I4ed Proudly Presents!

This week we had the chance to share what we've been working on for the past few weeks through a variety of group presentations. The best part about this is I don't think we had two presentations that were anything like the others! Everyone had unique ideas and different ways of sharing their findings. 

A variety of things stood out for me within these presentations. The first thing being "BYOD's" live chat stream calling Today's Meet. This was a great way to engage all of us by giving us the opportunity to comment and ask questions throughout the presentation, which were addressed often. Not to mention their method of delivering some of their material- through wordle. Such a good idea, considering our class is all about creativity and using multiple technological devices and resources, this was perfect! 

One of my favorite moments of the whole class was Stephanie, Sarah & Scott, Adrienne & Steve's movie clip on "Cyberbullying". Not only did they find a way to get through to people about the dangers of cyberbullying, but their approach displayed the media's role in sensationalizing the news. They explained how serious of an issue this is, but also touched on John Finch's presentation on how to handle social media and rationalize what you are hearing. 

All in all, everyone did a fantastic job at presenting their topics and made for an extremely enjoyable 2 hour class! Brooke, Jen, and Anna discussed the idea of blocking websites from kids and the limitations that it could bring, while keeping in mind student's safety and best interest. Jennifer A., Tyler, Kirsten, Lisa, and Kelsey scared us, I mean, showed us "How NOT to steal from the Internet"!! Such an important topic that even at university level is something that should never be taken lightly! (And it's not all that easy, either!). 

Thanks to everyone for sharing their ideas with us. Great way to wrap up the term!

Free Write

For the week of the 19th and the 21st we were absent due to some bad weather in the states, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to find something on my own to blog about. I came across an article that I thought would be fun to share, and can be found at this link:
 
                                 http://edudemic.com/2012/12/the-future-of-edtech/   

For anyone who is interested! It is an article that was wrote in 2006 that predicted what the future of EdTech would look like, while comparing some of the already changing trends they were experiencing at the time. The interesting part is how accurate this article was. A perfect example of this was when Steve Spengler (the writer of this presentation/article) predicted that classrooms would have handheld devices, wireless computers and tablets. This is exactly where we are at today! He also discusses the differences in technology from 1997-2002 to show the growth they were experiencing. One point that I found interesting was the ratio of students per internet-connected computers in classrooms. 1997 showed approximately 20 kids/1 computer, whereas 2002 showed 6 students/1 computer. Now, compare that to today? Most students (depending on schools and divisions) will at some point have access to laptops/tablets with a 1:1 ratio! It is interesting (and almost scary...) to think about the advances that will be made in the next decade. Hopefully our chosen careers will still be there in 2030 and classrooms wont strictly be ran by web-based programming and and even more advanced technology (Robots/Programmed Teachers?)!  Wonder if that idea is that far off?

Digital Footprint

Well, I was happy (and a little relieved) when googling myself to find that there is not much that the public can find about me on the internet! When only searching my full name, I was interested to find out that there is a Jen Banks that is extremely popular for her blogging (with a blogger name of @abusymommy) who is way more popular than me! I searched for 3 pages and still couldn't find anything on myself. . However once adding "Brandon University" to my name, I was excited to see that my student exchange experience with Indiana University came up. I was one of the first people to ever take part in the student exchange program through BU and am proud to see my name attached to the first news articles published about the NSE program. Thinking back to what George Couros told us about having a positive digital footprint, I feel relieved to see that only my professional footprint is to be found! (Not that I expected any negative information to be found, but it is hard to believe how long the internet has been around for and that we weren't ALWAYS as smart as we are today.. Thinking back to MSN chatrooms, etc). Thanks to our I4ed class, the only other link to be found is my google account which is full of educational blogs. Luckily, I only need to worry about adding positive information to my digital footprint in the future, not removing any negative!

Web Based Learning

Thursday in our Internet for Educators course we had a visit from two Manitoba Education professionals, Sophia Palahicky and Donald Girouard. The topic they brought to our attention was Web Based Learning. The first important point that I took from this presentation is that there may be distance in many types of learning, as an example: lecturing. This doesn't seem like it would be a distance learning model, but if the student isn't engaged in the classroom, then there is a distance between the teacher and the student.  Sophia had a great point when discussing if Web Based Learning is right for you - this tool is simply going to mediate "your pedagogy"- whatever that may be. Web Based Learning does not simply mean that the student is learning independently through online course work and test taking, without a teacher present. Web Based Learning can be done: face to face, as a teaching resource, as part of a blended learning environment, or with distance learners. Sophia and Donald expressed the importance of using this Web Based Learning tool along with your own resources, and to use it to benefit your own teaching style. 

