Farewell, IDE 611.

Sigh. This is the final week of IDE 611. I felt it only seems fitting that my final blog post be a concise reflection/opinion of content learned this semester.

In the end, I learned a tremendous amount about available and specific technologies, apps, resources and tools that can be implemented into a classroom across varying disciplines. Do I feel that one specific tool is superior to other. No. Do I feel that one specific tool should be used daily. No. I truly feel that the key to success for technology implementation in a classroom is to treat all of the resources we talked about this semester as [overflowing!] tools in your trusty teacher toolbox. Implement these technologies in meaningful ways to have a positive impact on learners. Vary the technologies used as you would switch up any other "traditional" lesson delivery tactic for your classroom of diversified learners. Don't stop pushing yourself  to take more professional development centered around new and emerging technologies even after 10, 15, or 30 years of teaching experience. And, lastly, be brave enough to use something new and resilient enough when that "new" technology is a lesson/classroom failure. Technology can empower a classroom, learners and teachers. It's not the savior to American school systems - but it sure can help higher order thinking and lesson objectives come to fruition for a learner.

Cheers to my peers,


Sara

Gaming in the Classroom

This week we are discussing game based learning in the classroom. I was already familiar with the topic as I read a peer's (quite awesome) blog on this topic throughout the semester. This week as part of our professor's introduction to the topic she posted this article: The School Where Learning is a Game. I'll be honest the article both intrigued me and made me simultaneously uncomfortable. As with every topic, resource, app, or tool we have discussed this semester, I feel like we need to approach gaming in the classroom in moderation. And, well, I don't think there is much moderation going on at this specific school. But, then again, I am assuming here and we all know where that can lead someone. I am sure a tour of the school could leave me astonished and no longer uncomfortable. But, maybe not. Who knows. There are some incredibly valid and amazing educational games that truly lead to student success. However, I do believe they should be used in moderation as with any resource or tool (and I am referencing both technology resources/tools and non-technology resources/tools). Daily lessons & instruction need diversity! Add gaming to our overflowing teacher toolbox and use when you feel it will meet the lesson's objective or help a specific student reach our ultimate goal - learning success. The real problem at hand is the handful (maybe more?!) of educators who do not embrace any of these tools in our overflowing toolbox...

That's a (quick & concise) wrap for this week!

Sara

FaceTiming/Video Calling

This week we are discussing technology and face-to-face instruction. Specifically, my discussion group talked about FaceTime/Video calling and it's place in the classroom (which I think absolutely has creative, real possibilities!). Part of this week's curriculum involved watching this video:

I have to admit this video really annoyed me. Seriously. For starters, on a very superficial and, well, snotty level: where in America do you have an entire classroom of students (and "entire classroom" is apparently only 10 ten students?) on task, eager to learn, and ready to do everything the teacher tells them or their "technology" tells them to do. Easy peasy classroom management. All students smiling. Every person is neat. No mess - and I mean that internally and externally. Um. Nowhere. The utopia that this video presents really gets under my skin. [By the way, where is the diversity in this video?] Of course, I realize the video is simply trying to make people "think" in very general terms but it only makes this teacher [like me] annoyed. There are enough people pointing their fingers at teachers and their "cushy" jobs - so things like this annoy me. I seriously question the author's teaching/education street cred. Grumpy. Maybe? But, it just annoyed me and I needed to get it off my chest. So, there. I did it.  And, well, there is always the annoyance that in real life budgets currently cannot support all of these technological bells and whistles. We never will never be able to unless major revisions to school funding are made.

Even with the above, please know I am a huge supporter of technology - especially in the classroom. I have thoroughly loved learning about all of the endless resources and tools this semester (and hearing my peers amazing ideas/experiences). However, I do not think technology is the end all be all for students and teachers nor will it fix all of the problems at hand in our school systems. It certainly will not make a school utopia like this video portrays. Rather, I am of the team that technology is a important and vital tool for a teacher's tool belt. If used appropriately with planning, support, and effective implementation  - technology can play a huge, effective, loving role in our classrooms. But, do I ever think it will lead exactly to classrooms like this video depicts? No.

I think I sound grumpy. Sorry. I'm not. Please know, I just approach this whole topic with a lens of a teacher who has participated in combat. Realism. I've taught in some pretty rough schools. For starters, I was hired for an urban, alternative education position fresh out of undergrad (Side note: silly, naive me didn't think to ask which school they were going to house me at and they didn't privy me of this hidden fact! Always ask what is meant by a "satellite campus!"). And, well, I have war stories. This is where I truly got my "teaching degree." I loved it and also hated it and I'm not just talking about the situations I dealt with with students. Support, budgets, colleagues, etc. Anyway, all I am trying to say is that technology is awesome and it really can support some amazing lessons for educators but...at this point, I do not think having a completely technology based school/classroom (as this video depicts) will lead to a educational utopia for teachers and students. I think it is very naiive to think it will. 

