My Multimedia Fish Tank Lesson Plan

Technology can be frustrating and gratifying; frustrating when I can’t figure something out, and gratifying when I do. I would spend hours trying to figure something out, and many times I would give up and look for another solution. Even when I find a solution, I think about my failed attempts and how I could have made it work. Well, this is the love hate relationship I have with technology. However, I feel more confident about my abilities. And, to complete this assignment, I approached technology with greater verve. The only stipulation was to use multimedia: more than one source. The purpose of this paper is to reflect on my experience creating this lesson plan, to include which NETS*T standard it applies to, what I learned, how I used new technology, what I liked the least and what I liked the best.

Although this lesson plan can satisfy more than one of the six NETS standards, I choose Standard II: Planning and Designing Learning Environments and Experiences, which indicates teachers plan and design effective learning environments and experiences supported by technology (International Society for Technology in Education ). My lesson plan is called The Classroom Fish Tank. The students were to design a fish tank for the classroom. They were to use multimedia, create a blog, with a visual component, and deliver a persuasive presentation using PowerPoint. This assignment allows students to see, hear and do, which supports the diversity of student learning. Having students work in groups and using discussion rather than lecture support a student centered environment. And, having students use computers and the internet, which many are quite adept at, supports the learning experience because it is something they enjoy. And, with students becoming more technologically adept, it is imperative that teachers plan their lessons with technology in mind.

Technology is also helpful in creating an enriched classroom experience for students with disabilities. I included a student in a wheelchair with limited use of his hands in my lesson plan. I did not feel it necessary to make many changes to accommodate this student since he could get around with his wheelchair and the use of a key board is well within in the physical limitations of many children in wheelchairs. Although objectives should be the same for all students, a teacher should be well prepared to revise the activities of the lesson plan to include the myriad of disabilities students may have. A teacher should learn as much as possible about the disability itself and about the specific abilities of the student. As in the film Enabling Dreams (Edutopia), technology can make a big difference in the learning experience of students with disabilities. And, whether or not a student has a disability, teachers should make a concerted effort to incorporate technology in their lesson plans.

As I mentioned earlier, I approached this assignment with greater verve. I really wanted to display more of what I learned, and that I explored other avenues to complete the assignment. There are three new things I used. I used a new program called Debut Video Capture with my webcam to create my introduction. I’m not pleased with the result because of the low quality of the webcam. I also used window’s movie maker for the clip at the end. I used photos rather than a video, and I incorporated some background sound. When I created my rubric, I wanted to embed the document in my website, which I accomplished with limited success. I played around with Scribed.com and Issuu.com. I eventually used Issuu.com, although both programs were easy to use. I found Issuu.com more intuitive to use. Speaking of the Rubric, I can say that what I learned and what I liked the best about this assignment is related to the rubric. Creating your own rubric is the best thing a teacher can do when planning a lesson. Because it makes you think about whether or not your objectives make sense. While creating my rubric, I had to revisit my objectives to make sure that I stated the objective in a way that made sense, and was what I really wanted to accomplish. What I liked the least was the frustration I experienced when I couldn’t make something work the way. For example, I wanted to use GoogleSites because the examples of the prior students’ were created on GoogleSites and they were visually appealing. Unfortunately, I could not find the same templates. I also could not figure out how to change the width of the text box. So, as much as it was frustrating, this lesson plan was quite rewarding. The most important thing I will take from this assignment is that we were required to model the use of technology to present the lesson.


Edutopia. (n.d.). Retrieved May 26, 2009, from Assistive technology: Enabling dreams: http://www.edutopia.org/assistive-technology-enabling-dreams-video

International Society for Technology in Education . (n.d.). Retrieved April 12, 2009, from National Educational Technology Standards: http://www.iste.org/