Click here for Ted-Ed video
Click here for EdPuzzle Video
Five benefits to utilizing video in educational lessons
1. Student Engagement
Videos have been known to hold the attention of viewers. People "binge" watch TV shows for hours on end and it often feels like hardly any time at all has passed. The Sage Whitepaper, Assessing the Impact of Educational Video on Student Engagement, Critical Thinking and Learning: The Current State of Play by Michael Carmichael et al, states, "There is recent evidence to suggest that the incorporation of a video within a course framework can influence students' motivations to engage with course materials" (10).
2. Deeper Understanding
According to the same Carmichaek, et al article, "(video has the) ability to provide broader context and visual detail that can help develop a fuller understanding of the topics concerned" (11). Personally, we can see this through the plethora of online ho-to videos on Youtube.
3. Student Confidence
Seeing something actually take place instead of having to create the visuals removes a lot of the guess-work and self-doubt. Carmichael, et al states "evidence suggests that the act of watching a video-modelling where an instructor performs a task has shown to increase the confidence in students in believing they could also perform the same task" (13).
4. Accommodation for Learning Styles
According to the Emily Cruse article, Using Educational Video in the Classroom: Theory, Research and Practice, "There are three primary modalities through which people take in information:
visual, auditory and tactile" (5). Utilizing multiple delivery methods simultaneously can reach more learners effectively.
5. Reinforces Material
Typically a video is played to add depth to an objective or topic that has already been introduced. Te video naturally reinforces what has been introduced, l;earned or discussed previously.
Relationship between video prompts, self-regulation and metacognition
The Janet Sedgley doctoral dissertation, Video Prompts for Self-regulated Learning: Metacognition, and Reflection Activity, discusses the relationship between video prompts, self-regulation and metacognition. The study found that students were more apt to regularly use and complete Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) when video prompts were uses in place of text prompts. Sedgley stated, "video prompts are proposed as a way to provide humanlike and consistent prompts in an online learning environment for SRL and metacognitive monitoring and their activation" (5) and "The use of video prompts reflects New Media Consortium’s assertion that the new concept of language includes multimodal, visual, and auditory elements and immediacy (10). Ultimately, utilizing these video prompts brings a deeper, broader-reaching experience to students. Since they are engaged on many different levels including visual and auditory, they are more engaged and effectively perform better.
Friday, March 29, 2019
Thursday, March 14, 2019
Computational Thinking
What is Computational Thinking?
Computational Thinking or CT is an approach to problem solving. Specifically, any problem, regardless of the professional or educational field it represents, can be solved by way of Computational Thinking. CT is the process of breaking down a problem, recognizing patterns, identifying principles and finally developing step by step instructions on how to solve a problem.
We use computational thinking whenever someone asks us how to get somewhere. Ideally, we break the route up into manageable parts like whenever someone has to turn or get on the expressway, and then we try to determine the best alternatives, based on our knowledge and experience, we then put all of those directions together and finally deliver the set route to whomever is asking.
CT Skills and corresponding activities
Why should one integrate CT in their classroom?
Hadi Partovi founded code.org and a grassroots movement called the Hour of Code which became the largest educational movement in history with well over 100 million students participating.
The benefits for students goes far beyond potential career exposure and preparation.
https://hourofcode.com/us
Bill Gates stated, "Learning to write programs stretches your mind, and helps you think better, creates a way of thinking about things that I think is helpful in all domains." Coding requires and helps develop discipline, attention to detail, patience and outcome prediction just to name a few. Computational Thinking can hep one's students in all aspects of their lives.
Part of the hesitation in incorporating more computational thinking in different disciplines and grade levels is the lack of a clear definition for the term computational thinking. Part of the confusion is that computational thinking used to strictly refer to computer programming. As stated a the beginning of this blog post computational thinking was defined as an approach to problem solving. The Voogt, et al article shares this idea as it states, "CT does not necessarily require the use of programming nor are CT scholars making the claim that programming has to be the context in which these skills are developed" (716). The general consensus behind CT is that those trained to think computationally can use abstraction and apply mathematical reasoning and design-based thinking when approaching a matter (720). The article also highlights on page 721 that "the ability to think computationally is essential to conceptual understanding in every field, through the process of problem solving and algorithmic thinking." Ultimately, pedagogical concerns in regards to different disciplines are alleviated once a clearer definition of CT is ascertained. There is value in utilizing CT in science, math, social studies, language arts as well as computer science!
