Artifact 6

The Modern Fashion and Invention Activity is an activity that can be used in most all grade levels. The web design strategies that were implemented make it legible, and the language is appropriate for the group(s) in which each page is directed.

Context
The Modern Fashion and Invention Activity entitled, The Slinky Slimmer Homepage, was created under the instruction of Jeff Goodman in a class titled, Integrating Media and Technology into the Classroom. The web page was created in the Fall of 2001 at Appalachian State University. It was created using Netscape Composer, Adobe Photoshop 5.0, Netscape Navigator, and a digital camera.

Impact
The Modern Fashion and Invention Activity will be useful in my practices as a teacher because it correlates with much of the North Carolina Standard Course of Study and will help the children meet the goals set for them and the standards in which they are responsible and that I am responsible to teach. The page itself links to each of the Standard Course of Study competencies the activity will meet. It links specifically to technology and writing objectives.

This activity can serve as a communication tool to substitutes, other teachers and to students. There are pages that are designed specifically for teachers, and the directions are detailed enough that a substitute would be fully aware of how to implement the lesson in a class if the teacher were not present. The Modern Fashion and Invention Activity can also be used by other teachers around the world in order for them to find a new, interesting lesson they can do with their students. This activity can be modified in so many ways to be used across the curriculum, as well as grade levels.

The Modern Fashion and Invention also includes a link for students, and without even a teacher’s help, the students can click on the link and read the directions in user-friendly terms. This will enable the students to have adequate computer time and spend time reading, understanding and following a set of written instructions. It will make the activity a bit more interesting for them, because the instructions will not be on a printout that everyone gets at the same time. Using a computer makes learning more interesting and intriguing for children.

Alignment
The Modern Fashion and Invention Activity can be used across the curriculum, but specifically in helping students meet goals that facilitate technology-enhanced experiences that address content standards and student technology standards (Goal IIIA). The Internet is the source of the assignment and it can be applied to different content goals listed in the Standard Course of Study.

This activity applies some of the most important types of technology skills for children. Creating a web page where the students write their own creative news pieces and publish them will prove to be extremely gratifying. The children can look at their work from their homes, schools, local libraries, or anywhere in the world if they have internet access. This will contribute to their higher order thinking skills in that they will become literate in many computer programs and understand the "glitches" of the World Wide Web and web editing software (Goal IIIC).

It also relates to a teacher’s job in managing student learning in a technology-enhanced environment (Goal IIID). Students need a technology-enhanced environment to foster the demands of technology in the world today. The Modern Fashion and Invention Activity suits this need flawlessly because the students are in charge of their learning, due to their teacher creating a lesson online that they can follow and complete.

Evaluating student activities and assignments is important. Assessment aides teachers in their planning and the ongoing lessons. It is a strategy for teachers, not a goal. Teachers need to apply multiple methods of evaluation to determine students' appropriate use of technology resources (Goal IVC). The form of evaluation I created for the Modern Fashion and Invention activity was created as a resource for communication, learning, and productivity. The teacher can use the evaluation to grade their students and the students can use the evaluation form to judge their own work, before they finalize their final product.

This activity presents itself using the World Wide Web to instruct the students of the assignment at hand. It encourages the students to think creatively and critically to create their own web pages that will be posted for them to share with others through the Internet. The rubric for grading allows the students to assess their own performance skills before they submit their assignment and gives them a chance to know their score before they turn in the assignment. The students will use problem solving skills to complete the activity as well as critical thinking methods to understand the extents of the project (INTASC 4).

As students are working on their Modern Fashion and Invention Activities, the teacher should always informally assess while observing the students at work. Formal assessment will take place when the teacher uses the grading rubric for evaluation and for a formalized score of one to four for each section. Assessment should take place all the time in order to benefit the student's grown intellectually, socially and physically (INTASC 8).