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 Students have changed the way they learn, and a simple lecture and note-taking method of education has become outdated.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. 

Digital Citizenship: The Modern Day Golden Rule

From the digital citizenship website, digital citizenship is defined as “a concept which helps teachers, technology leaders and parents to understand what students/children/technology users should know to use technology appropriately” (Ribble, 2017). The main point of digital citizenship, to me, is virtually the same as the traditional view of citizenship in the real world. The overwhelming theme of digital citizenship is to respect other online patrons and their creations, whether it be art, multimedia, or even just their opinions. The chart below highlights the 9 main themes of digital citizenship: 

http://edtechreview.in/trends-insights/insights/1706-infographic-characteristics-of-a-good-digital-citizen

The main similarities between citizenship and digital citizenship stem from the idea that there is advocacy for equal human rights for all. While this may not be universally true for either, both are working towards this notion of global human equality. I believe that part of human equality can best be described using the golden rule – treat others how you wish to be treated. For citizenship, this means granting rights, courtesies, allowances, and privileges equally across all demographics to ensure that each person has the same human rights that they need. For digital citizenship, this applies to the same aspects online. Nobody wants to be bullied online, and nobody wants to have their original content stolen, be it their personal identity or a work of creation. By granting other users with these basic courtesies and rights, digital citizenship can easily be attained. 

I believe that the first lesson we must teach our students about digital citizenship stems from this notion of the golden rule. Perhaps we can rebrand it as the ‘silicon rule’ to play up the technology theme? Either way, teaching students to be respectful of others online as they would in person will go a long way towards achieving the goals of digital citizenship. 

As teachers, our role is to first introduce this concept of digital citizenship and enforce the digital equality throughout all online mediums. In doing this, we must also warn students of the consequences of breaking these rules and the outcomes they may produce. Just like we would teach a lesson on how stealing and fighting are illegal activities, we must also address the consequences of digital piracy and online bullying. There are several instances of students and adults alike who have succumbed to online bullying and felt that suicide was the only way to prevent the hazing. Students must be made aware that their online actions have real-world consequences. 

Once we have established that our students are aware of the online social norms and the inherent risks of breaking those norms, we must teach our students how to prevent others from corrupting their own persona. In the article posted to Edutopia, Vicki Davis highlights several aspects that students need to know about digital citizenship here. 

Students need to be made aware of their own personal rights online. Likewise, they must be taught how to effectively protect their own private information from being compromised. Again, there are several instances of personal accounts being hacked and most of these occurrences are due to poor passwords and security questions. The teacher’s role must be to explain all of these steps and provide examples of how to avoid being an online victim. In doing this, the teacher will be creating an ideal future for digital citizenship. 

References:

Davis, V. (2017, November 24). What Your Students Really Need to Know About Digital Citizenship. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/digital-citizenship-need-to-know-vicki-davis

Editorial Team. (2014, December 13). Characteristics of a Good Digital Citizen (EdTech Review, Ed.). Retrieved from http://edtechreview.in/trends-insights/insights/1706-infographic-characteristics-of-a-good-digital-citizen

Ribble, M. (2017). Digital Citizenship Consulting - Education, Technology Support. Retrieved from http://www.digitalcitizenship.net/home.html

Introduction to Twitter

Maybe I'm a little bit late to this trend, but I feel that social media is not really my forte. Until now, the only real social media I ever had was Facebook, and in the past 4 years, the only thing I've done is update my profile picture a few times. For me, I feel that social media is nothing but a time-wasting activity. I don't need to compare my life to my "friends" and I certainly don't need to see pictures of your vacation/dinner/daily activities to feel like I know them any better. The main reason that I haven't deleted my facebook is because my dad lives overseas and facebook messenger is primarily how we keep in touch.

Honestly, though, I feel that the real reason I don't like social media is because of the fact that it is not an accurate representation of real life. Much like a Yelp score, the only times people comment are when they are overly emotional, be it happy, sad, mad, etc. The entire notion of social media to me is one big "look at me!" in my opinion. That being said, this course on technology in education has taught be that there is another side to social media.

