Reflections on Class (July 27th)

During class we looked at a number of online tools, that we should be able to utilize either now or once we  become professional teachers. We looked at Skype, Evernote, Dropbox, and Diigo in our small groups. Each one was interesting in its own way, but in general I felt that there was a lot of overlap between them. I have to say though, that despite learning all these new tools, I'm not really sure that I would use them. Not because they aren't useful, but because I love Google.
Even though the tools we looked at have some added advantages, Google is just so convenient. Google has some feature that will allow me to basically get the same results at all those different  websites. Right now, most of my documents are in Google Docs/Drive. That works for me instead of Drop Box and Evernote. Google talk/video chat will take the place of Skype for me and actually allows you to do something for free or cheaper than Skype. Okay so to not make this a plug for Google, I want to say why this is important.
For me, the less technology that I have to deal with, the better. I like using Google because I know that I can rely on one type of format and look at everything generally in one place. The amount of tools that we've been learning in class, never mind generally what's out there, is pretty overwhelming. The less I have to think about the tools themselves and finding them, the more time I can spend on making them useful for instruction.
I think I'm starting to get on board with the idea that technology is somewhat useful in the classroom, but that doesn't mean I want to sacrifice time just figuring out what to use. The fact that Google centralizes everything, makes it easier to focus on the use of technology versus just the stuff of technology. 
Of course that doesn't mean that down the line I won't change my mind. I am opening up to new ideas through this class, so maybe the added features will become more appealing once I'm in the classroom. For now though, I'm perfectly happy with Google, and I'm willing to bet that my students will probably get pretty comfortable with it too :) ... 

Reflections on Class (July 20th)

I don't know where I am in terms of technology and teaching. A part of me feels like it's moving to the 'dark side' and starting to get convinced that technology really will add a useful dimension to my teaching. The other side of me is thinking ... really?? did you really need technology to do that??Today, I found myself revisiting the original question I had in my first post . During the first part of class I posed this question to Kristin. Do we really need technology to make portfolios and curriculum maps?? I think that a paper version would be just as useful as an online version. Yes, students might be more excited about doing an online one, and yes there might be more PR value in having students do things online, but I think that there isn't necessarily a learning advantage ... Is the fact that it's more motivating enough to do it online versus doing a paper version??  A big strong part of me was saying NO ...
During the second half of class, Tom's presentation made question that big NO ... Tom talked about how he was able to use a video game to engage students in the learning and get people who normally aren't active participants to become invested in the material. It seemed that by introducing the Angry Birds forum, he was able not only to get students to look at the material in a new way, but also to get students who thought they were 'bad at math' to rethink that. By introducing the game, he helped more students learn and he helped them learn better. Or at least that's how it seemed from what he said.
Histrorically speaking, I have been pretty anti-video game. I generally view them as a waste of time and extremely addictive. I know that Jane McGonigal claims that they have intrinsic value, but I feel that a lot of what she says is accomplished through gaming should be accomplished through schooling ... Intellectual engagement isn't the only reason that people are playing 5million years worth of World Of Warcraft. There is something else, and even if that is the only reason, it's not enough of an excuse to spend all that time playing the game. Yes it's engaging, but it's not productive; it's not fruitful. Even the skills and attitudes that these gamers have in the game world don't translate into the real world. That's not something she really assessed.
That might be where Tom and Jane diverge. I think by translating a game to fit the classroom, Tom was able to make gaming productive and fruitful. To do that though, he had to reinterpret the game. So if the students had just played Angry Birds in class and talked about how it related to math, I don't think that would have been very productive. By transforming the activity into real life however, and simulating the game, Tom transformed the game into something fruitful. First, the students were more engaged, so now instead of just having these skills and attitudes in the gameworld they were expressing and honing skills in the real world. Second, the students were able to learn something. They were actually gaining intellectual ground by doing this activity.
Maybe the usefulness of technology to motivate is something that I need to think more about ... Because students are receptive to technology, maybe I have to start there so I can move them to where I want to get them; to somewhere productive ...

