Terry Heick, you are a genius. I would also like to add "Use video games. The best ones are those that throw random math equations at students."
0 Comments
Educational Possibilities
While research in this area is still new and limited, information and communication technologies continue to be touted by developers, businesses, and educators alike for their potential in the classroom. And not without reason. Michael Rich asserts that kids are taught by all media they use, inside and outside the classroom, including video games and social media (ctd. in Dakin, 2014). The line between education and entertainment is blurry. Because kids use technology for recreational purposes, using it in the classroom is often emotionally engaging and perceived as more relevant. YouTube alone—when used effectively—can grab students' attention and motivate them, improve classroom discussion of an issue, provide ‘real-life’ experiences and authentic/expert voices, reach multiple intelligences, increase memory (through the auditory and visual combination), and be used to view simulations, collaborate, and practice digital citizenship (Education 4391, 2014). From an administrative standpoint, using technology enables educators to meet Inspiring Education’s Cross-Curricular Competencies. Clearly, we can’t teach Digital Literacy without using digital technology, but it also assists with Lifelong Learning, Self-Direction and Personal Management. Technology extends both the walls of the classroom and the hours of the school day by enabling students to learn any place, any pace, any time. Some self-directed online programs allow students to monitor their learning against set criteria and identify lagging skills, which contributes to greater metacognition—a key to lifelong learning (Tapscott, 2009, p. 140). Students might also use an online environment in which to develop an e-portfolio that will showcase their learning from K-12 and beyond. When this data is centralized and made available to teachers, they are better able to keep tabs on where students are at and so adapt their lessons or teaching strategies. These self-directed online programs, also known as adaptive learning systems, may also provide welcome relief for students “frustrated with working in a group setting, or having to negotiate the diversity of a public school setting,” or for those who are “struggling academically or irritated by the pace of learning in schools” (McRae, 2013). To this, we might add the benefit of assistive technologies designed to accommodate students with exceptional needs. And even if students are working in greater isolation, as Rich notes, social media can be a place for isolated kids to connect and find community (as qtd. in Dakin, 2014). Technology facilitates the other Competencies as well. Tapscott (2009) asserts that technology can be used to help education become more student-centred, more interactive and discovery-based, more suited to the student’s learning style, and more collaborative (p. 122). Wikis, blogs, YouTube, Skype, and other collaboration tools enable students to construct and share knowledge with each other, whether they are in the same class or across the globe, and peer-to-peer sharing can promote high engagement and learning (Ibid. pp. 137-138). Cross-cultural interactions can also promote empathy, as it gives kids a chance to interact with and know people who are different from them. While Tapscott doesn’t use the term ‘flipped classroom,’ he describes taking a course in which he could review the material and test himself online, and then receive face-to-face time with the instructor. Virtual classrooms hosted on websites that link to online readings and instructional videos make it possible for teachers to assign for homework what would have otherwise involved in-class reading and listening. They can spend class time doing hands-on, problem- or project-based, collaborative, student-led learning. Web 2.0 participatory tools and the Internet also promote learning-by-tinkering in a social and virtual context (Ibid. p. 135). Multiuser virtual environments (MUVE) enable students—via simulation and inquiry—to pose and pursue meaningful questions about the world, past, present, and future (Ibid.). Truly, technology makes it possible to learn 24/7 wherever a screen is available. Impact on Students’ Development Technology has incredible potential to enrich students’ learning in school and to promote life-long learning, but using it also has costs—besides the obvious financial spending required. Increased technology use almost always means decreased time outdoors, which tends to be one of parents’ biggest concerns, aside from online predators. Kids play outdoors fifty percent less than they did in the late 1970s (Juster et al., as ctd. in McRae, 2013). This “nature deficit disorder,” as Richard Louv calls it, is