Well... this is it. My last mandatory post on this blog.
These past 9 weeks have absolutely flown by... Not too fast to get bombarded by a LOT of awesome information though, from Mike, fellow classmates, and guess presenters.
So without further delay, here is my summative presentation.
I believe the future of education will be in the hands of technology, even more than it is now. Seeing how many school divisions are focused on improving their use of technology in the school and classroom is great. There is so much more that can be done in a classroom if using technology than can be if not. The information students are able to retrieve is exponentially better as well. It is easier for them to get information, there is more information for the students to choose from, and in this way, they get to learn how to pull out the good information from all the bad that is around it.
With all the focus on technology, I wouldn't doubt to see a shift where there isn't a single textbook used in any school. This will obviously take time, and probably won't be true for at least another five years. However, I do believe that transfer will happen, and it will be for the best.
Cloud computing is the first one mentioned. When I saw this, all I thought about was storage. Who would've thought there was more to cloud than storage?! (probably everyone BUT me, but that's not my point)
This was great to read about. I learned that there are three different parts to the cloud universe:
1. Cloud-based applications - applications hosted in the cloud
2. Platforms to create cloud-based applications
3. Computing resources (ie. storage)
It is no wonder that schools are making the switch to the cloud. Considering how much expense a Division could cut by using the cloud, it would be a no-brainer. There are however some downfalls to it.
1. Internet - To access anything on the cloud you would need an internet connection. In this day and age an internet connection is not hard to come by, but if there is an issue with the connection, you cannot retrieve any of the information, programs, etc.
2. Provider - What happens if the cloud provider you are currently using goes under? or decides it is time to quit? All of your belongings you have stored there are gone too.
Mobiles will continue to grow with time as well. If you think about it, who do you know that doesn't have at least one smart device (ie. smart phone, tablet, ipod, etc)? Most people can stop thinking at smart phone because they are so widespread now. It seems anyone who can make use of their vast applications (and even some who can't) have one... Except this guy!
I continue to use my 'dumbphone' simply because I have a phone that works and my contract expires at the end of summer 2013, so with looking for a job and all, who knows where I will even be! But rest assured, next phone... will be a smart phone.
The first video I want to talk about isn't necessarily online (for free anyways), but is an excellent resource to use in the Phys Ed curriculum. The title is talhotblond. This is a documentary about an online relationship that turns into a love triangle between two coworkers and a female (aka talhotblond). It ends up taking a turn for the worse and there are life changing events that occur. I can't say too much more without spoiling it for anyone who has not seen it.
I would use this video for the Healthy Relationships unit. After the video is done, students would fill out a questionnaire regarding what happened in the video in regards to healthy relationships and effective communication. Then, as a class, discuss what may have been different if certain scenarios played out differently.
The second video I would use is an episode of Seinfeld. It is episode 9 of season 2 titled "The Deal." It is an episode that deals with a relationship between two friends (Jerry and Elaine) and how they want to be able to keep their friendship the same, but become sexually active with each other. It goes through them talking about it, Jerry talking to one of his friends (George) about it, and then other issues that arise from it.
This video would be used again in the Phys Ed curriculum under the Healthy Relationships unit.
I believe video can be a very useful tool in the classroom for both the teacher and the students. It can benefit the students by giving them options for presentations. Some students may not be able to speak extremely well in front of their peers, so instead of 'embarrassing themselves' they can make a recording prior to that day and present the video instead. It can also give students a look at a topic from different perspectives which will increase the chance of them understanding the concept being taught.
Teachers can also benefit from video because it decreases the time they actually have to teach. Just making sure you are actually reading this :) ! But on a more serious note, teachers can make a concept stick with their students that much more by incorporating multimedia into their lessons. It will keep the students more engaged and they will be able to focus better.
I think students making their own videos is a great idea, however putting them online (ie YouTube) is a different story. I would not personally put any videos created in my classroom onto YouTube unless it was a private account where only the students' parents were able to see it. It would be much safer to have a password protected website to post videos to if I was wanting to share them with parents.
Welcome to VCE PE Hub. This is a physical education website I found. It contains everything from a forum, a blog, online tests, and podcasts. I chose to listen to the podcast on Training adaptations.
