The Future....

THE FUTURE... the unknown. Of course when we thought of the future growing up, we thought of flying cars and touch screen tv's and well part of that is kind of coming true. There has been serious amounts of growth in terms of technology and what exactly we can use it for. Slowly but surely we are stemming out of the realm of it just being purely "entertainment" to now it being something that we can use educationally. Children, at the age of 4, are being handed an IPAD to keep them busy. Children are becoming interactive with a device rbasically right from birth and that device will most likely be with them their whole lives so it is important that during their developmental period that they learn how to use it effectively. And this is where teachers come in! I think eventually each student is going to bring their own device to school and/or teachers will have different types of devices for the students to use. I do not think it will be entirely technology based but I truly believe that there may be a initialy surge of everything technology. Eventually it will calm down and educators will find a good balance between hands on learning and technology based learning. 

The Horizon Report, reports of what exactly the key challenges are going to be for teachers in the next 5 years. I honestly believe that the upcoming educators will have the upperhand because we are being eduacted on these technological systems. Teachers that have been teaching for 30+ years may be less inclined to take a PD on technology in the classroom and/or really understand how to use it and how to use it effectively. 

The future is technology... balanced amounts of technology!

Final Project

The end is near!

 I have finally completed my final project and here it is! And honestly, upon explanation of the assignment, I thought I would have no idea how to do this but there I was in the library figuring it out... know the lingo... knowing the steps. One challenge I did find was that I found it extremely hard to keep each slide to 15 seconds of talking. I like to talk... I like to talk alot! Soooo this was difficult and sorry for the 7 minute final project but one semester in 5 minutes? Come on! Especially because I didn't know much before this. Now, I am going to be able to go into my new technology savvy and ready to go! Enjoy a good laugh with the below link!


http://youtu.be/aH9Xp8Qvf1w

My Connected World

My Connected World vs. 21st Students Connected World.. is there really a difference?

I am more into the educational apps and things but kinda similar?

Probably not okay.

Oh well!

Family Social Media Guard

We saw this video today in class and it really sparked my interest. Basically coca-cola has released this video where people wear "guard" so they are unable to see their phones and text messages. Therefore opening up their eyes to the world around them: family, friends, scenary and the worlds beauty. Makes me think if we, as humans, are actually losing sight of the beautiful world. I would counter act that thought with the idea that we almost want to view the world more when it comes to taking pictures and posting experiences on social media sites. yes, we are posting photos but are we actually living in the moment and experiencing these things? This idea really made me think. I think about a family dinner... will I have to void cell phones at the dinner table, am I going to either a) miss my child's experiences or b) catch them on my phone and be able to have their video for ever. technology can be detrimental to experience but it can also enhance it. something to think about....

Check out the video: its hilarious

http://youtu.be/NPn1_BOznuM

Are you on your phone too much? I believe we all are, but is it enhancing our experiences or taking away from them? Think about it. 

Show and Tell

UBERSENSE

Check this APP out! Primarily for any phys-ed type activities.. However if anyone ever tries to coach or do any sort of skill development or assessment this is a great APP. Basically, using this APP, you video a skill: for example setting a volleyball. The video can then be slowed down, fast forwarded and/or cued up next to a "pro" doing the skill. This will enable students to see themselves doing the skill and be able to pick out what it is they are doing right and what exactly they need to work on. For the visual learners this is a great tool. Also, just an idea, if you're doing a science experiment where you want to tape and slow down some sort of chemical reaction--> UBERSENSE can do that.

Check out the website for more information: http://www.ubersense.com/

One to One Computing Panel

One to one Computing Panel

Last week we had a panel of educators come in and speak with two of our education classes about technology in the classroom. First and foremost we had an educator come from Dakota Collegiate talk to us about technology in their school. They have completely bought in to the notion of having their own device in the classroom and he honestly believes that this is where education is headed. There was then a GREAT discussion on BYOD. The panel was able to give us great insight on how they do this. Some schools have their own IPADS for each classroom and created chargers specifically for their classrooms. The students are essentially responsible for their own IPAD. They are able to bring it home and work on it and download APPS onto it according to what we are learning in class. Questions were answered about damage deposits and I truly felt extremely informed with IPADS in the classroom and how exactly it all works. Do the students all have cases? Do some students only want to use their laptops? I honestly believe it is more handy to use an IPAD. Students can take video and it does work faster. Plus, I honestly believe because the student "owns" this device: hey learn responsibility and ownership. Basically, every presenter was extremely thorough and seemed to be very pro-technology and perhaps one day this is where it is going to go.

Food for thought: It would have been great to have more APPS and discussion on what kinds of things we can actually use the Ipads with in our classroom! 

Infographics

An Infographic or an information graphic is a way we can visually display information in an easily and understandable way that makes sense at a glance. Over the last few years people have been using Infographics to communicate a message, to simplify a presentation that has a lot of information in it. After looking at a few of the examples I immediately felt like infographics are right up my alley. I feel like when I see a presentation with solely hundreds of words and just plain back and white I do not pay attention to what it is saying. When I come across a write up that has short cue words, color and symbols or pictures I am immediately engaged to the pertaining topic.

I honestly truly think that these can and will be used in my classroom. Students are starting to learn more through technology and with technology comes visual representations, pictures, colors, patterns or step-by-step directions. Below I have located a Info graphic on Blogging in the classroom. I think when I get into my own classroom I will be using blogging as a means of reflection and assessment. Having such an info graphic present in the classroom would be a great way for students to visually see the steps and reasoning for blogging.

Above is an Infographic I made for phys-ed class in that different actions for particular sports are posted around the gym and the student takes their device and scan the QR code to see a demonstration of the particular skill.

