Summary of Learning

Over the course of the semester we have taken a look at the history of educational technology through theories, how they have changed and reshaped education as we move forward.  Obviously some of the biggest changes to learning in course of history were the printing press, then the incorporation of radio, tv, and now we are looking at multimedia and the vast amount of ed tech options.  

The thing I appreciated the most from this class was how I was able to look at my teaching, what I am using within my classroom, how am I interacting with students, engaging students, developing a deeper understanding of curriculum through using or sometimes making the conscious choice not to use “ed tech”.  Compounding the theories behind the different tools we use as educators and gaining a deeper understanding for why I am using these tools has opened my eyes and changed my reasoning for my pedagogical stance on using ed tech within the classroom.

I think one of the most influential quotes that I remembered came from an early reading of Postman’s article on the 5 things we need to know about tech change.  

“The best way to view technology is as a strange intruder, to remember that technology is not part of God’s plan but a product of human creativity and hubris, and that its capacity for good or evil rests entirely on human awareness of what it does for us and to us.”

I feel that this quote defines my summary of this course.  Aside from the religious connotation to it I found that this has so many truths.     

After a riveting lesson on our favorite theorists, we began the semester by looking at educational television.  This made me look at why I am using videos within my classroom.  Prior to this class I felt that it helped develop a blended learning environment that enabled my students to review, relearn, or go beyond the classroom teaching and inquire themselves into a topic. After this class I realize that using videos plays an important role in the students learning, but only if it is engaging.  This is the part that I needed to learn.  Using the videos, or tv shows to enhance the learning is only one way, and that simply viewing only allows the students to learn at a low level because it is only reinforcing behaviourist expectations.  Showing the “engaging” video requires the students to sit, watch and listen.  If I am not extending this opportunity with meaningful constructivist or connectivist pre or post teaching concepts I am not teaching to the whole child like I should be.  

This realization led into the next two weeks where we discussed media and ed tech advancements. This is where I was able to take a closer look at the tools I am using within my classroom.  Specifically my Google Apps For Education centred classroom.  Critically looking at how I am using media, videos and the GAFE apps within my classroom  gave me the opportunity to understand why I use the tools the way I am using them.  I feel that through this critical lens I broke down my teaching and realized that I need to be improving my techniques so the students are getting more constructive and connective opportunities.  Through developing these opportunities it will allow more autonomy for my students to learn on their own while using the technology tools. Specifically I reflected on how I use my Google docs and the range of uses I have for them.  Whether they are used as a substitute for their pen and paper note book when answering short answer questions from a short story, to collaborating as a small group to develop a presentation, or into an ongoing independent research project where each student demonstrates their knowledge of a topic.  I found this gave me the chance to redesign some of the recurring projects we do at my school so they can be more influential for the students learning the next time we cover the topic.  

The autonomy piece began to frighten me as we discussed the development of the Web from 1.0 to 2.0 to the future of what 3.0 may look like.  Setting the rules and procedures for what is expected, allowed, and developing a positive digital citizens is very important but on top of my actual curriculum that is mandated by the province I feel like

When I look at the final weeks I think about the fun ways to evaluate and assess students.  There are so many different ways to fomatively or summatively assess, but I have to say, the one my students love the most is through kahoot!  The level of participation I have in these classes is amazing.  I can not say enough positives about this tool.  I do like plickers and we have to use pearson through our board, but when you can have students excited about a quiz, that's amazing!

When we looked at Assistive tech, I look to a definition within the reading “rethinking assistive tech” by Dave Edyburn.

"Assertive technology device means any item, piece ofequipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf,modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve thefunctional capability of a child with a disability." 

Now Mr. Edyburn went on to dismantle and edit that definition.  Probably the largest piece for me would be the concept of AT being able to improve the function for anyone in need. 

In my classroom, I am focusing on how to incorporate and utilize GAFE Google Read Write.  It has a variety of functions that I am only beginning to become familiar with. This tool is very versatile and has the capability to help any person.  I have shared the basics of the Read Write program with the majority of my 7/8s in my school and I see a large portion of them using it to some capacity on an ongoing basis.  This is what makes this tool so awesome.  It is functional for everyone to use and therefore it has become a normal practice within our pod, so that the ones who “need” it as an assistive tool to improve their successes do not feel out of place when capitalizing on this opportunity. 

Finally I would like to thank everyone in this semesters ECI 833 class and to our leader Alec for running another great ed tech class. 

Educational Uses for Augmented/Virtual Reality

After Bill and Logan's extensive presentation on a variety of tools that are available in this field for educational purposes.  As of now I feel these are mostly prevalent within the science, with the capabilities to incorporate writing skills into them.  With some of the tools that they demonstrated I really like the Augmented Reality ideas and I can see a quick and fairly smooth transition to these type of tools.

Rochelle discussed in our breakout room about how she uses Aurasma within her library as a tool for her students to be incorporating technology into their daily lives.  Her students complete a review of a book they enjoyed and then submit it to her.  Rochelle then takes a picture and adds it to her WSHlibrary and adds an Aurasma sticker to the book.  This allows her students to know which books have had reviews and they can see what their peers opinions of the books are.

Within our chat during our last class someone said they could see augmented reality be put to good use when geocaching.  I really liked this idea as when I go geocaching I always try to hit up as many of the key spots in our downtown tour to give the students more information about the heritage of many of these sites.  I would love to create an Aurasma account and add another layer to the educational experience to this outdoor ed field trip provided by Regina Public Schools Outdoor Ed team.

