Final Course Reflection

This course has opened my eyes to several new avenues for teaching with technology. I would say that my two greatest takeaways from this course are the resources and technologies that I was able to learn while navigating this course and the personal learning network (PLN) that I have gained from this course. 

Courtesy Warner Bros. 

When I first started this course, I was a bit hesitant as to what would be expected of me. I was afraid that there would be a larger coding component that I have always struggled to understand. I took an intro to coding class during my undergrad studies and it was one of the hardest courses I've ever taken - truly, it was learning a new language. 

Source

This course was able to teach me that technology doesn't have to be a foreign language. There are several programs that allow me to incorporate new technology without being a master coder or computer engineer. Technology is clearly a useful and widely used tool in the educational system, as evidenced by the infographic above. Utilizing simple technologies is not always a bad thing either. Just allowing students to use their computers to take notes, rather than taking handwritten notes would be an example of having technology present within the classroom. 

The course enabled me to dip my toes into several useful technologies that can be utilized within a classroom setting. These technologies included Twitter, Blogger, About.me, Rezzly, Padlet, and several others that can be implemented into the curriculum. Students have changed the way they learn, and a simple lecture and note-taking method of education has become outdated. Teachers must enhance a student's learning by incorporating these new and innovative technologies to both teach and challenge our students. 

In the end, the course was more about ways to reach students and utilize their own understanding of technology to enhance their education. Focusing on the TPACK and SAMR models allowed me to think of lesson plans and implementing technology into traditional lessons. This was both relaxing and challenging, as there were different levels of implementation, thus different complexities to uncover. 

Again, I feel that my greatest takeaway from this course will be the resources I have gained from my PLN, mostly through Twitter. By researching hashtags and current teacher movements, I have built a strong PLN that will, no doubt, continue to grow as I continue my quest (pun intended) towards becoming a teacher. By spending a few minutes each day, I will be able to see what new trends are taking place within education. 

By staying on the cutting edge of technology and educational trends, I will ensure that my students will be best prepared for their future after high school, whether they choose to enter the work force or continue their education. 

While this class is coming to an end, I know that I will continue to use some of the tools that I had set up for this class, most notably my Twitter account, as I have found it to be increasingly helpful in growing my personal knowledge of what it truly means to be an educator in the twenty-first century. 

These memes must be made out of mirrors because they're so reflective

When I first looked at the options for how to show my reflection of this course, I instantly knew I wanted to be as creative as possible with this post. So, without any further adieu, here is my reflection for EDU 617:

This was my initial reaction to technology as it related to me.

"Another class on teaching me how to teach..." - Me

This would explain our recent obsession and reliance on technology.

Obviously my intro to Twitter was a glorious moment.

"You know what, forget the blackjack!" - Bender B Rodriguez

I feel that I have so many more resources available to me now.

And finally:

It hasn't happened yet, but I just dread the day I have to revert back to a Windows OS. 

My Mock Virtual Classroom

Here is a link to my virtual classroom. At this stage, a great deal of the information is superficial, but I hope to be able to continue to utilize this tool once I actually have a class of my own.

Gaming in Education: Under-Skilled at Overwatch

My brother-in-law, Joey, is a huge Overwatch fan and plays with his friends all the time. I'm not much of a gamer and have never really played with him. I have spent some time watching him play and interact with his friends and was able to discern quite a bit of information from the game, but the interest was never really something that drove me to play with him. The game is essentially a collaborative group game in which teams work together to beat the other team by controlling and defending certain control points. For more about the basic gameplay, please see the video below.

Via YouTube

In going through this process, I quickly realized that my hand-eye coordination was nowhere near as good as Joey's. Likewise, my knowledge of the maps and where to go was severely lacking. Since we were playing on Joey's PC, we had to take turns and he was helpful in telling me where to go and what buttons to push to perform certain tasks. While the use of hand-eye coordination and rote memory skills were necessary to play the game, I believe that there were more educational advantages to playing as well. 

The game is an excellent example of collaboration and communication from the entire team to perform as one unit. By varying different classes, certain skills are utilized by different members to create an optimal attack/defense balance. The constant communication of what is happening across the entire map also allows for teams to work as a collective unit to achieve their goals of capturing or defending certain control areas. 

To build upon the collaboration, quick thinking and problem-solving skills are also in play. Knowing when to rush in to a situation and when a trap may be present is a mental chess match between both teams to try and create a mismatch throughout the game. This website has a list of skills and infographics that help to highlight all of the advantages of playing video games. The first infographic, I believe, applies best to the skills gained by playing Overwatch:

Source

One aspect of playing Overwatch that did not occur to me until several hours after finishing was the global awareness and networking potential that online gaming offers. In an age of global awareness, video games offer yet another medium for people to connect over a shared interest. Complete strangers can come together to work towards a shared goal through these games.

I think that the biggest application of this game to a classroom setting can be summarized using the discovery model of education. If given the proper resources, students can form groups of ideal skills to accomplish a given task through collaboration, trial, and error. Just at Overwatch relies on teammates to accept different roles, students can accept different roles and master their craft to help better serve the group to accomplish the goal at hand. 

While I feel that I'm nowhere near ready to become a professional Overwatch player, I now have a newfound respect for online gamers for the time and dedication that they have put into their craft. Games have certainly evolved from the days of Super Mario Bros, to say the least. 

Classrooms & Smoothies: Things That are Better Blended

When thinking of a traditional English Language Arts class, I typically think of a classroom sitting in a circle, reading and discussing text in a large group activity. This is traditionally how English classes have been taught, at least that's how I was taught. This brick-and-mortar approach has been one that has created a model that allowed me to learn, but what about current and future generations? Technology is a useful tool that teachers can utilize in order to help students reach certain content goals. I believe that the best model to effectively teach students today is the blended model that combines both traditional instruction and informal learning, as shown in the chart below.

