Best and Worst of EDMS 550

Technology & Topics for Teachers provided me with an introduction to new teaching tools and perhaps more importantly the necessary information to find such tools on my own. The classroom environment was fantastic and allowed for discussion about the benefits of any new technology we encountered and gave us time to use it with the guidance of the instructor. Overall this course was extremely good. The worst part of this class for me was, in true 21^st century form, user generated. I simply did have the time to devote to this class to get the most benefit out of it. This is probably evident from a quick look at the timestamps on these last several posts on my own blog. I regret that I found myself scrambling to catch up rather than keeping a steady pace throughout. I gained a lot from this course, but see that I also left a lot of potential fruit unharvested.

Latin PLN

The search for a PLN in the Classics was not an easy one. I have found both in my experience with the majority of my colleagues as well as in this search that many classicists have not embraced technology whole-heartedly. The American Classical League maintains a website with resources for teachers, but very little interaction between them. LatinTeach.com has such a message board in theory, but it has not been touched in several years. The closest thing to a PLN related to teaching that I have found is a blog associated with LatinTeach.com. This blog does not have a message board per se, has several articles and other contributions that allow for some back and forth through the comments. Even if limited, this is a great resource for bouncing ideas off others in the field and has made its way onto my bookmark bar.

Portfolio Assessment

Assessment has become perhaps the single most prevalent term in education in recent years. Before this course, I had never used portfolio assessment—neither as a student nor a teacher. I see great value in such a method however. I hope to implement portfolio assessment, if not in introductory Latin courses (where I think assessment based on quizzed and tests is very much appropriate) at least in my intermediate language courses where a body of work produced throughout the course can be sufficient to assess whether the student is accomplishing the course objectives and developing in his or her understanding of the language.

21st Century Teaching

Before taking Technology and Topics for educators, I am not sure I would have known to use the term "21^st century teacher" and I probably wouldn't have thought it applies to my own teaching upon first hearing it. I teach a language that is 2200 years old in very much the same way that the 70 year old Carmelite priest who taught me during the 20^th century. After some reflection, however, I have come to the realization that I am in many ways a 21^st century teacher. While I present new material in a more traditional method, they way in which I have my students work with that material after its initial presentation is very much in line with 21^st century teaching. My students often collaborate on review material, both in groups in the classroom and electronically through shared documents. I consider critical thinking as a necessary component of learning Latin, both to understand not just the nature of Latin's morphology and syntax but also to consider the ideas presented by the great minds of Western Civilization. In fostering these critical thinking skills in a collaborative environment, I believe I am in many ways a 21^st Century Teacher.

Seeing myself on Film

It was quite an experience to view myself on film. I knew I would cringe—as most people do—at the sound of my own voice. I did not necessarily expect to be to be distracted by my other mannerisms. I noticed myself look back at the screen several times, in effect talking away from my audience. Perhaps this is me being over critical of myself, but I can't help but think that would be noticeable to my students and as a result have resolved to eliminate that habit.

Video Lesson

I regularly present a lesson on verb forms throughout my intro level Latin classes as new material is added.  It serves both to present new material and reinforce that which was previously taught. I make the slides that go along with the material available to my students via Blackboard. The slides can be useful for a student to whom I have already presented the material, but do not stand well on their own. With that in mind I plan to use this presentation for my first video lesson, so that my students can view not only the slides but the instruction that goes with them on their own time.

Cleveland Board of Education vs. LaFleur

See below for a presentation on Cleveland Board of Education vs. LaFleur

Cleveland Board of Education vs. LaFleur on Prezi

Legal Concerns in Education

It is important for a teacher to be aware of the legal pitfalls that go with the profession. Copyright law in particular can cause concern. Fair use allows us as educators some latitude, still it is important to know what that entails. It is especially important for a teacher, who holds his students to a standard of academic honesty to meet that same standard.

Presenting through Prezi

Preparing a lecture or lesson is perhaps the most time consuming task required of a teacher. I spend at least three hours in prep work for every hour of lecture to my students. That time may include reading and re-reading the source material, looking for art or media to enhance the information, finding something fresh to add so that my lectures don't become stale, and in the end the putting all of this content into a medium to present. And this doesn't include the years of coursework that preceded all of this. After so much effort, the document that results should be something that elicits pride from its creator and excitement from his audience—or at least does not put the audience to sleep.
I suggest Prezi as a particularly effective presentation software. Prezi allows you to create your presentation on one giant digital canvas of sorts, rather than individual slides. The content of that canvas is presented in a linear fashion by focusing in on a specific part of that canvas, one after the other, resulting in a series of images—called a path in Prezi jargon—similar to the familiar slide show. I find many benefits to Prezi as a presentation medium, not the least of which is the novelty to an audience used to slides. That alone will buy you a couple of minutes of attention. The benefits of Prezi are not, however, limited to the final product—the presentation itself. I have found that putting together a Prezi lends itself to brainstorming, effectively combing that preliminary step with the composition itself. The software can also be easily utilized for group work within the class. The "edit together" feature allows students to work concurrently on the same document, filling in content individually or in small groups from which the entire class can learn.
Rather than expound more in words, I have put together a quick demonstration.

Brief Intro to Prezi EDMS 550 on Prezi

Journal Review- electronic assessment in classics

In his article "Accidence and Acronyms Deploying electronic assessment in support of classical language teaching in a university context" (click here for the article)
Richard Ashdowne describes the implementation of an internet-centered assessment within the classical languages program at Oxford University. The program he describes was implemented to replace an in-class paper based assessment that had been historically a part of the intermediate level Latin and Greek courses. Ashdowne reports that the program was largely successful, especially in improving efficiency in the use of class time.

The in-class assessment described in the article was given weekly at the beginning of the class meeting and reviewed immediately afterward, taking up valuable class time. The scores were recorded but not factored into the student's grade. The internet-based assessment that replaced it could be taken outside of class time with immediate feedback to the student and faculty upon completion.

There are several important factors to consider when moving to an internet-based assessment. Academic honesty in particular is a concern when assessments are given in an uncontrolled environment. The opportunity to consult both text books and other students is very real in these cases. Steps taken to prevent that include a time limit and randomized questions from a larger pool so that no two students are likely to receive the same test. With the type of assessment mentioned in Ashdowne's article, this is a sufficient enough response. It is, however, something to be considered. Another concern is the type of questions and answers that will make up the assessment. Multiple choice and matching questions can easily be automated, while responses that require students to input a response can be trickier, especially in dealing with languages that require accent marks and characters not found on a standard keyboard. The users at Oxford found a suitable solution to their needs.

On-line assessments can be a great benefit to both the student and teacher. Careful planning must go into the selection of the type of technology used for this purpose. If done well, however, they can free up class time, allow for instant and automated feedback, and allow the student to work according to his or her convenience.

Educational Purpose Statement

Grounded in the ideals of the Society of Jesus, I seek to educate the whole person intellectually, morally, and spiritually. I teach classical languages and culture to bring my students into contact with the great minds of Western civilization, and thus to enhance their understanding of their own culture and themselves. My students reap the benefits with both a greater facility with the structure and vocabulary of their own language and the occasion to encounter the rich corpus of classical texts. Through an examination of the users of the classical languages—from both Ancient Greece and Rome and the Catholic Church—my students have the opportunity to investigate the roots of Western culture. Informed by the writings of the likes of Plato and Aristotle, Homer and Vergil, Herodotus and Livy, Demosthenes and Cicero, and Augustine and Aquinas; students are exposed not only to significant historical figures and events but also to the profound ideas that have helped to shape the world in which they live.

My First Post

This is the initial post of my first blog.  Be kind, it can only get better from here!