Educational Technologies

            Incorporating technology in the classroom is the wave of the future. It allows learners to collaborate, share, and understand (Tamarkin & Rodrigo, 2011). It allows for collaboration in real time and the learner to be able to demonstrate that they know why and how something works (Tamarkin et al., 2011).

            When reviewing the blogs of my fellow learners over the last eight weeks, there are several technologies that standout. The first one is from Adam Pierre’s week 7 blog. This is the week we discussed digital citizenship. The technology he talked about was at http://www.ongaurdonline.gov/media/game-0005-id-theft-faceoff. This is a game that can be played by students to warn them about identity theft, and the hazards of putting too much personal information on the Internet. Although my students are not allowed on the web, they are very vulnerable to having their identities stolen. I would use this game as a starting point to discussing this problem with them and what steps they could take to protect themselves (Pierre, 2015).

            The next technology reviewed was from Week 5, Angela Harris’ blog that discussed games, simulations, and virtual environments. The technology discussed was Second Life, http://www.secondlife.com. This site is interactive and would open up learning environments to my students that they have never experienced before. They would be able to walk through history, and experience other parts of the world without having to leave the state. There is no limit to what can be studied thru secondlife (Harris, 2015). I would use this technology to show the men the world beyond the walls of the prison, and the boundries of state of West Virginia.

            The third technology reviewed was from Week 4, Shirmen McDonald discussed iPads. For more information on iPads, you can go to www.apple.com. iPads have made technology easier to access, are cheaper than a computer, and are mobile. Ease of mobility and affordability has made iPads the technology choice for higher education. Through the wireless capabilities of the iPad, the user can access video-conferencing which allows for increased collaboration among learners, researchers, and teachers (Tamarkin et al., 2011). Through the use of information technology, learners can collaborate in real time and learn on a deeper level. I would like to use this technology in my classroom to extend the lesson, and keep the men in class longer.

            In a 21^st century classroom it is important to have the learners use the technology that is available to them to advance the learning process, and to make sure that the process is a meaningful one.

References

Harris, A. (2015, November 26). Games, simulations, and virtual environments [Blog message]. Retrieved from: http://angelakharris.blogspot.com

McDonald, S. (2015, November 20). Mobile learning technologies [Blog message]. Retrieved from: https://shirmenblog.wordpress.com/

Pierre, A. (2015, November 9). Digital Citizenship [Blog message]. Retrieved from: http://adampierre.blogspot

Tamarkin, M., Rodrigo, S., & The 2011 Educause Evolving Technologies Committee. (2011). Evolving technologies: A view to tomorrow. Retrieved from: http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/evolving-technologies-view-tomorrow

 

 

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Digital citizenship, ethics, and netiquette

            We are all digital citizens of the world. In the real world, we have to treat people with common courtesy and respect their personal boundaries. So too do we have to adhere to social constructs in the cyber world. The first technology that I explored regarding this topic was isafe. The URL for this site is: http://www.isafe.org. This site was founded in 1998 and is dedicated to teaching responsible digital citizenship to children and adults. It is teaching responsible citizenship to prevent the misuse of the technology they are using such as: cyber-bullying, illegal downloading, plagiarizing, using cell phones in class, and going to pornography sites (Uchebee, 2012). This site offers a combination of traditional curriculum and technology to help students with their critical thinking skills and decision making skills (Ladd, 2014).

            The second technology that I looked at was 5 minute film festival. The URL for this site is: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/film-festival-kindness-empathy-connection. This website is host to many films that are only 5 minutes long that explore topics such as protecting your identity, kindness, netiquette, and empathy. These videos are appropriate for all ages, educational levels, and learning methods (Ameliandlovu, 2013).

            The last technology that I looked at was Pixton. The URL for this site is: http://www.edmodo.com/publisher/pixton. This app can be used in the classroom by the learners to create warning stories in the form of cartoons. These stories can be about cyber-bullying, stalking, predator, and how to behave with proper netiquette when surfing the Web. This app centers on proper etiquette when on the Internet (Ameliandlovu, 2013).

            I would use these sites to introduce netiquette, digital citizenship, and how to use technology correctly so the learner can leave a positive cyber footprint. Also, these sites would be helpful to allow the students to learn the concept in several ways: auditory, visual and kinesthetic. With the app, students would be able to express their ideas about a given topic in a creative manner. The class could use the 5 minute films to have a starting point for small group or class discussions about the topic.

