This was before I started the technology in education course when I watched a TED talk titled "Math class needs a makeover". The talk is given by a high school mathematics teacher named Dan Meyer, who also happens to be an "edublogger", which you can pretty much guess what that means from the name. My favorite quote in the talk is right at the beginning when he says, "I sell a product to a market that doesn't want it but is forced by law to buy it. It's just a losing proposition" (http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_meyer_math_curriculum_makeover.html). He is describing his math class and the attitudes of his students towards math. This pretty much sums up one of the largest problems in education today. Students don't want to learn what we're trying to teach them.
He then goes on and talks about how students often expect or wish difficult problems to be solved quickly. He quickly responds to this notion by saying, "No problem worth solving is that simple" and mentions his concern regarding this attitude held by students because he's going to retire into a society that is maintained by the current students today. It was a really interesting thing to consider that what we teach and how we teach will ultimately impact our own future and the future of our children and their children. The rest of his talk is spent about the importance of using layered problems as opposed to problems that require just one equation and no thought process. He also talks about making connections of the content to practical concepts. I remember after watching his talk, I decided to take a look at his blog which can be found at: http://blog.mrmeyer.com/.
One of the most prominent aspects of his blog is the posting of several ideas of or actual lesson plans that he plans on using or has used in the past. The first thought that entered my mind when looking at one of these designs was that some of these concepts are really complex and are high school math students actually able to comprehend this material? I have never witnessed or experience any of the ideas presented by Mr. Meyer so it was hard for me to decide on the perceived difficulty of the tasks he presented. Another thing I noticed is that he incorporates a lot of graphs into his lessons. I'm not sure about the reasons behind this. Maybe giving students graphs helps them more visually? However, Mr. Meyer usually complements these graphs with a series of questions to engage the students in thinking. He presents the students with a practical problem they have to solve, and makes the connection between the problem and math.
The most interesting feature about Mr. Meyer's blog was that when he posted a lesson design or presented an idea for a lesson, he would ask for or include feedback on the post from other bloggers. There were also several posts where he included questions asking readers of his blog what they would change in his lesson or idea. I just thought it was an amazing idea how an educator as experienced and distinguished as he is, is constantly asking for criticism and different perspectives to improve his own practice. He is definitely what more teachers should strive to become like.
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Friday, July 26, 2013
Strategy Guide: LEGO English Class
Question: How do we turn an English class into a video game?
Answer: Simple. Turn everything and everyone in the classroom into LEGO pieces and characters.
Just kidding. (That would be pretty awesome though)
In my technology in education class, we were presented with a problem where we had to try to figure out how to design a curriculum of a classroom as a video game. The reason behind this, in short, is that many students find video games engaging but school not so much. So how can we make an English class more like a video game, but at the same time make sure we're meeting the required standards for a curriculum? How do we make a game similar to Call of Duty and at the same time incorporate Hamlet?
I have several suggestions, but keep in mind that I'm a math major and I don't have much knowledge besides from my own personal experience about the requirements or standards that are required in an English class. First, for each book or story you decide to teach, have them turn it into a video game. Make them create characters assigning them strengths and weaknesses, special abilities, armor, weapons, tools, and background stories. Have students create levels for the game, different stages, environments, plots, and even dialogue. Tell students to create a walkthrough or make a strategy guide for the game. This will enable students to approach books and stories in a creative way appealing towards the interests of students.
Second, have students take on personalities or roles that are present within the game. At the beginning of the term, have students select from the options like hero, enemy, support or role character, victim, etc. Whenever a new topic arises in the course, each student will approach that topic from the perspective of their chosen role. I'm not really sure about the specifics of how they might achieve this or how a teacher might implement this, but it would be interesting to see the outcomes.
Third, which would be more of an activity than a transformation of an entire curriculum would be to have students select a book or story, and compare it to a video game of their choice. Have them find similarities between the characters, plots, settings, etc. You can also have the students give their opinions on how to take the strengths of the stories and improve the video game or vice versa.
My last suggestion is for the entire transformation of an class into a video game. Make each topic a level. Assign literature as weapons of choice that you unlock as you proceed further throughout the "game" aka the course. You begin with the texts that are more dull and boring to students as the beginning weapons and as students complete "achievements" aka assignments or homework, they can unlock the more exciting material or unlock new abilities aka class projects that are specialized and are seen to be more fun and exciting. Sorry, I'm assigning random terms from video games to school terms, but you get the general idea. You could have students choose their route or path at the beginning of the course, and have them proceed along that route with all paths leading to the same goal at the end. You can add other aspects from video games like saves or checkpoints where students can return to these points if they "die" aka fail a test or do poorly on an assignment. Each level will increase in difficulty as each stage is completed, and each level will provide new challenges.
If you read my previous post, you would agree that I was one of those students who would've benefited if school was a video game. During a field trip with the middle school students we're working with, we had the opportunity to learn about astronomy from a real astronomer. After the small lecture, I asked a student if he was interested in becoming an astronomer. The conversation when something like this:
Me: "So what do you think about astronomy?"
Student: "It's okay."
Me: "Do you have any interest in becoming an astronomer?"
Student: "Nope!"
Me: "Why not?"
Student: "Because you have to study to become an astronomer."
I had an earlier discussion with this student about where he saw himself in 10 years and he said college. After I asked him what he planned on studying, he replied that he wasn't going to study but instead, he was going to college to play basketball. Back to the conversation above:
Me: "Do you know basketball players have to study?"
