Sunday, February 28, 2016
February Reflections
Friday, February 26, 2016
Evernote
Our Tech of the Week this week was an online note service. I don't particularly like taking notes on a computer in class, but I am a big list person. I like to write down all of the assignments and errands I have to do! I am also a disorganized person though and will sometimes lose the lists I make, so I thought I would try and make them on this website. You can view it here! The things I have done are underlined, and the things I have yet to do aren't.
Wednesday, February 24, 2016
SOS
Technology is a funny thing and at the beginning of one of my classes last week it caused disaster to strike! We had a presentation from a grad student, who was required to present to us for a part of one of her classes and was being evaluated on it. When she got to the front of the class however, the projector would not turn on and the power point she had prepared could not be displayed. She called the colleges tech support but they would be able to come and fix the problem until at least halfway through our class period. Without missing a beat, she smiled and told us that we were going to conduct the class in an old fashioned manner, and proceeded to modify her notes and activities so that they were things that could be written on the board "old-school".
Although she handled the situation flawlessly, I have to wonder if I would have been as smooth. This incident got me thinking about what I would do in that situation, and I realized that I haven't taken many notes that weren't copied right off of a powerpoint. I've also never given a presentation like that without using powerpoint. Needless to say, I would have had a very difficult time continuing my lesson if I had been in the grad students boat because I wouldn't have thought to write my main points out on the board while I went.
This is one of the first times that it has really struck me that I am a part of the 'gamification' generation that we talked about in class this week. I grew up learning more information than I realized through games, power-points, and technology. The research we have been reading in class suggests that this may not be the best way to retain information, and the projector incident also goes to show that technology is not a "cure-all". This creates an interesting conundrum considering how much the younger generations have become accustomed to learning with technology, and there are no concrete answers on how to balance this problem. Nonetheless, the grad student saved the day by demonstrating an equal amount of skill in teaching with and without technology (which ties nicely in with the TPACK model I discussed in an earlier post), and I hope that by keeping in mind the occasional pitfalls of technology I too would be able to respond appropriately!
Although she handled the situation flawlessly, I have to wonder if I would have been as smooth. This incident got me thinking about what I would do in that situation, and I realized that I haven't taken many notes that weren't copied right off of a powerpoint. I've also never given a presentation like that without using powerpoint. Needless to say, I would have had a very difficult time continuing my lesson if I had been in the grad students boat because I wouldn't have thought to write my main points out on the board while I went.
This is one of the first times that it has really struck me that I am a part of the 'gamification' generation that we talked about in class this week. I grew up learning more information than I realized through games, power-points, and technology. The research we have been reading in class suggests that this may not be the best way to retain information, and the projector incident also goes to show that technology is not a "cure-all". This creates an interesting conundrum considering how much the younger generations have become accustomed to learning with technology, and there are no concrete answers on how to balance this problem. Nonetheless, the grad student saved the day by demonstrating an equal amount of skill in teaching with and without technology (which ties nicely in with the TPACK model I discussed in an earlier post), and I hope that by keeping in mind the occasional pitfalls of technology I too would be able to respond appropriately!
Thursday, February 18, 2016
Have you ever considered using Pinterest as a way to gather ideas about teaching or organize a classroom? Until today, I hadn't either! It turns out that this website has all kinds of resources and ideas for teachers and can even be used as a way to organize and share your students work and ideas. Check out a couple of my boards above (mind you, they are a work in progress)!
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
TPACK
Last weeks class focused a lot of a teaching technique known as TPACK. This acronym stands for Technological (use and understand of technology in your classroom) Pedagogical (ability to relate and connect to students and design lessons that are meaningful) Content (expertise in the subject area being taught) Knowledge, and represents an idea that incorperating all of these things equally in your classroom will help optimize your teaching ability. I really liked this approach, and think it can be extremely useful in the classroom. Below is a picture that I think helps illustrate the complexity of each topic and the challenge that educators face trying to merge all three!
Tuesday, February 16, 2016
The Teaching Channel
This week my TEAC259 class was asked to explore a website called the Teaching Channel. Upon further investigation, it appears that this website is a place for teachers and administrators to post videos and articles about the things going on in their classrooms. Everything from techniques and teaching strategies, to new projects and technologies are included. I found that, if applied correctly, this website could be very useful as a future educator.
