Sunday, January 29, 2017

ISTE MODULE 2 – Collaboration & Communication

How can students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others?

My Triggering Event Question: In harmony of students’ participation in physical education, how could blogging about their performance enhance their understanding of health and fitness?

Resource: Participation and common knowledge in a case study of student blogging (Alterman & Larusson, 2013)

Like to PDF article:

Link to abstract:

         The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE)’s Standard 2 set forth the following learning targets for students: “1) Identify digital tools that can be used to help them interact, collaborate, and publish, 2) Determine which media and/or format options work best to communicate information and ideas effectively to different audiences, 3) Use digital tools to enhance cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with learners of other cultures, and 4) Utilize digital tools to contribute to small group projects, produce original works and solve problems” (ISTE, 2007).
         Throughout my physical education classes, students have the opportunity to record information about their health and fitness. For example, students perform pre-semester, mid-semester and post-semester fitness testing on their cardiovascular endurance (pacer), flexibility (sit and reach), muscular endurance (sit-ups), muscular strength (push-ups), and body composition (height, weight, and BMI). With knowledge of this information, I question how blogging about their performances could enhance their understanding of health and fitness. Through blogging, which Lampinen (2013) suggests can be adapted to every subject area, the first learning target of this module, which reads, “Identify digital tools that can be used to help them interact, collaborate, and publish” (ISTE, 2007) is demonstrated. I chose the following resource Alterman et al. (2013) for the exploration of my triggering event question, because it highlights students’ level of participation and common knowledge when blogging. Alterman et al. (2013)’s case study set forth to investigate the influences of student blogging in a semester long class. In this single class, students were assigned to participate in blogging activities in sequence with the course curriculum. Over time, students developed blogging communities by sharing their own thoughts by posting blogs and commenting on classmates’ blogs. In each blogging community, students have the opportunity digest and explore the subject matter through the use of collaboration and communication. Allowing me to conclude that through the use of blogging, my students can explore their recorded information (fitness testing scores) about their performances in order to better understand their personal health and fitness. In doing so, “Common and shared knowledge emerges intermittently and non-uniformly” (Alterman et al., 2013) about course curriculum (i.e. health and fitness)

References

Alterman, R. a., & Larusson, J. j. (2013). Participation and common knowledge in a case study of student blogging. International Journal Of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, 8(2), 149-187.

International Society for Technology in Education. (2007). National educational technology standards for students. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/standards/standards-for-students.

Lampinen, M. (2013, April 08). Blogging in the 21st-Century Classroom. Retrieved January 22, 2017, from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/blogging-in-21st-century-classroom-michelle-lampinen

Sunday, January 15, 2017

ISTE MODULE 1 – Creativity & Innovation

How can students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology?

Triggering Event Question: How can technology be utilized to enhance student learning in regards to their personal health and fitness?

Resource: Using Internet Assessment Tools for Health and Physical Education Instruction (Thornburg & Hill, 2004)



The International Society for Technology in Education (2007)’s Standard 1 set forth the following learning targets for students: 1) Apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes, 2) Create original works as a means of personal or group expression, 3) Use models and simulations to explore complex systems and issues, and 4) Identify trends and forecast possibilities.
In my content area of physical education, students most commonly display their understanding of the health and fitness curriculum through their level of participation and performance in class activities (i.e. motor skills or fitness testing). Through the use of technology, I questioned how students can utilize applications and web-based programs, such as those shown in Figure 1, in order to apply and understand the health and fitness
Figure 1. Health & Fitness Aplications
curriculum in regards to their personal well-being. Through the utilization of technology, similar to how Jang (2009) explored in regards to science curriculum, students would set forth creativity and innovation to demonstrate the first learning target, which reads, “Apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes”. I chose the following resource, Thornburg et al. (2004), for the exploration of my triggering event question, because it highlights student experiences with technology within physical education curriculum. Thornburg et al. (2004) explored students’ experiences when web-based technology was integrated into the physical education curriculum. After students recorded results, inputted personal health and fitness information, and answered questions to a survey, Thornburg et al. (2004) found that 80% enjoyed working on the computer, 75% find “eating right” important, 55% felt more encouraged to think about their eating habits, and approximately 63% felt encouraged to think more about their activity habits. Although these numbers are not 100% of the students, I believe that through the representation of more than half the students responding positively that their experience was encouraging. Which led me to the conclusion that technology in physical education can enhance student learning by leading them towards a better understanding and application of what a healthy lifestyle consists of (Thornburg et al., 2004). Therefore, allowing me to answer my triggering event question by saying that physical education teachers can utilize web-based programs or applications for activities, such as activity and food tracking, in order to enhance student learning in regards to their personal health and fitness.  

References

International Society for Technology in Education. (2007). National educational technology standards for students. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/standards/standards-for-students.

Jang, S. J. (2009). Exploration of secondary students’ creativity by integrating web-based technology into an innovative science curriculum. Computers & Education, 52(1), 247-255.


Thornburg, R., & Hill, K. (2004). Using Internet Assessment Tools for Health and Physical Education Instruction. Techtrends: Linking Research & Practice To Improve Learning, 48(6), 53-70.