Twitter has found a way to connect professionals and create a dialogue around professional growth that is not limited by one's own location. By searching and filtering certain hashtags, teachers can connect with one another like never before. We no longer have to rely on our own colleagues within our school district for new ideas and helpful feedback. Just a quick search for #TeacherMyth has yielded several results for teachers who are curating a community to debunk teacher myths and provide helpful tips to other teachers:

https://twitter.com/search?q=%23TeacherMyth&src=tyah

Having created my own Twitter, at first I chose to look for some of my favorite artists and celebrities that always seem to be relevant to my interests, mostly musicians and athletes. Upon thinking more about how Twitter can better further my education, I then began to search for helpful organizations and people in the education business. After a short time, I had found quite a few people and organizations to follow. 

While I don't feel that I will use Twitter to send too many tweets (as evidenced by the below picture), I do feel that I will check it periodically to keep up on current educational trends. 

Overall, I am still hesitant to have too much of a digital footprint, but I am definitely intrigued by the possibility of finding new ideas to help me teach certain content standards and create innovative classroom activities. 

TPACK & SAMR

The strength of the TPACK framework is that it clearly outlines and defines the different sections of the framework. Finding out the type of lessons that incorporate technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge are the way to truly incorporate technology into the classroom. If technology is only helping support content knowledge or pedagogical knowledge, then that type of technology may not be best suited for the classroom. The framework also helps serve as a reminder that everything exists within the certain context. As the TPACK website states, “Individual teachers, grade-level, school-specific factors, demographics, culture, and other factors ensure that every situation is unique, and no single combination of content, technology, and pedagogy will apply for every teacher, every course, or every view of teaching” (http://tpack.org). Each integration of the framework is unique, meaning that there are multiple ways to correctly integrate technology into a particular classroom. 

While the TPACK framework provides definitions for each part of the model, I feel that the real weakness of this model lies within the teachers’ interpretation of what constitutes technology knowledge. While the SAMR model shows multiple levels of technology integration, TPACK tends to focus on the integration of any form of technology to suffice meeting the standard. This may lead to only surface-level incorporation of technology by resistant teachers and not offer any real enhancements to the student’s learning. 

Reproduced by permission of the publisher, © 2012 by tpack.org

The strength of the SAMR model stems from taking steps to utilize technology to help enhance student learning. As teachers vary in their own technological understandings, they are presented with different levels of technology that will help them teach their students. Our readings highlighted that the SAMR model is bed identified as a swimming pool. Teachers can start by dipping a proverbial toe into technology without feeling overwhelmed. Likewise, more technologically advanced teachers have the option to dive right into the deep end of technological integration if they see fit. I feel that this is a positive to this model because it allows each teacher to learn at their own comfort level before continuing to move forward with technology integration. 

Likewise, I feel that this is also a hinderance for the SAMR model as well. Being that some teachers will find a comfort in either the substitution or augmentation portion of the model will fail to grow towards a more advanced form of technology. For example, if a teacher feels comfortable having students read online texts in a PDF format or directly from a website, he/she may not see the value in using an iBook to add notes along with the text such as definitions or historical interpretations of complex text. 

CC Instructional Technology, 1 June, 2016

If given the option, I would choose to incorporate the SAMR model for technology integration into the classroom setting. This model serves to apply to teachers at any level with respect to technological aptitude. Teachers can look towards furthering their technology integration through various methods while continuing to work at their own pace without feeling overwhelmed. The true power of the SAMR model lies with its unending pursuit of changing lessons and continuing to integrate new forms of technology. As technology moves forward at a blistering pace, teachers need to continue to stay focused on newer technology trends and constantly update their lessons to incorporate the best types of technology to help enhance student learning. 

The other reason that I would opt for the SAMR model stems from the fact that there are multiple levels of technology that can be incorporated within any given lesson plan. While the TPACK model is either a yes or no with respect to technology, the SAMR model allows for technology to be used to substitute (S), augment (A), modify (M), and redefinition (R). Some forms of technology will only serve as a substitution for learning, while others will go above and beyond and actually help redefine the ways that students are able to learn. Technology should be utilized in the SAMR model to best teach students, thus if teachers are confident and comfortable, the redefinition type of technology should be preferred. 

Resources:

CC Instructional Technology. (2016, June 01). SAMR Model Infographic. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MD06Dw13n4

TPACK. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://tpack.org/