This podcast talked about three of the body's systems: cardiovascular, respiratory, and muscular. It goes through each of the systems in detail, as well as other useful information.
For the respiratory system, it talks about how the total volume (each breathe you take), plus the respiration rate (the number of breathes), equals the ventilation. It also talks about how the oxygen follows through the lungs into the blood vessels, to the heart, and to the capillaries. It is very detailed and gives a great, in-depth description on how the entire system works, as well as each individual aspect involved.
Further into the podcast, it talks about muscular adaptations. Starting with slow twitch fibers, it looks at more aerobic activities which will increase oxygen flow,and how this is maintained. The fast twitch fibers focus more on activity that increases lactic acid (anaerobic activities).
This entire podcast would be great for an anatomy or physiology unit.
This could be a great resource to use in a physical education setting. For health, students could do a similar podcast that talks about a certain body system and how to make sure that system is working at maximum efficiency, as well as how to make that possible.
They could also talk about nutrition and include the number of servings of each food group needed per day, as well as any changes to those numbers that may result from increased physical activity.
On the activity side of the curriculum, students may choose to do a podcast on a certain activity or sport and include all rules and procedures to follow. They could also do a sports broadcast type performance where they act as announcers for a sporting event at their school. After the game is over, they can post it as a podcast for others to listen to who may not have watched the game.
Do I think these could be useful in my classroom?
Well, I'm sure anything, if used properly, can be useful! It is just learning how to use it properly that is the tricky part sometimes. The same goes for an infographic. Let's first look at the quick infographic i created... http://infogr.am/Snowmobile-Statistics/
It was (somewhat) fun to create my own infogram, but I am still on the fence about how useful this could be in the classroom.
It IS a neat way to show information.
It IS a visually appealing presentation tool.
It IS all around a cool resource.
However, it ISN'T quick or easy to use. It would end up eating up a lot of class time to complete, or students would have to do it at home (which probably wouldn't get done).
I guess I'll give it another shot when I get a chance and see if I change my mind.
The online application I chose to do my show and tell on is screencast-o-matic.com. I chose this because it is a site that I have used before, and I have actually recommended it to others in #I4Ed.
Screencast-O-Matic is a screencast site that is very simple to use. It allows you to capture what you are doing on your screen, as well as your voice from a microphone, all at the same time and without having to join the 2 files afterwards.
Having a digital footprint is very important for me being a pre-service teacher that will soon be on the hunt for a job. If a principal or administrator looks me up on the internet, they should be able to get a good idea of who I am as a person and a professional from what they find about me. With that being said, I (and all other pre-service teachers) need to ensure that what they will find about us is what we want them to see... a high-achieving professional, not an immature 'hooligan'.
Now... let's see what we can find about me!
Google: At the very bottom of page 1 is a link to my Twitter account, and on page 2 I am mentioned in an obituary. Under Google Images, nothing comes up.
Dogpile: On page 1 I found 2 posts I had made on a snowmobile forum, that is all.
Yahoo: Page 1 I had a post a made to a snowmobile forum, that is all.
So what did I learn from doing this? Well, I learned a lot in a very little.
I learned that there is next to nothing about me on the internet when you search my name (and nothing of relevance).
I learned my Gido (grandpa) Steve Melnyk who is 97 YEARS OLD has more about him on the internet than I do (since he has a house in Brandon and it is listed on Canada411 and other sites).
In these next few months I have a lot of work to do to get my online presence to the point I want it to be. If I keep building up my PLN, I'm sure that will make it that much easier.
There were some (all!) great presentations on Tuesday and a TON of awesome information from each one. I first want to give a shout out to all #I4Ed'ers for making it such an informative class!
For anyone that was not able to make it to class, or if you want to watch our video again, here it is...
Cyber-Bullying:
#BYOD: I think this is a great idea. There is one point that will for sure come up when anyone speaks of this topic, and it will be this: How will you get administration on board? It is true that there is a good number of the more "mature" (to not be offensive) crowd that is using technology, and even more in-depth than some of us that have grown up with it most of our lives. This could be because of having to learn how to use it anyways, so they might as well go all out, or it could simply be because they are wiser and see the value in it. With that being said though, I know a lot of the "mature" crowd who still struggle with technology. My father, for example, refuses to learn new skills on the computer, but spends 2-4 hours on it every day. For him to use the internet he has all of the sites he wants to look at in his bookmarks so he doesn't even have to type (he is an old school 'hunt-n-peck' guy).