In terms of what VR tools are out there for school I found that Immersive Education had some great ideas and tools for how you can incorporate this into your science classes.  I would love to get some Google Cardboard head sets and find a way to utilize tools like these for my classroom.  I can imagine the students would love to use these.  I could even see us finding innovative ways to utilize these tools within a PAA class or two.

My Experience with Teaching a Visually Impaired Student

I appreciated this weeks class on AT.  I feel that Heidi, Holly, Allison, Launel, and Benita did a great job on explaining the variety and the importance of these tools for not only specific situations but also the role they play in an everyday classroom.


In my short time as a teacher I have had the opportunity to work with a minimal amount of assistive technology.  I have taught a student who was legally blind and needed visual assistance.  The student was new to the city, and our division.  It was only my second or third year teaching.  Through my board office, school counselor, TA/EA's, consultants,my administration, the child's parent and myself we all worked together to ensure we were accommodating his needs and providing the best educational experience he could receive within our division.  

One of my main contacts for assistance in learning how to use the technology and developing lessons that were more visually impaired friendly was Dwila Nixon.  She is an invaluable resource within the Regina Public Schools Division in her specialized field of working with visually impaired students.  

The process for gaining access to the resources were difficult.  We needed an Ophthalmologist report to determine the level of support that the board would grant.  This was hard to obtain due to the lack of the physical report on the parents end because of a rushed move from their previous residence outside of the province.  So the parent needed to have a Saskatchewan Ophthalmologist take a look and do a report for the child.  While we waited on the report the Program for Students with Visual Impairments (PSVI) program ran out of Arcola Community School got us set up with a software program called ZOOM, which enabled us to have the student work on a laptop.

We also utilized a CCTV (page enlarger), which was bulky and sat at the back of our room.  This provided my student the opportunity to choose a book from the library and read it during our DEAR time.  This tool was not used often, I believe it was because he felt awkward using something "different" than the other students, and it also set off a loud hum when it was on, causing it to draw more attention than it needed.

Dwila has sent me some more sources that they are utilized when assisting those with Visual Impairments.  Here is an article on Assistive Technology forStudents who are Blind or have Low Vision by Jaroslaw Wiazowski.  The article goes through how to identify problems, what some possible solutions may be, and a variety of tools that can support.  It discusses the importance of environment, tasks that can help both at home and in the learning space, and a scale of increasing tools that coincide with the decreasing visual ability.

Adaptations Chart: Jaroslaw Wiazowski

The next source of information that Dwila sent me was to a site that discussed 21 Chrome Extensions for Struggling Students and Special Needs.  The top of their list was Google Read & Write, but throughout it it gave a variety of other tools that could be very useful for a variety of students as well.  I found similarities with some, such as the BeeLine Reader, which removes all the adds from a webpage and focuses the text for the students. The reason I like this is because if at home you do not use Chrome, or Google Apps you still have the ability to utilize some of the main functions of Google Read and Write.  I really do suggest checking out the Chrome extension article, especially if you do not have full access to Chrome books, or GAFE within your division, school, or home.

Finally the last site that I was sent to was a site that laid out an extensive overview of the variety of devices that are available for visually impaired people.  Teaching Students with Visual Impairments is a very overwhelming site as it has so many options to go through, but simply the home page is enough you help give an understanding at the breadth of tools available to make your classroom more accessible and higher functioning for people with visual impairments.  I really like the section "Overview of Assertive Technology".  This page gives a nice summary of what the main options for tools are and the inherit point of each type of device.

Overall I found that teaching a student who needed to utilize some AT only made me a better teacher.  The skills and techniques I had to employ to ensure my visually impaired student was understanding the concepts, and my lessons forced me to be more clear, concise and lay out my lessons plans in a very organized manner so that he would be able to revert back and understand what each lesson was about.  When doing these things not only did I help that one student but I had improved my teaching for all my students.  

New Assessment Tools

Photo Credit: Nicole Reeve

Over the course of the last couple of years I have been involved in a couple of ed tech classes and have had the opportunity to use a variety of assessment tools within my classroom. My students love the variety of tools that I have played around with. Kahoot is probably the students favorite, and it is great for a quick summative assessment tool to see where students are in the learning process. Similar to Kahoot is Plickers. I tried a couple of years ago to incorporate Plickers into my classroom, but the way I have my classes I found managing the 120 students I see daily difficult. This is a tool I would like to retry eventually because the students like the instant and interactive feedback they get from this tool. In regards to portfolio tools like See-Saw or a blogging tool such as Blogger, or Wordpress I have not incorporated either of these into my daily repertoire like Erin has, basically because of the setting I am in. In my school we have a pod of 4 teachers that co-plan and teach our ELA/Math and split our curriculum subjects (Science, Social, Health, Career and Phys Ed, with prep coverage for French and Arts Ed). So because we would all have to be on board with developing a portfolio tool or a blogging site I have not pushed to get us there yet. I have been working on my pod to incorporate GAFE within our classes.


Since GAFE has been my focus specifically in the last 8-10 months this is what I will break down in how I use it as an assessment tool. While this week has been a little hectic in my world... Between PD day, Remembrance Day, and a variety of interruptions in my regular daily schedule I was unable to attempt using a "new" assessment tool. I utilize GAFE often, most specifically Classroom, Drive, and Docs. I want to attempt incorporating Google Forms as a new assessment tool, mostly for a formative use to quickly gauge where my students are, but due to my busy week I am going to explain how I use Google Docs as a formative and summative assessment tool.

