During EDLD 5366 I learned a wealth of knowledge from the
week one through four readings and assignments. Throughout the course I had the
opportunity to use my imagination coupled with creativity and the information
embedded in the course to help me successfully complete the assignments. The
information I learned could carry over into the classroom or any future
leadership assignments.
Week one I
focused on using the CRAP model provided by Dr. Cummings to evaluate and
describe the pieces provided in the assignment. Before this course I was aware
that there was a method to designing a visually pleasing piece. After reading
the week one readings, I discovered what the elements make up a balanced
digital piece. After this assignment I became more aware of the contrast,
repetition, alignment, and proximity of pieces.
With week
two I was able to learn about branding, and created a logo. I was able to
process the importance of creating a brand , and what elements to incorporate
into it. I enjoyed brainstorming about my goals and words that describe me. I
feel like the process of branding could be a student or staff activity.
Branding can help one to focus on their goals and what it must take to achieve
them. I could use this assignment in my history classroom by having student
create a brand or logo for past presidents and historical figures that we
study.
Week three
animations provided me the opportunity to experiment with movement and creating
a animation with a stick figure. Before this course I had never heard of free
tools like Stykz . After completing the week three assignment with this free
software, I envisioned the different ways my eighth grade students would enjoy
using this product. Animations are an engaging way to draw students into an
assignment and instruction. During this assignment I learned new free ways to
incorporate technology into my classroom.
Week four
was more about group work and collaborative assignments for me. I had a
wonderful group, and we started working early on the website. Our goals was to
create a visually enticing website that would deliver meaningful information
while adhering to the rubric guidelines.
After the website was finished we were pleased with what we had created.
I personally realized that a website could be used in education to benefit
students, staff, and parents. I really like the idea of having a website that
shares free web 2.0 tools for teachers to use in the classroom. I feel that if
teachers have more resources or websites like this available, they would focus
more on incorporating technology. Websites can also be used to post assignment guidelines or notes for students.
Resources
Churches, A.
(2007, April). Bloom’s digital taxonomy. Retrieved from http://www.techlearning.com/article/8670
Robin Williams: The Non-Designer’s
Design Book, Third Edition.
Alcantara, L. (2009). The art of
self-branding. Retrieved from
http://www.lealea.net/blog/comments/the-art-of-self-branding-part-one/
