End of Semester One

            With the end of semester one my view of technology in the classroom has changed immensely.  Initially I viewed the use of technology in education as something separate and removed from learning.  It had the possibility to help with homework and in the conveyance of messages to my students.  Now I see it as morally unacceptable to not use technology directly in my classroom on a daily basis.  It is almost frightening to think that I have only now just begun to be involved in technology and that for the rest of my career it is imperative that I stay on the cutting edge of what the web has to offer.  It is a task that I look forward to with a certain amount of self-doubt, as I have never been very “techy” before.  However, I am optimistic that my students will know more about it than me and together we can create a high-tech environment for all of us.

       There were some things that I learned this year that I don’t know if I will use and there are others that are already now a part of my classroom plans for jobs I don’t yet have.  Voki’s are fun.  I think that the work I did in class with them was not appropriate for a middle school setting but I have applied them into my wiki in a way that was.  I loved making my wiki.  I will never have a class without them.  There are so many possibilities that are opened by them.  I especially like the idea of a “Parents Page.”  I know that in many cases a parent may not remember the material being presented to their children.  I feel like posting material in a way that an adult can learn it will be beneficial to the parents as they increase their own learning in a way without the fluff that a child may need.  Together, involved parents and their children can work together to increase their learning.

       Glogster seemed to me to be the least useful part of the class but I have not written it off completely.  Everything deserves a chance.  I have included it as an extra credit assignment on my wiki.  Who am I to determine what children will find useful and informative?

       Looking to the future I feel like I am ready to learn new ways of incorporating technology into my classroom.  I know my limitations of knowledge and ability, and I am aware of my comfort zone.  These limitations have been pushed over the last six weeks much further than I had imagined they would be. 

       There was a terrific video in GNA’s class of a woman using technology in her classroom.  There was a terraforming function of the program that she knew nothing about.  Her students took the lead, learning the program and then teaching her.  I feel like this is the kind of learning I would like to see in my classroom.  That is not to say that I will wait for students to teach me how to do everything, but there is merit in allowing them to freely choose and apply creatively a variety of software that I may not be familiar with. 

       In the end I feel very comfortable with technology (including the MacBook that I wanted to destroy 6 weeks ago).  I can’t wait to design a wiki page for my own classroom and to challenge my students to create dynamic multimedia artifacts of learning.

Week 6 -- Technology Post -- Spying on my friends pages

In large part I haven't looked at my peers blogs until now.  Sorry guys.  I was surprised by some things and expected others.  One of the unexpected treats I saw tonight was on Megan's blog.   Technological mediums such as blogger are inherently different than just writing and Megan took hold of this fact through formatting.  She very successfully added color, font size changes, and line justifications in ways that I had never thought of to bring attention to certain parts of her post and also to just spice it up, making it easier to read.  In particular I am talking about her post on assisting technologies.  She changes the color of each paragraph, makes the section headings bigger, and sends each paragraph to the opposing justification.  It was refreshing to see such creativity thrown into the rather bland world of times new roman size 12 text.

It was also nice to see that so many of us have decided already to add technology such as a wiki into our classrooms for the benefit of ourselves, our students and their parents.  Dealing with students parents is one of the things that I am most dreading of my work and offering this high tech communication tool will be a boon when dealing with them.  I was glad to see that so many of my classmates were considering the same thing.

I was also informed a bit tonight by some of my colleagues own trepidations towards using tech in the class.  I had not thought of the concerns Melissa brought up when she mentioned that many students would not want the entire class reading their work on-line.  I think that might have to be something to gauge the students on.  When I went to high school that is certainly not something I would have enjoyed but that was a different time.  Students now are probably so used to posting things on-line that they would not be affected by it.  It is however definitely something to test the waters on so that no-one is pushed out or made to feel uncomfortable.

