This week's assignment gave me a good taste and even better appreciation for the flipped classroom idea!
I loved it because I know that in my classes as a student, I hated being the last kid to write down the notes that everyone was waiting for just as much as I hated being the kid who writes point form notes of the important stuff and having to wait around for the slow poke. Online presentations, even if it wasn't an inverted classroom, but just posted again later, would go miles in k-12. In university I have professors who will post their notes after class or provide their power point just before class, and that helps a lot. My favourite thus far was a professor who posted his notes along with a recording of his voice and the writing he did on the electronic board every week! I still have access to those I think... and I remember a lot about the vectors, etc that I was easily able to go back and review with "him".
The Powtoon presentations can even appear as though it follows my writing! :)
Also, a quick note: As I mentioned in a comment to my post on social media, I've almost grown fond of twitter now! This week, being able to see what others thought of each others' presentations was great :)
Tuesday 8 April 2014
Tuesday 1 April 2014
Communication is key... so how do we do it?
I am torn about this one to be honest... For myself, I love that with my phone, I am able to communicate with friends that I've made all over the world. I have a plan that allows me to text internationally, and I have apps that let me talk to my friends for free! I'd say that's torn down walls, wouldn't you?
However, I have also recently noticed how much it annoys me when I'm in the presence of someone and all they do is "play" with their phone. Yes, they could be doing something useful, but aren't I worth spending some time with and some attention? It's the same as if I was talking to someone and suddenly they turn away and talk to someone else without even acknowledging that we were conversing. I must confess I'm guilty of doing this both in person and on my phone, but does that make it okay? I don't think so. There's some things that are just common courtesy.
Perhaps the best way to do it is by making sure people around you are aware of what you're doing. Treating the phone as another person, one could put the conversation they're having in person on hold momentarily, excusing themselves from present company to answer/reply to messages.
So, what about in the classroom. It's something I know I've already had struggles with... Some teachers don't want cel phones in the classroom at all. Some want them visible at all times. As a languages teacher, I have to admit the ease of looking up a word in your pocket size dictionary vs having to find a big dictionary and look it up (and I truly do enjoy looking up words in the dictionary, but one cannot deny the ease and time-saving advantage of the technology)
New Favourite Tool:
Google Forms! Who knew? I mean, I was pretty fascinated when Facebook made it possible to ask questions there, but this is better :) I do have to admit, I'm hoping they will soon find a way to limit responses to one per person and to know who is responding. Although I really enjoy it, I'm hesitant to use it with students or parents without having a way of knowing who gave which response.
I must take a moment to just contemplate Facebook in education. To be honest, and perhaps it's just me being naive, but I would love to be able to put my students on my Facebook friends list... It's true, I would probably categorize them all as students and would thus put certain restrictions, but in general, I'd say it's easier to get a hold of them and, more importantly, get to know them through social media. Not to mention, their parents are more than likely to be on there.
Kindergarten teacher, Matt Gomez, shares his experience and reasoning behind using Facebook again in his classroom on his blog! He tells of how he set up a closed Facebook group to share with parents what he does in the classroom. In another post, he shares comments from parents who voiced their opinions on the effects of the group. Some of the general themes that stuck out to me included:
However, I have also recently noticed how much it annoys me when I'm in the presence of someone and all they do is "play" with their phone. Yes, they could be doing something useful, but aren't I worth spending some time with and some attention? It's the same as if I was talking to someone and suddenly they turn away and talk to someone else without even acknowledging that we were conversing. I must confess I'm guilty of doing this both in person and on my phone, but does that make it okay? I don't think so. There's some things that are just common courtesy.
Perhaps the best way to do it is by making sure people around you are aware of what you're doing. Treating the phone as another person, one could put the conversation they're having in person on hold momentarily, excusing themselves from present company to answer/reply to messages.
