Week 14: CITEd Toolkit

While exploring the resources available through CITEd. I decided to focus on the big picture of technology integration. The final Toolkit includes:

• Arcademic [sic] Skill Builders - website housing math practice games
• Assistive Technology Implementation Model: CETT TEAM - 
• Getting the Most from Technology in Schools (PDF) - discussion of successful integration of new devices
• Managing Classroom Technology: Tips from Experts  
• Weekly Mashups  - list of web based resources and tools

While gathering resources I thought of teachers who are willing to listen and have demonstrated a desire to try something new in their classroom. I wanted to give them pieces that discuss good pedagogy, best practices specific to technology, and new resources with which to practice their new understandings.

When thinking of teachers who don't like or are afraid of technology, I would seek out articles that discuss the benefits of good technology integration. It would be preferable to include items that showcase learning activities that could not be accomplished without the use of technology, and those that student outcomes were increased because of the use of technology.

I want to like this tool, but it just seems clunkier than sending annotated links in an email. The content is dated (most current publication date I can find is 2009). There are way too many broken links, and no obvious and accessible mechanism for reporting. There is no way for a general user to add new content to the database. These are major issues when you consider the participatory and ever-changing nature of the internet. A basic social bookmarking account could be just, if not more useful, than this closed resource.

For these reasons I would not share these resources, nor any of those that I found within CITEd, with an administrator. They would question my judgement and vision for moving forward with technology integration. My selection of resources would focus more on current academic research and best practices. I would avoid the practical how-to type articles, but might include a single site as an exemplary tool or resource that follows the research and best practices.

Week 9: Copyright & Fair Use

My first job post-college was in the Copyright and Permissions office of a publishing company. Each day I would receive letters from authors and publishers seeking permission to use figures, tables, graphs, and other content previously published in one of our journals. My job was to approve or reject the request based on our criteria. Requests would be from colleges seeking to produce copies of articles for course packets, authors wishing to use a graph in a new article, or publishers seeking to reproduce extended passages in textbooks.

Five years later I was working as a librarian, guiding students and faculty on the ethical use of information. My general rule when working with students of any age: if you didn’t create it, give credit to whoever did. “It” can be ideas, information, pictures, drawings, videos, even sounds.

Everyone accepts that ideas and information should be cited. However many assume that if something has been published to the internet, it is safe to use in any way we’d like. I think the biggest area of copyright abuse occurs through Google Image result sets, which are often treated no differently than the clip-art that comes with MS Word. With the easy availability of material, information seekers find it difficult to believe that there is actually content out there that they are not allowed to use, even if they cite the source. Understanding how to apply the finer details of copyright and fair use can be difficult, even for those familiar with the laws.

For this reason I love Technology & Learning’s "Copyright and Fair Use Guidelines for Teachers". This is a teacher-friendly guide to working with material created by others. I like that it draws the line between what can be shared within the walls of the classroom vs published to the internet. This infographic also distinguishes between the two most common uses within the classroom – instructional tool and new work. The guidelines differentiate between the two uses, clearly explaining what can be shared, how much of the original can be included, and under what circumstances use is permitted. While it doesn’t cover all circumstances, it is a good reference for teachers as they model ethical use of information for their students.

I also really liked the video “Understanding "Fair Use" in a Digital World” published by Common Sense Education. It is a great teaching model for discussing copyright and fair use with students. The teacher guides students as they evaluate works that incorporate copyrighted material. Her examples are of high interest and are from the media culture in which students live. As students grapple with determining whether the videos fall under the rules of fair use, they begin to have some understanding of what is truly acceptable for them to use in their own productions.

Week 6: Working with Videos and Moving Images

Task #1: Storyboarding your MMP

My site will be a self-paced digital workshop highlighting 5 Google Apps tools. I hope to use color to group similar type tools -- extensions, add-on, and apps.

The introduction page will include an overview and description of the tool types. This site does not have to be explored in a linear fashion. All information and media on a specific tool will be housed on a single page. A simple yet clear navigation will be visible on each page, allowing participants to move between topics based on interest.

A consistent font will be used throughout the site. Content will be organized on the page in a consistent manner: overview, how to install, how to access, demonstration, suggested classroom use, links for additional support/reading/inspiration. Media (images, videos, etc.) will have purpose.



Task #2: Concept in 60 Video
I have had Corel Video Studio installed on my laptop for over a year now. I thought this would be a great opportunity to finally figure out how to use it to make a video. It didn't take long for me to remember why I had been putting off using this tool -- there are so many features, options, and attributes. Even working with a premade template was more challenging than I expected. I accepted defeat in certain areas, but was able to maintain consistent transitions, group similar photos, and use the same font throughout.

Week 5: Working with Digital Images

Cropping Exercise
Creative cropping can effect the viewer's perception of what is happening in the image. This photo depicts an active lake resort.

Original image.

Kayak alone in the water.

Serene lakefront property. This was a challenge because of the change in color of the water surface. Only a small amount of the lake could be used, otherwise it looks like there is a wave approaching the shore.

This final selection from the original image shows just the water.

