"Exploring the Solar System in Cyberspace"

Upon embarking on the Group's Multimedia Lesson Plan, I was excited with the numerous possibilities of enhancing students' understanding of the solar system through technology. Because studying the planets involves such abstract ideas, I felt as though technology could provide the supplementary resources necessary to comprehend its vastness and complexity. Within cyberspace, the solar system can be easily accessed and explored by students.


Therefore, of the NETS*T Standards listed in the ED 271 Course Syllabus, I felt as though NETS*T Standard 3C greatly applied to this assignment:
"Apply technology to develop students' higher order skills and creativity" (Cyrus, 2011).
In Bloom's Taxonomy, application, and analysis and synthesis are considered higher order thinking skills (University of Wisconsin Whitewater, 2009). These skills are greatly emphasized throughout this lesson plan. With regard to application, students research information relevant to them and present information that they personally find particularly interesting or useful. Because the elements of the solar system cannot be tangibly explored, students must find alternative ways to "experience" it. Thus, when viewing information about the planets through a song and video, online games, and websites designed specifically for kids, information such as vast distances and foreign compositions are described in terms more understandable to students, using a variety of media. With regard to analysis, students are asked to compare and contrast the different planets. Within the online games, students are given statements about each planet and must analyze the information they have obtained, in order to differentiate between them. They must be discerning and carefully analyze the information they research on the planets, using the provided website links. Lastly, with regard to synthesis, all the information that students have obtained throughout the lesson, using the various resources, culminates in an online poster, through which they can also express themselves creativity. Such creative expression is also indicated in NETS*S Standard 3C. The Glogster EDU poster allows for different types of media (pictures, text, audio, etc.) to be manipulated, in order to sufficiently display the information obtained. Moreover, students are further challenged to synthesize all information learned into a brief reflection, recorded via Eyejot video. The various components of the Multimedia Lesson Plan require higher order thinking skills and creativity to be used by students, in order to successfully complete their tasks.


Although this lesson plan requires higher order thinking skills, technology can be especially helpful in making the accommodations necessary for students with disabilities. Within our lesson plan, one of the students is identified as having visual impairment. However, through the use of technology such as text-to-speech software and text/video enlargement capabilities, information can be more readily accessed. However, further revisions could be made, such as the creation of a separate website that contains modifications for students with disabilities. Moreover, further opportunities for cooperative learning could help students with disabilities learn from and receive assistance from their peers, . It would also be helpful for students with disabilities to access a computer with other assistive technology features (e.g. larger keyboard, joystick, etc.).

In addition to modifications and accommodations for students with disabilities, there are also numerous opportunities to make this lesson plan more challenging. For instance, just as the students listened to a song about the planets, they could also create a song about their planet, record it, and insert the audio file into their Glogster poster. Another additional challenge would be to allow students to discuss one another's Glogster posters through the comment module, under the "Share" tab. Because the lesson plan requires that all the Glogster URLs be published, students can then choose 2-3 of their classmates' posters and publish their comments for the rest of the class to see. Lastly, a challenge could also involve utilizing online games about the solar system that involve points. Teams could then compete for the highest score, adding an additional incentive to learn from and do well in the online games.


In creating this lesson plan, I enjoyed exploring the different technological resources that can be used to accomplish the various tasks within the lesson plan. I enjoyed synthesizing all of the resources into one website, making them more easily accessible. This also allows students to work at their own pace, since all the resources and directions are provided. Although, despite the excitement of exploring and combining the different resources, it was quite time consuming. The HTML editor on the Wix website creator is still in beta, and thus it did not always work as I would have liked. Nevertheless, I enjoyed creating this Multimedia Lesson Plan and observing it come into fruition. I look forward to conducting this lesson in my future classroom.

References

Cyrus, Jacqui. (2011). ED 271: Applications of Technology in Education Aligned Syllabus. Retrieved from http://campus.uogdistance.com/mod/resource/view.php?id=15589

University of Wisconsin Whitewater. (2009). Higher Order Reflection. Retrieved from http://www.uww.edu/learn/diversity/higherorderreflection.php

Images

All images are screenshots of the Multimedia Lesson Plan, personally taken by me.
Click on any image to access the Multimedia Lesson Plan.