connected to depression, ADHD, obesity, and decreases in cognitive development and executive functioning (as ctd. in Dakin, 2014). The more we use technology, the worse off our brains and bodies seem to be, which is perhaps why people try multitasking: using technology while engaged in another activity. Unfortunately, multitasking is a recipe for disaster. We end up in a state of “continuous partial attention” in which our “working memory gets overwhelmed and makes mistakes”—mistakes which sometimes result in safety hazards, like walking into lampposts (Stone, as ctd. in Anderssen, 2014). Gary Small associates this state of “continuous partial attention” with our taste for new information, and warns that our tendency to jump from website to website looking for quick answers is actually rewiring our brains. Considering that teens are developing their frontal lobes, Small is worried that, by using too much technology, they may not learn to read social cues, think deeply, or consider the big picture (Anderssen, 2014). McRae (2013) is concerned that kids using customized learning systems may come to believe that the world adapts to them, making them less able to recover from adversity. Likewise, students’ critical thinking will be significantly hampered as they are more able to “access the information they want at any time, place or pace through a variety of devices” and are “increasingly fed only the exact type of information … and sources … to which they digitally subscribe” (McRae, 2013). Many teens also multitask with technology, using multiple devices at once, which contribute to about eleven hours of screen time per day (Dakin, 2014). Of the Moncton teens Pauline Dakin interviewed, one doesn’t use social media for fear of her ability to focus, and another suggested she “should probably cut down,” as if were a bad habit or addiction (Dakin, 2014). This begs the question: are the students engaged in learning through technology, or are they simply addicted? Neema Moraveji, director of the Calming Technology Lab at Stanford University, effectively compares some technology use to gambling, reporting that checking social media can be “energizing and mood-boosting. We get a rush – what scientists have called a ‘dopamine squirt’ – when anticipating the contents of a potentially juicy e-mail, much like pulling the arm on a slot machine” (as ctd. in Anderssen, 2014). But just as feeding a drug addiction degrades mental and physical health, so being connected to social media 24/7 (what researchers at King’s College Institute of Psychiatry in London call “unchecked infomania”) is linked to depression, eating disorders, and a temporary 10-point drop in the IQ, ironically double that of marijuana users (Anderssen, 2014). If that’s not enough, when searching the web or checking email, people exhibit what Linda Stone calls “e-mail or screen apnea”: they subconsciously “take shorter breaths, or hold their breath entirely, restricting oxygen to their brain” (Anderssen, 2014). An expression of the flight-or-fight response, screen apnea can lead to “long-term stress and its potential risks: teeth-grinding, diabetes, heart disease and depression” (Anderssen, 2014). While sleep is often the prescription for stress, technology impairs this as well. Screen time is cutting into sleep, which is a major factor in student performance. Many teens interviewed by Dakin (2014) reported getting somewhere between two and eight hours of sleep, as opposed to the nine to ten hours recommended. They would stay up late to check (often trivial) social media updates or would have their sleep interrupted by text message notifications. Nocturnal screentime decreases sleep quality and quantity, as well as kids’ readiness to learn (Howard-Jones and Rich, as ctd. in McRae, 2013). From my previous studies in fatigue management, I know that this is primarily because exposure to light inhibits the release of melatonin, a hormone essential for inducing sleep. Chronic fatigue is linked to obesity, depression, irritability, decreased reaction time and inability to focus, compounding the effects of both stress and technology use. Students may even be taking frequent microsleeps in class, unrecognizable to themselves or teachers. Socially, teens feel they are unable to log off, are afraid of missing something, find themselves occupied looking at random things, and fear being unable to respond to emergencies or to reach out to others if they are in crisis. Their phones are amulets, providing safety and connection (Turkle, 2011). They’re also under tremendous pressure to keep up their online appearances (Turkle, 2011). Students’ social media profiles, along with the likes, tweets, and comments entrenched in such systems, are a primary source of self-worth and identity creation. Adolescents need safe spaces to experiment with identity, and, while