If anyone is interested this is the video I am using to help me develop my understanding of Google Forms

I use Google Docs mainly because of the accountability piece. It forces students to be organized so the don't "lose" their assignments. I also like it for the flexible learning opportunities that come with it. Google Docs allows my students to do their work outside of the regular classroom because of a variety of reasons: sports, dance, cultural, anxiety, etc. Another reason I appreciate using Google Docs is because of the interactivity piece to it. It allows me to interact with the students throughout the assignment to ensure students are on task and following instructions.

The major challenges that I came across when setting up have been varied; some have been physical limitations, bandwidth, enough technology for all students to be active, speed of technology to be effective, other challenges have been learning how to attach, connect, and use the tools properly. There are times where students are working on a word document that is not connected, or they have created their own document and not attached it to the specified assignment, so I am unable to check in on them and give them instant feedback.

Once the procedures have been put in place and the students understand how to create a document, link it properly and work within the GAFE network, the students have had mostly positive things to say about using Google Docs. Their accountability has increased and I am receiving more assignments on time than I have, the ownership piece when students have not completed the assignments is much more specific and they are typically on top of their assignments and have reasons for being unable to complete, along with parent contact explaining the reasons. I am not saying there are not "reasons"/excuses still occurring for incomplete work, but the amount of the "reasons" has decreased dramatically, and when students have not completed the work, they own up to it, typically before the class has even began. I take that as a win in the overall development of a student, and attribute it to the accountability piece that GAFE brings my classroom.

In terms of how I use the Docs as an assessment tool, I attempt to leave a comment in every students work for each assignment of merit (assignments that require thought, process, and development, not simple question and answer assignments). Within the assignments that are inquiry based, or longer writing pieces, students have the opportunity to work on, view my comments, make changes and develop their writing process more effectively. I also encourage my students to use the link option to show where they are receiving their information from so they can demonstrate how they are synthesizing their information. As we work together on their assignments through back and forth check ins and the student editing, changing, or adding to them, the work is developed to a higher quality than they have done in the past.

The interactivity of Docs allows me to see my students assignments faster than I would if I took the work in at the end of the class, viewed them over my prep, lunch or after school, then hand them back the next day to work on. I am able to leave comments while the students are working, or over my prep, lunch, or outside of school hours and that gives the students more time and opportunity to be working on their assignments on their own schedule. The negatives to using Docs is when other classes want to be using the physical technology of the laptops/iPad's we have at our disposal within our school. We have a 1:3 ratio of technology to students, and while that is a decent ratio, with a large portion of our teachers wanting to incorporate technology into their daily teaching it makes it difficult to ensure all students have a device at every time during the day. I am lucky to teach in an area where a variety of students have a device, but many times their "device" is an iPod or iPhone where working on a Google Doc is difficult. The occasionally students who are away for illness or any other reason, do not complete the assignments because they still have the attitude that since they were not in class they should not have to complete the assignment. I do work with pre-teens and early teenagers who sometimes have a difficulty understanding that their world is not exclusive to their needs.

As for how I use the Google Docs as a summative/formative assessment tool... Well as you can see I definitely use it as a formative teaching tool in how I interact with the students through the learning process, but at the same time the students do a lot of question answer, or exit notes, and other summative assessments through this as well. If I am doing a summative assessment I typically will have the students print off and "Turn In" their assignments so I can evaluate with a hard copy in front of me, and if I misplace a students work I am able to reprint to ensure each student has their piece evaluated.

Overall I feel that I am using Google Docs effectively and incorporating a variety of modes of communication to ensure my students are on the right track and gaining a breadth of knowledge through using technology as a tool for their independent learning.

To Web 3.0 and Beyond!

How far have we come and where are we going?

When we began ECI 833 we started off discussing topics from the earliest era's of Plato, Socrates, and other early education theorists, then we moved into the major educational technologies such as having pictures beside the words in books, then came the printing press and how that changed the way education was taught for centuries. As we look at the last century we are focusing on the drastic changes in education. The concept of curriculum, and ways of teaching has changed more in the last 100 years than it had in the centuries/millennia prior. We moved from the radio, to tv, to Web 1.0, 2.0 and are now entering Web 3.0 in our lifetimes.

What impacts does the shift to Web 3.0 have?

Web 3.0 is the personalized, interactive and networked information that is based upon relevant information in terms of the participants needs. When looking at how we have come from Web 1.0 to this I find that this is improving the education system.  When I was young and in school I had access to Web 1.0 and the resources and concepts that I learned from utilizing those tools were not very different than me finding a resource in a card uncatalogued within a library, then reading, referencing and regurgitating the information back to my teacher in a formal looking report, essay, or other bland assignment that I despised doing, and barely remember the facts of.  

As I entered into University for my undergrad, Web 2.0 was taking off and the learning opportunities were beginning to expand.  School was not just taking place in the building, but online (while being responsive), either in real time or through chat rooms, or LMS (Learning Management Systems) such as MOODLE or eventually URcourses at the University of Regina.  In the Gerstein article she says:

"Web 2.0 also saw the development of social media which permits users to communicate directly with one another both synchronously and asynchronously."

