Google Slides and doesn't provide any functional change in what they can offer.

Maps

This was a really fun assignment!  The 5th graders in our school take a field trip to Washington D.C every year.  There are so many great places for kids to visit in Washington D.C, so it was fun to plan and imagine.

It was easy to do.  You start here with google maps.  

It's easy to search for places and add them to your map.  The feature that I really liked was that there was often a website linked in the site information box that you are able to click on.  If I shared this map with students they would be able to access information about the site they are visiting very easily.

I also created an interactive itinerary document.  Students can work on this throughout the field trip or begin to explore the sites and access information before they leave on the field trip.  I used google docs to create this document.  Again, it was pretty easy as many of the features are very similar to Word documents.  I was able to insert pictures of the places they are visiting as well as links to all the places they are visiting.  If you use google classroom you could just share this document with students for them to begin working on it.

Here's a link to my itinerary document.

It would be interesting to have students create their own map of the places they visit in the order they visit each site and share it with the teacher.  It would also be a convenient way to keep track of everybody ;-).

As far as the SAMR model.  Creating a document in google is so similar to creating a Word document it would just be considered a substitution.  You might be able to consider it augmentation because sharing the document with students and giving them an assignment is easier.

Creating maps and sharing them students before a field trip would be considered redefinition.  Paper maps were not able interactive or provide facts and information.  Google maps provides links to websites so that you can access information on the site before you visit.

Presume

So I've heard of prezi and used to in place of a powerpoint presentation, but I've never used it to make a resume.  This was a lot fun and a lot easier than I thought it was going to be.  If I had a video of me teaching I would embed it within the presentation.  I could also add examples of student work and my lesson plans.  If I really wanted to I could also insert a copy of my teaching licence.

So without further ado here's my presume!

As far as the SAMR model.  I think this would fall in the modification level.  We've always had to write resumes, but they consisted of only text. This applications allows to you embed videos and photos to greatly modify our current resumes.

Numbers 1.4

When doing research and analyzing descriptive statistics one of the most important questions to ask is "Is it statistically significant?"  How do you figure that out?  Using previous data on 8th grade reading test scores I will show you.

Null Hypothesis 1: There is no statistically significant difference between Black and White test averages.

Alternative Hypothesis 1: There is a difference in the 8th grade reading performance of Black and White students.

I made this hypothesis because the average score for white students was 274 while the average score for black students was 256.  After doing the t-test I got a p-value of  0.0 which is less than .05 which means we can reject the null hypothesis. 

Null Hypothesis 2: There is no statistically significant difference between White and Hispanic test averages.

Alternative Hypothesis 2: There is a difference in the 8th grade reading performance of White and Hispanic students.

I made this hypothesis because the average score for white students is 274 and the average score for Hispanic students was 249.  After doing the t-test I got a p-value of 0.0 which is more than .05 which means we can reject the null hypothesis.

Null Hypothesis 3: There is no statistically significant difference between Black and Hispanic test averages.

Alternative Hypothesis 3: There is a difference in the 8th grade reading performance of Black and Hispanic students.

I made this hypothesis because the average score for black students was 256, and the average score for Hispanic students was 249.  After doing the t-test I got a p-value of 0.0 which is more than .05 which means we can reject the null hypothesis.

So, in all three cases we could reject the null hypothesis which means that ethnicity does play a statistically significant role in how students score on reading tests.

I found this assignment particularly difficult and I think I ultimately ended doing it like 3 times...;-/.  I have Excel on my computer, however could not find the data analysis button.  When I put the formula in manually I got the p-value of 0.  But I wanted to double check myself (like any good researcher) and so I used the website Dr. Pierce provided for people who don't have Excel, and I got completely different p-values like 4.2, 8.4, and 4.1.  So naturally I was confused.  Finally I uploaded it to google sheets and performed the t-test again and got p-values of 0.0.  So I went with the answers I repeated as the correct answers (I hope!). 

SAMR

SAMR is model for technology integration.

The first step in this model is substitution.  In this case the technology is only a substitute for previously used technology.  For example teachers used to use overhead projectors to project notes and images.  Now we have SMART boards, and I find that I most often use it for writing notes or showing pictures which is exactly what I used to use my overhead projector for.

The second step in this model is augmentation. In this stage the technology is still a substitution for previously used technology, but provides functional improvement.  For example, teachers used to use overhead projectors to project text and images.  However this was limited because you could only manipulate the text so much.  Now teachers have document cameras that allow you to project worksheets, books, images etc. and model in a more direct way in this way enhancing what was previously done by the overhead projector.

The third step is modification. In this stage we see more student growth.  Previously teachers might have had students type of an essay or create a powerpoint in microsoft word.  However now with Google Docs students are able to collaborate and share ideas while still creating a powerpoint or writing an essay.

The final step is redefinition. This is where the most student growth occurs.  In this stage the student's technology usage completely modifies how the students respond to the material they are presented.  So instead of typing up an essay in Word, students may use movie maker to create a visual response to information.