This project was funded by the Innovative Technology Center's Teaching with Technology Grant 2004. The focus of this grant is to create modular pieces of instruction that are delivered on the Web. This grant will be awarded to five departments that each have two - five faculty members who collaborated to create at least five modular pieces of instruction that are delivered on the Web.

Details of Grant Submission below.
Department of Child and Family Studies

Developing Critical Thinking through Visual Literacy: The Role of Technology in Educating Undergraduate Students

Five content areas are designated as key tenets of inquiry-based learning in early childhood teacher education. These are derived from social constructivist theories about teaching and learning. These five content areas will be woven into the modules appropriately as they address the objectives and competencies of the designated courses (CFS 110, 350, 351, & 422). The content areas are: (1) influence of environment, (2) interaction and collaboration, (3) symbolic representation, (4) role of the teacher, and (5) continuity of experiences.

Module 1: Using Digital Still Cameras
This module will introduce students to the mechanics of using a digital camera to take still images of children in naturalistic classroom settings. Students will be instructed (through video demonstration) about how to frame pictures, operate the camera, download the pictures, and then will be guided through a tutorial that includes the use of a photo editing software (e.g., Microsoft Photo Editor).

Module 2: Using Digital Photography: Pedagogical Applications
This module will introduce students to the inclusion of technology (digital photography) in the development of their practices with children in early childhood educational programs. Students will construct an understanding of visual literacy, specifically the power of images, in observing, recording, and analyzing the teaching and learning process through the use of digital still photography.

Module 3: Generating and Editing Digital Video Tapes
This module will introduce students to the mechanics of using a digital camcorder to take videotapes of children in naturalistic classroom settings. Students will be instructed (through video demonstration) about how to operate the camera, situate the camera to record both audio and visual information and download videotapes. Students will be guided (through a tutorial using iMovie) to edit two sections of a videotape of a classroom learning experience.

Module 4: Dynamic Images
This module will introduce students to the inclusion of technology (digital movie imagery) in the development of their practices with children in early childhood educational programs. Students will further construct an understanding of visual literacy as they now work with dynamic, fluid footage that requires them to discern and select significant events within a greater diversity and variety of images and messages. Students' challenge in Module IV (unlike Module II) is the filtering and editing of significant experiences to create a video vignette of learning.

Module 5: Culminating Reflection and Documentation
This module will provide students with the experience of integrating and discerning between still and video digital images as they coordinate the purposeful use of these two kinds of media. The focus is on developing studentsÕ critical decision-making skills in the process of selecting and matching these forms of imagery to the objective of the particular observation. This instruction will be developed for one level of expertise and generalized across the content of three courses, CFS 350, CFS 351, and CFS 422 (as designated in Modules II and IV).