Stonehenge Revisted

Book Trailers

This month my students are working on creating Book Trailers for the book they have read in Literature Circles. Like a movie trailer, the purpose of these short films is to capture the interest of a potential audience, introduce them to the story, and remind them of the book's title so they will go get a copy for themselves.

Some of my published friends have also been using Book Trailers to help promote their books. Check these out!

The 13th Reality: A Journal of Curious Letters by James Dashner


Already Asleep by Julie Olsen

Dare I Blow Your Mind?

As some of you know, I'm currently enrolled in graduate classes at Utah State University where I'm working toward a Masters in Education in Instructional Technology. I've already completed my courses for the Library Media Endorsement that accompanies this masters. This term I'm taking classes in Instructional Design, and recently I had to write a research paper for one of my classes. I thought I'd post it here for anyone who dares to read it. I just hope it doesn't blow your mind like it fried mine during the writing process!

The relatively new field of Instructional Technology has no single universally accepted definition. “One type of definition equates instructional technology with a particular set of instructional media, often referred to as audiovisual devices. The other type of definition describes instructional technology as a process often labeled the systems approach process.” (Reiser, 1987, p. 11) Other sources define the field as, “The use of a systematic approach to creating and delivering instruction” (Rosenberg, 1999, p. 27), “a blend of psychology, educational, communications, management, systems theory, and social science” (Shiffman, 1995, pg.132), and the definition prepared by the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) Definitions and Terminology Committee is as follows: “Instructional Technology is the theory and practice of design, development, utilization, management, and evaluation of processes and resources for learning.” (Seels & Richey, 1994, pp. 1-9).

According to Dr. Deepak Subramony, (Utah State University, 2007) educational technology “combines and applies instructional, learning, developmental, managerial, and other technologies . . . to the solution of educational problems.” The layperson often confuses the area of study with technology education, which is learning about and operating various forms of technology. This classification is more in line with the instructional media application of audiovisual devices. AECT states, “Educational technology is a complex, integrated process involving people, procedures, ideas, devices, and organization, for analyzing problems, involved in all aspects of human learning.” (AECT, 1977, p. 1) Educational technology, therefore, not only becomes the heart of educational lesson design, but also allows for application in the business world.

One of the earliest fields within educational technology was instructional systems design (ISD), developed by the United States military during World War II. Although several models of instructional development are used in schools today (Essential Elements of Instruction, Collaborative Education, Project-Based Learning, Outcome Based Education) the most common model in instructional technology courses seems to be the ADDIE Model, “analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation.” (Strickland, 2006).

Three main theoretical schools---Behaviorism, Cognitivism, and Constructivism---are present in both psychology and educational technology literature. The Encyclopedia of Educational Technology places the theories and practices into six categories: “cognition and learning, analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation.” (SDSU Department of Technology, 2007), thus, affirming the use of the ADDIE model by its organization.

Instructional Technology

A subset of Educational Technology, instructional technology is more than exclusively the use of technological hardware in the classroom. The field has expanded, requiring its own subsets including human performance technology for the pure management of the research and application of the new concepts. Because of the labor shortage in the U. S. during World War II, instructional technology came to the forefront as a way to provide methodology for training workers in a systematic and efficient manner. Defined as, “the systemic and systematic application of strategies and techniques derived from behavior and physical sciences concepts and other knowledge to the solution of instructional problems” (University of Wyoming, 2004), instructional technology went beyond theory to the practice of design, development, utilization, management and evaluation of resources and processes for learning.