Student: "No they don't. What do they have to study? You just catch the ball and shoot."
Me: "Professional players watch and study film."
Student: "That's not studying, that's watching television."
Me: "If I put a science program on the television, is that not studying? Ever watch Magic School Bus?"
Student: "Hmm... I never thought of it like that."
I then went on to describe how the best professional basketball players study the game, plays, player and team tendencies, and methods of improving and developing their own play.
I feel like many students have the same perspective and that anything related with fun like video games can't possibly be related to studying or anything educational. However, I think many of them don't realize what it takes to become a professional gamer. At one point (you can reference my previous post), I was studying a game religiously to become better at the game. I think it is important to make the connection visible to students that we have to study to get good at anything. We can't accept it when a student says he doesn't like school because he doesn't like to study.
Answer: Simple. Turn everything and everyone in the classroom into LEGO pieces and characters.
Just kidding. (That would be pretty awesome though)
In my technology in education class, we were presented with a problem where we had to try to figure out how to design a curriculum of a classroom as a video game. The reason behind this, in short, is that many students find video games engaging but school not so much. So how can we make an English class more like a video game, but at the same time make sure we're meeting the required standards for a curriculum? How do we make a game similar to Call of Duty and at the same time incorporate Hamlet?
I have several suggestions, but keep in mind that I'm a math major and I don't have much knowledge besides from my own personal experience about the requirements or standards that are required in an English class. First, for each book or story you decide to teach, have them turn it into a video game. Make them create characters assigning them strengths and weaknesses, special abilities, armor, weapons, tools, and background stories. Have students create levels for the game, different stages, environments, plots, and even dialogue. Tell students to create a walkthrough or make a strategy guide for the game. This will enable students to approach books and stories in a creative way appealing towards the interests of students.
Second, have students take on personalities or roles that are present within the game. At the beginning of the term, have students select from the options like hero, enemy, support or role character, victim, etc. Whenever a new topic arises in the course, each student will approach that topic from the perspective of their chosen role. I'm not really sure about the specifics of how they might achieve this or how a teacher might implement this, but it would be interesting to see the outcomes.
Third, which would be more of an activity than a transformation of an entire curriculum would be to have students select a book or story, and compare it to a video game of their choice. Have them find similarities between the characters, plots, settings, etc. You can also have the students give their opinions on how to take the strengths of the stories and improve the video game or vice versa.
My last suggestion is for the entire transformation of an class into a video game. Make each topic a level. Assign literature as weapons of choice that you unlock as you proceed further throughout the "game" aka the course. You begin with the texts that are more dull and boring to students as the beginning weapons and as students complete "achievements" aka assignments or homework, they can unlock the more exciting material or unlock new abilities aka class projects that are specialized and are seen to be more fun and exciting. Sorry, I'm assigning random terms from video games to school terms, but you get the general idea. You could have students choose their route or path at the beginning of the course, and have them proceed along that route with all paths leading to the same goal at the end. You can add other aspects from video games like saves or checkpoints where students can return to these points if they "die" aka fail a test or do poorly on an assignment. Each level will increase in difficulty as each stage is completed, and each level will provide new challenges.
If you read my previous post, you would agree that I was one of those students who would've benefited if school was a video game. During a field trip with the middle school students we're working with, we had the opportunity to learn about astronomy from a real astronomer. After the small lecture, I asked a student if he was interested in becoming an astronomer. The conversation when something like this:
Me: "So what do you think about astronomy?"
Student: "It's okay."
Me: "Do you have any interest in becoming an astronomer?"
Student: "Nope!"
Me: "Why not?"
Student: "Because you have to study to become an astronomer."
I had an earlier discussion with this student about where he saw himself in 10 years and he said college. After I asked him what he planned on studying, he replied that he wasn't going to study but instead, he was going to college to play basketball. Back to the conversation above:
Me: "Do you know basketball players have to study?"
Student: "No they don't. What do they have to study? You just catch the ball and shoot."
Me: "Professional players watch and study film."
Student: "That's not studying, that's watching television."
Me: "If I put a science program on the television, is that not studying? Ever watch Magic School Bus?"
Student: "Hmm... I never thought of it like that."
I then went on to describe how the best professional basketball players study the game, plays, player and team tendencies, and methods of improving and developing their own play.
I feel like many students have the same perspective and that anything related with fun like video games can't possibly be related to studying or anything educational. However, I think many of them don't realize what it takes to become a professional gamer. At one point (you can reference my previous post), I was studying a game religiously to become better at the game. I think it is important to make the connection visible to students that we have to study to get good at anything. We can't accept it when a student says he doesn't like school because he doesn't like to study.
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
A Video Game Almost Ruined My Life
It was my 13th birthday. My family had a tradition of always going out to dinner on someone's birthday, and buying presents for each other has never been a popular practice. However just this one time, I decided to ask my mom if we could save the money that we would spend on a family dinner for my birthday and instead, buy a Nintendo 64 with the game Super Smash Bros. On only one of the handful of instances throughout my life, my mom agreed to fulfill my request. This was only the beginning of the my obsession with video games which simultaneously began the downward spiral of my life.. First it was Nintendo 64, then the new Gameboys, Playstation, Xbox, Playstation 2, Computers, and most recently the Xbox 360. The next generation of gaming consoles, the Xbox One and the Playstation 4 are set to release in the coming fall as well.
