Worked Example Screencast

This worked example screencast demonstrates how to create an interactive quiz using the presentation software, Keynote. 

Students are first shown a finished example of an interactive quiz made in Keynote. Next, students are given a basic overview of the terms and components of Keynote that will be utilized in creating this interactivity. Finally, students are shown in a step-by-step process, how to create an interactive quiz. Students are then given the task of creating their own educational, interactive slideshow.

A Worked Example of Using Keynote to Create an Interactive Slideshow:

Namesake: My Digital Story

The digital story I created is called Namesake, based on my son Jake's namesake.  My husband and I named Jacob (Jake) after one of his relatives who survived the Holocaust.  Creating this project was quite an experience on many levels. I was able to utilize a genealogy that my husband's uncle has been working on over the past 15 years.  I was able to take the basic information about the events of this person's life and research the historical details to fill in the gaps and allow the real story to take shape.  I admittedly did not know very much about the details of WW2 and was amazed by Jacob's survival story.  We have no pictures of him or any family from that era, so I had to weave the visuals of my story using found images. Reliving the horrors of that war through imagery brought up a myriad of emotions.  I am pleased with the final version of this story and feel proud to have this gift to give my son when he gets older. 

This project demonstrated the Personalization Principle by using a less formal speaking manner to bring my audience into the story and make it fell more personal.  I tell the story as though I am speaking directly to my son, as it is his story.  I believe that this manner of delivery creates a more "Visible Author", thus helping the audience to relate to the message better.  

My Digital Story:  Namesake

Coherence Analysis

The Coherence Principle states that adding extraneous material into a multimedia lesson hurts student learning, even if the extra material is interesting. “The coherence principle is also based on the idea that learners are more likely to make appropriate connections between animations and narrations when they can hold corresponding visual and verbal representations in working memory at the same time.“ (Mayer, R. E., 1999) Adding extraneous material in the form of audio, graphics or words works against learners who are trying to make these appropriate connections. When designing a multimedia lesson, educators often want to quickly engage and motivate learning by adding in extra “interesting” material that might appeal to and draw in their audience. Unfortunately, research has found that adding in extraneous material that is not directly connected to the specific learning target can create cognitive overload in the learners, thus creating a less effective learning activity.

The Coherence Principle piggybacks on the Modality Principle, which states that a combination of narration and images optimizes cognitive processing via the auditory and visual channels. Once extraneous material is added to either of these channels, cognitive overload and frustration can occur, causing the learning process to be impeded. If the extraneous material is in the form of sound, specifically adding in background music with a narration is one of the worst violations. In a series of studies by Meyer and Clark, their results found that adding background music overworks the working memory, especially if the material is new to the learner or the delivery method is not under their control. According to Meyer and Clark‘s research, learners scored 20-67% better when there was no background music with a narration. “When processing capacity is used to process the music and sounds, there is less capacity available for processing the narration, organizing it into a coherent cause-and-effect chain, and linking it with the incoming visual information.” (Moreno, R., & Mayer, R. E., 2000). Meyer and Clark found similar learning outcomes when environmental sound effects were added, unless these sounds were directly connected to the specific information being presented. Sound effects can be very distracting to learning in a slideshow presentation, especially in the form of sound effects connected to text animation. Some presenters at my staff development meetings add these in to create a sense of “fun”, but the final effect is simply annoying and distracting.

Adding extraneous graphics to a multimedia presentation can also hurt student learning. According to Meyer and Clark, “ Graphics should help the learner make sense of the material, otherwise it can disrupt the learning process.” (Clark, R. C., & Mayer, R. E., 2008). Extraneous graphics, even if they are interesting and indirectly connected to the information can easily distract from the concepts being taught. They can also create connections by the learner that are incorrect, or can simply just get in the way of the more pertinent material that needs to be processed and organized. Meyer and Clark’s research showed that learners who viewed a lesson without extraneous graphics produced 30% more correct answers than those who viewed a lesson with extraneous, but interesting graphics. In particular, according to Meyer and Clark’s research, “low ability students were more easily overloaded by the extraneous material.” (Clark, R. C., & Mayer, R. E., 2008) This is an important component, as any lesson should be designed to support learning for students of all ability levels.

Adding extraneous information in the form of words can also create cognitive processing overload in learners. This can be in the form of both written or narration. It is best to get straight to the point with relevant information and visuals. For example, in a presentation about film production steps, adding in a brief history of of the film camera might be interesting, but not directly connected to the true point of the presentation. It can also confuse students as to what they are expected to know for an assessment.