I was able to take classes that better fit my schedule as a student athlete because I didn't have to be within the building at a specific time, as long as I managed my time accordingly I could take a class or two on my own schedule.  

As I began my masters program Web 2.0 is in full force.  So far all of my classes have had some form of component through an LMS or has been in the form of a distance learning/real time networked class that developed my personal learning network (PLN) to improve my learning opportunities.  This PLN I believe is what the next level or Web 3.0 is going to have a huge influence on.

To be learning effectively in a Web 3.0 world I believe you will need a strong PLN to help you be connected, a creator and a constructor.  Which is what Jackie Gerstein describes as the needs for a Web 3.0 learner.  What does that look like?

Twitter: Erin 

Twitter: Amy 

Twitter: Benita 

Who is privileged/disadvantaged with Web 3.0?

With this question I refer to Gerstein's last sentence of her article,

"Teachers became teachers to teach students, first and foremost. The learner needs to be central to all teaching endeavors."

With that being our guide or code as educators I feel that we need to make sure whatever we do, whether we continue to utilize Web 1.0, 2.0 or 3.0 concepts it must be in the best interest of the students.  That being said there were some great comments from our #eci833chat last night.

Some of the responses to this were awesome.

Twitter: Erin 

Twitter: Andrew

Twitter: Amy

Twitter: Sharon

As with anything controversial there are varying sides.  For myself I will situate myself within my classroom in the community I teach.  I am fortunate to work in a very affluent community and I have the opportunity to use tech daily, the students are able to BYOD, so with that being my reality my students are very privileged and are learning quickly and becoming more capable with each tool I am sharing with them.  As of right now we are working at the high end of Web 2.0 and I am hoping that by the end of the year I will be transferring them into a 3.0 mentality.  

Certainly the disadvantaged in society are the lower socioeconomic status groups, those who do not have the access to appropriate bandwidth, or other infrastructure needed to sustain a Web 3.0 learning environment, or those who have other barriers in their lives.

What are some things you are doing with your class? Personal or professionally to move into the Web 3.0 world?

Utilizing Tech tools Within My Classroom

Throughout the semester we have heard of a variety of tools that have been used to what are currently being used in the classroom.  I am currently in my 6th and 7th classes in my Masters program at the University of Regina.  Within these classes I have taken 3 that have been web based - distance learning opportunities like this one with Alec.  I have taken 2 other ones that have been MOODLE/UR Courses based and then the other 2 have been face to face.

The tools that are used constantly in all of my classes are slide shows, whether it be PowerPoint, Google Slides or other ones such as: Prezi, Powtoon, KeyNote, or many others.  Each class has some sort of information sharing tool that resembles this concept.

PowerPoint

PowerPoint Icon via Microsoft Office

My favorite for my own usage is a PowerPoint.  I am most comfortable with it, and if it is a presentation that I am doing for a professional or in depth project I like all the extras that are available.  I find with PPT, there are more options for transitions, slide timing, animations and much more.

For my students I encourage Google Slides.  Mostly for the collaborative nature of the Google program.  Every student is able to log in and add/edit/collaborate with their own device on their own time.  It also allows me as the teacher to keep an eye on who is accomplishing what and when.  It is very easy to hold the students accountable with their work when you check in on their edits/changes and you only ever see one or two students doing all the work.

Other tools that I use in my classroom are YouTube and Khan Academy.  I love using these sites because of the opportunities that it gives me to share ideas/images/science experiments (that we don't have to proper tools for) and so many other great learning opportunistic.  I also include these sites as a method to develop a blended learning environment for our students who are heavily involved in sport/culture/dance and art programs outside of school.  With the students missing a large portion of teaching, it gives them the opportunity to watch and learn on their own time and stay caught up with the rest of the class.

Kahoot and Google Forms

Wiki Commons: Kahoot Logo

I have used Kahoot for the last year and a half and the kids love it!  It makes for an interactive and fun class where the students are able to each share in the excitement.  The only issue with this is ensuring we always have a one-to-one device day.  Most of the time I have not run into this problem but it has held us back a couple of times.

Wiki Commons: Google Forms

What I have started this semester with my class is utilizing Google Forms to get a quick summative evaluation so I can see if there is any area that is weak across a class that I may need to reteach before a unit test, end of unit project or other big idea assessments.  I am finding this is a great tool to ensure that all my students needs are being met, and that I can isolate those that are missing or have gaps in their information quickly.

Google Docs

Wiki Commons: Google Docs

Like Amy and Erin Google Docs has provided me with a lot of valuable lessons, not only this semester in class, but also in my own classroom.  See my blog post from a couple weeks ago in how I broke down how I am using it in reference to the SAMR model of using tech in your classroom.

What I would like to do

I would like to see my class begin a unit study with another class in a different city.  I would love to share or ideas, have the discussions and share knowledge with a different community.  Somewhere up north, or on one of the coasts would be great to start with.  My thought would be to do a literature circle book study and have a variety of books so the students can be placed in a number of different groups and then have to share their learning, understanding of the books and topics with others from the different class.  I think this would be a fantastic interactive tool and a great opportunity to learn with another class.  If you know any one that teaches middle years in one of these areas of Canada, and has a similar interest please let me know!

