Overview

As the final part of a unit on electricity, students will create a digital presentation using one of
three web tools listed below. I differentiate by giving choices within a particular assignment. For
this project students have a choice to work with a partner or individually, a choice of web tools,
and finally an option to create and draw for this that may not have internet at home.

Teaching/Learning Goals:
1. Teacher will show samples of all web tools to choose from.
2. Students will learn how to use Thinglink, Glogster or Animoto.
3. Students will learn how to use the help screens and tutorials in order to produce and share
their presentations.
4. Students will identify and explain the components of series and parallel circuits

Web Tool Choices

ThingLink
https://www.thinglink.com/
ThingLink allows students to use a picture (Thing) and describe the various parts of the picture
using Links to personally written descriptions or outside websites-videos to explain the chosen
topic. In our case series and/or parallel circuits. This is a free tool.
Glogster
http://edu.glogster.com/
Glogster allows students to use text, audio, video, pictures and links to create a newspaper type
informational piece. Students can choose from Glogsters templates, or start from a blank canvas.
This allows from maximum student creativity. Glogster used to be a free tool, unfortunately due
to too many Glogs in poor social/moral taste, it is only available for edu for a price ranging
from $39-$95 individually, or $390 for a school.
Animoto
https://animoto.com/
Animoto allows students to choose a song and a theme; they then add pictures, text and videos to
complete the project. This is a good choice for visual vocabulary- and things that dont need
sound to explain. There is a free version, but keeps the animoto logo on the production- right
smack dab in the middle.

Rationale
The lesson presented for this project is a piece of the unit about electricity. It was designed to
incorporate Arkansas State Science standards as well as ISTE standards. I teach at a STEM
academy, where hands-on, problem/project based lessons are very much encouraged. This
method of teaching is also known as Discovery Learning. Jerome Bruner is credited with the
creation of Discovery Learning, though his ideas are based on several constructivists before him,
such as Vygotsky, Dewey and Piaget (McLeod, 2012). The constructivist method of teaching is
one that I learned in my first teaching experiences, and still believe in and use today. The
constructivist theory states that students are responsible for constructing their own knowledge
and meaning based upon their experiences. Teachers are merely facilitators of information. As
students create experiences, they will be able to build upon them in future learning. All prior
knowledge comes from their past experiences, culture, and their environment (NDT Resource
Center). This unit provides students with hands on exploratory labs that are sure to build the
experiences, while allowing them to construct the knowledge needed to create a digital
presentation of their learning.
The lesson prior to the one given here had the students reading the online text and completing the
accompanying worksheets. In the days leading up to the digital presentation assignment, some
days the students will read first, some days they will do the lab- with no prior background
information. The explore before explain strategy is consistent with Jerome Bruners Discover
Learning method.
I chose to have the students do a digital presentation in addition to the multiple choice quiz. The
quiz satisfies the school requirements of every unit have chapter quizzes but is also found at the
bottom of Blooms. Rote memorization does not regularly engage students enough to remember

the experience of the lesson or the unit. The quiz will be given after all digital productions are
complete and presented to the class. The digital presentation is really the defining truth of student
mastery. As Einstein said, (and I say in my classroom all the time) If you cant explain it simply,
you dont understand it fully. What a better way to check for student comprehension and
application than to have them present their knowledge to an audience. Describe and diagram
electric circuits is one of the AR State Science Standards, though it doesnt dictate how it is to
be done. I chose digital presentations because students are much more engaged using technology,
and the completion rate is higher when they use digital story telling rather than a poster board.

References
Cobb, T. (1999). Applying constructivism: A test for the learner-as-scientist. Educational
Technology Research and Development, 47(3), 15-31. Retrieved April 9, 2015, from
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02299631
Constructivist Learning Theory. (n.d.). Retrieved April 9, 2015, from https://www.ndeed.org/TeachingResources/ClassroomTips/Constructivist _Learning.htm
Gardner's Multiple Intelligences. (n.d.). Retrieved April 10, 2015, from
http://www.tecweb.org/styles/gardner.html
ISTE standards students. (2011). Retrieved January 15, 2015, from
http://www.iste.org/standards/nets- for-students/nets-student-standards-2007.aspx
ISTE standards teachers. (2011). Retrieved January 15, 2015, from
http://www.iste.org/standards/nets- for-teachers/nets-for-teachers-2008.aspx
Lecturing. (n.d.). Retrieved April 10, 2015, from
http://www.cs.uic.edu/~i376/LecturingNotes.html
Revised Blooms Taxonomy. (n.d.). Retrieved April 10, 2015, from
http://www.celt.iastate.edu/teaching- resources/effective-practice/revised-blooms-taxonomy/
McLeod, S. A. (2008). Bruner. Retrieved April 9, 2010 from
http://www.simplypsychology.org/bruner.html