Final EDTC 620: Essay & Reflection
![Picture](/uploads/3/2/0/2/32023935/1438718858.png)
Introduction
In this ever widening digital age, as teachers, we must be consistently willing to evolve both our classrooms and our teaching methods in order to meet the needs and instructional approaches that best meet the unique learning styles of our tech-savvy students. While having this mindset is not only appropriate when it comes to the professional flexibility so inherent in this profession, it is also indicative of greater societal drift towards technology in general. Even fifteen years ago, when I was matriculating through the primary and secondary grades, technology education did not involve much more than basic word processing, and the occasional presentation medium. In stark contrast, today, even our youngest elementary students are required to develop and hone their technological skills in order to not only compete, but to also be considered literate in today’s digital world, as, “learning and acquiring digital literacy skills that are vital for college and career readiness” (Baron, 2014, p.1). Given such considerations, my time spent in these graduate courses has helped me hone my own technological literacy in order to better serve my students and my school community as a whole, through mediums such as the classroom website provided here.
Website Design
Once I reviewed the necessary components for this website assignment, I knew right away that I would definitely base my continued design efforts around my already published classroom website. Ever since I first created this website back in EDTC 600, myself, my students and their parents have consistently utilized it as a preferred mode of communication. Given its success, I not only wanted to build additional pages into this existing site, but what I really wanted to do was to re-tool the website from the ground up, in order to incorporate all of the ideas and skills learned in this course. After I had decided on this course of action, I started with the existing site of ten pages, added six additional pages to the classroom components, and re-designed the entire sixteen-page site.
My first goal was to add as many quality images as I could. Utilizing my wealth of classroom and school photos collected over the course of two years, I edited the images in Gimp, and the web authoring site of Weebly directly, in order to incorporate many inviting photos throughout the sixteen pages. Most of my photos are intended to pique the interest of both my student and parent visitors, depicting students at work or at play on a variety of school functions or trips. For the most part, I tried to correlate the photos with the subject of the page itself. For example, in my page on book recommendations, I included photos from our annual book week. After our many discussions and readings on the undeniable power of an image when it comes to communicating messages and promoting skills in visual literacy, I was much more keenly aware of the photos that I chose for each page. This greater appreciation and understanding of visual literacy, or the ability, “to discriminate and interpret visual actions, objects, symbols, and other images, while gaining meaning from them” (Moore, 2003, p.6) made the greater dispersal and inclusion of images on each page a top priority.
Following my graphic work on the website, my next chief goal was the overall quality of navigation found throughout the site. If there is one thing that I have taken to heart this semester, it is the fact that an otherwise attractive and informative site can be ruined by poor navigation. In many ways, as web authors, we must think of our sites as digital publications in which we must provide our readers with an innately interesting, although easily navigable story. In order to promote easy navigation, I wanted to have clear and overall consistent navigation tools on each page. The first tool that I was sure to update and include was a header on the left side of all of my pages. While simple, headers help promote a sense of continuity on my site, a tool that users can peruse in order to find their way back to the home page or any of the other pages that might be of interest. This uniform design and navigational tool helps to, “provide basic navigation links and create an identity that tells users they are within the site domain” (Lynch & Horton, 2011, p.2). In order to further promote good navigation practices, I also incorporated all of my sixteen pages into easily identifiable and titled tabs in my header. As part of the header, my website offers a total of 16 tabs including the home page. These tabs are linked to multiple pages that have been designed for student usage, parent usage, and educator usage. In addition to keeping the many pages simple and concise given their specific functions, tabs are yet another positive navigational tool. From any page on the site, my users are able to re-direct themselves back to the homepage or any other page of their choosing. This continuity found in the tabs and header on each page yet again allows any visitors the ability to, “return easily to the home page and to other major navigation points in the site” (Lynch & Horton, 2011, pp. 1-2).
