Learning Journal 12: Final Thoughts

First let me say, I have learned how to ask open-ended questions to elicit deeper critical thinking and thought from students! Will be used in my classroom....
(1) what you have learned about integrating technology into the classroom;
(2) what you still want to know about using technology for teaching and learning; and
(3) what advice do you have for students taking this class in the future.

The main lesson I have learned is that educators should adapt, integrate and use technology tools in their curriculum (that their students already use on a daily basis) in order to foster and promote further collaboration, critical thinking skills, a broader sense of community and open doors to knowledge that educators never really thought possible before. Teachers can use technology to enhance their students learning experience, assess their students progress, free up valuable time, communicate and collaborate with students, faculty and parents. Teachers also need to continually learn, stay current, adapt and run new ideas past other peers from all over the country or the globe to continually learn and improve as educators, technology now allows for this. The world, as we all know, is changing rapidly and I am of the opinion that the educational system is woefully behind.

I would like to know a little bit more about how teachers, students and schools come up with, adopt and sign documentation for ethical use and treatment in the virtual learning environments. (e.g. class websites, e-mail, conferencing, class wiki's) Also, how may these be monitored and enforced? What offenses receive what kinds of disciplinary actions? I'm sure they are similar to what would happen in a live classroom. However, students really need to know that their learning environments in Web 2.0 medium are not "social sites" like they may be used to (Facebook, Myspace, etc.) so they need to really be on guard with good behavior. Some more on how to interact with students in a virtual space, maybe parents as well. I know the ladies in class recently gave an example of how teachers could interface with students in a different way than I had really seen before. I thought it was really cool, but for some reason it's slipping my mind what is was. It would be a good tool or artifact as an option or choice to include in a lesson plan for future classes. I will go back this week and check it out and save it on my Delicious.com account. Oh, I you (CDS) could compile a list of all the tools and little extra's or goodies mention during the semester it would be greatly appreciated. There were a lot of them I didn't have an opportunity to try out and see if I could incorporate them in my learning environment. If its delayed past the end of the semester and posted to the wiki, just shoot me out an email!

My advice to future students would be to have fun with the class and sieze the opportunity to pick Professor Sessums brain. There is some work but if you stay up on it the pain is relatively mild:) This class has been a blast and is a huge tool for you as a potential future educator, extremely applicable to your future as a teacher. If you just do your work, good grade. If you put in a little extra effort and engage in class, great grade. Don't do some of the work, well, that's on you! Do not worry if you feel like you have been tossed into the deep-end, like if you have never done a lesson plan. Professor Sessums understands, and you will improve over the course, his feedback is great and if you have to re-work something there is no penalty. This class is all about learning and applying knowledge, no "rote" memorization. You need to learn and "hassle" or fight with some of this technology stuff so you can learn it, and you will before your assignments are do! Biggest advice, here it comes, do your work to the best of your ability and available time! Do not beat yourself up because you just learned "Voicethread" and if you only had more time you could do so much better or more with it! You will have the time, when your a teacher! Kevin Rowley signing off for the last time :(

Personal Learning Centers

I had some technical difficulties getting signed up for Classroom 2.0, my entrance was delayed? Maybe a glitch or I did something wrong, so I am playing catch up a bit and hope I get responses to some questions I through out as discussion! My discussion forums read as follows:

I am currently a student at the University of Florida, majoring in
Biology with a minor in Education. I will be graduating in a semester
or two and would love some feedback about the Education profession. If
you could tell me:

• What you teach and the grade level?
  
• What do enjoy most about teaching?
• What do you find most challenging?
• If you could say one thing to an incoming educator, what would it be?

Thank you so much for anyone who responds!
Regards,
Kevin Rowley

I hope I get some good feedback. I'm not sure how big the network is or quite how it works yet, so this might be a blog I may have to keep updating for a while. Especially if no one responds at first!

Got Some Feedback from some nice ladies finally, Here is a sample:

- I've taught 3rd-7th grades (all subjects in 3rd and 4th; science in 5th and 6th; resource in 7th)

- I enjoy the social justice aspect of teaching. I've worked solely in low-income areas, and it means a lot to see that you can make a deep impact on students who may have otherwise fallen through the cracks.

- Hmmm... this is two-fold for me. First, people don't realize how much of your life you give up to be a teacher. Teaching is pretty much a 24/7 job. You can always make your lessons better, spend more time with kids, etc., so it's extremely demanding. Secondly, our educational system is far from perfect, and it's easy to fall into the trap of only noticing what's going wrong.

- My advice:

First, balance your life. Do as much as you can for your students, while still leaving time for yourself.

Second, stay positive. Focus on all the good. Continue to fight for change when you see things that aren't working, but don't harp on the negative. Keep a journal and, every day, write something you could have done better, something you did well, and something that made you laugh. (C'mon -- kids are HILARIOUS.)

Lastly, remember: You only have one year to change every one of your students' lives. Don't squander that opportunity.

Good luck!

Dear Kevin,

I teach Physics to 12th graders in the low income areas too. I love to teach , I love to reveal a mistery of
logic , I love the feeling when kids say that they like physics and they master small steps. I like when we become friends. It is very hard to gain their trust and friendship, and attention too.
Good luck. You will never be bored being a Teacher, that's for sure !

Hi, Kevin -

Welcome to the gang! :)

I'm the school librarian/media specialist for a private school that teaches from PreK3 all the way through 12th grade. Yup, big range, and it keeps things lively - in the space of a couple of minutes I can go from assisting 3rd graders in finding historical fiction for a book report to teaching high school freshmen how to use the tools in a subscription database. I am/have been the yearbook adviser, the senior project adviser, a technology teacher and a literature teacher.