Performance Technology

Performance Technologies, often referred to as Human Performance Technology, are systems where thinking is applied to human resource activities or “the systematic set of methods, procedures, and strategies for solving human performance problems.” (Talaq & Ahmed, 2004) As an example, the layman might remember seeing the 1950 version of Cheaper by the Dozen based on the book by Frank B. Gilbreth and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey, which depicts the life and research of their father, Frank Gilbreth, a pioneer in the field of motion study who often used his family as guinea pigs with amusing and sometimes embarrassing results. As other psychologists such as B.F. Skinner studied the way people learned, educators moved from the simple model of apprenticeship toward programmed instruction. Soon the importance of instructional feedback and reinforcement were noted, ideas were shared, and systematic approaches were created to deliver instruction. These approaches are now known as instructional technology or instructional design systems. “Task analysis became critical as instructional technologists realized the need to identify, before instruction was designed, what they intended to teach people to do.” (Rosenberg, 1999, 27).

Relationship of ET, IT, PT

As one considers the relationship among educational technology, instructional technology, and performance technology, the first apparent similarity is their reliance on the definition of technology. Accepting that the meaning can be something deeper than just the manipulation of devices such as computers, projectors, or audio devices, technology must also include the system or process by which information is learned, then applied in a variety of situations.

Educational technologies may include systems other than those directly related to instruction. Instructor policies and procedures, library media acquisition and availability, and school adopted mission statements are all areas that are important to the educational community, but that are not necessarily taught to students as part of the learning goals.

Educational technology solves educational problems. Instructional technology is a subset of educational technology, meant to solve instructional problems. Going beyond just theory, instructional technology allows the means for educators and those in the business world to study a problem, then craft ways to present information that allows success in not only learning, but also applying information to increase performance quality. As Dr. Subramony explained in class, “Sex education is about attitudes and values, whereas sex instruction is about How-To concepts, principles, and training procedures.” This is where performance technology ties in. Our world is always looking for ways to build the proverbial better mousetrap. The worker who is trained to use information in the most time efficient manner becomes an asset in the workplace.

Conclusion

Despite the narrow view that society has of instructional technology, the study and implementation of design models such as ADDIE can increase proficiency levels for students by giving the instructor more focus and direction when preparing educational materials.

Bibliography

Association for Educational Communications and Technology. (1977). The definition of educational technology: a summary. In The definition of educational technology, (pp. 1-16). Washington, D.C.: AECT.

Gilbreth, Frank B. & Carey, Ernestine Gilbreth. (1948). Cheaper by the Dozen. New York, T.Y. Crowell Co.

Reisner, Robert A. (1987). Instructional technology: a history. In R.M. Gagne (Ed.), Instructional Technology: Foundations (pp. 11-48). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 

Rosenberg, M. J., Coscarelli, W. C., & Hutchinson, C. S. (1999). The origins and evolution of the field. Ch. 2 in Stolovitch & Keeps (Eds.) Handbook of human performance technology, 2nd ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

San Diego State University. (2007). Encyclopedia of Educational Technology. Retrieved September 15, 2007, from http://coe.sdsu.edu/eet/.

Seels, Barbara B. & Richey, Rita C. (1994). Instructional technology: the definition and domains of the field. Washington, D. C.: Association for Educational Communications and Technology.

Shiffman, Shirl S. (1995). Instructional Systems Design: Five Views of the Field. In G.J. Anglin (Ed.), Instructional Technology: Past, Present, and Future^nd ed.) (pp. 131-142). Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited. (2

Strickland, A.W. (2006). ADDIE. Idaho State University College of Education Science, Math & Technology Education. Retrieved September 15, 2007, from http://ed.isu.edu/addie/index.html.

Talaq, Jaleel & Ahmed, Pervaiz K. (2004). Why HPT, not TQM? An examination of theHPT concept. Journal of Management Development, Vol. 23 Issue 3, 202 – 218. Retrieved September 15, 2007, from Emerald database.

University of Wyoming (2004). College of Education Department of Adult Learning & Technology. Retrieved September 15, 2007, from http://www.uwyo.edu/alt/introduceprogram.asp.

Cleaning House the Clean Sweep Way

Just letting all of you know about my latest national publication.

