On my blog Laura commented about making things positive. This was a big part of what I read. Even though I hear this many times throughout the year, it never hurts to hear it again. I try my best to be positive, but there is always room for improvement. Josie commented on the part I mentioned about Mooresville School District. They implemented tech and saw a rise in test scores. I put this as a reason for tech and it is a good reason. Josie reminded me of how raising test schools should be the secondary benefit. I completely agree with this because I don't think test scores are the best measure of student learning. I believe we should look at student work and actually talk to the students to determine if tech benefits them.
I am envious of Daysha for having a school district that has a well thought out tech policy, in writing! I wish mine did. I think the problem in the area our district covers. It is so large and each site has varying abilities depending on the knowledge of the site tech. Our site tech is still learning so a lot has to be done by teachers. Not much room for PD in tech. She also pointed out the disparity in the amount of tech used by each teacher. Some teachers use it all day, everyday while others seldom use it. This creates a huge disparity in the knowledge of 21st century skills each student gets. There isn't much a single teacher can do. However Daysha did point out that we could test an experiment with new tech continuously. If we do this we should share with others. This could help improve tech usage because we could become the expert at some technologies and help trouble shoot for teachers who are struggling. We could also suggest things that we find work well. This would help eliminate trying things that don't work and save time for many teachers and students. Aleta is in the same district that I teach in, so it was easy to relate to her post. Our district is trying to improve tech but it is hard to do because our district covers such a big area. I always feel like the school I teach at gets left out because we are so far from Bethel. It seems like the schools closer to Bethel get more help because they are easier to get to. Again this leaves a lot up to site techs. Aleta also talked about how our district is very good at using tech for testing and pre-made programs. She talked about doing interdisciplinary units. I have been reading so much about this and love the idea. The only problem is the way the curriculum is set up and the way credits are given based on this to high schoolers. I would love to see classes and curriculum to be redesigned. Maybe the classes could be less rigid and more open. This is probably bigger than our district, but I can always dream. Maybe someday the credit system will be overhauled. To do all of this we need to update our tech policy as a district. It is our responsibility to keep students safe and show them how to use the internet appropriately.
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Aleta first talked about making kuspuks which is a very cultural connection bridging crafting and electronics. I was thinking kuspuks would be a great place to start as well. Our school's dance team is huge and to get all students involved in some aspect of it would be great for school spirit. This would be relatively simple because there are many who know how to make kuspuks so only the electronic part would be new territory for many. This week there were so many projects that blew my mind. Aleta talked about a soft piano you can make and connect to your computer. I play the piano a little bit and thinking about building my own soft piano would be so cool! To build something of your own that is useful in your own life seems like the biggest benefit, and that is a pretty big benefit. Students challenge their own creativity and learn new things along the way. I can't imagine a better way of learning.
Genevieve talked about Chibitronics. Since she has younger students I agree that Chibitronics would be a good place to start. I can see students getting into Chibitronics at all ages but it would be easier for older students to work on more advanced tech like the LilyPad. It would be hard to do many of the crafting and electronic projects with younger kids without adequate support. I love how Genevieve said this, "I know my kindergarteners and first graders would love to showcase their work, other classes would admire them and they would be proud to take them home." From my reading this was the biggest benefit I saw as well. Students create something of their own, and some of the more advanced projects can even be incorporated into their daily life. Students take ownership in a new way that they don't with traditional classroom activities. Melissa and Camille both posted to my blog. Their posts both resonated with the main reason for doing this type of work in the classroom would be to get students to take ownership in a new way. Students could incorporate their work into their daily lives. They could create products that are meaningful and customized to their personality. The more I read the more I want a makerspace. A makerspace would allow crafters to craft. If you didn't want to craft you could work on whatever is your passion. This would allow students to learn through a medium that is meaningful to their life. BYOD is something I believe is here to stay. Whether or not we embrace it is another topic. If it is here to stay, then I believe all schools need a policy on devices. I would rather see the policy naming teachers as having the final say, but I guess having a policy is better than not. You can't make everyone happy. Every school needs a policy because students are going to bring devices to school. The school needs a common plan on how to deal with this so school employees are pitted against other employees or students.
