I was able to uncover several valuable resources recently that may be helpful in understanding how one learns and how this can be useful as an instructional designer. The first resource is a website featuring the work and research of Howard Gardner, (http://www.howardgardner.com/index.html) Professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and founder of the theory of multiple intelligences. The website has a ton of useful information from "frequently asked questions" about his theory, pdf's of articles and papers Gardner has written and a links page with other pertinent websites. I particularly enjoyed reading his paper Five Minds for the Future as it relates to the International Baccalaureate program which is a curriculum that my school district has adopted within the last several years.
The second resource is a website provided by the Johns Hopkins University School of Education called New Horizons.
http://education.jhu.edu/newhorizons/
This site is chalk full of articles regarding the neurosciences, brain research and how it relates to learning, and articles on teaching and learning strategies. This resource is really dedicated toward leading the way in transforming education and provides links to other relevant sites as well as the quarterly journal.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Helpful Resources and Links Part 3
www.fitmet.com/ -- This is another great blog for physical education instructors. Most of the posts refer to articles regarding current issues relevant to physical activity and health.
There are three different contributors to the blog who are all experts in the field currently teaching in California. The cool gadget featured recently included a BMI calculator which is very useful and could be used by students in private on-line. I found it a little discouraging that posts aren't made regularly on the site and in fact, the last post was made in September.
There are three different contributors to the blog who are all experts in the field currently teaching in California. The cool gadget featured recently included a BMI calculator which is very useful and could be used by students in private on-line. I found it a little discouraging that posts aren't made regularly on the site and in fact, the last post was made in September.
Helpful Resources and Links Part 2
http://thepegeek.com/ -- This blog is amazing!!! I'm so inspired as a physical education teacher and instructional designer after visiting this site. The self-proclaimed "PE Geek" is actually Jarrod Robinson a physical education teacher in Victoria, Australia. His blog is geared toward connecting technology innovation to improving instruction in physical education settings.
His objective is to share the various ways he is attempting to engage his students in PE through technology. For example, he posts about using twitter, vodcasts demonstrating how to use "instant replay", and using sites like surveymonkey.com to help students create their own surveys on physical education related topics.
Within several minutes of visiting this blog I had already generated new ideas to bring to my classes and couldn't wait to try them out, specifically using video to help my students evaluate their own skill development.
My only criticism is...I WANT MORE!!! The blog posts could be a little more detailed in terms of helping teachers implement these technologies into classes. This is a blog that I truly look forward to following on a consistent basis and can see myself contributing to this blog "community."
His objective is to share the various ways he is attempting to engage his students in PE through technology. For example, he posts about using twitter, vodcasts demonstrating how to use "instant replay", and using sites like surveymonkey.com to help students create their own surveys on physical education related topics.
Within several minutes of visiting this blog I had already generated new ideas to bring to my classes and couldn't wait to try them out, specifically using video to help my students evaluate their own skill development.
My only criticism is...I WANT MORE!!! The blog posts could be a little more detailed in terms of helping teachers implement these technologies into classes. This is a blog that I truly look forward to following on a consistent basis and can see myself contributing to this blog "community."
Helpful Resources and Links
www.pecentral.org/ -- This first site is one of if, the not the most, comprehensive resources for physical education teachers you can find on the web. Not a blog, per se, but rather an all encompaseing resource with a wide variety information on a wide variety of topics. The site covers just about everything relative to teaching physical education from classroom management suggestions, articles, assessment ideas, lesson plans and links to many supplemental resources like the National Association of Physical Education. PE Central also includes a monthly newsletter that you can sign up for and also message boards for professionals to collaborate, post questions and hold discussions.
My main criticism of the site is that the information can seem somewhat overwhelming and too often the information, once you finally get to it, is not specific enough help design better instruction. For example, I think the lesson ideas are most often geared toward lower elementary physical education and I rarely find useful lesson plans for the secondary level. Having said that, I think the site is great, but I think physical education in the 21st century needs to be more innovative, skill and fitness driven and no so much just playing games.
My main criticism of the site is that the information can seem somewhat overwhelming and too often the information, once you finally get to it, is not specific enough help design better instruction. For example, I think the lesson ideas are most often geared toward lower elementary physical education and I rarely find useful lesson plans for the secondary level. Having said that, I think the site is great, but I think physical education in the 21st century needs to be more innovative, skill and fitness driven and no so much just playing games.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Hey, Young World!!!
Congratulations to me....I'm now officially a blogger in the world of instructional design. Hopefully I can bring something to the table instead of being more of a leach and taking solid info. from everyone else.
Treat yourself....Jay
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