What I learned!

The video!

TECH - Acronym not Object - Week 8

This week during our Internet for Educators, Mr. Bryce Ridgen presented some interesting information about teaching in a 1:1 environment. Mr.Ridgen is the principal at the Minnedosa Collegiate school in the Rolling River School Divison. Mr.Ridgen covered a lot of great points that could all fall under the umbrella of the TECH acronym of tech integration by teachers.

Mr.Ridgen introduced this model created by Jen Roberts as a replacement to the SAMR model for levels of tech integration. At the bottom of the model is the traditional level which in my mind would look like the standard high school classroom that I grew up in. There would be new tech like smartboards and laptops that are used to make tasks a little easier to accomplish. The next level (Enhanced) I think would be incorporation of tablets with interactive apps, interesting videos, collaboration on smartboards to enhance learning, maybe some VR units, and possibly a class blog or other social media use. Although students are getting a better learning experience, overall the tasks are still teacher directed. In order to advance to the next level students need a working knowledge of the tech tools used at the enhance stage, but moving forward students get options for assessments and platforms to showcase their learning. An example of this may be a list of places that students could research using VR expeditions, online videos, articles, textbooks etc. Students can then choose how they would like to demonstrate their learning through a few options i.e video, infographic, paper.

The final level involves a complete release of responsibility where student inquiry fuels their research and any form of media can be used to demonstrate understand. Mr.Ridgen gave a good example of this where he would let his students repeatedly demonstrate their learning through whatever media of their choosing. Mr.Ridgens' students produced rap videos, original musical compositions, restaurant menus, and stop motion animation of lego just to name a few. He had a rubric that the students followed but he was very flexible towards his approach. Watching him talk about his classes and seeing the work students came up with was inspiring! It was noticeable that students were showcasing their passions and expressing themselves while learning the skills/attitudes outlined by the curriculum using content as the vessel. Very cool Mr.Ridgen....very cool.

The Future - TT#12

What does the future hold for education in terms of technology? What a great question and the trends are leading to something very exciting! My imagination runs wild here as I envision students in classrooms out of some sci-fi movie! So much technology!!! I was reading through the NMC/CoSN Horizon Report: 2016: K-12 Edition and there seems to be some interesting developments as can be seen in the following infographic pulled from the report itself.

First of all, most of the developments are showing up in schools already it seems. There is a large makespace movement, online learning is in from Youtube channels to government supplied resources, virtual reality expeditions are popular with cheap viewers, and the rest I have not seen but I'm sure they are emerging. (I'm still a pre-service teacher so my experience is limited of course). The future is now and I am ready and willing to adopt whatever tech I can introduce into my classrooms, given it is enhancing the learning process. Our youth are growing up in a high-tech world so to deny experiences to learn this tech, I feel would hinder their future. Of course, traditional learning is still important and should not be pushed to the wayside; technology is just there the enhance the experience.

One aspect of the report that instantly caught my attention is the short-term trend of coding as a literacy. Students are learning to code and I agree with this. It's a new language that I think students should have a working knowledge of for sure. I've been saying that since I entered into education. There is even suggestions out there that states the new blue collar job is coding! (The Next Big Blue-Collar Job Is Coding) Those old typing classes that I went through should be replaced by coding now I feel. Wow technology moves fast!

One major challenge in the future is the need to personalize learning to cater to individual student needs. Students are so diverse that they learn in so many different ways. The Horizon Report states that "students’ unique needs is driving the development of new technologies that provide more learner choice and allow for differentiated content delivery". In my last post, one of our class presenters Mr.Ridgen addressed this challenged directly within his class it seems. He advocates for the TECH acronym of classroom integrate technology and at the top level, HANDOFF, directly applies to this challenge. Students are capable of learning their own way through the many opportunites that technology supplies and same for learning demonstration. I see plenty rubrics in the future. I'd like to see how student centered approaches work in the higher level math classrooms though.....

Socrative Space Race - TT11

The Socrative web/mobile app is so great for "for" and "of" assessment with students. You can run quizzes, space races, quick exit and admin slips and I believe there is more with the pro version as well. The free version has plenty though and is still a great tool for teachers. Students do need a device with the downloaded app. All the schools I have been to so far though, this has not been a issue. They can use laptops, desktops, ipads, etc.

The results are updated live on the teachers screen which can be displayed on a smartboard easily. I have used it with students and they are really engaged with it. My favorite use was for trig ratios and solving triangles with easy to very difficult problems. I like introducing the topic the day before then having the race the next morning. Once students finish the race, there is a great report that can be download quickly to see which questions were answered correctly. Oh and the questions are corrected for you meaning a very quick way to administer a quiz!

As extra motivation, I told students that the answers they got wrong, they would have to redo and hand in with a full solution. This way any misconceptions can be rectified. All you have to do is download the printable version of the race/quiz and print a paper copy.

