I had huge problems trying to embed the audio files into the PowerPoint presentation for a simple download from Oncourse. I tried for hours and a number of different scenarios, but was unable to come up with a simple solution for viewing. However, there IS a way and those wishing to see my product should follow these steps!
1. Create a folder on your desktop (this is where you will place 3 files for my "show")
2. Go to https://oncourse.iu.edu/access/content/user/cs34/hoosieritaly/
3. Click on hoosieritaly.ppsx.
Download the file and store it in the folder you created in step 1.
4. Click on tuscansun2.mp3.
Download the file and store it in the folder you created in step 1.
5. Do the same for We No Speak Americano.mp3
6. Now navigate to the newly created folder and click on the hoosieritaly.ppsx file.
I have also provided a zipped package on Oncourse as well. You may download it at:
https://oncourse.iu.edu/access/content/user/cs34/hoosieritaly.zip
The PowerPoint presentation should play complete with sound!
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Final Reflection
This process has been a lengthy undertaking. I began a month ago wondering about Italy and have learned so much during this project of my own devising. I had many questions about Italy because I really didn't know much even though I had been studying the Italian language informally for about 2 years. Because I formed my own questions, finding the answers were meaningful and also required little motivation, a key element to the inquiry models we have been studying. I felt that I was getting first-hand experience in inquiry-based learning.
One thought that kept coming to mind during while I was working on the final presentation product was that all that I had learned was hard to put into words and pictures! One piece of the puzzle led to another while researching. How could a simple PowerPoint convey all that I had learned. For example I picked my imaginary hometown of Collechio after finding out about many facets of Italy, like population statistics, weather statistics, maps, demographics, and location tools like maps. I now had a deeper understanding of Italy that required many levels of learning. I know that all that I learned is not in the PowerPoint, but I hope I was able to convey the connection to me!
The searching process was overwhelming due to the vast amounts of information and because it was difficult to know when I had enough! More information just led to more questions which led to more information! Finally, time began to be my guide as it dictated that I must move on.
One aspect I was happy with was the variety of resources I was able to draw upon. Even my "blogmate" gave me a good idea about exploring the National parks and led me into a new direction of searching I had not considered. I drew from data sets, maps, printed matter, surveys, interviews, and websites (both commercial and informational). I tried some "official" Italian websites too - but my language skills are not that good to glean information from a page done entirely in Italian!
Tying standards to what I was doing also kept the teaching focus front and center. It also helped me connect what I viewed previously as a gargantuan list of standards to the real world environment of inquiry based learning using a variety of standards.
I am glad I tackled the new PowerPoint. My regret is that I am not personally going to present it because I believe the software allows for several methods upon download and I hope that it is viewed as intended! By tackling the software, I became much more proficient and would be confident helping other students or staff if asked. Every media specialist should keep their skills up-to-date with the latest software - it's finding the time that is the tricky part!
A few of the technology requirements I had used previously and it was good to revisit those tools. The most fun I had with a tool was the Survey Monkey. So much critical thinking went into devising the survey that I was thinking about how just building a survey is a lesson in itself! Students would benefit so much and improve their logic skills building surveys from time to time! Surveys could be posted on the schools website with a wide range of subject matter from lunchroom favorites to sociology test to prove points in papers!
Finally, I can't even imagine trying to "grade" a product such as this blog! Because of the free nature of the assignment, I think that some teachers would be overwhelmed by digging through each blog. However, by the use of narratives in each post, I hope that it is apparent that real "thinkin" has taken place. I tried to make some aspects of this blog alittle easier to compare to the checklist by creating extra pages related to standards, technology requirements, and citations. I also used the extra space pages provided to showcase some examples of some of my creations such as the Italy Idea Map. This organization scheme also helped me to stay on track as well.
One thing is for sure, I still want to go to Italy and now I know so much more, that I am looking forward to a future visit with more confidence than I had before because I have a deeper understanding of the country and its people.
One thought that kept coming to mind during while I was working on the final presentation product was that all that I had learned was hard to put into words and pictures! One piece of the puzzle led to another while researching. How could a simple PowerPoint convey all that I had learned. For example I picked my imaginary hometown of Collechio after finding out about many facets of Italy, like population statistics, weather statistics, maps, demographics, and location tools like maps. I now had a deeper understanding of Italy that required many levels of learning. I know that all that I learned is not in the PowerPoint, but I hope I was able to convey the connection to me!
The searching process was overwhelming due to the vast amounts of information and because it was difficult to know when I had enough! More information just led to more questions which led to more information! Finally, time began to be my guide as it dictated that I must move on.
