Jennifer Fetner

Essay #2

1. Describe two criteria to include in a rubric for the assessment of a multimedia

project.
A rubric is a way of evaluating student performance. A rubric is a helpful tool when
evaluating a multimedia project. A multimedia project is one method that students may use to
present material they have learned. Multimedia projects include using video, audio, and research.
Multimedia by definition means communication that involves more than one format. More and
more teachers are incorporating multimedia projects into their curriculum units.
When creating a rubric to assess your students multimedia projects, you have to make
sure your rubric includes all of the aspects you want included to determine their grade. You have
to communicate the rubric requirements before the project is began. This allows students to know
what goals they are working toward before they begin the planning process. There are many
criteria to consider as your begin developing your rubric.
The most important thing to remember with a rubric is that you have to make sure you
judge the content first. It is very easy to get caught up in extravagant projects because they look
so nice. You have to separate yourself from the presentation, at least at first, and judge based on
the content. While presentation is very important, you shouldnt look at it first when designing
your rubric.
The first thing you should assess with a rubric is your content. This is where you will
look at What has the student learned? The next thing you should include in your rubric is the
communication, How effectively does the presentation communicate what the student has
learned? Finally, the third thing you should include in your rubric is the presentation, How
effective is the presentation as a presentation? These are all very important aspects to consider
when determining your criteria for the rubric.
While there are many criteria you should include in a rubric, I would like to elaborate on
two. The first criteria point I would like to discuss is organization. Organization in a multimedia
presentation is essential to the projects completeness. Organizational points should be given
based on the following ideas, see below for an example (www.learnnc.org):
4 points: At each point in the presentation I knew exactly where the presenter was and where we
had been. I never lost sight of the presenters focus
3 points: I generally knew where the presenter was and where we were headed, although there
were a couple of places I was a little confused. Some of the slides in the presentation may not
have been clear.
2 points: I wasnt totally lost during the presentation, but several parts of the presentation were
unclear and confusing. Several slides did not go along with the main topic.

1 point: By the time the presenter was finished, I understood what their focus was, but the
presentation did not make much sense.
0 points: I was lost during most of the presentation. Most slides seemed jumbled and didnt make
sense.
These are all excellent points to consider when looking at organization. Organization to a
students multimedia project is key to the project being successful. If you project is not
organized, the audience members, including the teacher, will not be able to understand what you
want them to learn.
The next criteria to consider is the style of the multimedia project. The style includes
things such as: text arrangement, slide transition, word choice, voice, etc. All of the aspects of
style need to match the presentations focus and the audience the presentation is intended for. The
layout of the ideas should be clearly understandable, free of all distractions. The fonts you
choose should be inviting and keep the attention of the audience. One very important thing to
remember with style is to keep it short and simple. You want the appearance of the presentation
to be interesting, but not too busy. The presenter needs to be able to bring their own voice to the
presentation, the slide doesnt need to do the talking. When creating a point scale for style, it
might look like this:
4 points: The text and visual design were clear, interesting, and appropriate.
3 points: The text and visual design were clear and interesting, but the style wasnt consistent.
2 points: The text and visual design were distracting. I found myself looking at the slides and not
listening to the presenter.
1 point: The text and visual design were inconsistent, dull, and not appropriate to the
presentation.
0 points: The text and visual design were random. The design was confusing and not easy to
understand.
These are some very important things to consider when looking at style on a rubric for a
multimedia project. Style is very important to the presentation and the content. The placement of
text, audio, video, and graphics are very important to the message you want to convey to the
audience.
There are many other criteria you could include on a rubric to assess a multimedia
project. Style and organization are just two that are very important to the layout of the project.
Creating a rubric that is fair and easily understood is very important. Student should have the
rubric ahead of time, so that they have the opportunity to know what is expected as they plan
their multimedia project.