References

 Ameliandlovu, (2013, June 21). Digital citizenship, ethics, and netiquette [Blog message].
Retrieved from Emerging Technologies website:http://ameliandlovu.worldpress.com/2013/06/21/
digital-citizenship-ethics-and-netiquette/.

Ladd, E. (2014, October 21). Technologies related to digital citizenship, ethics, and netiquette [Blog message].
Retrieved from Wolfpack in the house website:http://wolfpack-in-the-house.mozello.com/params/post/176836/.

UchebeeClassroom, (2012, October 19). Technologies related to digital citizenship, ethics, and netiquette [Blog message].
Retrieved from Using Technology to Enhance Adult Learning website:
https://uchebeeclassroom.wordpress.com/2012/10/19/technologies-related-to-digital-citizenship/.

 

Educational Technologies

            Online education continues to grow due to its low cost, high accessibility, and flexibility (Staff writers, 2013). Open education offers the learner an opportunity to interact and collaborate with people from all over the world who have common interests.

            The first open educational technology I explored was iversity. The URL is: http://www.iversity.org. It is a European platform that was started in October 2013. It is free and open to everyone. It offers courses in several languages, has over 600,000 participants in 63 courses from 41 partner universities (Wikipedia, 2015). This platform offers instructors and students a convenient place to set up their courses and work groups (Staff writers, 2013). The iversity platform can offer a place to share ideas within your university or with other people across the globe. Professors can use Open Courses to share what they are teaching in their classroom with others. Open Courses offer classes by esteemed professors from around the world that allow people to interact and collaborate with each other. The developers of iversity believe that MOOCs will change the way we learn and teach (Staff writers, 2013).

            The second open technology that I explored was iTunesU. The URL is: https//:www.apple.com/education/ipad/itunes-u/. iTunes U is a completely free medium through Apple iTunes application where universities and colleges can offer courses to anyone who wants to take them. Over 800 higher institutions from all over the world provide classes and content to iTunes U (Breed, nd). iTunes U is easy to download and easy to navigate the app. You can browse by subject, by school, or by popular downloads. The content is directly delivered to your mobile device through lectures, videos, PDFs, or books. After downloading the content of the course, the learner has complete control over how they process the content (Breed, nd). They can learn at their own pace, and decide which mobile technology they would like to learn on. Downside of iTunes U is that there is no degree credits offered or not a discussion board to communicate with other students in the course (Breed, nd).

            The reason I chose these two open education technologies is that they could be downloaded on to an iPad and my students could take advantage of this app without having to go on the Internet to be exposed to courses that they may not otherwise get to take.

            Examples of how I would use this technology would be to have the men at my facility be able to take courses from colleges or universities that they would never be able to attend or afford to go to.  Also, I would use these programs to improve literacy skills and allow the men the freedom to learn at their own pace and independently of the instructor.

 References

Breed, M. (nd). What is iTunes U? Free college courses from top universities. Retrieved  from Money Crashers website: http://www.moneycrashers.com/what-is-itunes-u-                              university/.

 iversity (2015). Retrieved from Wikipedia website: http://en.wikipedia.org

Staff Writers (2013, March 28). The next generation of online learning platforms. Retrieved from Online Universities.com website: http://www.onlineuniversities.com/blog/2013/the-next-generation-online-learning-platforms.

 

Games

            “Writing and communicating are key parts to education” (Bonk, 2009 p. 284).  With the first game, Words2Learn, URL address: https://www.words2learn.com . This website offers an app that the student can download onto their mobile device. The app helps the student learn vocabulary words. It takes 15 to 30 minutes to go through a lesson and there are 30 screens per lesson. In the app the student is exposed to 5 words. The student is asked if he is familiar with the words. He is given a short quiz to see if he really knows and understands the meaning of the words. Based on this pre-assessment, the student is exposed to the words in several different ways. They first look at the list, get familiar with the words, have the words pronounced for them, see if they know any of them, and see if they can use them in context. When they take the quizzes, the results are sent to the instructor, and given to the student with immediate feedback. Based on the feedback, the instructor can analyze which words he or she needs to focus on in class. Once the app is downloaded into a mobile device the student can access the app at anytime, anywhere. They can study in their car.

