Podcourse

UDL Cases

cshamburg@gmail.com (Chris Shamburg) — Sat, 30 Apr 2016 16:56:00 +0000

I've been fine tuning my thinking and work with Universal Design for Learning for about a decade now--and that's after 15 years of wrestling with the ideas, though without formally calling it UDL.

Below are 10 'cases in UDL' that I developed and have used in professional development and training. They are 'ripped from today's headlines' as they are composites and tweaked examples of classroom innovations that I have actually seen. Use the 9 UDL Guidelines from CAST and identify the top 3 for each.

Here they are (more details here):

1. Provide options for perception

2. Provide options for language, mathematical expressions, and symbols

3. Provide options for comprehension

4. Provide options for physical action

5. Provide options for expression and communication

6. Provide options for executive functions

7. Provide options for recruiting interest

8. Provide options for sustaining effort and persistence

9. Provide options for self-regulation

Identify the Three Most Salient UDL Guidelines in Each Case using the numbers 1-9.

Case 1: Household Vocabulary . UDL Guidelines _,________________________________

Ms. Fernandez teaches Spanish. She is introducing students to the “vocabulary of the household.” She gives students a list of vocabulary words and four different options—draw a diagram, create a short skit, write a poem, or create a comic—each must include the set of household vocabulary words.

Case 2: Unlike Denominators UDL Guidelines ________________________________

Mr. Kouse teaches a mathematics class. He notices that many students have problems adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators. He gets a bunch of pebbles and puts them in plastic mixing cups and demonstrates adding amounts with unlike denominators (e.g. 1/4 of a cup and 3/8 of a cup). He sets this up as a station and rotates groups of students through as other groups do different activities.

Case 3: Enacting Novels UDL Guidelines ____________________________________

Mrs. Fodole teaches tenth-grade English. When reading novels and short stories, she notices that many students get confused when characters are speaking to each other. Students are unfamiliar with the conventions of dialogue in prose. She takes small excerpts from the book and has the students write and act scripts from these sections. The students exchange their scripts and enact the scenes.

Case 4: Feedback on Cards UDL Guidelines _____________________________________

Ms. Baer is reviewing the scientific method in the Intro to Science Class. Whenever she lectures for more than 5 minutes, she gives the students index cards with Y on one side and N on the other. Before she moves on to a new concept or idea she asks the kids if they understand and makes them all indicate by showing the Y or the N side of the card. Sometimes she re-teaches it another way, or other times she addresses student questions one at a time. She aloes creates a short action plan for each student to help them better attend and participate during lectures.

Case 5: Historic Tours UDL Guidelines ___________________________________

Mr. Harrigan teaches American History. The students were asked to prepare a ‘tour’ of a public place that is important to them. The tour can be a brochure, audio recording, public presentation. The teacher gives examples of each format. They can choose the place (a park, a street, a restaurant). They need to include the history of this place as well as interviews with people who have experiences at this place. As the students brainstorm and draft their tours, the teacher includes suggestions to make the tour more interesting to potential tourists.

Case 6: Figurative Language Contract UDL Guidelines _____________________________________

Mrs. Jones teaches ESL and is working on figurative language. She has 7 activities relating to figurative language. She believes that students can do 4 of them to demonstrate mastery. Each student must fill out a contract and indicate which 4 they will do. The students keep a checklist and their work in a separate folder. Each day for the week Mrs. Jones will consult with students on their progress through the checklist and contract, giving help and modifying the contract as needed.

Case 7: Pictures and Labels UDL Guidelines _____________________________________

Mrs. Sibli teaches Biology. During the lab she notices that many students have trouble remembering the terms for the equipment. Traditionally, students would have to pass a test on these terms before they began labs, but she worries that that would take too long for this group of students. On the written lab directions she inserts images of the pieces of equipment, and on the equipment she places tags and labels with the names.

Case 8: Cheat Sheet UDL Guidelines _______________________________

Ms. Anderson teaches chemistry. When she covers ionic and covalent bonds, she notices that students have trouble remembering major relationships of the concepts and definitions. In the textbook there is a full chapter of important information. She created a one page “Cheat Sheet” that she gives to every student and had them staple inside of their notebook. She also keeps a few laminated copies on her desk for kids who ‘forget’ theirs.

Case 9: EROX Learning System UDL Guidelines ______________________________________

EROX is an adaptive learning system to help with math. The system consists of assessments, practice problems, and tutorials that are customized to the characteristics of the learner. A student will practice a skill. If she is proficient, she will move on to the next skill. If the student is not proficient, she will practice with ‘hints’ or see a video of a solution method. The student’s home screen is a pie chart with segments of the different skills that show how much h of each skill they have mastered. The goal is for students to autonomously organize their time and resources to appropriately achieve their goal.

Case 10 Remixing Fables with Speech to Text UDL Guidelines ____________________________

Ms. Garcia is a 3rd Grade language arts teacher. Part of the curriculum is for kids to write their own fables. Some students have difficulty with both handwriting and keyboarding., so she has installed a speech to text program on several of the computers. So although all students will produce a written document, they have options for physically getting the words to paper. Some students have trouble ‘beginning from scratch’, she has given kids a list of fable beginnings, characters, settings, scenarios, and morals, and encourages students to choose and remix these critical features and big ideas while adding their own words at ideas at the computer stations.

Answers (of course, there can be very good cases for different answers, but even that activity of disagreeing with these 'answers' is a healthy exercise).

