(Implementing STEAM into the Early Childhood
ClassroomJustification Paper) (B)
User Assumptions
This unit, along with the six online lessons, has been designed
for adult learners. The learners will be early childhood educators
interested in joining a cohort for this Implementing STEAM into the
Early Childhood Classroom unit. These early childhood educators all
work for the same franchise preschool with schools across the
United States. The first face-to-face cohort will take place in the
Philadelphia market. These participants will do the online lessons
prior to the face-to-face workshops. There is a description on the
web pages as to what will happen after the online lessons. The
cohort will consist of a maximum of 25 participants. The cohort
will be a mix of ages (23-70), races, genders and education level.
All participants will have some post high school education. It is
also required that participants are comfortable using technology to
complete this cohort. These are all stated as prerequisites in the
unit of instruction. The variety of participants will bring some
different experiences and uniqueness to the group. Depending on the
demand for this Unit, the unit will be repeated for more cohorts
and markets. They will be instructed to read through entire web
site prior to starting individual lessons. The overview will
discuss this with them. The web site gives information for each
lesson to be completed properly.
Graphic Descriptions
Image
Justification
In early childhood education, child-centered learning is a way
of helping children learn. Jean Piaget was at the forefront of this
movement. It is where the all the learning and materials center
around the child. As you can see, I choose to write this with the
child in the center to give the impression of everything revolving
around the child. I chose the colors to bring in the childish and
fun into the word.
It can be really hard sometimes to defend what early educators
teach in the classroom. Families have their own ideas on how things
should be taught, done or not taught. Therefore, it is always nice
to be able to have some back up or explanation ready to show
families the importance of what is being taught. When it comes to
early education, one of the big learning desires is the ability to
read. Yes, reading and writing will always be a forefront learning
domain. However, this image will not only help early educators to
see the importance of adding STEAM (Science, Technology,
Engineering, Arts and Math) into every day planning, but educate
families as well. It shows that the child gets more educated
(colorful) as they learn about STEAM. They also see their learning
in their reflection.
This is the banner for the entire unit, which includes the six
online lessons and the seven face-to-face workshops. This image is
seen throughout the whole web site to remind participants that
STEAM is incorporated by science, technology, engineering, arts,
and math.
This image will show the participants the process of their
learning that will take place. They will start with the
introduction (the steam engine), followed by the cars (science,
technology, engineering, arts, and math). The online lessons will
be following the same process, minus the presentations. The earning
train will end with the participant presentations at the end of the
unit. The steam above the train shows the learning outcome verbs
that will take place: learn, define, create, demonstrate, and
access.
Even in early childhood education, getting children to use their
higher level thinking skills is becoming a very important aspect of
the young learners. I chose to create this as if it is getting
higher and higher. I used the lighter gray to fade into darker
colors in higher. Then I made thinking high and dark in the image
to represent higher thinking skills.
When educating any learners, it is important to think of the
individualization of the teachings. I have chosen to use the
individualized, because each child deserves to be taught to their
individual skills and styles. As you can see, I chose to spread out
the word individualized to give the impression that each letter is
individual. I have also given them each their own color to really
give them that individual look.
When a participant attends a training, they do want to gain
knowledge on the actual topic being discussed. However, one thing
early childhood educators really like to take with them is new
ideas. With this image, the participants are given ideas of items
to add to their lesson plans for Science, Technology, Engineering,
Arts and Math. The other part of trainings that early childhood
educators like is to share their own great ideas. When there is a
class of many brains with many experiences, great ideas come about.
This image also will invite the participants to share their own
great ideas.
Adult learners can sometimes be similar to young learners. One
thing that an educator needs to be aware of is the learning styles
within the learning environment. All learners are different and may
need to learn differently. Having images to help explain key points
can be very helpful. When it comes to early childhood educators, we
want to make sure the images relate to the field of early childhood
as well. This helps the teachers really see how important hands-on
learning is in the early learning environment.
This image brings all aspects of the unit and online lessons
together. It shows the participants that they will learn, define,
create, demonstrate, and assess about science in their classroom.