Tricia voiced the same opinion I have about a BYOD policy. She says "Students are bringing devices to school, whether or not they are allowed to use them in class. It is my opinion that a policy in place would help navigate how to deal with all these devices." This clearly says that we need a policy to help deal with this so students are clear and there is no ambiguity. Besides the students we also have to think about the parents as well. A students device could be broken or have some other unfortunate thing happen to it. We must have a way to deal with this that is clear. Who wants to be left responsible for someone else's device or be caught in the middle of an argument about that device? Teachers have so many responsibilities that dealing with tech problems should not be at the top of the list. Daysha voiced the same opinion I have read on many blogs that every school needs a policy. What this policy looks like should be determined by the demographics of the school and the teachers. Special consideration should be taken to deal with students whose families cannot afford the technology. We don't want to embarass these students. However we would hate to have all kids miss out on technology. I think a policy crafted to the particular students in your school would be the most beneficial to deal with this. Daysha also pointed out that this policy would be more beneficial to upper grades. Students in younger grades have enough trouble keeping track of simple things like gloves and pencils. You would hate to make them responsible for something that is so expensive. Plus younger students would be harder to troubleshoot all at once. I envision the teacher would have to go around and help each student get to the correct place. They just don't have the same skills older students have. This week I hosted Twitter with Genevieve and I felt we did a great job collaborating. At first we both came up with similar questions so we were able to combine some and then add a few more. 3D printing is very interesting and not something I have given much thought to. To be honest I was always skeptical and wondering how people were using it in education, but never spent the time to look into it more. After this week I think it is a great example of the advancement technology is making and I believe it could be used to enhance teaching.
I read Douglas's blog first. I think this sentence really sums up some of the differences in opinions about whether 3D printing is good for schools: "Are they the savior of education or just another great tool that good teachers will be able to use effectively?" So many things get so hyped up and it is easy to get drawn in. I believe 3D printing is just a tool as I don't think there will ever be one silver bullet that will do everything. Every student is different, so how could one tool work for everyone? 3D printing can also only be as successful as the teacher implementing it. 3D printing is far from perfect right now, but I believe this could help some students learn how to deal with setbacks, as long as it doesn't take too long to fix the problem. Students can learn also how to dream up something and make it into an actual object. Students start to see that what they are doing has real world connection, and this could really help some of our disconnected students. I really connected with Daysha's blog. Her first paragraph echoed my initial response to 3D printing. With budgets always being cut, will we ever see something such as a 3D printer in our classrooms? Who will pay for this? Plus I need a million other things that are a lot less expensive. I also don't know how to use a 3D printer, and I don't know where I would put one. So in essence, why would I ever need this? After this week my opinion has changed. There are many benefits to 3D printing in the classroom. I can really see a benefit for visual learners, because of how useful this tech could be for making models. I can really see students connecting to lessons in a way that was never possible. Plus it is just really cool to watch a 3D printer. I was really enjoying the videos. If I enjoyed them then I can sure bet my students would enjoy watching it as well. This week I missed Twitter. However I was able to go back and post my responses to the questions. It wasn't the same as participating in the live class, but it worked. I was able to reflect on the material for the week. I really liked hearing other ideas for devices. One of my main takeaways from reading the questions and posts was the security issue. So much data, and someone will always try to hack it.
This week the first blog I read was Jessica's. She came up with a great device that would monitor student anxiety level. I don't think this device is too far off. I remember someone telling me about using heart rate monitors during therapy sessions. This way therapists could monitor patient anxiety. This way if a client wasn't showing anxiety signs the therapist would be able to know and respond appropriately. I think something similar would be very helpful in a classroom, especially a high needs class like hers. Douglass made a great suggestion/clarification on my project. He said that maybe the music could detect mood, and then slowly change types of songs to change a students mood. I think if this is somehow possible it would definitely make my idea of a device better. I also read Kayla's blog. Her idea was genius! It really eliminates a lot of needless struggles during a teachers day. It eliminates things like attendance, collecting papers, distributing warm-ups, etc. Her desk tablet would also eliminate the problem of a device going missing temporarily, which frequently happens with my class set of iPads. Before this weeke I had never heard of the name IoT. I had definitely heard of some of the devices, but quickly realized so many ideas are npbeing created it is imposible to know them all. Devices are constantly being made to monitor and make things run more efficiently or to make our likes easier. I read Aleta's blog and her ideas were fabulous. Her resource of http://makezine.com/ is so amazing! The music table looked so intriguing. It really made me excited to work with the arduino kit in the robotics class. At the heart of the maker movement is the ability to share and connect with others. Aleta said, "When video is added to the makerspace there is the potential to share projects between schools, which may even collaborate to share ideas. Further potential is that students may create across content areas. Makerspaces encourage students to own their projects." I think this is the heart of the makerspace. Ideas are shared and people build off of each other. Rather than reinventing the wheel new things are constantly being created. With the sharing aspect students are more motivated because they know others may see it or use it. It is worthwhile for the student because they see that what they are learning is useful.
