US to Saudi- Technology is global

Recently, I attended the U.S Saudi business conference in Los Angeles. One of the key note speakers was Jay Bhatt, CEO of Blackboard. An inspiring orator, he discussed how education is a reflection of the workplace. However, the current education system is not reflecting the changes in the global community:  "The world is changing and while there is a push for education reform there is not a change of global mindset.



One of speakers in the educational panel highlighted the need for progressive and evolving education,  "It(the global market) is dynamic. It is not static. Then why are educators so static?"

Video and other videos from the conference can be found on vimeo HERE.

Meta Reflection

Technology is changing education and how we interact in the classroom and globally. The classroom of today is drastically different than the classroom I grew up with. People often hesitate with change, this means learning something new or having to relearn something that you may have been doing the same way for years.

I find the best way to approach technology in education is with an open and critical mind. There are thousands of tools and apps that can be used, but should they? What can they offer?

For example, one day after class we discussed smartboard. Smartboard can be beneficial if used appropriately but their are other tools like the IPEVO that may be more appropriate for different classroom settings.

My posts on this blog reflect what I am interested in, or snapshots of interesting topics related to technology in education. They do not reflect in-depth reflections, and I would probably use a different forum than a blog to go into very in-depth analysis of different tools. I have also included an education in technology twitter, that is slowly gaining followers and anything that I post or repost will be forwarded this blog in the future. I plan to keep up this blog, it will probably shift from technology in education to technology, education, and ESL, but I would like to keep it as an open space to share and collect interesting information.

Even after this course, I still have questions about how to use technology most effectively in the classroom. Technology is not going to take the place of the teacher, but it can amplify the lesson. It can also make the work of organization easier and thus allow the teacher to spend more time on the lesson than on student papers.

No matter what, technology needs training. I consider myself tech savvy and even I learned new things about googlesites that I did not know from Rebecca. Right now we are working on our flat classrooms assignment, and we are using diigo(a website that one our classmates reviewed), voicethread, and skype in our project description. Technology can be used effectively, but since it is so novel to many few take the initiative.

In addition to ESL I am also interested in higher-ed. Bonk's presentation has made me think about where is education going in the future. While younger grades are more regulated, higher education has been changing drastically with open source material. This makes me think about my current situation now and what it will be like in the future. Both Bonk and the Flat Classroom project have brought global into the classroom, and also pushed educators minds to think globally.

The question that it leaves me with is : how to prove effectiveness? Technology is very expensive and those who fund it want numbers and quantitative data. I think over time, and if technology is being used effectively than quantitative data will be easier to collect and thus more funding for technology will be possible.

RSS feeds

I used RSSinclude for my blog. At first I selected googles, but it will be expiring soon and I needed a new type of aggregator. Many of the RSS apps or different types are separate websites or a separate app you must log in that will have all your RSS organized. I am the type of person who likes everything in one place, and aesthetically organized. RSSinclude allowed me to create a RSS aggregator that would pull articles to my blog in an organized widget. The widget can be personalized by size and can be even made to large dimensions, really whatever you want.

The downside, is that it expires after 30 days.








There are other great RSS feeds out there, but if I wouls select RSS feeds if you would like to have something you can use as well as share with other educators, parents or students. Also, you can have it sent to your twitter, really the possibilities are endless with RSSinclude as long as you pay.

My RSS feed before expiration 

The current use of Tech in ED

We have been discussing the amazing benefits of technology in education, and have been researching and looking at how this can be used effectively.

However, I found this interesting article that looks at how technology is being used today in the classroom and how it is greatly underutilized.

It found that most school teachers are reluctant to use the new technology and that students will use the technology mostly for basic skills. Programs and apps are not being used to their full potential. Thus, it will be hard to get more funding next year for technology if the current technology is not being used.

What I found most interesting is that they found children of lower income families were using the technology for more drill activities compared to those children of higher socio-eco background. It raises questions and makes me think that maybe teachers in lower socio-eco school districts are not getting technology training that can help them assist the children. The article did not look at the huge WHY questions, but it is very informative about the current status of Tech in Edu.

Inkflow

Today I will be presenting the app Inkflow , by qrayon,  and how one can use it in education. There are many doodling apps out there but inkflow has this amazing selection tool that allows u to resize, move, insert pictures, that other apps don't have .this app would be great for students when creating mind maps or just to get the creative juices flowing!

Three Ring

I really enjoyed the presentation on the ThreeRing app for teachers to use in the classroom. I especially like the ability to take pics of the student's work to upload it to the Three Ring system. I have terrible handwriting, and love this system for organizational reasons. Oh, and it is FREE!!


I haven't played around with it yet, but hope to play with it before I start my internship in August.

Semicolon

Recently the Lonely Islands( if you don't know who they are you are just google some of their sketches) created a sketch about "semicolons". Watch here.