Either extreme will be possible for us to have as new teachers in the coming year. I think it will just be a matter of pointing out what exactly is so beneficial for the students and why they cannot gain those skills without technology... and to think of the children!
How NOT To Steal From The Internet: This is a huge issue in the schools that students do not even know (or care) about. Sure a teacher may tell their students to make sure they list where they got their information from, but why? That is the topic that really needs to be covered.
During my one student teaching placement I got to watch students give a presentation on an animal of their choice, and how they adapted to their environment. After looking at the resources some kids gave, it was a little shocking (I guess shocking wouldn't be the word... more like taken back). "Wikipedia", "Google", and "Internet" were just a few of the resources that were given, and from more than just one student too! This obviously says the students have not been taught how to give references and why to give references, just to give references. It is a scary thought that this is happening all around the world in classrooms, but the fact of the matter is it will always be this way if we do not do something about it.
The Internet: The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly: My thought on this topic is simple... Everything starts as a good, and it takes something or someone to turn it bad or ugly.
I believe everything on the internet starts as a positive. If someone is posting information onto Wikipedia, for example, their thought of sharing is good! However, when they have the notion to post false information instead of true, that is where it turns.
Students of today's classroom have to be knowledgeable on what good and bad information look like, and the only way to do this is teach them about it! If we are able to create that knowledge, then maybe, one day, there will be no need for filters. That is one BIG maybe though...
Filtering and Blocking in Schools: This is a topic that will receive much support from both sides, but also some in the middle. There will always be people thinking there should be no internet filtering at school, some will think there should be thorough filtering, and some may think there needs to be some filtering, but not excessive amounts... That is where I stand.
I feel filtering is needed in schools and we will never get away from that. It is something that needs to be there to protect the students, the teachers, the administration, and anyone else in the school. The line for me though is when schools have vague filters that may block something that is entirely educational.
The filters need to be specific so they only interrupt unwanted searches and activities. Like the example given in class, if searching Mars Explorer, it may be blocked simple because of the fact that if put together, the two words look like this: marsexplorer. I don't think it matters how much time we spend on making the filters relevant though, there will be some thinks that will always be blocked if using any sort of filter.
So for week 6 of the course, we did not have a guest speaker in class which lead my brain to log out of Blogger (and even log out of the course to an extent... oops!). This then posed a problem when I looked at the weekly blog post guide and it said to post about things we were talking about... umm... can a get a whole post out of that? I just heard my brain yell back "No... was on vacation!", so I guess that option is out. Which leads me to look at what has arose while going through this course.
Looking back at the tech tasks, there were a few that came easily, and a few not so much. There were also a few that intimidated me before even reading the description of them.
TT #4: RSS Reader & feed - "OH MY GOD! WHAT ON EARTH IS A RRS OR WHATEVER IT'S CALLED?!?" *thinking to myself... why did I switch out of phys ed methods?*
Now after actually taking time to read what a RSS Reader was, and maybe getting some hints on the best one to use, I took the big jump to reader.google.com and couldn't believe what I actually saw. "Was this all there was to setting up a feed? All I have to do is enter their blog address and BAM it's on there? No way!" Conundrum #1 solved!
TT #5: Organize your cool sites! (Bookmarking) - "Ugggggghhhhhhhh................ Pinterest..............."
Since then, I have learned there are more bookmarking sites out there other than Pinterest (although... as much as I don't want to admit it... I am spending much more time on that darn site than I should be!). I tried my hand at Diigo to start with. My short patience showed with this site, and it was onto Peartrees I go! I found much more relief using Pearltrees as soon as I signed up. I love how it is laid out (I have many pet peeves, and a non-uniform layout is one of them... Darn you Pinterest once again). I like how I can see everything right there on the main screen, and if I want to go further down the "tree", I just have to click on it and it will open only those branches. Diigo just seemed too much like opening my favorites bar on the browser (which I have laid out in folders too).