Color Echo Exercise
I really liked the look of this butterfly, and wanted to look more closely at its color composition. I was surprised to see the specific colors found with the eyedropper tool.

I wanted to find a font that complemented the jagged edges and soft texture of the butterfly. I settled for a simple serif, perhaps because it has the classic look found in textbooks and museums. Keeping the same layout and typeface I experimented with background and text color. The final image includes a background developed using a custom gradient. The darker background showed me that I needed to increase tolerance when using the magic wand to remove the white background. Even though I do like the translucent feeling of the final image, the simplicity of the first image is my personal favorite.

Border Variation Exercise

For this exercise I experimented with border color, shape, and texture.

Week 4: Effective Graphic Design

Design Basic Index: Word Portraits Exercise
Sometimes it can be difficult to choose the right font to present a message. The voice of both the font and the message need to complement one another for the message to be clear and without ambiguity.

White Space and Grid Structure

Burger King (BK) and McDonald's (McD) would both like to sell cheeseburgers and other assorted fast food items. Their respective websites have very different grid layouts.

McD follows a more traditional web page grid: navigation at left, large content area at right (in this case a static image of a cheeseburger), account information at top right, secondary promotions at bottom. There is a defined alley between the navigation and the rest of the content, setting it apart from the rest of the material. Social media and other contact information appear at the bottom of this relatively short web page.

BK has an automatic carousel of images highlight multiple products situated below a two tiered informational links.  Below the carousel is a large number of secondary promotions. A very detailed navigation and social media connections appear at the very bottom of this long page.

McD is promoting their best product, while BK is showing they are more than just burgers. While the amount of content on the McD site is less than that of BK, the background texture and harsh color choices make the page feel full and almost too busy. The muted colors and solid textures make BK appear open, clean, light, and modern.

Week 3: Rules of Design

Part A

I selected an infographic that was published as a teaching tool about infographics. I chose this design because I don’t like it -- I find it jarring and unprofessional in appearance. My goal with this analysis is to determine if my personal taste is backed up by the design rules from this week’s readings.

Positives:

• Fonts: There are only 2 fonts used in this piece. One is use for title and headers, the other for the content. That said, the casual and "loose" title font contradicts unpleasantly with the standard and almost boxy content font. 
• Tacky Type Emphasis: The author did not make the fonts worse by applying additional emphasis or having too many shifts in sizing. The standard fonts are used throughout, emphasis is used sparingly.
• Proximity: Content is grouped in way that is logical and useful.
• Background: The background is a gradient orange and is not busy.

Negatives:

• Naked photos: The images end abruptly, making it feel as though they were a late add-on.
• Bad bullets: The Bullet and text are too close, leaving no breathing room.
• 4 Corners and Clutter: Clip art appears everywhere. Instead of illustrating the topic, it detracts the eye from the message.
• Trapped negative spacing: The social media list is made to feel bulky by placing the icon in columns after the name. Instead, the author could have used the icons as bullets, allowing a smoother flow. 
• Margins: The spacing around the graphics and text are inconsistent without purpose. In addition, the spacing between lines is often inconsistent, creating larger than expected negative space.
• General discord: Instead of bringing the entire design together in harmony, the repetition of stars creates discord. The placement appears haphazard, causing the text to appear as secondary material.

Part B
I enjoyed the Harmony activity, but found the Decisive Presentation challenging. No matter how many times I rearranged the images and text I was never happy (still not thrilled with the final result).

Week 2: Community Groups

I have been monitoring, and occasionally contributing to, the below communities since our district adopted Google Apps for Education three years ago. For the purpose of the Multimedia Montage Project I will increase my participation to better understand the tools, gather media, and gain feedback to improve the final product.

The Google Apps for Education Google+ community has been an invaluable resource for keeping up with the constantly changing world of Google Apps for Education. The discussions range from update alerts to usage tips to pedagogy. The community is active and diverse, with a nice mix of eager learners and willing teachers. Google Apps is a broad topic, so the community divides discussions into subtopics for easier browsing and discussion. Many times I have found excellent videos, animated gifts, and infographics that demonstrate product uses or highlight best practices. There are occasional off-topic or spam-like posts, but for the most part this community stays on topic and focuses on using the tools to benefit productivity and student learning.

The Chromebook EDU Google+ community is a community comprised of school-based Chromebook users, administrators, trainers, and product vendors. Like the Google Apps community, discussions are divided into subcategories. While there is some duplication with the Google Apps for Education community, there is a substantial amount of original content and discussion that is specific to Chromebooks. In particular, I have found good information and support in setting up domain or organizational level rules to provide safe yet productive digital learning environments for our students when using Chromebooks. I have also found links to interesting blog posts, which led me to follow the blogs of other Google Apps administrators.

Finally, I will monitor #gafe on Twitter. Like the Google+ communities, this hashtag is used by teachers, trainers, developers, and Google Apps for Education fans. While there is some cross-posting between services, there are voices and ideas not necessarily found in the Google+ communities. There is not nearly as much activity as the Google+ communities, however using this hashtag will help my queries go beyond my small group of Twitter followers.