It is important to stay relevant and to not just bring technology in the classroom but make it interesting to the students. When I was creating my IWB lesson, there were a lot of lessons that used technology but few that were both interesting and relevant.

The Lonely Islands are comical and use popular cultural references that make their rap about semi colons amusing. The clip itself is not appropriate for younger audiences, and not very informative about proper grammatical use of the semicolon. However, I can see it being used in a college setting to create student interest in the subject. 

CNX Non Linear

During Group 5's Bonk Presentation, they discussed Non-Linear learning and a knowledge ecosystem of non-linear thinking.

CNX.org is one of these portals discussed. This is the kind of thinking and incorporation of technology that I find myself being pulled to. One of my greatest memories of my highschool education was my teacher making us see events that we learned in grade school texts books from another angle and perspective. It was in her classroom I learned how rhetoric can be used in a hyperbolic fashion, and "one man's terrorist is another's freedom fighter". One my passions about education is the ability to use empathy, and see different perspectives that differ from the classic textbook. This is by far my favorite Bonk chapter because of its relevance and importance to what I want to use in the future for my classroom. 

Web 2.0 Applications outside the box

Last class we  briefly discussed how one can use web 2.0 tools in assessments or in other creative ways. There are plenty of word generators out there that can arrange text in customized ways or will locate the frequency of words from a URL. Tagcrowd can make clouds of personalized texts that students can incorporate into presentations or brain storming sessions, Wordle is one of my favs and aesthetically pleasing, and finally Tagxedo that I have shown below using my blog's URL.

Tagxedo

Wordle

Info graphic: Home-School Communications

For my infograph I wanted to create a visual representation that incorporated what I felt was important for school-home communication. After looking at many infographs, I noticed an array of options. I could create a detailed infograph that was very specific, like the email etiquette example in BB. I liked the infographs that had a more broad and general scope. The infograph I completed is one that would be used in collaboration with a presentation, that would give more detail to the points  in the info graph.

I arranged it with three I's: Inform, Involve, Include.
Inform: consists of incorporating communication between parents about their rights and NC's programs and core curriculum.
Involve: consists of web 2.0 tools to engage parent/teacher/student, as well as communication etiquette and positive feedback.
Include: I wanted to include ways to foster a multicultural environment that can assist the needs of ELLs, since I am in the ESL program at Meredith.

Sources: I used the sources available on blackboard: cyber safety documents, email etiquette documents on BB, FERPA, NC start, as well as a website I found about positive parent/teacher/student involvement.

Piktochart: The program I used was piktochart. It is a very useful tool and I loved that it's FREE! There are several templates to choose from. I didn't like any of the free ones personally, but I was able to use them with some practice. I consider myself "tech savvy" but it took a while to get the hang of the layout and options. It is one of those programs you must play with for a while to get the desired effect. One thing I did love is the ability to change the opacity of objects.

Also, I originally was going to go for a more "less graphics more text" look, but piktochart is a program that supports more visual objects less text. I think for this project it was fine, but for a more detailed text based infograph a different program would be needed.

Rubric: I used the one on BB, created by Kathy Shock.

Asynchronous Web Tools

Asynchronous web tools allows the "learner to use them when time and energy permit"(Bonk, 2009, p.207) and allow a setting where students are not "put on the spot"(Bonk, 2009, p.208). Tools such as voice thread are not in real time, but allow the learner to reflect and place input when time allows and when ready. Many students come from an array of cultures, and this allows some of the pressure that encompasses real time technology and responses.
I have used voice thread before, and like that it allows me to edit my comment or erase and re-record. This decreased the pressure to be right at all time, foresters creativity and  a more sporadic  and involved environment.

Bonk(2009) discusses other asynchronous tools, such as youtube. However I find voice thread to be more geared and directed towards education and class projects, where as youtube is a domain one has to be highly motivated to stay on task and not easily distracted. Youtube and other asynchronous tools can be used effectively in the classroom for students, but many need to be monitored.

Technology in Education

This is my blog for my class EDU.701 Power Tools for Educators.

I will post relevant information that serves for both the class expectations as well as my personal thoughts and opinions on how to integrate technology in education.

Educational practices are evolving: education and technology are merging in this digital world.

Nets: Technology and Education

NETS,  National Educational Technology Standards, is used to incorporate technology in the classroom  and interact with the rapidly changing global digital age. Schools are changing and NETS, under International Society for Technology in Education,(ISTE), is a toll that helps educators and students with academic technological involvement: "Schools do not have uniform curricula or philosophies, and many are in the midst of transformative change, with Web 2.0 technologies being part of the reason for such changes"(Bonk,2009, p.42). 

NETS consists of standards for both students and teachers:





Students: emphasize the ability to explore, analyze and collaborate with technology.

Teachers: emphasize staying knowledgable about new technology, and how to use this for both student and professional growth.