Case Scenario for Using Technology in the Classroom

Given Case Scenario: High School Teacher in the west coast who wants to expose students to exhibitions of New York City museums.

Description

Distance is becoming a very relative term. With the increasing exposure and use of technology in our schools we can continue to diminish that distance in order to provide greater variety of learning experiences. This project is intended describe the process and information provided as an instructional designer.

The case in question is of a high school teacher who wants to provide exposure to his or her students of New York City museums. The answers given will help students to explore art pieces from the museums, interact with personnel and critique art through the usage of technology to be able to give access to information found at a distance.

Analysis

The problem presented is that of needing practical and realistic access to New York City museums to a high school class of 11^th graders from the west coast of the United States.  The teacher is eager to find out ways in which to give his students access to art pieces from New York City museums using technology and hence moving beyond the textbook pictures or posters he might have used in previous classes.

Learners Analysis 

The learners are 11^th graders taking a required art class in high school. Their location is the west coast and hence technology is the way to have greater access to New York City museums. The learner’s characteristics are as follows:

1.      General Characteristics

a.       Males and Females

b.      Ages 16-17

c.       11^th graders

d.      Ethnicity – Poly-ethnic

2.      Specific Characteristics

a.       All learners and teacher are comfortable using the Internet

b.      Learners have access to at least one computer per every five students

c.       Learners have knowledge of Wiki  as a system of collaboration

Unit Goals
 

Goals were determined by the teacher who in search for the best practices of distance learning searched for information about learning technologies he could use to implement the following:

Topic 1. New York City Museums

a.       Tour two New York City Museums and see art work on display

b.      Interact with museum curators

Topic 2. Art Critique

a.       Critique of two art pieces in groups

Design

The design of this instructional unit is done in collaboration with the teacher who will be using it. In doing so, the first issue to determine is the sequence of the instruction (Morrison, Ross & Kemp, 2011).  In knowing which topic will be covered first we can determine what technology is going to be used first and hence include it in the design of the instructional unit. A learner-centered instructional unit will guide students through ways to find information, foster curiosity and expand research in a structured way which can be useful in their construction of meaning (Ormrod, J., Schunk, D., & Gredler, M. (2009).

Multimedia Design

Using technology to obtain the information necessary and present options to students, the teacher would be advised to have either one of the following course management systems:

#1 www.Edu2.0.org:

This course management system will provide the teacher with the platform to add all information regarding the New York museums which he would like the students to explore. Using this platform will allow for embedding  the WebPages of the online interactive museums available, videos regarding the museums’ exhibitions or history or slideshow presentation of art pieces. 

In addition, a general class discussion about the chosen museums can take place in a discussion area for the whole class. As Anderson (2008) shares (Cited by Minocha, S., 2009), the use of forums, wikis, or blogs, facilitate the construction of knowledge “individually but mediated socially”.

After setting up class material in edu2.0, the layout of this one would look like this:

And one lesson would look like this with a video embedded in the layout:

#2  www.wikispaces.com

Within, edu2.0 the teacher can use the wikis will allow for him to set up wikis for each of the groups of students so that they can use one private place to have discussions specific to the pieces they choose to critique. In each wiki group, the teacher is able to be a visitor and read all opinions and keep track of who is participating in the discussions.  This is a very good venue for students to collaborate online on the given subject in one place (Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S., 2009). Wikis can be used independently of a course management system.

In the case of the wiki within the course management system, the tabs and layout cannot be varied as it can with the wiki spaces which stand on their own.

# 3 Multi-Point Videoconferencing - Skype

Multi-point videoconferencing will allow for students to interact live with museum curators. This activity requires a scheduled time and previous communication might have been established by having students write letters to the curator with specific questions to be addressed.

Skype (www.skype.com )is a good option for the high school class in question since it would only require webcam, broadband connection and the program downloaded into the computers. The curator would have to have the same requirements for the videoconference to take place.

Examples of schools where videoconferencing is being held abound. One of them is http://einstein.hempfieldsd.org/videoconferencing/ . Also, please take a look at this video where videoconferencing is taking place.  

Additional Resources

In addition to these technology resources, as an instructional designer, I would recommend sites to explore with his or her students through the internet. The following sites offer virtual tours on the topic of Art and are great resources for any learner interested in art to explore:

1. MOCA: Museum of Computer Art AutoGallery: http://moca.virtual.museum/autogallery2011/autogallery_avivi/index.asp?mode=view&Image=1&ReturnPage=1

2. Virtual Field Trips: http://www.uen.org/utahlink/tours/fieldtrips2.cgi?core_area_id=5

3. Virtual Museums: http://www.virtualfreesites.com/museums.museums.html

References

Minocha, S. (2009). New Review of Hypermedia & Multimedia;, Vol. 15 Issue 3, p245-265, 21p, 2 Charts

Morrison, G. R., Ross, S. M., Kalman, H. K., & Kemp, J. E. (2011). Designing effective instruction. (6th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc

Ormrod, J., Schunk, D., & Gredler, M. (2009). Learning theories and instruction (Laureate custom edition). New York: Pearson.

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2009). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (4th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.