Again, sorry if this is a negative post. It's not meant to be. I really do think highly of technology and it indubitably has a role in a classroom but it in my opinion it shouldn't be the answer/solution to everything. We should be balancing all of the tools and practices a teacher can implement for successful lesson delivery and student success. 

I promise I'm not grumpy,

Sara :)

Back to Glogster

As I previously mentioned my new topic for the remainder of the semester is Glogster. I posted all about Glogster two weeks ago. If you missed that post, you can find it here. Today, I felt it may be beneficial for you to see more examples of actual Glogs. I think in order to truly appreciate and understand what Glogster is - one needs to see examples. Lots of examples. So, please enjoy this resource: Glogpedia.

On a side note, today is election day! There are so many amazing election day resources online for teachers (or Americans!), no matter what your content area (you can incorporate the election into any content area!), online! Many of them Web 2.0 resources (woot! a throw back to my first blog topic this semester). Blogs, news sites, candidate sites, twitter, FB, instagram, live results. The endless list and amount of sites is cray-cray (using "cray-cray" is likely to casual for this grad school blog but I'm on a voting high!). So, yah, get out there and vote...and use some of these amazing sources to teach 21st century skills in your classroom! I have chosen not to list any specific sites because there are simply to many and I don't want to start a political discussion, debate or worse. No propaganda. ;) Just turn to Google my friends - or post you favorite site or way you incorporate the election coupled with technology in your classroom on a comment below.

Go Vote,
Sara :)

Talk to Your Children

As I have previously mentioned, I have three small children. As most parents, you have dreams and aspirations for your children. Some parents want their children to be doctors, lawyers - successful. Others hope their children are academically or athletically gifted - or both. But, I can honestly say that ultimately my biggest aspiration for my children is for them to be kind, loving and empathetic to every single person that come in contact with. I think I define the word "empathy" a million times a day to my four-year-old and two-year-old. My husband and I try to teach and model empathy & kindness daily. We sing the Daniel Tiger (a PBS Kids television show; my children adore Daniel Tiger) "Think about How Someone Else is Feeling" song like we breath air. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to locate that gem of a song on YouTube for your listening enjoyment. [Sorry. You are missing out if you haven't heard it.] Ultimately, I do not think I would feel more shame as a parent if one of my children became a "mean girl/guy" and was an aggressor of online harassment. #truth

So, why am I rambling about this? This week we are discussing cyber-security and online harassment. I am passionate about this topic first as a parent and second as a teacher (and, really a combination of both since I taught "Parenting" classes at the high school level before staying at home with our children). I was reminded again how cruel students can be to other students while watching the Frontline episode "Growing Up Online" that our professor posted as part of this week's discussion. I witnessed this cruelty as a teacher so the Frontline episode wasn't particularly surprising for me - but it still never ceases to horrify me how mean students can be to other students. Reminders like this are good for parents and teachers. It's easy for adults to tell students/their children to "just let it roll off your back" or "in ten years this won't matter" --- but IT does matter for young children and telling them that doesn't help. They can't rationalize through it. This is their life now.

Parents and teachers must remind themselves to teach their children/students about online harassment, cybersecurity and beyond daily. I will happily debate anyone who argues that schools shouldn't get involved with cyberbullying/harassment. I've heard the arguments against getting involved and there are holes in them like swiss cheese. There is positively NO way that what happens online will not/cannot spill over into the classroom. None. Nada. Zero. We have a job to do - teach children. That involves making sure students are in an environment that allows them to learn AND teaching them 21st century skills. Hello? --- Like about cyber security and online harassment. I understand it is not our mission as educators to teach children how to be overall "good people" but we are required to teach them 21st century skills. And, this topic is a 21st century skill. End. Of. Story.

When I was in high school I was the president of  our school's "Stop The Violence" club (don't snicker or cyber harass me! ::sarcasm::). It was a club that started mainly due to the 1999 Columbine school shooting. We held peace rallies and other curriculum for the student body. Sure, some kids laughed it off, but the majority embraced the concepts. In my opinion, the only way to combat and teach students about cyber security and online harassment is through parent education, student education, peer-to-peer activities, and having students and teachers create a culture in their school that makes these things uncool or important. Talk. Talk. Talk. Keep communication lines open and active.

