Tag: UAS-MAT

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Free Multicultural Alaska History Series

I’m pleased to announce that this 6 book series was just named “2016 Best Textbook”  at the international iBooks Author Conference. “The iBAs“ are the only peer-nominated, peer-voted awards for best-in-class achievement with Apple’s iBooks Author.

I just finished teaching Alaskan Studies at University of Alaska Southeast’s MAT program in Juneau. My course was teamed with a Multicultural Ed class in the first three weeks of the on-campus session. We took a PBL approach and our cohort of 37 MAT students did a terrific job researching and designing six regional iBooks as models of culturally responsive teaching. More on their assignment here.

I’m proud to announce that the Multicultural Alaska series is now available free at iTunes.
Alaska’s West Coast- Thriving on the Tundra 
Arctic Alaska Life at the Top of the World
An Outsider View of Interior Alaska
Southwest Alaska- Where the Sea Breaks its Back
From Silt to Salt- Southcentral Alaska
Southeast Alaska- Close to Nature’s Heart

Each iBook begins with a regional overview focussed on the intersection of three factors – natural environment, the human environment, and the cultural expressions unique to the indigenous people of the respective region. Six-member teams collaborated on each overview and then each student designed a culturally-responsive lesson in their content area focused on that region. The iBooks are filled with interactive elements and extensive source material from Juneau’s newly opened Alaska State Library, Archives and Museum (SLAM).

Don’t have a Apple device? Download our books free as static PDF files.
Alaska’s West Coast- Thriving on the Tundra 2.5 MB
Arctic Alaska Life at the Top of the World 3.7 MB
An Outsider View of Interior Alaska 3.1 MB
Southwest Alaska- Where the Sea Breaks its Back 3.6M
From Silt to Salt- Southcentral Alaska 2.1 MB
Southeast Alaska- Close to Nature’s Heart 2.2 MB

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Save Instructional Time with Screencasts

Here’s a “case study” in lesson design that demonstrates the efficiencies of offloading information transfer via screencasts.

Setting: I’m currently teaching Alaskan Studies at University of Alaska Southeast’s MAT program. My course is teamed with a Multicultural Ed class. We have a cohort of 37 students in the first three weeks of their on-campus summer session. Our face to face class time is critical and we want the students to get to know each other before being sent out across Alaska on their student teaching placements.

Goal: I wanted to open the course with a place-based activity that gave the students a creative way to share something about themselves. I decided to give them two PBL design options – creating a poetry-inspired Haiku Deck [ Lesson ] or a developing a geo tagged tour using Google MyMaps [ Lesson ]. During the same class, I wanted to get them introduced to WordPress and our course blog where they would be regularly posting.

All this was accomplished in a 3-hour class through use of short screencasts that explained each aspect of Haiku Deck, MyMaps and WordPress. Screencasts were made using Apple Quicktime Player and uploaded to a playlist on YouTube.

Bottom line: By investing about 45 mins to make screencasts (in advance), I freed up three hours of class time for student interaction and production.

You can view student products: Haiku Deck here and MyMaps here 

Here’s some student reactions to the workflow:

The “flipped” structure of this assignment was new to me, but eye-opening. Using YouTube and a course website to provide instruction without eating too much class time opens a number of possibilities for a teacher. Having that time instead for working on an assignment seems helpful for students, and it would free the teacher up to walk the room and help them individually with any problems they might be having. ~ Tim

This activity gave me a sense of fulfillment because I got to go at my own pace and actively create a project within a clear and manageable timeframe….The quick cadence of this activity was driven by Peter’s use of Youtube tutorials to deliver instructions and information about the project. This element all but cut out lecture time along with the inevitable (inferably painstaking) process of verbally answering repeated questions from students. In my experience as a student, verbal lectures and directions often cause me to get bored and then shut down, or to get lost and then shut down. The video clips smoothed over this issue and I anticipate utilizing this method in my future classroom. ~ Devin

It was fun, it has kept the entire class occupied for over two hours and I can see how this is an amazing learning opportunity and activity for the classroom. Allowing students a few different options to choose a way to creatively address a subject, giving them a set amount of time to accomplish the task and then providing a space to view their peers work in order to get ideas for the next activity. Brilliant. ~ Erin

Image credit: Flickr / eGuidry

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Where I’m From: Using Haiku Deck to Visualize Place

Where-Im-fromHere’s a lesson I designed for use in my University of Alaska Southeast summer course – ALST 600. I’ll be working with nearly 40 preservice teachers in the secondary MAT program teaching Alaska Studies using a place-based approach that integrates good instructional practice and free ed tech tools across the curriculum. For more on this lesson click here

This lesson features a poem as a prompt for a creative reflection. It also integrates two tools for presentation of the reflection.

  1. After reading Where I’m From, students will use Haiku Deck to design a brief presentation that uses text and images to depict “where they are from.” The presentation should include a a title slide plus 6 slides which explore the place you’re from. Follow this link for ideas on Where to Go with “Where I’m From”
  2. After completing the Haiku Deck presentation, students will create a blog post that includes an embedded version of the presentation and a written response to the question:

What have I learned from this activity and how might I use the learning strategies and / or technology in my teaching placement?

“Where I’m From” by George Ella Lyon

I am from clothespins,
from Clorox and carbon-tetrachloride.
I am from the dirt under the back porch.
(Black, glistening,
it tasted like beets.)
I am from the forsythia bush
the Dutch elm
whose long-gone limbs I remember
as if they were my own.

I’m from fudge and eyeglasses,
from Imogene and Alafair.
I’m from the know-it-alls
and the pass-it-ons,
from Perk up! and Pipe down!
I’m from He restoreth my soul
with a cottonball lamb
and ten verses I can say myself.

I’m from Artemus and Billie’s Branch,
fried corn and strong coffee.
From the finger my grandfather lost
to the auger,
the eye my father shut to keep his sight.

Under my bed was a dress box
spilling old pictures,
a sift of lost faces
to drift beneath my dreams.
I am from those moments–
snapped before I budded —
leaf-fall from the family tree.