Class Presentations

Our class presented group projects on Tuesday this week and they were great! I really enjoyed seeing everyone’s creative side and their thoughts on different aspects of the internet and technology.

BYOD: Chantalle, Jocelyn, Tiffany, Erin, Carissa, Alaura
My group went first and we based our project on BYOD. I posted a blog about this last week and mentioned Roy Norris in my previous blog as well. I think this is great for classrooms. As it has been said numerous times students need to be taught how to properly use technology. By bringing their own devices they can take what they learn in school and, as Roy pointed out, seamlessly take it all home. Kids are going to be using these devices in the work place so why not start showing them how to in school.

The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly: Nick, Tom, Jenn, Lindsey, Micki
The next group to go were the other first years who did a really great job showing us the good, bad and ugly of the internet. One of their focuses was a debate about Wikipedia. I like Wikipedia as a resource because it is a secondary source for students to find information (I think it was Nick who was arguing this point). Students just need to be taught what information is factual and what is opinion based.

How NOT to Steal from the Internet: Tyler, Lisa, Jen, Kirsten, Kelsey
This group made a great video featuring Tyler the pirate! I really enjoyed this presentation because I never really gave this topic much thought. Whenever I take something from the internet I always copy the URL just in case I lose what I copied. In the end it is important to pay attention to where information is coming from and give credit where it is due. This project informed me a lot and I plan on using their Wikispace in the future to help educate students (hotnottosteal.wikispaces.com). As educators we need to make sure we are modelling correct behavior when it comes to attributing items from the internet.

Internet Filters: Anna, Jenn, Brooke
The second last group based their project on internet filters in schools. Just like stealing from the internet I haven't given this much thought either. I think that after seeing the presentation and reviewing the information I am against them. Students will find a way around any filters because they see it as a challenge. It gives the student responsibility if things are left open and students are expected to respect the school boundaries concerning internet use. Also how blocked content is decided will be an issue; everyone will have a different opinion on what is appropriate for students to use and not use.

Cyber Bullying: Scott, Adrienne, Mike, Sarah, Stephanie
The last group made a pretty funny video based on how media takes ideas and makes it worse than they actually are. Basically they asked; do the media make cyber bullying worse than it actually is in the classroom. I think that cyber bullying is happening just as much as other bullying. Differences that I see is through technology students are able to make their bullying permanent and mobile. Pictures and comments can be put online at any time and are there forever. It's just a bad imprint to leave on the internet for all involved, and awareness needs to be brought to it just like all the other forms of bullying.

I think our class did a really great job on choosing topics and creating informative presentations. There were many different programs used like Glogster, Today's Meet, Video, Wikispace, Wall Wisher, Poll Everywhere, and Google Docs. Basically all are different programs that I4ED has "forced" us to check out and try. It was great to see some of those programs in action and realize that they aren't that hard to use.

BYTE 2013

This was a great day :), right from beginning to end! For those of you reading this that don't know what BYTE (Build Your Teaching Experience) is, it is a conference for educators, which was held in Neepawa this year. It was great to meet and hear from educators across Manitoba and I really am looking forward to the next one.

I attended four different sessions throughout the day and here is a little overview of each:

1. Safe and Caring Schools in Cyber Times: Making Connections and Building Community by Kate Roberts. I really enjoyed this session and found it to be interesting. Kate brought a lot of personal stories to the table that really reinforced what is being seen in schools. Bullying is happening and it is not just localized to one type. Bullying just happens and with the rise of technology it becomes more permanent and, of course, mobile. Kate reiterated what has been said before in our classes, and that bullying is a power balance where teachers have to be mindful of mediation because it is not an equal balance. Some students also have bigger and louder voices than others and will do what they have to do to be heard. Teachers need to be aware of and teach protective factors as much as risk factors. I think that community and parental support is key in bringing this awareness about. It seems that everyone needs to work together in creating an equal power balance.

2. They All Have Computers Now What? Teaching in a BYOD Classroom by Roy Norris. This session was very informative and I appreciated Roy Norris' complete honesty. He didn't have all the answers and that was ok because they were working together at his school on figuring it out. Roy Norris is a teacher at Dakota Collegiate, a school that has implemented BYOD in grades nine and ten. It was a long process of trial and error and is still in process and for the most part Roy said it works great. One feature that I really liked about his classroom is that he sits on a rolling computer chair and just rolls from one student to another. This way he is on their level (student and technology) and they can comfortably have a conversation. A positive impact of BYOD that was mentioned is that the transfer between home and school is seamless. Students can access their studies anywhere at any time.