Podcasts - TT#8

http://io9.gizmodo.com/scientists-detect-a-particle-that-could
-be-a-new-form-o-1562312703

I frequently listen to a podcast called Quirks and Quarks on CBC Radio. It is hosted by Bob Mcdonald and is labeled as a science and medicine show. It is updated weekly covering current science related topics. Topics aren't necessarily only new discoveries but cover other aspects such as what a Trump presidency means for science research. I like listening to this podcast since it is current and the information is interesting. Bob Mcdonald is also an engaging story teller and the vocabulary used in the podcasts is reasonable for understanding at a young age. I would definitely use this podcast in my classroom. I would incorporate ideas expressed in some of the episodes as well as assign ones that I thought to be important and relevant to a current topic in the class. I believe homework shouldn't always be questions of a text but exploration of ideas as well. 

I like the idea of an assignment that involves students creating a podcast. There are plenty of students out there who would thrive with this type of assessment. Of course it would push other students out of their comfort zone but that's okay since plenty of great learning experiences occur there. In order to develop a podcast, students would have to do their homework to make sure their information is correct and flows smoothly from one idea to another. They are also great since students can't use imagery to support their themes. This mean they have to put extra effort into being as thorough as possible in order to communicate what they want the listener to learn. Podcast assignments would a great addition to a class blog as well. I think I may try this in the upcoming placement! 

Public Shaming - Week 7

I read an interesting article title "How One Stupid Tweet Blew Up Justine Sacco's Life"  written by Jon Ronson and published in the New York Times. The article outlines instances of severe public shaming brought on by a mob mentality through social media. The main topic of discussion in the article follows a famous tweet by Justine Sacco and the resulting repercussions of it. For those unfamiliar with this, Justine tweeted “Going to Africa. Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding. I’m white!” while on holiday in 2013. She was waiting in Heathrow’s international terminal for her departure to Cape Town. Justine didn't expect much from the tweet considering she had only 170 followers but during her 11 hour flight to Cape Town, unknowingly her tweet blew up into the #1 trending topic. People were outraged by her insensitivity to an issue that is not such a good idea to joke about. The following public shaming by tens of thousands of angry tweets resulted in a loss of her job, death threats, and severe psychological and emotional damage. Her story is similar among many including high school students.

Obviously, Justine was the one who wrote the insensitive tweet but did her punishment fit her actions? I don't know the type of person Justine is, nor am I defended her or agreeing with what she said, but she has been permanently labeled in a certain way now by a comment less than 140 characters long.  I'm sure she does not continue to stand behind her comment either. We all make mistakes but I cannot imagine we should be subject to such a large public harassment.  It reminds of this:

(State Archives of Florida)

This photo is supposed to be of Jonathan Walker who, in 1844, was convicted as a "slave-stealer" for attempting to aid several slaves escape off the coast of Florida. He was sentenced to imprisonment, heavy fines, and being tied to a pillory as a form of public shaming. The difference now compared to the 1800's in Florida is that the pillory, brought on by "social justice" through social media, is capable of following somewhere wherever they go. Also, who should be held responsible for their actions in Justine's case? Justine is wrong is saying what she did, the people who shamed her are no better for the comments they make personally attacking her, twitter has provided a platform for this to occur, and the internet is not policed to protect against any of it. So what can someone do? The answer.....is to be a digitally responsible citizen. I have posted about this topic before but after reading Justine's story, I felt to go on further. It is so important that we know what we put out in the world (via spoken word, art, internet) can dramatically change our lives and it's so important that our youth know this. I for one will be incorporating social media in classroom, using board approved platforms of course and I will for sure only use platforms that I can personally regulate.

Using Video in the Classroom - TT#9

The person in the video above is of Chris Hadfield. Chris is a astronaut on the International Space Station (ISS) and he routinely takes requests from budding scientists for what small experiments they should perform while on the space station. This video shows what happens to water when rung out of a clothe. I would use the video to test student knowledge of what they think would happen and why. It would be used an an activation strategy and assessment "for" instruction. I would introduce the video in Grade 9 Science specifically for Cluster 4: Exploring the Universe. I would also introduce the video at a time when the ISS would be travelling through the following night sky so the students could get an idea of where these experiments occur.

I like the use of video in the classroom. It is a powerful way to get content across through a different medium. They provide another dimension to classroom to break up the ordinary. Also, students get a chance to learn from someone other than the class teacher. There are so many great videos out there to enhance the student experience and I will continue to incorporate them into my lessons. One aspect of video/multimedia I have not explored yet is student-created ones. I think it's due to the fact that I don't have my own class yet and I am not a big fan of being in front of the camera. I think I will explore this in the future though for students who enjoy this type presentation. They are a great way to differentiate assessment to the artistically inclined. I would definitely provide the option of voice-over videos though for students who may be too shy. As far as sharing the videos go, I would suggest it to the students and leave it up to a vote. If I had a group that particularly didn't feel comfortable posting their video in a world-wide public forum, I think I would close off the boundaries to maybe a class blog instead.