Week 4: Digital Citizenship

Commonsense Digital Citizenship Curriculum

The idea of teaching digital citizenship in the classroom seems like a no-brainer to me.  With our classrooms revolving around so many kinds of technology, students simply "Google" anything and everything.  The Commonsense Digital Citizenship Curriculum has a very well laid out scope and sequence that is divided nicely into grade levels.  It seems to me that having this so easily accessible to teachers that more schools should be using this, or something similar in the classroom.  

I am lucky enough to have a technology teacher in out building who does a great job of teaching digital citizenship.  In fact she uses a free program that sounds exactly like the Commonsense' model that we are viewing for class.  In our building we start students out in kindergarten and they build on what they know about digital citizenship over the years.  

Media Education Lab: Teaching Resources

I love the availability of so many different kinds of resources on this site.  I spent a lot of time clicking from resource to resource on Media Education Lab.  There are a lot of ready to use resources that could easily be integrated into the classroom.  I like the fact that I could find a video with no words to demonstrate a mother's struggle to get her child to interact in the outside world with others.  I think all age groups - and even teachers - could relate to this video and take away similar knowledge its representation.  There are resources such as this simple video and resources for older students to really exercise their skills for forming their opinions about media.  I especially like the Teach the Conspiracies lesson ideas for my junior high students.

Week 3

As part of this week's assignment I have been asked to view two TEDtalks on the topics of technology, coding/programming, or rethinking our educational system.  

Do Schools Kill Creativity?: TEDtalk by Ken Robinson

This has to be one of the most entertaining TED speakers that I have listened to.  Robinson, a comical speaker, talks about creativity in our schools and how our public school systems educate students out of being creative.  I cannot tell you how many times we talk about students in our small, rural school who could use special modifications to bring out their talents, gifts, or interests.  As I viewed this TEDtalk I found myself in agreement with almost everything Robinson has to say.  Thought his talk was given in 2006 (relatively old by research standards) his topic is relevant to education today and well into the future.  The question that I have is "How do I make this a reality for students in my small classes and in my small school?"  As educators we have to be sure students hit benchmarks and meet standards that all focus in the core, industrial (as Robinson puts it), subjects of math, language arts and the social sciences.  Though I feel these subjects are important, I have so many students who are not "school oriented".  For example I have a third grade student in my school who rides horses and competes in horse shows often, but couldn't get an A in a core subject to save her life.  I have a very talented student who loves to draw abstract pieces of art in his notebook and every time he has free space on his worksheets.  Ideally, I would love to connect these students with schools where they could pursue these interests, but in rural Nebraska there is no local charter school or institution to do so.  Now, I am not saying that I, as well as other teachers in my building, don't try to inspire these students to use their gifts, talents, or interests.  We would love to, but we always discuss how we can make it possible.

I have to say that Robinson's talk is well worth viewing.  I hope many other educators think like he does in terms of making creativity a priority in our schools.  I also invite any suggestions from my peer educators in ways they keep the arts and creativity alive in their schools.

Teaching Kids to Code: TEDtalk by Mitch Resnick

I have a 13-year-old son who is in love with coding!  So I chose this TEDtalk out of self-interest.  There are several kids in his class who love to code as well.  They've been introduced to coding at school, however, there is little or no time for these students to code at school.  My son and his friends' favorite website is Scratch, which is featured in this TEDtalk.

Resnick does a wonderful job of relating coding to being able to write.  I absolutely LOVE his analogy.  He elaborates on the fact that children are fluent in writing when they can write a story or a letter even though they will not all be author's someday.  The same is true for students in technology.  To be fluent they should be able to program and code even though they may not choose a career in computer programming.I have never thought of programming in this way.  Honestly, I've been one to think coding is more of a buzz term used by companies to get you to buy in to a coding program for school.
This video definitely deserves to be viewed by educators.  It really gave me a new perspective on coding, programming, and the use of technology in my school.

Week 2

iGen:

As part of the second week's assignments I have been asked to find a TED talk about teaching today's generation of learning.  In all honesty I had to do a little research on today's generation before I could begin my assignment.  Through my research I discovered a book by Dr. Jean Twenge that I have now added to my "to read" list called iGen: Why Today's Super-Connected Kids are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy - and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood.  In a CBS interview with Dr. Twenge she explains how today's 18-year-olds are comparable to 15-year-olds of the past.  

TED Talk by Kahn:

After my initial research on today's generation, I am left with several other areas of teaching this generation that I feel will need to be explored.  As for my TED talk, I found a video of Sai Khan, founder of Khan Academy.  He speaks about growth mindset of students and how to build on the academic gaps of today's students.  The talk is titled "Let's Teach for Mastery-Not Test Scores."  I found his ideas to be very coherent with what I have been learning throughout the process of earning my masters degree at Wayne State.

TPACK, Building on Last Week's Lesson:

Last week we were assigned several articles and videos for class dealing with TPACK (Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge).   This week, to build on what I've learned about TPACK, Dr. Lengler has provided literature on how to develop  TPACK with learning development types.  Through reading this selection I think the biggest take-away is that teachers need to be creative in how they use technology to assist their teaching.  TPACK looks different in different areas of the curriculum.  

Hofer and Harris provide an in-depth look at learning activities types (LAT), how to identify LATs, and how to substitute LATs.  They provide a list of al LATs on their website.  Also provided is a list of flexible steps for implementing LAT taxonomies: 1. Choose learning goals. 2. Consider classroom and school contexts. 3. Select activity types to combine and sequence. 4. Select assessment strategies. 5. Select tools and/or resources.  I like the simplicity of these steps.  I feel this has been the best (and easiest) explanation of how I can incorporate TPACK in my own classroom.  As an administrator, I feel it is an easily understandable approach to use in explaining TPACK to the rest of my staff through a possible professional development as well.

Week 1

The first week's assignments for this class include videos/articles about TPACK, ISTE standards, 21st century learning, and maximizing the impact of 21st century learning.

After viewing and reading the content provided by Dr. Legler, I found the TPACK video to be very helpful.  TPACK is one of the teaching methods presented in several classes I've taken throughout my masters program and this video has been the best and easiest for me to understand the relevance of technology use in the classroom.  I feel the best way to use the TPACK strategies in the classroom is to use the knowledge that I have as a teacher and combine it with the pedagogical methods I use daily.  Using that as a base, I then can add technology effectively into my lessons to assist students in their learning.

The 21st Century framework model is a new concept to me.  Though I have always believed that I am teaching students 21st century skills, I have never seen the model presented in this class.  I feel there are many benefits to this framework, however I am certain there are many challenges as well.  The biggest challenge for me, as an administrator, is getting teachers to follow through effectively in teaching 21st century learners.  There may be some teachers who do it well and others who start out great, but loose their momentum.  Then there are always those teachers who don't feel the necessity to change their ways of teaching to accommodate 21st century learners.  Making it difficult to give every student the best possible education and skills that they will need in today's world.

Welcome

Welcome to my first ever blog!

As part of the Developing and Integrating Technology in the Classroom requirements, I am starting this blog to journal my reflections on a variety of articles, videos, and websites.  I can't wait to share what I learn over the course of this class.