3. Edmodo in Multiage by Barry Waldner. This was a good presentation to supplement the information we learned the other day in class from Don and Sophia, they talked about Blackboard though. Barry showed us that Edmodo is basically Facebook for education. After looking at it and using it a bit I`ve decided I dont like it. There is no chat feature which I think is important for students especially if they are online at home and want to connect with the teacher or other students. Another thing I didn’t like about the site is that students can resubmit submitted assignments as long as the teacher has not assigned a grade. Unless the teacher grades it right away that aspect defeats due dates. Althought I could be overlooking a feature that locks the assignment after it is submitted, but I don’t know for sure. One thing I did like about the site is that after tests the students choose an emoticon representing their reaction to what they just did. There were about seven different faces to choose from. That is an interesting aspect because it is always good to get student feedback so teachers can readjust the content or delivery is needed.

4. 21st Century Learners by Sophia Palahicky. It was great to hear from Sophia again and I really enjoyed the personal touches she added to her presentation. She talked again about the 4 C`s of 21st century learning, which are Community, Create, Collaborate, and Connect. When these are all implemented together students are receiving the most out of their learning. I think that every classroom should focus on the 4 C`s especially when incorporating technology.This session was discussion based and I really enjoyed hearing from teachers who have been in the field for several years. It seems that there is a consensus that teachers need to educate students on how to appropriately use technology and if students are using it anyway may as well implement it in the classroom. I found that really encouraging to hear!

The Future is on the Horizon

My thoughts on education have grown since beginning this course in September, especially concerning technology. Before I believed that technology had a small role in the classroom, but I have come to realize that that role is changing and needs to be addressed in classrooms. The future of education is one that is highly involved with technology. Students now have never known a world with no Google let alone no computers. These students are 21st century learners and teachers need to find a balance in their pedagogy to meet their needs. The best way is seen in integrating technology in the classroom.

With the incorporation of technology in the classroom teachers need to re-adjust how they address specific issues. One of the big factors that teachers need to address and teach students, which was pointed out in the Horizon report, is "sense making and the ability to assess the credibility of information". In one of my sessions at the BYTE conference someone brought up the idea that kids have digital ability but not digital literacy. Most kids can grab a device and automatically start using programs on it but it is a matter of whether they are using it appropriately or not. Students need guidance of where to go online and what sources are credible. They need to be shown productive ways of using technology and specifically the internet.

Technology also changes where and when students can learn. As we learned last week in class students have the chance to learn online wherever and whenever they want. The Horizon report also points out that technology makes learning mobile which is beneficial since many activities related to learning "take place outside the walls of our classroom". This touches on the idea of transparent walls in the classroom that has been mentioned before. Students in Canada are able to Skype with students from Australia. To me if technology is used appropriately the learning opportunities and experiences will grow and be endless.

I think that technology is emerging in our classrooms and that it is inevitable. Time needs to be taken to properly educate teachers and students on appropriate use in the classroom and ways to maximize use in the classroom.

Web Based Courses

This week in class we had a presentation by Sophia and Donald on Web Based Courses. They had a lot of positive things to say about LMS (learning management systems) and I agree with them. It is a great place to create an online learning environment for students. It is not only used for distance learning, but can be implemented in creating blended classrooms. Students want to be using the internet so teachers should give them a productive place to be on there. These courses are designed to be interactive because it is more than just a place to look at content it is a place to form discussion. Students can have a voice about what they are learning. Those students that don’t feel comfortable speaking out in class can lead a discussion on a message board as an alternative.  

One really good point that Sophia and Don made was that in rural areas if there is not enough students in one spot for a class the teacher can invite students from other areas to join the class. The important factor in making a class like that work is communication. The teacher and student need to be in constant contact with each other about content and assignments. Sophia also pointed out that teachers should set short time spans for the students to complete tasks so they won’t get forgotten. Another good point they both made was that these programs are not replacing teachers. Teachers are still needed to facilitate the courses and offer assistance for students.

