Organizing My Online Life

As teaching interns trying to develop into leading educators in high schools, implementing new tools that can aid students to reach their full potential should be of high priority for us. With that in mind, we were assigned the task of mastering a certain technological resource, not only for our own use, but also to be able to instruct a couple of our peers to utilize the tools beneficially as well. All the tools served some different uses, and so making the most of this assignment was important for us interns. I was assigned to master Google Drive, a storage/creative resource that I already had some familiarity with, and also is a resource we've seen used at Scarlett Middle School, so we know it has real-world application and benefit.

Leading up to my presentation for my peers, I tried to get more well-versed in the areas of Google Drive that I wasn't as familiar with. While I was pretty capable with the apps Google Drive offers, I was really impressed with some of the features it has to aid users. Things such as offline usage, add-on attachments to apps, and the cooperative abilities of Google Drive are things teachers can definitely utilize to streamline some of the assignments they give to students. Check out this video of Drive (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WTE6pa-EY4). 

On the day of the presentation, I really wanted to make sure my peers knew about the possibilities Google Drive offered. I honestly felt invested in Google Drive to the point that I wanted to compete with those who were presenting other technologies, and show them how Google Drive was superior to any other resource. However, after taming my competitive spirits, I recognized the need for collaboration on this assignment, and did my best to offer my peers tools to make the most of Drive. My handout focused a lot on the features of Google Drive rather than the apps, with the exception of Google Forms, which my colleagues didn't have as much experience with (https://support.google.com/docs/answer/87809?hl=en). Forms can play a huge role in the classroom, with practical usage in surveys and quizzes, as well as other question based learning. 

Reflecting on my presentation, I think that Google Drive was something that my peers already had at least a baseline understanding of, and so it was somewhat challenging to try and keep them engaged with the info while also making sure to cover all that I had hoped. It took some last minute switching of lessons, and some flexibility, but I hope I served them well. One practical idea of practice I thought about was the benefit of hands on use, or allowing students to try the technology out rather than just lecture about it. Doing so can really solidify understanding of the material, and so I hope to carry that over into real-life practice in the classroom.

Game Review- Brain Pop

Games and school- A concept that has been attempted time and time again, without much positive effect or benefit. Nonetheless, countless attempts continue to spring up in the classrooms, trying to spark engagement in students. With the advances in technology, newer and more advanced techniques are being utilized to implement learning games, but still no really huge game has worked across the board. One game website, however, that comes to mind as being somewhat of the leader of in school implementation, and one that has stood the test of some time, is Brain Pop. When I was in elementary and middle school, I remember using Brain Pop for certain lessons in tech class or other classes, however my reactions were mixed. Even now, Scarlett Middle school where we teach utilizes Brain Pop for some activities. I went back to the site after years away to investigate what I thought of its usefulness as well as engagement.

The site does require a username and password, which need to be purchased, so I was only able to check out one lesson and a couple games. I watched the lesson on blogging, which was a video with an animated narrator and his robot friend. They spoke for about 3 minutes, with some added humor and visuals. It wasn't boring or anything, but obviously for my age level, wasn't especially engaging. I could see it as an alternative to teacher lessons on occasion within the classroom though. My main observation was the game center. I gravitated to the English games, and checked out the Lord of the Flies game. When you access it, you are shown a bird's eye view of the island the boys were stuck on in the novel, with various clickable points to access. Each led to a mini game designed to test knowledge of the story, whether it be character descriptions and quotations, story themes and real-life applications, etc. The mini games each lasted no more than a couple minutes, and I really didn't find myself either too engaged or too unengaged. I finished all of the games so that is a good sign I guess too. After finishing the games, I called it a day and closed down Brain Pop.

Reflecting on the experience using Brain Pop, I tried to base my feedback on my expectations going in. I didn't expect a game site that would cause me to be engulfed in the excitement, devoting hours on end to the task. I expected some entertainment while also causing some critical thinking and cognitive processes. I didn't expect top of the line graphics, but I expected an interface that didn't feel old or obsolete. After playing Brain Pop, I did receive some entertainment and didn't feel really bored at any time, however I did feel that it wasn't too challenging or causing of too much thought. I imagine that in a classroom, many students would just click around till they got the right answers/completed the tasks, rather than really get motivated to complete the challenge at a high level. The overall interface also felt a little dated, seemingly behind much of the technology and websites that students use today. However, the content on the site was of good quality for educational purposes in terms of a change up from the normal lesson. The age group that I feel it probably best suits is middle school rather than high school. In the end, I still don't feel too confident about the use of games for learning purposes, although they've come a long way.

