Setting Personal Growth Goals...

Exploring techniques for infusing technology into education is a complex process as I struggle first to sort through myriad suggestions on various websites... then to figure out what ideas might actually contribute to constructivist learning environments. Mayer and Moreno (2001) helped clarify for me five important filters through which to evaluate the potential usefulness of multimedia technologies.  I realize now that it is not worth throwing every new technological advance at students, but rather, could prove more impactful to select technologies based on their proven efficacy. For example, following the coherence principle and using concise language and images will create more meaning for the recipient, which makes sense when thinking about how knowledge is constructed (p. 4).

As a former classroom teacher I can appreciate how challenging it is to find time to infuse new technology into lesson planning because of time constraints. Teachers are busy lesson planning, keeping up with accountability mandates placed on them by administrators and laws, while at the same time trying to teach curriculum in a way that is differentiated  for all students. With larger/impacted classrooms, less available resources, and more accreditation hoop-jumping required than ever before, it is amazing that anyone would pursue a career as an educator. Personally, I never felt like I could keep up with the technological trends in classroom teaching, and I always felt time was the greatest barrier. Perhaps as an educational leader I will be able to find ways to filter through technological advances in order to provide adequate, meaningful training for educators so that they can better take advantage of what is available to them and their students.

One website I explored provides numerous tools that instructors can use to create multimedia tools to enhance lesson planning and implementation. This website includes tools to create an audio slideshow for the ipod, an interactive "Labview Tutorial" to guide students through a lab assignment, and web diagraming assistance: https://tlt.stonybrook.edu/FacultyServices/Multimedia/MultimediaLab/Pages/ProjectGallery.aspx 

I can see these tools as advantageous to students and instructors alike because they engage students through a medium with which they are already engaged (eg. ipods).  Moreover, the audio slideshow is likely to be effective because it builds on Mayer and Moreno's (2001) "split-attention principle...that words should be presented auditorily rather than visually," ( p.3).

I appreciate the effort of technology/multimedia learning sites to promote creative e-learning. The following link was created by author "David" to show how small adjustments in the presentation of multimedia information can increase student engagement. As a former (okay, still rocking on, I admit it) metal-head, this type of technique, simple as it may seem, would have absolutely grabbed my attention on a deeper level as a teenager (and likely still would today).  http://multimedialearning.com/heavy-metal-makeover-5-design-ideas-to-rock-your-learners-into-compliance/ 

Furthermore, making adjustments to text and thus getting beyond the boring bulleted death-by-powerpoint presentations is the next step for me as an educator personally... I have to push the envelope to bring my own presentations to the next level. That's not to say I'll "rock out" every presentation I give at a conference, but perhaps using "wordles" (http://www.wordle.net/) (see image above) or other creative techniques, I can bring a fresh perspective to otherwise "dry" material that accompanies the content of what I present about particular policies.

In the same way constructive controversies can raise the dynamic interaction of groups, I seek to find a way to create constructively controversial multimedia presentations... Now that my class workgroup is assembled for the final project and we have a topic selected, I am intrigued by how we may push the envelope with technology. My personal goals are to explore newly discovered techniques and infuse them into our final project in such a way that my colleagues can truly visualize educating students in the 21st century. Among my goals are the ability to incorporate virtual learning environments in a meaningful way as well as create experiential learning environments through technology that will build upon constructivist educational principles... I figure if you're going to set goals, why not aim high?!