These were definitely my two most "adventurous" tech tasks to date. I'm sure there will be more as I hammer through the remainder of them in the next week, but those will be another story.
If I were to actually look at what my network was like even two years ago, the web would be much smaller. There would be no Twitter (Thanks to Mike for making it mandatory!), Maple, Google Reader, FaceTime or Skype, Ning, Moodle, or even Gmail. So that basically leaves me with Facebook, Hotmail, and YouTube. My network WAS basic, IS decent now, and WILL continue to get larger and more useful as time goes on.
And what would the 21st Century student's look like?
As for a student, I feel as though they are not connected through a lot of different resources, but connected a lot through one resource (ie. Facebook!). This may just be my opinion, but it seems like every time I see a student on their cell phone or a computer, there is always a tab with Facebook running. Even if it's in the background, it's still there.
The edublogger I chose to write on is The P.E. Geek AKA Mr. Robbo AKA Jarrod Robinson. He is a physical education teacher from Australia. He is a large believer in mobile education since it is useful for a mobile class such as physical education (go figure!).
On his blog, Mr. Robbo posts a lot of great apps to use with Android and iOS devices. There is everything from attendance, to assessment, and even games with the rules and all equipment needed. There is a small fee for the apps, but they would be very useful from my phys ed point of view. For a complete list of the apps, click here.
The main reason I decided to follow Mr. Robbo is simply because it is a phys ed blog (my first teachable). I've sifted through a good number of blogs and found a decent number that were focused on math (my other teachable), but I wanted to focus on phys ed and increase my resource list for that subject. Following this blog will do that, and more for me. It is incredible the number of resources, apps, and ideas that are presented on the blog. It was very overwhelming to start into it because of this reason, but after awhile, I learned to sit back, breathe, and just click and read away!
Looking more in depth at the apps available on the website, I could not bring myself to paying for them at this point. HOWEVER, when I am actually making money teaching instead of paying money to be taught, it will be a different story. There are some great videos explaining each of them on Youtube.
Follow The P.E. Geek...
Blog: http://thepegeek.com/
Twitter: @mrrobbo
Youtube: jazrob86
What are web-based courses you ask? It is very simple: a course that is based on the web! With a WBC, a student can be in a small town and can be taking a course (over the web) with an instructor in a larger city that is out of their area. This allows a lot of the smaller communities without the high enrollment numbers to be able to offer all courses to students even if they do not have a teacher in the school to teach it. That instructor can be responsible for students across the province all from one room.
What's the definition of distance under these circumstances? It is simply when a student and teacher are separated. I was somewhat shocked by this definition because according to it, a student could be at one point in the city and the teacher could be at the other end of the city, maybe twenty minutes away, and that is even considered distance learning.
Who needs it? Well here are just a few examples that we talked about:
- Students from rural schools where there isn't enough enrollment to appoint a teacher to that class (ie. Physics, Psychology, etc). This allows the students to engage in all (or most) of the courses they want that may not be offered at their smaller and/or rural school.
- Students who's timetables do not allow for them to take the course. This may be due having another optional class scheduled during that time slot, or if the course is optional and from a different grade level they may be a higher chance for it not to work.
- Students who may not be able to attend class for a period of time (ie. student pregnancy, travelling for athletics). This way the student is still able to keep up with their studies even though they have no face-to-face contact with a teacher.
These seem like that could be a useful tool if used correctly. I know for one of my student teaching placements my cooperating teacher had a fancy machine for having students from other schools join her during grade 12 Pre-Calculus class. She said at the beginning of the year she had 3 students with her, but by the time I showed up in October, the machine was pushed into a corner of the room, with a stack of chairs in front of it, and a nice layer of dust on top. So obviously this wasn't used properly, but if it was, maybe it wouldn't be sporting the dust on top.
Well, I have to say, my whole thoughts of Twitter have change since I started #I4Ed. The only real question in my mind right now is, why did I wait so long to start?!
My first impressions of the site was it was basically like a character-counted version of Facebook. I also went on to think it was more for people to share their life stories and every minute happenings such as "going out to take the dog for the walk" or "in the bathroom, having problems". I also thought the only real people to follow were celebrities or professional athletes, which I had no interest in either.