I'm a little familiar with this type of learning because I took many courses through Distance Education at University of Manitoba. Some of the courses I really liked and some I didn't. The ones I really liked were biology and psychology because it was easy to read the text book/notes, watch/listen to the lectures, and teach myself the material. Later that week I would go online and take a quiz. It was pretty simple. The other courses I took were history and English. Those courses were a bit harder because they involve a lot of discussion usually and being online I missed that f2f aspect. There were chat rooms to use but it still isn't the same as being in a class room and having a conversation with my peers.

One thing I really found annoying and frustrating about LMS overall is when the server crashed or was down for a lengthy period of time. I experienced this quite a bit at U of M and it annoyed me because I would schedule time to sit and listen to an online lecture but the server would be down for 24 hours. Although I must say that overall I really did like the courses because I could access them wherever I wanted and work on them whenever I wanted. It made going to university and completing courses a lot easier for me.

I think that this type of learning would be great to implement in high schools. Many students now want to work and some need to work. By having courses offered online students are able to work during the day and do school work at night. They can set up meeting times with their teachers to check in and get progress reports. When I was in high school there was a paper program called Self-Directed Learning where students would pick up packages of units and do them at their own pace. It was still a schedule time slot on the day though so students had to attend a class with a teacher present.

BYOD

One of our projects for the I4ED class was to research a topic to do with technology and the classroom. Our topic is BYOD which is an acronym for Bring Your Own Device. This is a rising issue in schools that is being met with positive and negative feedback.  In our group of first year students we made a PowerPoint on Google Docs while incorporating different programs like word mapping and infographics.

For my part of the project I looked at the different devices available. The list I compiled consisted of laptops, tables, cell phones, audio recorders, cameras, and Ipods. The greatest thing about all these devices is that they are mobile and files are easily stored and transferred. They are great organizational tools and a way of engaging students in lessons.

Two concerns that I ran into were the amount of plug points a room has. It will be important for students to charge their devices at home during the night so that they will be prepared for school the next day. Although some devices are able to hold a charge all day others will have to be plugged in eventually. The amount and location of lets would have to be dealt with if it became a problem. A solution to this could be that the school provides power bars for classrooms.

The other concern was that there are many different devices available now and teachers have to become technology gurus in a way. If students are bringing devices from home then they will have an assortment of operating systems, internet security, anti-virus programs, scanning programs, search programs, and other such items. Teachers have to become knowledgeable so that these devices are an aide in the classroom and not a hindrance. Students will also need an existing knowledge of how their devices work before bringing them to school. Devices should have similar capabilities so that students have the same access to learning content and programs.

Web Apps for the Classroom

Another tech task in class was to find educational web apps we would use in our classroom. I think this is a great task and one that I will put to use in my next placement. Many classrooms today are coming equipped with a few ipads and lap tops. Students spend quite a bit of time using that technology, so it is important for educators to show students how to use it productively. There are many different apps available that would be beneficial to a students learning.

The first app I would suggest is Dragon Dictation. This is great for students who have trouble writing what they want to say. All they have to do is speak into their device and it records the information into text. Students will still need to learn how to write and type properly but Dragon Dictation is a good alternative when writing/typing is not the focus of the lesson.

The second app I found is Evernote. This app is also great for students because it will help them stay organized which is very important. It had text, audio, and video features for all kinds of learners.

I personally don't own or use these apps but I have seen them used in a middle year's classroom. The students liked them and some even used them daily.

There are many more apps out there and I'm sure there will be even more in the future. I think when it comes to getting apps for the classroom it will be important for the teacher to consult their students since they will be the ones using them. One of the teacher's goals is to interest the students and I think that letting them help choose apps will engage them.

Always Something New

We did not have a speaker this week in class but we did have a class discussion with some really great snacks :) . I'm really finding this class to be pushing me and my use of the internet. At first I was really frustrated with it but now I'm starting to enjoy all the new things that I'm finding out and learning about.

I never realized how many functions Google had until now. Tuesday in class Mike showed us about Google+ which is a really useful tool. I like the idea of making circles and sharing. I think it would work great in a classroom for students to gain new information and connect with the world. It is also a great way for students to connect with each other (and the teacher) without having to be at school.
Another cool feature on Google that I never knew existed is GoogleFight. Tyler, another student in class, shared this with us. That would definitely get the attention of any student!