mlearning

When I think about the next generation of learners, I think of young adults who have been raised with smartphones. I teach middle schoolers in a pretty affluent district and most of the 6^th graders have nicer shoes and phones than I do!  The challenge for teachers today is to prepare students for jobs that don’t even exist yet. So even though smart phones are not usually permitted within the public school classroom, yet, we have to prepare them for classrooms and jobs where they must use them wisely. I think that mobile learning is only as rich as the content and the audience. Meaning, if you give the learners worthy topics to learn and discuss, mobile learning can be effective. If the mobile learning is only click through simulations and games, it  is not really embracing what smart phones are intended for…communication and connection. This week’s topic of mlearning is absolutely tied into social media. Today’s learners are n the go with everything, so the learning must be too. Discussion boards will be replaced with text messages or tweets. Educational posting pages, such as Edmodo allow the instructor share content that is accessible by mobile device and allows for a safe a supervised space for young students to communicate about the topic. I imagine Instagram could be mobile learning tool where students could take photos, post them online and thus create a virtual field trip to share with the class.  However, I believe that mobile learning and social media have the potential to “get away” from the instructor. Tools that provide the instructor the opportunity to be a facilitator and moderator can help keep learners on target with the objective.

Social Media and Web 2.0

When I started my grad work at UMass Boston, I had very little experience with Web 2.0 tools and Social Media. Ironically, I it was part way through my first semester that I decided to take down my Facebook page because Facebook was distracting me from my schoolwork. It is so easy to drift away from an academic article and see who's doing what on Facebook. I have never really been a "tweeter" and have not even looked at Instagram. While taking INSDSG 605, I learned al sorts of nee Web 2.0 tools. At first I went into it kicking and screaming and could not see the academic or professional relevance. But a year later, I don't know how I would function each week with out something from Google. I am learning to love wikis. I can see the importance of a wiki for a class like 640; a place to keep all of our thoughts and ideas. However, I have not seen a place to use one professional yet. I am sure it is just a matter of time. Ironically, for 605 we created a Wiki of Web 2.0 tools. I don't know if you have the power to view it from this link (It may only be viewable to those invited to the wiki), but here's hoping. The wiki gave me, and my teammates, a way to try out all sorts of Web 2.0 tools.

Tools that I continue to use after 605 are:
Google- docs, forms, drive, hangout, gmail
Screencast-o-matic: I use it to record quick little tutorials to show my students and their parents to find things on their computers.
YouTube- I usually export my screencast to You tube. I also use it daly to find "How-Tos" for almost anything
Diigo- I use this bookmarking sight when I am doing research on a particular topic, especially if I have to work on the topic at home or at work (different computers).

Web tools that I just haven't bought into yet:

Twitter- It is all the rage among the administrators of my middle school. They are constantly tweeting about the going ons around school. I just haven't seen the value in it.

Here is the link to our Wiki form 605- I hope you can access it.

http://recipe20.wikispaces.umb.edu/Business+Layer+Cake

Online Games

I like using online games with my middle schoolers. I think it provides an alternative way to practice using new information and it gives them a break from heavy reading and lecture. However, many games out there are worthless. There is a website www.coolmathgames.com".  There are almost no valuable games where students actually practice there math skills on this site! Like stated in this week's articles, the trick with online games is making then relevant yet engaging. I think this is easier to do with children because they are stimulated by the immediate feedback a game gives and they are drawn in by the graphics. However, they can be distracted by the same components and learn to "click around" the challenging tasks to get to the reward. I hope I  get the opportunity as a future ID to work with the SMEs and Tech guys to create interactive lessons, be it a game or any activity. From my limited view, adult training lacks interactivity and engagement. Immersion only seems to happen when you are thrust with new information and then sen back to work with it and you have to learn how to implement it on the fly. I think it takes time, organization, planning and creativity to give professional adult the opportunity interact and engage within the training lesson.

Seven Steps

When I was reviewing the Seven Steps to Design, it made me think of the Child Abuse and Suicide Prevention Training they make teachers participate in each year. Based on the topic of the training, one would assume that it is important for the teachers to get it right and really know the signs of child abuse and suicidal thoughts in kids. Well, based on the web based training we must do, not so much. Like it is warned in the Seven Steps handout, there is not variety. Read, click, read click, read click. It does not let you go back to review the information. Also, like the handout warns, after you click a few times, you will be given the right answer and allowed to move on. This whole training becomes and exercise in futility. How fast can I click through this training so I get credit and I can get back to my job. Fortunately, for the students and families I work for, I have learned a lot about child abuse and suicide warning signs from other venues that they need not worry about how I did on the state mandated "test".

On a side note. It looks like the example in the handout was done in Articulate. I had the pleasure of working with this program in INSDSG 615 (?). I loved it. It allowed for so much interaction from start to finish. I was sad when my trial ended. If I only had and extra $1300 lying around. I would buy it and use it all the time.

Meaningful Assessments

I have a love/hate relationship with multiple choice assessments.
My Love:
1) Easy to create- I often have a test bank of questions that I can refer to quickly so I don't even have to make up the questions
2) Easy to give- Just pass them out (or post online) and go!
3) Soooo easy to grade- a nice answer key is all I need and any one can grade t for me! Or if it is done on line, voila! It is graded automatically.
4) It is completely objective- only one right answer- no room to argue.

My Hate:
1) They are boring.
2) They don't allow for creative thinking or use of ones own words.
3) You can't tell if he really knows the answer or he was just a good guesser.
4) It does not offer the opportunity to expand or apply knowledge.

