The mighty interwebs have a bevy of information and resources for the internet-surfing individual and teachers alike. Anyone who has been introduced to Google search is cognizant of this, but not everything one may find is useful or exciting. This "Organize Your Online Life" assignment given in my Education and Technology class dropped in my lap something I was blown away by: Blendspace.
Blendspace is a web platform from which teachers can access resources and develop lesson plans in short order. This free site allows teachers to blend their classroom with digital content. Through this site, teachers can create lessons, share them with his or her students, track student learning through online quizzes and student feedback, and provide differentiated lessons that integrate text, video, images and web resources. The process of developing a lesson plan is intuitive and fast. All you need is 5 minutes and topic to search, and boom, there it is.
After exploring this site for more time than I had, I began to develop a handout—one that could appropriately represent and introduce this useful site—for my fellow teachers-to-be. Developing a handout was a new experience for me, in a way. Having spent some time digging into the site, this handout challenged me to change my perspective from which I understood and viewed it. I realized I had to ask myself, "If I knew nothing about this site, what would I need to know and what info-packaging style would be the most transparent?" These are good questions, I think, for teachers who, likely being the most knowledgeable individuals in their classrooms, will have to translate and repackage information in a way that students will be able to effectively digest it. This is the perspective through which I developed my hand out.
Clever assignment, professors. Clever assignment. I see what you did there.
In composing this two-sided handout, I focused on aesthetic design (I can't help it) and the ever present balance between text and image. I kept hearing a previous professor's voice in my head saying, "Less text! More images!" And so, like all I-want-an-A-in-this-class students, I obliged. You see, it is more aesthetic to the viewer to see more image than text, but the pressure to convey the meaning of the image then weighs more heavily upon the speaker. Another trick to this assignment: giving a fulfilling presentation that connects and makes sense of the images. Now, my handout was not solely images as tasteful and directive text made the cut. After all, handouts should be able to explain the Blendspace site to any viewer who does not have me there to provided deeper understanding.
This assignment introduced me to an extremely effective and user-friendly web platform that I believe will become a common resource for me as I begin me journey into teacherdom.
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Sunday, July 20, 2014
The Implicit Nature of the Natural & the Virtual World
I grew up in the woods. The trees were my castles and the lake was the endless sea. Sticks became swords, branches became the support beams of my fort, raspberries and black berries made meals fit for a king. My imagination was cultivated by my natural surroundings, but advancements in technology are allowing kids today to enter a very different type of world: the world of video games. Both worlds can stimulate the mind, but I fear something has been lost in the shift towards digitized adventure.
Regardless, technology is booming, and its prevalence has made it almost common-place in the lives of children, adults, and students today. Being such, schools today may be changing their tactics to more effectively address their tech-savvy students. As a child, my natural world—with a healthy dose of imagination—presented me with challenges and problems to solve, but James Paul Gee, Professor of Literacy Studies at Arizona State University, noted something similar in an interview on the use of video games for learning. He stated, "(Video games) put you in a world where you have to solve problems....All a video game really is is an assessment." Gee believes that video games can provide a unique avenue by which students can learn, collaborate, and problem solve.
I have already told you what much of my childhood consisted of, but when it rained, or when it was too cold or dark outside, or when I was sick, I admit that I sometime picked up the controller. I entered the world of video games, or game, rather. There was only one game that could occupy my attention, and it did so for one year, the amount of time it took me to beat it. The game was...da da-da-da:
The Legend of the Dragoon. A single player, four disc adventure game consisting of dragoon warriors, spells, weaponry, and diverse characters. Civil unrest and resentment for past wars are threatening the current tranquility and harmony throughout the land. Harnessing the spiritual powers of the dragon, my band of characters travel through their world to maintain the peace. This game presented challenge after challenge and required me to manage resources, make decisions, effectively utilize the skills and abilities of my allies, and problem solve. At one point in this game, all of my merry men died in a battle. Believing that I had just lost months on effort and that I would have to start back at the beginning, I broke down into tears. No one had told me what "Save Game" actually meant...good thing I had still been doing that all along. Hearing my outburst, my mom directed me outside. I stood in the rain until I cooled down. Anyway, I digress. The challenges in this game, in addition to the characters and general fantastical awesomeness, was what secured my attention till I beat it.
