Saturday, September 29, 2012

Blog Assignment 5

The iSchool Initiative
iSchool Initiative logo

Travis Allen, came up with a solution to the problems in public education that America faces when he was just a senior in high school. He prompts, in his video The iSchool Initiative (Mobile Learning) the question "Does technology belong in our classroom?" He proposes that schools get rid of books, copy paper, printer ink, and even pencils in order to make the digital switch. Allen points out that the current iTouch is already equipped for many educational uses. You can use the apps that come standard with the iTouch such as the calendar and calculator, as well as downloading apps from Apple's App Store. He proposes that all students and teachers can use this technology for learning in class as well as taking tests.
I agree with Allen in that this will tremendously decrease carbon footprints and contribute to schools going green, but I'm not sure it is the smartest for test taking. If a student takes a test on an iTouch or iPad, how are we as educators able to determine whether or not they are cheating. Allen said himself that you can email notes to other students through the devices, and there is also Internet access through the devices. Who is to say that the students will not try this during an exam? I feel like this would be a great tool in the learning process, however when it comes to test taking, there needs to be some other solution. I agree with him completely in that he believes that students now need to be prepared to learn in the digital world they were born into. I would definitely use the iTouch or iPad for my students in order to further their knowledge of this amazing, new digital world.


Virtual Choir
After watching Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir, I was completely amazed! This was truly a magnificent thing to watch. At first, after reading Jennifer Chambers' post, I was a little confused as to what I was fixing to to watch. How incredible is it that someone can compile all of these videos and voices into one? I think that it is amazing that we have the technology now to do this. It was truly magical just listening to the performance, and it made me wish I had been apart of it.

Teaching 21st Century Students
In the John Strange version of Kevin Roberts' Teaching 21st Century Students, Roberts makes it clear that teachers in the 21st century should be teaching skills rather than only facts. His presentation explains that all of the knowledge that our students need to know is out there, and it is our job, as educators, to be filters. He explains that teachers should show students how to use the information that they find outside of the classroom through analyzing it, paraphrasing it, and even uploading it to share with others.
I completely agree with Roberts. His view that teachers should be helping students to learn skills is very important. Teaching a child to correctly use resources is extremely significant. As an educator, I hope to be able to incorporate as much technology as possible in my classroom. I will focus a lot on helping children to learn how to find significant information and use in correctly. I feel like the simplest way to get children involved in new technology is by blogging. If I blog daily or even weekly, and make it a requirement for my students to do the same, and I make a point to have them try new and different ways of getting their information out there (much like this class,) I feel that my students will be well learned in different aspects of the digital world and the many things that can be done on a computer using the Internet. I want to be able to engage them in as much as possible by using technology. When I do become an educator, I can only hope that I will be "relevant, challenging, and engaging."

The Flipped Classroom
"Flipping" the classroom is a way to get students to learn lessons at home and to come to school the next day and work on the application part of learning. It is a way to extend the time that students have with their teachers in the classroom applying the knowledge that they learned at home via video. The YouTube video Dr. Lodge McCammon's FIZZ- Flipping the Classroom gives a little information about what exactly flipping is, and the video Why I Flipped My Classroom is a teacher's firsthand account of the success she had when she flipped her own classroom. The third video, Flipping the Classroom- 4th Grade STEM, is a teacher's message to her students' parents addressing the idea of flipping her classroom. They all seem to think that flipping the classroom is a great idea.
I agree with them to an extent. I feel that it is a great idea to have children watch their lesson before coming to class in order to bring in questions that they may have, and to extend the application time needed in the classroom, but who is to say that the children are actually going to watch these videos? I feel that it could be a waste of time if the students are not going to put forth any effort with this idea. I would love to record my lectures and have them available online for remediation, for the students who need it. I probably would not start out by teaching in a flipped classroom, but if I saw that I needed to try something different, I would definitely try this method out. I think it is a great idea, if you have the right kind of students, and parents who will actually monitor their child's work and who are okay with this method.

classroom that has been flipped upside down

2 comments:

  1. Good job. You mentioned that students taking tests on an iPad could easily cheat. I think there are testing applications/websites that will not let you navigate away from a test until the test has been completed and submitted.

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  2. I really enjoyed reading your blog. You did a good job with your summarization, and I wondered as well about students cheating on their tests.

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