Virtual World Teacher: Reflection

For my very first virtual world lesson, I used Minecraft to simulate a mountain man and beaver trapping experience.  Mountain men and beaver trapping were huge parts of Wyoming history, as it was during this time period that so many explorers traveled into Wyoming.

For the lesson, I created a short introductory video briefly explaining mountain men and beaver trapping.

Video on Mountain Men & Beaver Trapping

After viewing the video, students would enter into a Minecraft world that has been previously created that includes a fort area that is meant for a rendezvous.

Video on Mountain Men & Beaver Trapping Minecraft World.

The students’ first job is to go find “beaver” and trap them.  Since Minecraft doesn’t have beavers, the students will be instructed that they can kill any animal (cow, sheep, etc.) available at this time.  After collecting some “pelts,” they should head back to the rendezvous sight and begin trading for other goods that they might need.

There are a LOT of changes and advancements I would like to make to this Minecraft world in the future.  First of all, this is definitely something that I would use with my fourth graders, so it’s something I want to continue to improve. Here are some of the changes that I want to make sooner rather then later:

1. I would like to actually make some beavers in Minecraft and place them in this world.
2. I would like to have an actual mountain with rivers close to the rendezvous site.
3. I would like to place other mountain men and some Native American Indians in the rendezvous site that the students can interact with and actually trade with.
4. I would like to have it set up so the students cannot take any of the other goods until they have given some beaver pelts.

I love the idea of having students help me expand this world.  I can explain to them that this is basically a rough draft, that I welcome any and all ideas on how to improve it, and then I would enlist their help to actually make these improvements.

Minecraft: Multicultural

For my next quest in EDTECH 531, I built the Acropolis in Minecraft!

 

The more I build in Minecraft, the more I find I’m getting better and quicker at it, and that I’m really enjoying it! The purpose of this quest was to mainly practice building a historical structure, but an entire lesson on the Acropolis would also include some deep research into the structure. I think that as a teacher, I would want to do something similar to this lesson, mainly practicing the building, before diving deeper into the lesson.  Why?  Because of the same reason I needed to do this practicing…to get better at it.  My structure was obviously not to scale and as you can see from the bottom left picture, it was very tight and cramped inside my structure.  This was a learning opportunity for me to take more time and think through how big my structures need to be before beginning.  Although we were not required to complete the Acropolis to scale, putting more thought into about how big it should be would have helped my structure to have a little more walking room on the inside.

After giving my students a little time to practice building actual structures, I would then dive in to research on those structures.  Furthermore, once they get a lot better with building in Minecraft it would be fun and challenging to begin adding more ornamentation to structures to actually replicate it as closely as possible.

It may have taken me an entire semester, but I have finally jumped on the Minecraft in the classroom train! =)  I am starting to really see and understand exactly how it can be used to enhance the learning process using higher level thinking skills.

Building Basics in Second Life

This is a screenshot of a SUPER simple basic build in Second Life. This object is actually called a prim, which is any object built in Second Life.  This is a simple picture that I created from images that were given to me in my inventory.  I tried to make the image a little more artistic be putting three images into one canvas, kind of mimicking a photo reel. I also chose to make the image brighter than it originally was.  Finally, I chose to make this image for sale.  This way, other avatars can purchase this picture to have in their inventory, hang in a building or gallery, or give to someone else.

Although there was no true purpose behind this build, besides to get some building basics under my belt, it allowed me to dive into object building, get my feet wet, and learn about what types of things I can change when it comes to my object.  What I found is that you can literally build ANY object you want.  In the tutorial I watched, the speaker showed shoes that she had created! You can take one object, or prim, and continue to build onto it with other prims to create hats, castles, or even cars!

Even though my building capabilities are pretty minimal at the present, it is encouraging and even exciting to see all of the different kids of things that can be built starting with one simple prim.

Blow Up the Grade Book?

The content in this video is extremely relevant right now in our schools!  My colleagues and I have been having discussions revolving around homework, grades, and due dates a LOT recently.  I have to admit that my personal opinion has teeter-tottered a lot lately.  I grew up with things like homework, grades, and due dates.  I worked hard at those things because it was expected of me by my mother, and I was too afraid to disappoint my mom or my teachers.  So, I figure, I did it, why can’t everyone else do it.  Duh! That statement is no longer my opinion!

