Digital
Portfolio 36 points
In order to document that you have met the technology competencies
required by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing for the
Professional Clear Credential, you will develop a digital portfolio that
provides evidence for each course objective. Your portfolio will be the
center-point of all work during this semester.
Portfolio Rubric
Portfolio Matrix Template
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Digital Storytelling
(15 points)
For this assignment, you will plan, design, and develop
a digital story. For your story you will incorporate still photos, music,
and narration. You may also choose to incorporate motion video, but this
is optional. In our lab, we will use Adobe Premiere to construct our video.
Your product will be a Windows Media Movie that will be posted to the
Internet for all to see. The skills you learn should enable you to use
other editing software such as iMovie, Windows Movie Maker, Dazzle, etc.
View samples.
To create your story, you will need to do the following
steps. You may choose to do the images before the script or vice versa,
which ever makes most sense to you. Read about the
seven conceptual elements of digital storytelling at http://www.storycenter.org/memvoice/pages/cookbook.html.
Collect images in JPEG format
Develop a storyboard that outlines the story
to be created
Write a script
Record audio clip(s) (or import from audio
file) and place on Audio track #1
Place images in appropriate order based on
your storyboard (File Menu > Import File)
Add titles, effects
Insert transitions between images and adjust
the length to match the audio track
Add music track to Audio Track #2
Export your story to video
When you turn in your project, also turn in
a 1- to 2-page description and self-reflection (10 points)
which includes…
---The intended grade level or audience
---How it exemplifies the seven conceptual elements described at the Digital
Storytelling web site.
---Insights or things you learned from creating the video
---What part pleases you the most?
---What would you do differently if you were to do the project again?
You might also find the Atomic Learning site, http://www.atomiclearning.com,
useful. At this site there is a storyboard template and additional information
on using iMovie for video storytelling.
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Internet Project
There are three separate assignments here:
1. The web exercise
2.The Internet Project
3. Reflection
Web Exercise
(10 points) As a resource for your Internet project we will use the website
How to Use the Internet in Your Classroom at
http://www.canter.net/netskills. The site also has additional articles,
resources and activities related to the Internet in the classroom as well
as a useful glossary with descriptions of terms.
In this exercise you will explore the three different
types of web projects. For each type (Research Module, Webquest, Internet
Collaboration), you need to go through the steps listed in the activities.
The idea of this task is to familiarize you with the various project types,
and allow you to explore some existing versions of each type.
Finally, you will evaluate samples of each type of activity in a word
document. The evaluations can be in a narrative voice, 1 to 2 pages (total).
Save the file as an rtf document, name it lastname_webdoc and send it
attached to email to steve@steveharrell.com
Internet Project (15
points)
The Internet presents new opportunities and challenges to
teachers connecting technology and the curriculum. Opportunities include
the ability to access extensive and timely information and resources,
to communicate with a wide range of individuals, and to "visit"
places not otherwise possible. These and other opportunities offered by
the Internet also present challenges. A major concern is determining when
and how Internet use is time well spent in support of learning.
For this assignment you will work individually or with a partner to develop
an Internet activity which uses one of the following structures:
· Research module
· WebQuest
· Internet collaboration
Each of these structures will be introduced in class and you will have
the opportunity to explore and evaluate examples of each. For this project
we will use the online resources of How to Use the Internet in Your Classroom
at http://www.canter.net/netskills.
Your activity should address the four purposes suggested by the International
Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) for using technology. ISTE
recommends that technology use support students as:
· Information seekers, analyzers, and evaluators
· Problem solvers and decision makers
· Communicators, collaborators, publishers, and producers
· Informed, responsible, contributing citizens
Your project should be an authentic learning activity. Authentic learning
engages students, working in groups on realistic problems, in meaningful
tasks while acquiring new knowledge and skills.
Developing Your Internet Activity
You will need to identify the intended learning outcomes for your activity.
What is it that you want students to know or be able to do? What are the
key concepts you want them to understand? Your learning outcomes should
reflect higher level learning and be consistent with State frameworks
and standards. Next, think about what students will need to do or produce
(the performance or product) in order to convince you that they have indeed
learned what you intended them to learn. This will help you decide which
structure you will use. Once you have clarified the outcomes, the evidence
of learning required, and the structure you will use, you are ready to
develop the activity.
Develop your activity including the components appropriate for the structure
you have chosen. You may present your task as a word-processing, PowerPoint,
or web page document.
Save your activity as lastname_Internet.ext. (For the ext, use .doc for
a Word document, ppt for PowerPoint and html for a web page.) If you are
working with a partner, use one last name for the document name, but be
sure to include both names on your title page.
If you work with a partner, turn in one copy of the activity.