Speaking of my users, another concern when drafting, compiling and re-working my website was that of my current and future users. My users consist of three main groups: 1) My students; 2) The parents of my students; and 3) Peer educators and faculty members. As my primary audience, many of the pages that I worked on and created were intended for my third grade students, including: Online Resources for Practice at Home; Forgot Your Homework at School? Here is an Extra Copy; KidBlog:Third Grade Thoughts; Classroom Websites; Ms. Scheffer’s Reading Corner; & 5th Grade History Website. These pages were created in order to help support and pique the curiosity of my students. In fact, many of the pages provide links to our tertiary sites and blogs in order for our classroom website to serve as a primary launching pad for student interaction with the many sites, blogs, and platforms utilized in the classroom. Other pages provide students with links to quality sites to use at home for practice or fun, in addition to the embedded documents pertaining to on-going projects and homework. Such pages combine to indirectly benefit and support student learning as well as their efficacy in using web-based technologies to construct meaning and inform their learning. Such practical skills help to, “educate our children to take their place in the economies of the 21st century” (Stephenson, 2010).
In addition to my student users, many of my pages were created specifically for the parents of my students, including: Resources to Use at Home; Third & Fifth Grade Travels; Homework Policy; Classroom Economy & Behavior Management; About Ms. Scheffer; Teaching Philosophy; & Ms. Scheffer’s Classroom Blog. These pages help to illuminate my classroom policies, my own educational history and philosophy, as well as current events all for the benefit of my parents. By delineating my own profile as a teacher, as well as the finer points of my classroom routines and expectations, I am providing my parents with a greater insight into the finer aspects of their children’s classroom, and the particular knowledge and skill-set that I bring to the classroom.
Last but certainly not least, one page in particular, was created for the benefit of my colleagues and peer educators: Resources to Try in Your Classroom. Filled with links to helpful technologies in the form of hardware, software, and webpages, I tried to post the most helpful tools that I have accumulated during my time in these courses for other like-minded teachers to utilize as well. Keeping this in mind, I also provided a link to my personal blog in edublogs, which is replete with information regarding my current studies, along with more resources.
Web-Based Unit
Ever since I first began these graduate studies, I have created a variety of web-based units and lessons in order to better serve the needs of my digital-native student population, as well as the evolution of my own teaching methodologies. With the steady rise of asynchronous learning and distance learning, in my life-time as an educator, I am sure that I will see the coming predominance of such modes of learning. Considering this, more and more teachers are opting to instruct their students in a variety of formats, blending traditional classroom learning with web-based lessons and units completed over the course of a semester.
Bearing all of this in mind, the web-based lessons that I often create have been developed in correspondence with the curriculum of my fifth grade history class. As these classes represent the oldest students that I deal with on a daily basis, these soon-to-be middle school students are the best prepared to deal with the rigors and finesse necessary to complete and actually absorb the information found within such a unit or lesson. The lesson that I completed for this particular assignment was an eight page website dedicated to the dichotomous life of Benedict Arnold. Much of the fifth grade history curriculum is dedicated to the American Revolution, and many lessons focus on the life, accomplishments, and curiosities of the figures from that era. A personal favorite of myself and many of my students, is the curious life of Benedict Arnold, a man who was both a revolutionary hero and known traitor. Constructed as a jig-saw assignment in which the classroom is split into groups which take on different facets of Arnold’s life, in order to become experts on said area and report back to the class as a whole; the website is aimed at encouraging student research and inquiry. For example, each of the seven pages incorporates a variety of embedded and linked resources strategic to providing students a concise overview of the life of this complex man, including a number of hyperlinks and videos. Taken as a whole, this website not only advances student learning in terms of their understanding of a historic figure from the American Revolution, but it also heightens their understanding of hypermedia and hypertext or, “text composed of blocks of words linked electronically by multiple paths, chains, or trails” (Landow, 1992, p.1).