One of the articles I found that was extremely interesting to me, and also applicable in my life right now, was about improving ELL (English Language Learning) programs in schools. This is a huge area of interest to me, and I found it very reassuring to see that there is progressive work being done in the area. It talked about ways to get these students involved in class discussion, and how to improve their language skills to the best of a teachers ability. It was very informative and useful to me, as I am currently mentoring an ELL student as well. Many of the strategies talked about here are applicable to our sessions, and this has given me a couple of ideas for things to change and improve upon!
The second article I found on this website introduced one teachers creative way of integrating technology in her classroom. She used google hangout to enhance her students learning by increasing communication with herself and other classrooms/ classmates. For example, she was able to spend more time talking with her students one on one in a private setting. She also had students' conversations and discussions recorded for them to look back on to see what they could do better. I found this helpful because it ties into what we are learning about in this class very well. I think it was a unique way of using technology, and it is awesome to see new and different ways that it can be incorporated into classrooms successfully!
One of the articles I found that was extremely interesting to me, and also applicable in my life right now, was about improving ELL (English Language Learning) programs in schools. This is a huge area of interest to me, and I found it very reassuring to see that there is progressive work being done in the area. It talked about ways to get these students involved in class discussion, and how to improve their language skills to the best of a teachers ability. It was very informative and useful to me, as I am currently mentoring an ELL student as well. Many of the strategies talked about here are applicable to our sessions, and this has given me a couple of ideas for things to change and improve upon!
The second article I found on this website introduced one teachers creative way of integrating technology in her classroom. She used google hangout to enhance her students learning by increasing communication with herself and other classrooms/ classmates. For example, she was able to spend more time talking with her students one on one in a private setting. She also had students' conversations and discussions recorded for them to look back on to see what they could do better. I found this helpful because it ties into what we are learning about in this class very well. I think it was a unique way of using technology, and it is awesome to see new and different ways that it can be incorporated into classrooms successfully!
Monday, February 8, 2016
Mobile Journaling
This weeks class brought yet another unique and challenging experience. The previous week we had been told that we were taking a field trip to UNL's library to check out a new resource called a One-Button Studio. My original reaction: Yay! Field Trip! This will be easy. As you may have guessed, this was not the case.
Upon arriving to class that day, an unexpected layer was added to the much anticipated field trip. We had to journal about what we were doing while we were doing it. We were split into groups and had to find a way to upload pictures, videos, and comments about our every move. This meant blogging on our way to the library, documenting what we were doing in the library, and uploading more things on our way back. Not only was the idea a little foreign, but I faced another challenge. My phone was too old to download any of the apps we needed to be uploading things to google-docs and canvas while on the road. I was completely at a loss as to how to complete the assignment. My group decided to let me just take pictures and try and upload them when I got back to class, but we soon decided to try something different because everyone was already posting the things I would have posted after the fact.
Instead of waiting to post what I wanted when I got back to class, I texted/ sent pictures to a classmate of mine saying word for word what I would have posted on our journal page. She in turn would upload those to our page; it worked out very well! I was able to participate in the project, albeit in a roundabout way, like I normally would have. This technique we used is called a workaround, and basically is exactly what it sounded like. (You can read about it in our mobile journal that I will post the link to at the end of this post.)
After that, mobile journaling was fairly easy. One of the challenges was trying to find significant and diverse things to post about. There is only so much a group of six people can say about how cold and snowy the walk to the library was, so we had to get creative with our content. I also realized how easily it was to miss out on something without the proper technology. The fact that I couldn't blog my thoughts after class because someone else would have already posted something similar was really eye opening for me. It is a good representation of how quickly information and ideas are shard in today's world!
I thought overall the activity was very interesting, but not particularly beneficial. I'm not sure I will ever use mobile journaling in the future, however the activity had some very good lessons built into it that will help me down the road!
Here is the link to my mobile journal: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-LrjRbsj8EqksG_nF18GRBDAa1X1jCXvfaNv-HCUUKY/edit
(Below: a picture of a "mobile journaler" in their natural habitat, taking a picture for their mobile journal #inception)
Upon arriving to class that day, an unexpected layer was added to the much anticipated field trip. We had to journal about what we were doing while we were doing it. We were split into groups and had to find a way to upload pictures, videos, and comments about our every move. This meant blogging on our way to the library, documenting what we were doing in the library, and uploading more things on our way back. Not only was the idea a little foreign, but I faced another challenge. My phone was too old to download any of the apps we needed to be uploading things to google-docs and canvas while on the road. I was completely at a loss as to how to complete the assignment. My group decided to let me just take pictures and try and upload them when I got back to class, but we soon decided to try something different because everyone was already posting the things I would have posted after the fact.