Visit Desert Saints Magazine at the following link:


http://desertsaintsmagazine.com/2007/09/01/cleaning-house-the-clean-sweep-way/

Technology of the Future Comes to Today

While I was in Logan for my graduate classes this week, I had the opportunity to visit the Adele & Dale Young Education Technology Center (YETC) on the campus of the Utah State University. The YETC is a resource center for the College of Education and Human Services, houses open-access computer facilities, a K-12 curriculum materials library, a NASA Educator Resource Center, as well as collections of educational technology products.

Our first stop, was a PC computer room where we explored the Teacher Link website. (http://www.teacherlink.usu.edu/TLYETC/index.html) This site takes users to resources that teachers can immediately use in their classrooms, but teacher or not, you’ve got to visit the Clip Art section which contains over 1 million free pieces and backgrounds to use in presentations, newsletters, etc. Be sure to visit the NASA link as well where you can see what’s happening at the Space Centers in real time. If you run into any pages that require a password, just contact the YETC center or email Nathan.Smith@usu.edu and they can help you.

Next we visited the Mac computer center. I used to use a Mac, but so many educational programs were not compatible all those years ago when I bought my first computer, so I abandoned the system I loved. Now I may go back! These computers read both Mac and PC programs, and the programs are easy to use. In less than 5 minutes, I learned how to use iMovie and made a little film of myself, using the built in camera and music tracks.

Our third computer room took us back to PCs where we learned about Vegas Movie Maker, a professional quality editing system that lets budding film makers produce independent movies on DVD. One of the latest things in computer use that they demonstrated is to have two monitors connected to your computer so that you can work in several programs at once without needing to switch from tab to tab.

All of this technology surrounding me made me feel like I was on the set of Star Trek, but it was also exciting to learn about the capabilities that home computer systems can have today. Now I want to go spend a few hours learning how to use some of these new programs so that I can introduce them to my students not too long into the future.

Making Movies

Summer vacation means making movies around my house. My fourteen-year-old son Chan has wanted to be a film director since—well—forever! From his early forays into acting out Spider-Man to making every stick in the backyard into a light saber, Chan has been working on the choreography of his dream. His movies and ideas are much more sophisticated now than they were back then, and he is making progress that could someday make him a star.

Chan watches movies over and over, not just for a story, but to see how lighting, camera angles, and action sequences blend together with soundtracks, visual nuance, and subplots to build a mood. He is a connoisseur of film who loves not only contemporary film, but classics as well.

His favorite genres are Westerns, Action/Adventure, and movies that feature Super-Heroes, like Superman, Spider-Man, Batman, Fantastic Four, and X-Men. John Wayne, Harrison Ford, Clint Eastwood, Viggo Mortensen, Ewan McGregor, Orlando Bloom, and Johnny Depp are regularly heard coming from our big screen TV. Late-night film festival feature the entire series of Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Carribean, Back to the Future, and The Lord of the Rings.

For his own filming, Chan is currently directing and starring in three major film projects—two action/adventure and one a sci-fi..Kids I’ve never seen before flock into our home to work on sets that have grown in our garage, backyard, or the neighbor’s unfinished basement. Every day Chan comes to me to talk over a new script idea.

In today’s world of technology, all it takes is a digital camera, a computer, and a hosting server, and within no time, a movie is born. This simple set-up is a start for kids like Chan, who could someday take over the theaters of the world.

Rated “R”

One of my students came to me at the end of the school year, absolutely horrified. “Mrs. Staheli, I tried to log onto your podcast at school, and I couldn’t. The message said your podcast was rated R.”

After explaining to him that the R-rating meant simply ‘Restricted’ by our district’s filter, I assured the student that the content of the podcast was completely safe, although I did get a big chuckle out of informing LDS author Jeff Savage that his interview was R-rated.

I’ve had the R rating show up on my school filter before. They system didn’t used to let students even see the blog where the podcast is located. All it took to open that up to my class was an e-mail to the district system administrator, giving them the blog location and purpose. A couple of days later, the blog was accessible every time. I’m sure the same will be true of the podcasts once I send off a message from school.