The thing I love most about teaching is those moments when you get to see a kid bloom. Sometimes it happens all at once, when a student suddenly makes one of those big connections and "gets it", and sometimes it sneaks up on you, when you turn around and realize that one of the multitude of techniques and tricks you have tried has worked, and a previously struggling or disaffected student has found the groove they needed. Of course, sometimes the real trick is figuring out which thing (or combination thereof) that you tried actually worked - or whether it was just that the student finally grew up enough to reach the necessary point of maturity... I have to say I also love the camaraderie I am fortunate enough to have with the other teachers at my school. It's really incredible to see the way these dedicated and talented professionals come together and give of themselves to make sure the education provided at our school really is the best they can make it.

Quite honestly, although there are plenty of challenges out there (and I definitely give *high* ranking to Katy's answer about people not realizing just how demanding a teacher's job is) I think the biggest challenge for me is trying not to do too much - knowing when to stop and walk away, and make time for myself and my family. It's a critical issue, tho, because burnout is always hovering right there, waiting for you to run out of gas.

So leading off that, the one thing I would say to an incoming educator is to be patient with and kind to yourself - there is so much you need to know that will only come with in-the-classroom experience, and those first few years are going to be tough as you climb up the learning curve. Make it a priority to find time to balance your own needs - including some R&R - with the demands of your profession, and find a mentor who will help you with the balancing act as well as with learning the professional skills you need.

Best of luck!

What network did you join?
I joined Classroom 2.0, it's mission is "the social network for those interested in Web 2.0 and Social Media in education." Which I found perfect for our class on integrating technology into the classroom. Especially because it is for teachers (about 99%).

Who are you following and what do they do for a living?
Most everyone on this network are educators of one form or another, so I'm quite sure that is what they do for a living as well. I am not following anyone yet but will add to that question soon. What I found cool about Classroom 2.0 besides the obvious discussion about technology discussions was that it is all teachers, and the entry process was cool because they try and prevent spammers (as best they can) from joining, I even had a snag and didn't realize it, so much for not procrastinating on this project. I tend not to procrastinate to much anyway but this one was messed up and unintentional.

Describe a conversation that you engaged in? What did you talk about?
This is the major piece of the puzzle for this journal entry missing. I am hoping that the discussion questions I posted will get me started in the area of meeting people and discussing things. I will also look for interesting post and hopefully become engage that way! I hope these folks are responsive and not weary of newcomers.


What did you learn from this process? Is this something you might find useful as a teacher?
Well I messed up some how getting approved or past the anti-spam guards and was waiting, perhaps to long, for my invitation. Oh well, these things happen. But what I have seen so far this site will be useful in many areas of teaching. One, it will hopefully allow you to develop a far reaching network of professionals in our field. This would benefit us in several ways. We can stay current on what is new in education. We can see how other teachers have integrated technologies into their curriculum and how it worked out for them. We could share ideas, plans and materials to continue good ideas, thus spreading new techniques throughout our educational system. Specifically, we can communicate with educators on our level or even within our subject arena. One more thing is that we could develop good relationships with some of these folks and run some of our own ideas by them to get feedback before trying them out in the classroom or see if anyone has done something similar. If so, what went right or wrong with the implementation?

I am looking for a good outcome in this assignment and with this site as it does at first glance seem to be a cool place for teachers to be, but we'll have to wait and see!

Social Action & Communication Skills

Ironically some of these sites I found overlap between social action and communication skills, well, maybe not ironically because communicating effectively and social action go hand in hand! I also tried not to be political in anyway. As a parent myself, I want my children to hear our perspectives at home and find their own answers on political issues by using their developing values and their own critical thinking skills to find their own conclusions, even if they differ from my wife or I. Not to be indoctrinated from either side in school, i find it repulsive from the left and the right to such a think. Maybe an independent would be OK, joking, that would be ideal but wrong too.

Social Action:
http://www.letterstosoldiers.org/letteroffers.html
This website could be used to practice writing skills and communication skills. It has a social action component by letting students show soldiers and their families we appreciate the sacrifice they endure mentally and physically; sometimes the ultimate of sacrifices. The basis for all of our freedom in this country which is indisputable regardless of whether you are a hawk or a dove. It could be used at any grade level and gives students an appreciation for the freedoms we have and provides a sense of community and connectedness in a country where we sometimes feel so separated from one another.

http://www.technologyandsocialaction.org/node/591
This website could be used by teachers and students alike. Primarily for middle and high school students who wish to, as a class, create and implement a local community outreach, social action or to be heard on an issue concerning them. It has loads of information on how to effectively integrate technology and social action. This article, if you click the "here" show some points and things to think about ( how to communicate, organize and get your information out in a coherent and up to date manner) if your create your own social action network via the web. Again, communication skills, this one is not just writing, it is a way for students to learn how to create something, communicate and socially organize using technology.

http://www.kidsagainsthunger.org/index.shtml
I thought this would be great for children of all ages. This site not only focuses on hunger among children worldwide but in the United States. I feel this could be a great social action that could involve parents, teachers, students, schools or the community at large on an issue everyone can come together on, hunger in our own backyard. Under the navigation, of "How you can help" it gives ways to either setup a satellite organization, donate supplies or volunteer time. Great chance to set up a class or extended school project which will really give children a great appreciate and sense of pride and joy for helping those children in their own community struggling with hunger. (check out the kids photo's on the Location Link a the top)

All of these are social action sites but also practice and teach one or more of the following: communication skills, organizational skills, creative skills, writing skills, technology skills and develop a sense of involvement in community, country as well as foster compassion towards fellow human beings!