Technology in the Classroom week 5

It is exciting to think about all of the possibilities on the internet for expanding my curriculum.  I am especially excited about the prospect of video games in my classroom.  I remember fondly the days of Number Munchers and Oregon Trail.  This tells me that there were some long term lessons that I picked up from playing them.  As our technology has improved so have the video games we play.  The educational games of today make my fond memories look like toddlers of the information age.  Today these games have a life of their own.  They bring students to the center of rich, dynamic worlds that they can leave an impact on.  I like Quest Atlantis.(2010)  It is a fictional world where you can enter one of many virtual worlds experiencing some kind of problem.  The student steps in as an expert on the problem, whether that is a scientist, accountant, statistician, doctor, or something else.  This puts them in a pivotal role in the game.  I also like the other game posted on our list, River City.(2010)  This one felt like it had much more structure with training provided for teachers and lots of time spent in class on the project.  Its only downfall was that it looked as if the simulation was not going to be offered this year.  According to their website it was undetermined if the project was even going to make it through 2010.

               Both of these games hold a lot of promise for grabbing kids’ attention and keeping focused on school work.  As a gamer myself, I know the most important aspect of a video game is its content.  If the storyline is engaging and enjoyable the graphics do not need to be amazing.  The snapshots of the games that I have seen look good enough for engagement.  The parts of these games that you see are not as important as what goes on behind the scenes though.  They are developed by organizations like the National Science Foundation.  Educators pour over research and collect data as students use the software.  This is all used to enhance the learning aspect of the games.  These are much more instructional than Number Munchers and often in tacit ways, so that children don’t know that they are actually learning.  These two sites look like they could be terrific additions to a classroom experience.
               I also liked the links to real life data collections.  My fiancé has used the Long Island Sound buoys in her research and it is an amazing resource.  Additionally and perhaps more applicable in an inland setting, is the data for air pollution. It is always a struggle to make our content directly applicable to a child’s life.  By using data from their neighborhood to solve problems you can make the exercise extremely relevant.  It’s also handy to show students problems that don’t work out to even numbers with no decimals.  They should realize that real data collection involves HUGE data sets and long, often clunky, numbers.  With my bachelors degree in Environmental Conservation I like the idea of focusing work on environmental problems.  This “hometown” data appeals very much to me in that regard.


Indiana University (2010). Quest Atlantis. Retrieved from www.atlantis.crit.indiana.edu
Harvard University (2010). River City.  Retrieved from www.muve.gse.harvard.edu/rivercityproject/

Learning Theories Week 5 T2P

          Physiological development of the brain is an important factor to consider when thinking about learning theories.  It takes years for the brain to fully develop and it is best for that development to be unimpeded along the way to full maturity.  Especially in a world so rich with danger, it is possible for students to introduce chemicals into their bodies that can cause severe damage to the brain, limiting its full development.  If an educator is going to be the best instructor they can, they must be able to understand not only the psychological development of their students but also the physiological growth of actual brain matter.  If students are going to be successful educators it is essential that they know the dangers inherent in using drugs and alcohol.  I can remember being told that these activities can kill brain cells while I was in High School but never in any kind of scientific way.  I was more likely to get an answer like “it’s not called dope for nothing.”

            This kind of irresponsible instruction devoid of clear scientific reasoning does an unacceptable job of encouraging abstinence.  Coupled with a teenagers naturally accepted behavior of challenging the things they have spent the last decade learning, there are bound to be students in high school acting on these extremely dangerous risks.  By asserting in scientific language, with evidence to back it up, it becomes possible to show students the heavy risks that they are taking.

            Brain development is also important for keeping students well rounded.  If as educators we want our students to have a well rounded education it is important that we keep their synapses firing all over their brains.  This means letting them solve problems on their own.  It means incorporating music, art, and physical activity into our curriculum.  This blends well with the theory of multiple intelligences, which says that we need to use many different types of learning in order to learn a subject best.  As a persons brain “prunes” itself, unused synapses are eliminated.  This means that if a teacher is not offering opportunities for their students to exercise their multiple intelligences then some of them will disappear, possibly forever.

A good teacher...

         A good teacher... is one that teaches children to be adults. It is so important to teach a child that they are citizens of a modern democracy.  It is crucial that they know how to analyze information to determine it's worth.  It is crucial that they can see through the falsity of advertising and propoganda.  It is crucial that they know they have a voice to be heard in our society.  A good teacher must make students aware of the respondibility that comes with this role of a citizen.  The students must be aware of how important their vote is, both locally and nationally.  They must understand that they are also citizens of a global community and that the actions they take in thier own community affect people and environments across the world.