Akin to my previous assignment in hypermedia scaffolding, what made this website successful was the fact that each page naturally led into the successive page. Just as one instinctively learns, the discovery of new information and thought naturally leads to the curious onslaught of tertiary facts and related knowledge. Like an avalanche of information, knowledge cannot be contained to a pre-set number of pages in a website. However, that was where my only concern for the website also originated. Due to my nature, I was not satisfied with my website’s finite amount of pages. Especially in history, one can never boil down a figure or time-period to a prescribed list or set of characteristics.
Conclusion
In the end, I learned a great deal over the course of this semester, learning that I put to practical usage in the creation of my website. Over the past three months, I have taken part in numerous discussions, completed many projects, and absorbed countless readings about a multitude of subjects relevant to web-authoring and student learning. With a particular attention to graphic design and proper web navigation, I have taken to heart these subjects aimed directly at the proper way to create an authentic and engaging website for classroom usage. Throughout the creation of said webpage, I learned that consistency and patience is key, akin to the creation process of any lesson or unit. Most importantly of all, however, this website is not just another project or writing done for its own sake. Much to the contrary, it is a working and evolving site that is utilized on a daily basis by myself, my students, and their parents.
Reference List
Baron, K. (2014). What’s the impact of overzealous internet filtering in schools? Retrieved June 9, 2015 from http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2014/06/26/whats-the-impact-of-overzealous-internet-filtering-in-schools/
Landow, G. (1992). The history of hypertext and its history as a concept. Retrieved June 29, 2015 from http://www.cyberartsweb.org/cpace/ht/jhup/history.html#1
Lynch, P., & Horton, S. (2011). Web style guide. (3rd Ed.). Retrieved June 29, 2015 from http://www.webstyleguide.com/
Moore, K. (2003). Visual learning: Integrating visual imagery into the early childhood classroom. Retrieved May 26, 2015 from http://teacher.scholastic.com/polaroid/pdfs/visuallit.pdf
Stephenson, A. (Producer). (2010). RSA animate – Changing educational paradigms [Video file]. Retrieved June 7, 2015 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U
In this ever widening digital age, as teachers, we must be consistently willing to evolve both our classrooms and our teaching methods in order to meet the needs and instructional approaches that best meet the unique learning styles of our tech-savvy students. While having this mindset is not only appropriate when it comes to the professional flexibility so inherent in this profession, it is also indicative of greater societal drift towards technology in general. Even fifteen years ago, when I was matriculating through the primary and secondary grades, technology education did not involve much more than basic word processing, and the occasional presentation medium. In stark contrast, today, even our youngest elementary students are required to develop and hone their technological skills in order to not only compete, but to also be considered literate in today’s digital world, as, “learning and acquiring digital literacy skills that are vital for college and career readiness” (Baron, 2014, p.1). Given such considerations, my time spent in these graduate courses has helped me hone my own technological literacy in order to better serve my students and my school community as a whole, through mediums such as the classroom website provided here.
Website Design
Once I reviewed the necessary components for this website assignment, I knew right away that I would definitely base my continued design efforts around my already published classroom website. Ever since I first created this website back in EDTC 600, myself, my students and their parents have consistently utilized it as a preferred mode of communication. Given its success, I not only wanted to build additional pages into this existing site, but what I really wanted to do was to re-tool the website from the ground up, in order to incorporate all of the ideas and skills learned in this course. After I had decided on this course of action, I started with the existing site of ten pages, added six additional pages to the classroom components, and re-designed the entire sixteen-page site.
My first goal was to add as many quality images as I could. Utilizing my wealth of classroom and school photos collected over the course of two years, I edited the images in Gimp, and the web authoring site of Weebly directly, in order to incorporate many inviting photos throughout the sixteen pages. Most of my photos are intended to pique the interest of both my student and parent visitors, depicting students at work or at play on a variety of school functions or trips. For the most part, I tried to correlate the photos with the subject of the page itself. For example, in my page on book recommendations, I included photos from our annual book week. After our many discussions and readings on the undeniable power of an image when it comes to communicating messages and promoting skills in visual literacy, I was much more keenly aware of the photos that I chose for each page. This greater appreciation and understanding of visual literacy, or the ability, “to discriminate and interpret visual actions, objects, symbols, and other images, while gaining meaning from them” (Moore, 2003, p.6) made the greater dispersal and inclusion of images on each page a top priority.