Communication Skills:
http://www.globalschoolnet.org/
The main thrust of this site is to engage teachers and K-12 students in meaningful project learning exchanges worldwide to develop science, math, literacy and communication skills, foster teamwork, civic responsibility and collaboration. Again, this site foster social action, but is intended to help with learning communication skills to advance and engage a community of learners in math, science and encourages the development of literacy. This could be a great tool to help learners in our schools develop their knowledge and share that knowledge with others all over the globe. Seeing how advanced or behind they are and collaborating to help or receive knew perspectives on their own learning development, I think could be great.

http://whitepapers.techrepublic.com.com/abstract.aspx?docid=1388791
I discovered a site where Marion county schools teamed with a Microsoft product to give greater access to students who are unable to fully take advantage of technology and communication; I found this great! One small solution to help our schools extend technology to everybody! Here is the main objective and i will copy and attach a URL of the whole information because you would have to sign up to see it.
http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/Case_Study_Detail.aspx?casestudyid=4000006346
"Marion County Public Schools in Florida wanted a collaborative solution to support innovative teaching methods and offer twenty-first century communication skills to students. It chose Microsoft Live@edu for a managed, safer e-mail service and other collaboration tools such as online storage. Teachers and students are using the services to drive excitement in the classroom, inspire better study habits, and improve student performance."

Last but definitely not least:
http://momentusinternational.org/about/
This site could be K-12 and used for advancing communication skills across continents using conventional art styles, photography, paintings, music, dance, multimedia, etc. I'm not sure if this site is dead in the water or just new but it is a great idea! Communication is not only writing, which could be used here, or not just auditory. But communication through paintings, web connection, music, dance, photography, video and so forth and so on incorporates skills from every student and touches on all sensory ways of communication skills that I think kids would love to create and relate to on so many levels I can't express them all. The idea or format of this site has great potential, including social action, but expanding the entire idea of learning outside just math, science and writing! Check out the video on "Why do white people have black spots" Go to the Galleries and Films link at the top and scroll to the video at the bottom. I was misty eyed... but you can also see art, conversations and projects from the US and Netherlands. Every once in a while Google posts a quarantine message but it nothing happened tooling around this site.

Curiosity, Imagination, Creativity, & Play

What do I know about curiosity, imagination, creativity and play? Well, I know curiousity killed the cat! Jokes, Jokes....But seriously, this is an interesting topic for me because of my two young girls and being a man who is a child at heart!

I believe these are all interlocked (obviously because we are looking at them all) but thought I'd state the obvious before sounded too repetative. They are all slightly different, of coarse, but work together to stimulate learning and growth!

Curiousity- for me this is natures way of getting us to explore our world around us. At an early age it is crucial for young ones to be curious in order to learn about their environment. Sometimes this can hurt like falling down stairs or turning on hot water, but there is always learning swirling around curiousity. At a higher level, if students, educators or researchers weren't curious we would never have some of the gifts of modern society like medicine, magnets, computers, genome project, plans for better education, etc. etc. The America's would have never been explored without curiousity (and a financial motive) which isn't evil but an added bonus.

Imagination- I love watching and listening to my girl who literally knows she CAN be a princess and marry mommy and daddy. There are no bounds on her imagination and where it takes her. The sad fact is that with bounderies of the natural world we slowly have this beat right out of us. Some of us cling to the remains of our imagination for dear life, I know I do. Where would we be if some of us didn't strive to keep this part of our brains somewhat functioning. No cars, no computers, no train, no planes, no art? Some stuff we could do without in this rat race we live in but who would have imagined we could go into space? Or did we? LOL

Creativity- I think this coincides with imagination. Just a complementary aspect of our brain. These two work in harmony to think of possibilities or problems and think inside and outside of the box to solve them. That's the learning and applying aspect, but creativity is most associated with art or design. And all that's good too, how boring would the world be if we all thought alike, dressed alike and came to the same dry conclusion?

Play- simply letting go and having fun, using the prior three terms to construct adventures, practice using or not using or brains; Enjoying life! This helps us put those things like creativity, imagination, and curiousity into action outside a "must do" or boring "real life" situations. Although, we can use it in an education or work environment; there is no crime in designing education around having a good time! Don't worry people, the fun police don't exist quite yet, maybe after the sugar and salt police in NY though, so hurry!

What do I want to know? Well I would just like to hear some other peoples perspectives on these topics as far as their effects on adolescents, brain development, high-order thinking and maybe how they lead to some of the most successful inventions or people and see how they still love life and using this things in adulthood.

Sir Ken Robinson was uproariously funny while hitting the nail on the head. Having mentioned earlier that creativity was driven out of us; I would have to agree with almost everything he said. His example of the little girl who was drawing a picture of God and the teacher who stated that nobody knows what God looks like followed by the little girls response "well they will soon"! says it all. We as adults and educators dampen creativity, we all know it. But his take on how schools degrees are increasing along with population and we should take a hard look at what our societies deem as successful lives couldn't be more true. We are already seeing high school diploma's almost mean nothing, Bachelors degree's alone are almost down to very little worth. Increasing the diversity of educational paths is completely necessary at this day in age and I feel will have cross over effects (like maybe a classically trained dancer who thinks better while she dancing and also happens to love genetics and boom a huge breakthrough from thoughts outside the box) This could benefit fields like math and science and give perspectives from seeing things from new angles and creativity. Not to mention the mental health and quality of life issues given to folks who may not be math and science inclined or want to be professors. Unleash creativity and there are no limits....