Productivity vs Procrastination

The Internet, My Mysterious Web

I love the internet.  Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Blogs, NFL, CFL, MLB, NHL, TSN, UWW, just to name my top 10 sources utilized in the last month.  I think that like anything else your level of focus is dependent upon your interest/commitment/procrastination level.  James Hamblin shares his thoughts on "Single-tasking" in the video from this week:

While I see my young students (grade 7/8) having this problem, I can say with confidence that when it comes down to working seriously I do not have this issue.  When it is time to get to work on a paper, blog, readings, or simply marking, I find I have the capacity to get the work done.  Typically I need to be in an environment conducive to this as well, so I usually hid in my basement, and make sure the TV is off and I get to work.  On the other hand, on a Sunday afternoon, when I am watching football, I open my phone, look through countless threads, feeds, news stories, games, etc., but when it is work time, I am pretty good at shutting off the "other" things and getting the work done.

My Classroom, A Constant Buzz

In my classroom that is not always the story.  Keeping an eye on 26 students who are supposed to be working on their projects via technology can be difficult.  Setting the standard for what is acceptable behavior online, during class takes time, and reinforcing it without extrinsic rewards is even more challenging.  This is where the concept of "single-tasking" and teaching is non-existent.  I can not think of a time where I can do this within a classroom setting.  Weather it is in a digital world, or the physical (most of the time it is blended).  I will typically have one to two students at my desk asking for clarification, while others have their hands up for other reasons, all while I am opening a variety of linked documents through Google Classroom to see if the Chatty Cathy's in the back are being productive or not.  All of this transpires every minute or so for an entire class.

Every once and a while to help us (the students and myself) de-stress from our connectedness we will read a story that has been photocopied, or utilize a resource straight from a textbook when available.   My students find this practice relaxing and I typically find them very engaged, especially when I am reading aloud to them, with my terrible accents and all.  This would be one of the only times I am almost single-tasking within my room as a teacher.

Now in terms of whether or not the internet has created a world of multi-taskers or not.  Aside from the opinions that multi-tasking is a myth, I am going to say not... I think most teachers are skillful at this task.  In terms of multi-tasking online, I am not sure we can't be skillful at this as well.  I think of our weekly ECI 833 class.  At the end of most nights my browser has more tabs than you can use your fingers and toes for, or in many of my teaching environments, I will have open multiple tabs to jump from one to the other to ensure that the lesson flows smoothly, so I am not waiting for pages, to load (or not).

How Effectively Am I Utilizing My Tech Tools?

When thinking of all the tech tools I use it gets to be a long list: GAFE, YouTube, Khan Academy, Blogger, Projectors, Laptops, Ipads, BYOD, just to list the most common ones. I will take a critical look at one of them to help me decide if I am utilizing it to its full potential or not. With so many options I feel I should focus on Google Docs, used through Google Classroom specifically. Google Docs is a software that is used frequently within my classes. The goal with using Google Docs is to ensure that every student is able to have access to the assignment. When this is occurring there are a variety of levels that I use the software.

Many times it is used simply at a substitution level. What I mean by that is, instead of taking notes, vocabulary, or answering basic comprehension questions in a notebook it is done through Google Docs. In terms of pros vs cons for this level of usage:

Pros:

- Documents are saved automatically

- Students work is neat and typically more organized

- Easier to have the student share their document with me for a quick edit

Cons"

- Work can be copied

- Wifi connection

- Not enough physical tech for every student

When I utilize the software through the platform Google Classroom and I have given the students direct questions where they need to research or complete the assignment with the tools this is where the Augmentation level is

Pros:

- I am able to check on each student from my own classroom space as all their documents are linked to my account

- Students can access this on almost any popular device (tablet, phone, computer)

- If a student is absent they are able to stay on top of their classwork and not fall behind (blended classroom)

- I am able to see every edit and change for each student, so if one tried to copy and paste answers it would be evident.

Cons:

- Lack of parental connection with work

- Wifi connection

- Not enough physical tech for every student (BYOD rules and standards have to be set)

When taking my assignments to the next level and forcing my students to work in groups around a topic with other students not within their class this is where Google Docs potential starts to augment/redesign our way of thinking about the typical classroom and assignment. I have my students do a group project with their partners outside of their individual class. They have to use their class time appropriately and do their part in helping out the group and accomplishing the task needed to.

Pros:

- Students are learning about responsibility

- Working together as a team in an unfamiliar setting

- Ownership to their work and group as a whole

- Seeing the ingenuity of the students working and utilizing the tool to its full potential by leaving notes, comments, and idea maps within the document for everyone to see and build upon.

Cons:

- Some students do not do as much as others.

- Lack of technology for each student when needed

- Wifi connection

When looking within my pod of grade alike teachers I feel that I have very little opponents with using the software.  I am supported through the families to the point that many families send their children with devices specifically for school.   I am very lucky to be in the school I am in.  When looking at the other negative pressures around using Google Docs, comes from the devices that they are being used on.  Whether it is a phone, tablet, or laptop, each of these devices comes with other software, that can be distracting to students.  

Google Docs for Teachers and Students

If I am not mobile within my classroom and physically seeing what my students are working on the amount and quality of work is lower.  I feel this is present in any form of teaching and the technology is not the root cause of poor behavior.  If the students are allowed to be off task, then that is how they will learn to function.  It is not the technology that becomes distracting, but the lack of awareness for the teacher that causes poor behavior and mismanagement of the tool. 