Computerized testing- Why is it being implemented?

In our second class session, we delved deeper into the role technology has begun to play in the classroom and educational process. An investigation into the realms of computerized testing brought on some heavy distaste from much of the class, citing the difficulty of navigating the simulated test page, to the increased strain of reading off of a screen, to the examination of inequities brought upon by the implementation of testing with technology. As I reflect on that experience, while at the time I saw how frustrating it was to manage this technology while also being under the pressure of taking a very important and consequential exam, I look now with maybe a more open-minded perspective.

We as graduate students may have had to take a graduate level exam in similar conditions, such as the MCAT, GRE, PRE, and others, without much training, and this experience could have been unnerving. It seems even more unnerving to think that middle and high schoolers would have to deal with those same conditions, and the thought of it could be frightening. However, as I think about it, I would think/hope that those students are now being prepped in how to approach such testing conditions, to better prepare them for the environment they'll be entering. With practice, they will become acquainted and trained in approaching these exams, in the same way that we were taught how to fill in bubbles correctly, how to read a passage but first look at the questions that follow it, etc.

Don't get me wrong, I am not a proponent of this switch completely to technology as a means for testing. As an English major and fan of reading novels, I place a much higher value on reading paper than on a screen, and do much better in terms of comprehension and in problem solving when writing things down, rather than typing. Nonetheless, I was trained in those regards, and the same can probably be achieved as students start to be trained to use technology primarily for their educational pursuits. Obviously research has shown the comparisons between virtual and physical formats of learning, but I think the literature will change as students train more to become proficient in computerized learning.

This post has definitely been all over the place, and it probably seems to say that I am content with technology as the primary means of instruction/testing in the future. This isn't the case, but I want to look at the bright side and try to find positives, especially since it looks like I can't change this trend towards technological implementation at all levels. My only hope is that the intentions behind this movement are student-driven, but I can't see how that could be the case. Are these technologies being used to save money, time, and difficulty on the administration and governments part, or is there real motivation to make technology the main source in order to benefit students and their development in the long term? I wish I had the answer to that, because that's what I truly care about.

John Dewey: An Ideal Educational Culture

Throughout my undergraduate career, I contemplated my prospects as a teacher, and whether or not I'd be able to create the positive classroom environment I believe students deserve, but are rarely provided. I wavered in belief of my capability to balance personal connection with educational enrichment, and to be able to be "on" everyday to affect students in a positive way. John Dewey's article, My Pedagogic Creed, sheds light on many of the ideals and thoughts that led me to continue my pursuit of a career in education, although throughout much of it I couldn't help but feel it was an idealistic picture, like the one I had painted in the past, but more recently have become aware is not entirely true.

 In the article, Dewey delves into his beliefs about the various layers of education, describing his ideas of education, of school, of subject matter, the nature of method, and school and social progress. He presents various ideals a school and the community involved in a school should uphold, from the community's investment in a student and vice versa, to building autonomy within students, to a teacher's role which shouldn't be as an authoritarian, but rather as a medium to aid students in seeking knowledge, to how to enact forms of discipline, and more. While they were all incredibly important and very legitimate ideals regarding the structure of a student's education, I definitely felt that in this day and age, with all the struggle and back and forth between policy makers, administrators, parents, teachers, and others invested in the state of education, and felt a little hopeless in some of the ideas put forth by Dewey. One idea in contrast that I feel definitely is a possibility and I think a must within all classrooms, an idea that Dewey came back to time and again, was that of making the student's education part of a larger social development, built upon making their education relevant and applicable.

"  I believe that knowledge of social conditions, of the present state of civilization, is necessary in order to properly interpret the child's powers. The child has his own instincts and tendencies, but we do not know what these mean until we can translate them into their social equivalents. " Technology plays a frequent role in the lives of students, and to neglect it in education entirely i think would be unwise as it neglects the "present state of civilization" as Dewey puts it. Although technology can become quite a distraction, we can recognize some new ways that we can connect students with the content we are teaching.

Relevancy of content and connecting things with the society we currently inhabit is an essential element of a successful curriculum, and it is necessary for teachers to reflect on how the education they are transmitting is relatable to students and their situations.

Yay a blog!