         A good teacher... lets their students develop their own curriculum.  They let their students decide what they would like to research.  They let their students "own" their education.  By doing so they bring out the intrinsic motivation that is already buried inside their students.



          If students are to learn technological literacy in the classroom, then it is important to foster the ideals of self-determination theory such as, autonomy, competence, and relatedness, because these values provide the students with an intrinsic motivation to succeed separate from weaker external forces pushing them towards academic success.
          Technology requires a certain amount of intrinsic motivation to overcome.  External motivation, in the form of grades or recognition from peers, does not lend itself to the "out of the box thinking" that good use of technology requires.  Vicki Davis's students exhibit this intrinsic motivation by determining what they will do on their own, not by what the teacher is just telling them to do.  She supports their learning and gives it validation by letting them teach her and tailoring the work to match individual student needs and interests.  For instance she had no idea how to use the terraforming aspect of the software when they began the class.  She let the students teach themselves and, in effect, her how to use it.  This provided the students with ownership of their education.
         They took the initiative and accomplished learning on their own separate from that teachers knowledge base.  In addition, she took the time to make her students teach the class how to do things.  By making the students into the teachers they now have an important role in the class.  Passivity is not acceptable in that classroom context.  I also appreciated the fact that she made the students look up words on-line if they did not know them already.  In todays world a huge tome of a dictionary is unneccessary and impractical.  It is much better to teach students to take a proactive, technologically superior, step towards independence.
         From a moral perspective, it is of the utmost importance that students learn how to engage in a technologically advanced culture such as ours.  Denying them the skills required to be successful in this kind of world is guaranteeing them that they will not be able to compete in the modern job market and thereby limit their future success.

Technology in the Classroom -- Special needs edition

     It's amazing how far these devices have come in such a short time.  I remember using a Dragon voice recognition software program back in the late nineties.  At the time I thought it was the coolest software I had ever seen.  In truth, I spent as much time training it to recognize my voice as I did writing with it.  I had to write the paper out first so that I could read it to the computer.  It didn't recognize punctuation so I had to include that too. "Capital I had a good time period Capital even though comma there were" and so on and so on.  Looking back at how archaic that software was I realize how ridiculous I must have seemed reading to my computer.  The software in my phone is 100x more impressive than that was and I totally take it for granted.
     I could see a number of opportunities for including these sorts of assistive technologies in my classroom.  I would recommend that a student with a hearing impairment could have videos played to a speech-to-text program so that he could then read the product.  In addition I could use the same software during the class to help the student keep up.  If the student had a computer with the software in front of them and I wore a microphone attached wirelessly to it the student would be able to read, in real time, what I was saying to the class.
    A student with poor vision could use the same technology the other way around.  By having books and other written work read aloud to them they could complete assignments.  With voice activated menus and controls the student could expand their use of the program to also use speech-to-text functions to replace their typing requirements.  The difficulty that I would find with this software is that it may not be up to the task at hand.  I own a Kindle but I am not impressed with the text-to-speech function.  It does not pause to represent inflections or changes in perspective.  The text is just shot straight ahead in one long never ending stream of words.  It is hard to keep up with.  I feel like this would be better than nothing but perhaps not good enough to call it a win.
    A student with a broken right arm could also find help from a speech-to-text program.  Obviously typing with one arm is a slow process that can cause a real handicap in a students performance.  I would also recommend a Kindle or other e-reader for this student.  They are easier to handle than a traditional book. You do not have to hold the book open with one hand and turn the page with the other.  That is all handled by one button click.
     I do not know how I would use this technology to help an autistic child.  I don't know enough about autism in general to speak to this problem and I don't see how these technologies could help with that.  These are all techs that require input from the user to work.  An autistic child incapable of communication would be at a handicap to use the software in the first place.  At least that is how I would see it with my very limited understanding of autism.