After working at a Title I school for six years, it is very clear to me that not every student is the same.  Furthermore, what motivates one student is very different than what motivates another student.  With that said, I have seen almost everything fourth grade student in one year be motivated by a game.  My partner teacher and I came up with a game idea to motivate our kids in math.  We recorded ourselves teaching a math lesson that the kids watched individually while working through the math books we used.  This allowed for a lot of reteaching when necessary.  After the students finished one math lesson (or level as we started calling them), they got to move on to the next “level.”  Some students (our higher level math students) were able to get through multiple lessons or “levels” in one day, which really allowed for some enrichment later on for our higher level math students.  We kept track of the students on a game board that was created to be similar to Mario World.  Each student was a certain character and as they finished “levels,” they moved their character on to the next “level.”  This was a very rough version at our attempt to create a game in connection with math, and was definitely a work in progress.  However, we saw every student engaged and pushing themselves in ways we had not seen before.

This led us to talking a lot about homework.  I agree with the speaker, Dr. Haskell, that homework basically only shows us which parent is more involved in the homework, and what that parent knows, not the student.  Many schools in our district have started going away from homework, as it is not doing what we want it to do.

Allowing students to have choice empowers them to make their learning more their own.  They can pick and choose which assignment they want to complete at that given time period and when they want to complete it (with no due dates). This teaches students that the learning is THEIRS and they are in control of it.

When I stated earlier about how I learned growing up worked, so why not continue doing it that way is a very ignorant statement to make.  Times have changed.  People have changed, requirements have changed, influences have changed, and learning has changed, so we MUST change with it, or we will keep spinning our wheels and get nowhere.

My Alt, My Avatar Reflection

I feel that I need to begin this blog with a disclaimer…I believe in the power of technology and the influence it can have in education.  However, I am also a strong believer in that too much is not good for anyone.  I have seen so many young kids lock themselves in their rooms with their technology and not come out to interact with the world.  I think this can be detrimental to both the person and our society as a whole.  I believe everything must be balanced.

I have to say, when Jeremy Bailenson talked about the statistic of children between the ages of 6 and 16 using digital media on average for 7 hours per day outside of school and that that has increased from 2005 to 2010 to 10 hours per day, I was shocked but also not really shocked.  I was shocked because that is a LOT of time, especially when it is OUTSIDE of a school day which is about 7 hours of the day! I was not shocked however, because that is how our world is anymore.  We are always connected and this includes our children.  When it came to him sharing that of these hours, two of them are spent using an avatar, I was also shocked.  That’s a lot of cumulative time spent being “someone else.”  I understand the excitement and the fun of creating an avatar, and living in a virtual world like one, but I believe it should be in moderation, especially when it comes to children.  With that being said, when using virtual worlds and avatars with my students, I believe it is imperative that I make the time spent in those worlds informative, educational, and worth-while, as they are already spending so much time in these worlds.

Tools like Avatar Kinect create a Transformed Social Interaction, because a person can in a way “filter” their words, behaviors, and actions to what they want people to see instead of what they might actually be.  This could be a benefit for my students in that it would help them “think before they act.”  Furthermore, when Jeremy Bailenson started talking about Augmented Gaze with TSI, it really spoke to me.  I have always been huge on eye contact, and am really good at making it both when I’m speaking and when I’m listening.  I truly believe that it helps the learner soak up more information and learn more when he or she is making good eye contact.  Like Jeremy said, in a physical classroom, you can only make eye contact with one student at any given point, but in a virtual world using an avatar, you can make eye contact with every student 100% of the time if needed.

If what Jeremy stated about mimicry is true, that if someone is mimicking them they will look at them more,  listen to them better, learn better, trust them more, and believe they are more creditable, then yes, I believe that there is educational value for avatar mimicry.  When a student trusts their teacher and believes he or she is credible, they tend to take him or her more seriously and actually WANT to learn from him or her.  Again, I believe that eye contact is important in education and if someone is mimicking someone and is therefore making more eye contact and listening better, then they should in turn be learning more.

After watching this speech by Dr. Bailenson, and relating it to the education of my students, I believe that virtual worlds can play a large part in their education and be very successful.  However, I strongly believe that it should be in moderation and be balanced with other means of learning.  The more and more I learn about virtual worlds and using avatars to navigate those virtual worlds, I get really excited about how to use this with my students, but I have to remember to balance it out with other means of learning.

EDTECH 541 Final Blog

EDTECH 541, Integrating Technology into the Classroom Curriculum, has been one of the most useful classes for me through this journey so far…and I’m not just saying that!  It truly focused solely on actually integrating technology.  Often times, I get in my own way in how to actually integrate technology.  I know that I want to, but that’s where I get lost.  This course has helped me dive straight in to actually creating meaningful lessons and activities centered around a content area that I teach.  I got to incorporate the basic suite, videos, the Internet, social networking, and more to a content area I’ve always taught.  I think the best thing about doing all of this work, is that it got me going…It got me going and discovering HOW to incorporate all of those things into one content area, enabling me to take that now into all the other content areas that I teach.