I thought JK Rowling had an elegant take on benefiting from failure and a unique perspective on the imagination. We all know you must fail in order to succeed but none of us wants to fail! Thats the catch 22 of it all. In all aspects of life, as parents or spouses or in our careers we all fail to some degree or another. We can get back up and "try, try again" or stay where we are and be content with our mediocraty. I believe God doesn't create mediocraty, if we allow societal views and the trappings of life keep us from our best (being totally content and happy whatever our station) then shame on us. Her take on imagination surprisingly wasn't about her and Harry Potter, which would have been the obvious. Instead it was about her time at Amnesty Intl. and how through many, many stories she could with her open imagination be close to being in those folks shoes even to the point of nightmares as if she was there with them during the torture, abuse and loss. Shows how powerful of a force our imagination can be.

Stuart Brown really put "play" into an area I was hoping to see. Science based facts that play is almost as necessary as any other biological function we have. Not only for brain development but for interactions with each other as well. The polar bear playing with the husky was awesome. A wild polar bear not eating but playing with a husky seeming in another place or altered state was amazing. I would think it was a fluke but Brown quoted many animal studies where play actually was imperative. Play is important all through life and learning, no doubt. One last thought, I liked how he stated that play is not just a warm up or rehearsal for adulthood. Dispelling that notion is going to be, i think, the biggest hurdle before we integrate some of these new findings into our "societal concsiousness', if you will.

Finally, I chose Rory Sutherland. This guy must have been a marketing genius. He turned everything upside and shed light on the reality. To use a quote that I have known most of my life and don't know who said it "Perception is everything". I have always believed in this because two people looking at the same thing or with identical lives will have totally different outlooks, its just a fact. However, If we can use or put value on things of importance other than material wealth we could go towards everyone being happy and content with life (for the most part) no matter what their so-called social class is. I loved examples he used like the potato and the Italian drivers losing points from 12 instead of gaining them. He was hilarious but ingengious. This all tapes into peoples imagination and curiousity when you speak of perceptions. HOWEVER, one danger for me is that most of these ideas must be apolitical or you could end up being munipulated into doing what only one side wants you to perceive (like for or against global warming) or propagandized into committing unspeakable Evil and not even think of it as a society???

Fair Use and Creative Commons

Lesson Plan: "Fair Use" and Creative Commons:
Brand is the image of the product in the market. Some people distinguish the psychological aspect of a brand from the experiential aspect. The experiential aspect consists of the sum of all points of contact with the brand and is known as the brand experience. The psychological aspect, sometimes referred to as the brand image, is a symbolic construct created within the minds of people and consists of all the information and expectations associated with a product or service.

Rétrofuturs (Hulk4598) / Stéphane Massa-Bidal

Ever wonder if your violating the law when you use resources found on the web and "Mash" them for use in school, artwork or just for fun?

Please Read, watch and take notes from the following information:
http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/files/pdf/Media_literacy.pdf
http://creativecommons.org/about/
http://creativecommons.org/about/

Assignment:
Please find a Brand Name product which is a copyrighted, household name! ( e.g. Tide, Coca-Cola, etc.) from Flickr.com that has been copyrighted using Creative Commons. (It may be any form of multimedia) Please Post your image/video/art to the course wiki. You must add the Creative Commons agreements you entered into by downloading this item. Give credit if necessary. Please read the "fine" print under the creative commons copyright title "With the understanding that:" and follow any links you may see as familiar! HINT, HINT: "fair use"

Try to answer these prompts to the best of your ability, we will have a discussion in class and you may be called on! I will know from your postings on the wiki, credit or no credit for the work given to the creator, your license postings and thought given to the twist I gave in this assignment; by having you think about fair use and copyright even within your multimedia piece that is already copyrighted? Make sure you read and understand to the best of your ability "Fair Use and Creative Commons"

What Does this say for our "fair use" rights as students and educators?

Have you personally ever used other peoples property for art, fun, school or profit?
Was it legal?

Did the media sources you upload to the course wiki violate copyright laws by having a brand name, copyrighted product in them?

Is it a black and white issues on who owns what and who gets credit for what in the source you chose? (see how it can all turn gray?)

My Example: (From the picture at the top)

My Creative Commons License obligation's:

You are free:

to Share — to copy, distribute and transmit the work

Under the following conditions:

• Attribution — You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work).

  Attribute this work:
  

  What does "Attribute this work" mean?

  The page you came from contained embedded licensing metadata, including how the creator wishes to be attributed for re-use. You can use the HTML here to cite the work. Doing so will also include metadata on your page so that others can find the original work as well.

• Noncommercial — You may not use this work for commercial purposes.

• No Derivative Works — You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work.

With the understanding that:

• Waiver — Any of the above conditions can be waived if you get permission from the copyright holder.
• Public Domain — Where the work or any of its elements is in the public domain under applicable law, that status is in no way affected by the license.
• Other Rights — In no way are any of the following rights affected by the license:
  • Your fair dealing or fair use rights, or other applicable copyright exceptions and limitations;
  • The author's moral rights;
  • Rights other persons may have either in the work itself or in how the work is used, such as publicity or privacy rights.
• Notice — For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the license terms of this work. The best way to do this is with a link to this web page.