2. Describe a basic graphic organizer function and its usefulness. Refer to the
NQeT model.
One of the basic graphic organizer functions is to organize graphics, text, and links. The
graphic organizer serves as a pathway to getting your ideas and thoughts on paper. A student
must begin with a thought or an idea and then build upon that thought or idea. The graphic
organizer helps the student create a visual model of their thought process. The student has to
think about the task and choose the best graphic organizer to use for the assignment. There are
numerous graphic organizers to choose from and most are available digitally. The graphic
organizers that are available digitally are usually editable, which makes them even more useful to
the student.
When working with a graphic organizer through the NTeQ Model, it is very important to
make sure the graphic organizer software you choose with not only meet the objectives you are
trying to reach, but that the graphic organizer can enhance the achievement of those standards.
Since the graphic organizers are fairly adaptable, they can be used in all grades from elementary
to high school. Integrating the graphic organizer into the lesson plan should be easy. When
integrating the graphic organizer, it will depend on the subject area and task to determine how
you will use the graphic organizer in the lesson. While some teachers would prefer for the
graphic organizer to be an independent activity, some may want to complete the graphic
organizer as a whole group activity.
Graphic organizers can be helpful in many ways. For example, while a graphic organizer
helps the student gather their own thoughts and processes, it can also help students share ideas
with others in order to gain even more knowledge. This is called collaboration. When students
share the way they have organized their graphics, texts, links, etc. others will learn from their
thought processes. Students then use each others graphic organizers to build upon their own
knowledge. This is a powerful tool that leads to a greater depth of understanding of the material.
Teachers can use graphic organizers and problem solving to meet curriculum and
technology standards. Across the curriculum, many teachers are using graphic organizers in very
creative ways. The following are examples of how teachers may use graphic organizers to
organize graphics, text, and links successfully:
1. Math: In math, students are learning about fractions. Students create a graphic
organizer to display how fractions are used in a real-life situation. Students include in
their graphic organizers clusters with (4) different fractions. Under each cluster, they
explain in words what the fraction means and then they give a real life example, by
finding a picture of that fraction in a real-lfe situation.
2. Social Studies: In social studies, students are learning about the different types of
landforms. They create a graphic organizer about one specific type of landform. In
their graphic organizer, they include a picture of the landform, a link to a video of the
landform, and they write facts about their landform from their research. Students then
present their landforms in small groups that were assigned the same landform.
Students add notes to their graphic organizers to enhance their learning.

There are several types of graphic organizers that students can choose from to
complete their assignments. All of these types of graphic organizers allow students to
organize their thoughts by inserting graphics, text, and links. One type of graphic
organizer is a circular graphic organizer. This graphic organizer shows events or a
process. Students can create non-curved links to insert additional notes about the steps in
the process. Another type of graphic organizer is flow chart. The flow chart shows the
steps in a process. The shapes can be changed, pictures, links, and video can be added to
the shapes in the graphic organizer. The Venn diagram is another type of graphic
organizer that can be used to compare and contrast two or more things. This graphic
organizer gives the student a larger workspace. They can organize text based on the
subjects they are comparing and contrasting. They can also add links and graphics in the
space.
The NTeQ model components can be seen through the use of graphic organizers
in the classroom. When students use graphic organizers, they have to understand and
complete the research and analysis phase of the lesson plan. Students have to engage in
the three cognitive processes: selecting relevant words and images, organize the words
and images into a logical model, and integrate the components into a visual model. They
have to be able to analyze the information they have and see what model will work best
to display their knowledge, they have to synthesize new information, and finally, they
have to evaluate their graphic organizer and see if the graphic organizer display their
content in the way they wanted. The graphic organize is also used for the results
presentation portion of the NTeQ model. Students use the graphic organizer during the
beginning of the problem solving process and it helps them guide their research. Finally,
graphic organizers play a role in the during computer use, before computer use, and after
computer use parts of the NTeQ model lesson plan. For example, during computer use,
the teacher has to consider how students will get graphics and information they need for
their graphic organizer. This is the planning part to ensure that students do not have
trouble when working on the computer. When using graphic organizers in a lesson, the
before computer use stage includes allowing students to use a paper-based graphic
organizer to get their ideas on paper before they move to the computer. The after
computer use function of the graphic organizer is that it serves as a guidance for the
students as they analyze the information they have gathered for solving the problem.
Students will use their graphic organizer to continue to build upon their ideas as they
complete their culminating activity.
Graphic organizers are a vital part to any lesson. They help students
organize their ideas by using text, graphic, and links. They also serve as a way for
students to share their ideas with others and build upon their learning through the process.
Graphic organizers are easy to use and they can make a huge difference in a problemsolving situation.