|
Education Classroom Library
 Partners in Learning
By Drs. Jane & Michael Madden
Francis Marion University
In recent months, there has been increasing discussion at the U.S.
Department of Education web site (http://www.ed.gov) on the issues of
literacy and student achievement. There is no question that the challenges
facing educators are significant and that somehow we must have the students
as partners in this enterprise if we are to succeed. A critical factor in
that process is student engagement. Let's face it. The longer a student's
attention is focused on a task in an active, engaged manner, the greater the
likelihood for the comprehension and the retention of concepts. At the same
time, the more energy that emanates from the student to maintain their own
attention, the less enervating it is for the teacher in that classroom.
There are a number of good examples of this type of approach and how it
benefits both the student and the classroom teacher. At the Apple Education
site, teachers in Minnesota talk about the transformative effects of
incorporating iMovie video production on fifth grade student learning
(http://www.apple.com/education/k12/imagine/lindbergh/). It's worthwhile
reading. In this situation, "students show off their mastery of a full range
of research, writing, and analytical skills" through the planning and
production of a one-minute video on an educational topic. Sixty-seconds may
not sound like a lot until you have to put it together. A well-planned
one-minute segment can be a significant mental exercise. More importantly,
the article reinforces the notion that transforming the environment to
include video production results in the students staying involved in a
demanding task much longer, with higher achievement as the end product.
Learning to make short iMovie video clips is both exciting and
instructional, but then teachers need to ask, "what next?" That one-minute
segment becomes much more powerful when placed in an integrative environment
like eZediaMX. For teachers, this kind of multimedia authoring tool fosters
their students' literacy skills, time and task management strategies, and
ability to structure an argument and communicate their ideas clearly. At the
same time, it provides opportunities to engage a wide-range of learners,
especially those who have remained on the sidelines in our classrooms,
despite our best efforts.
eZediaMX, together with Inspiration , a popular concept mapping program,
make powerful team members as students plan and develop their projects.
Inspiration (and for younger children, Kidspiration), enables students to
shift between a diagrammatic and outline view of their undertaking and to
easily rearrange elements. In the process, students see relationships and
further clarify their thinking. Inspiration concept maps also allow teachers
to quickly assess their students' thought processes. From a management
perspective, the well-constructed diagram shortens project development time,
clarifies structure, and keeps students focused on the content.
From the single word or phrase in the concept map, it is but a short
step to identifying, gathering, and creating the video, audio, and text
elements the students want to include in their eZediaMX projects to make
their points. All the while, they are remaining focused and engaged. As the
projects develop, their thinking becomes much more visible to themselves and
to others, offering opportunities to participate in a natural collaborative
process that provides the context for the development of communication and
digital literacy skills (as outlined in ISTE's National Educational
Technology Standards for Students).
Just as Inspiration frees students to rearrange points in the
development stage, eZediaMX's environment gives them equal flexibility when
they move from the abstract concept map to the representation level offered
by the multimedia. Editing and refining is easy, as the name implies. With
eZediaMX's logic tools, students have the power to make their points in
creative and sophisticated ways. Also, the fine-tuning of projects provides
a natural context for building editorial and problem-solving skills.
Teachers don't have to force it, as the educators at the Apple site pointed
out, the students want to do it. Now, that's a win-win situation!
About the Authors
Dr. Jane Madden is an Assistant Professor in the School of Education at Francis Marion University and is the Director of the Grants Development Program on campus. Dr. Michael Madden is a Professor in the School of Education. Both are the co-authors of two successful Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology (PT3) grants. eZedia has been a research partner in both federal grants. No remuneration was received for the writing of this article.
|
|
|
|
|
Education Program 
Classroom 
Enhancing Learning in Science with eZedia and PASCO