Teaching The iGeneration

For today's blog post I took the time to review another chapter in a different book besides our text book for the class. I looked at chapter three of Teaching the iGeneration written by William M. Ferriter and Adam Garry. Though the book focuses heavily on integrating technology into all areas of teaching, chapter three stood out to me as it involves working with learning by seeing. Many students in today's classroom learn by being more auditory or being more visual in their learner response. This chapter focuses on the ways teachers can make teaching come alive through digital storytelling and the proper use of technology as aides for visuals.

At this point in my Graduate Career, I do not feel it necessary to embellish anymore on digital story telling as I have spent two weeks learning about it in another one of my graduate classes. Thus I simply glanced over that section of the chapter. Do not get me wrong, that part of the chapter is beneficial but for me, I do not need to keep beating a dead horse. What really impressed me about this chapter was the five reasons that the authors mentioned as to how and why stories stick with students. This is impart connected to what the students see, but also impart to what the content of the story holds. The five reasons the authors listed as to why stories are made to stick include the following:

• Simplicity: don't over load a student with too many ideas, it ends up being that a student learned nothing as they have to much to focus on. 

• Unexpectedness: appeal to the student's curiosity; do not bore them to death. 

• Concreteness: appeal to the sense or the tangible concepts; don't go all crazy and ambiguous on the students. 

• Credibility: tell and create ideas that are approachable and ready to test. 

• Emotion: makes students feel, rather than just think; it helps with their ability to remember.

These five reasons on how to make stories stick, when aided with technology that helps promote visual learning promote a road to success in teaching with almost any age level. The reason mentioned seem to be practical and common knowledge, especially with all the training we have in teacher preparation. I agree with all the reasons the authors listed and think that it takes some intentional planning on the teachers end to make a lesson be successful using these five methods. I also think they can be stretched from not just using stories and visuals but to all areas to teaching. They make a nice foundation for a "rock solid" lesson plan. 

Also in the chapter, the authors discussed different avenues teachers could take in order to use technology to promote visuals in the classroom. The sources mentioned are more linked to video sources, thus the chapter is about digital story telling. The authors suggest that teachers use youtube or hulu. After all those two online services are the cause of such a digital explosion on the world wive web. The mine point emphasized from the authors about using online services to engage students in visual learning is that those students of the iGeneration need visuals that are stimulating and engaging. The book mentions that most students today spend time playing video games or participating in online video games or virtual worlds. The teacher, with the five reasons of making stories stick in mind, needs to find a way to bridge the students interest in video games or online communities to that of the classroom. 

Using Chapter three of Teaching the iGeneration provides a good starting point. It provides several different avenues for teachers to travel down as they incorporate more and more visual technology int eh classroom. I do believe there are other sources out there and simple sources that can be used. Not all school are going to have access to the top of the line technology. Teachers can use PowerPoint to engage their students in classroom learning, just as long its not the sole source of visual technology used. With all this said, teachers will have to be creative when thinking about their students and meeting their needs and all their learning styles. This chapter focused mainly on the visuals, but I am sure it does not stop there. I would recommend this book as a resource more so than a good read. Its a little wordy and somewhat a repeat for all of us on the graduate program now. It really does not teach us many new things, well at least this chapter did not. 

The Socially Networked Classroom

For today's reading, I reviewed a chapter out of William Kist's book entitled, The Socially Networked Classroom. Though the title lends the reader to think that book is all about using social networking in the classroom, one is easily fooled. The premise of the book rest on the foundation of using social networks in everyday educational instruction, but that is not the sole discussion of the book. The book is divided into several chapters with adaptions of how to use technology, with an emphasis on social networking, among students who come from differing levels of technology availability in the classroom.

I took a look at chapter two of Kist's book and it discusses simple and easy ways classroom with limited technology access can still use the coveted media in everyday instruction.  The main emphasis on this chapter rested on the understanding that there are reveal free sources available to teachers and they need to maximizes their capital on them. Basically Kist was saying that if you have one computer in the classroom, use a free resource found on the web that all students can use at any given point throughout the day. He started his chapter off discussing how to engage students in everyday lessons and then connecting those lessons to a simple online activity such as blogging or using a wiki for class discussion. The purpose of this type of "hook" per lesson is to provide an engaging lesson, yet not rely too heavily on the technology aspect of it. The technology discussed in this chapter was mainly that of blogging or other form of online collaborative writing. Students were to use the provided time at the end of lessons or throughout the day to reflect or post comments about what they learned.

