My Big Redesign Analysis An Evaluation of Design

Educational Technology Mary Lanham-Bates

April 29, 2013

My Big Redesign Analysis An Evaluation of Design

1

Analysis

Learning Problem : The lesson that was previously used did not engage the students. It was not appealing and did not allow the students to expérience technology. The lessons would consist of the following :

1. Explore the historical context of Cry, the Beloved Country

2. Listen to a Powerpoint lecture and take notes using the Double Journal Entry format

3. Discuss in Small groups and react that discussion by creating a VoiceThread

Goals and Objectives

Prior Knowledge: The students in the Honors English II class have completed a brief author study of Alan Paton in order to gain some relevance for the upcoming three lessons.

Audience Needs: The high interest of the Honors English II students must be maintained so that these high-achieving students do not become unmotivated and lose valuable content necessary for Honors English III and Advanced Placement English.

Constraints: Since these are high-achieving students, it is far easier to lose their interest if the lesson is not appealing.

Timeline: This will be a three-day lesson that will be taught in the second semester.

Learning Environment Factors: There are two classes of Honors English II students; one class consists of 25 students and the other class consists of 11 students. Each student in the class has access to a computer at home. They will be completing the Voice Thread at home as an extended assignment.

To engage students within their learning environment in order to comprehend new content.

To integrate technology in order to make the content more appealing to each student.

To enhance the design of the lesson to produce a greater interest and lasting effect upon the learner.

My Big Redesign Analysis An Evaluation of Design

2

Design

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to analysis the connection between the historical context of Cry, the Beloved Country to the novel’s thematic development.

Day 1: Students will be able to understand the historical context of the novel by completing a Web Quest of South Africa.

Day 2: Students will be able to connect the author’s background to the novel by viewing a PowerPoint.

Day 3: Students will be able to extend their new knowledge through discussion and collaboration using VoiceThread.

Targeted Learning Processes: Students will gain knowledge of the prescribed content by examining graphics, maps, and textual evidence. They will gain this knowledge through interaction and collaboration using technology.

Graphic Design and User Interface: The old delivery method consisted of a mundane PowerPoint that lacked specificity and did not appeal to the students. The new delivery method consists of an appealing PowerPoint that creates connection to interactive and appealing integration of technology.

Content:

1. South Africa

2. Alan Paton

3. Historical Context

Rationale Justification 1. Principles of Graphic and Design encourages designers to choose colors that enhance PowerPoint.

1. Use color wisely: I changed the blended background to a solid, light purple. I also changed the black type to white to create a better color contrast.

2. Transformative Learning is connecting lessons to real life so that students make personal connection and meaning.

2. The students used VoiceThread to seek true meaning of what racism and religious beliefs mean to them and how it ultimately affects the vulnerable areas of South Africa.

3. Cheating Death by PowerPoint states that one needs to Reduce number of words: You do not want to clutter your presentation with too much text,

3. I created an animation to isolate each bulleted sentence. This would force the students to pay attention to each point as the teacher lectures.

My Big Redesign Analysis An Evaluation of Design

3

4. Cheating Death by PowerPoint states to add animation.

4. I added animation to create a visual to reinforce the lesson and to tap into the students’ memory.

5. Cheating Death by PowerPoint states to add interactive components.

5. I helped students need to have multiple ways to learn the material.

6. According to 25 Principles of Learning students retain information when presented in multiple modes.

6. I added video components: The teacher needs to present the ideas in various modes to tap into multiple intelligences.

7. Use VoiceThread as integration of technology. 7. Students created collaborative projects using VoiceThread.

8. Use Web 2.0 Tools. 8. Students created collaborative projects using VoiceThread to establish appeal to the high-achieving students.

9. Dr. Mayer in Multimedia Learning states that adding audio impacts memory.

9. I added audio to the slides to help students remember historical context of South Africa.

10. Transformative Learning creates a connection to the students’ lives.

10. When they interacted with each other through VoiceThread to gain a better vision of each person’s viewpoint.

11. Using Social Media to enhance learning is effective.

11. The students used VoiceThread to communicate online and share ideas and thoughts.

12. Coherence Effect allows the learner to see the key ideas or big concepts so that they can retain them.

12. I included a final reflection that summed up the main idea of the connection to the author and historical context.

13. Include clear learning objective: As in any lesson, a teacher needs to state clear, concrete learning objectives for students.

13. I listed the objectives at the beginning of the PowerPoint.

14. Redundancy Principle states that learners grasp content better when the words are not jumbled and lengthy.

14. I deleted some of the long lists and simplified the text to incorporate just the key details.

15. Principles of UDL states that students must be given multiple means of representation.

15. I added more pictures and sensory details to help students retain content.

16. Spatial Contiguity is the idea that graphic aids and 16. The graphic aids were spaced with the text so that

My Big Redesign Analysis An Evaluation of Design

4

text need to coexist and complement each other. they did not overpower the textual support.

17. ARCS motivational design calls for learners to become active problem solvers.

17. Using the VoiceThread and creating original comments gave the students an opportunity to solve problems together and collaborate with each other.

18. Goldilocks Principle states that learners grasp content better when they can tap into their prior knowledge and then build on it.

18. The PowerPoint was delivered after the students conducted a brief author study which connected to the historical context of the novel.

19. Cognitivists embrace the idea that learners must have the opportunity to scaffold information in order to retain the concept.

19. The students completed a Web Quest where they were given an opportunity to scaffold a vast amount of information pertaining to the historical context of the novel.

20. Principles of Graphic and Visual Design states that designs must avoid multiple font styles so that the learner is not distracted by the variety.

20. Throughout my PowerPoint, I used only one font-Century Gothic. I avoided mixing multiple font styles and sizes.