            The second game is Lumosity. The URL address is http://www.lumosity.com. This game is designed to improve memory, attention, speed, flexibility and problem solving. Over 70 million people play lumosity. It is free to play, and now you can play on a team against other teams from around the world. Lumosity is translated into several different languages such as Spanish and German. It was started in 2007, and is based in California. You can access this game by Facebook, YouTube, or Twitter.

            In the GED program, we have men who need to improve their vocabulary skills by understanding the meaning of words, how to pronounce the words properly, and use them in the correct context. This game would help them do that at their own pace, and independently of the teacher. They would assume more responsibility for their own learning.  Also in the program, we have older gentlemen who have resigned themselves to the fact that they are too old to get their GED. Playing the Lumosity game, would allow them to sharpen their memory skills. When you sign up for the game, you are given an assessment, and then based on your results they tailor a game set to your specific needs. I feel playing this game would give them confidence and boost their motivation to learn so they in turn could pass their GED test.

            I would use both of these games in my GED classroom. I would use the Words2Learn app to extend the vocabulary lesson by having the men be exposed to the words in a more direct and personal manner. With playing the game, the student is immersed in these words (Barab, Gresalfi, & Arici, 2009). The more a student is exposed to a word, the more likely he or she is to incorporate it into their everyday vocabulary.  I would use Lumosity for the students to do something different and fun after the lesson is over to continue the learning process.

References

            Barab, S. A., Gresalfi, M., & Arici, A. (2009). Why educators should care about    games.             Educational Leadership, (67)1, 76–80.

            Bonk, C. J. (2009). The world is open: How web technology is revolutionizing education.   San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

           

Sorry I missed one more reference for this week's blog. It is :

Vaterlaus, J. M., Beckert, T. E., Fauth, E. B., & Teemant, B. (2012). An examination of the influence of clicker technology on college student involvement and recall.and International Journal of Teaching  and Learning in Higher Education, v24n3, 293-300.

Mobile Learning Technologies

            Over two thousand years ago a Greek philosopher named Socrates realized that his students understood more by answering questions then being told the answer (Abrahamson, nd). Today, students still learn more by answering the questions. With modern technology, teachers can provide the active learning that Socrates discovered so long ago.

            With a Classroom Communication System (CCS) or clickers, teachers can get their students actively involved in the class discussion, students can get immediate feedback about their answers and how the rest of the class answered the question. When clickers are used in the classroom the students are more actively engaged, enjoy class more, come to class better prepared, and pay more attention in class (Abrahamson, nd). Using the clickers has other benefits as well. When using the clickers, students feel more empowered to answer the question because their answers remain anonymous which leads to almost 100% participation. Clickers also help students who are shy or would not otherwise participate in the discussion become active participants and have the freedom to express their voice (Bojinova & Oigara, 2013). When the clicker technology was employed in the classroom student’s performance went up, they were better prepared for exams, they were more actively engaged in the discussion, and they found class to be more interesting (Vaterlaus, Beckert, Fauth, & Teemant, 2012).

            Another technology that can be used in the classroom is Augmented Reality (AR). This technology allows real and virtual objects to coexist in the same space, and allows the student to interact with the technology in real time. It also allows the overlay of virtual objects on real world objects (Bower, Howe, McCredie, Robinson, & Grover, 2013). This technology can support education by helping students develop their basic literacy and math skills to helping students learn another language by blending real world objects with markers with the new language word on the object (Bower et al., 2013). Students can upload pictures, text, and audio to create their own 3D stories. Other uses for AR in the classroom can give the student opportunities to explore the world beyond the classroom door. They can go on a virtual field trip, or explore space. Eventually teachers and students will be able to design their own AR systems. There are several websites that are designed for AR. They are: http://zooburst.com, http://questvisual.com, and http://www.terminaleleven.com/skyview.

References

Abrahamson, A.L. (nd). Teaching with Classroom Communication System-What it involves and why it works. Better Education Inc. Yorktown, VA.

Bojinova, E., & Oigara, J. (2013). Teaching and learning with clickers in higher education.            International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, v25n2, 154-165.

Bower, M., Howe, C., McCredie, N., Robinson, A., & Grover, D. (2014). Augmented Reality in education-cases, places, and potentials. Educational Media International, v51n1, 1-15.

 

 

Exploring College Students' Attitudes and Self-Efficacy of Mobile Learning: EBSCOhost

Exploring College Students' Attitudes and Self-Efficacy of Mobile Learning: EBSCOhost