Sloth Haiku Deck

I just got back from Costa Rica with a bunch of students.  The trip was arranged by my friend, a biology teacher.  She made sure we took the night tour in the tropical forest with a biologist and saw different levels of the forest from ground to canopy on hanging bridges and zip lines.  A group of girls had made it their singular goal to see a sloth on the trip.  I learned a lot about snakes – researching just how dangerous the ones we saw were, and birds – trying to figure out when and where I might see a Toucan, and wild cats – making sure we weren’t at risk to run into a jaguar.  But the thing that fascinated me the most was the lesson we got on sloths.  We ran into some sloth poop during our night tour and our guide told us all about sloths and sloth moths.  The last day in the mountains we got to see a sloth.  Our bus driver spotted it and stopped the bus so we could get out and take pictures.

When I had to make a haiku deck for Multimedia two days after we returned from our trip the sloth instantly came to mind.  It’s not a long story to tell, not super complicated, and it goes well with pictures.  I felt that I would be able to apply principles of multimedia and contiguity well with this topic.  It makes sense to use a sloth to introduce the idea of an ecosystem because there are only 4 organisms to talk about.  Many ecosystems involve a lot more organisms!   The first thing I did was write my speaker notes in a text editor.  Then I split them up and thought about what pictures I would use to illustrate them.  I needed to reorganize my words a little bit to make sure that all the words fit the picture that would be displayed during those words.

Haiku deck is a bit of a funny tool when thinking about putting words close to images because the speaker notes are all grouped on the side.  However, I created this project with the intent that the learner would be hearing the words while looking at the slide.  I kept the narration short for each slide.  I also made sure that the learner would be looking at a visual that connected with the narration.  I used minimal words on the screen because I wanted the learner to be verbally engaged with the audio narration rather than words on a screen.

The presentation makes zero sense without the speaker notes, and I think that is what the multimedia and contiguity principles indicate.  The visuals support the audio and the audio supports the visuals but neither stand very well alone.  When the narration talks about the sloth coming down the tree to eliminate waste, the learner should be looking at an image of that.  It might have been helpful to have an illustrator create graphics to show exactly what was going on or perhaps even an animator to show the sloth crawling down or the moths laying their eggs.  However, I was pleased with the images I was able to find.  It would be interesting to put a random picture of a sloth on every page, because that is the main character of the story, but it wouldn’t be helpful to the learner.  I was careful to find different pictures to illustrate each component of the narration.

I thought a lot about how helpful it is to have images to illustrate ideas while I was making this presentation.  The image of the single sloth moth is helpful.  That’s what the moth looks like.  But the image of the moths on the sloth is also really helpful because it clarifies how big the moths are, and that they are actually on the sloth.  Even having a picture of a sloth at all is helpful as most learners haven’t seen one in person.  Without the images, the narration would have had to describe the sloth and that would have been a lot more complex than simply including a picture.

And now, I present, my Haiku Deck.  Sloths: An ecosystem case study.

 

Static Instruction

Once upon a time multimedia meant static images and words.  Today when I think of multimedia I think of animation, videos, and generally complex media.  But words and pictures don’t have to move.  In fact, I’ve found when presenting computer instruction, it can be very effective to provide static screenshots of actions in order for learners to have enough time to follow along.  Often in a video screencast, learners must stop the video to follow instructions before they get left behind.  In the past my preferred method was to use Google Slides to present a series of screenshots that I annotated with arrows and small text boxes.  I embedded these presentations in our class LMS so learners could view them whenever they needed to.  This was a very labor intensive process.  I used the grab application on my Mac to take screenshots and then had to save them all and put them all on the slides in the correct order.  It wasn’t impossible, but it did take quite a bit longer for me to make the instructions than it did for my students to follow them.

When I read that we would have to make a static multimedia instruction, I did a mental inventory about what kinds of static instruction might be most helpful to me in the coming days.  I’ve got screencasts and instructions ready for what my students need to do in my classes, but I haven’t made any instructions about Google Classroom yet.  Some teachers have given it a try, and they have been successful without instructions.  However, I think more teachers would give it a try, if they had instructions to get them started.  So I decided to make instructions that would guide a teacher through the process of creating a class in Google Classroom.

For this assignment, we were introduced to Clarify software and encouraged to give it a try.  It feels like cheating.  When the clarify application is running it will capture the screen when a certain shortcut is pressed.  That part is similar to other screen capture applications, but what made this worth $30 to me was that it automatically imbedded my screenshot in my instructions.  As long as I remembered to stop and take a screenshot every time I did something, Clarify recorded all the steps for me.  I didn’t have to go back and retake one I missed, and I didn’t have to worry about getting steps out of order.

I added some annotations to my screenshots so they would be more helpful for learners.  In this case learners are teachers.  I decided to make the annotations a light green with dark grey text.  I selected green because I have read that green is a calming and creative color and teachers always need more calm and creative in their lives.  I decided to make them light green with dark text because some teachers might print instructions so they can hold them in their hand while they work on a computer screen.  If they did print, it would likely be in grayscale.  I wanted to make sure the annotations would still be clear if they were printed in grayscale.

I was careful to avoid putting a lot of information in the titles of the steps because I don’t think those words will be very helpful.  I made sure that all of the important information is on the pictures as close as possible to the spot in question.  I decided to use arrows because without them a learner might not know which end of the text bubble they should click on.  I decided not to overload a teacher with details about the different kinds of activities they could use but decided it would be best to show them where those buttons are and let them experiment with them.  I can create additional instructions if necessary, but I think adding all that extra information would take away from the learning objective – learners will create a class in Google Classroom.

Here’s my static instruction PDF.

