Week 14: Education through Second Life

Nowadays, there are more and more students that are gamers. For them, education in a classroom where you copy notes from the board can be boring, ineffective and unproductive. It's time to change the way we teach students in today's classrooms. One way to do this is through the game called Second Life. It's a virtual game that allows learning to take place through both traditional and non-tradtional settings. There is a "classroom emulation" where avatars can sit and learn material, but they can learn in other ways as well. One of the benefits of the game is that a teacher can show their students what a different country or a piece of art looks like without actually being there. Most people will never have the chance to go to Italy or see a Picasso painting first-hand. Second life allows you to experience these things with it's amazing amount of detail and ability to make everything look realistic. Another cool feature is that of the "scavenger hunt." Avatars can look for information related to their field of study. Through this activity, they learn new vocabulary and can learn how to recognize paintings in a gallery etc. Avatars can also work together on projects which helps teach people how to connect, communicate and interact with others. Avatars can also be quizzed or follow tutorials for specific material assigned by their teachers, at their own pace. Teachers and other professionals can also benefit from such games. People from around the world can meet and discuss ideas and topics. The ability to see that person's avatar and interact with it makes the meeting seem more real than just chatting through email or a blog.

I would probably not use this in my classroom, because I want to teach kindergarten and it may be a little too advanced for them. However, it's good to know about it in case I were to ever teach older students. It's also cool to learn that such games can actually be used for educational purposes and are not just a waste of time. While I still believe that first-hand experiences and person to person learning is better than learning online, there are many benefits to online learning especially when travel or time changes don't allow people to meet face to face.

This video is an example of how learning can take place on Second Life. It covers science and I thought it was neat because everything looked so real and I think that it gives people a better idea of cell structure, the human body, etc.

Examples of Learning on Second Life (specifically Science in this video)

Week 13: Gaming, Teaching and Learning

This week we discussed how technology is rapidly changing the way people in general, and students, learn. While technology has evolved outside of the classroom not much has happened in the classroom. For the most part, teachers stick to the traditional way of teaching where they explain a concept and the students take notes and are then tested on the material. While this was effective in the 19th and 20th centuries, we are now in the 21st century where so much more is available. Most students are more apt to learn if there is some form of technology involved. They like seeing examples through power point and videos, instead of simply having them explained to them. Instead of teachers having the role of the "teller" they need to be the "guider." Students like to be asked their opinions on topics and like to interact with each other through group projects. If teachers start helping students learn instead of just lecturing, the students will be more successful. However, this is not to say that by simply using technology a student will learn. Technology must be appropriately integrated into the curriculum otherwise students will not understand the connections between things. Nowadays, students are used to looking information up on the internet, finding it instantly, and scanning articles instead of reading them completly. Educational games can be extremly useful and can motivate students to learn. They encourage them to set goals and they are forced to memorize and learn certain things in order to win the games.
All of this is important for me to keep in mind. I have to try and integrate technology along with book work. It's also nice to know that teachers are not expected to know how every bit of technology works, because the students know that already and it is the teacher's job to grade the work and help the students learn as much as possible.
This was an interesting article that brought up great points about technology in the classroom. It also reminds us of how not everything found online is quality information. I thought that the ideas that it gave, such as starting a class website, were great.
Technology in the classroom

Week 12: Distance Education and creating a professional web presence

This week we learned about distance education. Distance education is provided through the use of technology to teach students who are not physically in the classroom. It can be done in a number of ways including email, internet, tv broadcastor by mobile access which is done on a wireless device. Online education means that the teacher and student(s) are separated by time and space but are able to discuss topics through online discussion forums, phone or email. There are many advantages to distance eduaction. One of them is that students can work at their own pace. This is important because some students may feel overwhlemed in a typical school setting, and may do better when able to work at their own pace. DE also allows adults to go back to school while taking classes around their work schedules. It also gives more people access to information that they may not have available to them at their school. It also has its disadvantages though. A major one is cost (some can be quite expensive). Another is that students must be highly motivated since they are not expected to physically show up to a classroom and therefore do things around their schedule. Attendance and participation is hard to do and there is a lack of personal contact between the students and the teacher.

In Florida, an online school called Florida virtual school was created. Teachers are accessible from 7:30 in the morning until 8:00 at night and on the weekends. Each month they are also expected to make a phone call to the parents of the students. Assessments and worksheets are typical types of work that are given to students along with exams that usually count for most of the grade. There are also online discussion forums where students are expected to participate and they can ask questions or work together on a project. Virtual schools are increasing but since they are still so new we don't yet know what makes a good online instructor, so there are still many aspects that need to be worked out.

As a future teacher, it is good for me to know about all the options available to students. It may be something to consider as well. It would allow me to live anywhere and still be able to teach. It's also important to learn about the improvements that are made to virtual schools because some of the teaching strategies may be able to transfer to the classroom.

