12/4/14
RIP3 Reflection
Remember 
When we were first assigned our final project I have to admit I was a little nervous. I had no idea what I was going to choose for the topic of my project. I immediately began researching different technologies that I could potentially use. I searched various websites, mostly compiled lists of popular websites/technologies for teaching. One that was extremely helpful was www.ala.org/aasl/standards-guidelines/best-websites/2014. This was where I came across the technology that I used for this project, Powtoon. I read through the Powtoon website and thought it seemed like a great tool. Powtoon is a free presentational software that allows you to create animated video "explainers". What ultimately cemented my decision to use Powtoon was me actually physically using it. I started clicking around and eventually made an entire video without really even realizing it, it was a lot of fun! For this specific project I chose to create a sample book report over the best novel ever, "To Kill a Mockingbird", using a Powtoon video explainer/video. I thought doing a book report would be the perfect use of powtoon software because It allows your students to create something more visual and entertaining; things I don't believe you really get when you use a standard powerpoint.
Identify the Important Part 
The most important part of this project was learning not only about my own technology but other classmates' technology as well. Before this class I would have described myself as totally out of touch with technology. I don't even have Microsoft word on my laptop or powerpoint! The last time I made a powerpoint was for a group project freshman year of college. But after this class and this project specifically I feel up to date with the technology that's out there. Now I know about wordle, story bird, edmodo, near pod the list goes on and on! Before this class I was barely familiar with prezi. I also feel more confident in my ability to use that technology and incorporate it into a lesson. I was able to make an animated book report video, the old me would be extremely shocked to hear this!
Put it Together 
This project connected with a lot of other things we did this semester, like our app reviews and other articles we read. By doing this project were able to envision using this certain technology in our own classrooms and basing a lesson,unit etc. around it. This has been the entire theme of this class, it is called teaching and learning in a digital environment :) This project also reminds me of anytime I tried something new. Like a different food or meeting a new person. It's nerve wrecking at first but once your comfortable it can be a really rewarding and positive experience.
Pick it Apart 
Through this experience I learned technology doesn't have to be this ominous intimidating thing. I can not only use technology but incorporate it into my classroom successfully. This course as a whole has given me so much more confidence in regards to my ability to use technology. I am no longer scared to try different technology tools,  I am actually eager to use them in the future! I also learned that not every iPad app or technology tool is going to work well for your classroom. What may work for one teacher may not work for you. Or may not work for your particular group of students. It is all about testing it out and determining what works for your specific situation.
Plan to Use 
I plan to use the things I learned in this class in the future; I will do my best to incorporate technology in the classroom. One of the main determiners if I do this or not is the school district that I will be teaching in. I just finished my first practicum with Omaha public schools at North high school, since it is a technology magnet you would think that they would have an abundance of technology resources for every classroom.... this is not true (we all know public schools are under funded unfortunately) The English classroom I was in had one outdated computer and that was all. So using some of these technology tools would be next to impossible in this specific classroom in this specific district. In other districts like district 66 where every student is provided with their own mac laptop, these technology tools would be more realistic to use. All I can say is that I will do my best to incorporate technology into my classroom but I really won't know to what extent until I get my first teaching job and see what situation I'm working with.

12/6/14 Readings

The first readings I wanted to touch on for this week is "Why Gamification" and "Students Respect the Badge" from the metawriting blog of Deanna Mascle. 

After reading "Why Gamification" I was still a little puzzled as to what gamification was exactly. In her blog Mascle states that gamification is "the use of game-design elements for a non-game purpose". Hmmm after reading this I was still a little lost. Emily mentioned in her blog a great article by top hat entitled "4 Ways to Bring Gamification of Education To Your Classroom" this article helped to get me to fully grasp this whole gamification concept. The top hat blog provided a really awesome example of gamification being used that stuck with me, "completing our Subway punch card to win a free sandwich". This is a real life example of game design and mechanics being used in a non game context. Ok now I'm starting to get it! 

I like the idea of gamification in the classroom. I believe students respond well to games and friendly competition; they seem to engage with the material more. But I would like to physically see it used in a classroom before attempting to do it on my own. I am still not totally confident with my knowledge on the topic so I would need some example to reference back to. Some modeling would really help me. 

