Lesson 15

Project-based Learning and Multimedia

        A class that effectively employs project-based multimedia learning is highly animated and actively engaged. Together with other students, every student is absorbed in a task in line with the goals and objectives made clear at the start. Time has wings.

Let us know more about project-based multimedia learning in the paragraphs that follow:

       Project-based multimedia learning- is a teaching method in which students “acquire new knowledge and skills in the course of designing, planning, and producing multimedia product.

Dimensions in project-based multimedia learning  

Have seven key dimensions:

1.)               Core curriculum – at the foundation of any unit of this type is a clear set off learning goal drawn from whatever curriculum or set of standards is in use.

2.)               Real-world connection- the project seeks to connect students’ work in school with the wider world in which students live.

3.)               Extended time frame- a good project is not a one-shot lesson. It extends over a significant period of time.

4.)               Student decision making- in project-based multimedia learning, students have a say.

5.)               Collaboration- project-based multimedia learning demands collaboration. Is working together jointly to accomplish a common intellectual purpose in a manner superior to what might have been accomplished working alone.

6.)               Assessment –there are three (3) assessment concerns in project-based learning, namely: 1) activities for developing expectations: 2) activities for improving the media products.

7.)               Multimedia- students do not learn simply by using multimedia produced by others they learn by creating it themselves.

Why use project-based multimedia learning?

-           Because it is a “value added” to your teaching.

What can be some limitations of the use of project-based multimedia learning strategy?

       One limitation that we see is the need or an extended period of time. You need time to orient the students on what are expected of them, guidelines, goals and objectives of the project.

Lesson 14

Maximizing the Use of the Overhead Projector and the Chalkboard

The chalkboard

Except in extremely deprived classrooms, every classroom has a chalkboard. In fact, a school may have no computer, radio, TV yet, but it will always have a chalkboard. So why not make optimum use of what we have.

The following practices of dedicated professional teachers may help us in the effective use of the chalkboard:

1.      Write clearly and legibly on the board. Take note that there are children in the last rows.

2.      It helps if you have a hard copy or your chalkboard diagram or outline.

3.      Don’t crowd your notes on the board.

4.      Make use of colored chalk to highlight key points.

5.      Do not turn your back to your class while you write on the chalkboard.

6.      For the sake of order and clarity, start to write from the left side of the board going right.

7.      If you teach the grades and you think the lines on the chalkboard are needed for writing exercise, then provide the lines for your board.

8.      Look at your board work from all corners of the room to test if pupils from all sides of the room can read your board work.

9.      If there is glare on the chalkboard at certain times of the day, a curtain on the window may solve the problem.

10. If you need to replace your chalkboard or if you are having a new classroom with new chalkboard a little concave from left to right to avoid glare for the pupils’ benefit.

11. If you need to have a board work in advance or that need to be saved for tomorrow.

12. Make full use of the chalkboards.

The overhead projector (OHP)

There are other kinds of projectors like opaque projector and slide projector. The overhead projector seems more available in schools. It has a lot of advantages. Brown (1969) cites the following:

·         The projector itself is simple to operate.

·         The overhead projector is used in the front of the room by the instructor.

·         Facing his class and observing student reactions, the instructor can guide his audience.

·         The projected image behind the instructor exactly as students sees it on the screen.

·         The stage (projection surface) of the projector is large (10 by 10 inches).

·         It is especially easy for teachers and students to create their own materials for use in the overhead projector.

·         There is an increasing number of high-quality commercial transparencies.

Overhead projection techniques

Among the outstanding attributes of overhead projection are the many techniques that can be used to direct attention to a detail.

·         You can show pictures and diagrams, using a pointer on the transparency to direct attention to a detail.

·         You can use a felt pen or wax-based pencil to add details or to make points on the transparency during projection.

·         You can superimpose additional transparency sheets as overlays on a base transparency so as to separate processes and complex ideas into elements and present them in step-by-step order.

·         You can show three-dimensional objects from the stage of the projector.

·         You can move overlays back and forth across the base in order to rearrange elements of diagrams or problems.

·         For special purposes you can simulate motion on parts of a transparency by using the effects of polarized light.

·         You can simultaneously project on an adjacent screen other visual materials.

·         Stand off to one side of the OHP while you face the students.

·         Don’t talk to the screen.

·         Place the OHP on a table low enough so that it does not block you or the screen.

·         Have the top of the screen titled forward towards the OHP to prevent the “keystone effect”.

·         Avoid the mistake of including too much detail on each image.

·         Avoid large tables of figures.

·         Don’t read the text on your slide.

·         Avoid too much text.

·         Your presentation must be readable from afar.

We can learn from the experiences from others. Brown (1969) enumerates effective practices. Let’s learn from them.

·         In primary grades, simple objects like keys, leaves, and cutout paper shapes can be placed directly on the projector.

·         In English composition lessons, student themes or writing exercises can be reproduced on film by means of the heat or photocopy process.

·         In arithmetic, blank sheets of acetate and grease pencils can be given to selected students.

·         In geometry and trigonometry, two-and three-dimensional diagrams can be built up.

·         In physical education and team raining, plays and game procedures may be analyzed.

·         In social studies, all types of maps can be enlarged after accurate but easy preparation.

