Session 11 - MOST Model

As I read the information on the MOST Model, it had some similarities to online e-books, where the story is read to the student, along with still shot illustrations, and stories made into movies that have subtitles. The use of web 2.0 tools to help with understanding sequencing and other literacy concepts can be very helpful. These tools can also be helpful in reinforcing learned concepts. I do wonder how well at-risk students using the MOST model; understand different literacy concepts like author’s purpose, inferring meaning of vocabulary words, and inference of meaning buried in between the lines, by the author.  I can see the MOST model, helping at-risk students learn some of these concepts in a visual format. The question I have, does this translate into the same skills being applied when they take a book home to read. Even if at-risk student use MOST models to help learn reading skills, they still need to read text to help improve their reading skills. Most standardized reading EOG assessment tests are not going to be of the MOST model. Reading is the key that opens the door to all other content areas.

                                               

As you can tell, I “wonder” a lot. How does this model work with different learning styles? Is this model more effective with students that are visual learners? How effective is this model with at-risk students that have a strong verbal or auditory learning style? Are there any at-risk student that have strong verbal learning style? I would find it interesting to know, if most at-risk students have a certain type of learning style.

As I read about the MOST model, I was unsure also, if there are any requirements as to the length of the stories that can be used. If the students are in high school, can chapter books be used that contain lots of detail and a longer story line, like “Stone Fox” or “The Black Pearl, which most students find very exciting and interesting?

I feel that creating interesting and effective MOST modules can take a lot of time for the teachers to create. I can see that the MOST model can be beneficial to at-risk students. I also feel implementing them in an elementary school setting, may be easier, than in a high school setting, due to story complexity. I still have questions about how teachers would put together a MOST model on a book like “Stone Fox”. Where would the teacher get the video segments, and other aspects of the story to make it into a MOST model? I think using video story telling is better at holding student interest, than still action shots. Would teachers cut sections out of the movie? How does that play into intellectual property rights?

Session 10 - STAR Model

What are your initial reactions to this theory/model?

• As I read the information on the STAR Legacy Model, it sounded very similar to the Goal-Based and Anchored models. I like how the STAR model evaluates the student’s prior knowledge in a subject area. It is like wetting the soil, before it rains. It helps the speed and efficiency of the soil’s absorption of the rain. I feel this idea also applies to the human mind. I also, like how the model uses a “wrap up” near the end, to have students reflect on what was learned and how a student’s thoughts and beliefs may have changed over the lesson.

What are barriers to its use?

• I feel that creating interesting and effective STAR model challenges are very important in capturing and holding a student’s attention and interest. I feel the challenge should be in a video format, instead of just a text description. I find personally that I am more engaged with a video challenge, then by just reading something to see what the challenge is. The challenge presenter’s passionate voice and body language can be a great way to engage and motivate students. I think the “Perspectives & Resources” part can be very time consuming to build. This part is also important in holding a students interest and helping to motivate them to learn. This section should not be just a list of web links for the students to use.

Since we are taking learning theories/models that were not necessarily created with the Web in mind and turning them into Web modules, what Web-based tools or resources could be leveraged to carry out this learning theory/model online?

• I believe the STAR model can be implemented in a web-based environment. I also believe that this model can be used across many different subject areas other than just math and science applications, which the researchers mostly discussed. For example, in language arts, students could receive a challenge that involves converting a secret letter from first person to third person, where the pronouns and verb tense are part of an encryption code. I feel the STAR model can be used to support individual and group learning. This is a great plus in a diverse learning style classroom, since there are many different ways students receive knowledge. 

Session 9 - Anchored Instruction

What are your initial reactions to this theory/model?

• As I read the articles on anchored learning (AL), it sounded very similar to the problem-based learning and goal-based learning approaches. They all advise using real-world problem learning situations.  I find it really challenging to distinguish between PBL, GBL, and AL. It almost seems like researchers just tweaked the approach a little, and then they slap their name on a slightly different way of looking at things, and call it a new approach.
• I feel that the majority of the students in a class would like to receive there real world problem scenario in a video format, since this is the most familiar method to them. The video would seem to connect the problem to more of the student’s senses, which could make it seem more real to the students.

What are barriers to its use?

• I feel that creating interesting and effective AL modules can take a lot of time for the teachers to create. One big challenge I can see is the commitment needed to create different web modules. I know teachers that have been moved around by there administrations to teacher 4 different grade levels, in a five-year period. Why would a teacher want to make any web modules, when they are not certain what grade level they are teaching each year? I can see this being a real deterrent to creating web module.
• Since our students come from a very diverse background, teachers would need to create many different AL scenarios, so that students can choose what would be of interest to them.
• I have heard from many people that you get more out of reading the book, than just watching the movie made on a book. I wonder if the concept also applies to the current standardized curriculum, we currently teach in school.   Students get exposed to many different terms in a standardized curriculum movie, but do they really get the whole picture by not working with real world detailed situations that are like the story in a book?
• I noticed that AL research seems to focus mostly on science and math learning situations. I wonder how well AL works on reading and writing language arts skills, which are taught heavily in elementary school.

Since we are taking learning theories/models that were not necessarily created with the Web in mind and turning them into Web modules, what Web-based tools or resources could be leveraged to carry out this learning theory/model online?

• I believe AL can be implemented in a web-based environment. The challenge is coming up with interesting real-world situations for students to work with. I wonder how much time teachers can or are willing to spend helping their students understand the real world problem solving steps in the different approaches. When teachers have AYP goals and EOGs breathing down their necks, how do they assess if their students learned/gained all the EOG tested content knowledge, from the different real world learning approaches. I like the AL approach and I can see using it in my elementary classroom on a limited basis. With all the standardized testing taking place these days, I feel teachers may be reluctant to spend many months trying to teach their students how to critically think, and possibly miss their AYP and EOG goals, and then be out on the street, trying to find another job.