Growing up in a small town, I understand the benefit to these types of web based courses being offered. Although I never took part, I remember 3 different classes (from schools surrounding Melita) getting together and taking part in a broadcasted course, from the comfort of our own schools. One worry with this is that it clearly took one teacher to teach three different groups of students, instead of three teachers. However, if you look at this from a different perspective, those students wouldn't have had the opportunity to take that course if it wasn't for web based courses. Web Based Courses benefit students of all ages, especially university level, as we aren't limited to courses only offered on campus. This is important especially to small campuses such as BU who only have a limited number of courses and professors to accommodate such a small student body. When attending IUPUI last year (with a student body of 30,000), I felt completely spoiled when registering for courses in the fall as I had SO many options of courses to take. This was largely because of the online and web based courses being offered. It was a convenient way to get the credit while accommodating my other courses. To add to this convenience, the professors who were the instructors of these courses were located right on campus, in case of any trouble with the course material.

As a pre-service teacher, I do wonder about how often these types of courses will be used when I am teaching middle (or even early years). However, like anything, there is both advantages and disadvantages to these web based courses, and I need to keep an open mind about the idea.  While I can't speak from experience (of having my own classroom) I do feel we need to keep the student's best interests in mind and accommodate their needs when possible. I think it will be extremely important to collaborate with other teachers in your school and division once teaching, and web based courses should only add to this convenience. On a final note, I can't help but think the more possibilities and resources offered for teaching our students, the better. We always keep different learning styles in mind when creating our lesson plans, as it is one of the most important aspects of a lesson  to consider. So, on a final note, having web based courses as an option for learners who do not benefit from face to face instruction seems like a no brainer!

@Twitter

Twitter...the new and improved facebook? I can't help but think that twitter just might be giving Mark Zuckerberg a run for his money. While facebook was fun for a while, it seemed (and still does) to be more of a network for sharing pictures and updates. Twitter, on the other hand is an easy way to connect with other educators (and of course any other people of your chosen profession). Not only that but some of the first pages I followed on twitter were news pages (such as @CNNbrk), keeping me connected with everything that was happening around the world. I personally like twitter because it has more to do with what's happening around the community and world (such as our @BUbobcats mens volleyball team winning the gold lastnight! #bobcatnation), and less to do with photo sharing. Most importantly, twitter makes it easy to follow people that inspire you, not only professionally but on a personal level too. 

From educators to designers, sports teams, latest trends, news pages, friends, celebrities (oscar winning of course), and anything else that moves you, twitter is definitely where it's at!

Clarence Fisher

 

"The learning in a classroom is only as strong as the network it occurs in" (Clarence Fisher, 2013). 

In a quick skype meeting today we were able to hear from Clarence Fisher, a teacher from Snow Lake who currently teaches in a school with a student population of only 145. And that's K-12! Just like his small town of 1000 is changing (due to a big industrial development) Clarence explained that Education is changing, too. What I liked about this discussion was that Clarence incorporated real world changes into his own classroom, and encourages it for other teachers too. 

As he discussed earlier, we are supposed to be adjusting to this new-world concept of advancing technology, but yet we ban kids from many of the resources available? Our job as teachers is to educate students and prepare them for the real world, but it is incredibly hard to do so if we are not allowed to expose them to different types of technology. What we should be doing is teaching them how to make connections, take what they are learning in the classroom, and apply it in different areas with different types of technology. For example- the Iphone. While it could be considered an interruption, it could also be a great resource with all of the available apps that come with it. He also discussed laptops and the issue of having personal lap tops (and other learning devices) banned from the classroom. A great point he made was-- Would we turn away a $500 donation from a parent? Of course not, then why do we turn away available resources that students could provide for themselves? Finally, Clarence also discussed the importance of being a passionate teacher who has the ability to engage students.Yes, education has high standards, but find a way to meet these standards using passion-based learning in your classroom! 

While finishing up this post, I'm left thinking about how available information is to our students, and the idea that teachers aren't as needed as they used to be. Students can find any information on the internet! Why do they need us? Maybe we should be thinking about how to feel "needed" by our students!

George Couros

"You have the opportunity to be found rather than hidden, so give people something great to find" (George Couros, 2013).

I have heard a lot of great opinions in the last couple of weeks about online communication and technology, but George Couros had some great ideas that looked at things from a different angle. He not only told us the value of technology, but also some tricks to being a successful teacher. Being an administrator, George told us the key to beating the other 399 resumes that land on his desk. Be precise, to the point, and be noticeable. How could you wind up in 1 out of 10 applicants left on his desk? Stand Out! George told us the first thing he would do is google us. What I liked about this is he explained that it's better to be found than hidden. Don't worry as much about keeping all your information private, but worry more about the good things that you DO want being found- blogs that might show personality, your best qualities; Profiles that show your professionalism, development, and growth. This is what will land you that interview, and most likely the job.

Now, you are the last one standing. Keys to being a great teacher? George said it's simple: Expect the same from yourself as you do your students. Always have growth in mind, and don't be afraid to struggle in front of your students. Focus on learning goals rather than performance goals. Be a passionate teacher. And the easiest tip George gave us? Take a second to think about whether or not YOU would want to sit in your classroom. If it wouldn't be engaging for you, chances are your students feel the same!

Finally, you don't have to be an expert on teaching, you just have to be an expert in learning!