Though the chapter did not really interest me to the notion that I am anti-technology in the classroom, the practicality of the chapter is nice. The discussions around creative and engaging lessons is encouraging to understand as not every classroom is going to be decked out in the latest technology. Just as Kist states   in this chapter, not letting students rely solely on technology is a good thing. I agree with that. Technology can become a crutch for students and an easy way out of meeting the basic standards (depending on the lesson objectives, etc.).  I would like to have seen more discussion on the social networking side of things as I believe social networks have a place and a time in the classroom. It would have been helpful to see how to use social networking sites in a low technology classroom besides just blogs or wikis.

EXPAND #5, Chapter 2 Part Duex

For my final posting in the EXPAND portion of the course, I decided it would be helpful to review some more websites from the mobile technology portion of the text book. As I have mentioned earlier cell phones are becoming a more and more part of who we are and how we function on a daily basis. So the way I see the more exposure to websites that promote cell phone use in a positive atmosphere the better. Right? I thought you would agree. The website that I chose to review was www.shutterfly.com. At first glance I knew exactly what the purpose of this website was for. Shuttefly serves a source for users to have an outlet to have their pictures printed. In addition, Shutterfly allows for individuals store and share their images online. I see it as online digital hard drive with the ability to print. With pictures becoming more and more popular today, it is nice to have an outlet that allows for them to be reproduced. The website is very easy to use and offers some great printing options. I personally like the picture book option, but then again there are so many different options to choose from. My favorite feature might have to be that when an album is shared with other users or viewers, they themselves have the option to print pictures. Therefore it saves the hassle of having to have pictures printed and mailed to someone. I just love technology and the services that are available. The website in general is easy to use and very simple to follow. All the different sites within the site are broken down by tab and allow for easy navigation. I would even say its so easy to use that a first grader could upload pictures, share, and even order prints. :)

As far as the connection to the text goes, I think the it relates in the degree that cell phones have cameras and those cameras take pictures. Shutterfly provides an outlet for those cell phone captured pictures to be printed and shared with others in other medias besides a text message or a Facebook mobile upload. It is a great resource and kids will have a ton of fun using it.  Just a word of caution though, make sure kids are not taking in appropriate pictures!

EXPAND #4, Chapter 6

Chapter 6 of Teaching With The Tools Kids Really Use deals with the concept of using virtual worlds in the classroom. My personal opinion leads me to state that virtual worlds should be left for an out of school pleasure, but there are advantages to using them in the classroom. One website the end of the chapter promotes as a bridge between using and not using the virtual world as an instructional aide is that of www.there.com. This website seems to be very basic and easy to use. I just have my caution on younger children being online in a world that does not really exist. The website offers the users the ability to create an online person known as an avatar and from there create a world of friends and places. Other than that there is not much more to it. Its is more for social networking than anything else or at least I believe. The one downfall I see is that you can only use the website if you are invited from someone that already uses it. Maybe that is a safety precaution, I do not know. You can not explore anymore than the home screen of the website without being a member. So for practicality concerns, this website would fail. However, for being able to use the website for mere pleasure and travel destination fun, I would say it succeeds. As a user, just do not get too carried away living in a world that only exist in the digital era.

As far as the connection to the text, the book mentions that a big proponent of virtual worlds in the ability of allowing users to create characters or avatars of themselves that represent themselves online. This is okay as long as there is caution being used. I know some kids could get carried away and misrepresentations can occur.  But if a parent is involved in the process then no concern should exist. Not all virtual worlds are online for pleasure, some do have academic purposes behind them. I suppose it depends on the intent and the interest of the student and whether or not they will use such online material. I just fear students will get the concept they can control everything in a virtual world and carry that mindset over to the real world.

