Prezi Relection

According to Wikipedia, “Prezi is a cloud-based presentation software and storytelling tool for exploring and sharing ideas on a virtual canvas.  [It] is used as a platform for bridging linear and nonlinear information, and as a tool for both free-form brainstorming and structured presentation” (Wikipedia, 2012).  What a wonderful tool to engage students and to hold their attention while presenting valuable concepts!  Connections can be made within and outside content areas on the same canvas and within frames to create a whole picture.  Students are able to maneuver through this interactive, sensory-stimulating presentation to form valuable connections.  Not only can teachers create a Prezi, but students can construct one as well.  With its non-linear path, students can connect concepts and showcase their deep understanding through synthesis. 

As I was brainstorming topics for this assignment, so many ideas came to mind for which this presentation would be useful and beneficial.  For this particular Prezi, I wanted to focus on literary devices due to their importance in my course.  Not only do the students need to know the definitions, they need to be able to identify them in other stories and provide their own examples.  This Prezi allows me to present the definitions in text while providing effective examples through video, audio, and images.  These media presentations are much more engaging than traditional lectures.

Gardner states that “…projects and theme-related curricula are well-intentioned efforts to sustain or buoy the potential for making connections” (Gardner, 2007, p. 68).  Utilizing an interactive tool like Prezi in the classroom allows for meaningful connections to be made.  Again, rubrics and other evaluation tools should be in place so that students are aware of the teacher’s expectations.  Examples should be given to show successful and less than successful work, and proper feedback should be given so students can capitalize on their strengths and improve upon their weaknesses.

Providing students with tools that emphasize synthesis is critical.  “Probably the chief ‘synthesizing nourishment’ absorbed by the mind of the nine-year-old, or the fourteen-year-old, comes from the occasional adult synthesizer who is encountered – or from school or mass media presentations that have an integrating flavor” (Gardner, 2007, p. 68).  I believe Prezi is an example of digital media that definitely “integrates flavor.” 

I believe if students are subject to materials that touch upon different entry points and senses, they are more likely to gain knowledge and develop a deeper understanding of the content.  With the integration of technology and its engaging features of audio, video, and images and other interactive features, educators will be able to reach students with a story, debate, art, etc. so that we can develop and nurture the disciplined mind in our students.  “To some extent, the disciplinary training involves acquisition of new skills” (Gardner, 2007, p. 39).  With these new skills, students will need to synthesize this new information with old information; thereby, marrying the disciplined and synthesized minds.

http://prezi.com/g3kyzkj24_r-/literary-devices/?auth_key=09a79b7b0f92a87d81095e71296565635e14a8f2

The Synthesizing Mind

Two activities that I utilize in my class where I believe the students synthesize information are journaling and interviewing involving our fictional and nonfictional characters.  Since “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce is set during the Civil War, I assign the students to write a journal entry from either a member of the Union army or a member of the Confederate army’s point of view as he or she observes the actions up to and including the hanging of the condemned man.  The students not only need to know the basic facts of the Civil War, but they need to tie together other content areas as well to develop an accurate account from whichever side they choose.  They would also have to comprehend the short story in order for their entry to make sense.  Journal entries are a wonderful and effective way for students to display their knowledge of content while at the same time showcase a deeper understanding that goes well beyond recall and memorization. 

Interviewing is also an effective way to showcase synthesis.  Again, students are required to make connections within the text in addition to making cross-curricular connections.  If a student is reading a first-hand account from a Titanic survivor or analyzing a photo from the Great Depression or Macbeth, he or she will need to knit together aspects of other disciplines to make sense of these primary sources.  If students are creating an interview for a particular character, fiction or nonfiction, they will have to develop relevant, meaningful, thought-out questions in order for the character to tell his or her story.  Also, whether students are creating both sides of the interview or interviewing another student (role play), accurate open-ended responses must be created.  Both the questions and responses would be great assessment tools for comprehension and synthesis.  Journaling and interviewing would also be useful tools to create relationships to real-life situations.  However, whatever the tool, students should be aware of the expectations of the teacher, and effective feedback should be given.

With the integration of technology, these journals and interviews can come alive.  Video journals and interviews can be created that would make use of video, audio, and images.  I had one student who created a video for her Titanic survivor journal.  She was dressed the part and delivered an emotional entry outlining that tragic night.  I also had a student create an interview between an interviewer and a character from a fictional story.  The student developed effective questions and answers, and she was able to convey the character’s story through this exchange.  Also, a student created a Glog that analyzed a photo from the Great Depression.  Not only did she analyze the photo, but she gave a brief background of this time period, accompanied by an appropriate song representing survival and better times.  As stated by Gardner, “Against the odds, individuals seek synthesis.”  We, as educators, need to give the students the opportunity to find and exhibit this synthesis.

Gardner, H.  (2007).  Five minds for the future.  Boston:  Harvard Business School Press.

Digital Media

There were so many great videos that could be utilized from Discovery Education for English/Language Arts.  Because my high school class reads “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe, I was drawn to the Edgar Allan Poe videos.  My goal would be for students to become engaged in the content and learn about Edgar Allan Poe’s life, so they would be better equipped to understand his works. 

Some of these videos would work wonderfully to grab my students’ attention and act as an introduction into his life and works.  I believe it is very important for students to learn the background, both personal and historical, of an author because of the influence these aspects may have on his or her work.  If the students are aware of these backgrounds, they will have a better understanding of the author’s purpose and can aid in the comprehension of the text. 

In one particular video, eerie music was playing in the background as influential horror writers of today were commenting on Poe and his work.  I believe this would set the mood and draw the students in and motivate them to learn more about Poe.  The video was very creative, and I believe that the students would not be bored with the way the information was presented throughout it. 

I enjoy incorporating videos into my lessons because they touch different learning styles.  Students who are visual learners can benefit from the pictures and images, and auditory learners can benefit from the sounds or music.  This video, as well as others, appeals to our senses to create a more meaningful learning experience.  Students, in turn, can be motivated to create their own videos to showcase their technological skills and understanding of content.

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Paula Stinson - High School English teacher 
This course is one stop along my journey to obtaining my Master's in Instructional Media.  This course will allow me to better serve my online students.  I believe that all students should have the opportunity to achieve in the classroom, where they will be motivated to become life-long learners and be prepared to be successful in their professional and personal lives in the 21st century. 

Using technology effectively in the classroom can enhance and differentiate materials and lessons and allow students to be innovative and creative.  However, technology is sometimes unreliable.  From experience, students may have a technology issue that can hinder his or her learning. 

I teach using Elluminate in Blackboard where I can incorporate various technological tools in my virtual classroom.  I cannot imagine the things I see and do on a daily basis in my high school back in the day!  I remember attending typing class, and the fun part was unplugging each other’s typewriters while we were setting our margins!