Week 1: Kelly Shamburg's Introduction to Learning Technologies Blog

 

Week 1

Who Am I?

         My name is Kelly Shamburg, and I have been married for 26 years. My husband and I have two children, Mackenzie, and Kaleb, who are now 20 and 24, respectively. My education career started over 20 years ago as a substitute teacher and continued into AmeriCorps as a school aide. I was so excited about teaching and working with children that I became alternatively certified in Oklahoma. I've now been a certified teacher for 18 years.

        1991 I earned my Bachelor’s degree in Hospitality and Restaurant Administration at Missouri State University. My career path took me to many places and provided me with a diverse set of experiences, including retail management for Loves Truck Stop and C.R. Anthony's, a real estate secretary, real estate agent assistant, church secretary, substitute teacher, teacher aide, and serving as an AmeriCorps aide. These experiences have provided me with a variety of skills and insights I use daily as a teacher.

        I earned my alternative teaching certificate and have taught various age groups and grade levels. I have three years of experience teaching 3rd grade and one and a half years teaching 4th grade. I also worked in Special Education for two years, which I think every teacher should experience at least once in their career. This experience taught me the importance of creating inclusive learning for all students, regardless of their ability level. I feel that every teacher should experience being a special education teacher just once. This is because it can bring awareness to those reluctant or unwilling to provide the necessary legal accommodations and modifications for SPED students. It could be used to offer insight into the complex paperwork and guidelines SPED teachers must navigate through for each student. It could also help eliminate any thought that laziness is to blame for student struggles. After special education, I have been a 7th-12th computer teacher for the last 13 years. In addition to teaching computers, I am also the yearbook advisor and District Testing Coordinator for the last 11 years. Small schools require many hats to be worn.

        I am pursuing a master’s in education with a focus on reading. My goal is to positively impact my students' academic outcomes by improving my knowledge and confidence as an educator. I hope to explore career opportunities such as becoming a Curriculum and Instruction coach, a reading specialist, or a full-time testing coordinator. 

Learning Activity:

This learning activity combines the ISTE Standard 1.2c on Digital Citizenship and the Fine Arts Standard HS.MA.P.3.2 for high school students in 9–12 grades. The main focus is exploring intellectual property and media art comprehensively. The project aims to encourage the ethical use of digital resources in media art and enhance technological skills for creating media art.

Intellectual Property (IP): The activity begins with students being introduced to intellectual property, including fair use, Creative Commons, copyright, and trademarks, through instructional videos, teacher-led instruction, and whole-class discussions. They will then demonstrate their understanding of these concepts through an interactive quiz on Kahoot! Finally, students will participate in a class discussion board to explore the ethical implications of using others' work without permission, including copyright violations.

Target Audience: Students explore media art analysis by looking at the intended audience for digital artworks. They work in groups to analyze media art. They discuss how the artwork makes them feel, the themes it covers, and which age groups it might impact the most. They have some guiding questions to help them with this analysis. Then, each student selects a digital art piece from online platforms such as Deviant Art, Pinterest, ArtStation, and Epidemicsound. Students will then determine its target audience. They will share their choices in small groups, discussing and explaining why they think a certain audience would be interested. This part of the project ends with a whole-class presentation and discussion about the chosen artworks. This encourages different viewpoints and critical thinking.

Ethical Use of Intellectual Property and Proper Citation of Sources: Students learn about using copyrighted works ethically and legally, focusing on proper citation. They modify the art piece from the previous step and use digital tools such as Canva, Pixlr, VeedIO, and LightX. They practice accurately citing their sources with an online citation generator such as mybib.com or EasyBib.com. Students learn about copyright, respect, and crediting the original creators through this. This will help students develop ethical media arts practices.

Creation of Original Media Art and Peer Feedback: Students will create their own media art pieces, credit their sources, and critique each other's work in small groups. They will also provide constructive critiques to students in other groups, learning the importance of giving and receiving thoughtful and respectful feedback.

Project Enhancement and Presentation: Students refine their media art projects based on feedback during this step. They present their final pieces through a media art gallery walk-through, where their digital creations are displayed on computers around the room. After viewing everyone's artwork, each student talks about their creative choices, ethical considerations, target audiences, and any changes made based on feedback. They also upload their original and revised artwork with proper citations to the discussion board. Lastly, they reflect on how feedback has helped them improve their creative process and whether they agree or disagree with the input received.

Final Assessment of Skills: Students wrap up the project by taking a comprehensive assessment using Google Forms. This assessment covers topics like intellectual property, analyzing target audiences, using intellectual property ethically, and citing sources properly. It includes multiple-choice, matching, and essay questions. This assessment helps gauge how well students understand and apply the project's main ideas.

Throughout the activity, the teacher will guide and help the students. They will give lectures, lead discussions, offer feedback, and answer questions. They will also direct the students during independent and small group work and provide help and guidance when needed.

