Tuesday, January 13, 2015

My Time at the Windsor School

By John Nelson

One thing I am certain of, is that when it comes to teaching, there are a near infinite number of ways to do it.  Although I had developed this understanding prior to going into the Windsor School, it was definitely reaffirmed by my experiences there.   The solidification of this premise, along with the desire to be an effective educator, means that if I am to become a person worthy of educating children, I must continuously examine teaching strategies, tools and techniques.   Having the opportunity to speak with multiple educators at the school, mainly Mrs. N, although helpful for my awareness of strategies, was merely a drop in the bucket of potential futures for my classroom.  I am not going to talk these educators up to be gods of learning, examples that MUST be followed, nor misguided soles in the classroom.  I am going to share what I saw and heard, in hopes of spreading their knowledge. 

In today’s classrooms the cutting edge strategies utilize technology.  While, this was probably true for the entire history of organized classrooms, I believe the term, technology, has come to mean something new.  When I say technology, I am no longer referring to chalk and blackboard.  Although, these took a brilliant mind to invent and understand their utility, they are no longer referred to as technological.  What is deemed technological in the present seems to be continuously overtaken by the wave of human ingenuity moving into the future.   Presently on the front side of this wave, as I saw at the Windsor School, is computing devices and the Internet.

When I say that the Windsor School is using computer devices, I mean, the school is loaded with them!   While I did not receive an answer for the total number of computers in the school, the third grade classroom had a small laptop for each student.   In another classroom, the teacher had an additional tablet, which she generously lent to students during “free time” as a reward for hard work.  The students could only access informative programs, so the free time wasn’t quiet free.  In the classrooms where every student had a laptop, I think it was important for me to discover that although they had the computers, they did not always use them.  During the time that I was in the classroom, the computers were tucked away on a shelf, charging.  But, from what I was told, students were working on a big writing assignment on their computers.  They were able to access the dictionary and thesaurus program in order to improve the quality of their writing.

Above and beyond writing, the students were reading eBooks.  The school still had a library, but I could not help but think that that would be going away soon.  It was amazing to see students flipping a page in a book with the swipe of a figure or the tap of an arrow key.  For students struggling to read, computers could read aloud.  However, this drew the focus of the teacher, and the students, if able, were encouraged to attempt to read the text themselves.  I believe students, who chose not to read, will be able to negatively exploit this technological advancement and avoid ever harnessing the ability to read.  But I think there is also positive to this technology as well.  The students can listen to books above their reading level.  While that may not help their reading, it surely helps them become exposed too much more complex topics then they otherwise would.

School isn’t just about reading, writing or other academic.  There is another element to schools.  It is   I personally believe this is the most important skill to harness, but not every teacher care to develop it.  During my time at the Windsor School I was fortunate enough to see a teacher using a program called IPact to teach emotions, and the beginnings of ethics.  IPact, is an app that has blank formats, which educators can fill in for any number of subjects.  In the classroom that I saw the teacher was helping students recognize different emotional states like frustrated, tired, or energetic.  The teacher had also defined terms like share, bullying, and cooperate.  The teacher expressed to me that they believed having the understanding of such terms was vital to the students success because she, the teacher, could be assured that her students and herself were expressing the same emotion.  I thought highly of this fundamental building block of communication.
the harnessing of social skills.

Along with the academics and social skills, there was an additional manner in which I saw a teacher using technology in the classroom.  The teacher used the kids interests and hobbies and turned it into a lesson.  An effective strategy that I saw was the use of the hugely popular game Minecraft in the classroom.  The fourth grade classroom tasked with learning about Rome was ask by their teacher to break into groups and create one of a number of Roman buildings, such as the coliseum, in the virtual world of Minecraft.  Furthermore they were tasked with researching the structure.  Students found the research simple and enjoyable, since their enthusiasm was triggered with their ability to “play” Minecraft in school.  While a majority of the class was familiar with the game, if not an outright fanatic, there were some who had never played.  While this could be seen as an issue, it became apparent to me that it was an opportunity for cooperation.  I saw the proficient students generously helping the less proficient students learn. Whether or not Minecraft is a life skill, is not important; cooperation certainly is a life skill.  The teacher was successful in harnessing cooperation by simply allowing the children to utilize a passion, a video game, in the classroom


As discussed, technology can be used not only in multiple ways, but also for multiple purposes.  In the Windsor School, I saw it used for standard academics, social development, and the capture of students enthusiasm.  The techniques I witnessed were certainly helpful at broadening my scope in to the realm of teaching.  However, as previously mentioned at the beginning of this post, these are but an infinitesimally small number of techniques.  I look forward to exposing myself to more educators in the future.  Technology is forever changing, therefore it is the role of the effective educator to stay on the wave of human ingenuity and continuously create new and effective methods of engaging their students.