Case 1: Household Vocabulary UDL Guidelines _3,5,7,_____________

Case 2: Unlike Denominators UDL Guidelines __2,3,4,___________

Case 3: Enacting Novels UDL Guidelines _____2,4,6,__________

Case 4: Feedback on Cards UDL Guidelines ___5,8,9,________________

Case 5: Historic Tours UDL Guidelines ___5,7,8,__________

Case 6: Figurative Language Contract UDL Guidelines __5,8,9,_____________

Case 7: Pictures and Labels UDL Guidelines ___1,2,3___________

Case 8: Cheat Sheet UDL Guidelines ___1,3,8___________

Case 9: EROX Learning System UDL Guidelines ______6, 8, 9_____________

Case 10 Remixing Fables with Speech to Text UDL Guidelines ___3, 4, 7________

Paraprofessionals: The Future of K-12 Education

cshamburg@gmail.com (Chris Shamburg) — Tue, 14 Apr 2015 17:04:00 +0000

School paraprofessionals are in an increasingly precarious position due to major changes in education and the economy--their story is very telling about two major trends affecting US education. Over the last several years I have been involved with the training of school-based paraprofessionals, and got to see how social, economic, and educational trends affect their lives.

Paraprofessionals are generally known as teachers' aides and provide a spectrum of services to classroom teachers. The main distinction of paraprofessionals is that they cannot initially teach a new concept or skill. They can provide physical or academic assistance to an individual student, reteach in small groups, provide translations, and help with classroom management. Unlike custodial stuff or food service workers, the majority of the paraprofessional's time is spend in direct contact with students--from ages 3 to 21.

There are two major trends that are meeting in the world of paraprofessionals.

1) Outsourcing and privatization--Though paraprofessionals typically make significantly less than teachers, they often have comparable benefits packages. Privatization makes sense to school districts looking to cut expenses. There are hundreds of news articles on the privatization of paraprofessionals throughout the United States, and a good summary in District Administrator.

2) Increasing Population of Students with Special Needs-- typical schools are become more inclusive of students with special needs. There is both a civil rights imperative and a financial one for school districts, as it generally costs more to send a student to out-of-district placement. With an increasing population of students with varying disabilities in local schools, there comes an increase in the need for human intervention in the form of paraprofessionals.

The problem is that these two forces are often at odds. Parents and advocates of students with special needs frequently oppose the perceived lowering of quality that privatization brings (see news stories from Hawthorn NJ, and Westmoreland, PA, as examples).

The growing trend of inclusive education, budget battles at local school districts, and the responses the private sector will all factor into the future of the educational paraprofessional.

Photo credit, some rights reserved "New Classroom" by Bart Everson
Article first appeared in LinkedIn Pulse, by Christopher Shamburg

Wearable Technology Educational Incubator--Invitation

cshamburg@gmail.com (Chris Shamburg) — Sun, 28 Sep 2014 16:34:00 +0000

This group will explore the educational applications of wearable technology and e-textiles.

What are e-textiles?

The cutting edge field of electronic textiles or e-textiles is a recent development in both design and engineering. E-textiles are fabrics with embedded electronics, including sensors, lights, motors, and small computers. Designers of e-textiles keep things soft by employing new materials like conductive thread, conductive fabric, and flexible circuit boards. E-textiles are used in many different domains and settings including astronaut space suits, wearable medical devices, and haute couture fashions. You’ll find them in Lady Gaga costumes that change shape, high-tech military tents, and jackets that keep you warm while you snowboard. (Sew Electric, 2014)

Our Objectives:

Build technical capacity among non-technical educators to teach with the e-textile kits
Develop innovative teaching applications for e-textile and wearable technology applications
Consider opportunities and logistical challenges for using e-textiles is k-16 settings.

No prior knowledge in wearable technology, computer programming, or textiles is required.

If you have an interest in this (and are in the NJ/NY area) please complete this RSVP form. Our first meeting is October 16, 2014 from 6pm-8pm at New Jersey City University.

Game Design in Education

cshamburg@gmail.com (Chris Shamburg) — Sat, 21 Dec 2013 22:18:00 +0000

What makes a good educational game?

This semester I included a section on games and game design in my authoring tools course, a graduate level course in the Educational Technology MA. It's the first time for this unit, so I was interested in how it was going to go, and I kept the parameters and assessment loose. I'm very happy with the work, and I hope many of the students continue with their games.

As I review the students' work I' have made some observations on what would make a good educational game:

Fable Table: A game where students create fables
from remixing elements of existing stories.

The game cannot simply be an assessment (any Jeopardy-like game is a nonstarter).
At its best, the game should teach something, not just reinforce.
The game should give a kids with a variety of subject area knowledge a chance to be engaged. e.g. it doesn't reward kids for what they came into class with.
The game mechanic should be the message. i.e. the skill, habit, knowledge should be baked into the game play.
Engaging and fun
Simple instructions
Low barrier to entry
Try to avoid a zero-sum/winner-take-all objective

The element of luck helps to move the game from an assessment and gives kids with different abilities a fighting chance at engagement, dice, wild cards, switches, and reversals.

Competitive games that have a strong assessment element just reinforce traditional teaching and reward the advanced students and stigmatize the struggling students.

I must admit that I was a skeptic to games in education. For every student who loves Monopoly, there's one who hates it. However, there's something about the 'timelessness' of games that makes me respect them too. Almost every civilization has used them for teaching, culture, and socialization.

