Week 6 - Technology in the Classroom Final Words

How your view of instructional technology has or has not changed over the course of the semester.

At the beginning of this course I had a barrier to entry. While not completely ignorant of all technology, I was definitely just a browser of the Internet. Over the course of six weeks I am amazed that I have made a video, a wiki, two smartboard presentations, glogs, blogs, voki, and diigo-based set of bookmarks. I have been introduced to Web-based projects, organization tools, and tools to increase communication between students in my classroom as well as with parents and administrators. In a world where information communication and technology literacy is critical for students, I now have tools to provide them opportunities to mix content with technology.

The quality and appropriateness of what you have learned/created this semester.

I have found that the quality of my work has improved over time. The second smartboard presentation I made was much better than the first one. There were many iterations for my video and I gained speed and competency with each draft. My first voki took a ridiculous amount of time and concentration, but the most recent voki for my wiki was wicked fun and fast. Designing my wiki has been a work in progress. In the beginning I stressed over finding an appropriate picture, sizing it correctly, making the color background nice, what should the name be etc. Now I find I'm daydreaming about additional resources I want to add so that it can be a useful tool for my students. I appreciate that students will be able to increase and strengthen their understanding of the material presented in class by exploring the videos I embed or communicating with each other via the discussion board. As a former environmental scientist, I appreciate the opportunity to coordinate the wiki with use of google docs and google forms so assessment, project, and lab reports can be generated and submitted paperlessly.

Evaluation of your comfort moving forward with technology.

I am optimistic that moving forward I will find ways to integrate technology into my classroom. Last night I thought about using google reader to find and subscribe to at least one teacher resource sites that focuses on integrating technology into the classroom. I will also rely on my students to find cool and interesting resource sites. I will also keep reading my cohorts blogs, hopefully we will keep each other informed of the resources we find. This has been a wonderful experience.

Week 6 - Technology in the Classroom

When I started this program, I very quickly realized I was cohorts to some really clever people.  I have had the privilege of listening to my team mates and learning from team mates over the last six weeks.  I appreciate the directive to review my team mates blogs because up until today, I was very careful to review my mates blogs as little as possible for fear of plagiarizing, even unintentionally.  Using Google reader to read blog posts facilitated my review.  As I read everyone's blogs I felt like a kid in a candy store as I bookmarked one site from cohort A and two sites from cohort B.  My list of diigo bookmarks has doubled I think.

There are many sites that I appreciate being connected to; however, the Khan Academy, a site Nida wrote about, is going to be an amazing resource to me.  This site has a plethora of science- and math-related videos.  I organized my wiki so that each unit of instruction (e.g., Kinematics) is accompanied by a Glog on which are a series of related instructional and educational videos.  I watched several of Khan's videos and found them superior.  I believe this will become my first go-to site for supplemental videos.

Kahmir, N. (2011).  Instructional and learning resources - learning theories.  retrieved 07/05/11 from http://nik05001-studentofhistory.blogspot.com/

Technology in the Classroom Week 5

This week we were introduced to a handful of websites dedicated to providing activities and interactive games that are education-based.  As I reviewed these websites, in my mind I also recalled a discussion held in our Learning Theories class about an artistic prodigy who is home schooled and only studies subjects that interest her.  I started to wonder about what the world look like if each person was able to study a subject through a lens of what interested him/her?  How much more motivated would our students be to learn?  What would the risks be? Who would benefit?

Personal Study

The most valuable opportunities for person-directed learning are currently on-line.  Want to learn Spanish? Try Livemocha. Want to see what the differences are between Iceland and Greenland? Go to Google Earth or use a search engine to find virtual tours and information sites.  Never before has so much information (and misinformation) been publicly available at no or minimum expense.  This benefits everyone: learners, educators, and retailers.