EXAMPLE OF WHAT YOU MAY POST TO THE WIKI:

Rami ™ - Pin: 20D67EC3

PS. Hey CDS, some feedback is that I have know idea if I did this right. I used some interpretive latitude and creativity. So, If I got close...some feedback for you is ya did good! I thought by posting this information, developing an assignment (although quick, I think still pretty good) while working with the information and incorporating it into a mini-lesson plan it would show i read and understood the information to a fair degree? I just couldn't figure out how to take notes in the "guide" or how to use it so I incorporated what I read and watched into this lesson/blog? Pretty Cool and can get confusing! Unless your a lawyer, that is one point i tried to illustrate in the mini-lesson.

RSS Activity

I am following these sites:

• Biology News Net
• Edutopia
• Extreme Biology Blog
• cals.ufl.edu
• www.techeye.net
• www.thenakedscientist.com
• Popular Science
• Science Codes-Tech
• Science News and Information
• Science News Daily
• The Biology Corner

I chose these sites for a few different reasons. Some I knew of already so I wanted those. Some I found and were good daily science news sites. Finally others were ones I happened to come across or kept seeing so I wanted to see what the hubbub was all about.

Nothing was really difficult but trying to find sites that I found may be useful took some time. It did have some difficulty sifting through the oodles of sites and blogs and deciding on about half of them.

I can see that the daily updates I receive (in the hundreds now) would have material almost without a doubt on the topics we will be covering in class. Sharing these "current topics" and issues with the students may help keep them interested. Also, as a teacher or with any profession staying current or keeping your own continuing education up to speed is vital. One of the sites I'm following is a high school science website/blog that the teacher and students keep up with and its pretty awesome what their doing. Great example of what our kids in schools should be living up too! Another thing is following other teachers and what they are coming up with or topics of concerns and or solutions they may be having with their class. Oh, one other thing is using these sites and the sites they point to like National Geographic for example as a way to incorporate youtube videos, and other tech tools into the class without having to send away for long movies or documentary's that may be potentially dry for kids in high school now a days.

Not much more information needed on Feeds. I will say I didn't know that the Google Reader will follow sites that don't change as often and don't have RSS capabilities. I find that a great feature that was a pleasant surprise. Not all sites and blogs are created equal or updated every hour.

Oh, I do have an issue. I literally have hundreds of hits in my reader. Including sites that don't change very often. How do you keep up with yours. I'm not even sure how to delete somethings and keep others?

Access

Ones socioeconomic status affects their access to the internet and social media for sure. By the numbers it shows higher numbers of use and access as you climb the economic scale by household income. Also among Latino and African Americans the numbers are lower, as well. I believe their are many explanations for this other than just being in the low income bracket or divided on racial lines based on low income. Income does play a role no matter what color your skin is, however, I feel that it depends on your independent circumstances and what your family and social norms are for each household. If your from a traditional cultural background, a family who does not put a large emphasis on education, the inner city, rural, single parent, living with extending family and on and on; this can all contribute to whether you are accessing the internet or social media. (at least in the US) I am not a big fan of statistics based on broad generalizations and generic stereotypes. Statistics can be completely misused and misinterpreted based on who's point of view and what they are trying to get at. If everything is stated that these are simple, broad figures merely looking for trends and not taking into account the minutia of everyone's individual situations I can live with that, but we far to often lump people together or pit groups against groups rather than solve problems or look at our own side of the street no matter what income level we are at for the time-being. Enough with the diatribe, there is definite evidence about age and ethnicity when it comes to who's using what internet tools and social sites. These differences I feel are less important than getting parents, families and children access to the internet (especially for school and resources) if they so desire. A lot of people just won't do much for their children no matter what you "give" them or do to help, unfortunately. I do dig the campaign to give computers to resource deprived or underdeveloped countries, give them the slightest chance and you'll see children and families taking advantage of this opportunity with appreciation and learn like gangbusters. Maybe that's my subtle beef, we have so little appreciation in our country for the small things we are blessed with; let alone the big...

more in a bit...

Participatory Culture and the Networked Student

I couldn't really find any of the anything missing from what that student had going on with regards to his Psych course and the definitions and terms of the Participatory Culture or a "networked student". A couple of things that stand out two me are that the interactions between the student and actual live (face to face) people seems to be left out of the whole thing. The amount of material and information flow you as someone must keep up with was dizzying for me (in the "Networked Student"). Maybe its because they were just focusing on the one class and not his whole life but the extreme amount of imformation for me seems like it would take over his entire life! For one class? I could list all the terms and fake like I have a good grip on it all by taking each term from the readings , using the definition and apply it to what I experienced watching the video clips.

I'd like to do something a little different in the blog and elaborate on a few things that stand out to me. The definition of the paticipatory culture itself is warm and fuzzy which I actually like. Being able to create and contribute instead of just being a consumer is refreshing, if you have the time, to say the least. In my lesson plan this week, not knowing it, I did have my students search for information they were going to use in a project (how to do...) and post that info on the wiki. I also had them find a learning resource for extra credit to post up on the wiki as well and then had them have a web gallery to share photo's of what they created. It was my intent for them to learn the material and at the same time I thought they would feel it was kind of cool to leave a legacy of photo's and resources for the classes coming behind them in the years to come. Shoot, maybe even some might stumble upon the wiki site and hit the mother load of grade appropiate information on cells, function and structures of cells and how to make a 3-D cell model. Even stated to build a bigger since of community in my plan as well, a connection if you will. I inadvertantley did a little bit of what the definition of paticipatory culture talks about. "haring one’s creations,and some type of informal mentorship whereby what is known by the most experienced is passed along to novices. A participatory culture is also one in which members believe their contributions matter,and feel some degree of social connection with one another".

