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iMET 9 Assignment


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iMet: Internet Masters of Educational Technology

281 Tools and the Curriculum


Forum: Cognition and Curriculum, Chapters 3 & 4

11/05/06 due 11/12/06

“In order to achieve a social dimension in human experience, a means must be found to carry what is private forward into the public realm. This is to be achieved by employing what in this book is known as forms of representation.”

Eisner, Cognition and Curriculum, p.39

Introduction

We live in an assessment driven and standards based world. The positive side of this world is that it forces educators to understand and be responsible for the standards they are to teach to their students/clients. I would argue that standards are a very good thing to have in place. Standards are the contract between the teacher and the student and school community or organization that determines what each student is expected to learn. If we are to have a system, there must be some way to agree upon what needs to be taught at each level and in each subject area.

The negative side of this world is that these standards have led, in many cases, to confusion between attaining and maintaining high standards and standardizing classroom curriculum around a basic set of knowledge objectives that often do not cover the realm of potential knowledge and skills that we should be helping our students/clients to develop. Eisner’s work does an excellent job of illustrating the potential costs of ignoring affective aspects of development in favor of attending heavily to the cognitive domain. It is important to help educators understand this problem.

It is not enough, however, only to help educators understand this dilemma. It is also important to provide them with solutions that can immediately be put into practice. One of the most important things an educator can do to empower themselves in the effort to shed light on innovative educational practices is to be able to base their ideas in literature on the topic (Eisner provides a good reference to the literature in this case). A second and equally crucial aspect, of arguing for innovation is that practitioners demonstrate knowledge of standards.

This lesson is designed to help you take some steps toward thinking about how to integrate new types of experiences should you choose to begin to consider including multiple forms of representation in your teaching/training experiences by providing you with an opportunity to examine state, national, and international standards.


Preparation

  1. Read and ponder chapters 3 & 4 in Cognition and Curriculum by Eisner
  2. Confirm that your Taskstream account is working and you can access the Standards Manager (If you have any problems with this, let us know).

Assignment

In chapters 3 and 4, Eisner challenges his readers to integrate multiple forms of representation into the classroom and consider technology as a new form of expression. Your task for this forum assignment is to accept this challenge and take it one step further – to connect your ideas to National or California Standards. This is a 3 part task.

Part 1

  1. Reflect on a lesson/training that you have taught or have experienced as a participant.
  2. Brainstorm how you might alter the lesson/training to incorporate some of the multiple Forms of Representation as presented by Eisner.
  3. Consider what technology tools or resources might play a role in your plan to integrate multiple Forms of Representation.
Part 2

Note: If you are not familiar with the concept of standards, you can read about the topic at Edsource.org. Be patient, the site loads slowly, however the explanation is brief and helpful.
  1. Browse the Standards Manager in Taskstream.
  2. Find 2 curriculum/content standards that relate to the cognitive aspect of your lesson/training.

    3. Example:
    CA- Essential State of California Content Standards
    Grade: Third Grade
    Subject: Writing
    Strand: Writing Strategies
    Topic: Organization and Focus
    Select Standard: 3.1.1: Create a single paragraph: a. Develop a topic sentence. b. Include simple supporting facts and details.


  3. Find 1 curriculum/content standards that relate to the affective aspect(s) you would like to integrate into the lesson.

    4. Example:
    CA- California K-12 Academic Content Standards
    Visual Arts
    Grade: Grade Three
    Subject: CREATIVE EXPRESSION
    Strand: Creating, Performing, and Participating in the Visual Arts
    Standard: Students apply artistic processes and skills, using a variety of media to communicate meaning and intent in original works of art.


  4. Create and submit a post to this forum thread that includes the following:
  • A description of the original lesson/training
  • How you might change the lesson by integrating new forms of representation into the lesson (Note: Various Forms of Representation and tools might be included in: the delivery by the teacher or trainer, student creation, student presentation, or assessment).
  • An explanation of your standards which includes:
    - What standards (Name, number etc)
    - From what standards body they came (National Council of Teachers of Basket Weaving)
    - The standards

Part 3

Respond to one peer’s post. You might consider the following in your response:

  • add to their ideas for integrating Forms of Representation and the benefits of doing so
  • add to their ideas for integrating technology tools
  • brainstorm additional ways to address the identified standard
  • if you are knowledgeable of additional standards that would apply, share your ideas