Holy moly - did you see how many articles/references there were made at the end of the reading for this week? Sheesh!
I did enjoy the reading, however - in particular because I liked how in-depth they got with reading. I guess it feels like we've spent a lot of time and read a lot about how these learning models/theories we're studying can be applied in mathematics/science contexts. Was nice to talk a little about phonics.
I am glad that Kevin explained the overarching message behind the theory though because - and they warned us - they were heavy on the background and not so much on the practical applications (you know what I mean) as of yet. Or at least... I needed a MOST environment to help me fully wrap my brain around MOST. (I didn't really, trying to make a funny... but that one might have flopped.)
The idea of redefining literacy is something that has intrigued me for awhile - and I'm glad that they talk about it within the context of the MOST model (they refer to it as representational literacy). Literacy used to mean ... well, can you read? But I must say I prefer the broader, more expanded understanding. Literacy isn't just about how information gets in your brain via books and text. It's about all of the good stuff and how it gets in your head and then (wait for it) ... what you do with it! (This then leads to a conversation about using your knowledge to create something, or synthesis the information, or what not... just not regurgitating "facts".)
Their idea of multimedia helping to formulate mental models and that therefore helping to increase a student's literacy - love it. More and more I'm finding myself falling for (in a good way) the multimedia ... idea or cause or what not. I loved the correlation made towards the beginning of the article that language learning is all about taking in information from multiple sources of media ... for me this was one of those "Duh!" moments. It just so happens that as of April 2010 we now have at our fingertips ways of creating different kinds of multimedia. :)
Back to the mental models. This makes me thing of last week with the STAR model and having the "big picture" mental map right there for all to see and to help with overall understanding. The same (I think) can be paralleled for this week's model. The video helps to create the mental model in the students' brain - priming the ground for some heavy-duty learning!
And of course - learning happens in context. Love it. Amazed at how often its written about.
Kevin did a pretty good job of giving us examples for implementing this theory using today's technological resources in this weeks' lecture. In particular I think the idea of redifining "clips" more broadly helps me to wrap my brain around how this might be used using some of the Web 2.0 technologies available to us. Trailfire seems like a good start - maybe even Cmap. Then, of course, the old faithfuls. Making a wiki-based website that is easy to edit - embed YouTube videos. I think you could even have tools set up for kids to create their own videos to retell the stories and then post them to YouTube (this would assume a little older students that the K's and 1st graders that were used in some of the studies).
I'm trying to wrap my mind around using the MOST model outside of the context of learning to read. I know they mention in the article the two areas that they wanted to explore (prof dev and reaching out to the community). I'm going to be thinking over the next few days about using this for... I don't know... science. :)
Especially with my idea/theory of instruction as storytelling... I'm wondering if the MOST model might be a good idea to help me frame how learning is "assessed" within this new framework...
Thinking/typing outloud now...
What if you tell the "story" of dividing fractions. Then you have students retell the story using some form of multimedia... video, podcast, VoiceThread, Prezi. Just a thought.
Signing off! Hope everyone has a great week!
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Hey Matthew,
ReplyDeleteI also think of the Star Legacy when reading this week's article. I think Star is a kind of application of MOST because its video-based learning context. But video alone does not help, we need follow up activities like we read in Star Legacy to teach students learn from what the video teaches us. The biggest difference I see in these two approaches is that in Star, we don't teach in video directly; however, I think (I might be wrong) videos usually illustrate ideas obviously.
Miya
I agree with you that Dr. Oliver's lecture gave almost a clearer picture than the articl did. It was almost like the authors shorted themselves.
ReplyDeleteIf you are interested in literacy you might want to check out this website http://www.newliteracies.uconn.edu/. I say a lecture by someone from this group, and it really changed my view of literacies.
Rachel Palmer
Matthew,
ReplyDeleteBack when I was in school (ages ago), teachers believed that video was only a waste of time because it hindered the student from using there imagination to picture what they were reading. I really liked what you stated in your blog "The video helps to create the mental model in the students' brain."
I agree, instead of hindering learning I believe that it can only enhance.
Hey Matthew,
ReplyDeleteAnother type of literacy is the use of references! In addition to all the other types of literacies, there are also academic literacies. (Actually, being able to comprehend, analyze, and synthesize information...) I guess these authors are very literate.
I'm also writing this response as a test to see if it will actually let me post something! Thanks for following up with me on that.
Eleanor
Matthew...youre right...tons of references! I thought that too. I am also glad that this article discussed reading and literacy b/c that is what I am most interested in and can relate to more so than math and science.
ReplyDeleteAs I mentioned in my blog...videos today are such a great resource esp for a lot of inner-city school children b/c they lack the life experiences that give them background for the things we teach.
Elizabeth
Ok, my comment may be slightly off the mark but with discussions of multimedia I have to speak of what I have been thinking of this week and last.
ReplyDeleteI have learned a TON about the game of chess from my PDA and the small chess game I have on it (also learned on computer in same type environment). This small chess game will only allow moves I can legally make and of course the "computer" takes advantage of any mistakes I have made thus pushing me to redefine my game each time I start anew. With that said, is rich multimedia needed for most situations in which we desire learning goals to be accomplished? I continue to think through this as I am in a conflict because I ADORE rich multimedia (big MW-2 player on x-box ;)
At any rate I feel that front-end analysis of the audience is very important before each project is allowed to push to rich multimedia environments as cost, time, etc. are always involved...
Hi Matt,
ReplyDeleteIt all does come down to story telling, doesn't it? What I liked about this weeks module is that it supplies the learner with a solid background to understanding the story. We forget that lots of people, not just kids, lack the varied and rich experiences that we take for granted. They've never been out of the neighborhood much less the country.
Enjoyed reading your thoughts again this week!