What I like more:
1) The essay answer: It allows for creative thinking, expansion of the idea and you can really tell if the learner knows the material or is just regurgitating facts. Does any one remember those blue books when taking exams?
2) A project: I love it when I can see how a person interprets the information and presents in a variety of ways. The options are unlimited here. You jut need a good rubric to make sure the learner is touching the key concepts.

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/making-assessments-meaningful-heather-wolpert-gawron

Doing and Connecting

I am firm believer in "hands-on-learning". This may be actually using your hands to put something together (like the light fixture I installed last night), or creating a presentation on Prezi (something I still have not really tackled).  I think the key to making any learning, be it elearning or traditional face to face, relevant is giving multiple opportunities to do the skill and make connections or generalizations to the rest of the world. When I go to training for my job I almost never get the opportunity to try out what I have just learned in the learning environment. Yes, I am presented with new information, policies, procedures and standards, but it is then left to me to "bang it out" at work "on the fly" to see if I have gotten it. Guess what? I haven't gotten it! I think it requires creativity to think of new ways to keep elearning relevant, especially since live dialogues may not be available. But with the opportunity to be asynchronous through a period of time (say a week), then the instructor can present the information, allow the learners to absorb it and then return to do and connect. This is not always possible with face-to-face training because everyone must be in the room at the same time for  a limited period.

Death of a Page Turner? How about Death of the Power Point Reader!!?

I have taught children for over 15 years. So when it comes to absorb activities, those activities where new information is presented to students, we have to do it face to face. We would love it if our students came to class with all the chapters already read and the notes taken...but they are children and they cannot be trusted! ;) To ensure that our students have truly absorbed content, we must present new information face to face and ask questions as we go along. I think that in adult training, the same can happen. When I go to trainings, I often have to sit through power point presentations as the instructor reads each slide to me. Can I not be trusted to come to class prepared? I thought about this when I read Death of a Page Turner. I would love to go to a seminar or conference where I can absorb the information on my own time, perhaps before class, or even just  a few minutes during the class. And then we could have a grown-up conversation about the new information where I can absorb more from my instructor and my peers. I must keep this in mind when I step away from the kids and stand in front of the adults.

INSDSG 640- Mission, Goal and Objectives

9-20-2013

Mission Statement: Holman Middle School- Henrico County Public School System

"Holman Middle School, a safe and supportive learning environment, will value, challenge, and nurture all students while promoting positive relationships among students, staff, parents, community, and the environment. With dignity, we will empower our students to maximize their potential, to be self-reliant problem solvers, and to become lifelong learners in this ever-changing world."

School Goals (part of the mission statement)

Goal 1: Increase students’ math understanding and each student’s foundational knowledge of mathematics to ensure sustained success. 

Goal 2: To increase student performance for Holman’s exceptional education students.

Goal 3: To develop student’s life skills for individual success and total well-being.

Goal 4: To fully engage students in each activity, assignment, and course.

In order to address School Goal #2, students who are identified as exceptional education students must pass the Standards of Learning test at the end of the school year. This is how the school measures student performance. For this assignment, I chose reading skills to address School Goal #2, as reading skills affect performance in several of the academic content areas. To achieve passing scores, certain reading skills must be strengthened through out the school year. Because exceptional education students are diverse learners and performers, all the goals and objectives are too numerous to note here. However, the following goal and supporting objectives are just a few that will help achieve School Goal #2 listed above.

Course: Reading 6

Course Goal: The student will read and demonstrate comprehension of a variety of fictional texts, narrative nonfiction, and poetry.

1) When presented with a reading passage on the learners reading level, the student will identify the elements of narrative structure, including setting, character, plot, conflict, and theme on 3 out of 4 occasions with 75% accuracy or higher.

2) When given a short passage from a literature text, the student will make, confirm, and revise predictions on 3 out of 4 occasions with 75% accuracy or higher.

3) Using graphic organizers, students will describe cause and effect relationships and their impact on plot on 3 out of 4 occasions with 75% accuracy or higher.

4) When presented with a passage from literature or content text, the student will use information in the text to draw conclusions and make inferences on 3 out of 4 occasions with 75% accuracy or higher.

 5) Identify the main idea on 3 out of 4 occasions with 70% accuracy or higher.

 6) Through the use of graphic organizers students will identify and summarize supporting details on 3 out of 4 occasions with 70% accuracy or higher.

Please note that every student who is identified as an exceptional education student has an Individualized Education Plan (IEP). IEPs include a set of measurable goals and objectives that focus on the students personal strengths and weaknesses. Because these goals are so individualized, it is hard to make a "straight line" connection from their goals to the goals of the mission statement. 

INSDSG 640 Introduction

9-11-2013

Hello! I'm Sue Crews and I live in Henrico, VA just west of Richmond. I am special education teacher for an area middle school. (It is not as glamorous as it sounds.)  I am a jack-of-all-trades when it comes to delivering instruction to a variety of learners who are all elbowing their way through the most comfortable 3 years of their lives.

Our county school system is fortunate enough to have a big technology initiative.  So all the middle and high school kids have a school issued Dell laptop. This means they are using e learning at an early age and I have some catching up to do. Daily we use an LMS, so it has given me some experience with e learning, although I would still consider myself a novice. 

I have a goofy and wonderful 11 year old  5th grader who doesn't understand why I get to "play" on the computer but he is banned from electronics during the week. I have been "playing" online with UMass since the summer of 2012 and hope to complete the program in the spring of 2014.