David Velasco's EDUC - 6710I – 2 Blog

Saturday, March 8, 2014

Utilizing Blogs in the Classroom a Story of Hypothetical High






Although Hypothetical High School was built in 1924, Hypothetical West New Campus was not constructed until 1968 when enrollment surpassed the capacity of Hypothetical High School. Built for $3.1 million, the new school had the ability to hold 1,000 students. Construction was completed and the first class, which consisted of just under 300 students, was the class of 1969. The new high school, or Hypothetical West New Campus, consisted of the Seniors and Juniors while the old high school, Hypothetical High, housed the Freshman and Sophomore students. Hypothetical West New Campus was able to handle the number of students for almost three decades, but in the mid-1990s ran short of room and added the first set of mobiles. In the late 1990s, student population growth would again become a challenge, prompting the addition of the second set of mobiles. Later in 2000, the number of students rose higher and forced the school to expand. Construction began in 2000 and was finished in 2003 with the additions of the new gym, cafeteria, and staircases.


Hypothetical West New Campus now houses 1522 studentsHypothetical high just hired on a new batch of teachers with a specialty of Instructional Design and Technology. Chief among the group is David Velasco, who is bringing his expertise into the school and teaching students how to learn through the use of blogs and wikis. Mr. Velasco brings a wealth of technical knowledge he learned as a Satellite terminal operator in the Army, as well as his Studies in Instructional Design, and integrating technology into the workplace. Here is one example of how students might be learning in this new and exciting class.




Grade level:
            High school freshmen sophomores Juniors and/or seniors.
Content area:
            Testing, quiz sections, reading comprehension, focus groups, short lectures, with video clips, review sections, teacher driven quiz game sections, Classroom engagement and note postings.
Rationale:

            What better area of a learner's development to check on technology needs, than the high school student. Here, I can adapt to their needs in the classroom. Aside from giving a physical lecture, I can adapt and enhance the learning through the use of a blog or wiki. In this blog, I demonstrate how to take a simple quiz by multiple-choice selection. Using google forms, I can instantaneously collect the answers and see who is needing more time in certain areas of study. Using a blog in lieu of traditional teacher worksheets should help to actively engage students. Granted, giving access to the internet can yield distractions, but either blocking sites, or guaranteeing good deeds can garner favorable results. A pertinent teaching style must relate to the task that is presented in the blogs, so this does not happen. It can allow outsiders such as school administrators, or college admissions determine how well students are coming along. Ultimately, I can see it being driven by a financial structure, as to where spending for the schools might be better served. Also, students can start to develop portfolios and collaborations on their particular work. This can help them later when getting into a college, or looking for work.


ADDITIONAL:

The presentation below outlines an app called Teacher kit which could be used along with blogging and wiki technology in the classroom. It is geared for teachers, but could also be used in a corporate environment for trainers who require records and reports to have accessible for distribution.







AND NOW TO GIVE A SAMPLE OF POSSIBILITIES OF USING A BLOG OR WIKI IN THE CLASSROOM, HERE IS MY EXAMPLE: