In the comments section please respond to 4-5 questions below that really stick out as sore points or good points:
Module Design
Is it obvious what students are supposed to learn?
Is content chunked well?
Is content logical?
Do you think the visual and auditory stimuli would motivate students?
Interaction and Collaboration
Does this site support a sense of community?
Do you see students becoming engaged and posting their comments/thoughts?
Do you see clearly defined statements of how students can interact with each other
Technology
Would you say the tools and technologies are used well?
Do you think we used the right technology?
Would something else have worked better for this content?
Assessment
Do you think the interactive features are clearly aligned with stated objectives/outcomes
Do you think there are enough opportunities for students to apply what they have learned?
3 comments:
Is it obvious what students are supposed to learn?
No. In my experience with middle to high school students, instructions have to be much more clear than you have made them. Perhaps give the purpose or objectives a heading. They need to be told exactly what to do, as explicitly as possible. I would even make a separate page for purpose/objectives so that the students have a very clear understanding of what they will find on the site, what information they are responsible for knowing, and what types of responses they are looking for.
Is content chunked well?
I think the way the content is "chunked" is fine...but again, I would explain it to the students. Just having topics on the right of the page, doesn't mean that students will actually click on it or understand that they will naturally follow or understand it. I guess, what I'm trying to say is that you can't just make assumptions that students are going to understand. I was always surprised as a teacher how instructions or pages of information that were perfectly clear to me, left students wondering exactly what was going on. Honors students are different...but in dealing with your average student, you can't assume that they'll just follow along because it seems obvious.
Do you think the visual and auditory stimuli would motivate students?
I think that the links you have are good...but I would move them up and use them as a hook. Get students interested first...and then add information a little at a time. But being able to actually listen to Duke Ellington and see video of him is much better than just reading about it.
Does this site support a sense of community?
At this point, I didn't really see a sense of community, but that may just be because it isn't really complete yet...
Do you see students become engaged and posting their comments/thoughts?
I think there is too much disconnect between Duke Ellington and their personal experience. If you want to reach a middle/high schooler about Duke Ellington, post a link of some current piano rock band (Ben Folds?) and have them compare. This gets interested because they can imagine that Duke Ellington was like the Ben Folds of his day...if that makes sense. Kids this age aren't going to naturally get excited about a jazz musician playing in black and white...so you've somehow got to connect it to their experience so they have some type of context. I think they'd be more engaged if you created more connection with their lives.
Do you see clearly defined statements of how students can interact with each other?
I recall a few lines that mentioned leaving a comment below, but I guarantee that a middle school or high school student will gloss right over it. You need a heading that says "interaction" or "Respond" or "comment" and not assume that they will actually be reading through the paragraphs. They skip to bolded words and section headers, and you're lucky if they dabble in anything in between.
Would you say the tools and technologies are used well?
I'm not sure which tools you're talking about, but I think they will relate well to a blog.
Do you think we used the right technology?
Youtube is a standard in their lives, so it is a good choice. I can't really think of anything else that I would have used.
Do you think the interactive features are clearly aligned with the stated objectives/outcomes?
I didn't see any clear alignment. If you want the kids to understand you have to actually say it...don't assume that they'll get it.
Do you think there are enough opportunities for students to apply what they have learned?
Kids respond better to games than quizzes. If you are trying to get them to apply what they've learned through a quiz, they won't be excited or motivated by that. However, if you call it a competition among other bloggers to see who knows the most...then they will want to participate. Kids also don't necessarily want to write their feelings about a topic...so if you ask for their reaction, you'll get 50 comments that say "I thought Duke Ellington was great." You've got to be a little sneakier than just asking for responses, unless this is an assignment that they are required to do for credit. If you are just trying to get them to be actually interested and motivated to respond you've got to ask questions that don't sound like a boring essay.
Other comment:
Kids are used to hidef video games. The white background, plain font, etc. didn't really say "here's an exciting blog to read." Add colorful headings or choose a different template to make the visual appearance a little more eye-catching.
Make sure you explain what information is contained in the site, and where they will find the links to that information (explain that links are in the right side bar) because they won't necessarily find them on their own.
Is it obvious what students are supposed to learn?
I agree with Bethany--it's not obvious. For a learning environment like this, I'm not sure it has to be spelled out in clear mment on the Duke Ellington expeobjectives for the kids, who should feel free to explore without being limited by objectives. But as an educator, I should be able to look at it and know what the objectives are. I'm not sure I do. The only objective I can identify is that you want the students to comment on the Duke Ellington experience. I'm guessing most of them don't have experience with Duke Ellington, and the info provided here isn't motivating enough for them to WANT to comment. So I'm not sure you'll meet that one.
Is content chunked well?
Is content logical?
Yes--but I think it should be explained better. The Introduction is confusing to me, so I imagine it will be to them as well. I think that's the place to explain to them how the content is chunked and what they should be doing. They'll need more detailed guidance on the interaction than what is provided because they won't have much to say. They won't feel inclined to comment unless there is something more specific for them to comment on.
Do you think the visual and auditory stimuli would motivate students?
Again--I agree with Bethany. While you've done a good job of pulling YouTube in, it's probably not enough visual stimulation for most kids.
In terms of technology, I think you've reached out and found good sources. But today's students are much more visually attuned than in the past. They are going to expect more than a simple blog before they are motivated to participate.
I'm not sure I see a sense of community here. I see that they have been given opportunities to participate, but the opportunities themselves won't create community. If this site was directed specifically at a jazz band who already had a sense of community in the real world, perhaps a virtual community could grow around it. But without a real world counterpart, I don't think this is enough to create the motivation for students to get engaged.
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