Post #3: Affordance Analysis & How it Enables Us to Meet the 2nd Design Principle


In the 2nd Design Principle covered in class, we learned to be mindful in consideration of the social and societal consequences of technologies chosen as part of the design.  Affordance Analysis gives a methodology to properly match learning tasks with learning technologies in a constructive design.

This means that to match learning goals to techniques and tools constructively and effectively, a study of each technique or tool is necessary to see how well it is suited to those goals. Taking a two-headed approach, with Learning Goals and The Tools at the top of each prong, the analysis "boils" down to the essential qualities of each  header, and how they can come together to be used effectively.

As part of the discussion I mentioned in class, we as teachers are presented by our administration with a short list of applications to be used in assisting how our teaching is delivered to students. Administration wants us to use these applications as they are paying for them, so we are obligated to use them.  Teachers have a choice of Content Management Systems (CMS) to use from in Loudoun County Public Schools, including a Native CMS on the Intranet, Edmodo, and VISION.  There may be others that I'm not aware of but these are the main ones provided.

The Affordance Analysis I performed incorporates the discriminating affordances of "Temporal", "Navigational", "Emphasis", "Synthesis", and "Access-Control". The "Spatial" and "Media" affordances are the same for all of the CMS.  The Learning Goals of the CMS is to provide an accessible repository of supporting educational materials to support the needs of students.  From the Learning Goals side of the Affordance Analysis, the Products and Activities include delivery of class notes, hyperlinks to online lab activities, and supportive materials for students to self-assess themselves on materials covered in class. The required affordances that fall out of this are mainly in the following affordances: "Media" for reading, viewing, printing and watching; "Temporal" for accessibility; and "Navigational" for linkability to other activities.

Out of the three CMS choices, the tool I use is VISION because in addition to meeting the "Required" affordances, it provides more extensive user-customization ability, and is easier to use than the native CMS.  The affordances provided by Edmodo might also work, but from observations of other teacher usage of it, I do not see enough of a discrimination in it that warrants "re-inventing the wheel", when I have already gone over the learning curve with VISION.  VISION provides a constructive interaction, accessible over the internet with tablets, pcs or smart phones providing students with a supportive learning tool to assist them with the content learning goals.

Post #2: The 2nd Design Principle and the Victorian Internet.

1. Technology advances are a series of trial and error experiments.  Edison said, "I didn't invent the light bulb, I found 2000 ways not to make it." The telegraph evolved in several places in Europe, notably France and England, after many iterations of design changes.  I don't think that people use the 2nd Design Principle in developing the technology, nor in the early days of limited mechanical technology, how they were going to be mindful in its application.  Back then you could try to apply the technology if you thought it might work in a certain application or not.  In schools and classrooms today, the mindful application of technology is essential for teachers to keep control of their organization and effectiveness, otherwise they become encumbered by the technology. In my classes we are experimenting with students bringing their own laptops or tablets to do labs in class.  In a lab we did today, the students got their data from the lab equipment and then had to open the file in a third party software program to analyze it and print it out.  We don't have that program on our computers anymore and would take an act of god to get it loaded on them at this point.  During the school day, I can walk down the hall faster than our network can send a message to a copier.  So when students tried to download the analysis software, it would take forever.  So it works out that the students can download on their home network and finish the lab at home.  It gave me more time to focus on the data collection and setup of the lab and answer student questions.
2. The unforeseen social implications must be managed to keep them positive.  In the Victorian Internet, all the telegraphers became an online social community, and they could identify each other from their transmission styles.  As part of the data collection in the lab today, students had to export their data to a USB flash drive connected to the lab equipment.  About half of the students had the flash drives so people had to share the flash drives between lab groups, which turned out to be a positive, collaborative experience because everyone helped each other get their data file copied and sent to their personal email.  So that was a good interaction.
3. One of the generalizations made from this reading is that it speeds life up.  That's good in some cases. Because I had to work with a cohort (PLC), up until 30 minutes before the class started, to make sure we were all going to do the same thing, I had no time to test the downloaded software out or make sure it will read the data file.  The odds are in my favor since the lab equipment manufacturer is also the author of the software analysis tool.  But I always like to check it out so I can head off any issues with the program.  This builds confidence in the students and prevents potential disengagement in future labs.  So the technology was mindfully chosen, but not without risk. 

Post #1: Sabertooth Curriculum and the 1st Design Principle:

1. What did I learn?: The purpose of education is to meet the needs of society and continue the evolution of the human race as derived from the P.I.C.K.L.E. principles.
2. What does it mean and what supports that position?: This means that the essential expectations for good design of education is to include Problem-Solving, Information Adept, Community Participant, Knowledgeable of content, Literate, and Ethical Decision-Making skills.  This position is supported by the survey of the web pages for NEA, Common Core Standards, and Partnership for 21st Century Skills.
3. Which are the ways in which it might impact my practice?: In Loudoun County Public Schools this year we have an initiative called "One to the World", where communication of student work is disseminated outside the classroom, relating to the "I" & "C" in PICKLE. LCPS also has integrated Project/Problem Based Lessons which is in line with the "P" of PICKLE.