Here are some valuable resources if you want to start making this a daily objective in your classroom:
http://www.onlineschools.org/student-bullying-guide/
http://cyberbullying.org/
https://www.facebook.com/help/safety
https://www.facebook.com/help/116326365118751
http://www.ncpc.org/topics
http://www.stopcyberbullying.org/index2.html
http://www.affordablecollegesonline.org/college-resource-center/cyberbullying-awareness/
https://staysafeonline.org/stay-safe-online/for-parents/cyberbullying-and-harassment

Of course, you can find a million more!

Okay, that's my soapbox. Now, excuse me, while I go lecture my daughters about empathy for the hundredth time today. ;) And, don't worry as they age they will hear all about cyber security, too!

Peace,
Sara

Glog It!

For the remainder of the semester my new information tecnology topic is: Glogster!

As their YouTube station explains, "Glogster is a cloud-based platform for digital storytelling and interactive learning. It allows users to mix all kinds of media on a one virtual canvas to create multimedia posters, and access a library of engaging educational content created by students and educators worldwide. Glogster encourages interactive, collaborative education and digital literacy."

Their YouTube video is pretty super at showing you what Glogster is:

And, well, this really shows you Glogster...in 90 seconds!

So, simply put, Glogster is a cool, fun, fresh, groovy, interactive poster that you OR your students can create on any topic of your choosing! The only caveat, it's not free. Boo. You can get a free seven day trial though -  but that's really not helping anyone. You can get a one user account for $29.99. You can purchase a 30 users account for $39.00. Or, 125 users for $95.00.  Of course, if your school or department has funding they could pony up for the cost. Or, perhaps, you could share the cost of the 30 user account with a colleague and have 15 user accounts per teacher. There is no rule that you couldn't have groups of two from each of your class sections use the same user accounts, right? Anyway, frugal teachers could finesse the cost, if needed. In the end, the cost of these accounts are much cheaper than traditional, old school poster supplies: poster board, markers, printing costs, etc.! Sell that to your administrators?


DOWNLOAD THE IPAD APP: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/glogs

Find us at: https://www.glogster.com
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/glogster
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/glogster
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/glogster

Happy Glogging!

Sara :)

Assistive Technology & Accessibility

This week we are discussing assistive technology, accessibility and universal design. One of our discussion questions for class asked if the websites we used (personally or as educators) were accessible for ALL individuals. Sadly, this is concept/idea that I have never gave much thought (for example, is this website designed to allow for screen readers, videos closed captioned, can you only navigate the site with a mouse, etc. etc.). And, well, I think we ALL should stop and think about the inequality of the internet/websites for persons with disabilities. 

We all know about the ADA (Americans with Disability Act) is unquestionably valuable. In fact, section 508 of the ADA requires all federal websites to be accessible for persons with disabilities. However, we all know that the Internet's resources go far beyond federal websites for our society (and our classrooms!). While answering my discussion question on Blackboard this week, I came across this press release/litigation case. And, upon further web clicking, I came across this Wall Street Journal article. There have been many other lawsuits for similar problems (equal access to websites). If you are so inclined, you can find noteworthy cases at the bottom of this webpage (Netflix, Hotels.com, Amazon and beyond are on there!). 

There are real obstacles for persons with disabilities having fair and equal access to ALL of the Internet (or even simple technologies in public areas that you or I take for granted in our daily lives). It's easy to get assume technology is a easy fix or always a  for persons with disabilities --- but it appeared very quickly after some fast research that in the end Internet use actually leads to huge roadblocks, frustration and inequality for persons with disabilities. 

This is all food for thought. I truly appreciate that this topic was brought up this week! I think having accessibility audits for all websites would help this growing problem. But, of course, much more needs to be done and I am not an expert or special education resource. 

Lastly, I also did a little bit of digging on the Internet for assistive technologies designed specifically to be used in a Family Consumer Science Career and Technical classroom/lab (my area of specialty). And, well, I was a little disappointed as I only found two:

• talking food thermometers (to be used in cooking labs)
• Byteswitch: first and only adaptive sewing machine. The Byteswitch control allows the machine to be controlled by the mouth or hand. (http://www.abledata.com/product/byteswitch-sewing-machine).

Lastly, as resource to my fellow teachers, I found this website: http://techmatrix.org/. This is a searchable database of over 400 assistive and educational technology tools and resources. Absolutely a website you should stash away in your filing cabinet (though it doesnt allow for searches for subject areas like music, art, or career and technical courses. boo!). This article also lists multiple awesome Web 2.0 (yay!) apps to support diverse learners in the classroom.

That's a wrap!

Sara