In terms of how this tool affects my pedagogical stance.  I feel that it mainly advances the learning opportunities for my students.  With support from the school, families and community I feel there is an urge for the students to become more proficient, more independent and more capable of doing tasks by themselves.  Through a big push of behaviorism theory along with collectivism in combination technology tools the way I am I feel that my students are gaining those qualities.  Obviously some are better at it than others, but that is what teaching is, learning how to adapt for everyone involved in your classroom.  The adaptations you can make through the use of technology is so much faster, and easier than it was 10 years ago.  Using technology gives the teacher the opportunity to teach to the individual more frequently than ever before.  

Where Can I Find Educational TV?

What is educational TV and why as a teacher am I not utilizing it within my classroom?

Through reading a few blogs this week, I have come across the concept of what a "traditional" classroom model is suggested to be like. When I think of the "traditional" classroom, I envision the late 1800's through the early 1900's one room school house where the children (pupils) used their slate boards and leather bound books to do their rote memorization skills to learn the scientific curriculum.

Sask Encyclopedia One Room School House

While thinking about my classroom over the course of my young 8 year career so far, I see similarities and differences every year. Mostly it is based on the demographics and physical make up of my group of students. How I have taught has changed based on my willingness to try new things and incorporate more and more technology within my classes.

After last weeks class and the reading Postman's concept of how "Sesame Street undermines traditional schooling". My knee jerk reaction to this is.... OF COURSE IT DOES! The traditional classroom of sit, read, write, and learn arithmetic, is boring, unengaging, and only benefits and small percentage of specific learners. What is wrong with learning through various songs, games, and engaging repetitions?

I know from my expereince that I do not learn in the "traditional" environment. As Logan points out in his post:

Unless your students are part of a generation with higher cases of ADDneeding various forms of engagement to aid in learning (In this writer’s opinion, higher cases of ADD are strictly due to larger and more accurate amounts of testing).

These are our students. This is the current state of our classrooms. The traditional schooling that Postman is talking about is an outdated system that we as the next generation of teachers are battling to evolve out of. I am not saying that society is drastically different but, due to the awareness we have about how children learn and what the individual needs of students with certain diagnosis are that we have tools to aid in every child's learning so why aren't we using those tools, such as educational television.

Looking into the beginnings of educational TV and how Audrey Watters gave a synopsis of what TLC's history is, there is a broader understanding of what educational televisions purpose was for. In the 1960's when the idea of sharing information to a wider audience through the use of technology was in its infancy, the concept of teaching was still very regimented in the three R's I mentioned earlier. Curriculum had hardly changed from the 20's until then and thus the expectations had not changed that much. Now when we look at today's classroom the understanding of educational TV is drastically different.

So what does educational TV look like today? Programs such as Dora the Explorer,

Magic School Bus,

or even one of my favorites Bill Nye the Science Guy

What is the purpose of these shows?  I find that through entertainment you receive engagement, within that you have repetition which lends it self to memory, and finally with engagement, and memory you are symbiotically learning.  

Now I am not saying that your standard classroom should utilize educational TV on a daily basis, but in conjunction with positive teaching techniques, utilizing an interesting, and engaging educational TV show can be very beneficial in today's classroom.  

How My Teaching Philosophy Has Changed and Why?

Learning Theories 

Learning Theories are one of the main reasons I decided to take classes around educational technology... I was hoping not to have to discuss them. Mostly because I don't like discussing them because they can be long, boring and sometimes hard to synthesize for me. That being said looking at them in how they are used in connection with teaching through an ed-tech lens is a neat approach. Each theory has its purpose within a school setting. I do not think one is more important than the other. When used effectively specific instructional approaches based upon a designated theory can have a greater affect on a child's learning. Here is how I see myself utilizing the theories within my classroom.

Behaviorism

Behaviorism is defined in Peggy A. Ertmer and Timothy J. Newby article on Behaviorism, Cognitivism, Constructivism: Comparing Critical Features From an Instructional Design Perspective as "Behaviorism focuses on the importance of the consequences of those performances and contends that responses that are followed by reinforcement are more likely to recur in the future" (p. 48).  Essentially we are looking at the infamous works of Pavlov, Watson and Skinner.

When I reflect on how this theory relates to my teaching career, I see an acceptance of the usefulness of this philosophy; along with a connection in how my hidden curriculum is largely based on the concepts of which consequences occur based on specific actions I want from my students throughout the school day.  When I started teaching I wanted to be the teacher who was child centered, I wanted to let the students decide what the rules should be, let the students choice carry the flow of the class.  Now I have shifted to a more realistic approach to behaviorism in that it is useful mostly in the structure of the day.  The more that my students react in the way I have conditioned them too (in respect to social protocol within the classroom), the more praise, I seem to give them.  Now I see this as a mostly positive aspect within my classroom because the more the students follow the daily routine, the more curriculum content we are able to sift through as a class.

Cognitivism

This is where I see cognitivism taking over the bulk of my teaching. Ertmer and Newby describe how "cognitive theories focus on the conceptualization of students’ learning processes and address the issues of how information is received, organized, stored, and retrieved by the mind" (p. 49).  This is where I find myself attempting to increase my students awareness, not only within specific curricular areas, but also in how they are learning.  I feel I do this through attempting to teach process over content.  I want my students to become life long learners, therefore I need to teach how to learn to my students, not specific content.  There also needs to be a balance in learning.  Students are kids and kids need time to explore, experiment, and fail to learn.