Using Web 2.0 for Communication

The possibilities for facilitating communication has never be greater.  Web 2.0 tools such as wikis, blogs, and podcasts provide teachers the opportunity to bring the idea of "transparency" into the classroom.  Schools can use websites of various design to inform parents and students of school activities and events.  Classrooms can use blogs and wikis to help students keep track of homework assignments, discuss topics of interest, and conduct paperless assessments.  By having these forms of communication, parents will be able to keep themselves informed of what is being learned in the classroom, assessment dates, and project due dates. Collaboration between parents and the teacher is an essential piece to keeping students on track and identifying students who are having trouble before misunderstandings have consequences (such as a bad grade on a unit assessment test).  At the school administration level, having a blog or wiki facilitates communication so that parents can be informed about current issues facing the school district.  Having better informed parents can lead to more effective collaborative efforts, which are more likely to successfully address issues and problems (Schrum, 2011)

Need to be Savvy

Which brings up the risks of using the internet for acquiring information.  Students need to develop Information Communications and Technology Literacy (NET-S).  Students need to be educated in order to critically evaluate the reliability of a website and the information presented therein.  Any website will have a purpose and a bias.  It is important that students be trained to recognize these and consider them when referencing or using a site. Also, many of these education-based sites require log-in accounts.  This means that somewhere there is compiling data about the sites one uses and subjects one explores.  It's a reality of our time, but students need to be reminded of it because the ads that pop up on these sites will become tailored to their interests over time, making them more attractive. (ISTE, 2011)

Need to be Careful

According to many learning theorist (Mitra, Vygotsky, Noddin, Siemens) a person learns best in a nurturing, social environment in which he/she is able to express his/her ideas and receive feedback that leads to deeper understanding.  Web-Quests and Quest Atlantis have successfully demonstrated that inter-classroom and international cooperative activities can provide great opportunities for collaborative learning. But just because some sites successfully lead to collaborative learning, does not mean all sites of this nature will lead to collaborative learning.  I am not impressed with River City, it seems like a lot of down time to chat up other avatars and it wasn't clear whether I could create a separate world in which only my students could interact.  Similarly, Second Life seems more a social site to anonymously chat up other avatars, who could be any manner of child predator.  I see little educational value in social sites and great opportunities for harm (psychologically - because the avatars are beautiful and many teenagers can be meaner or cooler on-line than in person) and danger (teenagers too often believe people are who they say they are online and put themselves into danger when they agree to meet people in person).

Conclusion


The Internet provides a plethora of resources and learning opportunities.  When designing my unit plan for Methods of Instruction I searched the web for online games and activities that would allow my students to manipulate vectors.  The activity I found should be interesting to them, emphasizing visual and kinesthetic learning (which benefits most students).  I included an Internet-inquiry project to encourage internet research skills.  I also included a few YouTube videos because it is now my belief that one can learn almost anything via YouTube videos.  The wiki developed for this class will be the foundation for the wiki I intend to use when I teach.  I will additionally take responsibility for arming my students with methods for evaluating the validity and safety of the web sites they use.

References:
Livemocha. retrieved from http://www.livemocha.com
Google Earth. retrieved from http://www.google.com/earth/index.html
International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). (2007). National education technology standards for students. retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-students.aspx
Schrum, L. & Levin, B. (2011). Leading 21st Century Schools.
Quest Atlantis. retrieved from http://atlantis.crlt.indiana.edu
River City. retrieved from http://muve.gse.harvard.edu/rivercityproject/
Second Life. retrieved from http://secondlife.com/

Week 5 - Theory to Practice Statement

How does the brain work? This is a critical question when considering how best to optimize a learner's opportunity to learn.  From a physiological perspective, teenager's brains are undergoing dramatic reorganization.   Teenagers are at a phase in their development when their brains are pruning away neural connections that are not reinforcing and reinforcing other neural connections that correspond to personal interest.  Therefore, if a teenager has lost motivation to learn, then the teacher must strive to find a context in which the learning goals of the class mesh with the interests of the teenager, because teenagers are intrinsically motivated to learn that which interests them.

In addition, during the teenage years, the prefrontal cortex (the "risk taking") portion of the brain is not yet developed.  This is necessary and valuable to the human race as a species, somebody has to go where we haven't gone before or do what hasn't been done before.  But how should this information about the teenage brain be integrated into a learning opportunity in the classroom setting.  If students are interested in that which sets free their personal directive to explore and experiment, then a teacher must include self-directed learning opportunities and collaborative and free exploration opportunities into the curricula because these types of opportunities, combined with effective content-driven discussions and skill-building activities, will synergistically affect the student's interest, and, therefore, success in learning.