My exploits with The Legend of the Dragoon allow me to believe that the use of video games, particularly problem solving games, in schools as a learning strategy is not only possible but that it could be very effective. Although this game may not be directly applicable to Biology—the subject I will soon teach—it does implicitly teach management of resources, strategy, the ramifications of one's actions, and endurance. These lessons can be applied to every aspect of one's life. Video games, much like my stomping grounds as a kid, can develop patterns of thought and perspective that serve to mold a young child's mind and influence behaviors.
Regardless, technology is booming, and its prevalence has made it almost common-place in the lives of children, adults, and students today. Being such, schools today may be changing their tactics to more effectively address their tech-savvy students. As a child, my natural world—with a healthy dose of imagination—presented me with challenges and problems to solve, but James Paul Gee, Professor of Literacy Studies at Arizona State University, noted something similar in an interview on the use of video games for learning. He stated, "(Video games) put you in a world where you have to solve problems....All a video game really is is an assessment." Gee believes that video games can provide a unique avenue by which students can learn, collaborate, and problem solve.
I have already told you what much of my childhood consisted of, but when it rained, or when it was too cold or dark outside, or when I was sick, I admit that I sometime picked up the controller. I entered the world of video games, or game, rather. There was only one game that could occupy my attention, and it did so for one year, the amount of time it took me to beat it. The game was...da da-da-da:
The Legend of the Dragoon. A single player, four disc adventure game consisting of dragoon warriors, spells, weaponry, and diverse characters. Civil unrest and resentment for past wars are threatening the current tranquility and harmony throughout the land. Harnessing the spiritual powers of the dragon, my band of characters travel through their world to maintain the peace. This game presented challenge after challenge and required me to manage resources, make decisions, effectively utilize the skills and abilities of my allies, and problem solve. At one point in this game, all of my merry men died in a battle. Believing that I had just lost months on effort and that I would have to start back at the beginning, I broke down into tears. No one had told me what "Save Game" actually meant...good thing I had still been doing that all along. Hearing my outburst, my mom directed me outside. I stood in the rain until I cooled down. Anyway, I digress. The challenges in this game, in addition to the characters and general fantastical awesomeness, was what secured my attention till I beat it.
My exploits with The Legend of the Dragoon allow me to believe that the use of video games, particularly problem solving games, in schools as a learning strategy is not only possible but that it could be very effective. Although this game may not be directly applicable to Biology—the subject I will soon teach—it does implicitly teach management of resources, strategy, the ramifications of one's actions, and endurance. These lessons can be applied to every aspect of one's life. Video games, much like my stomping grounds as a kid, can develop patterns of thought and perspective that serve to mold a young child's mind and influence behaviors.
Dissonance: Computerized Standard Tests and Talking to the Text
The use of computers in today's school systems is increasing, edging out the traditional use of paper. Speaking for myself as a graduate student at the University of Michigan, digital journal articles, documents, worksheets, and writing assignments are being utilized more than their paper forms. This shift in technology is not confined, however, to graduate school; my younger cousins, still in K-12, have been given laptops and tablets be the school to use in class. At that time in my life, computers were utilized in class, but the main technology that I used was a pencil! Just as the use of the computer and new-age technologies is rising in class, they are also becoming more common technologies for assessments such as the standardized, pre-college SAT and ACT tests. Could this shift be negatively impacting a student's ability to take these tests?