All of the assignments in this class were very purposeful and many met more than one AECT (Association for Educational Communications and Technology) Standard.  Below is a list of each assignment from this class, followed by the Standard or Standards that it met.

Vision-Mission Statement

AECT Standard 4 (Professional Knowledge & Skills): 4.3 Reflection on Practice

Relative Advantage Chart

AECT Standard 1 (Content Knowledge): 1.2 Using, 1.3 Assessing/Evaluating

AECT Standard 2 (Content Pedagogy): 2.1 Creating, 2.2 Using

AECT Standard 4 (Professional Knowledge & Skills): 4.3 Reflection on Practice

AECT Standard 5 (Research): 5.1 Theoretical Foundations

Instructional Software Lesson Plan

AECT Standard 1 (Content Knowledge): 1.2 Using, 1.3 Assessing/Evaluating

AECT Standard 2 (Content Pedagogy): 2.1 Creating, 2.2 Using

AECT Standard 5 (Research): 5.1 Theoretical Foundations

Software Support Tools

AECT Standard 1 (Content Knowledge): 1.2 Using, 1.3 Assessing/Evaluating

AECT Standard 2 (Content Pedagogy): 2.1 Creating, 2.2 Using

AECT Standard 5 (Research): 5.1 Theoretical Foundations

Interactive Presentation

AECT Standard 1 (Content Knowledge): 1.2 Using, 1.3 Assessing/Evaluating

AECT Standard 2 (Content Pedagogy): 2.1 Creating, 2.2 Using

AECT Standard 5 (Research): 5.1 Theoretical Foundations

Spreadsheet & Docs Lesson Plans

AECT Standard 1 (Content Knowledge): 1.2 Using, 1.3 Assessing/Evaluating

AECT Standard 2 (Content Pedagogy): 2.1 Creating, 2.2 Using

AECT Standard 5 (Research): 5.1 Theoretical Foundations

Video Integration Project

AECT Standard 1 (Content Knowledge): 1.2 Using, 1.3 Assessing/Evaluating

AECT Standard 2 (Content Pedagogy): 2.1 Creating, 2.2 Using

AECT Standard 5 (Research): 5.1 Theoretical Foundations

Internet Lesson

AECT Standard 1 (Content Knowledge): 1.2 Using, 1.3 Assessing/Evaluating

AECT Standard 2 (Content Pedagogy): 2.1 Creating, 2.2 Using

AECT Standard 5 (Research): 5.1 Theoretical Foundations

Social Networking Learning Activities

AECT Standard 1 (Content Knowledge): 1.2 Using, 1.3 Assessing/Evaluating

AECT Standard 2 (Content Pedagogy): 2.1 Creating, 2.2 Using

AECT Standard 5 (Research): 5.1 Theoretical Foundations

Game-Based Learning

AECT Standard 1 (Content Knowledge): 1.2 Using, 1.3 Assessing/Evaluating

AECT Standard 2 (Content Pedagogy): 2.1 Creating, 2.2 Using

AECT Standard 5 (Research): 5.1 Theoretical Foundations

Content Area Projects 1, 2, and 3

AECT Standard 1 (Content Knowledge): 1.2 Using, 1.3 Assessing/Evaluating

AECT Standard 2 (Content Pedagogy): 2.1 Creating, 2.2 Using

AECT Standard 5 (Research): 5.1 Theoretical Foundations

Assistive Technology Project

AECT Standard 1 (Content Knowledge): 1.2 Using, 1.3 Assessing/Evaluating

AECT Standard 2 (Content Pedagogy): 2.1 Creating, 2.2 Using

AECT Standard 5 (Research): 5.1 Theoretical Foundations

Resource Page

AECT Standard 5 (Research): 5.1 Theoretical Foundations, 5.2 Method,  5.3 Assessing/Evaluating

Blog Entries

AECT Standard 4 (Professional Knowledge & Skills): 4.3 Reflection on Practice

I feel like I have grown professionally, in that I now feel more comfortable going out and finding useful resources to help when integrating technology into my classroom.  Before, I would only use technology sporadically in the classroom.  It was more of an event than an actual part of my classroom.  That has changed now.  I truly feel comfortable and capable of integrating technology in more than one way into the curriculum.  Looking above at the assignments and what each standard was met, I am a little shocked that one of the assignments that was the most meaningful to me, only met one standard.  That assignment was the Resource Page.  Throughout the entire semester, I added resources to that page that went along with the module of that week.  I know have an extensive list of resources on so many different aspects of technology that I can refer back to.