Monday, January 12, 2015

LESSON PLAN

BIG IDEA

Students creating and presenting stories with the use of technology to share with classmates will necessitate the projection of real life scenarios requiring the understanding of fractions.


Lesson Plan Component
Criteria
Title
Life Problems Series- Fractions

GSE’s/GLE’s/Frameworks



Objective(s)

The students, in groups, will identify a life problem, which necessitated the understanding of fractions.  They will explain this problem by using it to construct a video, which they will share with the rest of the class.


Materials

-One video Camera (more if possible)
-One Computer (more if possible)
-One projector and screen or a TV
-Fraction Blocks, Building blocks, Legos, or any other divisible object.
-Space for groups to collaborate
-Space for groups to film


Anticipatory Set

Present the students with previous example created in other classrooms. Examples can be found at : (http://betterlesson.com/lesson/582003/and-the-oscar-goes-to) 

Tell students they are to create a new scenario and create similar videos.


Procedures

Groups are provided ten minutes to discuss what the scenario in their video will be.  During this time I ask them prompting question.  Where fractions play a role in their lives?

Groups then have 15 minutes to write the script for the video.   They have to determine how the fractional problem will be presented and solved on film.  I ask them to consider the audience, and to understand that people outside their group may have never seen their scenario.  How will they ensure that the problem and solution is clearly stated?  How is the problem clearly shown on video?

While waiting to film, groups will set up.  I will remind them of presentation.  How else could the set be laid out so that the video captures the story?

Each group will then have 5 minutes to film their scenario. 

At the end of class the videos are shown.


Closure

Students will present their videos to the class and faculty.  I will ask the rest of the class if there are questions?  Then I will ask them to change one aspect of the problem.  Example: What if six people share the pizza, not 4, how many slices would they have?  I will allow constructive criticism of the presentations


Assessment

See rubric below


Modifications/Accommodations


-Students will have the ability to redo videos on another day if they choose.  They can switch groups and create new scenarios. 

-To further harness the students’ ability to express fractions I will continue to elaborate on different ways of saying them, and different contexts in which they are used. 

-Parents of students who lack a functional understanding of fractions will receive a message asking them to demonstrate fractions around the home and in daily life.

ASSESSMENT RUBRIC

GROUP:
           
Scenario Selection
The scenario selected by the group demonstrates a practical problem in life, which is not immediately obvious.  The scenario was picked without being prompted prompt
The scenario selected demonstrates a practical problem in life.  No prompting was required in the selection
The scenario selected demonstrated a practical problem in life.  Minimal prompting required in the selection.
The group required a lot of prompting in order to determine a scenario
Group unable to select a scenario

Fractional Understanding

The group was able to express their fractional problem in multiple ways.  The problem selecting was complex capable of having multiple numerators and denominators

The group was able to express their fractional problem in multiple ways.  The problem had complexity.

The group was able to express their problem without issue.

The group struggled to express their problem

The group failed to express their problem

Video: Communication

The video was creatively produced, and the problem clearly projected.  The video was enjoyable to watch.

The video was produced well ant the problem could be understood. 

The video clearly communicated the problem

The video was not easily understood

The video was incoherent. The problem could not be understood.

Notes on Individual  Students:

_________________________________________________________________________________
Resources:

Similar Lesson

ISTE Standards
http://www.iste.org/docs/pdfs/20-14_ISTE_Standards-S_PDF.pdf

Common Core
http://www.corestandards.org/

Saturday, January 3, 2015

Multitasking

Written by John Nelson, while listening to music, engaging in side conversations, and playing a board game.