With the Blended model, there are four subcategories of the model - Rotation, flex, self-blend, and enriched-virtual model. Of these four, I would be strongly opposed to the rotation model for ELA classes, as most assignments would require a linear approach due to the nature of storytelling. Having student rotation stations does not work well during the reading process, but may serve a useful strategy in performing assessment tasks. 

For me, the flex model is the best model for teaching ELA content. In the flex model, technology is the main delivery method for material and the teacher's role becomes one of a facilitator or guide to help students find the answers that they are looking for. Students can utilize the technology to create a Google Documentor iBook to create a classroom discussion and notes focused around a specific text and learning goal while the teacher is free to spend more time with students who may need extra attention to achieve comprehension of the specific goal. Each student will work individually and collectively through the use to technology to discover and generate new and unique content. 

For a more in-depth at blended learning, please see the video below. 

Via YouTube

For example, if a class is reading Romeo & Juliet, each student can read through the iBook and add comments to difficult portions of the text to help provide insight to fellow classmates. These insights can then lead to Google Document discussion forms surrounding major themes and motifs of the play, such as the theme of tragic flaws or forbidden romance. While the students work collectively to solve the complexity of the play, the teacher is free to roam about the room and offer further insight and one-on-one correspondence to any student who is struggling with the assignment. If a student is falling a bit behind, the rest of the class is able to continue to work at their own pace and progress towards their goals without having to wait for further instruction from the teacher. 

While there are certainly other forms of effective teaching with the aid of technology, I personally believe that a blended learning classroom offers the best results for English Language Arts teachers. Not only is the teacher able to facilitate a collaborative and inclusive learning environment, but he/she is also able to aid in assisting students who require more attention without hindering the learning of other students. The role of the blended learning teacher is more of a freelancer who is able to monitor and aid whenever necessary, thus generating more discovery learning techniques for the entire class. 

Sugata Mitra and the Obsolete School

In his TED Talk, shown below, Sugata Mitra states, "School systems are obsolete." This doesn't bode well for future teachers, such as myself... 

Via Youtube

Mitra goes on to state that schools were created to set people up for bureaucratic jobs in which people must learn to read, write, and perform basic arithmetic in their head. For current and future jobs, these skills are not as useful, thanks to technology. While we still must be able to read, most jobs are aided by computers that are render legible handwriting and arithmetic obsolete skills. Instead, the skills needed for current and future jobs revolve around global collaboration and creativity in the work force. The infographic listed below shows the skills that are deemed most important for working in the year 2020. 

Source

By providing technology to all students, Mitra states, “there is a way to level the playing field.” Every student has the capability to learn, regardless of their socioeconomical background. Mitra’s experiments help prove that student-led learning is completely attainable through the use of technology. This student-led learning is aided significantly by the implementation of technology. Instead of students solely relying on the expertise of their teacher, they have access to the collective knowledge of experts across the globe to help them achieve success. 

I especially like the part when Mitra states that encouragement is key, and threat is detrimental to education. This is my biggest takeaway from this presentation. As educators, we must encourage our students and show excitement when they learn something. By threatening students with bad grades, rather than encouraging students to continue to pursue this knowledge, we are only harming our students. By giving students multiple chances and more time to focus on their education, we can encourage students to learn just about anything. Technology can help us achieve this goal with the aid of multiple outlets for learning that are easily accessible at any time of day. 

While Mitra starts by stating that school systems are obsolete, I believe his real message throughout this speech is to prove that the role of the educator is changing. Teachers are no longer required to be subject experts, nor are they required to be the absolute authority on determining what a student should and should not learn. Instead, the 21st century teacher is required to be a master in encouraging students and guiding students towards finding the answers in which they seek. Most of us are familiar with the phrases "sage on the stage" and "guide on the side." Mitra would agree that the 21st century teacher must become the guide on the side for his/her students. 

In this era of educational reform, I am looking forward to this new challenge of becoming a model teacher for current and future generations. Instead of reverting to teaching methods that I experienced, I have access to a global network of innovative teachers and lessons that will help prepare both myself and my students for the future.

#FakeNews and Real Problems Online?

When I first read this article, I felt fairly confident that I could spot the real and fake images, reviews, and quotes. For the most part, I was spot on as well. I was able to discern that the first photograph was fake, which Jefferson quotes were real and fake, and that the first review was real. At the same time, I was convinced that the second review was fake. Without putting forth any research into the review, I felt that the other review was fake because the entire review was centered around additional hotel fees.

Photo Credit

The review is positive and mentions a rom upgrade and room service. There is no mention of the additional price for these amenities, yet the review remains glowing. Even if this is a real review, I would be skeptical to trust this type of review. 

The strategy that I used throughout this exercise was nothing more than deductive reasoning. With the photograph, the differences in lighting was the clear giveaway that the picture had been altered. As for the Jefferson quotes, I felt that the gun control quote did not fit with the era in which Jefferson lived. To my knowledge, there was no real opposition to gun control during his time and is more of a modern stance with respect to the second amendment. 

The biggest takeaway that I have from this exercise resides in the use of research strategies. I was able to find an infographic to help others learn to decipher between what is real and what is fake online. 

Photo Credit

The best advice when determining if something is real or fake is to dig deeper and find the truth before accepting one article as real. I am a huge proponent of snopes.com as a source to help determine if something online is true or not. I would recommend this website and infographic to all students who are struggling to determine the validity of anything they encounter online. 

As a postscript, it was incredibly difficult to not include a picture of Donald Trump in a blog post about fake news.