During middle school, my best friend introduced me to a new computer game that had just released called Starcraft. Starcraft is a real-time strategy game. These games incorporate developing economies and gathering resources, establishing defendable bases or fortresses with means of producing and training armies, and using those armies to attack and eliminate the opponent or opponents. Starcraft was an international success and there are professional leagues and communities dedicated to playing the game. South Korea is the country that is most recognized for popularizing the game and turning it into a profession. They have two cable television channels with programming dedicated to the game.
I immediately became obsessed with the game and in becoming the best I can be. At first I could only play against the computer and not against other people, but in 9th grade when my family gained access to the internet and bought a new computer, that's when the game transformed from a hobby into an obsession. I played the game religiously during high school. I skipped school often and in my spare time I played Starcraft. There was one point when I played over forty hours straight with no sleep, only stopping to eat or to use the bathroom. I met people and joined gaming communities known as "clans" or "teams". I made friendships with some of the other players which have continued even to this day. In short, I was playing more Starcraft than any other activity I did including sleeping. I was committed to being the best I could be and there were many connections to learning skills that were displayed while trying to get good at the game. I studied replays of professional players and learned their strategies and tactics. I practiced my mouse control and typing speed to get faster and more precise with hand movements. I studied replays of my own games to see where I can improve based on what mistakes I had made during those games. I analyzed statistics of my gameplay and gameplay of others, I broke down data about units and characters, their damage output to other unit types, characteristics such as speed and fire rate, strengths, weaknesses, counters to different units, tendencies of others players, time management, etc. I learned team strategies and tactics for any given situation. Due to my competitive nature, I took pride in being better than average at the game, and I took it pretty hard whenever I lost a game.
To give you an idea of how much I played. If you were to combine all of the recorded games from all of the accounts I had online, I probably had approximately 25,000 games played and remember that these are only the games that were recorded online. I played the game offline as well. Each game took anywhere from 5 minutes to over 1 hour. On average, each game probably took around 15 minutes. So this is only an approximation, but using math:
Total minutes played online: 25,000 x 15 = 375,000
Total hours played online: 375,000 / 60 = 6,250
Total days played online: 6,250 / 24 = 260
The total time I played online is approximately equivalent to 260 days. I spent almost 3/4 of a year of my life playing a video game. If you include the amount of time I played offline, and also included the amount of time I've played video games on consoles, this playing time would most likely total over a year. Wow. It's no wonder my grades were so bad in high school. This leads to the questions: Was there any educational value in this game? Why were video games more engaging to me than education?
Starcraft incorporates thinking about systems. You have to construct and main a economy, production, and manage your armies. It teaches you have to develop and identity you can associate with, and teaches you how to interact with others and with a complex system. It encourages taking on challenges without fear of consequences. It develops cognitive processes that can be generalized and applied to other areas such as multi-tasking, making processes automatic, learning how to analyze and apply new strategies and techniques from past failures, applying math to improve in a game, learning the responsibility of being a part of a team and how to function within a team, etc. Is there a way I can incorporate the use of video games in my practice to help develop cognitive skills? I don't know how practical it would be for me to use Starcraft to teach students how to analyze or teach statistics.
I carry a lot of regret from high school. Even though those events have led to me developing into the person I am today, I find myself constantly asking the question: What if I studied as much or even half as much as I played video games? The answer: I would probably have an advanced degree from a prestigious university or I would be some kind of doctor or lawyer by now. I think. And what if I took an approach to education in the same way I approached Starcraft? Would I have developed more intellectually and academically?
One of the most important challenges that educators face daily in their practice is the problem of finding ways to keep students engaged in academic tasks. I know from personal experience, I will try reading long pieces of text and lose my focus, get bored, and take a break or even fall asleep. When I come home tired and sleepy, it's almost impossible for me to read or think critically and my ability to retain information goes out the window. However, when I'm tired or sleepy and I play a video game, my attention and thinking become more focused. I'm awake, engaged, and want to play more. I do agree there are learning skills that are associated with video games that educators can utilize in their own practice like the skills as described by James Paul Gee in his article "Good Video Games and Good Learning". I wrote in the above paragraphs about several techniques and skills often found and encouraged in educational settings. Nevertheless, I think the greatest potential lies in the motivating factor of video games. This leads to the question of how to transform education to become more "game-like" as Gee states in his article. Would that really be beneficial to all students?
During middle school, my best friend introduced me to a new computer game that had just released called Starcraft. Starcraft is a real-time strategy game. These games incorporate developing economies and gathering resources, establishing defendable bases or fortresses with means of producing and training armies, and using those armies to attack and eliminate the opponent or opponents. Starcraft was an international success and there are professional leagues and communities dedicated to playing the game. South Korea is the country that is most recognized for popularizing the game and turning it into a profession. They have two cable television channels with programming dedicated to the game.