The Coherence Principle is a valuable tool in e-learning and multimedia presentation design. Staying focused on the specified learning outcomes and not muddying the waters by adding unneeded material seems fundamental to creating a scenario where students can learn most effectively. In my experience as a middle school teacher, there is a caveat to this principle. It is crucial to get students excited and engaged by the topics we teach from the start. When presenting a new unit of study, I have found that adding in some fun and extraneous material that can help students make real-world connections can be important to buy-in and motivation. When we get down to the more specific learning objectives and lessons, then the Coherence Principle really takes effect.

Clark, R. C., & Mayer, R. E. (2008). E-learning and the science of instruction, 2nd edition. Pfeiffer: San Francisco, CA.

Moreno, R., & Mayer, R. E. (2000). A learner-centered approach to multimedia explanations: Deriving instructional design principles from cognitive theory. Interactive Multimedia Electronic Journal of Computer-Enhanced Learning, 2(2), 2004-07. Retrieved March 23, 2012 from http://imej.wfu.edu/articles/2000/2/05/index.asp

Mayer, R. E. (1999). Multimedia aids to problem-solving transfer. International Journal of Educational Research, 31(7), 611-623.

Tech Trek Podcast Project

This podcast series is titled “Tech Trek”, designed for my middle school technology class. The overall theme is to cover various technology related topics that connect to this age group and their lives. My focus is to use real life scenarios and add in a sprinkle of humor to keep them engaged in the given topic.

The topic of focus for episode one is Copyright Law. I focus in on illegal music downloads, using copywritten media in projects, Fair Use Law and the Public Domain. I decided to use an “advice line” type platform to make for a more engaging format and flow. The final segment of this podcast is called “You Be the Judge”, where we examine the legality of different theoretical scenarios. The hope is that my students will find the podcast fun and engaging enough to keep listening for the full 20 minutes!

Tech Trek: Episode #1

AECT Standard addressed:

2.3 Computer-Based Technologies

Computer-based technologies are ways to produce or deliver materials using microprocessor-based resources.

This project addresses this standard by using a digital audio workstation (GarageBand) to create a podcast. This podcast as a creative way to teach Copyright Law and related topics to my students.

Multimedia and Contiguity Principles

The first project in EDTECH 513 was to create an educational slides show that reflected my understanding of the Multimedia and Contiguity Principles using the Google Docs Presentation tool. I chose to create a slide show that teaches the primary steps of video production for my middle school film class. In creating the slide show, I was sure to choose images that clearly reflected the specific concept I was trying to convey on every slide. As the Multimedia Principle outlines, I attempted to use a very small amount of text and let the visuals further illustrate the information provided in the narration. I was also careful to follow the Contiguity Principle, which states that corresponding images and text be in close proximity to one another. Here is the slideshow, created first in Keynote, then imported in to Google Docs.  For speaker notes, click on the cog wheel icon at the bottom of the screen. 

Creating My Learning Log

After creating this new blog site for my EDTECH classes, I am still ruminating about how to make it function more like a real website.  Blogger allowed me to design a customized page, down to some of the smallest details.  One of the details I am still trying to work out is how to add specific posts to certain pages that I have created for each of my EDTECH courses for this term.  One of the helpful aspects of this site is that it will give me a place to share my writing on a variety of topics relating to my coursework at BSU.  I can also connect my work with specific AECT standards to meet graduation requirements for my degree. Creating this blog site as a way to both create and share my work has also allowed me to meet one of the standards, "2.3 Computer-Based Technologies".

A Little About Me...

Hello Everyone,

My name is Tara Miller and welcome to my Learning Log!  I teach Technology Education at the middle school level in Beaverton, Oregon.  I just completed my 6th year teaching basic computer, software and research skills.  I also teach graphic design, video production, animation and sound design.  I feel so lucky to have such a fun and challenging job that I have been able to build and hone, based on my personal skill set.

For my undergraduate degree, I attended San Francisco State University.  At SFSU I studied Film and Animation, and a few years later, Elementary Education.  As an animation student, I created an animation workshop for kids, which I taught as an after-school enrichment program for 4 years.  I soon realized that teaching and working with children was a prefect fit for me, so I decided to pursue my teaching credential in 2002.  After graduation, I moved up to Portland, met my future husband and began my career as a teacher.

My only formal technology education is in video and audio editing, and the experience I had gained as a student.  I decided to pursue a degree in educational technology in order to establish a firm background and new skill set in a field that is constantly growing and changing in so many exciting ways.  By obtaining a Masters in Educational Technology, I will be able to teach my students more effectively and be able to deliver new, cutting-edge technology curriculum.  Looking in to the future,  I am interested in teaching online courses though Oregon’s Virtual School District.  In order to focus on this set of skills, I plan to complete a certification in online teaching through the MET program.

Until next time,

Cheers!

- Tara