Jimmy Juliano
EPSY 490 - WikEd Research and Website Construction
WikEd Project: iLife
All WikEd Contributions
WikEd Login: juliano3

The WikEd project was truly a unique experience.  It is an empowering feeling to contribute something to the academic community that will hopefully be a foundation for further additions.  While debating topic ideas, I wanted to choose a focus that was not only of tremendous personal interest, but would be of asset to my career as an educator.  As it would turn out, the technology teacher at my school, Bernotas Middle School, would be retiring at the conclusion of the 2007/08 school year.  The technology program was going to be revamped, and I expressed my interest in the position.  I was formally offered the position near the end of March, and in the meantime had already started work on my WikEd project:  the Apple multimedia software collection, iLife.  My goal in starting the WikEd was to explore uses of iLife in the classroom, its effects on student learning, and how it related to EPSY 490 topics and issues.  Creating the WikEd allowed me to better showcase the uses of iLife  during technology planning meetings in anticipation of new curriculum for the 2008/09 school year.  At present, Bernotas and School District 47 are actively seeking Apple computers and its iLife software to utilize in the middle school technology curriculum.

One of my main objectives with my WikEd content was to include a mixture of statistics and anecdotal evidence.  The Apple website has a plethora of what it calls “Profiles in Success”, in which different schools that utilize Macs are showcased.  The websites were seemingly an unending supply of content – I then needed to focus on the most relevant information concerning iLife that included both statistical and anecdotal evidence.  I located a great article entitled Apple Profiles in Success: Escondido Union Elementary School District that highlighted educators’ success in incorporating iLife into the classroom.  The site contained solid information about significant jumps in student achievement after successful faculty training and implementation into the classroom.

Tremendous anecdotal evidence was not hard to find – most Profile in Success websites contain an ample amount of quotes from educators and students.  I choose the article entitled Apple Profiles in Success: Freestyle Academy.  In this article, no actual statistics are given, but great quotes from an educator highlight student achievement, engagement, and an increase in student collaboration and critical thinking skills.

Besides anecdotal evidence and statistics, I sought for my WikEd to give a basic overview of the software as well as application to EPSY 490 topics and principles.  A superb article by Randy K. Yerrick and Donna L. Ross summarized the effects of iLife in the classroom, such as engagement and building on prior knowledge.  Two specific classroom topics were also incorporated intro the WikEd: reading strategies and active listening.  One of our goals in District 47’s future technology curriculum is for students to participate in cross-curricular projects.  As a language arts teacher, I wholeheartedly understand the importance of reading strategies in the classroom and desire for the students to practice these skills with creative activities and projects.  iLife ties directly into reading strategies; especially the questioning strategy, and my WikEd outlines how the incorporation can take place.  Moreover, as learners in a digital age, my WikEd explores how students are engrossed in this digital and media literacy revolution – iLife only assists students in becoming more competent communicators, collaborators, and evaluators.  iPods and podcasts aid in these skills, and my WikEd cites an article entitled iPod in Education: The Potential for Teaching and Learning to further enhance the relevance of iLife with media and digital literacy.

iPod in Education also explores the relationship between iLife and active listening, another EPSY 490 class topic.  I sought to explain the purpose of active listening and its uses in both the classroom and in daily life.  The WikEd used the iPod in Education article to cite the importance of podcasting and iLife, by highlighting interactive media productions and its relationship to active listening.  Furthermore, anecdotal evidence was provided from the site Apple Learning Interchange: Suffield Academy, in which an educator discusses how iLife has prepared its students to be better leaders, as well as achieve progress in skills such as goal-setting, time management, and active listening.  Finally, the WikEd site offers a link to a study that utilized an interactive nature film entitled National Geographic: Unplugged.  The study of the film and its incorporation into the classroom concluded that films like Unplugged, easily created and modified using iLife software, could increase social collaboration in the classroom.  Furthermore, the WikEd site implies these educational films can better enhance student interpretation and analysis skills, as well.

I believe my original goals were met with my creation of the WikEd page.  I was able to give a basic overview to the software, showcase examples of successful implementation into the classroom, provide statistical and anecdotal evidence, and relate the topic to EPSY 490 issues.  The site proved beneficial to the District 47 2008/09 technology curriculum, as we are currently aligning classroom projects to ISTE technology standards, as outlined on the WikEd page.  It is my hope that others will expand the website, adding additional information that will prove to be helpful to educators looking to explore the use of iLife in the classroom.

Expansion of others’ WikEd sites is crucial to the longevity of the information at hand.  It is only through the additions, modification, and revision of others that these sites stay current and relevant, and I feel through my contribution to other WikEd topics I have aided in this process.  The list of WikEd pages is enormous, and when deciding which topics to edit I arrived at a simple conclusion – to edit the topics we were exploring in class.  Due to our readings, essays, wonderments, and communications with fellow students, I felt ultimately comfortable and confident with the classroom curriculum.  This allowed me to make the most thorough and informed additions, revisions, and modifications as I could.  Furthermore, I also looked for topics that greatly interested me, such as graphic organizers and reader’s theatre.

The types of edits I utilized were multifold.  I feel one of my best educational skills is summarizing information.  While constructing essays, I am quite adept at breaking down larger topics, effectively using my own words as well as an author’s words.  Examples of these types of summaries can be found at the Graphic Organizer WikEd, in which I explain Robert Marzano’s use of graphic organizers in the classroom and the categories in which they fall.  Also, in the Schemas WikEd, I highlight Laura Robb’s definition of schema from her book Teaching Reading in Middle School: A Strategic Approach to Teaching Reading That Improves Comprehension and Thinking – a must-have for any reading teacher.

Another aim I had with the WikEd edits were to provide personal testimony.  From the personal testimonies I have read on WikEd, a few have really struck chords with me and forced me to further reflect on my teaching and beliefs.  Hence, I added a few personal testimonies, that can be found on the IEP, Active Listening, Children’s’ Books, and Technology Integration WikEds.

For other additions, I really asked myself this question:  How can I best contribute to the educational wonderings of another teacher?  I sought to provide the most useful information possible that I have found beneficial throughout my time as an educator.   This information I provided were sometimes reference links, such as a link to Discovery Streaming on the Video in History Classes WikEd and a link to a phenomenal graphic organizer collection entitled Tool for Reading, Writing, and Thinking on the Graphic Organizer WikEd.  I also provided additions to the critique section of the Assertive Discipline WikEd concerning Alfie Kohn, as well as Karen Foster’s thoughts on transformative mediation on the Conflict Resolution WikEd.

Ultimately, the twenty-five WikEd edits required by EPSY 490 were enlightening in that it made me truly analyze my educational knowledge.  What could I best contribute, and, what would I find most useful if I found it on a WikEd site?  Keeping those questions in the forefront of my mind allowed me to make many positive contributions to other WikEd pages as well as my own.