Although the videos Growing Up Online and Digital Nation, showed a few studied on multitasking, I believe that the studies are far from conclusive.  Take for instance the study that had participants sit in front of a computer, which had letters and numbers flash on it.  They had to identify, quickly, whether the numbers were even and odd and whether the letters were vowels or consonants.  Participant who had to identify numbers and letters did worse then participant that had to do just one or the other.  Of course they did!  Who on a daily basis practices reaction speed for identifying even and odd numbers?  I suspect that if tasks were given which the participants performed regularly, that different results would be shown.  Give a person time to practice identifying numbers and letters, and then compare their ability to multitask. 

Take another example, playing a guitar and singing.   I am not a good player; quite awful actually, and thus need to focus all my mental energy on one hand.  However, an experienced guitar player can multitask two hands and even sing and dance all at the same time.  Is the experienced player worse off for multitasking two hands and vocal?  It would appear to me that the efficiency of multitasking might have a lot to do with practice.  

There is another side to the multitasking that I see as well.  Isn’t it possible that we do not need to focus on many tasks?  Aren't there many tasks in which people become so proficient, that they become “muscle memory”.  Take for instance drinking, eating, driving, standing, running, walking, or holding something.  Can you not pair these tasks with another, like listening, talking, or watching something?  There are a lot of tasks that I do not feel, require full attention.  I do not have to listen to all of the lyrics in a song to be moved by it. I do not need to read every word in a story to pick up a theme in a book.  I do not need to watch for other cars on a highway, if it is barren.   I do not need to taste food in order to receive the nutrition.  I do not need to look where I am walking, unless I am close to a cliff.  I see many tasks where corners can be cut.  Cutting these corners frees my mind in order to do multiple things simultaneously.

I don’t think that anyone should worry about their multitasking.  Not unless they are failing to perform a task to the standard that they set for themselves.  If they are becoming distracted when they need to focus, they can work on improving their ability to focus.  However, if they enjoy be connected to or doing a million things at one time, good for them.   Just remember that each person is responsible for their own success.  Understand that some tasks may require greater focus, some require practice, and some require being social.  Good luck!

Monday, December 15, 2014

Technology and Education

A Vision
By John Nelson

As a student currently enrolled in a Master’s of Education Program at Southern New Hampshire University, I find it necessary, to discuss the entirety of the educational field.  Doing so requires me to transcend the events and needs of classrooms and to focus on the acquisition of all knowledge in any form.   While many students of education focus on becoming a teacher of students, I am seeking to become an enabler of knowledge and a promoter of education.  It is for these reasons that I view technology as an alternative, not just adjunct, to conventional education.   But I am an equal opportunity enabler, and I believe in the promotion of education across all learning environments.  So I will focus in and out of the classroom, locally and globally.   If I had to focus on what has most drastically shaped my education, it would not be a teacher, but a technology.  The printing press and the hypertext transfer protocol, have granted me access to more information than I could ever process.  It is because of these technologies and many more that the education continues, and why I focus on technology here.


Technology, in a modern sense is often though of as, computers and the Internet.  But technology is so much more.   Technology is the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes.  So when asking myself, what is my vision of technology in regards to education, I struggle.  It is hard to not to find myself thinking only in terms of the Internet.  But if I try to think of an older technologies and how they have shaped education, I discover that it is not all that difficult to do.  Take for example the internal combustion engine.  How has the engine improved education?  Well, it has allowed thousands of buses to transport millions of children to and from school.  Certainly buses have enabled education.  Let’s go even further back.  How about the invention of quarrying?  Well, if people never quarried anything, all the limestone would have remained in the ground.  So what, you say?   Without limestone there would have been no chalk.  Please tell me that you have not forgotten what chalk was used for in a classroom?  Anyways, the point I wish to make is that I think technology is much more then electronics and the Internet, and that educators should not focus only on the obvious.  But, as you will see in the following paragraphs, I myself am not very good at following my own advice.  There is just too much cool stuff to do with electronics and the Web

So if chalk and engines were technological enablers of knowledge in the past, what are some current and future enablers?  Amongst the leaders, I think, is Google.  Most notable for their search engine, which allows users easy access to near infinite information, Google also has collaboration tools such as Google Drive.  While already a leader of learning enabling, Google may become unequaled with the establishment of Loon.   If you have not heard of it, check it out!  Other great enablers are smart phones and 4G networks, which have provided people the ability to access the world’s information nearly anywhere.  With the Web in our pockets and the ability to SkypeFacebook, or Tweet, education is no longer about if someone can be educated, but rather why they are or aren’t being educated.