A Good Teacher

Going forward, it will be important to reflect on those characteristics and priorities that make a good teacher.  As this is probably the most idealistic I will ever be, it is appropriate to put these ideas to paper (blog?) for self-reflection times in the future.

A good teacher will consider the barriers to entry that a student brings to the classroom to ensure that these are addressed and removed successfully.  Consideration must be made for the scaffold the student brings, as well as the student's maturity.  A good teacher asks questions to identify misunderstands and critical holes in fundamental knowledge.  This lays out a path to shore up a child's scaffold of understanding and bring their understanding of a subject, particularly science, to an appropriate level for the class (Piaget).  In situations where a student's maturity may be affecting their ability to understand abstract concepts, a good teacher finds a way to present the concepts in a more concrete, conceptual way so the student can continue to progress towards understanding the material.  Working collaboratively in groups may help a struggling student to achieve optimal learning because children often thrive when learning from each and when information is explored collectively.

A good teacher provides opportunity for collaborative projects because children learn best from each other, working collaboratively in groups, to achieve learning goals.

A good teacher checks her negative attitude at the door and strives to be a moral exemplar in the classroom, because when children witness and are part of a learning environment that is fair, non-judgmental, organized, predictable and structured, then they can focus on learning content and take in positive values.

A good teacher demonstrates by her words and actions that she has faith in every child to succeed, given the right teaching strategy.

A good teacher helps each student identify and capitalize on his/her strengths.

______________________________________________

Moral and Ethical Analysis - Whole Person Optimal Learning

If a teacher checks her negative attitude at the door and strives to be a moral exemplar in the classroom, then students will be able to focus on learning content and emulate positive values because children informally learn the values that teachers display verbally and informally.  Morals and values are taught directly and indirectly, students will be empowered and intrinsically motivated to learn when they are part of a learning environment that is fair, non-judgmental, organized, predictable, structured, and supportive of a student finding his/her own reason to learn the material.

Adaptive Technology in the Classroom

The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and others have referred to the 21st century as the digital age of learning. As digital-age learners, students have the opportunity to use new technology efficiently, productively and creatively to extend their abilities. And for students with special needs, new adaptive technologies (AT) and tools may be the keystones to securing a future with great opportunities (ISTE, 2011).

Hearing Impaired

Recent advances in speech recognition software facilitate the inclusion of hearing-impaired students in a classroom. I have used the mainstream software program Dragon Naturally Speaking. I found it incredibly easy to use, comfortable, and effective at transcribing. If I had a hearing-impaired student in my classroom, I would be very willing to lecture with the headpiece on and have my words appear on the student’s laptop (which is an accommodation I would assume is made). I would repeat any questions asked by his/her peers so the student could follow any discussions. I would like to think that he/she would be able to contribute to a discussion by typing out questions or comments. I would welcome the opportunity to model patience and acceptance in the classroom. I truly believe that students with special needs who can benefit from inclusion should be included. Also, it is my experience that peer-interaction with a special needs child can bring out the best in his/her peers, especially when the peers are encouraged to demonstrate patience, consideration, and peer-support. The IPAD by Apple has a “closed caption” feature that will allow a hearing-impaired student to contribute to any Internet activities that includes "listening" to videos.

Vision Impaired

Electronic readers, or e-readers, are hand-held devices designed for reading digital books and other publication. The value of the e-reader to the common consumer is that it makes obtaining, transporting, and reading books easy. The cost for an e-book is typically cheaper than for a hard copy, and there is an environmental value to going paperless. The popularity of e-readers has encouraged many newspapers and magazines to offer digital subscriptions. Historically, students with low vision have relied on large-print texts or texts written in Braille. But, e-readers can provide a different avenue of access to the printed word in two ways: e-readers can offer text in a variety of sizes, shades of gray, and thicknesses; and some e-readers additionally have the capability to convert text-to-speech. So if I wish to include a reading assignment as part of my curricula (e.g., Frankenstein, in order to discuss the responsibility scientists must take for their investigations and creations) I will need to ensure that this novel is available digitally for my low-vision students (Wikibooks, 2011a).