When you are working with the internet, don’t assume that the computer you are on is filter free, and don’t assume that a filter means the material is forever unreachable. Read the error messages and see if your system administrator can open up your access to the site that is rated R, especially if it’s just the resource your students need.

Ripping Music

In my quest to learn everything I can about technology before I move into a school library and have to look like I actually understand what the students are talking about, I’ve added a new talent to my repertoire: I’ve learned how to rip a CD.

Now I know, that doesn’t sound like an easy task. Those silver disks break easy when you smash them against something or step on one with your heel, but to actually be able to rip one with your bare hands? Impossible!

Of course, that’s not at all what it means to rip a CD. Silly me!

To rip a CD means simply to transfer the contents—usually music—from the CD onto your computer files for the purpose of listening to them while you work or so you can load them onto your MP3 player. Since an MP3 will hold a lot more music than a CD will, this transfer allows you to listen to music for a longer time without the interruption of changing the CD.

I won’t go into the details of how to rip a CD. You can find instructions on the internet for your own system. My purpose here is to say, if I can do it, anyone can! Whoever thought a woman who once listened 78 rpm records, reel-to-reel tapes, and had a 8-Track player in her stereo could advance this far into understand the modern world of audio?

iTunes and American Idol

I am a huge fan of American Idol. Since Season 2, I’ve bought the compilation CD and many of the CDs the finalists have produced.

So this year, I was bugged that AI wasn’t releasing a compilation. How dare they? I wanted my favorites and I wanted them now!

And today, that’s exactly what I got. I celebrated a birthday two weeks ago and my husband bought me an iPod. Today I learned to download music, and I hit the American Idol website first thing, and I’m here to tell you, this is better than any compilation CD.

Not only can I have studio versions of the songs I loved, but I can pick and choose which artists I want—Sorry, Sanjaya. I skipped your tracks.—and I can have more than one song by the performers I most like.

Next stop, iTunes. Welcome to the world of technology!

Adding Tags or Labels to Blogs and Podcasts

I’ve recently attended two technology conferences, and at both of them participants were taught about the importance of using tags, sometimes known as labels.

Tags allow visitors to find your entries more easily. Let’s say you were interested in the reality television show, American Idol. A search on Google will lead you to nearly 24 millions hits, including the connection for the official A.I. site, a daunting task to search through even a fraction of those for the information you might need.

At the top of the Google task bar, click on More, choose blogs and re-enter your search keywords. Although 623,000 hits now appear, you’ll also notice the toolbar down the left side of the screen which lets you to sort entries for the most recent postings, as recent as 2 minutes ago as I write.

Back at Google, a click on Even More will take you to more options for searching including images, videos, and books. Add the word podcasts to the search line, and additional links will be found for you.

Adding labels to a blog page provide another service to readers. Each label not only identifies the subject covered in the entries, but it also tells readers how many blogs contain information of that topic. A click on one of these labels takes readers directly to the topics they are interested in reading. For instance, if you visit www.WritingontheWallblog.blogspot.com and click on the label of my name, you’ll be taken directly to the entries I have made since this blog began.

Explore your favorite blog and podcast sites. Do the authors use tags or labels? Do these labels help you find entries that are of interest to you? How might you use tags and labels on your own blogs and podcasts, either now or in the future? How do you think they will become valuable to you?

Technology is King!

I've had a great time this week learning how to make podcasts, and experimenting with ways to improve my blog, use new programs, and advertise what I'm doing.

I hope you'll visit www.LuAnnsLibrary.blogspot.com to read about al that I've learned, but here's a link to the first episode os "The Author's Corner" featuring an interview with Jeff Savage.

Click To Play

The Author's Corner - Jeffrey S. Savage

The Author's Corner, hosted by Lu Ann Staheli, brings interviews with best-selling authors directly to you.

Today's guest is Jeffrey S. Savage, author of Cutting Edge, Into the Fire, and the Shandra Covington series, including House of Secrets and Dead on Arrival.

Click To Play