Monday June 12, 2006
Blog #4 Hypermedia Design
Description of Tool/Resource/Strategy
Hypermedia design activities promote the use of technology by students to create interactive products, such as documents with hyperlinks created to teach others about a certain topic. This type of pedagogy exemplifies learning with technology. Technology is the tool used in the activity by the student to create an end product. Using the technology and the design process encourages the student to truly think about the topic and how that information/knowledge can be effectively transferred to others.
Key Findings from Reading
In Chen?s article, ?Moments of Joy: Student Engagement and Conceptual Learning in the Design of Hypermedia Documents,? a study is detailed whereby student levels of engagement and enjoyment of using this type of learning process were assessed. According to Chen, ?collaborative authorship in hypermedia design is often related to greater levels of student motivation, effort, satisfaction, and higher standards of student projects.? Chen notes that students not only learned the content, but also learned design skills. Chen also mentions that this type of assignment requires a ?substantial transformation of classroom settings.?
Reflection
Technology provides teachers and students with many tools in the hardware and software available to us to use. Having the time and tools needed to put together this type of project is not always possible for the teacher. I thoroughly agree with Chen that using tech tools does engage students and has the potential for increased depth of learning. My experience with having students use various technologies, such as PowerPoint and HTML, is that they will not only go further, but also seem to enjoy the process more.
For example, I give my students a final project, culminating the term, that encompasses all of the tools we have learned. The student can choose to design their project as they desire and can add new skills (extra points). I found many students would go beyond what they have learned and add new features to their product. Students would also talk with each other and teach each other the new skill, enhancing shared knowledge in the classroom and between different class periods. Giving students some creative license seems in many cases to set the student up to challenge him/herself. Not only do they create a unique product, they teach themselves and others new skills.
I will be coordinating my C++ programming class the student?s science class next year in creating a project where students will build knowledge from their science course and apply technology from my course, then end up with a product explaining relationships and outcomes. While I look forward to this type of exercise/activity and take the time to put it together, there are many teachers who either will not take the time and effort to create any type of project that uses technology to aide/encourage learning. It seems regardless of the potential benefits, some teachers will simply not design the type of project detailed in Chen?s paper.
Posted by lpkeller ( Jun 12 2006, 11:36:14 AM EDT ) Permalink
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