Following my graphic work on the website, my next chief goal was the overall quality of navigation found throughout the site. If there is one thing that I have taken to heart this semester, it is the fact that an otherwise attractive and informative site can be ruined by poor navigation. In many ways, as web authors, we must think of our sites as digital publications in which we must provide our readers with an innately interesting, although easily navigable story. In order to promote easy navigation, I wanted to have clear and overall consistent navigation tools on each page. The first tool that I was sure to update and include was a header on the left side of all of my pages. While simple, headers help promote a sense of continuity on my site, a tool that users can peruse in order to find their way back to the home page or any of the other pages that might be of interest. This uniform design and navigational tool helps to, “provide basic navigation links and create an identity that tells users they are within the site domain” (Lynch & Horton, 2011, p.2). In order to further promote good navigation practices, I also incorporated all of my sixteen pages into easily identifiable and titled tabs in my header. As part of the header, my website offers a total of 16 tabs including the home page. These tabs are linked to multiple pages that have been designed for student usage, parent usage, and educator usage. In addition to keeping the many pages simple and concise given their specific functions, tabs are yet another positive navigational tool. From any page on the site, my users are able to re-direct themselves back to the homepage or any other page of their choosing. This continuity found in the tabs and header on each page yet again allows any visitors the ability to, “return easily to the home page and to other major navigation points in the site” (Lynch & Horton, 2011, pp. 1-2).
Speaking of my users, another concern when drafting, compiling and re-working my website was that of my current and future users. My users consist of three main groups: 1) My students; 2) The parents of my students; and 3) Peer educators and faculty members. As my primary audience, many of the pages that I worked on and created were intended for my third grade students, including: Online Resources for Practice at Home; Forgot Your Homework at School? Here is an Extra Copy; KidBlog:Third Grade Thoughts; Classroom Websites; Ms. Scheffer’s Reading Corner; & 5th Grade History Website. These pages were created in order to help support and pique the curiosity of my students. In fact, many of the pages provide links to our tertiary sites and blogs in order for our classroom website to serve as a primary launching pad for student interaction with the many sites, blogs, and platforms utilized in the classroom. Other pages provide students with links to quality sites to use at home for practice or fun, in addition to the embedded documents pertaining to on-going projects and homework. Such pages combine to indirectly benefit and support student learning as well as their efficacy in using web-based technologies to construct meaning and inform their learning. Such practical skills help to, “educate our children to take their place in the economies of the 21st century” (Stephenson, 2010).
In addition to my student users, many of my pages were created specifically for the parents of my students, including: Resources to Use at Home; Third & Fifth Grade Travels; Homework Policy; Classroom Economy & Behavior Management; About Ms. Scheffer; Teaching Philosophy; & Ms. Scheffer’s Classroom Blog. These pages help to illuminate my classroom policies, my own educational history and philosophy, as well as current events all for the benefit of my parents. By delineating my own profile as a teacher, as well as the finer points of my classroom routines and expectations, I am providing my parents with a greater insight into the finer aspects of their children’s classroom, and the particular knowledge and skill-set that I bring to the classroom.
Last but certainly not least, one page in particular, was created for the benefit of my colleagues and peer educators: Resources to Try in Your Classroom. Filled with links to helpful technologies in the form of hardware, software, and webpages, I tried to post the most helpful tools that I have accumulated during my time in these courses for other like-minded teachers to utilize as well. Keeping this in mind, I also provided a link to my personal blog in edublogs, which is replete with information regarding my current studies, along with more resources.
