Digital Blog Post #D

Photo credit to Ewa Rozkosz on Flickr

Information literacy is the capacity to access and assess information online (Malroy, 2011 p. 114) and it is a skill that every teacher and student should master. With the shifting in the way we search for information being internet savvy has become a necessity.  Now a days sending emails, creating documents and web browsing are very basic things almost everyone is expected to know. In the education field is no different, that's why IT fluency (information technology fluency) and IT FITness ( fluent with information technology)  has become a goal for teachers and students.

Among the technologies available today for searching information we have search engines. Search engines have become the door to the largest source of information the world has seen, the world wide web. One in specific has become very popular, that is of course Google. Google has very intelligently cover pretty much every area possible to offer services, from apps, to email, calendars, maps, translators, etc.. Google is definitely on top in this new information era. That's why I thought ,what a better way to know how google works, than having them explain it to us.



To me it sounds like a pretty complex thing that happens within seconds, depending on your internet speed, and that is the beauty of it. How long would it take a person to do what google does in order to give you the best answer? With tools like this we can easily think that we are a lucky generation. Our parents didn't have it this easy, some of our grandparents were lucky to even go to school and us; we have it all. Having it all has a price though; there is so much information available that we have to learn how to select the right one, and that is precisely my next topic.

Evaluating online information is a challenge. Quantity does not equal quality, so often an internet searcher must shift through pages of poor or wrong information to find a few kernels of valid data (Malroy, 2011 p. 127). Luckily the Association of College and Research Libraries did the work for us and gave us five criteria that we should take into consideration when searching the web.

After reading this chapter I have been reassured of how important it is to be selective and careful when searching or researching something, especially if you are planning to share it, or if it's for school. Many times, especially in social media, with the click of a button we share different things, news, images, videos, links; but it's save to say that we should verify that the information is truthful, and that it actually represents our point of view. A lot of times we read the title of the article and automatically share it, and that is wrong, I know am guilty of that myself. After this week's lecture I will definitely be extra careful and more attentive on the information am helping to spread.

Resources

Google. (2010, March 4). How Search Works. [Video file]. Retrieved on September 20, 2015 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNHR6IQJGZs

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2011). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 1st Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Rozkosz, E. (2011, August 2). Information Literacy. [ Image file]. Retrieved on September 21, 2015 from https://www.flickr.com/photos/erozkosz/6002995338/

Valladares, B. (2015, September 20). Criteria for Evaluating Web Resources. [Image file]. Retrieved on September 21, 2015 from https://www.canva.com/design/DABdG6RFl9o/wVOQ3p9BjLRgawr3EaovEg/edit

Digital Blog Post # C

Photo credit to Giridhar-Photography on Flickr

The first concept I want to touch is lesson development using technology. There're three elements in lesson development what to teach, how to teach, and how to know what students have learned. In the what to teach stage there is a main factor to take into account and that is local and national guidelines. Once you have identify your goal, within those guidelines,  technology has many tools to make your research easier, faster and more efficient; internet search engines, electronic databases, online encyclopedias, blogs, wikis are just some of those. In the how to teach stage technology can also help with things like presentation software, podcasts, interactive software, digital cameras and teacher developed websites; the teaching methods and procedures come alive in order to achieve your goal. As far as assessment, aka how to know what students have learned, goes there are several tools for this as well examples are: digital portfolios, online surveys, personal response systems and online test and quizzes. The last ones are my favorite, as a student, because you are able to know your score right away, at least on all the ones I have taken.