This image doesnt defy the other topics, just fades them out as
science becomes the star for this particular online lesson and
face-to-face workshop. The colors also correlate with the banner
for the unit and the process of the whole unit.
This image brings all aspects of the unit and online lessons
together. It shows the participants that they will learn, define,
create, demonstrate, and assess about technology in their
classroom. This image doesnt defy the other topics, just fades them
out as technology becomes the star for this particular online
lesson and face-to-face workshop. The colors also correlate with
the banner for the unit and the process of the whole unit.
This image brings all aspects of the unit and online lessons
together. It shows the participants that they will learn, define,
create, demonstrate, and assess about engineering in their
classroom. This image doesnt defy the other topics, just fades them
out as engineering becomes the star for this particular online
lesson and face-to-face workshop. The colors also correlate with
the banner for the unit and the process of the whole unit.
This image brings all aspects of the unit and online lessons
together. It shows the participants that they will learn, define,
create, demonstrate, and assess about art in their classroom. This
image doesnt defy the other topics, just fades them out as art
becomes the star for this particular online lesson and face-to-face
workshop. The colors also correlate with the banner for the unit
and the process of the whole unit.
This image brings all aspects of the unit and online lessons
together. It shows the participants that they will learn, define,
create, demonstrate, and assess about math in their classroom. This
image doesnt defy the other topics, just fades them out as math
becomes the star for this particular online lesson and face-to-face
workshop. The colors also correlate with the banner for the unit
and the process of the whole unit.
STEAM is an acronym that represents the five areas of learning
that will be enhanced during my unit. I chose this word seeing as
it is the main idea. I have chosen to create STEAM to look like
steam coming out of the lower corner of the image. I chose to make
it black and gray and slowing fade, just as steam would act.
This image will remain throughout the web site pages. This will
be on each online lesson and continue as an icon for the whole
unit. The reason this images has been chosen is to remind the
learners that this whole unit is a cycle it will continue on, not
just during the online lessons and face-to-face workshops but
throughout their future teachings as well.
At the end of any training, workshop, or learning experience, it
is always a nice idea to give an overview of what was learned.
Since this training will be over six online lessons and seven
different face-to-face workshops, I think it's important to give my
adult learners a reminder of what some of the key points were
throughout. I decided to create a top ten reminders list for these
early childhood educators to take back to their classrooms. I would
let them know that they could post up in their classrooms to help
keep them on track on implementing STEAM into the classroom. It
could also serve as talking points for families that may not
understand what STEAM is all about. They also have an option on the
last lesson to print this out for a nice take-away.
Design Process
Content
When it came to deciding on the content process I wanted to make
it flow in a normal progression. I decided that the workshops would
follow STEAM as it is written. The online lessons and workshops
would start with S-science. They would be followed by T-technology,
E-engineering, A-arts, and M-math. However, I knew that I couldnt
just start with science. There needed to be an introduction. I also
wanted to end bringing it all together. Therefore, I added the
presentation workshop to wrap things up. I liked adding the train
image that brings the whole image and theme of STEAM to life. The
online courses have been added as a preview of what the seven
face-to-face workshops will have to offer. The online courses
require participants to do the footwork. I wanted to make them do
some research and put the effort forward to learn about STEAM. This
is to help participants to take ownership of their own learning.
This can be a very powerful tool in ones own learning. The online
courses reflection papers can be used as a needs assessment for the
face-to-face workshops.
Web Site
The web site progresses in the same manner as the unit itself.
It follows the STEAM train along its journey. I wanted the web site
pages to be easily accessible. I added links at the top so that
participants can navigate as they wish. For those that want to jump
around they can. For those that want to move through the pages in a
more book-like fashion they can use the next buttons. I created all
the pages with a similar look. This helps to keep things as a unit.
I added justification links to each image. This way the
participants can click on these links to learn what the image is
all about at the time they are being exposed rather than waiting
till the end or flipping back and forth to the justification paper.
I put the justification page on the trainer page with all other
behind the scenes information for the unit. I felt that this is
where it was more beneficial.
Sources or References:
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