One aspect I was happy with was the variety of resources I was able to draw upon. Even my "blogmate" gave me a good idea about exploring the National parks and led me into a new direction of searching I had not considered. I drew from data sets, maps, printed matter, surveys, interviews, and websites (both commercial and informational). I tried some "official" Italian websites too - but my language skills are not that good to glean information from a page done entirely in Italian!
Tying standards to what I was doing also kept the teaching focus front and center. It also helped me connect what I viewed previously as a gargantuan list of standards to the real world environment of inquiry based learning using a variety of standards.
I am glad I tackled the new PowerPoint. My regret is that I am not personally going to present it because I believe the software allows for several methods upon download and I hope that it is viewed as intended! By tackling the software, I became much more proficient and would be confident helping other students or staff if asked. Every media specialist should keep their skills up-to-date with the latest software - it's finding the time that is the tricky part!
A few of the technology requirements I had used previously and it was good to revisit those tools. The most fun I had with a tool was the Survey Monkey. So much critical thinking went into devising the survey that I was thinking about how just building a survey is a lesson in itself! Students would benefit so much and improve their logic skills building surveys from time to time! Surveys could be posted on the schools website with a wide range of subject matter from lunchroom favorites to sociology test to prove points in papers!
Finally, I can't even imagine trying to "grade" a product such as this blog! Because of the free nature of the assignment, I think that some teachers would be overwhelmed by digging through each blog. However, by the use of narratives in each post, I hope that it is apparent that real "thinkin" has taken place. I tried to make some aspects of this blog alittle easier to compare to the checklist by creating extra pages related to standards, technology requirements, and citations. I also used the extra space pages provided to showcase some examples of some of my creations such as the Italy Idea Map. This organization scheme also helped me to stay on track as well.
One thing is for sure, I still want to go to Italy and now I know so much more, that I am looking forward to a future visit with more confidence than I had before because I have a deeper understanding of the country and its people.
Wishing
Reflecting Strengths and Weaknesses
Looking back on some aspects of this project, I wish I had narrowed my focus even more! There was so much to cover and I felt I didn't do justice to anything. However, this was also a strength in that I went from knowing very little about Italy to knowing very much about a wide range of subjects. Since my focus was so wide, I learned many things about many aspects of Italy. The challenge was to find a way to bring it all together and present it in a unified theme which I think I successfully managed by comparing my life to one I may have enjoyed had I been born in Italy.
My Experience with Personal Inquiry vs A Child's
My experience with this project was good in that I developed a deeper understanding of Italy. Tina Grotzer from the Harvard Graduate School of Education states that children absorb information, however, that information will be less likely remembered unless the information is connected to the individual child. Like children who inquire naturally about objects around them by "testing" their environment, I had a natural curiosity about Italy. However, unlike a child's learning who may stop at the first answer or result (example: child wonders about fire, touches, concludes bad choice, leaves fire), this "adult" version of inquiry moved beyond the initial stages to a deeper understand of my chosen subject. The Harvard article comments that inquiry-based learning can lead to stumbling blocks or dead ends. It is important that young children have some guidance. Some students in schools may still be learning under older models based on fact finding missions instead of discovering and questioning. Unfortunately the information absorbed in the fact finding missions will most likely be forgotten quickly. (Keys to Inquiry-Inquiry Learning, Harvard)
Looking back on some aspects of this project, I wish I had narrowed my focus even more! There was so much to cover and I felt I didn't do justice to anything. However, this was also a strength in that I went from knowing very little about Italy to knowing very much about a wide range of subjects. Since my focus was so wide, I learned many things about many aspects of Italy. The challenge was to find a way to bring it all together and present it in a unified theme which I think I successfully managed by comparing my life to one I may have enjoyed had I been born in Italy.
My Experience with Personal Inquiry vs A Child's
My experience with this project was good in that I developed a deeper understanding of Italy. Tina Grotzer from the Harvard Graduate School of Education states that children absorb information, however, that information will be less likely remembered unless the information is connected to the individual child. Like children who inquire naturally about objects around them by "testing" their environment, I had a natural curiosity about Italy. However, unlike a child's learning who may stop at the first answer or result (example: child wonders about fire, touches, concludes bad choice, leaves fire), this "adult" version of inquiry moved beyond the initial stages to a deeper understand of my chosen subject. The Harvard article comments that inquiry-based learning can lead to stumbling blocks or dead ends. It is important that young children have some guidance. Some students in schools may still be learning under older models based on fact finding missions instead of discovering and questioning. Unfortunately the information absorbed in the fact finding missions will most likely be forgotten quickly. (Keys to Inquiry-Inquiry Learning, Harvard)
Friday, September 24, 2010
Waving and Connecting
I will communicate my findings via a PowerPoint presentation via Oncourse. The files will be open to the public at https://oncourse.iu.edu/access/content/user/cs34/hoosieritaly/ once final tweeks are made. This is a PowerPoint presentation that is best viewed in MS PowerPoint 2008 or higher. It includes sound and timing principles. For the purposes of this assignment, I prefer it be viewed as a show to accentuate the timing elements. As far as who may be interested in viewing this project, in my town perhaps few. However, perhaps the local library would like to link to it for students or patrons interested in the country. Another possible outside connection would be linking to/from someone else's blog about Italy!