Here's the actual assignment:

**********

Develop a Game

Games have been defined as:

“One or more causally linked series of challenges in a simulated environment” --Adams and Rollings

“A system in which players engage in an artificial conflict, defined by rules, that results in a quantifiable outcome.”-- Salen and Zimmerman

You will design a board game, a card game, video game, online game, a web-based game (not a webquest).

Game Criteria

Your game should have:

A worthwhile objective for playing the game. This is not the objective of winning the game, but the objective of playing the game…e.g. the game objective of SuperBetter is to score a certain number of points but the objective of playing the game is to get mentally and/or physically healthy.

Inviting and low-barrier to entry (invite people to continue once they start and increasingly challenge them them as they continue)

3-6 core mechanics (main, important actions a player does). “The mechanic is the message”

Increasing challenge

Rules

Feel free to think of an existing game and modify it.

Your game should have a short explanation (3-4 pages) and a working model.

A description of the objective of the game
A description of the core mechanics and an analysis of why they work in the service of the objective of the game.
A description of the rules
A description of how the game would be played, with an emphasis on how it starts and how it gets more challenging
Influences or inspirations (this can be other games, books, experiences)
A working prototype of the game (card game, board game, etc.)

********

Resources

We use the work of Institute of Play's Gamekit as well as these books.

Bibliography

Koster, R. (2004). A theory of fun for game design. Phoenix, AZ: Paraglyph Press.

Mcgonigal, J. (2011). Reality is broken: Why games make us better and how they can change the world. New York, New York: Penguin Books.

Salen, K. (2007). The ecology of games: Connecting youth, games, and learning (p. 278). Boston, MA: MIT Press.

Salen, K, Torres, R, Wolozin, L, Rufo-Tepper, R, & Shapiro, A. (2011) Quest to learn: Creating the school for digital kids. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Available online at http://dmlcentral.net/sites/dmlcentral/files/resource_files/Quest_to_LearnMacfoundReport.pdf

Salen, K. & Zimmerman, E. (2004). The rules of play. Boston, MA: MIT Press.

Visitors from H.R. College of Commerce and Economics, Mumbai India

cshamburg@gmail.com (Chris Shamburg) — Wed, 04 Dec 2013 14:29:00 +0000

Last week I had the privilege of presenting some of my work to a group of educators from Mumbai.

My focus was on how remix (the digital thing kids do at home and post to Youtube) has important connections to history, culture, cognition and globalization...and it can be a powerful teaching tool.

After the talk they gave me so many new ideas, I was starting to regret that I talked so much in my presentation.

Below is the presentation, and an article about their visit from NJ.com.

Remix as an Economic and Educational Activity

Creative Constraints and Teaching

cshamburg@gmail.com (Chris Shamburg) — Mon, 02 Dec 2013 03:47:00 +0000

According to The Design Council, six 8-studded Lego
blocks can be put into over 900 million different combinations.

The core of the issue is this: when you tell most people to 'be creative' on demand, they'll freeze. When you give them 3 crayons, 6 legos, or 17 syllables, they'll make something interesting. They'll learn, they'll think deeply, they'll get creative.

This concept has been employed by playwrights, computer programers, architects, and CEOs. It's worth looking at in detail.

One feature of my work that I'm going to explore more is the concept of 'creative constraints'. It's been a big but unspoken part of a lot of work that I do, including the six sounds project. In the six sounds projects, participants get a short tutorial on audio editing, and then have to create a one minute story using six sounds (phone ring, engine, heart beat, match strike, splash, crickets).

It's been a popular activity for ISTE, NJAET, and classrooms around the world. I've heard comedies, dramas, sci-fi..and quite a few camping stories. This goal of this isn't just to teach audio editing--but the power or remix, the power of people to take the same group of items and synthesize them into new kinds of creative blends.

I've experienced this myself and used it in my teaching. However, I've only recently focused on the research behind this phenomenon--'creative constraints'

The concept of creative constraints is that creativity and innovation are fostered not by complete freedom but by limits.

In my research on creative constraints I've come across examples from poetry (Lehrer, 2011), computer engineering (Mayer), management, architecture (Sturt, 2013), and improvisational comedy (May, 2013). It's also one of the fundamental principles of game design (see Salen and Zimmerman's seminal work The Rules of Play--the title tells the story). Any time a concept is useful to playwrights, computer programmers, and CEOs, it should be taken note of.

When people work within restrictions, they test boundaries, challenge assumptions, and innovate with a set of resources.

One recent example of this in my work was when I was with a group of English teachers in Massachusetts. They were struggling with teaching The Odyssey. Kids were frustrated with the language and lost with the plot. The textbook's emphasis on the historic background was not helping matters. So, we brainstormed on the 'big ideas' of The Odyssey. What ideas, language, knowledge and skills do you want kids to have from this? We came up with the concept of a hero's exciting and serendipitous journey and the use, beauty and power of epic similes (similes and metaphor are some of the original remixes, IMHO). We came up with the recipe for the 3-Minute Epic.

The 3-Minute Epic employs filmmaking, remix, and creative constraints to engage students in these ‘big ideas’ of epic poetry.
***********

In the Three-Minute Epic students must create an adventure story with a set of ‘items’—particular images, sounds, and epic similes from The Odyssey. This can be a model for working with other literature or history topics. They can use a variety of technology--from PowerPoint, Photostory, iMovie, or Final Cut Pro.

However, sophisticated editing and technical skills are not one of our goals, so I would keep this as simple as possible (hint, PowerPoint).

For Students:

For this project you will create a three-minute digital story using existing language and media.