Reading these articles got me thinking about a class I am in this semester. Some of you may have taken it before, "Composition Theory and Pedagogy" with Dr. Adams. He uses contract grading in his class. Basically we as a class develop a contract for a grade A, B or a C. As a class we determine what needs to be done in order to achieve that grade in the class. Does this sound familiar? 

"Actually, I don’t do anything with the badges. I hand that responsibility off to the class." We generated a list of badges and criteria as a class"

 Then once we have the contracts written up each student decides which grade they would like to contract for and then signs that contract. Agreeing to complete all of the following to get that grade. It is something I knew nothing about before having this class. I am not sure if it is something I would use in my future classroom. Kind of like this badge idea. Both the contract grading and badges seem to be trying to break away from traditional grading perimeters but I don't know if I am completely sold on this whole idea of badges. Are these badges an alternative to grading? An addition to grading? I'm a little confused. Can anyone shed some light on this for me?

 I do like that badges give some positive reinforcement to students especially to those students who may be introverted and not very confident in whatever skill that a lesson may be on.. Badges become a way for them to get some of that confidence back. Which I think is fabulous. As an educator you need to do whatever you can to build your students up and if badges is a way to do that for some teachers all the more power to them.  I was shocked to hear that all of Mascle's students embraced the idea of badges," What surprised me is how much consensus I saw. There were almost no outliers when it came to badge awards" Usually you have at least a couple of students who may for lack of a better word "poo poo" on certain ideas you have. 

One thing Mascle touched on in her piece that I whole heartedly agree with is her stance on peer response. 

"student writing should have an audience, but it is important to remember that the audience does not have to be you"

I am a strong proponent for peer response. Peer response is a way to get you students comfortable with giving and receiving criticism; something young writers often struggle with. It also builds a community within the classroom making your students feel safe and welcome to share with their peers. Getting and giving feedback in a small group allows student writers to enlarge their readership and fine tune their revision process as well as develop relationships in the classroom. Prior to using peer response a student may write thinking that their only reader is their teacher. Peer response allows them to hear the comments from a variety of readers with diverse backgrounds and varying opinions. As a whole the process heightens a student’s engagement not only with the materials of the course but also with their peers.

Lastly I wanted to end my blog post with a question for all of you. Do you agree or disagree with Mascel's statement about the use of blogs in her classroom. "blog posts are not busy work – they are real writing for a real audience". How do you guys feel about this statement now that we have all completed our own blog posts for this class? 

11/15 Readings

For my blog post this week I decided to first start with the, "A Game of Shark and Minnow", article 

by Himmelman. This reading stuck out in my mind among the others because I just recently was in 

the region of southeast Asia this summer (Cambodia and Thailand) teaching English and I have come 

to love this part of the world. It also stood out to me because I was completely unaware of this 

territorial dispute going on between these various southeast Asian  countries. They all want to claim 

the region of the Spratly islands as their own because of it's rich  benefits (oil natural gas) but all sides 

are un willing to give in. I had never heard anything about this battle going on in the South China Sea and the article was rich in information and provided all the necessary facts for me to understand the situation and what was going on without having any prior knowledge about it. 

Looking at this article through the lens of teaching in a digital environment, I was extremely impressed with the use of technology to make this article come alive. As a teacher this is the exact kind of piece that I would want my students to read. The graphics, video clips, and images provide an engaging element that would otherwise be lacking in a standard online article. Not only are the various digital add ons engaging but they are also very informative and will aid greatly in the comprehension of the article. To just read words on a page about the Spratly Islands and understand it is possible but how much of that are you really grasping? On the flip side to read about the Spratly Islands and then see a map of it's location and then which pieces are claimed by which country is going to make that information stick in your mind. Combining visual images, interactive clips, and words adds another dimension to the learning experience. By having students read this you are reaching out and helping all types of learners in your classroom ex. visual, auditory etc. All of the different types of learners in your classroom would greatly benefit from reading something like this and I would definitely use it in my future classroom. What do you guys think, would you utilize this type of article in your classroom? Did you appreciate the incorporation of the digital elements or do you prefer just standard articles?  