Here is a video about distance education. It's a little long, but I thought it highlighted some important concepts about it:
Distance Education: The challenges and benefits

Week 11: Open Source Software

Open source is an important feature, because it allows people to have free access to change and redistribute source code when something is not working. A lot of times companies do not allow open access to these codes which means that if something breaks, you won't be able to fix it because the company has licences and fees on the codes. This means that they make money when things are not working right and people are forced to pay for the source codes. Richard Storman was the one who created this in the 1970's. When a printer at the company he worked for stopped working, he thought he would easily be able to fix it. He was wrong however, when the printer company refused to give him the source codes, even though he had paid for the printer. So, he quit and started the GNU project to provide free software to people. Basically, with free source software, anyone can alter it so that it works how they want and they don't have to rely on the original manuufacturer to change it for a large sum of money.

This is very handy for teachers. They don't make a lot of money so they shouldn't have to go out and buy expensive programs that may not get used very often. Now, there is the option to get this free source software that allows even the poorest schools to have access to the software. It is no longer only for those with money, anyone can now download, change and share explore as they wish.

This article did a great job of explaining what open source is:

What is Open Source Software?

Social tools in elementary education

Week 10: Learning theory

This week we learned about different learning theories and styles. The two that were focused on were behaviorism and constructivism. Behaviorism is the idea that behavior can be modified and that cause and effect relationships are internal and cannot be seen. One method of conditioning is called classical conditioning. Some examples would be advertisements and whistles on a sports field. Operant conditioning is changing someone's behavior by using consequences. The three components that go along with this type of conditioning are reinforcement, extinction and punishment. The information process theory is another idea we learned. It consists of the change in behavior that is visible to the observer. The computer analogy is often used to describe how learned information is processed. It suggests that there are three different memory stores that work together. They are process, store and retrieve information.
Another theory is the constructivist theory. It is the idea that all knowledge is created by participating in experiences. Learning occurs when the person creates his/her own version of the information. Problem oriented activities, complex environments, cooperative learning, and project based learning are all recommended for this type of learning. There are problems with it though. One is the fact that the teacher cannot verify individual skill levels. Students might not have the prerequisites needed or they may not choose the most efficient method, not all topics are designed for this type of learning and the skills obtained might not work in practical situations.
There is not really one best choice. As a teacher, I will have to keep in mind the fact that everyone learns differently and that I should used multiple strategies when teaching. Some students are more visual while others prefer to listen. While I might have students do some groupd projects, I will need to remember that not everyone likes working with others and that some students learn better on their own. These theories are important to know so that I can use different strategies in the classroom.

This is a website that I thought was very interesting. You have to click on each question in order to read what is written. It was cool, because not only did it provide a background on constructivism, but it also compared comstructivist learning to traditional learning. It also talked about the pros and cons as well as some ideas that can be used in the classroom for students to demonstrate what they have learned.

Constuctivism in the Classroom

Week 9: Google docs

This week we learned about google documents. They make sending attachments much easier. Instead of sending individual emails with attachments on each, google docs allows you to keep attachments on the internet and send emails from them. They help you stay organized, because you only have one version and can make changes of powerpoints or articles immediately. If there are multiple people working on one project, they can all make changes instantly and everyone can see them. Google docs also allows you to control who has access to the project and who is allowed to see them. Instead of having four copies on the computer, which is what happens when you send an attachment, there is only one. Plus, google docs will save all your previous versions so that you can look back at them and have them organized. Google docs also has other cool tools like power point, spread sheets and online calendars.

Google docs can be extremely useful in the classroom. As a teacher, I could have students email me their papers and instead of having tons of attachments to keep track of, I would have everything in one place. Another neat tool is the google docs calendar. This is especially useful for teachers. The google calendar can be put on a website which can then be acccessed by parents and students. Teachers can easily add activities to the calendars and make any changes necessary. It also eliminates the waste of paper from having to make copies for everyone, and by sending it online teachers are sure that parents will receive the calendars so that they can stay posted on what is going on throughout the year.

We also learned about cloud computing. The three parts to it are: applications, platforms and infrastructure. It allows information and projects to be stored in an online "cloud" so that they can be accessed from any computer anywhere. This eliminates the hassle of having to bring your own laptop with you or emailing a project to yourself when you need to work on it. Platforms allow companies to obtain on demand services and pay only a subscription fee. Cloud computing makes it easier to run any programs without having to pay for the software. Companies are able to cut back on costs and are able to access information more efficiently with this new tool. Platforms allow users to access from centralized servers, such as Amazon. The final part is the infrastructure. It is the most important because it provides the storage space and the capabilities for these programs to run.

This is a really helpful article that cleared up a lot about cloud computing:
Cloud computing article