While I have picked up effective strategies through my instructional career, I usually didn't know why a particular process was successful. This class has clearly demonstrated to me the importance of Universal Design and the strategies from Marzano Research, in a way that I can put a name and description to my strategies. I can now explain how (and why) they work well, based on the content I need to instruct on, and the basic learning preferences of my end users.
Through the interactive group project with the WebQuest, and through the feedback I received of my StAIR project it has provided further information on delivery methods that are well received. Also it identified what additional changes were needed to provide content in a manner that could be understood by a majority of viewers.
While I have used PowerPoint to create presentations, I had not used the action buttons nor provided an interactive lesson before. While it did take a good deal of time and effort,I am proud of my final StAIR on Selecting the Right Web Browser. I have used several features in PowerPoint that I was interested in, but had not yet experienced firsthand before.
I look forward to using the new technical skills that I've learned in PowerPoint and apply them in other presentation tools. I find the UDL and Marzano strategies are very helpful, and plan to keep the notes on these with me both at home and at work. My work group is going through some reorganization, but I will be inquiring whether I can create and provide supporting content to my end users either with WebQuests or some other shared presentation.
Brian thanks for sharing these reflections. It's great that you learned and appreciate the UDL strategies, Marzano effective teaching and learning strategies and new skills with PowerPoint as an interactive learning tool.
ReplyDeleteHave a great year ahead and many more to come. Carolyn