Curriculum Connection:
This project was a very personal communication but one that could easily be shared with others interested in Italy or translated into a curriculum experience for children or teens. For example, younger children (grades 2-3) could explore Italy by locating pictures of famous sites in Italy on the internet then accurately place those images on a large outline map of the country. Instead of each student making their own map, groups of students could research one area, such as the Vatican, and place a picture and brief description on a community map for the classroom. At the end of the lesson, the students will have collaborated on a group project and learned from one another. Of course, the lesson could be on any country, state, or even their own town at this grade level.
For older students, such as high school juniors or seniors, a possible connection could be through the art found in Italy. I looked at the Indiana Standards for Fine Arts-Visual Arts: 8.2 Responding to Art to help me think of an idea. In this lesson, students would be asked to identify artwork in Italy of their choosing, for example paintings or sculptures. For each piece, the artists, style, and time period would need to be identified. The class would then construct several visual displays depicting location versus timeline to unveil the movement of art in the country. A discussion of the final products(s) would ensue and hopefully lead to even more questions about Italian art movement!
Curriculum Connection:
This project was a very personal communication but one that could easily be shared with others interested in Italy or translated into a curriculum experience for children or teens. For example, younger children (grades 2-3) could explore Italy by locating pictures of famous sites in Italy on the internet then accurately place those images on a large outline map of the country. Instead of each student making their own map, groups of students could research one area, such as the Vatican, and place a picture and brief description on a community map for the classroom. At the end of the lesson, the students will have collaborated on a group project and learned from one another. Of course, the lesson could be on any country, state, or even their own town at this grade level.
For older students, such as high school juniors or seniors, a possible connection could be through the art found in Italy. I looked at the Indiana Standards for Fine Arts-Visual Arts: 8.2 Responding to Art to help me think of an idea. In this lesson, students would be asked to identify artwork in Italy of their choosing, for example paintings or sculptures. For each piece, the artists, style, and time period would need to be identified. The class would then construct several visual displays depicting location versus timeline to unveil the movement of art in the country. A discussion of the final products(s) would ensue and hopefully lead to even more questions about Italian art movement!
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Wrapping
I wanted to package what I learned into a product that included visual information (photos) as well as text for facts. By combining words and pictures, I feel that a deeper understanding can occur. I was also concerned about showcasing all the different sources that I used for this assignment. I decided to make a PowerPoint presentation to control the elements presented and because I wanted to improve my skills related to the new PowerPoint capabilities.
In the last few days, I have learned very, very much about PowerPoint. I would feel confident helping other teachers or students with their projects now! This project, although more of a personal inquiry than an academic subject, could be used as an example of using graphics, sound, and text to communicate a message. This inquiry was important to me because of my interest in Italy. I was highly motivated to explore the subject which made learning fun. In Curriculum Connections, the authors write that "Students are expected to ask questions and seek new understanding" during the inquiry process (p. 4). Through my research, I was able to come to a new understanding of the country and surprised myself with the findings!
I have much anxiety concerning getting the large file uploaded to an appropriate location (accessible) and it "working". I have ran a few tests so far. When exported as a movie it forgets all the timing I put in. When ran in an alternate format like OpenOffice's PowerPoint equilavent, some fonts, pics, etc. are missing! I have spent many hours tweeking the presentation and I am concern it will not be presented over the long distance as I had hoped!
In the last few days, I have learned very, very much about PowerPoint. I would feel confident helping other teachers or students with their projects now! This project, although more of a personal inquiry than an academic subject, could be used as an example of using graphics, sound, and text to communicate a message. This inquiry was important to me because of my interest in Italy. I was highly motivated to explore the subject which made learning fun. In Curriculum Connections, the authors write that "Students are expected to ask questions and seek new understanding" during the inquiry process (p. 4). Through my research, I was able to come to a new understanding of the country and surprised myself with the findings!