I immediately became obsessed with the game and in becoming the best I can be. At first I could only play against the computer and not against other people, but in 9th grade when my family gained access to the internet and bought a new computer, that's when the game transformed from a hobby into an obsession. I played the game religiously during high school. I skipped school often and in my spare time I played Starcraft. There was one point when I played over forty hours straight with no sleep, only stopping to eat or to use the bathroom. I met people and joined gaming communities known as "clans" or "teams". I made friendships with some of the other players which have continued even to this day. In short, I was playing more Starcraft than any other activity I did including sleeping. I was committed to being the best I could be and there were many connections to learning skills that were displayed while trying to get good at the game. I studied replays of professional players and learned their strategies and tactics. I practiced my mouse control and typing speed to get faster and more precise with hand movements. I studied replays of my own games to see where I can improve based on what mistakes I had made during those games. I analyzed statistics of my gameplay and gameplay of others, I broke down data about units and characters, their damage output to other unit types, characteristics such as speed and fire rate, strengths, weaknesses, counters to different units, tendencies of others players, time management, etc. I learned team strategies and tactics for any given situation. Due to my competitive nature, I took pride in being better than average at the game, and I took it pretty hard whenever I lost a game.
To give you an idea of how much I played. If you were to combine all of the recorded games from all of the accounts I had online, I probably had approximately 25,000 games played and remember that these are only the games that were recorded online. I played the game offline as well. Each game took anywhere from 5 minutes to over 1 hour. On average, each game probably took around 15 minutes. So this is only an approximation, but using math:
Total minutes played online: 25,000 x 15 = 375,000
Total hours played online: 375,000 / 60 = 6,250
Total days played online: 6,250 / 24 = 260
The total time I played online is approximately equivalent to 260 days. I spent almost 3/4 of a year of my life playing a video game. If you include the amount of time I played offline, and also included the amount of time I've played video games on consoles, this playing time would most likely total over a year. Wow. It's no wonder my grades were so bad in high school. This leads to the questions: Was there any educational value in this game? Why were video games more engaging to me than education?
Starcraft incorporates thinking about systems. You have to construct and main a economy, production, and manage your armies. It teaches you have to develop and identity you can associate with, and teaches you how to interact with others and with a complex system. It encourages taking on challenges without fear of consequences. It develops cognitive processes that can be generalized and applied to other areas such as multi-tasking, making processes automatic, learning how to analyze and apply new strategies and techniques from past failures, applying math to improve in a game, learning the responsibility of being a part of a team and how to function within a team, etc. Is there a way I can incorporate the use of video games in my practice to help develop cognitive skills? I don't know how practical it would be for me to use Starcraft to teach students how to analyze or teach statistics.
I carry a lot of regret from high school. Even though those events have led to me developing into the person I am today, I find myself constantly asking the question: What if I studied as much or even half as much as I played video games? The answer: I would probably have an advanced degree from a prestigious university or I would be some kind of doctor or lawyer by now. I think. And what if I took an approach to education in the same way I approached Starcraft? Would I have developed more intellectually and academically?
One of the most important challenges that educators face daily in their practice is the problem of finding ways to keep students engaged in academic tasks. I know from personal experience, I will try reading long pieces of text and lose my focus, get bored, and take a break or even fall asleep. When I come home tired and sleepy, it's almost impossible for me to read or think critically and my ability to retain information goes out the window. However, when I'm tired or sleepy and I play a video game, my attention and thinking become more focused. I'm awake, engaged, and want to play more. I do agree there are learning skills that are associated with video games that educators can utilize in their own practice like the skills as described by James Paul Gee in his article "Good Video Games and Good Learning". I wrote in the above paragraphs about several techniques and skills often found and encouraged in educational settings. Nevertheless, I think the greatest potential lies in the motivating factor of video games. This leads to the question of how to transform education to become more "game-like" as Gee states in his article. Would that really be beneficial to all students?
Friday, July 19, 2013
Organizing Your Online Life Part 2 and Metacognition
In my "Organizing your Online Life" group, I had the opportunity to learn about Evernote.com (a note-taking tool) and Diigo.com (a bookmarking tool), additional web tools to help in organizing online lives. I'll first give my opinion about Evernote.
Pros
Next, I'll give my opinion about Diigo.
Pros
Pros
- You can download it onto your computer and your web device and have access to all your notes where ever you have internet access.
- The most interesting and amazing feature I found Evernote's optical character recognition (OCR) feature. If you don't know what this is, it is the ability to recognize handwritten or typed text from scanned images or photos. The way Evernote utilizes this feature is giving the user the ability to search for words these are contained in these images and photos. This is especially useful for me since I can now upload articles that have been scanned to Evernote, and when I search for keywords it will bring up articles that contain them.
- Another thing I found convenient is you can create checklists in Evernote. You can then create grocery lists or to do lists on your computer, and access them from your phone.
- Evernote also has a web clipper tool you can add which will allow you to save or print websites and eliminate all unwanted parts of that website. For example in websites that don't include a printer-friendly option, the web clipper will give you to ability to produce one.
Cons
- It isn't the most user-friendly note-taking tool. The tools within the program itself are not organized in a familiar way. For example, Microsoft word keeps option for new document at the top left while the option for a new note on Evernote is located somewhere in the top middle.
- It'll probably take time to learn how to utilize and maximize Evernote's capabilities. There is an abundance of widgets (or extra tools) that you can add to Evernote and learning how to use each one and determining if it is useful might take some time.
Uses in and out of a classroom: At this point I'm not really sure of how exactly I might use this for a classroom besides organizing my own notes and having students use it to take notes. However, I feel using Microsoft Word and assigning good file names can accomplish this as well. The OCR feature I feel is one of the most powerful features for organization and I could see myself using this often.
Next, I'll give my opinion about Diigo.