Now that time has passed and I have taken some time to browse through Twitter and follow some peers and educators we had present in our I4Ed class, I have split my Twitter mindset into three categories: professional, personal, and recreational. Professional is the category where past and present University Prof's are, as well as teachers, administrators, and even certain websites (ie education.com). Personal covers peers, friends, and even coworkers. Any companies, groups, and athletes I follow would go under recreational. Even thought they are not categorized when I go onto Twitter, as I read through the new tweets I'm always thinking "professional...professional...personal...recreational...professional" and visualizing each going into their 'folder'.
Moving forward from now, there are a few things I want to do to make use of the full potential of Twitter. The first is to learn more about hashtags. I still do not know fully what the purpose of them is, so that is on my to do list. Second is just to tweet more often and link to certain sites and ideas. This I'm sure will come easier when I am out teaching and have more resources coming in and out.
Even though our session with Clarence Fisher was short, it was jam-packed with information. He gave me a lot to think about, way more than I am going to mention here.
When I think back to my days in high school. there are a lot of differences, the major one being technology. As I graduated, my school was receiving their first Smart Board. It was utilized by only one teacher in the entire school, and was only for the last few months I was there. It was a very abstract concept to some teachers as they had been in the profession for 20+ years already and did not like the idea. Now, in 2013, If we are given an opportunity such as that to try a new device, we must take that and run with it. We must change our game plan to accommodate the changes that come to the system, the curriculum, the devices we use, and anything else that may effect our teaching.
2. We need to focus on two big ideas behind education:
Engagement: Students need to be kept engaged during a lesson to make it effective. If the student is able to shut their brain off at any point, or stop listening to the teacher, the teacher has most likely lost them for the remainder of the class. If the student is kept busy (not just with busy work, but with meaningful tasks and assignments), their brain will not get that chance to turn off and they will be able to learn much more than they think they are able to.
Passion-based learning and teaching: This really stems off engagement for me. If a student is engaged while learning a concept, they may consider that to be more favorable than if they don't care about it. By engaging the student, they will be able to learn better what is being taught and connect it with real life as well (they might need a little prompting for this part). The teacher also has to be passionate about what they are teaching. Students will pick up on if a teacher is fudging their way through a topic or an entire course and will give up on it to. It will be another classic case of monkey see, monkey do. But if the teacher cares about that topic and puts some effort into their lessons, the positive energy will rub off on the students (even the unmotivated ones) and they will do better.
Students now are posting more online than ever before, and they are not using a filter. They are posting inappropriate status', tweets, and even pictures of themselves getting drunk. Yeah, great idea. Then, a little down the road, they are applying for jobs and wondering why the are not getting them. Hmmm... I wonder why?! Maybe if they would use their head and actually think before they post, they may not be having that issue!
As pre-service teachers, we are constantly told we must teach the curriculum, but George brought up a good point regarding that... Teaching the children is our first job. You have to know how to teach the children in your class before you can attempt to teach them the curriculum. Without this step, you may have some issues transferring the knowledge and getting the children to have a deeper understanding of the material. By actually taking the time to teach the individuals, we may find out more about the students as well (learning disabilities, exceptionalities, etc).
We need to be school teachers, not just classroom teachers. A classroom teacher will only focus on their own room and their own students. Their intrigue and initiative gets left at the door when they walk out and they do not care what happens after that point. A school teacher, however, thinks of the entire school community as a whole. They collaborate with other teachers and resource staff, as well as treat all the students as if they were all in their class. This creates a much better sense of belonging for all and should be an overall goal for all schools and teachers.
A big topic of the conversation we had on Tuesday with John Finch was cyber-bullying, and it is a very touchy subject with some people, and for good reason.
So, where exactly is the line drawn? What is bullying and what is just plain ole drama? To this pre-service teacher, the difference is quite simple: bullying refers to a threatening or harmful situation, and drama is more focused on rumors and bashing. And as was mentioned in class too, blackmail is another real threat on the internet. My question to whomever reads this... watch the video below and tell me which of the three categories you would put it under, and why. If you are wanting more information about the girl's story, visit here.