It should be an adventure of a 'hero'. It is up to you to determine, and eventually explain, what is adventurous and heroic about your story.

Your final project should have images, narration, and sound effects; music is optional.

In your story, you need to use the following similes from the Odyssey. ( What kinds of experiences can these descriptions apply to?):

...like some animal surrounded, dreading the gangs of hunters closing their cunning ring around him for the finish...
...like some lion of the wilderness that stalks about exulting in his strength and defying both wind and rain; his eyes glare as he prowls in quest of oxen, sheep, or deer, for he is famished, and will dare break even into a well fenced homestead...
...like an octopus, when you drag one from his chamber, comes up with suckers full of tiny stones...
...like a judge at the end of a day at court, who’s settled the countless suits of brash young claimants, rises, the day’s work done, and turns home for supper...

You need to use the following images in your story:

Boat
http://www.dragonflyranch.com/images/indexpicts/Boat-sunset.jpg

Striking a Match
http://www.bushwhacker.ca/match.jpg

You need to use the following sound effects in your story:

Beating Heart
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8tss6YIo6YvNTU5YTM1YjktYzA0OC00MmI1LTkzN2MtNTc1ZjM1YmI1NGZh/edit?usp=sharing

Chirping Crickets
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8tss6YIo6YvN2M5Nzc1MzEtYWU2Ny00YTljLTk4MWMtODQ1MzdkZDFlMmQx/edit?usp=sharing

Rules

It must be between 2 and 3 minutes
There has to be a story with a beginning, plot, and conclusion (extra credit for starting "In Medias Res")
You can cross genres and mix your epic with true life, drama, modern, comedy, detective, romance, action, fantasy, horror, scifi; the setting can be contemporary, historic, fantastic, etc.
No profanity or use of personal information
It can have characters and a narrator, just characters, or just a narrator.
You can add images, sound effects, and narration, but you must use the quotes and media above
You can get pictures from the Web or use original images (e.g. a close up of a group member as the hero/villain)

Assessment

Story is between 2-3 minutes (pass/fail)

25% Plot Elements--story is entertaining and coherent with an engaging beginning, action throughout, and a clear conclusion.

25% Mix--narration and media elements complement each other; audio is clear and read with appropriate tone

20% Required Elements--all required media and quotes are used appropriately to tell a story; similes compare different things

20% New Elements--new images, sound effects and music advance the story

10% Hero and Adventure--each member of the group can explain why the main character is a hero and why the story is an adventure (odyssey, epic, etc.)

References on Creative Contraints

Lenrer, J. (2013) Need to create: Get a constraint. From Wired Magazine Online, retrieved November 23, 20013 from http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/11/need-to-create-get-a-constraint/

May, M. (2013). How intelligent restraints drive creativity. From Harvard Business Review Blog Network, retrieved November 24, 2013 from http://blogs.hbr.org/2013/01/how-intelligent-constraints-dr/

Meyer, M. A. (2006). Creativity loves constraints. From Business Week Online, retrieved November 29, 2013 from http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2006-02-12/creativity-loves-constraints

Sturt, D. (2013). Creativity: How constraints drive genius. From Forbes Online, retrieved November 24, 2013 from http://www.forbes.com/sites/groupthink/2013/07/12/creativity-how-constraints-drive-genius/

The Sound of Science: Remix and STEM

cshamburg@gmail.com (Chris Shamburg) — Fri, 15 Nov 2013 15:15:00 +0000

Here's a course that I am teaching for the HP Catalyst Academy--it's called "The Sound of Science"

It's interesting
It's free
You can register here.

This mini-course explores the educational possibilities of digital audio creation in physical and life sciences. Digital audio is a powerful and growing medium inside and outside of education, and participants will learn how to use it to communicate complex topics, capture field experiences, enhance visual inspections, and augment real or hypothetical locations — all with common hardware and free software. Explore ways to edit, mix, use, and teach with accessible audio editing technologies. Four projects within the mini-course will build upon educators’ technical, creative, legal, and ethical knowledge and skills.

From Blocks to the Boardroom: A Systems Approach to Educational Technology

cshamburg@gmail.com (Chris Shamburg) — Wed, 06 Nov 2013 16:38:00 +0000

Why does technology often seem underused in classrooms?

What's the best framework for using technology in educational setting?

What can systems thinking teach us about the use of educational technology?

How can technology be used effectively in a class with a wide range of learners?

When you drop a new species into an environment, why does it often die or wreak havoc on the host ecosystem?

The last question may seem out of place, but I believe it offers a key to why technology often underperforms in educational settings. By 'underperform' I mean it does not match our experiences with this technology outside of schools, such as with an iPad, or it just seemed so much better on the showroom floor.

These are the questions I plan to investigate in Using Integrated Software in Spring 2014. I've found some interesting research--from technology in early childhood education in Bers' From Blocks to Robots to Senge's Fifth Discipline. We'll also explore Universal Design for Learning, Khan Academy, and flipped classrooms in between. Our focus will be on the environmental factors that enable successful uses of technology--a systems approach.

The course will be a combination of short research papers and hands-on technology projects.

Maker Movement

cshamburg@gmail.com (Chris Shamburg) — Mon, 14 Oct 2013 21:37:00 +0000

I've been introducing the concept of makerspaces to different students and people (as well as being a participant observer at a fewmakerspaces). It connects and extends my work in DIY media, and I've found it to be a lot of fun for me and my kids.