Pros
- Diigo has a feature where you can make annotations, highlight, or add sticky notes directly to a web page and save it for later use. It also has a feature to clip out portions of the website which you can refer back to later.
- It allows you to bookmark web pages and add your own keywords to those pages so you can search from your own saved list. You can also share folders of your bookmarks to others.
- Diigo keeps a more detailed web history which you can refer back to.
- The free version of Diigo only allows a limited number of screenshots or clips of websites.
- Diigo is more targeted towards people who save a lot of bookmarks or are bad at organizing their bookmarks.
Uses in and out of a classroom: I find it useful with the ability to share your bookmarks to other students and annotating or highlighting web pages to show to your students, but you could also provide a list of links to websites you want to share and use print-screen or print > save as .pdf and add annotations in that way too. I'm not sure if I find must benefit in using Diigo.
In class we played the game "20 questions". At the end of the game, my professor explained to us the importance of giving students access to our knowledge. In this game, the class had the opportunity to think about the professor's thinking (aka metacognition). As future educators, students will always be trying to understand how we think which can affect how they interpret our instruction and the information we present. This can be beneficial towards encouraging students to think critically. However, we can also give students access to our knowledge by making our thinking visible through processes such as "Thinking out loud". This is beneficial for students to learn the kinds of strategies and skills we use to solve problems, analyze information, and complete other important tasks.
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Organizing Your Online Life
Last week, our Technology in Education class was tasked with researching specified web tools that we as future educators and our future students may consider using to organize our online lives. These web tools included: Diigo.com, Xmarks.com, Evernote.com, DropBox.com, Goorulearning.org, and Pinterest.com. We were assigned one of these tools, and had to prepare a handout and a lesson on the tool to be given within our chosen groups.
I was assigned www.goorulearning.org. To see my handout, click here. What is Gooru you might ask? According to the website, “Gooru is a free search engine for learning that makes it easy for teachers to discover educational content, organize it into learning playlists, and teach and share it with students to study.” In other words, it is like a Google made specifically for educators and students with organizational tools.
Here are some pros and cons of the website in my opinion:
Pros
Overall, I believe that with further development, this website could serve as a powerful tool in classrooms. However, there is the possibility that it could also make direct instruction from a teacher obsolete in the future. Heavy reliance on these tools could result in a crutch for teachers as well. Therefore, there is much potential in most of these web tools being used in education, but that potential relies on the balance of use, and recognizing when and where it is most effective for implementation.
I was assigned www.goorulearning.org. To see my handout, click here. What is Gooru you might ask? According to the website, “Gooru is a free search engine for learning that makes it easy for teachers to discover educational content, organize it into learning playlists, and teach and share it with students to study.” In other words, it is like a Google made specifically for educators and students with organizational tools.
Here are some pros and cons of the website in my opinion:
Pros
- The best feature in my opinion is the ability to create class pages. You can organize all of your resources and share it with your class. In short, you can teach entire lessons and have students complete assignments and quizzes entirely on the website.
- Another nice feature is the ability to organize all of your resources into "collections" which you can then share with others. The website is interactive which enables you to click and drag resources from your lists of results into collections.
- And of course, there is a vast amount of resources that are accessible when searching from handouts and activities to scripted out lesson plans. The search filters are also handy as you can narrow your searches by categories, subjects, grade levels, and even educational standards.
Cons
- Registering for the website is a little inconvenient unless you have a Google+ account. While using Google chrome as a web browser, the sign up button was not viewable on the page unless the window was maximized. Also, the registering process was a little tedious and not very straightforward. You have to first enter your birthday and email, respond to a confirmation email, then fill out the rest of your registration information like your username and password.
- The tutorials aren't very specific or detailed. It will tell you how to create and manage items, but there are no examples of a completed class page or student interactions with a class page. However, this might be due to a new layout for the website indicated by the word "Beta" next to Gooru on the main page.
Overall, I believe that with further development, this website could serve as a powerful tool in classrooms. However, there is the possibility that it could also make direct instruction from a teacher obsolete in the future. Heavy reliance on these tools could result in a crutch for teachers as well. Therefore, there is much potential in most of these web tools being used in education, but that potential relies on the balance of use, and recognizing when and where it is most effective for implementation.
Saturday, July 13, 2013
Intellectual development is not enough
In his pedagogic creed, John Dewey states, “I
believe that moral education centers about this conception of the school as a
mode of social life, that the best and deepest moral training is precisely that
which one gets through having to enter into proper relations with others in a
unity of work and thought. The present educational systems, so far as they
destroy or neglect this unity, render it difficult or impossible to get any genuine,
regular moral training."
There is already enough responsibility put on schools and the education system to develop students intellectually, should they also be responsible to develop students socially? Previously, I always felt that it was the responsibility of the parents or family for the moral training and development of a child. Whenever I have experienced a child misbehaving in public, or heard a story on the news about a child being convicted of a crime and sentenced to prison, my first thought has always been that his or her parents didn't raise him right.
This happened to me just before I started graduate school. I was at dinner with my mother at a small restaurant. This restaurant had a large sheet of paper posted on the wall with a container with crayons next to them and the paper was laden with drawings and written works from other customers. At the sight of this paper, two young boys from a family sitting at a table across from us ran up to the wall so they could add their own artistic pieces. However, since the sheet of paper was pretty high off the ground, the two boys jumped onto the chairs and then proceeded to climb on top of the table so they can draw. Two young boys standing on an old and unstable table where people eat off of didn't seem very safe or sanitary. I looked over at their family across from us, more specifically at the parents, and they didn't respond or pay any attention to their children. Immediately, in response to the lack of response from their parents, my mother said to the boys, "No no no! Don't stand on the table!"
