Sub Notes

For Scott Le Duc

Welcome to our learning community where we think, explore and grow.

• Thank you for being here today!
• Below is material to help you enjoy our learning community.

OVERVIEW

• ALL STUDENTS SHOULD BE POLITE AND RESPECTFUL TO EACH OTHER AND YOU!
• “We are smarter than me,” is our working philosophy.
• Learning can be exciting, eventful and full unexpected situations. Thank you for being flexible, patient and modeling the role of the life-long learner and guide on the side. It may seem a bit chaotic at times because students help teach each other in class and this contributes to a lot of activity and talking.
• Students are responsible for their own class work. They are to be working on their projects and have a daily plan in place. Students may collaborate. In the Visual Communications class, some students may work outside the classroom with cameras for a short period of time.
• NO FOOD OR DRINK is allowed in the room, anywhere. Students know this. No exceptions. They may eat or drink right inside or outside the doorway, with your approval. If a student is caught either eating or drinking in the room, please ask them to stop and /or move to the approved place to finish and record this on the class roster.
• NO VISITORS FROM OTHER CLASSES are allowed without passes from their teachers. If they have a pass, it is OK for them to work on our class work.
• Beginning students, Intro to ComArts, and advanced students, VisCom, WebDev or GenTECH, are blended together in the same class period. This is intentional. Peer mentoring is one of the most powerful learning

SCHEDULE

• Period 1 - WebDev
• Period 2 - Planning
• Period 3 - Intro to Com Arts / VisCom
• Period 4 - Intro to Com Arts / VisCom
• Period 5- GenTECH / IB
• Period 6 - Intro to Com Arts / VisCom

TASKS

• ATTENDANCE: Take attendance at the beginning and end of class. You never know who might try and be clever and slip out before the rest. One leaving early not fair for the rest of us who have to wait.
• DAY’S INSTRUCTION: Remind all students to check GenerationTECH.net for today’s class notes. GenerationTECH.net is class resource students use to track projects and blog their learning activity. Ask students to see their material if you are curious or are wondering about a particular student’s project.
• EVALUATION: Remind all students that they must blog what they learned in class before the end of the day. Except Friday Nov. 2 or Monday Nov. 5. On these days they must hand it Mind Maps of their video notes to you.

COMPUTERS

• Games are never allowed except for chess, if their work is completed. The use of Youtube.com is also not allowed unless it is for academic purposes. Use your judgement for this one.

OSD Network Use Policy

1. Use of the system will primarily be in support of education and research and consistent with the mission of the district. The District reserves the right to prioritize use and access to the system.
2. Any personal use of OSDNet resources shall be at no cost to the District, shall not interfere with the performance of official duties, must be brief in duration, and must not disrupt the conduct of District business.
3. Use of the system must be in conformity to state and federal law, network provider policies and licenses, and district policies.
4. Malicious use of the system to harass other users or gain unauthorized access to any computer or computing system and/or damage the components of a computer or computing system is prohibited.
5. Users are responsible for the appropriateness and content of material they transmit or publish on the system. Hate mail, harassment, discriminatory remarks, or other antisocial behaviors are expressly prohibited.
6. Use of the system to access, store or distribute obscene or pornographic material is prohibited.
7. Use of the system for commercial purposes is prohibited. Use of the system for charitable purposes must be approved in advance by the superintendent or designee.
8. The system constitutes public facilities and may not be used to support or oppose political candidates or ballot measures.
9. No use of the system shall serve to disrupt the operation of the system by others or compromise the security or integrity of district information or software; system components including hardware or software shall not be destroyed, modified or abused in any way.

HALL PASSES

• Please have students use the clipboard hall pass, usually  on my desk speaker in room F1, when they visit the restroom or need to run an errand.
• Please track the time out, back in and the destination for those who leave the room, please record on the class roster provided.
• Students taking pictures MUST take a Visual Communications clipboard as a hall pass, located by the windows between room F2 by the magazines. They must have a clipboard, a piece of paper with their name(s) written on it with and the departure time. No more than two people in a group, please.

EQUIPMENT CHECKOUT

• Headphones and both digital and analog cameras can be used during class, please track who uses what equipment on the Equipment Check Out Sheet, should be on the table or next to the magazines by the F2 room windows and check all equipment back in 5 minutes before the end of class.

FACILITIES

• Students should be working on class work in the room. They can listen to music either on the computer or iPods while working. The volume level is your discretion.  

CLEAN UP

• Have students do a quick cleaning of the room a few minutes before the end of class. Be sure to help them clean any debris from the floor, tables and counters. Please check in between the computers as this is a place much of the material gathers. I will often dedicate one individual to each row, counter top, table or other general area. I find that an individual will get something done where as a group will stand around and wait for someone else to do something.

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

Introduction to Communication Arts

• Length of class : 1 semester
• Occupational Ed or Elective: 9, 10, 11, and 12
• Prerequisite: none
• The world of media is awash in striking images, video, audio and graphic design created to capture our imagination and communicate complex ideas. This class explores the basics of digital photography, video, audio, graphics creation, multimedia, and Internet technologies as vehicles for expression. Emphasis is placed on personal expression of complex ideas, leadership, and skills development. Students are exposed to the value of being not just consumers but also authors and publishers of media. Issues are raised and discussed about modern expression and its implications.