This doesn't really have anything to do with teaching and learning in a digital environment but did anyone else think the last paragraph from the reading was really ominous and kind of scary?? 

‘You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.’  

 “The Chinese expand like a forest, very slowly,” he said. “But once they get there, they never leave.”

The next reading I wanted to discuss was, "The Use of the iPad for Literacy and Learning". The article described how a "fourth-grade teacher explored the use of iPads to help her teach print-based 

literacy skills while providing students with the opportunity to learn digital literacy skills."  Before 

reading this article I wasn't aware how much of difference iPads make versus standard computers. I 

am not a tech type person so I didn't see what the big differences were between the two. To me they 

seemed interchangeable. In the article Hutchinson does a good job of explaining those benefits that an 

iPad has that a standard computer is lacking, "The iPad has unique capabilities...It has most of the 

capabilities of a desktop or laptop computer, but with additional unique affordances, such as a 

multitouch screen and a seemingly endless variety of applications, that promote previously unseen 

possibilities for mobile learning." This was eye opening for me and I now better understand why 

iPads are such a big deal in classrooms. 

Another thing I noticed while reading the article that  I wanted to talk about  is "digital, interactive 

books." Normally I would say that a digital book should never be replaced by a good old fashioned 

book. I strongly dislike reading from a kindle,iPad, nook etc. I prefer reading a standard book. But 

when discussing what is going to be effective for my future students I think digital books are a great 

resource! Now a days technology has taken over and most students have a cell phone among many 

other devices that they use each and every day. A standard book may not be enough to get these kids 

pumped and excited to read but if they get to read on a super cool iPad and the text is interactive they may actually do the reading and possibly enjoy it. 

Another thing the article points out about digital books is, "An advantage of digital texts, as other 

scholars have argued, is that they can support individual readers’ text comprehension and potentially 

engage struggling readers." This is huge! As a teacher your ultimate goal is to help your students 

learn and a digital text can do just that. "the iPad has numerous downloadable books that allow 

students to read text with audio support, word-by-word tracking, and picture animation, with options 

for the reader to further interact by recording and replaying their own voice with the text. Other 

features of these books also include the ability to acquire the definition and pronunciation of any 

word on the screen by simply touching it and to add notes or highlighting to any section of text by 

tapping the screen." Having all of these extremely helpful capabilities is going to make the reading 

process a lot easier and attainable for your students who may have learning disabilities, or who may 

be bored of standard reading, or who simply want to engage in something new. After reading this 

article I think having iPads in the classroom is a great thing but, unfortunately not all districts have 

the financial means to do this. How did you guys feel about this article? Do you see yourself using iPads in your future classroom? What's your opinion on digital texts? 

Week 10/18/14 Readings 

The first reading I wanted to touch on for this week was, "Twitter is a Snark Valve". I thoroughly enjoyed this piece. It was something refreshing and new to hear from an educator that they appreciated the snarky comments made by their students. Most would hate it I thought but my opinion changed as I read. As the author stated
"In other words, one of the most common uses of Twitter among my students is snark. And that is a good powerful thing"
Everything I experienced throughout elementary and high school has told me that this statement was untrue. Students were always told to use a more respectful form of discourse in the classroom. Make a snarky comment and get the stink eye from the teacher or even worse a tongue lashing in front of all your peers. But this author argues that snarky witty comments are a great way to engage students in the classroom. Say what?? And I could not agree more! I have had the pleasure of seeing this way of thinking play out in an actual classroom with my practicum mentor teacher at North High School. She often jokes with students, and their comments and sometimes snark (if it is school appropriate)are welcomed in her classroom. In return she has a classroom of students who are engaged and respect her more for her ability to joke and have fun with them. This is something that I plan on carrying into my own classroom. I feel like if you are too restrictive in your classroom with students especially at the secondary level, they will just clam up and not share at all or possibly lash out. Which are both things I don't want. In regards to student writing (since I am going to become an English teacher) I think snark could be a really positive thing like Sample states in his piece, 
It’s involved, it’s witty, and most importantly, it takes an oppositional stance — a welcome reprieve from the majority of student writing, which avoids taking any stance at all.