some teens continue to post provocative photos and status updates, many more understand the Internet as their permanent record, and fear sharing (or having others share) anything because it can easily be saved, copied, edited, pasted, and broadcast anonymously (Turkle, 2011, pp. 256-257). While the media tell us that teens are savvy tech users, Turkle (2011) also finds that they don’t actually understand the ins and outs of privacy, surveillance, and protection online. Restless and confused about life online, many teens resign themselves to anonymity, which has perils of its own. Rushkoff (2010) observes that online anonymity engenders mob mentality and incivility, encourages dehumanization of participants, and promotes lack of empathy and remorse for having wronged someone. For all the benefits technology provides, we must promote responsible use. Proposed Technology Policy The difficulty in creating a technology policy (as I found when attempting to create a fatigue management practice in my previous job) is that technology’s effects are so pervasive and so strong that responsible use requires a lifestyle change. People change when they have enough information and incentive (usually discomfort or fear of some kind) to do so. Ideally, the school will provide both to staff, students, and their parents in the form of workshops, literature, meetings, and initiatives (such as a student-led tech-lifestyle club designed to raise awareness of technology’s impact on students, as well as how to use technology to enhance learning, collaborate, and create). Lifestyle discussions need to be worked into the Digital Citizenship curriculum. I propose the following as a starting point. We, the staff and students of Hypothetical Affluent Middle School commit to:
References Anderssen, E. (2014, March 29). Digital overload: How we are seduced by distraction. Globe and Mail. Retrieved from http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/relationships/digital-overload-how-we-are-seduced-by-distraction/article17725778/ Dakin, P. (2014, February 20). Re-Wiring Our Kids. Atlantic Voice. Retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/player/Radio/Local+Shows/Maritimes/Atlantic+Voice/ID/2438446358/ Education 4391 - YouTube in the Classroom. (2014). Additional Information. Retrieved from http://ed4391presentation.weebly.com/additional-information.html McRae, P. (2013, April 14). Rebirth of the Teaching Machine through the Seduction of Data Analytics: This Time It's Personal. Retrieved from http://www.philmcrae.com/2/post/2013/04/rebirth-of-the-teaching-maching-through-the-seduction-of-data-analytics-this-time-its-personal1.html Rushkoff, D. (2010). Program or Be Programmed: Ten Commands for a Digital Age. Berkeley, CA: Soft Skull Press. Tapscott, D. (2009). Grown Up Digital. New York, NY: McGraw Hill. Turkle, S. (2011). Alone Together. New York, NY: Basic Books. I had originally planned on making this presentation into a Brainshark video, but my free account only allows me 15 minutes of recording time, so I was unable to do that and it's considerably complicated to make a timed PowerPoint presentation into a YouTube video. This attempt showed me that I have more to learn about "flipping" my classroom through direct instruction via technology (I think I'll eventually purchase Camtasia and a good mic).
Regardless, I wanted to make the information available to anyone who might benefit from it, so here is the PowerPoint with the "meat" of the presentation located in the "notes" section on each slide. For quick reference, I also want to include in this post the steps I plan to take to use social media in my classroom (references are in the PowerPoint).
My heart is aflutter after perusing this PowerPoint on CORE (Collaborative Online Resource Environment). It unites my passions for information management, communications technology, and public education. I'm so grateful that CBE is on board with this initiative, and love this visual. I love this visual because it speaks to my own struggles with information management, which I explored in response to an assignment for my C&I class (below). So, it comes as a great relief and source of excitement for me to learn about the CORE initiative. I hope that there are some additional apps/sources for which CORE will serve as a hub going forward (e.g., Google Apps for Education, Teacher Logic, and the Online Reference Centre [ORC]).
From the Turley & Gallaher article, the main ideas that struck me were: 1) a rubric should not be transferred from an broader administrative level to the classroom because the context and purpose are completely different; 2) co-constructed rubrics are useful for creating learning communities that share a common vocabulary for discussing and evaluating work; and 3) effective rubrics generate greater responses and more effective feedback.