While technology is amazing at facilitating learning, I believe that humans’ social nature also plays a significant part.  Whether it is the desire to be accepted, to share, to trade, to help, or any other reason, people are driven by their own and other peoples standards.  These standards include possessing intelligence, acting rationally and acting morally.   How can technology hold people to these standards?  Online, there are endless communities of people searching for meaning and understanding, and justice.  These communities hold others to the standards above, to include the standard of learning.  While not necessarily applicable to a classroom, there is endless knowledge that can be drawn from passionate fringe groups in society, such as FeministsVoluntaryistTranshuminist, etc.  They are really not hard to find at all.  Who knows, maybe you will be drawn to one of their causes and inflicted the endless pursuit of knowledge. 

Have I made it clear how great the web is for enabling knowledge?  Not yet?  Well, the Web is a wonderful place to learn about hobbies, or practical skills. Check out the forums for gardeninghome repair, and video games.  How about, for the self-motivated learner, does the Web have platforms for that?  A surfer can find primary sources, studies, and empirical data on Digital librariesJSTOR, and Google Scholar, Unless you are a Ph. D student, a scientist, or pushing the realm of human understanding to new heights in some other fashion, all of your answers can likely be solved on the Web.

I wish to share with you my vision of education in the not to distant future.  I believe that there is a growing hesitation in the “traditional” schooling methods.  I believe that charter schools, private schools, and online schools are currently demonstrating that the human mind can learn in a million different ways.  I believe that in addition to more of the aforementioned types of schools, there will be a growth in organized Homeschooling, and Unschooling groups.  I also see great potential for concept schools to be funded not by their local communities, but by charitable supporters globally.  How?  Thanks to crowd funding sites like KickStarter, and GoFundMe, any idea can become a reality.  I would like to see crazy new school concepts be funded this way.


Next, I am going to discuss my ideas a new and exciting technology.   What is it?  It is the Blockchain technology.  Unfortunately, it is so complex that I do not have the time to explain it to you here.  If you look it up, do not get wrapped up entirely in its cryptocurrency capabilities.  What is important to understand about the Blockchain is that it is a secure network ledger for recording transactions that cannot be corrupted.  Furthermore, people are not required to initiate the transactions.  The absence of people will greatly limit transactional cost, which will immediately benefit all businesses.  Imagine a school that does not require as many bureaucrats who siphon off funds that should be reaching students.  Imagine if teachers, professors and institutions could publish grades, degrees, credits, and diplomas on the Blockchain’s secure ledger.  This could reduce the cost of administration.  It would make managing all those files unnecessary, because the student could individually hold the key to all their educational records.  Imagine scholarships being monitored and distributed on the Blockchain.  If a student obtains the proper grades, funding could flow uninterrupted.  If the student fails, funding could be cut off automatically.  Imagine using the Blockchain and Bitcoin for incentivizing students.  Along with grades, or maybe instead of grades, students could receive a cryptocurrency that could be redeemable for rewards.  Rewards such as, a toy for an elementary student, social time for a seventh and eighth grade student, or “points” on a transcript for applying to colleges, for high school students.  Bitcoin already has a thriving charitable community, imagine people donating directly to a poor students electronic wallet, for no transaction fee, and with the stipulation that their donation be used at a store for school supplies.  These are just a few of the advancements to education that the Blockchain can enable, there are likely many more.  Can you think of how the Blockchain may assist education?


In this vision we discussed how technology of the past, present, and future has and will continue to shape education.  I believe that I have demonstrated that it is not always the obvious technologies that benefit education.  Technological advancements in quarrying allowed teachers to write on boards in the front of the classroom.  I think a technology invented for cryptocurrencies, will allow a future of education that is currently unpredictable.  As humanity continues to advance, I believe it is the task of a good educator to search for the unique technologies that will help teach, or enable learning.  I am excited to continue my search.


