Podcast topic

I will make a podcast about the Water Cycle which could be an educational tool for 3rd graders.

Multimedia Learning: Mayer and Moreno Article

This article is very helpful for choosing or creating computer-based lessons. Most of the tips explained in the article made perfect sense. For example the notion that redundancy creates extraneous, or non-essential, processing is understandable because when something on the screen is not needed for learning it simply becomes distracting. Also, signaling is definitely effective - whether it is pointing out words with intonation, font or other techniques. The segmenting principle seems helpful as well. I have noticed myself that when information is broken down it is easier to assimilate, for instance reading books with shorter chapters usually goes faster than those with longer chapters. The only principle in the article that I don't completely agree with is the coherence method of multimedia learning. This principle spoke about the extra, non-essential but interest-evoking material as being extraneous and taking away from the cognitive processing capacity. Although this makes sense, I believe that children, especially in the younger grades need the extra material to see the bigger picture and to get involved in a certain subject to be able to efficiently learn the curriculum. 

TPCK Article

The article was very helpful in understanding the interrelationship between technological, pedagogical and content knowledge. Without a doubt the three depend on each other and cannot be thought of as separate entities when school curriculum is created. The article explains that technology, pedagogy and content cannot be broken down into concrete, simplified regulations. And it shouldn’t be because knowledge – what we know and how we use information and skills – is a complex process that cannot be fit into a certain framework. “Functional fixedness” toward technology might be a challenge for many but it is certainly a barrier that all should strive to overcome in order to be efficient in today’s world, especially when educating in an urban setting.

CSCI First Blog

February 4, 2011