So, what about in the classroom. It's something I know I've already had struggles with... Some teachers don't want cel phones in the classroom at all. Some want them visible at all times. As a languages teacher, I have to admit the ease of looking up a word in your pocket size dictionary vs having to find a big dictionary and look it up (and I truly do enjoy looking up words in the dictionary, but one cannot deny the ease and time-saving advantage of the technology)
New Favourite Tool:
Google Forms! Who knew? I mean, I was pretty fascinated when Facebook made it possible to ask questions there, but this is better :) I do have to admit, I'm hoping they will soon find a way to limit responses to one per person and to know who is responding. Although I really enjoy it, I'm hesitant to use it with students or parents without having a way of knowing who gave which response.
I must take a moment to just contemplate Facebook in education. To be honest, and perhaps it's just me being naive, but I would love to be able to put my students on my Facebook friends list... It's true, I would probably categorize them all as students and would thus put certain restrictions, but in general, I'd say it's easier to get a hold of them and, more importantly, get to know them through social media. Not to mention, their parents are more than likely to be on there.
Kindergarten teacher, Matt Gomez, shares his experience and reasoning behind using Facebook again in his classroom on his blog! He tells of how he set up a closed Facebook group to share with parents what he does in the classroom. In another post, he shares comments from parents who voiced their opinions on the effects of the group. Some of the general themes that stuck out to me included:
- giving parents peace of mind. As a teacher, I feel it's imperative for parents to know that their child is having fun and learning... especially if they don't give big answers to questions like: How was school today? What'd you learn at school today? etc. As a parent, I'd want to know what's going on in the classroom, and, especially today, parents just don't seem to have enough time to go and participate in the school very often. One parent states:
- the facilitation of communication between parent and child. A few comments mentioned that while parents usually got short answers from their student about what they did at school, because they knew what was going on, they were able to ask specific questions and get excited answers from their students
- the building up of a classroom community. I know that when I was in school, my mom participated quite a bit for the amount of things she had to get done, but my youngest sister got the short end of that stick. Typically, parents only know the parents of your best friends. Through the use of social media, one parent commented :
"... it was a great way to interactively get to know some of the other students and parents from the class..."
"I was very concerned about how my child would do all day in school, your Facebook page has given me peace of mind to know that she is having a fun day filled with learning and growth..."
Exciting advancements overall!
Wednesday 19 March 2014
Discussion boards and listservs can contribute to student learning?
Mailing Lists :
I think we can all agree that when we're automatically subscribed to a mailing list and then check our email to find 20 messages from something you don't remember subscribing to, it's a little annoying. For this reason, I can't see a listserv fulfilling the purposes we want, especially if we're using them to communicate with parents. On that same note, I'm grateful for the emails from stores that I actually enjoying shopping at, so I can know when I can go in for a sale. I also appreciate it when, at the retail store where I work, people trust us with their emails and come and take advantage of the many sales and promotions that go on. It's almost the beginning of bringing together a community. It also makes sure that everyone gets the message. I don't have to make a point of going to the websites of these stores to get the updates! In the case of education, students wouldn't have to go to a class website or moodle to check on things, it'd come to them, and in most students' cases, to their phones! I have forwarded my university email to my more commonly used email account because it comes to my phone! and I get updated on it regularly. Before I did this, I missed an online quiz because the professor had put it up on Moodle and then emailed us. No more missing quizzes for me!
Discussion Boards :
I like the idea of being able to have students ask their questions in a discussion board. I know as a student, I've discussed with my peers when we've all sent the professor the same question, and I'm sure he/she would have benefited from a discussion board from questions. In fact, I also had another professor who encouraged us to ask questions to each other about our assignments through the discussion board on moodle. It was very efficient, and students would start a discussion on any particular question in the assignment. They'd help each other out on there. However, recently I heard of a case in Ontario where a student was facing expulsion because of helping his peers through a facebook study group*. I suppose the key here is in the moderator - monitoring the discussion. This is something my professor could do thanks to moodle. I've found that Moodle has a demo mode! It's a great way to explore exactly what one can do as a teacher :) instead of simply what we experience as students.
Other ways?