Reflections on Gaming and Teaching

I am very interested to see how our class discussion develops around the texts we were assigned for this week. To be honest, I was pretty critical reading some of the titles, but I would like to see where Kristin and Jeff take us with these.
In general, I felt that the texts on gaming were pretty persuasive. Though I'm not really sure if I'm settled on the idea that we really need to be playing more games in order to save the world, it's an interesting thought. I definitely do think that there is some type of skill set we're missing to utilize from the large proportion of gamers out there. I also think that there has to be some way that we can get students to feel as excited about school work as they are about winning in a game setting. If intellectual satisfaction is the motivation behind playing so much online games, then there must be something I can do as a teacher to generate that in my classroom and get kids motivated about school work in the same way they are about games. I want my students to have that epic win face while doing my assignments!!
I was left with some questions though. First, neither texts on gaming addressed the gender disparity in game play. I'm not sure if this is a perceived or factual disparity, but I definitely feel that males are more likely to play  games for long periods of time than females. This may be do in part to the types of games that are currently on the market, but I would have liked to see that addressed.
Second, in the video Jane McGonigal didn't really talk about the role of appeal in investment in gaming. I think for many people, they might be willing to play WOW but not necessarily a game about saving the earth. Or maybe they would be?? She didn't talk about whether or not the games she created were able to attract large enough numbers of players to translate into effective world change. There's something deeper in people' s engagement of WOW that goes beyond just an intrinsic human empowerment through gaming.
Finally, and this is more general, I was a little confused about how the online portfolio text fit in. I don't know how it connected with the other two assigned texts. Furthermore, I didn't really get what the big deal was with the online portfolios.  To me they just seem like glorified file folders of student work. Is there something about the fact that they are online that makes them more effective??
I'm excited to hear everyone's thoughts in class on Friday ... 

Reflection on Class (July 13th)

Class with Jeff and Kristin is extremely refreshing after a week of intense instruction on traditional pedagogy. I really enjoyed being able to work on creating a lesson plan for the NYC Soda Ban article. Being able to discuss with other students the best way to use it in a classroom transformed the process from theory to reality. I felt that it was probably one of the best ways to see the practical elements of using technology in the classroom. 

As is reflected in my previous post, I am generally wary of the usefulness of the technology in helping students develop their intellect. The lesson planning session however, helped me see how I could use technology to improve my instruction. Even if initially I really couldn't think of many technological tools to improve teaching the NYC Soda Ban, being able to hash things out with my peers really pushed my thinking. In addition, Kara - the librarian helping us - suggested multiple tools to assess and excite the students about the topics we wanted to cover. 

The most eye-opening (and equally overwhelming portion) of the class however, was when we met as a whole group after lunch and every group had a new website to add to the list of tools we could utilize. Each addition was equally helpful. At first I thought, okay I'll remember that one. Then the next. Then the next. The list just kept expanding and it seemed that there was an infinite amount of possibilities and opportunities for just the one lesson on NYC Soda banning. 

I guess the question/feeling I took away from today's discussion was: how can I figure out what the most useful technological tools are and how can I keep up with the ever expanding universe of technological innovation? A course like this will help me get exposed to different tools, but how, when I'm a teacher and not a student, will I be able to find and evaluate the new tools that come about? What can I learn now that will help me do that then? Kristin and Jeff ... Help!

Reflections on the usage of the NYC Ban on Soda article in the classroom

For reference to article see: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/31/nyregion/bloomberg-plans-a-ban-on-large-sugared-drinks.html?_r=1

My initial reaction to this article was probably similar to many. I decided whether I agreed or not with the premise of the ban and whether I thought it would be effective or not. Once introduced in the 504 classroom, the discussion of the article quickly moved from one about teaching to one about politics and civil liberties. Hands were flying and everyone seemed to have something to say about the article. That's when Professor Jeff asked us to break up into our groups and discuss what implications the article had for teaching.
The fact that everyone immediately engaged this article made the possibility of using it my own classroom even more exciting. Discussion of current events is usually a component of social studies (the subject I want to teach) classrooms. I remember during my own schooling how much I dreaded having to look up articles and put they in my journal for my seventh grade social studies class. I would basically do an internet search the night before we had to submit our current event of the week and put any article in my journal. When I think about current events now though, I am so excited about the possibility of incorporating them into my teaching. What made them so miserable for me as a student and so interesting for my teacher to assign??
I think our class discussion on the NYC article helped show me the difference. Assigning the students an arbitrary task of finding random articles and putting then in a journal without a discussion is meaningless. The current event loses all relevancy value because the students don't get to think about it and compare their opinions to those of their peers. If, however, all the students discuss a single event or article, as we did with the NYC ban, the capacity for thinking about current events grows significantly. If I can get students thinking about the news in the context of my classroom, the hope is that with time, they will be able to engage all the information they get from news-media in an intellectual way. 
There are other implications for discussion of current events in schools. When I was first prompted with the question about how the article will inform my teaching, I thought about it from a purely subject-specific standpoint. In our small group discussions however, Pete brought up the point that this article could provide a very dynamic way of unifying student instruction across various disciplines. In the sciences students could discuss the differences between sodas, diet sodas, and juices. In social studies, students could discuss the legal implications of such a ban. In English, students could discuss how the article was written and what type of persuasive language was used. There are so many possibilities, and that's really the power of such an exercise.