Great Sources to Read About MI Success

As part of a project for my Multiple Learning Theory's course through Full Sail University, I was looking for positive and negative articles about people's experience with using Multiple Intelligence Theory in schools.  One site had a whole series of articles by teachers and administrators who were using MI and could attest to positive results.  They were also able to be candid about some of the barriers to using MI in the classroom.  This was such a great resource, I wanted to put it here so that others could check it out.

New Horizons for Learning web site

Right now I'm finishing my project, which I will also post here when I'm done.

Sorry for the lapse!

It came to my attention today that I have not written on my blog in a little while. Sorry! My bad. I didn't realize anyone was reading it. I do like to share what I am learning, and right now I am learning a lot, but I wasn't aware the blog had any visitors. I will try to do better in the future.

 Recently we were asked to make a concept map (web) of the ways we use Multiple Intelligence Theory in our classrooms. This is my map.  The dark purple represent things I would like to do but have not done yet.  We are currently doing an individual project about MI and a group project that we are furiously working to sort out.  Full Sail University's Masters program has a big focus on collaboration and team work.  I am glad, as the people I'm networking with now will also be an encouragement to be during this coming school year.

Sir Ken Robinson: Bring on the Learning Revolution! Video on TED 2/2010

As part of our Full Sail Multiple Learning Theory Applications course we were directed to watch the video above. I really liked it and I think other educators would like it, too. I could really relate to what the speaker said about life not being linear and about doing the thing you love. His comments about college being the goal of our educational practice made me think of the changes in Michigan which try to put every one on a college track and, I think, short change students who want to take another path. It also, I believe, puts tremendous pressure on kids to be something they're not and I expect it is the reason a lot of kids drop out of high school. I enjoyed his comments about conformity, too. My question is, how do you customize education for the students when the Federal and State Departments of Education do so much to mandate what is done and what proof of learning is acceptable to them? And if your school doesn't make AYP, they'll replace you all. (I'm not sure where all the super-teachers and administrators would be coming from). Customizing education for the students is a local level sort of thing. It requires that teachers in classrooms have the freedom to be creative and try new things (of course based on pedagogically sound data).

How does one bring this about, this freedom for teachers to customize children's education, when the Powers That Be don't appear to trust teachers to make those sorts of decisions?

The ever expanding horizons of virtual reality

Our group project is coming together. During my exploration of Second Life, I wandered into WIRED Island. The collaborative effort of three Ohio universities, this area was rich in examples of using virtual reality in a wide range of applications. The YouTube video above is featured on the site.
If you like it, I'd invite you to visit WIRED Island in second life. It is one of the better areas I have visited.

NOTE: This video does not have sound. I don't know why, but it is silent.

Doing the Tourist Thing in Second Life

We've been exploring the many uses of Second Life. I took a few screen shots while exploring today and uploaded them to my Flickr account. If you'd like to see them, go to my Flickr pages at:  Pat's Flickr pics and see what you think.  SL is especially being used by universities and departments of education across the land.  I found one place for assistive technology use in school that even had a brief orientation explaining the requirement of school administrators to have tech staff involved in providing differentiated learning experiences to students. Wow.

I also saw some examples of colleges teaming up with high schools to offer experience building things and competing in technology projects. The results were then displayed in SL.

This sort of thing takes a lot of collaboration and TIME.  It is still more for post-secondary learners. Use of this in high schools is still an evolving thing. You'd really have to team up with someone already in the virtual setting. I don't think most small town schools could afford to dedicate staff to actually building and maintaining SL sites or experiences. They'd have to use what is already there.

The Adventure Continues

Hi, again, from Second Life. This place is a bit glitchy but it does have lots of possibilities. Today I've been fussing over getting my APA based assignment done correctly. Our team is working on a contract. I am hoping we can agree on it and turn it in ASAP. I am also looking for an e-mail that should tell us more about our team experience in Second Life for Thursday.

In doing reading for our APA assignment I came across two articles I especially liked. I will post links to them here. The first is by Australian James C. Taylor at the University of Southern Queensland. He suggests that practice is leading theory when it comes to using technology in the classroom. The second article is a research paper that challenges the idea that today's teens are smarter than previous generations and use technology intuitively because they've grown up surrounded by it. I am interested in these papers because I hear statements about kids being digital natives and some how smarter or superior to the rest of us and I question that. I'm not saying we don't need to teach differently, but some of the assumptions people have been making provoke me to see more proof that it is so.

Check these articles out and see what you think.
http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:-LvS_coPsbMJ:www.usq.edu.au/users/taylorj/publications_presentations/2

http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet24/kennedy.html

Converter for Flip camera files to use in iMovie

When the camcorder that is part of my education package didn't arrive in time for our first assignment using iMovie, I was forced to fall back on using my Flip camera. Unfortunately, when I tried to import my .avi files into iMovie, it didn't work. Enter FSO support. Those guys are really great. I was led to a download for streamclip, which easily allowed me to convert my .avi files to MP4.  Once I converted one .avi file, the other files I hadn't been able to access could also be imported.  I thought I'd put this in my blog 1) so that if I need it later I can refer back to this video to remember how it works, and 2) in case anyone else has a similar or wants to try the converter for other reasons.