learning theories week 4

terms

 evidence

if

 then

 because

As I form my own philosophy of education I am running into some hurdles.  While some are merely speed bumps others feel like mountains.   One problem in particular is based in my scientific background.  All of the theories that we are learning about are different.  There may be some unifying ideas between them there are also very diverse ideological views available concerning education.  The scientist in me wants to find the “unifying theory.”  Unfortunately that seems to be almost impossible.  So many theories offer small pieces of evidence that work well to describe educational theory.  Piaget, for instance, offers learning stages that all humans go through.  While this part of his theory sounds relevant and applicable he then states that people go through them in at a pace that can be correlated to age.  I find that statement to be counter intuitive.  It leaves no room for child prodigies or exceptional cases.  It does not take into consideration the effects that society can have on your educational experience.  A child denied food will not perform at the same level as a middle class student of the same age, for instance.

            What I am realizing as I build a foundation for my own pedagogy, is that these theories all exist to some degree simultaneously.  The key to refining my own core beliefs on  is to borrow from many theories into a complete hybrid of my own.

            I have enjoyed the afternoon studying Paulo Freire.  It has lead me to add his book, Pedagogy of the Oppressed to my Kindle.  As a student interested in political strife and social injustice I found his theories to be directly in line with my thinking.  A theme that we have received in Zacks class on Mondays is that school was originally formed here in the US with the intention of “Americanizing” the youth of the country.  This has been a common theme throughout history for many cultures and countries.  Hitler had youth programs and Americans had boarding schools for Native Americans.  Even the public school systems of America teach students to be complacent by making them sit through 8 hours of school everyday in preparation for a job later in life.  Public schools get so caught up in trying to finance their system by way of standardized tests that they forget to teach their students what it means to be critical of their society they live in.

           

            I would like to incorporate this thinking into my future science classrooms.  I left the business world in order to do something meaningful with my life.  Teaching students to question the world they live in is exactly the kind of pedagogy I want to work at.  This is highly relevant to science in particular because we are dealing with serious issues of social injustice in regards to the environment, overpopulation, global warming, genetic experimentation and cloning, and so many other issues where the poor are left out of decision-making and yet bear the brunt of the costs associated with the problem.

            One poignant part of Freire’s critical pedagogy is the addition of a vision for a better future.   I believe that science holds the key to forming a better picture of our societies future.  Direct application of the scientific method to social concern is where we will find the most relevant inclusion of science to that end.  Including social justice in my curriculum will let my students examine social injustice through the lens of scientific inquiry.  By developing those skills in my students I will be able to provide the hope for a better future.

Theory to practice 2

      If students are to learn technological literacy in the classroom, then it is important to foster the ideals of self-determination theory such as, autonomy, competence, and relatedness, because these values provide the students with an intrinsic motivation to succeed separate from weaker external forces pushing them towards academic success.
     Vicki Davis's students becom self-deterministic by always walking around the class guiding students into the path of what they are looking for, but never just telling them what to do.  She supports their learning and gives it validation by letting them teach her and tailoring the work to match individual student needs and interests.  For instance she had no idea how to use the terraforming aspect of the software when they began the class.  She let the students teach themselves and, in effect, her how to use it.  This provided the students with ownership of their education.  They took the initiative and accomplished learning on their own seperate from the teachers knowledge base.  In addition, she took the time to make her students teach the class how to do things.  By making the students the teachers they now have an important role in the class.  Passivity is not acceptable in that classroom context.  I also appreciated the fact that she made the students look up words on-line if they did not know them already.  In todays world a huge tome of a dictionary is unneccessary and impractical.  It is much better to teach students to take a proactive, technologically superior, step towards independence.

Theory to practice 3

     If an educator wishes to teach their students the values of an active democracy, a social conscious, and the ability to speak up for the oppressed people of the world then they should practice critical pedagogy as described by Freire because these pedagogical skills allow children to discover and recognize their own ability to overcome oppression.  It is important to recognize that children as well as adults are in need of this kind of education.  Many of us assume that education for social justice has to begin with children.  This is a false assumption.  Freire began educating adults before he started to write Pedagogy of the oppressed.  While it is important to not leave children out it is equally important to not forget about their parents.

Link to the Spreadsheet

https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AioeJWfqj6l3dG1CNnNiZjUzR0hSSk9VS0daRkZrMHc&hl=en_US&authkey=CIuxpWQ