Enjoying Soldering at Hoboken Makerbar

The Makerspace movement is a relatively grassroots phenomenon in which people meet to explore a variety of DIY Projects. These can include sewing, microcomputers (Arduinos and Raspberry Pis), 3D Printing, video making, toy making, welding, etc. Though microcomputing and 3D printing are common activities, the maker movement is characterized by a variety of digital, mechanical, and craft activities. Here are some helpful links.

Seven Things You Should Know about MakerSpaces
https://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7095.pdf

How Making Stuff Makes Science More Appealing to Kids from PBS News Hour
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvWv48nhUR0

Watch Kickstarter video for Maker http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/379201360/maker-a-documentary-on-the-maker-movement

Make it @ Your Library from School Library Journal
http://www.slj.com/2013/10/programs/make-it-your-library-launches-maker-space-project-website/#_

ReMaking Education: Designing Classroom Makerspaces for Transformative Learning from Edutopia Magazine http://www.edutopia.org/blog/classroom-makerspaces-transformative-learning-stephanie-west-puckett

Shakespeare for Everyone: Working with Students with Severe Disabilities

cshamburg@gmail.com (Chris Shamburg) — Tue, 23 Jul 2013 03:26:00 +0000

This is some work I'm doing at a school for students with multiple disabilities.

This was originally posted on the Folger Shakespeare Library's Making a Scene Blog in July 11, 2013 and reposted here.

Shakespeare can be a powerful tool for the cognitive, emotional, social, and linguistic development of all kids.

I saw this phenomenon when working with the students of A. Harry Moore School in Jersey City, a comprehensive school for students ages 3-21 with severe medical, physical, and cognitive disabilities. This year a group of 14 students did a variety of production-based activities with Shakespeare, culminating in a performance of The Winter’s Tale in June.

Students take a bow after performing The Winter’s Tale.

A production-based approach is where kids come to understand Shakespeare through performance and technology—using Shakespeare’s Language. It’s based in the Folger Teaching Method, and it’s great for all kids for several reasons.

1) It is a deeply immersive experience. In this case, students were dancing, sheering sheep, getting pursued by bears, consulting oracles, and coming to life from marble statues. They were engaged like they would be in a fun game or an exciting sport.

2) These are fault tolerant activities. You do not have to do it perfect or right to make it work well.

3) There is a wide zone of engagement. It’s been said that engagement occurs when there’s a balance between skills and challenge. If a person is over-skilled, then boredom sets in. If a person is over-challenged, then frustration sets in. A teacher can easily balance skills and challenges with a production-based approach.

4) It’s a great tool for building students’ executive function. Executive function is a relatively new and helpful way of looking at brain activity. It’s a combination of planning, working memory, multiple perspectives, and impulse control. The methods of a production-based approach develop executive function.

Here are a few of the activities that worked for us.

Shadows

One of the activities we used was “Shadows,” a method for students to get familiar with the physical space of the theater, experiment with their range of motion, and understand the contrasting emotions of the main character of The Winter’s Tale, and the catalyst for the action of the play, Leontes. In “Shadows,” one student acts as “Good” Leontes and another student follows as his “Shadow,” enacting contrasting lines from “Good” Leontes. Leontes wore a white mask or hat, and Leontes’ shadow followed wearing a black mask or hat.

Leontes	Leontes’ Shadow
Stay your thanks a whileWell said, Hermione	Too hot, too hotI am angling now

(see full activity Shadows).

Seven-Minute Version

To better understand the plot and the language in the play, the students frequently performed “Winta: The Seven-Minute Winter’s Tale”. Every student enacted at least one line as a teacher read the narration and cued the students. The lines were designed for both readers and nonreaders, who would say their lines with a prompter.

e.g.

NARRATOR: Leontes is sorry (12). But it’s too late. His wife is dead and his baby is gone. Antigonus has taken Perdita to Bohemia and leaves her in an abandoned place (13).

Student lines:

12) I have deserved all tongues to talk their bitterest.

13) There weep and leave it crying; and, for the babe is counted lost forever, Perdita.

(See full activity)

Emotion Chart

Chart with different degrees of emotions

A frequent reference during many of these activities, rehearsals, and performance was the emotion chart. It offered visual cues for nonreaders and some subtle emotional distinctions for the more dramatic players. It was based on the work of Christine Porter in Mary Ellen Dakin’s Reading Shakespeare with Young Adults.

(See full Emotion Chart )

Three students smiling after performing The Winter’s Tale

Creating sound effects for the play–using voices, Foley techniques, and audio editing tools–was fun, engaged us in the text, and was a real crowd pleaser during our performance. We used the Audacity audio editing program to create numerous sound effects (e.g. party, bear, sheep, crying baby, stone breaking apart).

Adaptive Use Musical Instruments

Student using AUMI

One piece of software that was particularly useful was Adaptive Use Musical Instruments (AUMI). It allowed students with limited mobility to create music for the show. A user can create music or activated sounds with a variety of gross motor movements.

Embedded Word Files

To use the sound effects and music during the show we embedded they audio in a Word document. These sounds added production value and also worked as a memory device for the actors. Embedding mp3 files in a Word document is a standard, though underused, feature in Word that proved valuable during activities, rehearsals, and performance. We opened the file with the script and played the sounds along with the production.

A screenshot of a Word file with audio embedded

Good Script and Prompting

Our director Terry MacSweeney from Actor’s Shakespeare Company did an excellent job of abridging Shakespeare’s language to a 30-minute show. He devised a system of cue cards, scripts and prompters that aided our actors just enough.