Visual Communications

• Length of class: 1 semester, repeatable
• Occupational Ed or Elective: 9, 10, 11, and 12
• Prerequisite: Introduction to Communication Arts
• The world of media is awash in striking images created to capture our imagination and communicate complex ideas. Visual Communications explores the basics of black and white 35 mm photography, digital photography, graphics creation, multimedia, and Internet technologies as vehicles for visual expression. Emphasis is placed on personal expression of complex ideas, leadership, and skills development. Students are exposed to the value of being not just consumers but also authors and publishers of media. Issues are raised and discussed

Web Development

• Length of class: 1 semester, repeatable
• Occupational Ed or Elective: 9, 10, 11, and 12
• Prerequisite: Introduction to Communication Arts
• Takes students through the basic steps involved in authoring and producing HTML documents, placing them on a web server, and maintaining a site. Also covered will be working with new possibilities in text, images, sound and video content on the Web. This will require gaining competency in the use of a number of multimedia authoring applications. Students will be actively involved in producing both their own pages and pages they develop in partnership with other classes at Olympia High School and other schools in the district or county.

Generation TECH / IB

• Length of class: 1 semester, repeatable
• Occupational Ed or Elective: 9, 10, 11, and 12
• Students will develop skills in problem solving, computer technology support, telecommunications, interpersonal communication and leadership. “On the job training” will be the main mode of instruction. Rather than using a book for the class these students will be writing the book - literally. Daily logs based on each days activities and experiences will be maintained by each student. Students will become proficient in the use of telecommunications through the use of the Internet. They will become information resources for others by helping locate sources for computer support and projects that would be helpful for teachers’ infusion of technology into the classroom.

PHILOSOPHY

Learning Mastery

Learning mastery - students teaching students.

Learning & Leading with Technology, 29, 18-21.
by Noble, L., Fiely, J., & Le Duc, S. (2001).

Background Learning Mastery is an educational model, developed by Scott LeDuc, where students learn based on the philosophy that learning-by-doing inspires intrinsic motivation within the students. The primary goal of this model is to provide students with a basis to be life- long learners (Noble, Fiely, & LeDuc, 2001, p. 19). This model also promotes the use of independent research skills. Students are encouraged to solve their own problems by seeking reliable resources. According to Harris, “developing and using higher-order information-processing skills…will be among the keys to successful learning and teaching in the future” (Harris, 1998, p. 61)

Teacher Role The teacher’s role in this model is that of a guide, but the degree to which the teacher is involved varies within each level. Students are encouraged to solve their own problems or seek assistance from more advanced students (Noble, et al., 2001). At the most basic level, the teacher is helping the students to develop investigation skills. “If students know clearly how they will use the information they eventually locate, their chances for purposeful searching, rather than aimless surfing, increase” (Harris, 1998, p. 66). In the learning mastery model, this is accomplished through lectures, demonstrations, and hands-on activities. The intermediate level brings a lessoned degree of teacher involvement; the teacher is helping the students to identify good learning resources. “The skills of searching for and critically analyzing information across the curriculum are particularly important for science teachers as a way to develop inductive thinking process for drawing generalizations from data” (Peterson, & Koeck, 2001, P. 13). At the advanced level, the teacher is supporting the students in good lesson plan development (Noble, et al., 2001, p. 19). This includes information on how to appropriately organize lessons and how to create effective presentations.

Structure Mastery Learning is based on a leveled pyramid that explains what the students are learning at each level. At the lowest level, the students are learning an array of basic skill concepts (LeDuc, 2001). In relating our project to this level, the students would be learning how to create a WebQuest and the material specific to the WebQuest (for example, the water cycle). This includes learning the research skills necessary to create an effective WebQuest. At level 2 of the pyramid, the students are to focus on mastering one of the concepts previously learned. The students are engaged in self-directed learning and assessment of the skill they are developing (LeDuc, 2001). This level is slightly modified to fit the needs of our project. Instead of the students mastering one concept, the students will need to master the skills for developing a WebQuest as well as the material being covered in the WebQuest-at least to a certain degree. Included in this level are the skills to effectively identify resources that are reliable and appropriate for younger students. Level 3 is where the students become assistants in the learning process and teach the mastered concepts to the younger students (LeDuc, 2001). At this level, the high school students would be creating a WebQuest and presenting it in a clear manner to students online. Special attention should be given to the organization of the WebQuest and that it is presented in a way that is understandable to younger students.

Conclusion “Knowledge is a result of the process of knowing, which can only occur as the learner uses information in the process of actively constructing what he or she knows. Knowledge results when an individual personally transforms information” (Harris, 1998 p. 58). Learning mastery allows students to achieve this through the leveled process that guides the students to learn effective research skills, how to identify a good resource, and presentation skills. Related to our project, this process also presents students with an opportunity to gain experience in teaching science to an audience.

Works Cited Harris, J. (1998). Visual Architecture: designing and directing computer- based telecomputing. Eugene, OR: ISTE. LeDuc, S. (2001). Mastery learning. Available: http://www.learningmastery.org. Noble, L, Fiely, J, & LeDuc, S. (2001). Learning mastery: students teaching students. Learning and Leading with Technology, 29 (1), 18-21. Peterson, C. L. & Koeck, D. C. (2001). When students create their own WebQuests. Learning and Leading with Technology, 29 (1), 10-15.

MATERIALS

• PROVIDED: CLASS ROSTER
• PROVIDED: SCHOOL MAP

CONTACT INFORMATION

• If you have any questions please feel free to contact me, even during class.

Thank you again,

Scott Le Duc
sleduc@osd.wednet.edu
Arts and Technology Instructor