Constructivism

Learning through experience is essential the basis of constructivism.  Ertmer and Newby use Bednar et al. when delving deeper into what constructivism is where they describe it as how, "knowledge emerges in contexts within which it is relevant. Therefore, in order to understand the learning which has taken place within an individual, the actual experience must be examined" (Bednar et al.). This is the type of learning that I am most cognizant of from my schooling experience.  I remember the field trips, the experiments, the baking, the opportunities to create within the classroom, even the dreaded science fairs are some of my most memorable moments from my elementary and high school years.  This is why within my own classroom I try to do a variety of experiments and be as interactive as I can.  Now with technology the  way it is, I feel that it is giving us the opportunity to help children create in another unique way.  Kids can now begin to create and develop their own experiences through a variety of technology tools.

Connectivism

When the students are using their own tools to capture their memories, develop their own stories and demonstrate their learning in their own way, is extending of constructivism which takes it again to a different level of connectivism.  George Seimens describes connectivism as "Connectivism is the integration of principles explored by chaos, network, and complexity and self-organization theories. Learning is a process that occurs within nebulous environments of shifting core elements – not entirely under the control of the individual" in his post Connectivism: A Learning Theory for a Digital Age I see this as the modification to redefinition stages of the SAMR model I spoke about in my earlier post.  I have not achieved this level yet, but I can see it happening within my classroom soon.  I have a variety of ideas that i would like to attempt and ultimately connect with other classrooms in joint learning adventures.  

Ed Tech and Today's Society... How have we changed?

This week I have spent a lot of time contemplating and thinking about how I use Ed Tech, but also the why am I using, or am I using it appropriately.  Check out this weeks post for some insights:

Exploring your personal contemporary understanding of educational technology.

Alec has prompted us to discuss our understanding of educational technology and how I might define what it looks like. When I think about my understanding of ed tech I think about how I use technology within my classroom:
1 - I am using Google Apps For Education,
2 - Through GAFE I incorporate a variety of videos to help supplement and aid in my teaching turning my classroom into a blended learning environment.
3 - I have a few students who are supposed to utilizing Google Read and Write program to aid in their learning. I am learning how to use these tools effectively myself so I can help teach with these tools.

Emerging Ed Tech http://bit.ly/1EAAV42

4 - Calculators within math class

With these as my main tools within my classroom I then look to the SAMR model of how I am utilizing the technology. I feel that I am between the Augmentation and the Modification phase. Over the last couple of years I have been working toward changing my units and lesson plans to function in ways that are more tech friendly and open for students to use their own ideas and tools of choice when creating/developing their assignments.

What might a contemporary definition of educational technology look like?

This question I am not sure I can do it justice to answer it myself... I appreciated the definition, from Molenda's Historical Foundations abstract, of a technological advancement of "applying scientific or other organized knowledge to the attainment of practical ends" (John Kenneth Galbraith 1967). Now in terms of how does that connect to educational technology, well I think that educational technologies are tools used within the classroom (physical or distance) that aid in the learning of the courses curriculum. I know it is a blanket statement, but ed tech is so diverse that it needs a broad encompassing concept to cover the range that is holds.

How has your own understanding of educational technology been shaped (consciously or not) by the rich historical and philosophical contexts?

When looking at the historical and philosophical contexts from this weeks readings I found myself consciously aware of how unconscious I typically am. In Neil Postman's reading from this week I found myself comparing the document that was wrote nearly 20 years ago to what was going on in today's society and found that it spoke more (at least deeper meaning) truths now than it did back when he originally said the speech. From culture paying the price, the winners and losers dilemma, powerful hidden ideals, and finally how ecological technology truly is. None of these are stand alone concepts. Some that I see most current would be how ecological the technologies in the last few years have changed the face of the world, especially how it is changing our cultures so drastically.

Through reading about the hard and soft technologies I found myself connecting to a variety of them and how I use them within my teaching. Obviously the hard technologies are easier to pinpoint and notice that we take more advantage of them frequently. How many times have you reached for your phone today? I know I quit counting on Sunday when it hit 100 by noon, but I'm an NFL fanatic so that's my excuse for Sunday Funday...

In terms of teaching technologies I am frequently using the overhead projector, or my laptop for a variety of things. Today my world came crashing down when my wifi key within my laptop failed and I could not be online anywhere within the school. I had to be hardwired in, in the library. This made me work in a very public work-space where I was trying to evaluate and give feedback on individual student assignments. While doing so I had multiple students come up behind me to see what I was doing. I felt that I had to continually hide my screen for fear of another student see the private comments for another student. Partly I viewed this experience as a huge cultural shift, as when I was a kid if you saw a teacher marking, or they were in their desk, students knew not to bother the teacher, but since I was on my laptop it is natural for students to come see what a person is working on. I see this frequently when people are on their phones. How many times do you catch another person glancing at your phone? As adults we know its inappropriate but at the same time its hard not to see another persons phone when they hold it out for everyone. The use of all these new hard technologies are changing the way we respect boundaries and how we communicate in the face to face on a daily basis.

The soft technologies that I've been thinking of is something similar to the ecological shift that Postman discussed and that I mentioned earlier. The communication shift or the concept of how we are communicating has drastically changed. Alec mentioned how the art of sending a message, specifically from a student to a professor or my experience of a parent to myself (teacher) should have a semblance of formality to them, yet they are beginning to lack simple introductions or salutations. The concept or art of print conversation is being lost very quickly.