In Conclusion…

This was the Actor’s Shakespeare Company’s fifth production at A. Harry Moore. This year the work was a part of the NJCU Educational Technology Department’s Partnership and Projects Program.

The production was organized by Marissa Aiello, a speech language pathologist at the school, with assistance by Matt Masiello, a speech language pathology intern.

Christopher Shamburg is a Professor of Educational Technology at New Jersey City University. He is a workshop leader and consultant for the Folger Shakespeare Library’s Education Division.

Presentation to Chinese Educators

cshamburg@gmail.com (Chris Shamburg) — Sun, 23 Dec 2012 16:40:00 +0000

On Friday December 21 I had to pleasure to present Major Trends in Technology, Society and Education to a group of visiting educators from Futian District of China.

Here's the presentation.
Presentation to Chinese Educators, Dec 21, 2012

Courses

cshamburg@gmail.com (Chris Shamburg) — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 20:32:00 +0000

I'm trying an experiment to get as much of course material out to the public as possible. I'm starting with my Using Integrated Software and Introduction to Authoring Tools.

Here's my syllabus with links for Using Integrated Software.

Catalog Description

An integrated software package is one that combines word processing, database management, paint, draw, spreadsheet, and telecommunications capabilities into one package. The package is the starting point to use as a resource-based curriculum. New types of learning and assignments across the curriculum are explored. The goal is to develop candidates who know how to access resources to maintain state-of-the-art technological literacy. Each candidate will design an instructional project as part of this class.

Focus

This course focuses on a systemic approach to teaching with technology. Students learn how to use common productivity tools for meaningful learning and accessible curriculum. The emphasis is on integrating big ideas with curriculum; curriculum with technology; teaching with assessment; and digital technologies with physical activity. All projects integrate commonly available productivity tools noted in the catalog description.

Here's my syllabus to Introduction to Authoring Tools

Catalog Description

This course will explore a variety of authoring tools. Candidates will conduct a comprehensive survey of authoring tools and create documents applying design elements. Candidates will examine the way that hypermedia can be used to improve student achievement in the classroom and library/multimedia centers by using a variety of media types, including sound, video, and animation. Throughout the course, candidates will reflect upon the capabilities of authoring tools that are available to educational multimedia designers.

Focus

The focus of this course is to look at the educational applications of easily available software, a DIY ethos, participatory culture, and remix.

When the Lit Hits the Fan (Guest Post for the School Library Journal)

cshamburg@gmail.com (Chris Shamburg) — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 02:04:00 +0000

This week I was honored to be a guest blogger for the School Library Journal on the topic of fanfiction in education, thanks to the great Peter Gutierrez, who I've been cyber-stalking since I met him at NCTE a few years ago. Here's the beginning of the entry:

Starting around 2001, friends began to tell me about their children’s fascination with fanfiction—writing, reading, and critiquing it. By the time the fourth person told me how much fanfiction had helped her daughter grow as a confident writer I had already started exploring its role in student writing. Over the last eight years I have used fanfiction in my work as a teacher educator. It is a formal part of a graduate course on “Technology in the English Language Arts” that I teach, and it has worked its way into other work I do as well. In that graduate class, I share my research and encourage teachers to consider using fanfiction in their own teaching. Though the specifics of the project changes, there are a few general stages that we work through.

full post here...When the Lit Hits the Fan, SLJ

Photoshopping History

cshamburg@gmail.com (Chris Shamburg) — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 19:22:00 +0000

Earlier this year I was asked to develop a project on Photoshop for 150 history teachers in San Bernardino County. I thought that the idea of image manipulation throughout history would be a good starting point. I created a presentation and a hands-on project.

Photoshop is a powerful program, so the hands-on project focused on a few of the key techniques to manipulate images.The hands-on project begins by downloading the Trial Version of Photoshop Elements.

Here's the presentation:

Below is the tutorial. You can download it here.

Here are the 3 images to start the tutorial.

Teaching with Foley

cshamburg@gmail.com (Chris Shamburg) — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 13:58:00 +0000

Foley is the art of making sound effects with ordinary objects. It can be used to both support traditional literacies and expand the communication tools of students. It can augment and expand traditional literacy in readers' theater and dramatic interpretations. It can also teach executive function skills such as coordinating in a group and waiting for cues. Foley can also be a tool to teach 21st century skills--transforming ordinary objects into completely different meanings (e.g. cups become galloping horses) teaches kids a lot about capitalizing on the characteristic of a medium (e.g. you only hear the cups) as well as the power of effects and manipulation.

I have done Foley work with 2nd graders to stimulate their speaking and writing as well as with 10th graders to help them produce and analyze a scene for Shakespeare.

Here's a video on Foley art from the LA Times:

Here are some Foley ideas from Remixing Shakespeare:

Here are Foley ideas that work well with literacy projects:

Horses galloping: plastic cups on a desk
Army Marching: Boots on wood, repeated and looped
Shovels: Spoons in sand or pebbles
Pick ax: Pipes or metal spoons
Applause: 2-3 People clapping, repeated and looped
Knocking on door: Knocking on desk or wood
Time bomb ticking: Clock
Airplane engine: Fan starting and running
Helicopter: Opening and closing an umbrella very fast
Bones breaking: cracking celery or carrots
Surgery (or anything squishy): Manipulating Jello
Knight moving in armor: A set of keys moving
Walking or running in leaves or forest: crunching potato chips with hands (use latex gloves to avoid greasy hands
Walking in snow: patting corn starch
Dinosaur, monster, or large animal eating: Chewing Watermelon
Elevator door closing: closing a desk draw or filing cabinet
Boiling water: Blowing bubbles with a straw in water

Another idea that works is to demonstrate a few Foley techniques and then give the students some of these objects and have them decide what they sound like.