Next thing I' d like to speak on is the networked student, and while he met the criteria for the definition of a paticipatory culture I think that definition and all the stuff he had going on don't quite match. All the terms of the new skills in the article he was doing like a champ. He was engaged and immersed in the virtual world up to his eye balls. But I'm getting the impression that their is going to be a complete disconnect from each other in a real sense because of the amount of time and sheer volume of information to keep up with, work with, sift through, make your own, draw conclusions and learn about, collaborate only online and through blogs and stuff! I feel there will come a tipping point that people can only multi-task and take on so much time and information before it all just becomes a constant mess of randomness that now one really gets to any point? Or learning objective? Maybe i'm wrong?

As for this being how things would be now or in my class..We a far from this because of economic factors for people of all races and ethnicities. Not every has internet access, 24/7 if at all, not everyone has a laptop or iPod. I hope that one day in a class I teach that everyone has access to atleast the internet and a computer if they choose. But until the educational structure is changed into something that has different pathways than just your typical high school or diploma. Such as trade, prep, etc. none of this can come to be. You'll never have everyone wanting to be the networked student, and maybe everyone should have the oppurtunity too but also to go a different route. Forced schooling for a diploma worthless in some peoples eyes and only having these one size fits all high schools really stinks and stigmatizes everyone. I hope that made since. Some people may just want to drive a Semi or work on the computers not be infront of them. Maybe i'm off on an insane rant? Its a scary day to me when real social interaction is secondary to computers and brain craming. Atleast that's what the "social networked" student seemed to me. But using this stuff a another tool and not something to kill students with by giving them more and more and more information that you drive them out of their minds and out of school would not be the point for me.

All in all i think all this "social networking and paticipatory culture" is a good thing if kept in context. We could really help a lot of our societies wo's by imporing everybody who wants it the same data as a harvard kid may get, it could really unleash a collective wave of brainstorming learning and issues and problem solving that could change things for the better. I know there is a lot of untapped brain power out there young, old and coming up that be great for the world and equal a lot of playing fields. But like the economic and political divides, lets don't leave those in the dust "like me" who don't have a great handle on the interwoveness of the new technology or the time to keep up with every little change, or those with little resources behind who want to come along. I do, but damn, you new aged internet people, (i was one on the cutting edge of the net once) slow down for us. Maybe there is time though because almost no one at UofF teaches for students to learn and transfer as they all should be this day in age, we actually pay for someone to throw up a ton of information we have to memorize and then can't even retrieve that information we payed so dearly for two weeks after class.

Sorry for the rant cds-just some thoughts i've be throughing around in my crazy brain....

Critical Thinking and Problem Solving

First Step:

Let me preface this Learning Journal entry by saying I used Bloom’s “Revised” Taxonomy. I felt it was explained in greater detail on the webpage.

The student will write a compound sentence using conjunctions.

• Remembering: The student will be able to recognize a compound sentence and list the conjunctions with in the sentence.
• Understanding: The student shall compare multiple sentences presented and decide which ones are compounds and interpret whether conjunctions are present in each sentence.
• Applying: The student shall write a compound sentence using conjunctions.
• Evaluating: The student will structure three compound sentences and integrate more than one conjunction into each sentence.
• Evaluating: The student will read two paragraphs and detect any and all compound sentences and identify the conjunctions within each compound sentence.
• Creating: The student shall plan and construct a coherent paragraph using at least 2 compound sentences with conjunctions on the topic of their choosing.

Second Step:

I do not believe the students were less capable than he assumed. There was obviously a problem with his teaching methods and lessons, if he actually did anything other than lecture. This is based on the fact that the “majority” of his students still didn’t grasp what he wanted them to.

They may not have been paying attention, but if they were he did not teach the students the critical thinking skills

necessary to grasp the circular nature of orbit and the tilting of the earths’ axis because they could not associate those two simple facts with the concept of the changing of the seasons.

They definitely had trouble visualizing, analyzing and interpreting what was taught to them because they could not express it in words. This was a complete failure, unfortunately, on his part to instill the basic knowledge base and plan lessons or activities that stretched the students in any way. If he had moved them passed just basic knowledge and made them create something or use that basic knowledge in a high ordered thinking process the results would have been dramatically different. Sorry, Paul! This sticks out like a soar thumb because the whole class can not be below grade level big guy!

I would suggest laying a foundation of the basic knowledge, as he might have. However, plan activities or lessons that actual make the students apply that knowledge and through assessment or along the way he will see who is not getting it. The students can collaborate or work individually but the plan has to be to ensure that they don’t merely get each fact but they can use their brains and connect the dots between those facts as well as apply them in different situations or settings. Such as making or drawing models, or to a TEST!

Critical Thinking Readings & GWAP

I thought I knew a lot about critical thinking skills but that was put to the test with the video we watched. I definitely didn’t know much about critical thinking “strategies”, if anything at all. I knew critical thinking was an advanced way of learning and thinking that evolves in the brain and younger children usually don’t have this skill, it’s developed over time. My definition of critical thinking would have been for me the ability to analyze information or “data” and then apply the relevant information, in a reasoned manner. Or simply put, using our brains to sift and organize information in order to best recall relevant information; higher-ordered thinking. As for strategies, I hadn’t really even given it much thought. I just assumed that the further I pushed along in age and education it was a natural evolution of our brains.