As a teacher I would much rather have a student who disagrees using snark and defends their viewpoints effectively rather than just have a student agree and just go through the motions. With little to no opinion about much of anything. Whatever gets my students excited and engaged I'm up for trying it in my classroom! 

The next reading I really enjoyed was "Why Do Teens Seem Strange Online", it brought up some really interesting ideas and I related a lot to it. In the first part of the article when the author is discussing the boy from South Central and how he is viewed strictly based on his myspace profile. It made me think... wow it's kinda of crazy that there are tons and tons of people that are making snap judgements about me based on my twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc. I wonder what they think about me? And it's not really fair to judge me solely based on my social media pages... but it's not like I haven't done it to dozens of people. Think about it, when your ex gets a new girl/boyfriend what's the first thing you do once you know their name?? You go Facebook stalk them! And don't even pretend like you haven't done it guys!  Our generation can find any person online in an instant (if they have social media) and make an assumption about who they are and what they are like without even knowing them personally. Pretty crazy right. What are your thoughts guys? Are you guilty of Facebook stalking? or Judging someone based solely on their social media accounts? Were your judgments somewhat true or completely false? 

This reading also got me thinking about future employers/my school seeing my social media pages. In one of my other classes one of my peers was talking about why he doesn't use his real name on his Facebook page because he heard that the college of education looks up our Facebook pages and goes through them determining if we are good teacher candidates. Now I don't know if this is true at all but  it made me kind of nervous! Not that my Facebook is terribly inappropriate or anything but there are definitely some things on there that I wouldn't want my school seeing. Mainly posts between my friends and I. Which leads me to another piece that this article discussed. The idea of intended audience and how teens struggle with that on social media.
"The ability to understand how context,audience, and identity intersect is one of the central challenges people face in  learning how to navigate social media"
This is a challenge that I face myself on social media. Like I stated before there are things on my page I wouldn't want my school to see and are intended for my friends eyes only. Just recently on Facebook I was commenting back and forth with friends on a picture and I used some expletive and interjects my prim and proper aunt, "WATCH YOUR LANGUAGE YOUNG LADY!" This really happened... yikes. Like the author states, 
"Unfortunately, adults sometimes believe that they understand what they see online without considering how teens imagined the context when they originally posted a particular photograph or comment"
My aunt clearly did not understand that this wasn't meant for her to see. In the moment your not thinking about all the hundreds of people who could be seeing what your typing. But the reality is that I cannot pick and choose what people see (and relating it back to my first point I made) what judgements they are going to make about me because of it. Although it may be intended for my friends only, the entire world including my overly sensitive aunt and UNO's College of Education is able to see what I'm typing, posting, commenting, sharing, liking... the lists goes on and on. That's a pretty powerful thing to think about guys, am I right? 

Week 1 9/6/14 Readings

"Today‟s average college grads have spent less than 5,000 hours of their lives reading, but over 10,000 hours playing video games (not to mention 20,000 hours watching TV).
This quote from the "Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants" reading really resonated with me. It almost makes me feel embarrassed because I know that I am guilty of watching tv more than I should and getting online excessively. Television and other devices tend to become a distraction for me; especially in regards to my school work. I often find myself mindlessly scrolling through Facebook when I should really be writing a paper. I do read but definitely not as much as I should. What do you guys think? Are you guilty of neglecting reading and being too into your digital devices? 

What does this say about the value we place on technology? When asked the question, would you be able to live without your phone? I am going to assume that most of us( if we answered honestly) would say absolutely not. Our technological devices have become extensions of ourselves and sometime a replacement for socialization. It is kind of sad when you really start to think about it.

Another article I found rather interesting on our reading list this week was the "Write from Wrong" article. I feel that in both high school and especially college plagiarism is a huge issue. And it seems to be more prevalent today as the article states. Some believe students are far too overwhelmed with their school work and plagiarize  just to keep up. I'm not so sure. I found a connection in this two articles. I believe the real reasoning for most instances of plagiarism is because students today are far more distracted. They have the entire world at their finger tips, it's literally  just a mouse click away. Rather than write our term papers we find ourselves scrolling through social media without even really realizing that were doing it (I am guilty of this!) I know I can't be the only one. I liked how both of these articles bled into one another. Did anyone else make this connection?