Daysha talked about high and low tech options. I believe this is a main takeaway for me this week. Realizing there is no correct makerspace. No correct materials. No right way to do things. She said, “I noticed that Maker Space could be first graders using recyclable items to create bird feeders to high school students using 3D printers and designing video games. Some Maker Space is a portion of the day dedicated to creating in the classroom while other schools have a portion of the library with a teacher specifically hired for that position.” Makerspaces are versatile and can be used however and with whatever materials are available. The only thing stopping me is my classroom. I so need to reorganize so students can access materials that they might need for projects. I think a main concern would be talking with students about how to appropriately use materials and explaining about only taking what you need. This has always been a problem when I do projects. I'm really excited to think about my next year teaching and where I could place materials. How could I make my classroom more student friendly? I think this will take a lot of time, and I am just hoping I get back to school in time to do what I want. I have heard of genius hour, MOOC's, and the flipped classroom. I just had not studied genius hour and MOOC's very much. On the other hand, I have been looking at the flipped classroom for a while. I still believe that the flipped classroom would work the best for my students.
Tricia talked about genius hour. I am very jealous of her classroom idea and would love to be a student in it. I wish I could use genius hour with my students. I just don't see how I could make it work at the high school level. I am evaluated on teaching the curriculum I am provided and have no wiggle room. Even without adding this type of project I rarely get through the entire curriculum. Because students get credit for classes in high school I need to try my best to get through the entire curriculum. I might be able to get away with genius hour in my middles school classes, since MS students don’t get credit. It is not as big of a deal if I don’t get through the curriculum with them. I wish our curriculum was not so rigid. Maybe someday, hopefully sooner rather than later, teachers will have more freedom to teach what they think is best for the students they have. Douglas talked about the flipped classroom which is what I am most interested in using in my classroom. The statistics he found from a school that used this model were very encouraging: 1. Increased retention of material 2. 50% ewer students were failing math and English classes 3. Fewer students were dropping out 4. 50% fewer discipline issues per semester If these are true then what would a teacher have to lose in implementing this model in their classroom? Douglas also talked about a model a teacher at his school is going to try. Students will only come to school 2 days a week but will have work to complete outside of the classroom. Students will only come in to school to complete labs and tests. I would be interested to see how this works. I would just wonder if students would actually do things at home. I know this would be a struggle for many of the students I teach, but may work with another group that was more internally motivated. I think it would also depend on the subject area and if the student was interested in that subject. I believe the flipped classroom offers many benefits, and there are so many variations. I am sure I could find something that would work for my situation. With all that I have read this week I am really going to make an effort to try this with one of my classes. I am thinking my earth science classes could use the biggest change. This class has the most students fail. Many are just not motivated and get stuck in this class until they either drop out or age out. I am wondering if the flipped model would provide them with more motivation? This week I read Douglas's blog post. He talked about the promise it provides students in small, rural schools. This is huge for Alaska as much of the state is not easily accessible. These classes provide more diversity for these students. It allows teachers to learn alongside students. We, as teachers, aren't knowledgable in everything and these courses can be huge in helping us provide a practical education to the students we teach. He also talked about issues with needing to get a credential or diploma to get a job. I wonder if this will change over time? I wonder is some of these open learning sites will get accredited to allow for certification in certain fields? Since this is an emerging technology only time will tell.
I also read Josie's blog and I really appreciated how she talked about how most open learning is self-paced. This is great for adults with busy schedules. I always see new courses online and sometimes I try them out. I never get very far. But it is still nice to have the opportunity to learn something new without having to step foot in a classroom. This week has really made me question my teaching. How can I encourage students to become lifelong learners? Can open learning help facilitate this? I think it can. Open learning encourages learners to choose to learn what they are interested in. This, in itself, leads the way to differentiation. Another main takeaway is how do I use open education in my classes while still meeting district and state requirements? I think we have a long way to go before open education will be able to be used the way it is intended in K-12 education. I read Sarah K.’s blog and I found it interesting that she found the same info I did but from a different source. When I looked at her source I realized both sources referenced that the information was talked about at a conference on emerging technology. I think the information helps to show that emerging technology implies change. Change in the technology itself and a change in how operations occur using the technology. This was only mentioned briefly in the assigned reading.
I really liked how Laura talked about the communication aspect of ET. There is so much social media and information is so easy to get. You click it and it opens right away and then you can comment and interact with others. The hard part with social media is where it fits in education. There is so much research on this right now and I know from my own research that it is hard to make social media always educational. There is always a lot of off task time because it is impossible to monitor every student. Students are always on social media, so how can we make it more education becomes the question. Brian talked about ET coming out at different times. This is a great point to remember and shows that things are constantly evolving. He also cited the NMC Horizon report. I really liked how included this because I was not sure what to do with the information from it. This list shows that research is being done on ET. People are trying to find the correct use and place for all of the technology we are inundated with. There is just so much technology available it is hard to pick the pieces I want to focus on in the classroom. I think this class will be a great start to my own personal research for my classroom. I don't always have time to read the research. Sometimes I just try it myself and learn from trial and error. I feel like this class may save me some of that hassle. |
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