As an educator, I want to know more about what the critical thinking strategies are exactly? When I get a grip on that I would like to know how exactly one might impart those strategies to myself and to my students in order to be become better learners. One’s who are open to new ideas and not so blinded by biases that we shut out what the real facts or truths may be. Not to be so overcome by emotion as so many from both extremes in our society are today in order not to fall into the “false dichotomy” that leads to “false conclusion” or solutions as the video stated. I want to know how to flush out this kind of “black and white” thinking, which leads to sabotaging critical thinking skills that could really bring about big changes in our not so civil society as well as logic to rash judgments and conclusions in our political, educational and all institutions of our country. Just a side note here: I loved the quote that “arguing with reason is cutting off the branch in which we sit”, temporary new favorite!

I’m still not sure what a critical thinking skill set would look like as far as being able to teach it like material from a text? I do have a much better handle on exactly what critical thinking is and what helps and hinders it. So, with this knowledge base a few ideas about how to apply this in lesson plans without specifics would have to be the following. First, learn what biases students are bringing to the table, whether good or bad; it goes back to the idea of pre-existing knowledge and how that can wreak havoc on what and how students are learning and retaining from your lesson depending on their knowledge base. Next, I would try to design plans that make students think outside the box, with less restraint on the course of parts of the activities. This would give them chances to try and fail which I just thought of as I write may be a good way to practice critical thinking. I know failing at times works in the “real world” as long as you get back up and try again. Maybe having well thought-out group projects to encourage differing views having to work to come to a consensus would be good. Plus having the plans or just part of the learning process in general include lots of student feedback and healthy discussion and debate in order to reach the facts. I know we need to have discipline, clear expression of ideas and take person responsibility for our own thinking for good critical thinking skills so hopefully some of these thoughts head in that direction. Interested to see what others have come up with for their classrooms or lesson plans!

The GWAP games to me were like simple but more demanding forms of the game “charades”. I think they support sharing by the interactions that are necessary for both people to score and win quickly. You definitely need to think faster than charades so that may go to the action point. I did notice that the more I played them, I fairly rapidly got better and faster. You must collaborate in order to solve each section as fast as possible and gain as many points as possible by adjusting thought processes real quick and try to match each others styles for each game; if that makes any sense. Communication while not face-to-face and learning how the other is choosing to play the game or thinking was challenging. After a few segments you could almost see the non-verbal communication of the games. Not sure how to use the games in a10^th grade biology class because of the reality that every desk doesn’t have a computer, etc. Having said that I think they would be good even as extra credit to stretch young brains like we think of how crossword puzzles do this for us. One way I thought of was to bring it to class as a class activity where teams would be set up or the class divided in two. One side of the class shown a card with a name pertaining to the material on it and the other shown a different card. The names on the card may be the same or may be different but by writing one word per side at a time until each team locks in an answer on whether their cards are the team who choose right get points and the first team to decide right gets extra points. Maybe taking these computer models of the game to a non-digital level based on what the class is learning could be a way to go? Again, interested to hear what others come up with!

Introduction to how people learn

The importance of pre-existing knowledge, in my opinion, is that everyone from infants to adults has a prior knowledge base that must be understood in order for proper teaching to take place. In the book, they use the example of they book “Fish is Fish” which I found to be a great analogy for what actually takes places. We all bring our experiences of the world around us or pre-conceived notions (knowledge) with us where ever we go. This may pose great obstacles to the understanding and transfer of knowledge of the curricula being presented to students if we don’t understand this basic principle. We as teachers must pay close attention to naïve knowledge, false beliefs and the incomplete knowledge or misperceptions students will bring with them to the classroom. If we don’t address this issue, we can not adjust accordingly to each students needs and provide a good starting point for new instruction in this particular area of learning. In turn, we may not be able to impart new knowledge or understanding in place of the old beliefs.

Active learning is important for students to gain an ability to not only understand or memorize material but be able to participate more and more in their own learning. This is important with the skill of meta-cognition to be discussed later. However, the students in active learning environments help develop student knowledge further by making it not merely a product or process based task but end up striving towards a more knowledge based learning experience. This leads to students who have a deeper knowledge of the material and can then transfer this knowledge to other applications in the subject or other areas of their lives in the future. I feel this type of learning builds a sense of self-efficacy that is important down their path of education that gives them confidence in taking on material without fear because they know they can find the answers or understanding they will need.

Summary of the 3 major key findings:

1. Students come to the classroom with preconceptions about how the world works. If their initial understanding is not engaged, they may fail to grasp the new concepts and information that are taught, or they may learn them for purposes of a test but revert to their preconceptions outside the classroom.

This basically is referring to the whole notion of pre-existing knowledge as described above. Being said, I can add that some of the preconceptions can be quite strong depending on many factors such as age, culture and prior exposure to similar material to name a few. If the teacher doesn’t properly draw these out and address them through prior or ongoing assessment the consequences can be damaging to the student. Teachers need to start thinking about the fact they are handing either well prepared or ill-informed students to another teacher and level in a short period of time. Rooting out preconceptions, misinformation or having students’ not grasping material because of not identifying this information about their students could have a detrimental snowball effect in the future of that student.

2. To develop competence in an area of inquiry, students must: (a) have a deep foundation of factual knowledge, (b) understand facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework, and (c) organize knowledge in ways that facilitate retrieval and application.

This is one of my favorite key findings. In my mind it sums up what is necessary for a teacher to impart into the student before he or she moves on to their next year or next class. Having a deep factual knowledge goes beyond the superficial world of rote memorization and regurgitation into an area where actual knowledge transfer can take place. We must know the necessary facts in the subject matter to provide us with working knowledge and conceptual basis to move deeper in expertise of the material instead of mere novices. Finally, this all leads to critical thinking skills, as I like to call them, in any particular subject or area of expertise. To be able not only memorize material and actual being able to apply it are two completely different things. This means knowing what you know, knowing what you don’t know but need to know, how to find the answers or sift through the abundance of data out there and come to the proper conclusion or answer you are looking for. AKA “transfer”. Yes, that was a bit of laymen’s terms but it’s my summary:)

3. A “metacognitive” approach to instruction can help students learn to take control of their own learning by defining learning goals and monitoring their progress in achieving them.

