Module 9 Wrap Up

What were my take aways from this course?

I should start with what some of my take aways weren't. I already firmly believed that blended and online instruction could be just as effective and more engaging that a traditional classroom. I have seen it before, and firmly believe it. The course did do a great job of providing justification to my feelings. My biggest take away was the resources, and strategies for running a blended classroom environment. I really like seeing what my peers did/thought about topics. I also enjoyed the concrete evidence provided in how to run this sort of environment. Rubrics were clearly laid out, and the class was ran just as we would run a class. It was an awesome experience, that every teacher in a 1:1 school should experience.

Digital Citizenship

What is your opinion of using social media such as Facebook and Twitter for educational purposes with older students? Federal law states that individuals must be at least thirteen in order to have an account. In your reflection, consider the viewpoints of other stakeholders.

My opinion as to the use of social media in the school changes with the weather. I feel that social media can be a very powerful tool, but it also only takes one person to stir up a whole mess of problems. Students of today have such a platform to be hear, without the opportunity to filter or retracted many things. Now, in not having a firm opinion I do think it should just be blocked. Students simply use their cell phones or go around firewalls to post of social media. In my opinion it is not worth the effort to be punitive in policing the problem, so embrace the issue.

In embracing social media in the classroom, teachers should practice and teach positive ways to use social media. Such thing as developing projects around social media, using it as a resource for learning, or a communication tool. I feel that giving rights to kids, and expecting them to model appropriate behavior can empower the student.

As a high school teacher, my students are all legal to use social media. I have tried to use twitter as a reflection piece on exiting the classroom. Students are required to tweet about where they are at in the design process throughout their project. I've developed a distance cooperation project where student communicate through facebook. My goal is to show students how social media can be used as a positive. Just as businesses use social media as a marketing tool.

What tool would you like to use in the future?

Personally and professionally I have started to you Evernote and several apps and programs that easily integrate with evernote. I really started getting into using it as a collaborative tool on a tech committee that I am a part of at school. That doesn't answer the question of what I would like to use in the future. It is evernote with my students. 

My classes have kept an engineers notebook for PLTW courses over the past years. I would like to use evernote for this next year. I feel that it will allow students to collaborate better, be more organizes, more efficient, and allow the be more engaged. I want to find which apps are most applicable for integration with evernote. I am really excited for the upcoming school year, and how this will change my classroom.

Unit 6: Authentic Assessment and Feedback

Which concepts from the course seem most applicable?

Of the information shared in the course so far, what do you believe will be most applicable in your professional situation?
Which concepts will be harder for you to incorporate?

The Blog Question posted in this unit is a loaded question. First, I feel that all of the concepts we explored are essential and all work together. So to ask which is the most important, is to ask what is the most essential part of a car. If you take away the tires, or just the engine, or just the body you don't quite have car to get you real far. 

I think the driving force for effective teaching in my classroom is the Authentic Assessment. True authentic assessment will better engage the students. The rigor, relevance, and critical thinking required will handle the engagement of the students. Also authentic assessment requires valuable feedback. And authentic assessments  can easily harness many of tech. tools that we have explored, much easier than traditional teaching. 

Info share

• name of the tool phoster


• platform(s) on which it works (web-based, iOS, Android, etc.) iOS


• what it does Phoster is an app that allows users to create custom movie posters and signs using there own pictures or ones from the web.


• one way it could be used in your situation (classroom, PD, etc.): Be specific with your ideas! In my video game design class one of the units is about marketing, target audiences, and the governments rating system. I had students create movie posters to appropriately model these objectives for their video game. Students were very creative, and really went over the top in making their posters.

Module 3: Moving Mindsets

Self Evaluation on the Technology Integration Module
  *My self evaluation is based only upon my college algebra class. The curriculum in my technology classes align to easily with many standards in online and blended instruction.

          Currently students use an abundance of technology resources in the classroom. Based upon problem solving skills, preferences, and content students use cell phone apps, computer software, internet resources, and graphing calculators to model and solve problems. I also use computer software to monitor student progress, give immediate feedback, provide support, and flip the classroom to help instruct my students.

Active - Adaption
    
Collaborative - Adoption
  
Constructive - Adoption
   
Authentic - Adoption
   
Goal Directed - Adaption
    
      By the end of the year I feel it is reasonable that I can get every on of the rows in the matrix to the highest level. I feel I can achieve this by implementing an authentic PBL unit in the math class. A PBL unit allows for students to seek knowledge for themselves, and pursue any means of technology to solve their problems. I also feel that it will take more learning on my part, through this course, to understand how to utilize students use of technology to completely shift my pedagogy.

Unit 2 Foundations

Do online and blended learning environments remove barriers that prevent students from learning in a "brick and mortar" classroom.

   

An opening paragraph from Janie Ulmer's blog (another student in this course) really resonated with me. She says,

          As I prepared for my first blog entry, I could feel the anxiety that many of my students must feel as they prepare an essay or complete an assessment.  My thoughts and knowledge level are going to be on display for the world to evaluate. However, that anxiety is also invigorating.

This same anxiety can paralyze many students that are not as brave or willing to step outside of his/her own comfort zone as Janie. In my classroom I have observed many students come to life, ask a question, or express his/her opinion virtually that normally would not in a "brick and mortal" classroom. I can't help, but feel some might be a fear of being judged, of being wrong, of not being heard, or of speaking out in front of their peers.

At Lawrenceburg High School I have also witnessed online and blended instruction break down many learning barriers for our students. We have programs that range in comprehensiveness and reach from full-time programs for alternative students, supplemental programs for students in school needing credit recovery or a class not offered at our school, or even down to students in a regularly scheduled class with teachers implementing blended instruction. All of these programs over the last couple years have significantly helped our school improve its graduation rates, college readiness test scores, standardized test scores, and school grade. 

 The " iNACOL A National Primer on K-12 Online Learning" has great section about the myths of online learning. One of myths is that online learning is really just a teacher-less environment. In my mind, that is so wrong , but yet correct in a good way. Online learning allows the student to become the center of learning experience. The teacher merely becomes a facilitator or curator on the students on personalized educational journey. Students are able to get often able instantaneous feedback on work, be supported or challenged they are needed, engaged in learning, and most importantly given ownership in their own learning.

Students today are digital natives, and the transition to a cyber learning environment will be much easier for them than it will the facilitator. Teachers that design or implement courses that follow the TPAC framework , will be able to provide individualized learning that can have a much greater reach than ever before.