Reflection Week 6

This week we practiced using the WeVideo editor tool. It has a familiar and simple interface. I was surprised by some of the advanced features such as green screen and text/annotation overlays. I did find the overlays to be a little finicky and did not match up to the exported video. It was somewhat challenging to figure out exactly what to create. I spent the majority of my time waiting for the muses to guide me toward a project that would be fun, engaging, and ultimately not too overwhelming. I settled on keeping it simple and wrote a short poem revolving around the theme of things that are green... not really deep, I know... but I did not want to see anything more sophisticated spiraling into a huge project.

I think this can be a great tool for students and teachers to use a means of presenting various projects. Perhaps illustrating narratives or in the giving of reports.

Post a  reflection that  includes some information on the tools we practiced this week.  Which parts were new?

WeVideo Creation

Here's a video I created using the WeVideo editor. I chose to write a short poem about the color green.  

Mesopotamia Simulation

OCT: Reflection Week 5

This week we explored e-book creation and the use of google slides as a jeopardy game. It was interesting to explore the different e-book creation applications out there. I really would like to find something that allows for the creation of an interactive book, with pockets and pull out documents. So if anyone knows of one, please let me know. 

I’m already thinking about the possibilities of creating e-books of my student’s work. Serendipitously, two of my students independently brought up the idea of publishing their work in a book. So, I think I will be playing around with this idea in the near future.

Week 5.1: E-book Beta

So, I've been playing around with creating an eBook. I've decided to revisit an old undergrad project that never came to fruition, an interactive book about W.E.B. Du Bois. I've started off by first creating a slideshow of my page images, then I uploaded that to ISSUU. Later I hope to actually include the pullout elements that were planned for a finished book: letters, photo albums, articles, and other primary source docs.

Orc-Slayer

Here is an image of my niece. I created this using Pxlr online photo editor. My family and making humorous "photo-shopped" images put me in a state of flow. 

OCT: Week 4 Reflection

          This week's chapter hit me quite hard. I experienced an episode of introspection not felt in quite sometime. The idea of FLOW and balancing duty and passion were good to explore. For one, I think I incorporate a great deal of practices that facilitate “Flow” at my current job. But, would I say that the job itself is a pursuit of passion or one that lets loose the spigot of creativity? Not really. It is enjoyable mainly because I’ve been able to incorporate many of my passions into the creation of lessons and classroom activities. The “flow” turns down to a trickle once I get into the classroom and teach, and then dries up completely when it comes time to grade and revisit assignments with students. 

The part that I love is the creation of the materials, the organization of units, and the puzzle of figuring out how to address standards in creative ways. I love education and theory. Pondering the solution to systemic problems is a great exercise. Incorporating art and video games into lessons is wonderful. Standing before a classroom of middle school students, not as much fun. It feels more like an obligation, a duty, and is absolutely draining. 

Maybe it’s a good balance. I’m not sure. Not many jobs allow such creative freedom. But, I don’t think I can do it forever. Hence my pursuit of this MAT program.Utilizing technology in the classroom definitely facilitates “flow” for me. I’d love to keep doing what I’m doing, incorporating technology creatively to teach, I just don’t know if I want to work directly with kids at the same. 

    Who knows, maybe I’ll change my mind next week.... 

Theory of Mind: Week 4

I believe my theory of mind lends toward constructivism. I try to provide a student centered learning environment through individual and group problem-based activities that demonstrate mastery of a the learning objectives. 

Each learning theory has its place in the facilitation of learning. Cognitive theory and behaviorism lend insight into how to best memorize and absorb knowledge. Constructivism leads outward toward a greater understanding and the application of knowledge. The social and problem solving aspects necessitate the synthesis of preexisting schema and the creation of new ones. 

Behaviorism can be though of as the base, a rule of nature that governs all living things. I see education as a uniquely human characteristic. Through education, human beings can grow aware of their conditioning and come to understand it. From this understanding, we can learn to manipulate our behavioral conditioning or eliminate it altogether. Education is what breaks the binding chains of behaviorism. Once broken, we can seize the chains as reins, and guide our chariots toward some loftier goal, higher than the self. 

Teaching With Technology Journal: Week 3

This week we explored behaviorist theory and its impact on the evolution of educational technology. It was interesting to see how the ideas governing primitive “teaching machines” are nearly identical to those steering present day software.

Although I don’t view behaviorism as an all-encompassing model for educational practices, I do see that it has a place in constructing the pyramid of learning as outlined by Benjamin Bloom. Behaviorist theory can most readily aid in building the base of the pyramid, helping to remember, understand, and in some ways guiding the application of knowledge.

Overall, I view behaviorist conditioning as effective, helpful, and yet, demeaning to the potential growth of a human being; if viewed as the primary operator of human action. Perhaps there is some truth that we are made out of a tapestry interwoven by conditioned responses, but it’s not the whole picture.

To view behaviorism at such face value is to sign away all remnants of free will. If behaviorism alone dictates the operation of our existence then all semblance of choice falls to illusion. All action is a guided by a series of conditioning from which we are inextricably trapped. In such a world, we are merely bags of chemical mechanization. Truth, but is it the whole truth? If so, this is not a world in which I would like to live.

I have hope that the true mark of a human being is the ability to rise above these chemical constraints. There is a beautiful truth lying beyond the garden wall, ringing into an eternal creation of poetry, art, music and literature, that is inexplicable to the behaviorist.

This week we experimented with using Google Drawing to create a concept map. I’ve used Google Drawing for such things in the past and have found it best for small projects. Overall I wouldn’t use Google Drawing in the creation of a concept/mind map as the creation of nodes is a little tedious and symmetry is difficult to achieve. I would recommend using realtime board, mindmeister, or mindmodo for more serious complicated projects.
We also explored blog creation as a means of keeping a living portfolio. I like this idea. Particularly in the use as a type of reflection. I can see a blog being implemented as a type of “exit ticket” for a class and a record of learning that could easily be looked back upon. Reflecting on the reflections.

Online Collaborative Tools: Week 3

What do I aspire to? That’s a great question. One I’m not entirely sure of. Mostly I aspire to become a better educator and person. I wish to influence and guide my students toward becoming creative critical thinkers and independent lifelong learners. As we live in a technological age it is crucial for students to become familiar with the tools available at their fingertips. One of my core beliefs is that the success of any democratic society lies upon a foundation of an educated citizenry. 

I’m taking this course as a requirement in receiving my masters in teaching with technology. With our current level of technology, we have the ability to provide a more immersive and engaging type of education than ever before in human history. I hope that this course will help aid illuminating some tools to help facilitate this new type of learning offered in this digital age.