Six Sounds Contest @ NJAET

cshamburg@gmail.com (Chris Shamburg) — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 01:47:00 +0000

The New Jersey Association of Educational Technology (NJAET) is sponsoring the Six Sounds in Search of an Author Contest. Here's the contest rules. It's for grades 3-12. It comes with a tutorial, sound effects, and a rubric...it's a lot of fun for teachers and students.

ISTE Contests

cshamburg@gmail.com (Chris Shamburg) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:48:00 +0000

ISTE is running two contests related to the new book. The first one involves using the same six sounds to create an original one-minute story--Six Sounds in Search of an Author.

The Second contest involves sound effects and Foley techniques--Foley Art Contest.

There are some interesting awards and prizes for teachers and students--Such as most unusual setting, best use of the splash sound (Six Sounds) and best spooky sound, best use of a kitchen utensil (Foley).

Leave your Tone after the Beep

cshamburg@gmail.com (Chris Shamburg) — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 17:17:00 +0000

Quickstart

This is an activity to teach tone. It connects to teaching writers how to use tone with different audiences and different purposes.

For this activity, you will leave a short voice mail message (see items 1-18 below or make your own following the rules).

The rules are--you are trying to set up a meeting at 9am on Friday with Michael and/or Jennifer Shelby (fictitious couple). You must create a scenario and leave a message with an appropriate tone. Use the comments feature on the VoiceThread video below. Your message should be shorter than 20 seconds or less than 75 words. You have to keep it clean and no 'real' personal information.

You are required to leave an audio message, but feel free to add other comments in text. You cannot leave a message that has been left already (so please listen to all that are there). Here's the link to the full project.

Overview

Tone is a difficult concept to teach students even though it is one of the most fundamental aspects of our written and spoken communication. This activity will help students accurately characterize tone as readers and listeners as well as effectively use tone as writers and speakers. One reason tone is difficult to teach is because often students are formally introduced to tone when they are reading a challenging text and getting pushed for comprehension and fluency. This activity introduces tone in a way that connects the concept of tone to everyday situations and invests the students as readers, writers, and speakers of different tones. It can be done as a stand-alone activity or before or during the study of tone in a poem, short story, or novel.

Activity: Reading

All of the messages below are voice mails left for Jennifer and Michael Shelby. All of the messages request the same thing--a meeting for 9pm on Friday.
1) From a boss who wants to see an employee who is chronically late. Michael, We need to meet. I’ll expect you in my office at 9am sharp on Friday morning.

2) From a friend who wants to apologize. Oh, Jennifer. I really need to talk to you. I hope you’ll listen to me. Can we meet? Friday? Around 9 in the morning? I’ll bring the coffee.

3) From a teacher who wants to see the parent of a student who seems troubled lately. Hello, Ms. Shelby. This is Mr. Ross, Johnny’s homeroom teacher. I was hoping we could meet. Your son is doing OK in class, but I was concerned about his mood lately and wanted to talk to you about it. Let me know if we can meet. Is 9am on Friday good for you? You can contact me on my cell 311 555-2368.

4) From an aluminum siding salesman who wants to show a homeowner your product. Hello, Mr Shelby, I’m Ralph Bellabue from Armorall Siding. I’ve got a great new product—perfect for your house, and we’re running a sale this month. I’ll be in your neighborhood, and I’d love to stop by and give you some information that I think you’ll find valuable. Let me know if 9am on Friday is a good time for you. You can contact me at 311 555-2368.

Think about these questions-- How would you describe the tone? How does the tone relate to the purpose and audience? * What words, phrases and punctuation convey the tone? How would you say each of the messages?

Activity: Creating a Message

You too want to set up a meeting at Friday at 9 am with "Jennifer" or "Michael," the fictional couple who we are communicating to. Again, The facts of this message will be the same—meeting, Friday, 9 am—but you must change your tone based on the situation. For this activity you will be leaving a voice mail. You do not have to give all of the information about the meeting on the recording….only enough to set up the meeting. You can make up details such as names and places. Just keep the message to less than 20 seconds/or 75 words. Think of the words, phrases, punctuation when you write and then the vocal inflections when you speak. This all creates your tone. Create a message for a 9 am Friday meeting based on these scenarios:
5) You are a very wealthy adult who wants to surprise your mother and father (Jennifer and Michael) with the gift of a brand new car.

6) You are a police detective who needs to interview a suspect in a major crime.

7) You are a person who crashed into a parked car and now you have to call the owner (this is the right thing to do, and there were witnesses).

9)You are a lawyer with some bad news for your client that you cannot say over the phone.

10) You are a doctor with some great medical news for your patient that you cannot say over the phone.

Creative BONUS

How would…
11) A person in distress leave the message

12) A lonely person leave the message

13) A bitter person leave the message

14) A surprised person leave the message

15) An optimistic person leave the message

16) A person who was infatuated leave the message

17) An abrupt person leave the message

18) An Apprehensive Person leave the message

Again, feel free to make up details such as names, events, and places…but keeping the message under 20 seconds or less than 75 words.