The barrier for a blind user of an e-reader is that current menu and navigational controls may require the assistance of a sighted person. In contrast, Digital Talking Books such as those promoted by the Digital Accessible Information System (DAISY) Consortium, provide books in an accessible audio format with a comprehensive navigation system designed to be easily used by individuals who are vision impaired. The Microsoft Corporation joined with the DAISY Consortium and created an “add-in” to Microsoft Office that allows any digital artifact to be converted between a DAISY format and a standard accessible format within the suite programs (Wikibooks, 2011b).  This provides teachers with the opportunity to provide low-vision students with digital versions of handouts and receive digital versions of completed assignments.

A Broken Right Arm

This is a good example of needing to provide short-term accommodations for a student. Using speech recognition technology to provide digital artifacts would be beneficial, especially as this technology is very easily mastered. Many teachers use technology-based presentations in the classroom e.g., Smartboard Notebooks or power point presentations. It seems appropriate to provide a student with a copy of the teacher’s notes after he/she has sat through the class. For some classes, the student may need to rely on a peer’s notes.  In-class assignments will likely require a peer pairing, with the requirement that each student’s contribution be documented.

Autism (Non-Communicative Students)

Based on recently conversations with representatives of the New England Center for Children, a school for special-needs children in Framingham, Massachusetts, there are currently over 10,000 apps available for the IPAD that are dedicated to facilitating communication with non- and low-verbal children on the autism spectrum. These range from simple pictures which the child can use to make requests and answer questions, to sentence building programs that are paired with speech generation software.

Technology-based tools to assist non-verbal students communicate are commonly referred to as Speech Generation Devices (SGDs) or Alternate and Augmentative Communication (AAC) devices. AAC devices are typically designed to be handheld and portable. They vary tremendously in complexity, which is appropriate as there is a tremendous variation in the cognitive abilities of non-verbal students. It is unlikely that a non-verbal autistic would be placed in my classroom; however, a student with apraxia (the inability to speak) would benefit from using an AAC programed with simple responses (e.g., yes, no, thank-you) and important requests (e.g., I would like a drink or to go to the nurse). Alternatively, having a laptop with a speech generation program would allow a student with apraxia the opportunity to participate in class discussions. A non-communicative student would likely have an assigned para-professional to facilitate his/her day. Pre-teaching lessons and labs as well as modifying classroom and homework assignments would need to be coordinated with the para-professional and the rest of the Placement and Planning Team.

The pervasive growth of communication- and information-based technology and tools in our society demands that increasingly sensitive and effective adaptive technology be developed for individuals with disabilities.  By eliminating barriers to entry, individuals with disabilities such as low vision or hearing impairment have the opportunity to achieve technology literacy. Access to information, education, and communication means that individuals with these disabilities can be equipped with the tools necessary to succeed in the 21st century.  At the same time, individuals who are unable to communicate are finding their voice and are being heard through the use of adaptive technology.

References

International Society for Technology in Education. (2007). NETS for students 2007. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-students.aspx

Wikibooks. 2011a. Assistive technology in education/eBook. Retrieved from http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Assistive_Technology_in_Education/eBook


Wikibooks. 2011b. Assistive technology in education/DAISY. Retrieved from
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Assistive_Technology_in_Education/DAISY

Week 4 - Theory to Practice Statements

First T2P of the day: Teachers must take responsibility for creating a positive and moral learning environment in their class

If a teacher wants to encourage good citizenship, social control, and ethical behavior in students, then the teacher must conscientiously monitor his or her own behavior and create a classroom in which these values are a priority, because students will observe and develop competency in the behaviors a teacher chooses to model and value.  Judy Yero suggests that teachers create an environment through their actions, thoughts and words that greatly affect whether a student will feel valued and safe in the classroom.  Further, David Hansen theorizes that teachers can and should strive to create a classroom in which life is as close to fair as possible.  As an example, do I describe my classroom as a zoo (which usually suggests a negative, chaotic connotation) or a beehive (which usually has a positive, productive connotation)? Do I spend time teaching how to efficiently distribute and collect papers in the classroom in order to demonstrate that the classroom values organization and efficiency? Do I demonstrate by my words and actions that I respect myself, my students, and my classroom?  As a society we want our citizens to take turns, treat each other with consideration, be supportive instead of judgmental, and make a personal commitment to life-long learning. As a teacher, I must model the behaviors I want to foster in my students.  I must demonstrate fairness, rationality, respect for the classroom, appreciation for diversity, honesty (in a polite and respectful manner), flexibility, and even punctuality if I want my students to value these characteristics. 