References

ArtStation. (2019). ArtStation. https://www.artstation.com/

Canva. (2023). Canva. https://www.canva.com/

Common Sense Education. (2020). Creativity, Copyright, and Fair Use [YouTube Video]. In YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvZHNwBHirQ

DeviantArt - Discover The Largest Online Art Gallery and Community. (2019). DeviantArt; DeviantArt. https://www.deviantart.com/

EasyBib: The Free Automatic Bibliography Composer. (2018a). EasyBib. https://www.easybib.com

Federallabs. (2019). Understanding Intellectual Property (IP). In YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqZJPuyK9VY

Free Music Video Maker - Make Videos with Pictures & Music. (n.d.). VEED.IO. Retrieved August 20, 2023, from https://www.veed.io/create/music-video-maker

Index of /video-editing/add-music-to-photo. (n.d.). Www.lightxeditor.com. Retrieved August 20, 2023, from https://www.lightxeditor.com/video-editing/add-music-to-photo

Kahoot! (2019). Kahoot! | Learning Games | Make Learning Awesome! Kahoot! https://kahoot.com/

Keeler, A. (2015, November 2). Google Slides: Discussion Template. Teacher Tech. https://alicekeeler.com/2015/11/02/google-slides-discussion-template/

MyBib Contributors. (2019, May 26). APA Citation Generator – FREE & Fast – (6th Edition, 2019). MyBib. https://www.mybib.com/tools/apa-citation-generator

Pinterest. (2018). Pinterest. Pinterest. https://www.pinterest.com/

Pixlr. (2019). Photo Editor: Pixlr.com - Image Editing Online. https://pixlr.com/

Royalty Free Music for Video Creators | Epidemic Sound. (n.d.). www.epidemicsound.com. Retrieved August 20, 2023, from https://www.epidemicsound.com/?_us=adwords&_usx=11258116976_free%20songs&utm_source=google&utm_medium=paidsearch&utm_campaign=11258116976&utm_term=free%20songs&gclid=Cj0KCQjw84anBhCtARIsAISI-xcMGrXifG2KADQoZWQChJ0oslIlFIIOGeo9o-5RZX_mBihKMH0fo5UaAtd6EALw_wcB

My Insights:

I used the Triple E Framework as a guide for my lesson after reading Liz Kolb's "Learning First, Technology Second in Practice." Learning goals are prioritized through the framework over technology, and tools are chosen based on those goals. I considered the activity's objectives and incorporated the three E's (engagement, enhancement, and extension) into my lesson plan (Kolb, 2020, p. xv).

I learned valuable information about the three E's in the book's first chapter. Kolb (2020) believes that students of all ages need breaks from technology to remain engaged (p. 10). The "Engagement: Uninterrupted Use" portion of Chapter 1 has made me more aware of the importance of balancing technology use. While taking breaks during long periods of activity is greatly encouraged, teachers often need more time to cover all the required material. Therefore, "brain breaks" (Kolb, 2020, p. 11) are often pushed to the side. Including non-tech activities such as lectures, discussions, small group collaboration, and technology is crucial. During my lesson activities, I incorporated many breaks from technology. A media art gallery walk-through lets students display their digital art and take a break from technology while appreciating their classmates' work.

The concept of "Enhancement: Quantity versus Quality refers to using technology to achieve teaching goals rather than overusing it" (Kolb, 2020, p. 12). It is possible that the technology I incorporated into my activity will be perceived as quantity-driven, but I believe it is more quality-driven. This activity is based on ISTE Digital Citizenship standards and OK Fine Arts standards that ask students to "evaluate and make improvements in media art while considering the intended audience" (Oklahoma State Department of Education, 2023, "2023 Fine Arts Standards" section). The use of educational online resources, videos, and examples will enhance the students' understanding of media art by using various technological tools and applications to create and modify it. In addition, students will learn how to properly cite sources by applying what they have learned using an online citation generator. This will properly acknowledge the original creator. Students will develop problem-solving and critical-thinking skills because of this activity.

Kolb (2020) discusses the importance of technology in education. She believes "technology should help students build skills for their everyday lives as well as improve their prior knowledge and soft skills" (p. 22). I added activities beyond the objectives. This included group work, critiques, reflection, and class discussions, which improved students' communication, teamwork, and critical thinking skills.

The introduction and first chapter helped me focus on lesson goals and how to keep students engaged. It allowed me to evaluate whether I use these three E's in my own classroom teaching.

References

Kolb, L. (2020). Learning First, Technology Second in Practice: New Strategies, Research and Tools for Student Success. (First). International Society for Technology in Education.

Oklahoma State Department of Education. (2023). Oklahoma Academic Standards for Fine Arts Introduction. In Oklahoma State Fine Arts Standards (p. 58). The State of Oklahoma. https://sde.ok.gov/sites/default/files/documents/files/2023%20Fine%20Arts%20Standards.pdf