Reading Review - a few articles...

Here are some articles I have found to help with my topic:

Bell, M.A. 2013. Computers as Mindtools, an homage to David H. Jonassen. Internet@schools Nov/Dec 2013 p 24-25. Retrieved Jan 18, 2014 from UBC library Ed/IT lib digital library.

This article provides a short summary of David Jonassens’ concept of “mindtools”.  Mindtools is a concept about using anything to make kids think.  Mindtools are relevant to my project since Jonassen includes hypermedia or presentation tools such as Prezi which require students visualize.  The intent of presentation mindtools is to foster knowledge representation, communication, and collaboration.  . The article provided an interesting overview on educational technology philosophy since the 1990’s.

Bender, C. and P. Bull. 2012.  Using Prezi in a Middle School Science Class. Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference (SITE) 2012. Austin, Texas, USA March 5, 2012. Retrieved Jan 19, 2014 from UBC library Ed/IT lib digital library.

This article researched the impact of Prezi on middle school students’ attitudes on engagement and learning in science.  The author has an introduction that explains the advantages of educational technology, in particular Prezi which uses a canvas to help audiences see the big picture and make meaning full connections.  There is a summary of an exhaustive literature review on multimedia in middle school science.  Using a student surveys to evaluate a 6 week Prezi project to create a summary of a sub-unit of Science 7 did not find a significant impact on general attitudes toward science.  However the student comments and teacher observations indicated that there was better knowledge retention and learning by the students.

Green, T., A. Brown.  Student- generated multimedia projects in the classroom. 2002.  California State University Fullerton.  MultiMedia Schools, v9 n4 p20-24 Sep 2002.  Retrieved Jan 15, 2014 from UBC library Ed/IT lib digital library.

This resource outlines lesson planning for an elementary school research project that will be presented with multimedia.  It has broken the task into 3 stages: design, production and distribution.  The text provides pointers like the goals of the multimedia project influence how it is designed; and storyboarding the final presentation prior to moving to the multi-media. 
 

Liu, M. and Y. Hsiao. 2000.  Middle school students as multimedia designers: a project-based learning approach.  Jl. of Interactive Learning Research (2002) 13 (4) 11-337.

 

 

 

This research project looked at students to see how their design knowledge, cognitive strategy use and motivation toward learning changed with project based learning.  The literature review summarizes project based learning and learners as multimedia designers.  The study was done with students in a multimedia class working in groups to learn the programs and then create improved school information for a teacher job fair.  The questionnaires showed the project improved student’s intrinsic motivation and organization skills, and increased peer collaboration.  

Frey, C. 2010.  Map and present your ideas with Prezi, a new visual thinking application.  Retrieved Jan 19, 2014 from http://mindmappingsoftwareblog.com/prezi/

This blog takes the intellectual idea of “non-linear thinking” and explains how Prezi can be used for mind mapping.  This blog lists some other options of Prezi including presenting, stories, sharing information and note taking. It explains how Prezi's tool can zoom in and out to show your information in chunks and parts to help depict relationships.