I want to co-create rubrics with detailed criteria so that students can use them as guides for completing, assessing, and learning from their own work as well as each other’s. This is where collecting, analysing, and using samples (Davies chp 4; Chappuis chp 7) comes in: the class can look at samples (in small groups or as a whole class), generate and sort criteria and quality, and together we can make a rubric that can be revised as needed. I think this works best for general categories of tasks that students will perform throughout the course, such as science reports, essays, and multimedia presentations. Additional criteria could be added specific to that particular assignment when it is introduced. While, I liked the idea of collaborating with colleagues to collect and analyse samples across grade levels (Davies, chp 4), the approach discussed in Davies chp 9, is better: students should assume responsibility for collecting and analysing work (e.g., through portfolios) so that any assessment is used for, of, and as learning. Students should be able to explain, reflect upon, and evaluate the work they produce: it helps them develop metacognition for learning, ensures that they can safely make mistakes, and sets them on the path of continuous improvement. In reference to selecting rubrics (Chappius et al. chp 7), a best case scenario would involve all students keeping work samples to which they and other classes could refer, as well as having access to ‘real world’ samples and ‘real world’ rubrics (e.g., codes, regulations, standards). This way, students and teachers could determine what next steps for improvement might look like across grade levels and beyond school. In addition to receiving peer-, teacher-, and parent-feedback, inviting a professional to give descriptive feedback on student work might be particularly meaningful to students. I agreed with the approach of involving students as much as possible in generating formal report cards (Davies chp 10). Not only does this increase the validity of the evaluation and empower students to explain the report to their parents, but it also maintains a positive, open, and honest relationship among the teacher, students, and families. There are no surprises, misunderstandings, disagreements, complaints, or slander. When formal reports have to comply with coding imposed by administration, the teacher should include a note of explanation about the translation of classroom rubrics into administrative rubrics to help students and parents understand. I liked the 4 keys to success for goal-setting conferences (Chappuis et al. chp 12), and felt that it is vital to empower students practice this regularly and independently because 1) it is impossible to goal-set with each student for each learning outcome, and 2) it seems difficult to structure learning outcomes such that they build off one another or are reviewed regularly (I’ve noticed that units within subjects are somewhat isolated from each other). I hope to include time at the end of each lesson for students to quickly record notes for steps 2-4 for themselves to stay on track with their learning target. I would demonstrate first, and provide regular assistance, but also encourage students to share with and help each other. For my curriculum and instruction class today, my assignment was to do a 20-minute lesson on my Program of Study (English Language Arts). I planned my lesson very thoroughly and thoughtfully, and designed guided notes for my classmates to use, and created plenty of opportunities for them to engage in constructing their knowledge to deepen their understanding of the material. Unfortunately, I grossly underestimated the time all of this would take, and got through maybe two-thirds of the things I had intended for us to do. Not only that, but I was also a bundle of nerves and a lot more scatter-brained than in other situations I've taught (work and church). Why was this experience so different?
Firstly, I'm not used to having to try to fit so much learning into such a short time period. I either have more time or I scale back what needs to be discussed. Work meetings can be extended or continued in side conversations, phone calls, or emails. Bible study groups are flexible and accommodate lots of socializing mixed with discussing ideas. Secondly, I'm not used to being accountable for formally assessing others' learning. Teaching at work took a variety of forms, including training people on work processes, informing them of key information, or directing collaborative work to solve a problem. Assessment of understanding usually involved lots of informal discussion, Q&A, and checking back via email, but ultimately everyone took away what was useful to them, and no one was "tested" on anything other than their ability to do their job. In my church small group, I have seen incredible growth in the young women in terms of their understandings, their ability and desire to pray, their skills in encouraging and challenging each other, taking on more leadership and responsibility, and applying biblical principles to real-life situations. But, I never used a set curriculum and never "tested" them. "Lessons" were frequently based on topics they were currently interested in exploring (so it was always engaging and relevant), were taught through some instruction but a lot more question-and-discussion (tapping into their knowledge and experience, and challenging assumptions and beliefs together), and always included prayer for each other such that everyone knew they were cared for and could themselves be a source of encouragement. Teaching and learning at work and church were low-stress for me, and very enjoyable, and I think there were things I was doing that I can keep doing in the public education system with success. At the same time, the methods and structures that I've been learning in my classes will, I have no doubt, increase my ability to maximize the time I have with students so that they learn and grow more, and receive both the challenge and the care that they need and deserve. I'm trying not to be too hard on myself as I learn, and to be okay with improving one thing at a time. In seminar, we watched a Singaporean commercial aimed at recruiting people to the teaching profession. It featured a teacher who dedicated herself to an at-risk student by conducting one-on-one tutoring sessions, texting him when he was not in class, and inviting him to join her family for dinner. As a class, we concluded that teachers should give 110% of themselves into their students.