One of my personal teaching philosophies was also able to shift throughout one particular module.  I have always been against using social networking in my classroom, thinking that it is just too much for fourth graders.  Although I am not fully on the band wagon for it, my thinking has definitely shifted.  I now feel that it is most definitely something that can be incorporated in a controlled and limited manner.  If I taught older students, I think I would be even more open-minded.

I feel as though I have always believed in the Constructivism model, which is strong in technology.  However, just because I believed in it, does not mean it was what I was using in my classroom unfortunately.  I feel with my newly gained confidence in how to go about integrating technology, that my beliefs will become more visible through my teaching.  Many of the activities and lessons I created throughout this course were created with this hope.

Self Assessment

Content – I would rate myself as Outstanding in this area (70 points).  I truly feel that my posts were very thoughtful and I was constantly trying to make connections between the content and real life situations.

Reading and Resources – I would rate myself as Proficient in this area (15 points).  I know that I often referenced reading in my posts, but I sometimes found it difficult to, as I was trying to personalize it maybe too much.  I did always use APA style when citing resources.

Timeliness – I would rate myself as Outstanding in this area (20 points).  I would usually have my posts written by Monday or Tuesday of the week, and rarely had them written after that, unless there was an unforeseen circumstance, which I unfortunately had a couple this semester.

Responses to Other Students – I would rate myself as Proficient in this area (25 points).  I was sure to always respond to at least two other classmates posts, but they were not always as meaningful as they should have been.  There were times when I was really moved or interested in something someone had to say, and was able to give meaningful comments, thoughts, or even questions, but unfortunately I know this was not every week.

Accessibility Features on My Computer

For my master’s work, I have been using my personal desktop computer, which is a HP  Envy that works on the Windows 10 platform.  There are many built-in accessibility features on my computer.  I have listed these below with a short description of each and how these features could help students with disabilities.

Magnifier – This a tool that allows the user to magnify parts or all of the screen in order to see it better.  This feature would be especially helpful to students with a sensory disability such as loss of vision.  If the students still has some vision, which is considered partially sighted, he or she would be able to use this feature in order to magnify parts or all of the screen to be able to see it more clearly.

Narrator – This a tool that will again be wonderful for someone who is partially sighted or blind.  This feature has a voice that tells you exactly what is on each screen and what you are doing on that screen.

Speech Recognition – This tool allows the user to speak directly into the computer to control the computer, open programs, and even dictate text.  This again would be a great feature for students with sensory disabilities and also for students with cognitive disabilities. Since students with cognitive disabilities have some learning difficulties using some kind of productivity software would be helpful (Robyler, 2016).  Being able to speak directly to the computer to type for instance would help these students be able to produce their work with more ease, focusing more on the word usage and grammar.  This would also benefit those students with physical disabilities.  If it is difficult for a student to physically move the mouse or type on the keyboard, this feature would allow them to still fully use a computer by simply speaking the commands.

High Contrast – This feature allows the user to change the contrast colors to different themes.  This allows those with sensory disabilities, mainly visual impairments, to adjust the color on their screen, making it easier to see.

Closed Captions – This feature allows the student to turn on closed captioning and adjust how they appear.  You can change the color of the text, the size of the text, the style and transparency, the background color and transparency, and the window color and transparency.  This feature would not only benefit students with sensory disabilities such as loss of hearing, but also students with cognitive disabilities.  If a students struggles with reading comprehension, he or she could use this feature to help them better understand something they are reading on the computer.

Robyler discusses in his text, Integrating Technology Across the Curriculum, how important inclusion has become since the Disabilities Education Act was authorized in 1990.  This law states that children with disabilities should be included in the education with children who are non-disabled and should only be removed from the regular education when their disability requires more attention than can be given in the regular class (Robyler, 2016).  This is only one reason, yet a large reason, why it is so important to give EVERY child, whether they have a disability or not the access to ALL technology.  This is where accessibility features come into play and are crucial.

References

Roblyer, M.D. & Doering, A. (2013). Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching. Boston: Pearson.

