Final Project

Target Audience- Junior-level college students, taking their first Directing I course. These are students that have had experience with theatrical elements before. They have been in or been a part of several productions. They have also had experience with a class wiki and screencast sessions on Google docs’s presentation application.

Context- This is the first part in a two-part process. The second part of the process will be to direct part of an actual show. In order to do this however, consideration must be given to several issues. These issues are covered in the first part. They are: overall design concept for the show, the setting, sound/lighting and costumes. Most of this work will be done in the technical lab in the Theater Department on-line and on-line from remote areas (as students will be able to access the applications).

Learning Objectives-

Students will put together a design concept for a show.

Students will use a wiki to collaborate on their designs in order to put them together.

Students will use that design concept to develop the set, sound/lighting and costumes for a show.

Students will present their design concepts for their show to the class using the presentation application from Google docs.

Description of Lesson-Students will collaborate with group members, which I have previously assigned to create a wiki. Using their wiki, they will create four pages; each page will be dedicated to a different element. The first page will be the overall design concept. The second will be the setting design. The third page will be the sound/lighting design and the fourth will be the costume design. Each individual page will explain how the individual concept supports the overall design concept. Each individual page will also show (on that page) or have links to examples of other concept designs for that particular element.

The group will then use the Google docs presentation application to present this information to the class. The presentation should include all of the elements with visual examples incorporated.

Artifact- This is the link to a “sample” of what the students would produce. http://docs.google.com/Presentation?docid=dftjfhc5_16s57zgd5&hl=en

Justification- I chose to have students work with wikis to collaborate because they are much more efficient when it comes to group work. This way, students don’t have to physically be together to work on their projects. They can do their part and submit it to each other for editing etc. It affords them as much time as possible to work because even if they only have a few minutes, they can work on it.

I also chose to have the students use the presentation application from Google docs because they can save them and use as examples of their work; for web-folios and things of that nature. It is important that they use the technology that is effective and efficient and I feel that using this application will allow students to put their presentations together quickly. This will also help to ensure that the presentations are relatively alike in the way that they look and students will be able to focus on the content rather than what one group used that another may not have.

On-line Application Review

On-line application reviews

Google Documents:

Within this suite, I decided to use the presentation application. I would definitely recommend it to others because it is very simple to use. For anyone whose used Microsoft’s PowerPoint application, it is similar.

I did wish that there were more templates to choose from, but I think that can be said about most applications that use templates.

I liked the feature that allows you to determine who has access to your information and that access may be revoked if necessary.

FotoFlexer:

I found this application very easy to use; which was exciting. I loved the tutorials for just about every aspect that the application can perform. This is great for those of us that don’t have an extreme amount of time to play with applications.

I liked the fact that the application seemed to work with some many other products; for example being able to edit photos from Flickr etc.

I would definitely recommend this to others for these reasons and because it is great for creating scrapbooks and other things that may be used for classroom and work settings.

Google SItes Resource Page

This is a resource that allows students access to other websites. These websites contain service and safety information; so that students may educate themselves on what is available to them and their communities.

As students find other services and safety information, it is the desire that they will share these with me and that I will be able to add them to our list.

The link to my website is:

http://sites.google.com/site/helpandsafety/

Theater Screencast

Screencast Project

Class- Theater

Lesson- Preparing To Put On a Live Stage Production

Screencast- Elements of a Live Theatrical Production

Description- This screencast will be a narration that gives a brief overview of the elements of a production. Examples of the elements will fade in and out again, as they are introduced. It would give a brief description of the set design, sound/lighting design and costume design elements. It would also have links to examples of these elements. It will walk students through the issues to consider when doing a production. These issues would show as bullets that students will be able to refer back to; as they will stay one the main screen.

This screencast would be the first piece and the groundwork for the larger lesson. In the larger lesson, students will actually “produce” a scene from a show. They will have to show evidence, in their work, that they have considered all of the elements and explain their designs for the production that they do. This is an essential part of the lesson because without these elements, a live production cannot be correctly done; for it is the marriage of these elements with actors and dialogue (although dialogue is not required) that make the show.

Wrap-Up (D/13)

I think what most makes me say “that’s neat” is the fact that technology can and is attempting to do so much. Because before, it took so much longer to find out that something either did or didn’t work. It took a long time (years and often decades) to collect data about things. However, because of the strides that are being made in technology, patterns may be detected earlier.

I no longer have to try to find every study that was done on something. I will soon be able to go to a database for example and get the latest information on brain scans as the information is coming in and being compiled with other studies of its kind. That means that I can keep up with the media and information I need to ensure that I am using the most effective resources for my students. Perhaps the most important thing is that the information has been proven to be effective.

Everything else aside, my favorite activity of the semester was embedding the youtube clip into my blog. It was hard to find, but I was able to find one of the simplest and funniest clips (I thought). I felt that it added a little comic relief to my otherwise serious blog. I also thought that it captured a side of me that most people don’t see (the funny side).

What Works Best When Using Media (D/12)

I don’t know that I can find words to describe what it was that I felt. As I read chapter 30. I felt as though it all made sense. This is the information that I have been waiting to find my entire educational technology career (all two classes :) ).

I can apply the ideas that I’ve learned in this chapter in a number of ways. The two ways that are most important to me are in: creating differentiated instruction and for reinforcement/reconnecting/ reteaching. I never knew that low knowledge learners do better with visual and audio narrative than high knowledge learners per se. Nor did I realize that background sounds and images that add to the atmosphere but not to understanding may be more of a distraction than anything. But now that I do, I can use this information when deciding which media and technology resources to use for students; according to their needs.

I can also develop a media library for students so that if they need to be retaught a concept for example, they can access that piece of media/technology to review. In doing this, I can assess where the student is and what concepts the students needs to work on more. I can customize learning for that student better and faster than without the technology.

Using the information from this chapter will allow me to know what types of media and technology will best help both my students and me; to reach the goals we have set. And to help us know what our next goals should be.

Being Competent (D/11)

Out of all of the competencies that I reviewed in Chapter 27, the three that I would like to develop are: Use of media and technology to enhance learning and performance, assess learning and performance and evaluate instructional effectiveness. These three areas have always been the hardest for me.

One of the reasons that I took this technology class was because I really need help. When I went through my undergraduate program, there was no educational technology component; save the general university requirement. Therefore, I really had no knowledge of how to use technology to assist me in the classroom. This was and is one of the first questions that you are asked when you go to seek employment (along with questions about classroom management if you are a teacher). But for me, it was more than that.

I wanted to be able to make sure that my students had the exposure to technology to help them be successful. But I wanted to be sure that I wasn’t exposing them for the sake of it. I wanted make sure that that exposure was meaningful and that it was actually helping them learn valuable lessons. Students learn in so many different ways and I felt that technology may be the thing to help me to adapt my instruction the way it needs to be for those students that need and deserve it; but due to class load, may not be getting it (as much as they should).

Because of this, it is important for me to be able to assess whether or not my use of media and technology to help my students learn, is working. It would make no sense to use something that may not be working the way that you hope; and that may actually be creating the adverse effect. I have seen instances where students are given a test before they begin a course to see where they are and then given the same test at the end of the course. More often than not, the students score worse after the course. I have always wondered how that was possible and I feel that the situation is a result of not assessing the learning so that one knows if the techniques they are using work.

Nevertheless, it all seems to come back to evaluating instructional effectiveness. If the instruction isn’t effective, then the use of media and technology won’t enhance learning and performance because the students won’t understand what to do, what they are supposed to get out of using the media and technology and if they learn more effectively with the media and technology.