Perhaps my favourite tool I've found so far as a teacher is Remind101. It allows you to make a "listserv" via text messaging! (students that don't have texting capacities can still get it in an email) I, for one, check my texts more than my email even when I get both notifications on my phone! I currently am part of a community where we get reminder text messages almost daily. Even my phone company alerts me of my bill via monthly text message! It's a receive only listserv, so it does not allow for two way communication, but it also keeps everyone's emails and phone numbers private. My students/parents don't have to worry that I will be contacting them individually (you can only send out to everyone), and I don't have to worry about them having my personal phone number or about getting a secondary phone. I'm not sure this is the way to communicate all information, but it'd be a good reminder or could even encourage parents to get in touch with you.
*"Ryerson student fighting cheating charges for Facebook study group." CBC News Toronto. CBC, 06 Mar 2008. Web. 19 Mar 2014..
I think we can all agree that when we're automatically subscribed to a mailing list and then check our email to find 20 messages from something you don't remember subscribing to, it's a little annoying. For this reason, I can't see a listserv fulfilling the purposes we want, especially if we're using them to communicate with parents. On that same note, I'm grateful for the emails from stores that I actually enjoying shopping at, so I can know when I can go in for a sale. I also appreciate it when, at the retail store where I work, people trust us with their emails and come and take advantage of the many sales and promotions that go on. It's almost the beginning of bringing together a community. It also makes sure that everyone gets the message. I don't have to make a point of going to the websites of these stores to get the updates! In the case of education, students wouldn't have to go to a class website or moodle to check on things, it'd come to them, and in most students' cases, to their phones! I have forwarded my university email to my more commonly used email account because it comes to my phone! and I get updated on it regularly. Before I did this, I missed an online quiz because the professor had put it up on Moodle and then emailed us. No more missing quizzes for me!
Discussion Boards :
I like the idea of being able to have students ask their questions in a discussion board. I know as a student, I've discussed with my peers when we've all sent the professor the same question, and I'm sure he/she would have benefited from a discussion board from questions. In fact, I also had another professor who encouraged us to ask questions to each other about our assignments through the discussion board on moodle. It was very efficient, and students would start a discussion on any particular question in the assignment. They'd help each other out on there. However, recently I heard of a case in Ontario where a student was facing expulsion because of helping his peers through a facebook study group*. I suppose the key here is in the moderator - monitoring the discussion. This is something my professor could do thanks to moodle. I've found that Moodle has a demo mode! It's a great way to explore exactly what one can do as a teacher :) instead of simply what we experience as students.
Other ways?
Perhaps my favourite tool I've found so far as a teacher is Remind101. It allows you to make a "listserv" via text messaging! (students that don't have texting capacities can still get it in an email) I, for one, check my texts more than my email even when I get both notifications on my phone! I currently am part of a community where we get reminder text messages almost daily. Even my phone company alerts me of my bill via monthly text message! It's a receive only listserv, so it does not allow for two way communication, but it also keeps everyone's emails and phone numbers private. My students/parents don't have to worry that I will be contacting them individually (you can only send out to everyone), and I don't have to worry about them having my personal phone number or about getting a secondary phone. I'm not sure this is the way to communicate all information, but it'd be a good reminder or could even encourage parents to get in touch with you.
*"Ryerson student fighting cheating charges for Facebook study group." CBC News Toronto. CBC, 06 Mar 2008. Web. 19 Mar 2014.
Tuesday 11 March 2014
Not just footprints in the sand.
Thoughts on digital footprints:
- seems to me that privacy settings and an awareness of the information that you share online are a huge part of what this means, entails and looks like
- there's so many contradictions about the direction of students' knowledge and action in regards to their digital footprints:
August 22 2013: Teens becoming increasingly aware of online privacy encouraging...
and then just 6 months later:
February 19 2014 : Young Canadians lack understanding of online privacy...
*personally, I think we're gunna have to step it up a notch as educators if we're gunna tip this more towards the "increasingly aware" side...