Obstacles and Solutions for Integrating Technology into Language Arts

As one who advocates for integration of technology into all curriculum areas, it was difficult for me at first to think of some obstacles, as I am usually only thinking of the advantages.  After doing some research, and finding an article title, “National Survey of Literacy Teachers Examines Obstacles to Bringing More Technology into Language Arts,” I thought I had hit the jackpot.  However, the obstacles described in this article include “not enough time within a class period, lack of access to technology, lack of technical support, not enough time to plan for integrating ICTs into instruction, insufficient time to teach basic computing skills, lack of incentives to integrate technology, inadequate professional development for integrating technology, and time demands of high stakes testing” (“National Survey,” 2011).  While these obstacles are legitimate obstacles, these are obstacles that can be found in any content area, not Language Arts specifically.

When thinking specifically Language Arts, I can think of a few obstacles that I have encountered.  One of those being plagiarism.  Young children, who do not know or understand what plagiarism is, believe that they can simple take whatever they find on the internet and put it into their piece of work word for word.  It is crucial that teachers not only explain what plagiarism is, but take the time to teach it, teach how to restate information, and then give credit to the original piece of work through references.   This is not something that should start in high school…it should start at a young age, before they ever begin finding information on the internet.

Another major obstacle I have encountered through using technology with Language Arts, and specifically writing, is typing skills.  In “Integrating Technology Across the Curriculum” by M.D. Roblyer, he discusses how there are opposing views on the importance of teaching keyboarding to students.  I am on the “side” that believes in teaching keyboard skills.  However, I do not think it should be a prerequisite before a student is allowed to do any kind of typing.  I think it is something that can be taught in conjunction with other activities, because there is simply not enough time in the day to take multiple days out of instruction to teach and work on strictly typing skills.

Lastly, students struggle to know where to go on the internet to find information.  I have seen students do a Google search, scroll down the page, and say they can’t find any information, without even clicking on a link and reading what is offered.  I loved something that Gavin Dudeney said in his article, “No Place in the Classroom for Digital Illiterates.”  He said,  “To be literate today involves more than the “three Rs” of reading, writing and arithmetic. It requires skills to navigate a connected world, a world that is both much smaller geographically and – at the same time – much bigger, in pure information terms, than the one we knew BG (Before Google)” (Dudeney, 2011).  Students must be taught how to navigate the internet and how to do research on the internet, and not just set loose.

There will always be obstacles when it comes to integrating technology into any content area.  We just need to be willing to find the solutions to those obstacles for the sake of ourselves and our students.

References

Dudeney, G. (2011). No Place in the Classroom for Digital Illiterates. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/dec/06/teaching-digital-literacy

(2011, October 30). National Survey of Literacy Teachers Examines Obstacles to Bringing More Technology into Language Arts [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.ernweb.com/educational-research-articles/technology-integration-classrooms-literacy-professional-development-obstacles-survey/

Roblyer, M.D. & Doering, A. (2013). Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching. Boston: Pearson.

Relative Advantage of Using Technology to Enhance Language Arts Instruction

Since my selected are of content that I have been focusing on this semester is Language Arts, writing specifically, I am going to take a look at and discuss the relative advantage of using technology to specifically enhance Language Arts instruction.

Robyler starts out the ninth chapter in his book, Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching, titled Teaching and Learning with Technology in English and Language Arts by addressing today’s standards and how technology is helping to meet them. According to him, the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) and the International Reading Association (IRA) have stressed the importance of students having the opportunity to use technology to develop their language skills through standards one, six, and eight (Robyler, 2016).  He also touches on the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and how they explicitly include digital technologies in their standards, which most states have adopted.

Not only will technology allow both teachers and students to help meet standards, it provides the students with so many opportunities that they would not have if not given access to technology.  Some of these include access to numerous materials, new and different strategies to help with reading and writing skills of all genres, and new and different strategies to improve social interactions.  Students are offered free access to millions of reading material and information on any topic imaginable, they can see visual demonstrations to help them better understand, they are given support and feedback when it comes to editing and revising a piece of writing, and it of course gives the students an environment where they are motivated and engaged to work in.

Furthermore, using technology to enhance Language Arts instruction can help every student, including those with special needs.  There are numerous programs that students can use to help them read words aloud to students if reading is a struggle or help students type words if spelling is a struggle.

Teachers can also benefit immensely from integrating technology into Language Arts instruction.  It opens the possibilities of what the students can do greatly.  There are numerous types of software and programs available to engage students in the language arts processes including concept mapping software, note-taking software, curation software, and electronic outlining software.  These programs allow the teacher to really expand and vary their lessons, thus engaging the students more frequently.

References

Roblyer, M. (2016). Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching (7^th ed.)  Massachusetts: Pearson.

 

Social Networking and the Walled Garden

This week, I am discussing my conflicting views of using social networking and whether or not to “take down” the walled garden.

Follow the link below to my voicethread discussing this issue:

Social Networking and the Walled Garden