Second T2P of the day: Self-Determination Theory - Vicki Davis


If I want students to engage in the curricula, then incorporating self-direction is effective because then the motivation to learn is intrinsic instead of extrinsic to my learners.  The keystone to Self-Determination Theory (SDT) is that students are intrinsically motivated to learn and thrive best when presented with an environment that fosters autonomy (freedom to make your own decisions), competency (freedom to master a skill), and relatedness (freedom to make connections with other people).  Vicki Davis is a teacher in Georgia who is an exemplar of a teacher using SDT in her curriculum to foster autonomy and competence.  She is committed to the theory that every student can learn and teach when empowered to do so.  She expects her students to direct their learning.  Her faith in their intrinsic motivation to learn and succeed is justified by the students' choices for activities: they are communication based, include internet literacy and critical thinking, and lead naturally to collaboration.

Vicki's classroom provides an exemplar of SDT. According to SDT, when autonomy, competence and relatedness exist in a learning environment, the results are enhanced performance, persistence, and creativity. In her classroom, the students are free to chose topics of interest (within Ms. Davis' guidelines).  Students are expected to be able to "teach" the teacher and the rest of the class about their project when finished.  By giving the students the opportunity to be teachers, the natural consequence is that: competence is developed; a connection is made to the material that fosters introspection, self-awareness, and self-reflection; and a connection is made to other students.  The students share their information and themselves in a safe environment.  They learn to explore what is important to them and get positive feedback from others for their ideas and interests.  In cases where projects are global, the opportunity naturally exists to form a connection with people of other cultures, nations, and socio-economics.  

In conclusion, in the video we watched of her classroom Ms. Davis made several pedagogical statements that resonated with me:

• Students are intrinsically motivated and capable of success if provided with a classroom environment that allows them opportunities to make decisions for themselves about what they will learn.  
• By choosing a topic of study that interests them, students will more likely be motivated to develop competence in their field of study.  
• Allowing students to collaborate and teach others about their interests will additionally motivate the students toward competency and will naturally foster relatedness on several levels: towards collaborating members in their group; towards the students they share with (e.g., teach); and towards any cooperative entities that they worked with (e.g., students, groups or organizations in other places that helped complete the project).

Ms. Davis is indisputably a master teacher.


Hypothesis: if/then/because
Instructional Event
Theory
Evidence
Moral/Ethical Values
Pedagogical Terms


3rd T2P of the day:  Self-Determination Theory with Daniel Pink


In this week's videos, Daniel Pink presented studies confirming that incentives and other external motivators (think grades) can result in a negative impact on performance.  In contrast, great performance and high achievement is achieved when one is "intrinsically motivated" in a project.  He promotes the idea that intrinsic motivation, the desire to do something because it matters and is important, is tightly connected to three factors: autonomy (the urge to direct our own lives), mastery (the desire to get better at something that matters), and purpose (the need to do what we do in the service of something larger than ourselves).  In business, this means paying people fairly (so money is no longer an issue) and allowing them autonomy over their time in order to pursue personally-interesting aspects of their profession.  When this theory has been employed in business, it has been tremendously successful, leading to technological advances and fixes that would not have otherwise been generated.  Daniel Pink applies SDT to business in a similar way that Ms. Davis applies SDT to the classroom.  Based on Daniel Pink's presentation (and as a philosophical cohort of Ms. Davis), if a teacher wants to encourage intrinsic motivation in students to learn, then curricula must include projects that provide opportunities for autonomy, mastery, and purpose because science confirms that this is how one increases a person's engagement and productivity.


Link to my Learning Theories Spreadsheet.