I would like to know what technologies you are looking keeping an eye on?  Which ones that you think will advance education in and out of the classroom?  Please share. 

All sources used in the drafting of this document are hyperlinked within the text for your convenience.  

Friday, December 12, 2014

Asynchronous and Synchronous E-Leaning

Friday, December 12, 2014

Literature Review, Week #4

Since enrolling in school again after a 4-year hiatus, things have changed.  Gone are the days of simple word processing and email.  In, is a time of more tools then I have the mental capacity to remember.   Furthermore, these tools are used to communicate not only with teachers, but fellow students as well.  I believe, that it is not the tools themselves which are important, but the capabilities that they provide.  This belief leaves me with the question, how can I better assess a tool’s capability?  The article “Asynchronous and Synchronous E-Leaning”, by Stefan Hrastinski gives insight into a corner of this dilemma. 



In e-learning there are two forms of interactions that can be had via the Web; synchronous and asynchronous.   According to Stefan, asynchronous e learning does not require participants to be active at the same time.  In my Masters program this style allows for greater flexibility by fitting learning in between the crumbs of time that are left after work, class, relationships, and naps.  Some examples of asynchronous e-learning are e-mail, blogs, discussion boards, etc.  These are in contrast to synchronous e-learning tools.  Which are… You guessed it, in real-time.  Examples of these are instant messengers, videoconferences, and other active collaborative tools.  One of the major benefits with symmetrical learning is that it makes “e-learners feel like participants rather than isolates”, according to Stefan.  He continues to contrast synchronous from asynchronous by saying, “isolation can be overcome by more continued contact, particularly synchronously, and by becoming aware of themselves as members of a community rather than as isolated individuals communicating with the computer.”



Given the definition of the two terms, you may personally, find one more appealing then the other.  However, the article goes on explain that neither one, in absolute, enables learning better then the other.  But, Stefan does brake e-learning environments into three categories, content-related, planning of tasks, and social support and expresses how synchronous or asynchronous tools can be beneficial for each.  The remainder of the article is devoted to explaining why.  But instead of telling you what Stefan thinks, or even what I think, I want to know what you think

I am calling upon your higher order thinking.  When, where, how, with whom and why may synchronous learning be more beneficial than asynchronous, and vice versa?

Learning Outcomes

#1 - Demonstrate the understanding of how technologies can effectively promote student learning.

Technologies that require immediate social interaction can be used for collaboration, cooperation, planning, and can leverage peoples desire to be social in order to motivate participation.  Technologies that are not as socially demanding can allow for freedom of time and deeper levels of critical thinking.

#2 - Evaluate and use a variety of current technologies to enhance content instruction and to advance students' technological literacy.

Students can blog or e-mail less time concerned ideas, or ideas requiring deeper level of thought, or students could communicate instantly over Skype, IM, or phone.

#4 - Reflect upon and demonstrate effective use of digital tools and resources

From this article the comparison of e-learning to a standard learning environment is nonexistent.  However, I do believe that the synchronous and asynchronous dichotomy exists offline in everyday classrooms.  Just envision a reading assignment versus a class discussion.

#7 - Demonstrate an understanding of the use of adaptive technologies and other digital resources to personalize and differentiate learning activities for every student.

Students have different preferences of speed and style of learning.  Knowing whether a student is social, antisocial, and quick witted, slow to process, a deep thinker, busy, bored, or many more characteristics can better determine whether a student will respond better to a synchronous or asynchronous e-learning environment. 

#8 - Evaluate, adapt and reflect upon emerging tools and trends by participating in local and global learning communities and by reviewing current research and professional literature.


Article


Hrastinski, Stefan. “Asynchronous and Synchronous E-Learning.” Educause Review. N.p., 17 Nov. 2008. Web 12 Dec. 2014

Images

“Synchronous vs Asynchronous Communication and Why It Matters to You as a Doctor - IMedicalApps." IMedicalApps Synchronous vs Asynchronous Communication and Why It Matters to You as a Doctor Comments. N.p., 23 May 2012. Web. 12 Dec. 2014.


“M13: Communication Tools: Modern vs. Traditional.” Public Relations Writing. N.p., 11 Apr. 2012. Web 12 Dec 2014