Write it

Record it (we are using Voicethread please use the comment feature to record your "voice mail") Note--many students can use help with vocabulary to subtly and accurately describe tone and emotions. You might want to discuss and define words that describe emotions and then have them create messages based on them. Several good lists of emotions can be found at Wikipedia

Remixing Primary Sources

cshamburg@gmail.com (Chris Shamburg) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 14:58:00 +0000

This activity tackles new formats and new ways of creative expression that remix and digital media allow. Students are asked to creatively remix text, audio from speeches and broadcasts, audio from videos, and music clips in new and engaging ways.

Unlike many of the other activities and units in this course, there are few precedents or clear genres for this type of remix. Musicians, hobbyists, professional editors, and YouTube users are making up the rules as they go along.

For this activity student have to mix at least two different peices of media/primary sources from a particular time period centering on a particular theme(though an interesting twist would be to mix media on the same theme but from different time periods). The themes can be sports, fashion, politics, entertainment, almost any aspect of culture or society.

Here's a warm up example that I use as a scafolding model--the topic isbaseball of the 1930s. Students work in pairs to remix two of these three primary sources:

Lou Gehrig’s farewell speech in which he calls himself “The luckiest man on the face of this earth”

Excerpts from The Spalding Base Ball Guide, 1939 From the Library of Congress' American Memory Collection.

The radio broadcast from the 1936 World Series in which Lou Gehrig hits a home run in the second inning from the Internet Archive

The Library of Congress' American Memory Collection and the Internet Archive are excellent sources for digital primary sources.

Character Interview

cshamburg@gmail.com (Chris Shamburg) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 14:54:00 +0000

Mr. Darcy from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice is put on the hot seat in this character interview.

Click to play

Youth Radio

cshamburg@gmail.com (Chris Shamburg) — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 22:56:00 +0000

Below are some excellent works from YouthRadio.

“That Sickening Smell?”
http://www.youthradio.org/oldsite/fourthr/061205_airpolution.shtml
Youth Radio’s Sophie Simon-Ortiz grew up in West Berkeley near a steel manufacturing plant, and she still has vivid memories of the smell that poured regularly from its smoke stacks and permeated the neighborhood. The smell is still there. So Sophie decided to find out why, after so many years and complaints by nearby residents, not much seems to have changed at all.

“The Beef”
http://www.youthradio.org/oldsite/lifestyle/kcbs070715_beef.shtml
In response to animal cruelty, Youth Radio’s Catlin Grey became vegan. She and her mom often stressed about what was cooking in the kitchen. She says, “I thought that my yearning for cheddar cheese and cookie dough ice cream would be my biggest challenge. But it turned out to be my mom.”

“MySpace vs. Facebook”
http://www.youthradio.org/oldsite/society/kcbs071028_myspace.shtml
Youth Radio reporter Leon Sykes describes his life as social networking junkie and his use of MySpace and Facebook to express himself online. “They’re like the left and right side of my brain.”

“Living with PTSD”
http://www.youthradio.org/oldsite/reflections/npr051123_ptsd.shtml
Jesus Bocanegra, now 23, spent 4½ years in the military, including a year as a cavalry scout in Iraq. He’s now out of the military and living with his family in the town of Elsep in south Texas. But the war is still with him, so much so that he’s been treated for post-traumatic stress disorder. He shares this story.

Poetry Walk Remix--Nature

cshamburg@gmail.com (Chris Shamburg) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 20:28:00 +0000

In this project students select and mix lines from poetry with appropriate music. The theme of this mix was "nature walk."

We mixed Walt Whitman, Longfellow, and Trifonic.

“The smallest sprouts show there is really no death” (“A Child Said, What is the Grass” by Walt Whitman)

“Have you reckon'd a thousand acres much? have you reckon'd the earth much?” (“Leaves of Grass” by Walt Whitman)

“You shall possess the good of the earth and sun, (there are millions of suns left,) “(“Leaves of Grass” by Walt Whitman)

“This is the forest primeval. The murmuring pines and the hemlocks,
Bearded with moss,” (“Evangeline” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)

“I bounded o'er the mountains, by the sides

Of the deep rivers, and the lonely streams.” (“Lines Written a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey” by William Wordsworth )

The lines were mixed with Trifonic's "Transgenic" samples.

Metamorphosis: Audio Play Scripting

cshamburg@gmail.com (Chris Shamburg) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 20:07:00 +0000

The following example was provided by Kate Mazzetti. It's an audio play based on an excerpt from Kafka's Metamorphosis. Turning a work of prose into a audio play is riddled with 'teachable moments'. Unlike Reader's Theater, the focus is not on prose fluency, so a faithful translation of the text is not required. This unit describes the creative decision a student should confront when transferring between print to audio.

Decisions such as what information should be conveyed through dialogue? through narration? through sound effects? need to be made.

Decisions on vocabulary need to be made as well. For example, in the text, the word 'fretwork' was used. Is it too obsolete to be understood and should it be replaced with 'wood work'? Should it be kept because it adds color and richness to the scene?

Click to play

Historic Interview

cshamburg@gmail.com (Chris Shamburg) — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 00:21:00 +0000

The historic interview project is a powerful way for students to connect to both history as well as to friends and family. It gives them a reason to talk meaningfully with a grandparent, uncle, or sister about events with both personal and historic significance.

Here's an example:

A student interviews his father about politics in India and New Jersey.

Audio Theater--I've Been Waiting for You

cshamburg@gmail.com (Chris Shamburg) — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 23:26:00 +0000

Here are student samples from the audio play "I've Been Waiting for You"