My other thoughts around this topic of soft technology have been about the aforementioned SAMR model. Would the concept of the SAMR model be the soft technology that a teacher wanting to implement technology across their curricula be the soft technology we should be aiming for? Are there other concepts? I view this model to be more of a teaching approach than a physical tool, similar to how the "Daily 5" is an approach to literacy. Molenda discussed and described a multitude of the tools many of us have heard of, remember using growing up, or may have taught substantial portions of our careers with, but he mainly talked about the hard technologies. Since Alec has brought up the soft technology piece last week, I have been trying to find the soft technologies that I am using within my daily teaching practice. Let me know if you have any soft technologies you rely on daily.

ECI 833 Welcome Back

Hi Everyone,

I am excited to be taking yet again another course from Alec.  This is my third course from him and I am on classes 6/7 this semester. In response to his questions this week of

Exploring your personal contemporary understanding of educational technology.

Alec has prompted us to discuss our understanding of educational technology and how I might define what it looks like. When I think about my understanding of ed tech I think about how I use technology within my classroom:
1 - I am using Google Apps For Education,
2 - Through GAFE I incorporate a variety of videos to help supplement and aid in my teaching turning my classroom into a blended learning environment.
3 - I have a few students who are supposed to utilizing Google Read and Write program to aid in their learning. I am learning how to use these tools effectively myself so I can help teach with these tools.

Emerging Ed Tech http://bit.ly/1EAAV42

4 - Calculators within math class

With these as my main tools within my classroom I then look to the SAMR model of how I am utilizing the technology. I feel that I am between the Augmentation and the Modification phase. Over the last couple of years I have been working toward changing my units and lesson plans to function in ways that are more tech friendly and open for students to use their own ideas and tools of choice when creating/developing their assignments.

What might a contemporary definition of educational technology look like?

This question I am not sure I can do it justice to answer it myself... I appreciated the definition, from Molenda's Historical Foundations abstract, of a technological advancement of "applying scientific or other organized knowledge to the attainment of practical ends" (John Kenneth Galbraith 1967). Now in terms of how does that connect to educational technology, well I think that educational technologies are tools used within the classroom (physical or distance) that aid in the learning of the courses curriculum. I know it is a blanket statement, but ed tech is so diverse that it needs a broad encompassing concept to cover the range that is holds.

How has your own understanding of educational technology been shaped (consciously or not) by the rich historical and philosophical contexts?

When looking at the historical and philosophical contexts from this weeks readings I found myself consciously aware of how unconscious I typically am. In Neil Postman's reading from this week I found myself comparing the document that was wrote nearly 20 years ago to what was going on in today's society and found that it spoke more (at least deeper meaning) truths now than it did back when he originally said the speech. From culture paying the price, the winners and losers dilemma, powerful hidden ideals, and finally how ecological technology truly is. None of these are stand alone concepts. Some that I see most current would be how ecological the technologies in the last few years have changed the face of the world, especially how it is changing our cultures so drastically.

Through reading about the hard and soft technologies I found myself connecting to a variety of them and how I use them within my teaching. Obviously the hard technologies are easier to pinpoint and notice that we take more advantage of them frequently. How many times have you reached for your phone today? I know I quit counting on Sunday when it hit 100 by noon, but I'm an NFL fanatic so that's my excuse for Sunday Funday...

In terms of teaching technologies I am frequently using the overhead projector, or my laptop for a variety of things. Today my world came crashing down when my wifi key within my laptop failed and I could not be online anywhere within the school. I had to be hardwired in, in the library. This made me work in a very public work-space where I was trying to evaluate and give feedback on individual student assignments. While doing so I had multiple students come up behind me to see what I was doing. I felt that I had to continually hide my screen for fear of another student see the private comments for another student. Partly I viewed this experience as a huge cultural shift, as when I was a kid if you saw a teacher marking, or they were in their desk, students knew not to bother the teacher, but since I was on my laptop it is natural for students to come see what a person is working on. I see this frequently when people are on their phones. How many times do you catch another person glancing at your phone? As adults we know its inappropriate but at the same time its hard not to see another persons phone when they hold it out for everyone. The use of all these new hard technologies are changing the way we respect boundaries and how we communicate in the face to face on a daily basis.

The soft technologies that I've been thinking of is something similar to the ecological shift that Postman discussed and that I mentioned earlier. The communication shift or the concept of how we are communicating has drastically changed. Alec mentioned how the art of sending a message, specifically from a student to a professor or my experience of a parent to myself (teacher) should have a semblance of formality to them, yet they are beginning to lack simple introductions or salutations. The concept or art of print conversation is being lost very quickly.

My other thoughts around this topic of soft technology have been about the aforementioned SAMR model. Would the concept of the SAMR model be the soft technology that a teacher wanting to implement technology across their curricula be the soft technology we should be aiming for? Are there other concepts? I view this model to be more of a teaching approach than a physical tool, similar to how the "Daily 5" is an approach to literacy. Molenda discussed and described a multitude of the tools many of us have heard of, remember using growing up, or may have taught substantial portions of our careers with, but he mainly talked about the hard technologies. Since Alec has brought up the soft technology piece last week, I have been trying to find the soft technologies that I am using within my daily teaching practice. Let me know if you have any soft technologies you rely on daily.