Code Studio project on Code.org
https://studio.code.org/c/824260930
Python Project
I really enjoyed this project and can see the benefit of breaking problems into solvable chunks. The grid layout on the Python project and the angles on the Code Studio project were particularly challenging to me. I also had a few performance issues with the Python project website. The code was good, but the site wouldn't let me move forward until I restarted and entered the same exact code.
Since I work in IT, I tend to break problems down in this fashion already, but it will be helpful to apply this troubleshooting-type thinking to non-technological problems!
References:
https://computationalthinkingcourse.withgoogle.com/unit?lesson=8&unit
https://youtu.be/PlJtSxA-AY8
http://www.gettingsmart.com/2015/10/5-things-you-need-to-know-about-the-hour-of-code/
https://blackboard.utdl.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-6695716-dt-content-rid-56235474_1/courses/XLST.N5.201910/computational%20thinking%20in%20education.pdf
Computational Thinking or CT is an approach to problem solving. Specifically, any problem, regardless of the professional or educational field it represents, can be solved by way of Computational Thinking. CT is the process of breaking down a problem, recognizing patterns, identifying principles and finally developing step by step instructions on how to solve a problem.
We use computational thinking whenever someone asks us how to get somewhere. Ideally, we break the route up into manageable parts like whenever someone has to turn or get on the expressway, and then we try to determine the best alternatives, based on our knowledge and experience, we then put all of those directions together and finally deliver the set route to whomever is asking.
CT Skills and corresponding activities
- Decomposition - Breaking things down into manageable parts
- Literature - Break down a poem into meter, rhyme, imagery, structure, tone, diction and meaning
- Pattern Recognition - Finding similarities and differences in the parts
- Economics - Find cyclical patterns in the rise anf drop of the economy
- Abstraction - Identifying the general principles that generate patterns
- Culinary Arts - Write a recipe for others to use
- Algorithm Design - Developing steb by step instructions for solving problems
- Mathematics - Figure out the rules for factoring 2nd-order polynomials
- Chemistry - Determine the rules for chemical bonding and interactions
Why should one integrate CT in their classroom?
Hadi Partovi founded code.org and a grassroots movement called the Hour of Code which became the largest educational movement in history with well over 100 million students participating.
The benefits for students goes far beyond potential career exposure and preparation.
https://hourofcode.com/us
Bill Gates stated, "Learning to write programs stretches your mind, and helps you think better, creates a way of thinking about things that I think is helpful in all domains." Coding requires and helps develop discipline, attention to detail, patience and outcome prediction just to name a few. Computational Thinking can hep one's students in all aspects of their lives.
Part of the hesitation in incorporating more computational thinking in different disciplines and grade levels is the lack of a clear definition for the term computational thinking. Part of the confusion is that computational thinking used to strictly refer to computer programming. As stated a the beginning of this blog post computational thinking was defined as an approach to problem solving. The Voogt, et al article shares this idea as it states, "CT does not necessarily require the use of programming nor are CT scholars making the claim that programming has to be the context in which these skills are developed" (716). The general consensus behind CT is that those trained to think computationally can use abstraction and apply mathematical reasoning and design-based thinking when approaching a matter (720). The article also highlights on page 721 that "the ability to think computationally is essential to conceptual understanding in every field, through the process of problem solving and algorithmic thinking." Ultimately, pedagogical concerns in regards to different disciplines are alleviated once a clearer definition of CT is ascertained. There is value in utilizing CT in science, math, social studies, language arts as well as computer science!
Code Studio project on Code.org
https://studio.code.org/c/824260930
Python Project
I really enjoyed this project and can see the benefit of breaking problems into solvable chunks. The grid layout on the Python project and the angles on the Code Studio project were particularly challenging to me. I also had a few performance issues with the Python project website. The code was good, but the site wouldn't let me move forward until I restarted and entered the same exact code.
Since I work in IT, I tend to break problems down in this fashion already, but it will be helpful to apply this troubleshooting-type thinking to non-technological problems!
References:
https://computationalthinkingcourse.withgoogle.com/unit?lesson=8&unit
https://youtu.be/PlJtSxA-AY8
http://www.gettingsmart.com/2015/10/5-things-you-need-to-know-about-the-hour-of-code/
https://blackboard.utdl.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-6695716-dt-content-rid-56235474_1/courses/XLST.N5.201910/computational%20thinking%20in%20education.pdf
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)