MediaSmarts seems to be the leading source for information on Digital Privacy, etc. Both articles pull information from studies made by them. While I don't fully understand the contradiction (nor do I believe anyone does really), I am quite impressed with the lessons and resources offered by them to help illuminate students' understanding of the importance of their privacy.
- 10 things I found I needed to know, and I agree, "Your Students Should Know" (points expounded on the link):
- seems to me that privacy settings and an awareness of the information that you share online are a huge part of what this means, entails and looks like
- there's so many contradictions about the direction of students' knowledge and action in regards to their digital footprints:
August 22 2013: Teens becoming increasingly aware of online privacy encouraging...
and then just 6 months later:
February 19 2014 : Young Canadians lack understanding of online privacy...
*personally, I think we're gunna have to step it up a notch as educators if we're gunna tip this more towards the "increasingly aware" side...
MediaSmarts seems to be the leading source for information on Digital Privacy, etc. Both articles pull information from studies made by them. While I don't fully understand the contradiction (nor do I believe anyone does really), I am quite impressed with the lessons and resources offered by them to help illuminate students' understanding of the importance of their privacy.
- 10 things I found I needed to know, and I agree, "Your Students Should Know" (points expounded on the link):
- important people look at your online profiles
- important people make important decisions based on the information they find about you online
- what digital citizenship is
- your digital reputation is important
- create a professional identity
- information and examples are available to hep build a good reputation
- the internet is permanent - keep private things private
- The Golden Rule applies online
- don't be afraid, but don't be too... careless, open, trusting, time consumed online
- brand your self *yourself purposely separated
Tuesday 4 March 2014
Story time!
"Storytelling is an ancient form of communication. Older than the written word, it has been a form of human expression for as long we can trace our own history."
- Arnt Eriksen
I felt inspired to write a happy little story myself! ... but, fun though it was to make it, Kerpoof bested me and I can't actually share my story unless I purchase a membership.
Moral of the story: read the fine print.
However, I may go back and revamp some old classics I drew in high school using Bubblr
- Arnt Eriksen
I felt inspired to write a happy little story myself! ... but, fun though it was to make it, Kerpoof bested me and I can't actually share my story unless I purchase a membership.
Moral of the story: read the fine print.
However, I may go back and revamp some old classics I drew in high school using Bubblr
Tuesday 18 February 2014
Up on CLOUD number 9
I'm finding a bit of a trend with the things we're learning about in this class... it's going to take a lot of work.
In regards to using The Cloud, the Horizon Report highlights a few of the pros to the shifts in teaching, but they also point out important challenges that we as teachers need to be prepared to meet. (see last two pages of the Report).
What does this mean for me?
Work.
But not just lots of extra work... but work that will help the future.
This added work will make it so we can stop talking about making a shift and actually DO IT! I don't know if it's just me, but I often feel like we're learning all these great things that we can do in the classroom and should be doing. Things that will be better for the student, etc. but quite frankly, I just don't see it... I've done all my professional semesters and I've only caught glimpses, mostly from student teachers, of the potential we have to change the classroom. If we take it upon ourselves to make the change, the next wave of teachers can hit the ground running!
This in turn will help the Students as they enter into their future... the future of the world... Our world. The walls and limitations of the classroom can be completely torn down! (figuratively*) and they can access any and all the information they thirst after. Our students will be more prepared for the future as they explore all the possibilities that are available to them, not just what we make available to them.
Moral of the story, we have to suck it up and:
*but really... the possibilities are pretty close to limitless...
In regards to using The Cloud, the Horizon Report highlights a few of the pros to the shifts in teaching, but they also point out important challenges that we as teachers need to be prepared to meet. (see last two pages of the Report).
What does this mean for me?
Work.
But not just lots of extra work... but work that will help the future.
This added work will make it so we can stop talking about making a shift and actually DO IT! I don't know if it's just me, but I often feel like we're learning all these great things that we can do in the classroom and should be doing. Things that will be better for the student, etc. but quite frankly, I just don't see it... I've done all my professional semesters and I've only caught glimpses, mostly from student teachers, of the potential we have to change the classroom. If we take it upon ourselves to make the change, the next wave of teachers can hit the ground running!