I have much anxiety concerning getting the large file uploaded to an appropriate location (accessible) and it "working". I have ran a few tests so far. When exported as a movie it forgets all the timing I put in. When ran in an alternate format like OpenOffice's PowerPoint equilavent, some fonts, pics, etc. are missing! I have spent many hours tweeking the presentation and I am concern it will not be presented over the long distance as I had hoped!
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Wonder No More: Questions Evolved and Revised
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| Courtesy freedigitalphotos.net |
I reviewed some information of the inquiry process concerning questioning. A quote from the article "Serial Questioners and Umble Pie" on Jamie McKenzie's Questioning.org website best describes my reflections on the questioning process that I have undergone during this project.
"Most important questions require the skillful pursuit of a series of subsidiary questions...The search for understanding and insight is exhausting, especially since we cannot find or uncover answers to the main questions. We must gather answers to the smaller (subsidiary) questions and then construct answers to the more important questions by synthesizing what we have gathered. "
Weaving
I have learned much about Italy. So much that I needed to organize my knowledge into a format that I could relate to. I created a chart with Word 2008 SmartArt Graphics (see Smart Graphic page) so that I could synthesize the information into manageable junks. I also wanted a method to begin better notetaking on the information I had located on the web. I downloaded Diigo, a social bookmarking, highlighting, and notetaking application. I wish I had started with Diigo because I had already done most of my searching with Delicious but now found myself re-bookmarking into Diigo so that I could add notes and highlights.
Between Diigo, Delicious, print, and interview resources, I have so much information - probably too much. The project feels very much like the I-Search model as discussed in the Educational Leadership article, The I-Search: Guiding Students Toward Relevant Research. I feel as if my Phase I (posing questions) keeps shifting and my Phase 3 (revise search plans to gather, sort, and integrate information) will never end! The article states that "passage from one phase to another becomes a natural point of assessment" (p. 50). Ongoing assessment "ensures that students do not get lost." I believe this is a good point as I feel the revolving nature of self-directed research can become a vicious cycle of more questions needing more answers!
Between Diigo, Delicious, print, and interview resources, I have so much information - probably too much. The project feels very much like the I-Search model as discussed in the Educational Leadership article, The I-Search: Guiding Students Toward Relevant Research. I feel as if my Phase I (posing questions) keeps shifting and my Phase 3 (revise search plans to gather, sort, and integrate information) will never end! The article states that "passage from one phase to another becomes a natural point of assessment" (p. 50). Ongoing assessment "ensures that students do not get lost." I believe this is a good point as I feel the revolving nature of self-directed research can become a vicious cycle of more questions needing more answers!
Friday, September 17, 2010
Time for More Webbing?
I wanted to expand my variety of resources and formats. I have watched a movie set in Italy to get a feel for the landscape (The American). I learned from the Internet Movie Database that it was filmed in multiple locations in Italy including Rome and Castel de Monte. If I had more time, I would like to watch more films set in Italy to learn visually.
I also made an informal questionaire on Survey Monkey and posted the survey to a social networking site in hopes of getting information from individuals who have traveled to Italy.
I found out what I didn't know by taking a quiz at National Geographic Traveler. Ten questions designed to help teach the user about facts of Italian culture. This was fun and educational at the same time!
I also visited my local library looking for print resources and nonfiction DVDs on Italy. I found more guidebooks such as National Geographic Traveler's ITALY and I also looked in the youth/juvenile department where I was pleased to find books with lots of pictures and basic information about Italy, such as Ted Park's Taking Your Camera to Italy. I also picked up a guide book of a different nature, a nonfiction memoir Under the Tuscan Sun: at home in Italy which I would love to read for pleasure as well as for information. No DVDs were available at my local library on Italy.
I also remembered an article in my local paper about a group of women from my hometown visiting Italy within the last year. I search my local paper's archives to locate the article. I realized that I was acquainted with a few of the women in the group. I have called one to schedule an interview about her experiences in Italy.
I feel like I could find more and more, but it is time to begin weaving things together! I think HS students and younger would definitely need specific time frames so for each stage of an inquiry project to keep them on track. However, this may be hard to put into practice since the process appears to be nonlinear in many ways. Have I exhausted my resources? No. Do I have a wide variety that answer my initial and subsequent questions? Yes, I think so! Cominciamo bene! We are off to a fine start!
 |
| Image Courtesy of Freedigitalphotos.net |
I found out what I didn't know by taking a quiz at National Geographic Traveler. Ten questions designed to help teach the user about facts of Italian culture. This was fun and educational at the same time!