These standardized tests do not allow test takers to utilize numerous reading and comprehensive strategies such as "talking to the text". Aside from being able to type in assigned boxes and click a button labeled A-D, there is little interactive ability with these computerized tests. The reading strategies of highlighting, underlining and annotation aid me greatly in comprehending an essay or story problem. Yet these strategies cannot be utilized on computerized tests. Now students can learn to adjust their test taking strategies to those better suiting the non-interactive, computerized tests, and I hope that they are. Personally, I never was taught them. I wonder if the gains (grading and organizational convenience) outweigh some of the potential costs (student scores) in this shift to computerized testing.
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
School representing real life: A reflection on John Dewey's "My Pedagogic Creed"
School, according to American philosopher, educational reformer, and psychologist John Dewey, is primarily a social institution. Rather than having a focus on the individual and the process of preparation for some future lifestyle and occupation, Dewey states in My Pedagogic Creed that education is rather a process of living, one that is dependent upon and identified as part of a greater community. Being such, school extends beyond the four walls of the conventional "classroom" to include, in a foundational manner, the home. The concept of school as a community of living is, in my opinion, an admirable perspective, and although I agree with Dewey whole heartedly on this point, I fear that it is a perspective that contrasts the current stasis of the American education system in general.
Reflecting on my own past academic experiences, I feel that my school system (K-12) recognized the inherent relationship between home and school and worked to solidify and nurture that connection. This was achieved through parental involvement, school sporting events, community outreach programs, relationship building activities, and a general self-awareness and life perspective that was focused outwardly. This, however, may not be the norm. Regardless, I was blessed to have gone through an education system that intentionally supported relationships between the home and the school and developed a sense of school community.
Although not explicitly stated in this document, Dewey seems to recognize the important relationship between the school and the real lives of the students. He believes that there should be some continuity, some over lap between the real world and what is being taught and lived inside the classroom. Dewey stated, "I believe that the school must represent present life - life as real and vital to the child as that which carries on in the home, in the neighborhood, or on the play-ground." I wonder how well the current American education system represents this perspective.
Lastly, Dewey states that in order for education to be effective and applicable, it must represent real life. He wrote, “I believe that education which does not occur through forms of life…is always a poor substitute for the genuine reality and tends to cramp and to deaden.” To cramp and to deaden—terms that are usually not associated with effective schooling. Without a direct connection or applicability to the real lives of students, the learning that does occur in school may produce the exact opposite of its intentions: the deadening of a child and his/her learning. Dewey emphatically encourages the idea that students, from adults to children, learn both in and out of the classroom. Real life represents the common denominator between these two seemingly compartmentalized components. It just needs to be recognized and utilized, and Dewey believes that the education will become far more effective at developing competent and empathetic citizens.
Reflecting on my own past academic experiences, I feel that my school system (K-12) recognized the inherent relationship between home and school and worked to solidify and nurture that connection. This was achieved through parental involvement, school sporting events, community outreach programs, relationship building activities, and a general self-awareness and life perspective that was focused outwardly. This, however, may not be the norm. Regardless, I was blessed to have gone through an education system that intentionally supported relationships between the home and the school and developed a sense of school community.
Although not explicitly stated in this document, Dewey seems to recognize the important relationship between the school and the real lives of the students. He believes that there should be some continuity, some over lap between the real world and what is being taught and lived inside the classroom. Dewey stated, "I believe that the school must represent present life - life as real and vital to the child as that which carries on in the home, in the neighborhood, or on the play-ground." I wonder how well the current American education system represents this perspective.
Lastly, Dewey states that in order for education to be effective and applicable, it must represent real life. He wrote, “I believe that education which does not occur through forms of life…is always a poor substitute for the genuine reality and tends to cramp and to deaden.” To cramp and to deaden—terms that are usually not associated with effective schooling. Without a direct connection or applicability to the real lives of students, the learning that does occur in school may produce the exact opposite of its intentions: the deadening of a child and his/her learning. Dewey emphatically encourages the idea that students, from adults to children, learn both in and out of the classroom. Real life represents the common denominator between these two seemingly compartmentalized components. It just needs to be recognized and utilized, and Dewey believes that the education will become far more effective at developing competent and empathetic citizens.
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