NETS-T+Standard+2

//**Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments**//

//Teachers design, develop, and evaluate authentic learning experiences and assessment incorporating contemporary tools and resources to maximize content learning in context and to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes identified in the NETS•S. Teachers://

a. design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity. b. develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress. c. customize and personalize learning activities to address students' diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources. d.provide students with multiple and varied formative and summative assessments aligned with content and technology standards and use resulting data to inform learning and teaching.


 * Reflection**

The effective weaving of technology and skills into pedagogical methods & content is the heart of the NETS-T Standard 2. Not only is technology used to spur student interest in learning, it should motivate them to pursue their own avenues of study, research projects, and contribution to both the learning community at-hand and to the real world around them. These technological learning experiences should allow for unique student learning styles, levels of ability, cultural differences, and interests. Standard 2 is "where the rubber meets the road" where a teacher's, facilitator's, or leader's knowledge and skills are applied to curriculum in meaningful ways. As Williamson & Redish (2009) state, it "provides a comprehensive description of how technology facilitators and leaders can support teachers during critical instructional planning and design phases." Technology can also be used to effectively assess knowledge before content delivery and knowledge retention afterward.

The provided artifacts demonstrating competency with this standard involve creative, interactive uses of sophisticated (yet largely unknown) technology within PowerPoint. This technology is Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), allowing interactive manipulation of slideshows. Using VBA, I created three simulated game shows promoting multiple and varied formative and summative assessments. They are primarily used to assess knowledge and excite student participation. Each game show encourages collaborative learning by involving the entire class during these assessments. To promote student learning, creativity, individual curiosity, and design, I also created a lesson where students are shown how to //design// these types of interactive slideshows (ex. the "Powerful PowerPoint" artifacts). This particular lesson gives students (and teachers) the knowledge and tools they need to create interactive materials of their own.

As effective as these game shows have been for stimulating student participation, they do little in allowing them to pursue their own educational goals (in terms of content). The shows are based on trivia, using preselected questions and answers. While the class can use collaborative methods to determine the answers, the content is still static in nature. It also does not allow for diverse learning styles as again, the shows are trivia based in nature. Perhaps one way to address Standard 2 is developing lessons that give students the freedom to create their own interactive learning experiences based on this technology, not just simply show them how it works from a canned example. Also, the current artifacts do not allow for learning management (such as assessing their own progress, directing their own learning, etc.). PowerPoint, as a tool, is not enough to provide a true learning experience where students have control of their learning, therefore these game shows need draped on a pedagogical framework that supports them, spurring ideas to create deeper learning experiences of the content, the heart of the learning experience.


 * Artifacts**

//* If the videos do not play immediately, please wait a few minutes, then try playing them again (they will automatically cache into memory).//

Powerful PowerPoint media type="custom" key="22040528" Main handout: Help system handout: Object chart handout: Lesson plan:

Find a Rat media type="custom" key="22040678" PowerPoint: *

Jeopardy media type="custom" key="22040694" PowerPoint: *

Hollywood Squares media type="custom" key="22040710" PowerPoint: * Cheat sheet: Stack layout:

Who Wants to be a Programmer media type="custom" key="22040720" PowerPoint: * Handout:

//* If you receive "Security Warning: Some active content has been disabled" when opening this PointPoint, be sure to click "Options > Enable this content" or "Developer > Macro Security > Enable all macros" before starting the slideshow.//