Of course though, everyone will have their own definition and opinion on each, including other teachers, students, administration, judges, parents, etc. When compared to physical, emotional, or verbal bullying, cyber bullying has a much more undefined, rough, and unclear definition. Is it time to have more clear cut laws regarding topics such as these? Is it time to start enforcing them more strictly?? How many more stories have to come out like this before there is a big change???
Our presenter for this week was Alec Couros and he kept the bar set high for how informational it was. The main thing that I took home at the end of the day, however, was the need to embrace new communication tools as they come available. So now, what does that really mean to me?
This takes me back a few years now. To think these simple tools (telephone, notes, letters) were the basis for communication as I grew up is just crazy. I remember having a "pen pal" in Vancouver that I corresponded with about different skating events we were each participating in and just to stay in touch. The amount of time to send and receive those dang letters was ridiculous, and you never really knew if they were getting to their destination or not. Plus, if it does get lost, are we really going to write it out again? No! Well we could use the phone, but then being young and having my parents paying the phone bill, and the amount of time I would have been on it long distance calling, I could not consciously do that either. So it was waiting for the return letter to come, hoping it would get here sooner than later, even though I knew better.
Now, fast forward fifteen years and I am sitting here today with (seemingly) endless options at my fingertips. I have my cell phone in my pocket (no not a smartphone, I still have a dumbphone), my laptop in front of me, my iPod on my docking station (currently playing a wicked Skrillex playlist FYI), and our fax machine in the office upstairs. Now this list is nothing like some could put together, but I am nothing like the people that would have even more devices. This is a way of life now and we need to be able to use all of the sources of communication that are available to us and to the best of our abilities.
Then the question stands... If we get to use all of these devices in our daily lives, why is it that when we are at school, our students cannot use theirs? If they know how to use them properly and they do not abuse the privilege, get them on their iPods, smart phones, tablets, or whatever else they may have. They are going to be using those for a lot of their lives so they may as well get to be "masters" of them.
The Skype session with Dean Shareski on January 15th was very informational and I got many points out of it.
1. Doing is better than telling: This is a concept that has been proven over and over again. The majority of people are able to have a deeper understanding of a topic if they have engaging, hands-on learning activities related to the topic and are given the opportunity to share that information and activity with others, rather than only having an explanation of what they need to know.
2. The focus in today's school remains on reading and writing, the 'most important part'. This thought is why the majority of schools remain in the past and are left behind by the 21st century and all of it's newest technology and resources. Smart phones, ipods, and tablets all fall under the viewing and representing category, and there is an increasing number of students with access to these tools as time goes on, so they must be taught how to use them to their full potential... And the best way to learn is to play!
3. The internet is more than just a place to "look up stuff". Although this was the general thought of people and even schools now, students use it for much more (games, social media, etc). We, as teachers, must make this transition as well to take full advantage of the internet's benefits.
This past Thursday we got the opportunity to have John Evans as a guest speaker. This session was one of, if not the most valuable I have ever been part of in my educational learning. The main topic of the day was Personal Learning Networks (or PLN's for short) so that is what I am going to look at.
The first point is how people need to be more focused on their professional learning rather than their professional development. Learning is a lifelong activity and there is no one in this world that has learned "everything". Development, however, considers there to be an endpoint which is the target for success. If one reaches that target they are "successful". As time progresses though, everything changes from places to find information and resources, to technological advances. There will be a lot of good information to be used, but there will also be a lot of useless information. If a person goes on the journey solo, they have a great deal of filtering to do before finding what they need, and ensuring it is valid. This is where the PLN comes in.
Through a PLN, one can continue to advance their learning with time, but it also cuts down on the amount of work they have to do. Why do it on your own if you can have help? Think smarter, not harder!
Being a second year Education student and pre-service teacher, I have noticed many colleagues around me that are finding new learning resources on the internet, collaborating with people for ideas to use in the classroom, and a steady increase in the number of them starting their own blog... which has lead me here. I always seem to follow the trends, just quite a bit later than most. I quite often used "I'm not a Twit" in conversation before creating my Twitter account, "I'm no pinhead" before starting to use Pinterest, and now that my blog has started, I guess "I don't keep a diary" has to go out the window too. This blog will be my reflection of guest speakers for our Internet for Educators class, as well as the educational side of my thinking... and maybe more.