A Computer Lab Refresh

In the fall of 2015, I drafted a proposal to update the computer lab in our Middle School.  The current lab setup presented many instructional challenges that I believed would be resolved by making some changes to the structure of the space.  The problems I identified were:

• The computers were old and slow and difficult to manage.
• The workstations in the room consisted of long rows of permanent desks with countertops which impeded teacher movement throughout the room.
• The arrangement of workstations made it difficult for more than two students to work collaboratively.
• The teacher desk was in the back with a four foot barrier between the teacher and the students which made the teacher less accessible for students.
• In order to see a majority of student screens, the teacher needed to stand in the back of the room while the projection screen was in the front.
• Students in the back were distracted by the screens of students in front of them who were working on a different part of an activity.

The old computer lab workstations.

I created a plan to tear out the old workstations and replace them with tables around the edge of the room.  The computers were replaced with newer machines and the teacher area was moved to the front of the room.  I researched furniture options and selected options to accommodate a variety of budget options.

Over the summer I mapped out what needed to happen during the refresh of the computer lab.  I listed all of the steps that needed to be completed and identified who would accomplish each step.  I wrote that list on the whiteboard in the room so that anyone who walked by would know exactly what phase of the project we were on.  I proceeded to clean out all the old equipment that had been stored in filing cabinets over time.  I found old floppy disks and a variety of ancient cords.  I also removed all of the computers and stored them in various closets around the school until the room was ready for them.

The room seemed to expand once we pulled out the old workstations.

I had to stay in communication with maintenance, the painter, and student workday supervisors to make sure everyone understood what I needed them to do and to make sure it all happened when it needed to.  We were able to use a student workday to tear out the old furniture because I had communicated that need with the principal.  Once the room was clear of the old furniture, the painter could come in and paint.  I recruited NHS students who needed service hours to come in and help me assemble furniture.  With furniture in place, I spent the last few days of summer setting up all the new computers.

I learned a lot about the way school staff works together as I coordinated this project.  Several other projects were underway at the same time, all of them needing to be complete before students arrived.  We all needed to work with a measure of flexibility to make sure that everything was accomplished in time.  The painter got delayed in another area of the school so I had to put furniture together before the room was painted in order to have all the work done on time.  We had an HVAC issue a week before school started and I wasn’t able to set up computers because the repairmen were in my way.  I had to be persistent in following up with staff to make sure everything was accomplished.

Ready for the first day!

It’s been about six months since I finished the new lab and it was definitely worth the effort.

The teacher’s new view.

• The new Apple computers are much faster and easier to work with.
•  The teacher can move more freely around the room.
• Students can easily work together in groups of 4 or even 5.
• The teacher desk is in the front and center of the room and students can easily approach.
• The teacher can see all student screens in one glance.
• Students face the wall as they work so they don’t see other screens in front of them.

Collaboration!

The lab is so much more efficient that I was able to add an additional week’s worth of content in the course!

 

 

Sketchnoting Multimedia Principles

In EDTECH 513, Multimedia, the first project is to create a sketch note based on the reading.  I researched what sketchnoting is and discovered that it seems to be really popular to do it old school, using art pens and paper.  I decided to follow the crowd.  I have tried sketch noting on an iPad before, and I find it more frustrating than it is worth.  I found myself having to zoom in really far to do the drawing and in doing so I would lose track of where I was in the big picture. I would also have a hard time estimating space on the canvas and I’d end up running into the edge or creating something that was so big I could not zoom out far enough to see it all.  Perhaps that learning curve is something I could overcome with practice, but since I only had one sketch note to do for this assignment I thought I would try he pen and paper method.

I felt a little bit of guilt over using pen and paper rather than tech skills, but it caused me to think more broadly about the multimedia concepts we are learning.  A teacher would not have to learn to use photoshop to create an illustration for students.  There’s no law that says that all multimedia must be created on a computer.  An instructor could draw a picture on paper and upload that for the students.  In so doing, the instructor would be able to apply the same multimedia principles while using limited technology skills.

I was excited that this project justified purchasing some art supplies.  It’s been a while since I had a reason to purchase a sketchbook and nice art pens and I was excited to do so.  The Hobby Lobby visit amounted to about $22.00.  More than I wanted to spend, but I justified my splurging because it was for school.  I took my new art supplies home, reviewed the chapters and began to think about what I would do.

In the meantime, I got an email from a colleague.  She had just gotten her new Rocketbook notebooks in the mail and wanted to know if I wanted to give them a try.  She blogged about it here.  I researched them and it seems that they would be perfect for sketch noting.  They upload your notes to the cloud, so you can keep all your sketch notes organized in the cloud.  When the notebook is full, you simply erase it in the microwave.  All of this seems really expensive, but she found hers on Amazon for $32.  Thats only $10 more than I spent on my art kit!  Sadly, my school closed for illness the day I was planning to try them out so I gave up and used my pen and paper kit.  However, I think that Rocketbooks would be the perfect tool to let kids use for sketchnoting.  They wouldn’t have to deal with the zooming issues on iPads and they would be able to organize their notes digitally.  The one downfall might be that the notebooks require special pens.  This would limit students to using only the pen sizes that are available, and would require them to keep up with their special pen.

I had a blast completing my sketchnote.  I felt that the ideas in the chapters were easy to represent visually – in fact I had a hard time picking which question to answer with my sketchnote.  However, I think I spent much too much time on it.  It seems that the point of sketchnoting is to sketch while a speaker is presenting the ideas.  Because we were sketching ideas from a book it felt different.  I was going from one visual representation to another rather than going from an audio representation to a visual.  I think if I were going to encourage my students to sketch note I would prepare some kind of video presentation for them so that they could be doodling  while they listen, but also so that they could pause the video when necessary.   I think it would take some practice to be able to keep up with a live speaker well.

I had never thought much about sketch noting before, but I’m already considering how I could help my students practice taking visual notes.