After carefully reviewing it is pretty obvious that technology plays a very important role in all the aspects of lesson development. I didn't grew up in the iGeneration so when I had a project, that it was usually a group one, we will have to go to the city library. Going to the city library meant taking a couple busses, because it was far away, find huge encyclopedias, write down whatever piece of information we could find, by hand, with a limited amount of time of course, then go back home, put everything together, as a team,  needless to say it was a real challenge. Now everything is so easy, we have access to infinite amounts of information, right in the comfort of our own homes. A click over here, a search over there and voila everything you need to know about anything, poops up right in front of you, without you even leaving your seat. Sounds better than the old way, but guess what everything has its pros and cons. I have had a couple research papers to do using the schools databases and it is a different kind of challenge. There is just so much information that it can get a little bit overwhelming. That's why to me the most important thing is to know what you want, know what you are looking for, be specific, very specific. Browsing will take double the amount of time to finish your project.

The second concept is models of lesson planning. There are two approaches to help you plan your lessons; student learning objectives and understanding by design. Understanding by design(UBD) is also known as backward design and in this approach the teacher starts with the end, enduring understandings and moves towards the means (Malroy, 2011, p. 80). The student learning objective almost the oposite, you start with the means and move towards the end. It is up to the teacher to determine with media is better accordingly. Here's a short presentation on the different steps of student learning objectives.



Whether your approach is objective or UBD technology can lend a hand on lesson planning as well. There are several websites for lesson planning full of ideas, with templates, worksheets, printable, themes, discussion guides, tips, etc... here are a few that I found.

1. Planboard 
2. teAchnology
3. Common Curriculum 
4. edHelper

The last thing I want to touch is evaluating and assessing students. This is the largest section in the chapter and test are very controversial. Many people argue that tests are really not the best tool for evaluating students's knowledge, others support it. My personal opinion is that the way the system is set up, does not allow he students to learn with desire. The book quotes UCLA professor W. James Popham and his opinion about standardized tests. He mentions three cons about standardized tests. Number one curricular reductionism, where the teachers only focus in the information covered on the test. Number two excessive test focused drilling; this is when the teacher makes the activities revolve around the test. Number three dishonesty; teachers adjusting the test conditions and in occasions telling students the answers that they can pass the test (Malroy, 2011, p.74) I don't think anybody likes tests, especially being tested in something you don't like or don't understand. A lot of times what happens is that we go thru the motions but we are simply not engaged in what we are doing; we seat in class, we do the homework, and the minute we finish it we forgot what we just did. That happens to me a lot with one specific class, you guessed it, its mathematics. The main problem, in my opinion, is that we have learning like that for so long that we don't want it any other way. We go to class and all we want to do is learn the necessary things to pass the class and that is it. This am talking about, in my personal experience, a class that you are not particularly a fan of. Another thing that I strongly agree with is measuring everybody with the same stick. Now technology and testing, I think one of the nicest features I have experienced on canvas for example is testing. You can do it in the comfort of your home, unless is a proctored exam, you get your results right away, the system keep record and  calculates your overall score for you, and honestly if it wasn't for technology we would not be able to take this class right now. Think about it writing this blog is how we are being evaluated this week.


Resources

Giridhar Photography (2010, June 10) [Picture] Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/photo-sculpture/4967120465/

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2011). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 1st Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc

Valladares, B. (2015, September 15) Student Learning Objectives [ Prezi presentation]. Retrieved from https://prezi.com/oc_rvrwfj1hb/student-learning-objective/

Digital Blog Post #B

The first thing I want to talk about is creativity. A couple semester ago I bumped into this video, and I thought that he had a really good point. 

The book actually has this to say about creativity "those who are acknowledge to be creative are those whose accomplishments enriched life and changed the course of history" (Malroy, 51). Now a days kids have access to a lot of things that can help boost their creativity but they are not really being encouraged at schools , it seems that schools prepare students to be doctors, lawyers, to go to college, get a degree, but are not listening hat students really want. I think this has a lot to do with they way we teach, because if we are going to say that every child learns differently and that we should approached them accordingly why not use the tools that we have to help them figure out what they are good at, what is their passion. 