EXPAND #3, Chapter 1

Chapter 1 of Teaching With The Tools Kids Really Use discusses the importance of educators and students alike making the move to use technology as an educational tool rather than an occasional reward. The chapter mainly focuses on the skills that students need to be able to use and they are known as the 21st century skills. The chapter includes two websites as follow up resources to the content in this chapter. Let me just tell you, this is by far one of the best website out there for educators. The content and the layout of the website are so pleasing to the eye and to follow that it seems almost anyone can use it. What I like most about the website it that links are provided that allow for downloading of the content in a PDF format. That can make for e-reading intergration super easy.  The most helpful link on the website would have to be that of the frequently asked questions. That is mainly because with a topic so broad like the 21st century skills, the website does a pretty good job at explaining what they are and what they purpose of the sites for. In addition, there are links to current work being done by various states. Sadly tennessee is not listed, but the ability to see what states are doing at the moment is nice. Overall this website is great for general information and follow up for more in-depth understanding of what the 21st century skills are and how they can be included in daily classroom instruction.

As it relates to the content in the book, this website is generally a more in-depth extension of the material presented in the text. However, the one plus that I see is that the content is geared more toward an academic audience and mainly professional fielded areas. I could see the website being overwhelming for those just looking for simple quick answers or information for the 21st century skills, but that is why there is the book Teaching With The Tools Kids Really Use.  Overall the material in the book and the website are identical, they are just geared toward two different audiences.

Expand #2, Chapter 9

In chapter 9 of Teaching With The Tools Kids Really Use the author explains how students are taking a liking to using gaming as a way to learn their classroom material. The chapter focuses heavily on computer gaming more than anything and provides teachers with several different resources on how to use this type of technology for a students academic advantage. One of the resources provided was www.simplecodewords.com. This is basically a website that provides students access to download a computer program that lets them code their own software. I would compare it to the same concept of coding a website in HTML. The student would actually write the script for what they want the program to do. The application is extremely easy to use and the tutorial on how to use the program is basic that almost anyone could start writing their own program code. The website does seem to be a little dated, but the information is up to date. I would venture to say that the developers of the program are more concerned with the use of the application rather than the appeal to the eye. Any user can navigate the website but even at the one would only need the website to download the scripting application and maybe refer to if for a few tips. The program requires one to use rich text documents so the user will need to make sure that their computer has support for such files.

Overall, this website aids the teacher by allowing for a different method of teaching or enriching a lesson through the media of gaming. In my classroom, I would almost use this website as an incentive for completing work or for gifted students to enhance their enrichment. Though I can see all students benefiting from it. The only caution I would see is students might think this type of technology is dated, just many of us did when we had to write the HTML for our websites. The advantage is that students can develop an appreciation for how technology has changed over time and even earn bragging rights saying they created their very own computer program or game. The challenge would be to try and keep up with the every changing pace of technology and the different ways computer programming could be done. In general, this website is useful, but probably not for every teacher or every student. 

EXPAND 1: CHapter 2 Website

Chapter 2 of Teaching With The Tools Kids Really Use discusses how classroom instructions can include mobile technology into their teaching routine. With the popularity of the cellular device increasing and students' attitude become belligerent to "No Cell Phone" zones, teachers are fighting a losing battle. Some schools that I am aware of have embraced the cell phone and made it part of the daily classroom atmosphere. Though this positive view of the cell phone is not accepted at all schools, it does work for some. At the end of the chapter, the website www.polleverywhere.com provides teachers with an outlet to use the mobile phone as an instructional aid. The website is basically an online source that allows users to present to a mass audience by asking a simple question. The audience then replies back using their cellphone and special text code. The replies show up on the screen in a feed format for everyone to see. This would be great for a teacher to use in the classroom as students would be allowed to use their cell phones for educational purposes. There are limitations of course. Teachers would have to be cautious about what students reply with and there is a limit on how many replies one can have. The free version allows for 30 participants. There are paid memberships that allow for more participants, but for a classroom the free version I think would work fine. I really liked how the website did not require an account to use the features that are provided. This makes me think that teachers could easily incorporate this tool in the instruction even if it is at the last minute.

This website relates to the material in the text in the manner that it simply provides educators with a quick and easy tool to aid in the ongoing battle of cell phone use in the classroom. I think the more students are encouraged to use their technology or the more they are allowed to use it, the less problems will arise when they are told they cannot use them. That is the main emphasis from this chapter. The more a teacher can incorporate the technology the better.