Instead of waiting to post what I wanted when I got back to class, I texted/ sent pictures to a classmate of mine saying word for word what I would have posted on our journal page. She in turn would upload those to our page; it worked out very well! I was able to participate in the project, albeit in a roundabout way, like I normally would have. This technique we used is called a workaround, and basically is exactly what it sounded like. (You can read about it in our mobile journal that I will post the link to at the end of this post.)
After that, mobile journaling was fairly easy. One of the challenges was trying to find significant and diverse things to post about. There is only so much a group of six people can say about how cold and snowy the walk to the library was, so we had to get creative with our content. I also realized how easily it was to miss out on something without the proper technology. The fact that I couldn't blog my thoughts after class because someone else would have already posted something similar was really eye opening for me. It is a good representation of how quickly information and ideas are shard in today's world!
I thought overall the activity was very interesting, but not particularly beneficial. I'm not sure I will ever use mobile journaling in the future, however the activity had some very good lessons built into it that will help me down the road!
Here is the link to my mobile journal: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-LrjRbsj8EqksG_nF18GRBDAa1X1jCXvfaNv-HCUUKY/edit
(Below: a picture of a "mobile journaler" in their natural habitat, taking a picture for their mobile journal #inception)
Tuesday, February 2, 2016
Too Much Technology?
How much technology is too much technology? Is there even such a thing? Should technology be allowed in classrooms? If yes, what kinds of technology? How should it be incorporated? Would limiting technology in the classroom be helping or hindering a students ability to learn? All these questions and more were central themes of our classroom discussion this last week in TEAC 259.
The answers to these questions are not black and white. There are many diverse opinions concerning technology inside and outside of the classrooms, and rarely are any of these opinions wrong. For example, we discussed how, when looked at with a broad perspective, technology dates back all the way to an invention as simple as a window. At the time such technology could be perceived as a distracting thing to have in the classroom. However, the human population learned how to adapt to this distraction until it reached a point where it wasn't even considered as such. It is possible that we may see a similar shift in the technology we tend to think as too distracting for a classroom currently.
This being said, the easiest way to decipher what should be allowed or not allowed in the classroom should be left to the discretion of the teacher. It should not be something ignored or tabooed by a teacher, but rather something welcomed and incorporated wherever it is helpful to prove a point. In a reading we did for class, it talked about using an approach called TPACK (Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge). This encourages teachers to use their knowledge of their subject matter, students, and technology to incorporate technology in new and interesting ways in the classroom when it is applicable. I think this is a great way to go about using technology in a classroom. If a new idea for using technology becomes a hindrance in the classroom, then a different approach should be taken. If you think outside of the box and use technology in engaging and relevant ways then it will not be a distraction but will help students unlock the abilities they need to be successful in today's world.
The answers to these questions are not black and white. There are many diverse opinions concerning technology inside and outside of the classrooms, and rarely are any of these opinions wrong. For example, we discussed how, when looked at with a broad perspective, technology dates back all the way to an invention as simple as a window. At the time such technology could be perceived as a distracting thing to have in the classroom. However, the human population learned how to adapt to this distraction until it reached a point where it wasn't even considered as such. It is possible that we may see a similar shift in the technology we tend to think as too distracting for a classroom currently.
This being said, the easiest way to decipher what should be allowed or not allowed in the classroom should be left to the discretion of the teacher. It should not be something ignored or tabooed by a teacher, but rather something welcomed and incorporated wherever it is helpful to prove a point. In a reading we did for class, it talked about using an approach called TPACK (Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge). This encourages teachers to use their knowledge of their subject matter, students, and technology to incorporate technology in new and interesting ways in the classroom when it is applicable. I think this is a great way to go about using technology in a classroom. If a new idea for using technology becomes a hindrance in the classroom, then a different approach should be taken. If you think outside of the box and use technology in engaging and relevant ways then it will not be a distraction but will help students unlock the abilities they need to be successful in today's world.
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