The second point I want to touch is visual literacy. My personal believe is that once you see something, you cannot unseen it, it stays with you forever; I don't  have any research to back me up, just my own personal experience. Now you might not always remember but at some point, it will poop up when you least expect it. It seems to me that we are becoming even more lazy than usual, and videos are our go to sources of information. I think a lot of people don't like to read, and if they do is up to 140 characters, anything longer than that will get scrolled over. But his gets even better, if the videos are too long we don't watch them, and I include myself in this list. I like things straight to the point, and I think most people do to, especially now a days wen we "don't have time" for anything. A lot of people, specially teenager like Vines, and maybe one of the reasons is because they are so short. From a students point of view, wouldn't it be fun to incorporate something like that in class? Lets say they finished a chapter in Geography about Europe and they can do a short educational video saying the capitals of all the western Europe countries, believe it or not a lot of people don't know what they are. 

The last thing I want to talk about is feedback. I think that one of the main reasons we like the internet so much is due to its ability to connect us instantly even with people that are on the other side of the world, ad to think that today we have the possibility to be taking this class online is amazing. When I came to this country, I stared working and going to school was not possible for me in the beginning especially because I was consider an out of state student. So I enrolled in this over the mail business  course. They would send the book, by mail, I will send them a check, by mail, and needless to say that didn't last long. I decided to wait patiently until I was able to enroll in college, this was back in 2006, not long ago right? Fast forward 9 years and this is my third or fourth semester taking online classes, and I could not be any happier. One of the most important things about this system is being able to communicate with the professor, and thanks to technology that is not an issue. Any questions or doubts can be dealt with almost instantly thanks to apps, instant messaging, etc.  

Resources

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

TED. (2015, September 12). Do Schools Kill Creativity? [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY

Digital Blog Post #A

Photo Credit to bgolub on Flickr 

 When we use technology for the most rewarding profession of all times something magical happens. Studying becomes more interesting, lectures become fun, and homework and projects are done with more enthusiasm. Digital childhood seemed to me like a scary thing at first. The fact that most of 8-18 years old are using some type of digital or electronic technology almost every waking hour outside of school ( Maloy, p.17) makes me wonder what are we doing wrong. That being said this world is inevitably changing more rapidly than ever thanks to technology, so instead of fighting the change we should use this double edge sword for good.
  
 One things that particularly caught my attention, because I have never heard of it, was the clicker. The clicker is basically a device that students use to participate in class, it kinda looks like calculator. The clicker sends each individual student's answer to the professor's computer. This benefits the professor by having all the scoring done for him, which reduces the work load and is also environmental friendly. For the student I think that besides that it feels less traditional, it gives the shy students the opportunity to participate without being afraid of not getting it right and then feeling embarrassed. I myself would like to have the opportunity of being in a class that uses clicker either as a student or a professor. The things with the clicker is that i think it will work best in a large class, not so much in a small elementary school setting. 

 Another good things that I see about technology is that it helps you save time in the classroom. If you prepare properly and efficiently you will be able to have everything all set, that way when you go with your students you can actually dedicate time for them, help them with their own specific needs. To me that is wonderful, and that is one of the reason why I would prefer a small class. Speaking about small classes another benefit is if there is a need to buy computers, other devices like tablets or maybe some educational software,having a small class can make it easier to fund. Besides there are so many resources out there for example printable coloring pages on any subject imaginable, DIY projects, classroom decoration ideas, the options are endless.

 In conclusion, yes technology can be evil and beneficial depending on what you use it for, but as educators it is our job, our duty, to use something that they like and transform it from meaningless waste of time to a lesson to remember. There are many tools out there like the clicker, that can help us achieve our goals, there are multiple resources, websites, soft wares, that can put a little bit of sparkle in our daily routines. Nobody likes to eat the same breakfast everyday for a year, so why should we give the children the same lectures using the same methods that have been used for years.  

Resources 

Maloy, R., O'Loughlin, R., Edwards, S., & Woolf, B. (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.

Using Clickers to Enhance Teaching and Learning: Pilot Case Studies in Science Programmes. (n.d.). Retrieved September 3, 2015.

He was 12 years old here and since then has design a revolutionary 3D printer