Reflection (10 points)
In addition to your Internet activity, you will turn in a one- to two-page
individual reflection and self-evaluation. Your reflection gives you the
opportunity to look back on the process and product you just completed
for this assignment and reflect on what happened, what you learned, etc.
Include the following in your reflection:
· A brief description of the task and the audience
· The intended learning outcome(s)/ objective(s)
· If you worked with a partner, a description of your role in the
development of the project
· A self-evaluation of your project based on the Scoring Guide.
What do you anticipate to be its strengths? Areas needing improvement?
· Specifically, how the project encourages students to use/improve
higher level thinking skills; how it supports the purposes recommended
by ISTE.
· Specifically, how the project enables students to do something
they couldn't do before or something they could do, but in a better way.
Internet Project Scoring
Sheet (Excel)
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New Solutions (15 points)
In this assignment you will: Learn to
use a new piece of technology or software to help solve a particular challenge
related to student learning
Think systematically about solving a specific
educational problem
Analyze and reflect on the process and your solution
New Solutions to Old Challenges…Context
There is some piece of technology or software that you’ve seen
in your school, that you’ve heard about from other teachers, or
that was written about in an article somewhere that you have been unable
to find out more about or to try—though its use sounds intriguing.
What’s been preventing you, in part, from experimenting with it
is that you only have time to learn how to use technology that you know
will help improve your teaching—and experimenting with technology
just for the sake of saying you’ve tried it strikes you as time
consuming and not particularly productive. This exercise is designed
to familiarize you with technology in ways that are directly related
to your teaching needs.
New Solutions to Old Challenges…Content
Start small. Identify a particular problem that a student is having
with performance and, through discussion with your colleagues and researching
on your own, see if there is an approach through technology that might
help move the student to a higher level of performance. For example,
a student who shows an inability to write using complete sentences when
necessary might benefit by hearing his or her own sentence fragments
read back on a tape recorder, a low-tech approach that you might accompany
or follow with a variety of instructional steps.
Or, on a larger scale, you know that some of those culminating events
you plan with your students at various points could probably be more
creative. You know there are resources students can use to make their
own slide presentations and even combine still photographs with videos.
And there are still a few weeks before the next culminating event…
Then there’s the whole range of creative uses for computer technology
that you’ve been considering looking into…
Getting the Most Out of This Exercise
1. Pick a specific need—for a student, for a class, or for you
as a teacher. Identify it in writing. Describe how you’ve dealt
with it in the past.
2. Discuss with colleagues their approach to similar needs, exploring
specifically for technological solutions they have used. (You will have
peers in this class who have considerable technological background and
expertise and may prove to be excellent resources.)
3. Research the technology available within your means (school and economic)
and familiarize yourself with pieces of it that might apply to the need
you’ve identified.
4. Choose a technological approach to filling the need. Experiment with
different ways of using the technology to fulfill the need.
5. At an appropriate time, use the technology in innovative ways. Innovation
is both relative and personal. What’s innovative for you might
not be innovative for someone else. That’s OK.
New Solutions to Old Challenges…Discussion
Use technology to help you present your “challenge” and
“solution” to a small group of your 225 peers. If possible,
demonstrate the technology. Lead a discussion about your challenge and
solution. Use the following to guide your discussion:
1. Discuss the process you followed, at first keeping
the discussion directed toward the specific need you identified. Gradually
allow the discussion to turn toward related knowledge you gained (for
example, perhaps you discovered that a slide-making process excited
students about the creative process in ways that you were able to help
them capture in their writing).
2. Move the discussion toward further uses or approaches
for the technology you used or for technology you would like to use.
Be sure to explain your understanding of how the technology helped address
the student need identified in ways that could not have been addressed
as effectively without it.
3. Be able to instruct your colleagues in the actual use
of the technology. If possible, have the technology available for a
demonstration. If you did not consider the experiment with the technology
a success, discuss the specific ways in which it or the discovery/application
process seemed ineffective. Discuss steps that might be taken in the
future to improve both the exploration and the use of technology.
New Solutions to Old Challenges…Reflection
Prepare a written summary of your experiences. Use the discussion suggestions
above to help organize your summary. Add insights, ideas, etc. you gained
from the small-group discussion.
Save the summary as lastname_solutions.doc
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Tech Skills (5 points
each)
This is an open-ended requirement that will change
depending upon the tech skill level of the class as a group. Skills
evaluation/practice may include (but is not limited to):
- Creation of a spreadsheet with a chart
- Creation of a database to accompany a curricular unit
- Creation of a PowerPoint presentation to teach a lesson
- Use of digital camera or video camera
- Use of a graphics program to create or manipulate digital
media (Picture editors, drawing programs)
These tech skills (if needed) will be taught, reviewed
and assessed during class lab sessions.
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