Later that evening, I went for a walk and ran into a Lethbridge teacher in his final year before retirement. He shared with me his frustrations about the lack of funding to be able to improve learning in his classroom (while seeing money spent on team-building swag and colour flyers that no one will read), the 'wellness' initiatives of the board that ignore the fact that teachers cannot go for walks if they are expected to supervise, and the peer-pressure and administrative pressure to give that 110% which induces feelings of guilt over feeling exhausted, getting sick, or wanting to take time off to mourn the death of a close friend. He felt that these working conditions also contributed to his divorce. The Singaporean commercial made me wonder what the teacher's relationship with her possible spouse and children might look like, or what her friendships consisted of, or what she would do if she had a class of several at-risk students. It also made me wonder if the Singaporean school boards hire or partner with educational assistants, guidance counselors, community leaders, psychologists, social workers, and other specialists to work alongside teachers, or whether teachers were expected to fulfill these roles (and, if so, whether they had any training or resources to fulfill these additional roles). During my ED2500 practicum, I observed that the Calgary Board of Education was generally good about supporting at least the kindergarten teachers with additional help upon request by the school admin staff, but was told that this is not always the case. I also observed that the teachers generally seemed to be able to set up healthy boundaries for themselves between their lives as teachers and their lives as people. Any job in which one is working with people risks becoming a 24/7 (pre)occupation. Police officers, pastors, social workers, nurses, and teachers (to name a few) can easily become burned out if they: a) let their work creep evermore into their non-work life, b) adopt the belief that 'if it's gotta be, it's up to me', and c) operate in a culture in which conditions a and b are common and even admired. I've experienced and observed burnout because of these conditions, and want to prevent recurrence for myself, my colleagues, and my students. I think this involves: a) maintaining time-sensitive boundaries between work and non-work life, and giving 100% into whatever activity/person I'm involved in at that time (e.g., teaching students, loving my husband, sleeping), b) seeking to collaborate, sharing my skills and resources, and asking others for help, and c) encouraging my colleagues (and students!) to do a and b. I find that my mothering instincts kick in whenever I'm around folks that seem afraid, unsure, lonely, or confused: I want to look out for them, quell their fears, make them feel comfortable and safe, help them make sense of what's going on, and ensure they know someone cares for them. This happened a fair bit today, and it felt nice to help others. I think this is an asset I bring to the teaching profession.
Conversely, I found it was a relief and help to be able to connect meaningfully with a number of other students today, as I am new to Lethbridge and my friends, family, and partner are all back in Calgary. While I am a strongly independent person, I've realized in the last year or so that I am much happier and confident when I'm with others, and I feed off of their encouragement and input. I'm glad that the teaching profession promotes PLCs and that one of ED3505's aims is to provide us a space to practice and learn from successes and failures; to vent honestly about where we're at with everything; and to share our joys and pains with one another. My work experience in the pipeline industry has shown me that it is possible to have groups of colleagues like this and to do this informally (usually with office doors closed, but sometimes via hallway chats) or formally (via intra- or inter-company committees), and my hope is that education PLCs will be even more honest, productive, and effective. I was cautioned that, as a 'mature' student, I might be frustrated with others in the program, especially doing group work. I'm not overly concerned about this for three reasons: 1) The speed question exercise revealed that many others in the class believe that they work hard, strive for excellence, pick up others' slack, and are organized. Regardless of age, these qualities will make it much easier and enjoyable to work with them. 2) My work experience has shown me that letters behind a name and fifteen plus years in industry do not guarantee that a person knows how to complete a project, communicate effectively, organize work or meetings well, stay focused, show up on time, or other basic things I once expected of folks in this category. I've learned to work with these people cordially and effectively, am not as bothered by discrepancies between their skill set and mine, and am better at identifying and appreciating their strengths. 3) I fully anticipate that that this situation will persist once I enter the profession, and continuing to practice working with others who are different from me will just make things easier for me day by day. The two classes that caught my attention most were Evaluation of Learning and Educational Psychology. I used to be a health and safety analyst and I found it very interesting to try to develop a reliable system of measuring something very complicated due to all sorts of physiological, psychological, sociological, and systematic factors. I hope to apply some of my previous knowledge and experience, and to learn how measurement in education has or hasn't worked. The psychological component intrigues me because I've done a lot of ministry work, which focuses on helping individuals and families holistically. I look forward to understanding and exploring issues from an academic perspective and being able to apply my knowledge personally and professionally. |
Archives
August 2017
Categories
All
|