Christopher Munn's Technology Showcase
This page is dedicated to presenting some of the work I completed for my MAET degree. I decided to focus on educational technology in my further studies because I believe utilizing technology in educational settings can lead to increased learning. I have had the opportunity to not only learn why and how technology should be used in education, but also of learning new skills and tools that I plan to use in my classroom and beyond to increase student engagement and learning.
Bullying StAIRFor CEP 811 I was tasked with creating a Stand-Alone Instructional Resource (StAIR) on a topic of my choice. Because of my role on the Character Development Committee at my school, I thought bullying was a topic that I needed to research. I hope to use resources like this in the future to help raise awareness on bullying and other pertinent topics. If you want to view this StAIR, you need to save the .mov file to your computer. Right click on the link and save it to your hard drive in order to navigate the StAIR.
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ePortfoliosIn CEP 810 I had the privilege of working with a group of colleagues to research a special interest, of which we chose ePortfolios. It was very rewarding to collaborate and research different aspects of this important tool for our schools. We collected an annotated bibliography of sources on a Diigo site. My section was researching the benefits of ePortfolios on students, which are manifold. The result of our collective work was a website, made to look like an ePortfolio, outlining the value of ePortfolios in High Schools.
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Videos
I made videos for several classes in my MAET program. Some of these videos are published to YouTube as a means of sharing my work with a wider audience. I believe that today's youth learn best from video resources, and instructors should strive to implement the use of video in their classes. As a result of my work in the MAET program, I have honed my skills in producing videos and have already made several new video resources for my classes.
The video on the right was made for CEP 800 as I researched various learning theories and tried some new teaching methods with my students. The learning models that the video details are cognitive apprenticeship and social constructivism which were implemented by playing word games. |
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These two videos were made for CEP 882 as I sought to identify and represent the nature and design of compelling experiences. The video on the left is my fun attempt at trying to discern why people love coffee shops. The video on the right is my analysis of a compelling piece of music. I loved exploring various fields and professions that can guide me in creating more compelling educational experiences for my students.
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Online Course ModuleIn CEP 820 I learned about online education and was able to experiment with several learning management systems. After learning about the affordances and restraints of each system, I chose Haiku to create a hybrid course module designed to supplement a 3-week unit of my regular face-to-face classes.
I plan to continue putting more content online for my students to watch, read, and interact with. One element of online learning that I researched in both CEP 812 and CEP 820 was the use of asynchronous electronic discussion boards. I discovered that online forums are an excellent way to leverage technology in developing critical thinking, as I detailed in this podcast (text here). |
Mind Map SoftwareI used mind mapping software several times in my graduate work, but my favorite project using the software MindNode was from CEP 818, a class on Creativity. My goal for this project was to create an artifact that demonstrates the creative thinking tool of patterning, and then explain implications on teaching.
I researched and documented the results of a news media survey to see which countries were and were not reported on. I then sorted by categories or topics to see what trends emerged. You can read my analysis on my blog.
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Web Resources
Throughout my time in the MAET program, I was introduced to many interesting and useful websites that teachers can use to produce and publish content for use in education. With the ever-changing environment of the Internet, I am challenged to continually be looking for better websites and resources to enhance student learning. I hope that I will sustain this desire for improvement.
In CEP 812 I was challenged to visualize data in a new and interesting way using a tool I had never used before. I selected the site openheatmap because I teach Social Studies and love the idea of using maps to help students better understand the world. I created an interactive map using data from the UN database on the percentage of people who use the Internet in every country from 1990 to 2011. I have used this resource in my classes for the past two years with great effect.
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This is a Prezi that I made for CEP 815 contrasting instrumental thinking and missional thinking. This idea was transformational for me in my quest to understand the relationship between technology and education. I am now convinced that improved learning must be the principal goal of any technology implementation. I used this presentation at my school as well with the Technology Committee.
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