Web-Based Unit
Ever since I first began these graduate studies, I have created a variety of web-based units and lessons in order to better serve the needs of my digital-native student population, as well as the evolution of my own teaching methodologies. With the steady rise of asynchronous learning and distance learning, in my life-time as an educator, I am sure that I will see the coming predominance of such modes of learning. Considering this, more and more teachers are opting to instruct their students in a variety of formats, blending traditional classroom learning with web-based lessons and units completed over the course of a semester.
Bearing all of this in mind, the web-based lessons that I often create have been developed in correspondence with the curriculum of my fifth grade history class. As these classes represent the oldest students that I deal with on a daily basis, these soon-to-be middle school students are the best prepared to deal with the rigors and finesse necessary to complete and actually absorb the information found within such a unit or lesson. The lesson that I completed for this particular assignment was an eight page website dedicated to the dichotomous life of Benedict Arnold. Much of the fifth grade history curriculum is dedicated to the American Revolution, and many lessons focus on the life, accomplishments, and curiosities of the figures from that era. A personal favorite of myself and many of my students, is the curious life of Benedict Arnold, a man who was both a revolutionary hero and known traitor. Constructed as a jig-saw assignment in which the classroom is split into groups which take on different facets of Arnold’s life, in order to become experts on said area and report back to the class as a whole; the website is aimed at encouraging student research and inquiry. For example, each of the seven pages incorporates a variety of embedded and linked resources strategic to providing students a concise overview of the life of this complex man, including a number of hyperlinks and videos. Taken as a whole, this website not only advances student learning in terms of their understanding of a historic figure from the American Revolution, but it also heightens their understanding of hypermedia and hypertext or, “text composed of blocks of words linked electronically by multiple paths, chains, or trails” (Landow, 1992, p.1).
Akin to my previous assignment in hypermedia scaffolding, what made this website successful was the fact that each page naturally led into the successive page. Just as one instinctively learns, the discovery of new information and thought naturally leads to the curious onslaught of tertiary facts and related knowledge. Like an avalanche of information, knowledge cannot be contained to a pre-set number of pages in a website. However, that was where my only concern for the website also originated. Due to my nature, I was not satisfied with my website’s finite amount of pages. Especially in history, one can never boil down a figure or time-period to a prescribed list or set of characteristics.
Conclusion
In the end, I learned a great deal over the course of this semester, learning that I put to practical usage in the creation of my website. Over the past three months, I have taken part in numerous discussions, completed many projects, and absorbed countless readings about a multitude of subjects relevant to web-authoring and student learning. With a particular attention to graphic design and proper web navigation, I have taken to heart these subjects aimed directly at the proper way to create an authentic and engaging website for classroom usage. Throughout the creation of said webpage, I learned that consistency and patience is key, akin to the creation process of any lesson or unit. Most importantly of all, however, this website is not just another project or writing done for its own sake. Much to the contrary, it is a working and evolving site that is utilized on a daily basis by myself, my students, and their parents.
Reference List
Baron, K. (2014). What’s the impact of overzealous internet filtering in schools? Retrieved June 9, 2015 from http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2014/06/26/whats-the-impact-of-overzealous-internet-filtering-in-schools/
Landow, G. (1992). The history of hypertext and its history as a concept. Retrieved June 29, 2015 from http://www.cyberartsweb.org/cpace/ht/jhup/history.html#1
Lynch, P., & Horton, S. (2011). Web style guide. (3rd Ed.). Retrieved June 29, 2015 from http://www.webstyleguide.com/
Moore, K. (2003). Visual learning: Integrating visual imagery into the early childhood classroom. Retrieved May 26, 2015 from http://teacher.scholastic.com/polaroid/pdfs/visuallit.pdf
Stephenson, A. (Producer). (2010). RSA animate – Changing educational paradigms [Video file]. Retrieved June 7, 2015 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U