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What each of these means for the Learner; Objectives, Activities, & Assessments

 One major objective for any student would be the curriculum in which they study. Parts to add to the curriculum are books, lesson plans the teacher brings to the table, and any other interesting or innovative ways to study (Sousa, & Tomlinson, 2011). Another important aspect to the objective of the student from both inward and outward appearances would be to be successful in their course of study.

 Activities that foster that success can vary in their approach and style. Each has to hit the student in a manner that is conducive to each persons learning style. For the student to understand is very important. As well as the authenticity of each learning activity (Sousa, & Tomlinson, 2011).

 One activity in particular that can be used to gauge where a student’s mind might be at in a particular subject would be in a worked example. Dyer (2015) notes that in this type of activity the student is given a partial narrative on a certain problem. It is then up to the student to fill in the blanks in the missing portion of this narrative. Critical thinking skills as well as some previous experience in this matter will gauge the optimum outcome for the student. Understanding is critical for long term memory of anything to be stored into the memory banks of a student (Sousa & Tomlinson, 2011).

 Assessments are not tests. Though they can be thought of mistakenly at times for them. For instance, there are instances such as mathematical equations where only one answer is correct. This will follow the lines of convergent thinking. Whereas divergent thinking fosters the multiple outcomes for solution to a problem as Sousa & Tomlinson (2011) note. While assessing a student , it is important to remember these things and see where there student’s thinking is lining up.

Unit construction to ensure relevance to student’s lives Students come from all different backgrounds. It is important to capture the minds of all these different backgrounds into your unit of study. Meaning must be present in all instruction for it to be stored into long term memory. If something is meaningless, even though some or much time is spent on this subject, the student will not store it. Therefore a teacher should always enforce what is important to the student and why. This will help the student keep a priority of sorts on what they are learning (Sousa, & Tomlinson, 2011).

Alignment to unit

 When a student does not really understand what elements of the unit or curriculum are important , then misalignment occurs (Sousa, & Tomlinson, 2011). Today, with technology in everyone’s hands one way to make a unit meaningful to students is through Mobile learning (Boyinbode, & Fasunon, 2015). Since children today as young as ten years old and in some cases younger have their own smart phones Mobile Learning may be a good way today to reach these kids. One instance of this working is by reaching children that are in rural areas as Boyinbode & Fasunon (2015) state. Students can receive entire lectures through their mobile devices. All the benefits of a traditional classroom where the lecture would take place and other visual aids such as presentations and books are also available through mobile learning. Picture a class where the teacher sends a quiz or lecture through an IMLS (instant message learning system) and then the student uploads it and answers it through a certain time frame (Boyinbode, & Fasunon, 2015). This style of teaching and learning are beginning to be the way of future teaching, and since the students are more adept these days to their mobile devices than ever, this might just be a way to bring better understanding of the curriculum to the student.

Incorporating this into the Lesson plan  In much the same way lesson plans and college courses are taken over the internet, this will be the same manner in

which teaching and learning will occur in the new classroom. Of course not all of the time will be spent in this way, but some of the assignments can be delivered as aback up to traditional instruction. Say a student in the third grade is learning new vocabulary words. They would receive the via their mobile device and then one person at home would give them the word to write with only auditory cue’s as to how the word sounded. The next day the student could alphabetically send the sight words. The following day ten sentences using one of each of the sight words could be used. Then on Thursday, a practice test of each word could be given mobile. Friday the real test would occur.

Supporting thinking and understanding Using the mobile curriculum will give the students

a voice they might not have had in the classroom before. Fear of being made fun of would occur which in turn would make an otherwise willing participant to the class not participate. In this way of teaching something that the student had a question on or would like to address to the teacher would be done though IM (Boyinbode, & Fasunon, 2015). And the response would soon come and they could carry on that way.

Are these the right way to evaluate assessments?  There are always pros and cons to every attempt at a proper solution. In this way it does make

learning more modern and comfortable to the way people live, especially the younger students live. However it is important to still have a traditional classroom part of the time. In this way the student will not lose the feel of what it means to be in school. After some time of using the Mobile learning instruction it can be evaluated against what was occurring during only traditional type instruction. The main areas to focus on will be what the student truly understands and will retain.

Revision and refinement  Using the mobile instruction will be a tool not the

whole of the way teaching will continue to be taught. It will incorporate aspects of the modern world and use technology as a means for class work. This will help the students in the real world. The best part of this instruction will be the hope of eliminating some of the social pressures of being right and bullying as well. This will be true because the students will not know who the “smart” kids are anymore, unless of course they go bragging about their grades. In this sense there will need to be a re- assessment as to the entire grading process, but that is another discussion and topic entirely.

Multiple means of representation  Upon entry into the classroom, a paper assessment of each of the student’s knowledge prior to any instruction will be given. This

will show diagnostic observations. Then Formative assessments will continue through each unit by using the mobile learning technique as said earlier. Throughout the term of the class I will see how student’s respond best to this type of assessment. During the Summative assessment at the end of the unit I will see which student’s reacted positively by this type of instruction and those that are better suited for the more traditional type. I assume the over achievers will be the ones that adapt to either style of instruction. Before final grades are given, the feedback from me will be paramount for the student to see where they stand and how well they are currently doing in the course (Sousa, & Tomlinson, 2011).

References  Boyinbode, O., & Fasumon, D. (2015).  Deploying an interactive learning system in  the classroom. International Journal of U-  & E Service, Science & Technology. Vol. 8  issue 4, Pgs. 321-330  Dyer, J. (2015). Example based learning:  Comparing the effects of additionally  providing three different integrative  learning activities on phisio-therapy  intervention knowledge. BMC Medical  Education. Vol. 15, issue 1,  Sousa, D.A., & Tomlinson, C.A. (2011). Differentiation and the  brain: How neuroscience supports the learner- friendly classroom.  Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press. 