In many classes, testing and evaluation materials previously can be achieved by (1) placing a sheet of paper over the transparency and moving it down to expose succeeding lines of type, (2) attaching strips of opaque paper to the sides of the mask in order to cover portions of the transparency image.

Lesson 13

Teaching with Visual Symbols

Abstraction:

Your experience of the words and the graphs convinces you that a graph is easier to understand than the words of a paragraph. A graph is “worth a thousand words.” A graph and any visual symbol for that matter such as drawings, cartoons, strip drawings diagrams, and maps are worth a thousand words.

A.   DRAWING 

A drawing may not be the real thing but better to have a concrete visual aid than nothing. To avoid confusion, it is good that our drawing correctly represents the real thing.

B.    CARTOONS

Another useful visual symbol that can bring novelty to our teaching is the cartoon. A first-rate cartoon tells its story metaphorically. The perfect cartoon needs no caption.

Sources of Cartoons

You can easily collect cartoons for instruction. They appear often in newspapers and magazines. In class, you can give it to individual students or individual study or project it by an opaque projector.

Sketching cartoons

Want to develop your skill at sketching for cartoons?

·         Start with simple shapes and add details. Note changes in expression.

·         Side view start with same basic shapes.

·         Most cartoon figures are about four heads tall. Keep them simple.

When to use cartoons in instruction?

You can also use this as a springboard for a lesson or a concluding activity. It depends on your purpose.

C.  STRIP DRAWINGS

These are commonly called comics or comic strip. Dale (1969) asserts that a more accurate term is strip drawings; make use of strips that are educational and entertaining at the same time.

Where to use strip drawing in instruction?

These can serve as motivation and a starter of your lesson. It can also be given as an activity for students to express insights gained at the conclusion of a lesson.

Sources of strip drawing

You can obtain drawings from newspaper, magazines and books.

K to 12 curriculum standards and competencies

Identify a competency where a strip drawing Is appropriate.

D.   DIAGRAMS

It is “any line drawing that shows arrangements and relations as of parts to the whole, relative values, origins and development , chronological fluctuations, distribution. Etc.” (Dale, 1969) 

If you can draw stick figures, you can easily draw the diagrams that you need as you go along. To emphasize the key points in your diagram, make use of color whether you use the chalkboard or the OHP and transparencies.

Types of diagram

Find out what these other diagrams are. You must need them as you go about your other teaching-related tasks.

·         Affinity diagram- used to cluster complex apparently unrelated data into natural and meaningful groups.

·         Tree diagram- used to chart out, in increasing detail, the various tasks that must be accomplished to complete a project or achieve a specific objective.

·         Fishbone diagram- it is also called cause-and-effect diagram

E.    CHARTS

A chart is a diagrammatic representation of relationships among individuals within organizations. We can have a: 1) time chart, 2) tree or stream chart, 3) flow chart, 4) organizational chart, 5) comparison and contrast chart, 6) pareto chart and 7) run chart or trend chart.

Examples of chart

·         Time chart- is a tabular time chart that presents data in ordinal sequence.

·         Tree or stream chart- depicts development, growth and change by beginning with a single course (the trunk) which spreads out into many branches; or by beginning with the many tributaries which then converge into a single channel.

·         Flow chart- is a visual way of charting or showing a process from beginning to end.

·         Organizational chart- hows how one part of the organization relates to other parts of the organization.

·         Comparison and contrast chart- used to show similarities and differences between two things.

·         Pareto chart- is a type of bar chart, prioritized in descending order of magnitude or importance from left to right.

F.    GRAPHS

There are several types of graphs. They are: 10 circle or pie graph, 2) bar graph, 3) pictorial graph and 4) line graph

·         Pie or circle graph- recommended for showing parts of whole.

·         Bar graph- used in comparing the magnitude of similar items at different ties or seeing relative sizes of the parts of a whole.

·         Pictorial graph- makes use of picture symbols.

·         Graphic organizers- you met several graphic organizers in your subject, principles of teaching.

G.  MAPS

A map is a “representation of the surface of the earth or some part of it…” (Dale 1969)

Kinds of map

·         Physical map- combines in a single projection data like altitude, temperature, rainfall, precipitation, vegetation, and soil.

·         Relief map- has three dimensional representations and show contours of the physical data of the earth or part of the earth.

·         Commercial or economic map- also called product or industrial map since they show land areas in relation to the economy.

·         Political map- gives detailed information about country, provinces, cities and towns, roads and highways.

·         Map language Scale- shows how much of the actual earth’s surface is represented by a given measurement on a map.

·         Symbols- usually a map has a legend that explains what each symbol represent highways, railroads, mountains lakes and plains.

·         Color- the different colors of the map are part of the map language.

·         Geographic grids- the entire system of these grid lines are called grid lines. 

         H. POSTER

               

 A poster is any piece of printed paper designed to be attached to a wall or vertical surface. Typically posters include both textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or wholly text.

This cover emphasizes the use of modern technology in school to develop and innovate students in exploring the world of technology. The book symbolizes knowledge because it contains all the information about anything. In fact, books nowadays have also developed to compensate with modern technology. Gadgets like the computers, laptops, cellphones and tabs could contain all the needed information that a person is looking for because they are capable in using the internet to access the web. And today's generation uses technology for better educational foundation and learning integration because we need this to be able to cope up with our evolving and fast growing society.