Although the above situation wasn't the end of the world, and my mom probably exaggerated the urgency of the situation a little bit, I still agreed that the boys needed to be told to come down. I'm not too sure about most people, but I personally got most of my moral training from my parents, my religious background, and from the military. The truth of the matter is that many children that we see in schools may not have had that training from their parents, may not even have parents, and might not have any affiliation with a religion. The reason why I, like Dewey, believe that school should be responsible for the social development of a student is the simple fact that every child is required to go to school.
Dewey also says that school is an extension of social life. Imagine if no one had said anything to those boys in the above situation. They might have gone to school and jumped or climbed on the desks and might have fallen off because my mother wasn't there to tell them to get down. Okay, I'm exaggerating but you get the picture. Also, in class we heard about a high school student tweeting about drinking and other unacceptable behavior using racial slurs, profanity, etc. The student started following his teacher on twitter, but was completely oblivious to the fact that his posts were visible to the public including his teacher. The teacher approached him and told him that the posts were visible, and the student immediately ceased the posts on twitter and most likely resulted in the deletion of the previous posts and maybe the entire account. There has also been instances in the past where students ranked highly in athletics lost or didn't receive scholarship offers from top universities because of twitter posts that were racist or obscene. Dewey argues that education's goals and purpose are the same and that the purpose of school is not only to prepare students for life in the future, but school is responsible for teaching students how to live life now. As soon as I make a connection with a student, I immediately feel a responsibility for the student's intellectual development. I know now that as a future educator, I am responsible for the student's social, emotional, and ethical development as well.
There is already enough responsibility put on schools and the education system to develop students intellectually, should they also be responsible to develop students socially? Previously, I always felt that it was the responsibility of the parents or family for the moral training and development of a child. Whenever I have experienced a child misbehaving in public, or heard a story on the news about a child being convicted of a crime and sentenced to prison, my first thought has always been that his or her parents didn't raise him right.
This happened to me just before I started graduate school. I was at dinner with my mother at a small restaurant. This restaurant had a large sheet of paper posted on the wall with a container with crayons next to them and the paper was laden with drawings and written works from other customers. At the sight of this paper, two young boys from a family sitting at a table across from us ran up to the wall so they could add their own artistic pieces. However, since the sheet of paper was pretty high off the ground, the two boys jumped onto the chairs and then proceeded to climb on top of the table so they can draw. Two young boys standing on an old and unstable table where people eat off of didn't seem very safe or sanitary. I looked over at their family across from us, more specifically at the parents, and they didn't respond or pay any attention to their children. Immediately, in response to the lack of response from their parents, my mother said to the boys, "No no no! Don't stand on the table!"
Although the above situation wasn't the end of the world, and my mom probably exaggerated the urgency of the situation a little bit, I still agreed that the boys needed to be told to come down. I'm not too sure about most people, but I personally got most of my moral training from my parents, my religious background, and from the military. The truth of the matter is that many children that we see in schools may not have had that training from their parents, may not even have parents, and might not have any affiliation with a religion. The reason why I, like Dewey, believe that school should be responsible for the social development of a student is the simple fact that every child is required to go to school.
Dewey also says that school is an extension of social life. Imagine if no one had said anything to those boys in the above situation. They might have gone to school and jumped or climbed on the desks and might have fallen off because my mother wasn't there to tell them to get down. Okay, I'm exaggerating but you get the picture. Also, in class we heard about a high school student tweeting about drinking and other unacceptable behavior using racial slurs, profanity, etc. The student started following his teacher on twitter, but was completely oblivious to the fact that his posts were visible to the public including his teacher. The teacher approached him and told him that the posts were visible, and the student immediately ceased the posts on twitter and most likely resulted in the deletion of the previous posts and maybe the entire account. There has also been instances in the past where students ranked highly in athletics lost or didn't receive scholarship offers from top universities because of twitter posts that were racist or obscene. Dewey argues that education's goals and purpose are the same and that the purpose of school is not only to prepare students for life in the future, but school is responsible for teaching students how to live life now. As soon as I make a connection with a student, I immediately feel a responsibility for the student's intellectual development. I know now that as a future educator, I am responsible for the student's social, emotional, and ethical development as well.
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Reflecting on the beliefs of John Dewey
Let's reflect on and analyze a couple of excerpts from an article about John Dewey's beliefs.
"Dewey took an early stance against the 'sage on the stage' approach, proclaiming that didactic teaching is not the most beneficial approach for students" (Rich & Reeves, 54).
John Dewey was one of the most influential images in educational reform. It is made quite apparent in many publications about him that he was not an avid promoter of didactic or objective teaching. In other words, he was not a fan of traditional teaching where the teacher stands in front of the class and lectures, which is probably the most commonly practiced teaching method in the United States and perhaps even the world. Even with Dewey's influence, and other great minds who shared his vision, why is this still the most prevalent teaching method?