This approach to teaching is to inform or educate the student on how to internalize information and be able to look at yourself (an internal dialog if you will) and know certain things about where you are with a particular subject, class or lesson. Things such as am I doing enough in my class, transfer of knowledge from other areas, problem solving, keeping up on how well I am doing, time management and many more internalized thought processes. This is a hard thing to teach and has to be done, in my opinion, of the life time of learning. It should be thought of in while designing lessons and integrated into curricula to facilitate development of cognitive skills in learners. This is one of many areas I feel is really lacking in education today.

Metacognition refers to people’s abilities to predict their performances on various tasks (e.g., how well they will be able to remember various stimuli) and to monitor their current levels of mastery and understanding (e.g., Brown, 1975; Flavell, 1973). Metacognition to me is to someone who has reached a point of critical thinking and self-efficacy in which they can use there mind to assess where they are at. How much more they need to learn to become proficient in the subject matter and keep track of their skill level or achievement in that area of knowledge. This is when you have reached a certain level of individual expertise and self reflecting ability and don’t need a teacher to assess where you are, what you need to be doing and how much you really know. The implications for one to be able to do this, especially to be successful in higher education or a field of study coupled with the amount of information available to mankind is almost absolute.

Assessments are vital in the classroom for many reasons and I’ve talked of one earlier. Pre-assessments to get out of students any preconception or pre-existing knowledge from the start in order to know what foundation needs to be laid is a key to a successful semester or year. Ongoing informal assessments, such as, project assessments, quiz assessments and observational assessments are vital for differentiating lesson plans and staying flexible for each individual student as well as the class as a whole. Last, but not least, formal assessment (taking tests) is a necessary evil or tool, in most classes. We are far from reaching some of the new waves in education and students must be exposed to these forms of assessment they will be seeing in other classes and on standardized tests.

Course Expectations

My expectations for this class are, number one, gain some knowledge about the world of technology in which I have slipped a little behind on. Now that I have been to class twice, I've been having a pretty good time, so I'm hoping not to get overwhelmed with the assignments to the point of them driving the fun right out of the course and me to the infirmary. I guess I am feeling in over my head with all my classes this semester and not confident with finding the time to do the "busy work" for all of them. I'm really not accustom to doing lots of assignments and projects and things along those lines. Most of all, I am looking forward to experiencing a class that is not the same old lecture and regurgitation in order to get a better idea of how i could do things different in a classroom as a teacher myself.

I know every student learns in various ways, whether it is auditory, visual, repetition, spatial, etc. The key is gaining as many tools in our arsenal to assess and then adjust our teaching styles and assignments to each student and the class as a whole. This way every student may actually learn at least the basic knowledge required for our classrooms. I'm hoping this class by the example of Chris and through the curriculum will add to that tool box.

My expectations for my classmates are simply to be kind and courtesy and help each other out whenever we can. I expect to do well and get an "A" in the class so I expect everyone else to do so as well. I know grades are not the main point of school; it's to actually be able to remember and apply what we've learned. However, living in the sobering collegiate world of today, G.P.A.'s can be very important for post graduate work and many other reasons. Such as any future plans I have, so we are all getting "A's". Sad but true, especially when the grades don't even tell you which students actually learned and which simply memorized the material! But if an "old" man like me can earn an "A", then I expect you guys too as well! Just being sarcastic, but just live up to my expectations or else! Seriously, I know we all won't see eye to eye or be best buddies, but if we all are nice, courteous and help each other there is no reason we all can't do extremely well. Don't forget, open notes, computer, collaboration. Oh, one last thing that is a pet peeve of mine. Helping each other and working together goes both ways!

Expectations for Chris have changed a little now that we are kind of getting to know him. First, and foremost, he must keep being witty because we meet fairly early and have a long class. Next, I hope he babies us along as much as he can stomach during this course, ironic since I am a 36 year father of 2. Being a novice with Education classes, not knowing some of the technology along with all the things to keep up with, I would really appreciate being walked through this class step by little step. I think our instructor has a great handle on the way students learn, technology and how we can be good teachers. So for me, the biggest thing is to have Chris drive some of that knowledge and philosophy into our heads. It’s is a scary thing if you really think about the fact that as a teacher you do have “real” human beings lives at stake! So when I walk into a classroom to teach I want to be as prepared as I can be.

The whole "lives at stake" dawned on me when I volunteered at Buchholz High School in a 10^th grade Biology class and actually got to know the kids along with some of the good, the bad and the ugly of teaching. Oh, almost forgot, Chris must make some coffee as he promised! Just kidding, but to be fair, maybe those of us who want some in the morning can take turns making it. This way it stays in the realm of a teaching philosophy where we as students participate in our education. But in all seriousness, I expect and have already seen that Chris will be more than fair and accommodating to us all. Teaching in a new style that we all may not be used to but may need to emulate in the near future. I just want our instructor to actually do his best for him and for us.

No real questions about teaching and learning so far. I’m hoping we will all have a lot of questions on the material during this course to get the most out of it and Chris. However, as they do come up I will be more than happy to share them with the class.

I hope I am doing this right? I'm kind of treating like a blog-ish slash formal and informal-ish assignment. It's a total hybrid? I don't know but best of luck to you all this semester!