This in turn will help the Students as they enter into their future... the future of the world... Our world. The walls and limitations of the classroom can be completely torn down! (figuratively*) and they can access any and all the information they thirst after. Our students will be more prepared for the future as they explore all the possibilities that are available to them, not just what we make available to them.
Moral of the story, we have to suck it up and:
*but really... the possibilities are pretty close to limitless...
Tuesday 11 February 2014
What I didn't know is...
WIKI is an acronym?!? Ha! Well, that's good to know and makes a lot of sense, so without further ado... What I know is:
Remember my post about Web 2.0? all about the interacting with the interwebs...? (if not, just click the hyperlink) Well, wikis are perhaps one of the best examples of this phenomena. If you haven't ever used wikipedia, a prime example of a wiki, here's the gist of it (taken from wikipedia itself!): "a web application which allows people to add, modify, or delete content in collaboration with others"
While some of the pros and cons of wikis is discussed on the class website, I wanted to further mention/give opinion on some of the added points taken from this article.
Not going to lie, when I say Using Wikis to Tell Stories Online, all I could think was "One word stories!" (briefly: a story is told by more than one person, each taking a turn to add only one word). As explained by dramaresource.com, in this game "It is not always easy to maintain a logical flow for the story..." I feel like sometimes this is also the case with wikis... while I am a big fan, I'm sometimes lost when it comes to keeping control and logic in what is shared. It is something that would take a lot of added time and work to control in the classroom (and without, since the internet is accessible at all hours).
Remember my post about Web 2.0? all about the interacting with the interwebs...? (if not, just click the hyperlink) Well, wikis are perhaps one of the best examples of this phenomena. If you haven't ever used wikipedia, a prime example of a wiki, here's the gist of it (taken from wikipedia itself!): "a web application which allows people to add, modify, or delete content in collaboration with others"
While some of the pros and cons of wikis is discussed on the class website, I wanted to further mention/give opinion on some of the added points taken from this article.
Not going to lie, when I say Using Wikis to Tell Stories Online, all I could think was "One word stories!" (briefly: a story is told by more than one person, each taking a turn to add only one word). As explained by dramaresource.com, in this game "It is not always easy to maintain a logical flow for the story..." I feel like sometimes this is also the case with wikis... while I am a big fan, I'm sometimes lost when it comes to keeping control and logic in what is shared. It is something that would take a lot of added time and work to control in the classroom (and without, since the internet is accessible at all hours).
Monday 10 February 2014
Social Bookmarking is fun to do!
Okay, can I just say how much FUN I've had this week? I like to make learning fun, and I've been able to go onto Pinterest and look up crafts and games and even pranks which I can use at my present job (doing homework with Francophone elementary school students.
See!
Visit Patricia's profile on Pinterest.
See!
Visit Patricia's profile on Pinterest.
Tuesday 28 January 2014
Web What Point... Oh!! ... Web 101 :)
Okay, so I learned something this week! (I do every week.. but I really enjoyed feeling like this could be used in every day conversations with non-ed majors)
First off... For anyone who doesn't know : Web 1.0 = old school! ie - you get information off the interwebs. Period. End of story. See you later!
Web 2.0 = you actually get to add stuff to the interwebs yourself and participate (like on wikipedia for example)
Next : according to Dr Ludmila Smirnova, whom I Googled and found to be a very well educated Russian lady, "the boundaries between teaching and learning and between knowledge acquisition and knowledge production break down" via web 2.0, and as I go through the lists and piles of options, I can't help but feel town about the various sites. While there are some that I have thoroughly enjoyed/will enjoy in the future, I know there were others in those lists that I would even discourage others from using simply because my experience with them hasn't been supremely positive. I feel that in order to make a less discriminate opinion though... I'm just going to have to use them in a classroom or even in this one? More to come
First off... For anyone who doesn't know : Web 1.0 = old school! ie - you get information off the interwebs. Period. End of story. See you later!