I'm sure many of our parents and grandparents also experienced this didactic teaching on more than one occasion during their schooling, but their generation accomplished many great things. They reached the moon, developed nuclear devices, developed cars, airplanes, etc. Don't get me wrong, I agree with Dewey that the traditional method of teaching that we're quite familiar with is outdated and not very effective. Maybe I'm the only one who doesn't know the reason for it, but it's interesting that an outdated and ineffective method is still in wide use today.
It makes me wonder about all of the great minds throughout history. Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, Leonardo Da Vinci, Thomas Edison, William Shakespeare, and many others, what set them apart from "average" people in the world? Was it their intelligence? Was it how they were raised or their experiences throughout life? Was it their education? Did they sit in classrooms with a teacher standing in the front of the classroom lecturing? Maybe studying about how these great minds were educated and what practices were used could help us understand methods of effective teaching.
In a previous course I attended during my undergraduate studies, I learned about some of the greatest scientific minds that contributed to the history of astronomy. For one of the essay tests, there was a question about Einstein's view on the process of thinking. One of the key things I remembered from his view was that he believed that there must be free play in thinking so that common sense has no effect on the thought. Why is this relevant? My professor told the class that if we could understand and learn the process of thinking of people with brilliant minds, we could too train our minds and think like them. In that sense, maybe learning about how these people were educated is the key to learning the most effective method of teaching.
"Perhaps the most important of Dewey's ideas that have influenced educational technologists was his pragmatic notion that experience is central to learning" (Rich & Reeves, 55).
I agree completely with Dewey on this point. Experience is at the core of learning. When instruction is combined with experience, that is when learning occurs. For example, we're learning about all the theories and proper practices to become effective teachers. However, we will never become effective teachers without gaining experience and practicing what we learn. We see this not only in education, but in other professions and everything else that requires learning. Without experience to accompany instruction, there are many problems that may arise. Take the military for example. When learning basic marksmanship, an instructor will teach the basic functions of a weapon. Imagine sending a soldier who learned how to fire a weapon from a powerpoint presentation into a combat zone. It's obvious that this is not an ideal situation for the soldier. This is why soldiers will spend countless hours practicing (gaining experience) to become proficient at firing a weapon before they are sent into combat. There are many instances and situations when experience can be more valuable than instruction.
"Thus, even though John Dewey was a stalwart believer in independent thinking, he recognized early on that a purely discovery approach was insufficient, even foolish. The teacher's role is rather to provide guidance throughout the process of learning, to 'suggest an end or plan to students'" (Rich & Reeves, 55)
Dewey advocated the importance of students developing as independent thinkers, but he also knew that leaving students to discover things solely by themselves wasn't a superb idea either. Going back to the military example. Imagine an instructor handing a weapon and ammunition to a soldier and leave him alone to figure out how to fire the weapon. Again, not an ideal situation for the soldier. It is important for the soldier to be able to think independently, but the soldier requires guidance and instruction towards that independence.
"Dewey took an early stance against the 'sage on the stage' approach, proclaiming that didactic teaching is not the most beneficial approach for students" (Rich & Reeves, 54).
John Dewey was one of the most influential images in educational reform. It is made quite apparent in many publications about him that he was not an avid promoter of didactic or objective teaching. In other words, he was not a fan of traditional teaching where the teacher stands in front of the class and lectures, which is probably the most commonly practiced teaching method in the United States and perhaps even the world. Even with Dewey's influence, and other great minds who shared his vision, why is this still the most prevalent teaching method?
I'm sure many of our parents and grandparents also experienced this didactic teaching on more than one occasion during their schooling, but their generation accomplished many great things. They reached the moon, developed nuclear devices, developed cars, airplanes, etc. Don't get me wrong, I agree with Dewey that the traditional method of teaching that we're quite familiar with is outdated and not very effective. Maybe I'm the only one who doesn't know the reason for it, but it's interesting that an outdated and ineffective method is still in wide use today.
It makes me wonder about all of the great minds throughout history. Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, Leonardo Da Vinci, Thomas Edison, William Shakespeare, and many others, what set them apart from "average" people in the world? Was it their intelligence? Was it how they were raised or their experiences throughout life? Was it their education? Did they sit in classrooms with a teacher standing in the front of the classroom lecturing? Maybe studying about how these great minds were educated and what practices were used could help us understand methods of effective teaching.
In a previous course I attended during my undergraduate studies, I learned about some of the greatest scientific minds that contributed to the history of astronomy. For one of the essay tests, there was a question about Einstein's view on the process of thinking. One of the key things I remembered from his view was that he believed that there must be free play in thinking so that common sense has no effect on the thought. Why is this relevant? My professor told the class that if we could understand and learn the process of thinking of people with brilliant minds, we could too train our minds and think like them. In that sense, maybe learning about how these people were educated is the key to learning the most effective method of teaching.
"Perhaps the most important of Dewey's ideas that have influenced educational technologists was his pragmatic notion that experience is central to learning" (Rich & Reeves, 55).
I agree completely with Dewey on this point. Experience is at the core of learning. When instruction is combined with experience, that is when learning occurs. For example, we're learning about all the theories and proper practices to become effective teachers. However, we will never become effective teachers without gaining experience and practicing what we learn. We see this not only in education, but in other professions and everything else that requires learning. Without experience to accompany instruction, there are many problems that may arise. Take the military for example. When learning basic marksmanship, an instructor will teach the basic functions of a weapon. Imagine sending a soldier who learned how to fire a weapon from a powerpoint presentation into a combat zone. It's obvious that this is not an ideal situation for the soldier. This is why soldiers will spend countless hours practicing (gaining experience) to become proficient at firing a weapon before they are sent into combat. There are many instances and situations when experience can be more valuable than instruction.