I also visited my local library looking for print resources and nonfiction DVDs on Italy. I found more guidebooks such as National Geographic Traveler's ITALY and I also looked in the youth/juvenile department where I was pleased to find books with lots of pictures and basic information about Italy, such as Ted Park's Taking Your Camera to Italy. I also picked up a guide book of a different nature, a nonfiction memoir Under the Tuscan Sun: at home in Italy which I would love to read for pleasure as well as for information. No DVDs were available at my local library on Italy.
I also remembered an article in my local paper about a group of women from my hometown visiting Italy within the last year. I search my local paper's archives to locate the article. I realized that I was acquainted with a few of the women in the group. I have called one to schedule an interview about her experiences in Italy.
I feel like I could find more and more, but it is time to begin weaving things together! I think HS students and younger would definitely need specific time frames so for each stage of an inquiry project to keep them on track. However, this may be hard to put into practice since the process appears to be nonlinear in many ways. Have I exhausted my resources? No. Do I have a wide variety that answer my initial and subsequent questions? Yes, I think so! Cominciamo bene! We are off to a fine start!
Monday, September 13, 2010
Wiggling
During the process of exploring Italy through these sites, an idea began to form related to the focus of my final project. After watching a brief video on marble quarrying in Italy, I began to imagine a parallel life in Italy. The marble quarrying reminded me of my own hometown's industry of limestone quarrying. I feel that by "investigating" Italy by tying it to my life in a small town in the US, I can authenticate the project and the endeavor will be much more meaningful to me. My focus will be to "move" through Italy in much the same manner that I have moved through my life here in the States. This will enable me to focus on many aspects of Italian life instead of just the popular tourist attractions.
This process of inquiry closely resembles to Daniel Callison's model of information inquiry found in our text, The Blue Book. The process I have experienced so far has been a continuous cycle of raising questions, finding information that raises new and/or additional questions, and assimilating (and sometimes re-assimilating) information into new facets of inquiry. This experience is best illustrated by the figure found in The Blue Book on page 6, Callison's Cycle and Interaction of Information Inquiry Elements.
My new focus with explore Italy like I had imagined, but also make the information meaningful to me. I may need to raise new questions and do additional searching to satisfy my quest for knowledge based on this focus.
This process of inquiry closely resembles to Daniel Callison's model of information inquiry found in our text, The Blue Book. The process I have experienced so far has been a continuous cycle of raising questions, finding information that raises new and/or additional questions, and assimilating (and sometimes re-assimilating) information into new facets of inquiry. This experience is best illustrated by the figure found in The Blue Book on page 6, Callison's Cycle and Interaction of Information Inquiry Elements.
My new focus with explore Italy like I had imagined, but also make the information meaningful to me. I may need to raise new questions and do additional searching to satisfy my quest for knowledge based on this focus.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Webbing
Today was a big search day for me. To prepare for my search, I first reviewed my Delicious account and updated my software so that I was well prepared to save and tag a wide variety of sites. By using this social networking bookmarking resource, I was able to easily and quickly bookmark and tag sites I found useful without having to stop and take notes which would have slowed the pace of my search. By tagging my sites, I will be able to go back to sites I have found and find specific elements I am looking for to produce my final product. Some words I used in tagging include Italy, maps, travel, and historical among others. You may see my bookmarks concerning Italy at: http://www.delicious.com/cs34
Since I was still unsure about my focus and needed more information before I could make a decision about my focus, I started with the key term "Italy" in general information websites such as Wikipedia and Britannica Online. I wanted to learn more about Italy in general and generate some more key terms to use in additional searching. I tried to focus on my questions noted earlier in my Wondering post. I found that my questions were leading me to a wide variety of travel guides, such as the World Travel Guide and WhyGo Italy. I was able to find many images, articles, videos and databases, such as populstat.info which shows statistical data for Italy. related to Italy. I feel like I need to continue brainstorming sources and exploring ideas from my WebInspiration. There is SO much to see and do in Italy, that finding a focus is difficult.
Since I was still unsure about my focus and needed more information before I could make a decision about my focus, I started with the key term "Italy" in general information websites such as Wikipedia and Britannica Online. I wanted to learn more about Italy in general and generate some more key terms to use in additional searching. I tried to focus on my questions noted earlier in my Wondering post. I found that my questions were leading me to a wide variety of travel guides, such as the World Travel Guide and WhyGo Italy. I was able to find many images, articles, videos and databases, such as populstat.info which shows statistical data for Italy. related to Italy. I feel like I need to continue brainstorming sources and exploring ideas from my WebInspiration. There is SO much to see and do in Italy, that finding a focus is difficult.
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