Web 2.0 = you actually get to add stuff to the interwebs yourself and participate (like on wikipedia for example)
Next : according to Dr Ludmila Smirnova, whom I Googled and found to be a very well educated Russian lady, "the boundaries between teaching and learning and between knowledge acquisition and knowledge production break down" via web 2.0, and as I go through the lists and piles of options, I can't help but feel town about the various sites. While there are some that I have thoroughly enjoyed/will enjoy in the future, I know there were others in those lists that I would even discourage others from using simply because my experience with them hasn't been supremely positive. I feel that in order to make a less discriminate opinion though... I'm just going to have to use them in a classroom or even in this one? More to come
Monday 27 January 2014
Internet Safety
So... of course this post deleted itself... ha! well, in brief, I just wanted to write about a few things I learned... Having been "victim"* to bullying myself growing up, I was curious to see what Cyberbullying really entailed. This is what I learned from my readings and my classmates:
There are many different ways that people can cyberbully. Some are listed:
- Sending messages or emails containing insults or threats
- Spreading hateful comments or rumors about a person through email, messages, or posting on social networking or blogs
- Stealing passwords and sending out threatening emails or messages using the assumed identity
- Building websites to target students
- Posting embarrassing pictures of video footage of someone
- Posting obscene messages on online message boards or creating slanderous websites
I'd wager that the most prominent way would be of people posting rude or offensive comments, videos or even websites that will harm children emotionally. I'm seeing that cyberbullying brings about the same kinds of consequences in the lives of the children.
*I put the "" because if I am to be honest, I almost owe those junior high bullies a favor. I grew to be able to stand up for myself and to learn what real friends were. After all, "all [they]'re ever gunna be is mean".
Wednesday 15 January 2014
Starting "Education: the Internet and Education" (Education² ...?)
YAHOO!! I'm so excited to have another regular reminder to blog! I love being able to get my thoughts out... and I feel like I can better understand them myself, and by default then be more able to express them to others, when I write them down.
The next few months I'll be in an education class exploring the internet and its relationship with education. It's already brought me out of my bubble, ironically enough (I didn't think an online class could do that to me!), by having me connect on twitter. Not sure I'll be very good at tweeting, but that'll be fun to explore.
Anyways! The point of this first post is to respond to an article: The Positive Impact of eLearning
A very interesting article indeed! My only concern: will we eliminate the classroom altogether? I will attempt to explain myself. If students learn at home overnight using the information given to them via the internet, for example, then they just come to school to problem solve or do projects, they don't really need us as teachers. I suppose this would make for a different view on teaching, perhaps one I'm maybe even more excited about. I see a future where specialized folk gather for the good of our youth... or perhaps there's simply a listing of all those willing to help our youth to understand or further expand their understanding of the universe, especially of their passions. We'd simply be using teachers the way I think they're supposed to be used! See, now that I've reflected... I'm not so sure this is a concern after all...
The next few months I'll be in an education class exploring the internet and its relationship with education. It's already brought me out of my bubble, ironically enough (I didn't think an online class could do that to me!), by having me connect on twitter. Not sure I'll be very good at tweeting, but that'll be fun to explore.
Anyways! The point of this first post is to respond to an article: The Positive Impact of eLearning
A very interesting article indeed! My only concern: will we eliminate the classroom altogether? I will attempt to explain myself. If students learn at home overnight using the information given to them via the internet, for example, then they just come to school to problem solve or do projects, they don't really need us as teachers. I suppose this would make for a different view on teaching, perhaps one I'm maybe even more excited about. I see a future where specialized folk gather for the good of our youth... or perhaps there's simply a listing of all those willing to help our youth to understand or further expand their understanding of the universe, especially of their passions. We'd simply be using teachers the way I think they're supposed to be used! See, now that I've reflected... I'm not so sure this is a concern after all...
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