"Thus, even though John Dewey was a stalwart believer in independent thinking, he recognized early on that a purely discovery approach was insufficient, even foolish. The teacher's role is rather to provide guidance throughout the process of learning, to 'suggest an end or plan to students'" (Rich & Reeves, 55)
Dewey advocated the importance of students developing as independent thinkers, but he also knew that leaving students to discover things solely by themselves wasn't a superb idea either. Going back to the military example. Imagine an instructor handing a weapon and ammunition to a soldier and leave him alone to figure out how to fire the weapon. Again, not an ideal situation for the soldier. It is important for the soldier to be able to think independently, but the soldier requires guidance and instruction towards that independence.
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Technology in society and in the classroom
As a future educator, especially since the beginning of my educational studies, I've started thinking critically about the skills, knowledge, and practices that are necessary to become an efficient teacher. The practice of classroom organization, however, has never struck me as being overly important until just recently. In one of our classes today, we were asked to draw our "ideal" classroom and specially focus on the technology we would incorporate into our classroom. This seemed fitting since this was the first meeting of our teaching with technology course . This is what I came up with (ignore the scribbled out portion).
Before I give an explanation of the drawing, I'd like to apologize for my artistic abilities. There are five groups of four individual desks grouped together (the squares that look like windows), each group arranged in a pentagon or circular formation around the classroom. Each group of desks includes a tablet connected to a projector (on the group of desks) with a corresponding whiteboard and projector screen (the plain white squares) on a nearby wall. There also two cameras (the two tripods at the bottom of the drawing) in the classroom.
The primary question that influenced my "ideal" classroom was, "How do I create a classroom that encourages collaboration, engagement, and is not teacher-centered?" I began with creating groups of individual desks which will enable students to collaborate in pairs, or in small groups. Also, the circular or pentagon arrangement of the groups allows for large group discussions. Having individual desks will allow for manipulation of desk arrangements for based on needs or just to shake things up. It seems that most professors in the school of education emphasize the importance of collaboration. Collaboration to me also helps develop important skills such as communication, and gives students an opportunity to experience the thought processes of others. Each group has one tablet, projector, and whiteboard/projector screen. This makes it possible for students to present their work for their class to their group and to the classroom. The different projector screens and whiteboards around the class will enable me to teach from any part of the class which will be different from a traditional teacher-centered classroom with the teacher always in the front of the class. Two cameras allow for recording of the classes and group work so I can critique my own effectiveness as a teacher, and so that the students can critique their own work in the classroom as well (at first I thought of putting a camera to watch each group of desks but I thought that would be kind of creepy and students might feel uncomfortable).
I also thought about what I didn't need in my "ideal" classroom. As a mathematics teacher, I didn't really consider including scientific instruments or equipment. Although some physics instruments or other math-related tools might be interesting to have in the classroom. I didn't want a smart board because after using one before, I just thought it was less efficient than using a whiteboard (it took me awhile to write things on it). Any suggestions as to what else I might consider putting in this classroom?
Another interesting thing that happened in was hearing a story about a teacher's problem attempting to figure out how to water a new garden he and his wife had started while they went on a family vacation for a week. He first considered two options:
1. Ask their neighbor he hadn't met yet.
1. Ask their neighbor he hadn't met yet.
2. Ask one of their friends that may not live in their neighborhood.
Neither of these options were appealing to him because he is a thoughtful person and didn't want to inconvenience anyone. He then soon found a solution. He discovered a device with a timer which you hook up to your water hose, and it will automatically water your garden on the time interval you choose. The problem had been solved. However, he mentioned even though the problem had been solved by the use of this technology, there were downsides to it. By using this technology, it would eliminate the possible relationship that could have developed by going over to their neighbor's house to ask them to water their garden. I have previously heard and thought about how technology can cause a disconnection from the world, but I never specifically thought about how technology could prevent a the creation of a relationship. People generally think of technology as a means of communication and connection, never a disconnection.
After sharing this story with my girlfriend, she told me an example of how children these days are going growing up without developing the proper skills and practices communicating with their voices. She told me about a project in her class where they would have to call CEO's and significant people of companies related to art (she was an art student). When students in her class failed to complete the assignment, the teacher asked them for a reason to explain why. She said that the common response had been, "I didn't know what to say," or "I don't know how to interview someone." Most of the communication used by children (most likely adults too) today in the United States appear to be in the forms of texting, emails, and instant messengers. I didn't have a cell phone until I was eighteen years old and bought one with my own money. Today, I'll go to a mall and see an eight year old walking around with an iPhone 5. I don't get it.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that the common misconception of technology has been that it is advancing society, and is improving every aspect of of life. The truth that I have learned though, is that technology is like a double-edged sword. There has to be careful consideration of the use of technology, and there needs to be a balance of its use especially when applying it to education in a classroom. In the reading that was required for class, it described a study about the effectiveness and use of television and radios in classrooms back in the early to mid 1900's. Although there was an abundance of missing information, the general consensus was that the use of these pieces of technology failed to be effective in the classroom. Technology and its potential in the classroom may present endless possibilities, but learning how to balance and incorporate its use to maximize effectiveness is the current problem that needs solving.
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