Podcast

The Podcast that I listened to is the 5th Episode of a series called: Roles models, Professional Development and end of the year crazyness,  by Nathan Horne and Joey Feith.

       I decided to brainstorm my thoughts about the above topics before a listened to the podcast. More so as soon as I saw "end of the year crazyness" I immediately thought about how students are at the end of the year. I think about what kind of student I am right now, with this being my last few weeks of school, and well its safe to say that  I am certainly more distracted then I was in the beginning of the year. Instead of being 100% present and 100% participating I find my mind wandering to other things outside of the classroom. For our students, the end of the year will likely bring about distraction in terms of summer, in terms of the beautiful weather outside. During the podcast they call it “the rush” when the summer break is in the horizon.  Its interesting after talking with a friend of mine who is a teacher, she was talking about barely needing to plan anything the week before christmas holidays. She said she would pick only a few things to get through and then take the ENTIRE week to meet those outcomes. The students just do not want to work, they want to be there for the social aspect but otherwise they would rather be outside or playing video games.

        One particular part of the this podcast that I did like was the notion of being a good role model for our students. We need to be able to not only academically mirror the proper way to learn but also we need to show students proper behaviour, ways to treat each other, respect and leadership. I truly believe that education is exactly that. A huge portion of the education is academics and that is the main goal HOWEVER, I truly believe there are so many other different pods of life that students learn in school: social , emotional, behavioural and team work, community life are things that students need to learn during development. And where do they spend the most time during their childhood and adolescence: School! Another idea I liked in this podcast was that these teachers used QRL codes to find out student progress. After the class students will have to “scan out” before they leave and fill out a questionnaire online about the class, about safety and behaviour. This blew my mind and I am extremely happy to know that I am currently learning how to make QRL codes in my early years Phys-ed course. PERFECT!

        Can students make up their own podcasts? Well, as discussed in the blog, a lot of the time school do not have accessibility to 15 IPads. If a classroom does have access then yes I think it is a great learning tool if the podcast is SHORT and entertaining. This particular blog was 1 hour long and I would say I probably didn’t retain everything they were saying due to a lack of attention span. The students may enjoy creating their own podcasts and learn to love to DISCUSS and talk about subjects. This is where most of the learning takes place. 

Check it out:

http://thephysedpodcast.podomatic.com/entry/2013-11-30T22_03_21-08_00 

Videos in the Classroom

This first video is a movie mash-up called Body Image: Media vs Mind. This video is regarding the reality of body image in today's society. It displays just how much the media can impact the mind in relation to ideals of beauty, as well as highlights some positive forces that fight back against these negative images. This video can be used for Health Class to activate students notions of Media and how it affects our self-image and self-worth. I have used this video for a lesson in Grade 8 on Media Literacy and it was a great way for them to visually see what Media actually is. During the 5 minute clip I had the students answer 5 questions about the clip. The questions included: reflection, drawing and just basic comprehension questions. This particular video had a great effect on the class and really gave me a teaching moment to discuss the notion of media influence deeper. I think that video definitely showed that students do like to watch and learn from videos or television. Every single one of them was engaged by the particular video and I think that if we were to have the students create and make their own videos pertaining to a particular topic that they would be equally as engaged. I am not sure I would make them put it up no youtube but perhaps they could compile all their videos on a class website that hopefully we will have created in the beginning of the year. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24Xa1Nw8eJY

The second video I found is from TED TALKS. This particular video is called: The 3 A's of Awesome by Neil Pasricha. The story of “awesome” will be extremely motivational for students and can perhaps be shown during a goal-setting lesson as an activating strategy. Or perhaps the lesson can be used during the novel study for The Book of Awesome. I initially got this book from my father and it is basically pages and pages of 100+ things that are “awesome.” By things I mean experiences, small things that you usually do not stop to think about: a sunset, the way the grass smells after you mow it etc. It is just a great novel and I think it could be interesting to even do your own “Book of Awesome” with students: have them think about things they dont usually notice or give energy to. This particular video talks about a man that has gone through a series of hardship and in order to cope he decides to start a blogg about “awesome things”. Initially only his mom watched it but eventually it caught on and people really started to look at the small positive things. I would recommend showing this book to your students: extremely inspirational! 

http://www.ted.com/talks/neil_pasricha_the_3_a_s_of_awesome.html

EduBlogger

This just in: I have finally found a edublogger! His name is @MrBridge204... aka. Blue Jay Bridge.The finding of such blog was that of an interesting one as I did stumbled across him with help from my current teacher as I was requesting some assistance with technology based ideas in a phys-ed class. I was referred to this person via twitter and the particular blog that I read is called "Enhancing Physical Education with Technology. " Before I go on I would just like to say that this was my first networking experience via social media: the first time I connected with someone somewhere else about a common interest and goal. I think that this is what our Technology for Educators teacher is talking about when saying that technology can open up doors and build connections with just about everything and anyone. Now, when I am faced with a phys-ed job that is requesting technology in the gym I have a resource to inquire to. 

         This particular blog is found on www.participation.com and it really encompassed a lot of different ideas that make me excited to bring technology to the gym. Its interesting because the blog bagn with talking about this app called UBERSENSE, which is just like COACHES-EYE app that I use for volleyball. It basically films a skill or action and you can slow it down or fast forward it and/or compare it to a pro's skill. Great way to have students learn to acknowledge a skill and its breakdown. This blog has given me great new app ideas that can be used and it talks about one in particular: SHOW ME. Which is basically allows you to  upload your lessons to the Show Me Community and if you are part of the Show Me community you are ablew to see everyone elses lessons. Such a thing will provide a wide span of ideas for more activities and it is easily accessible to anyone who wants to join in. This is something I will most certainly do! Phys-ed ppl: check out this blog for great APP ideas for the gym!

Instruction or Learning?

This week we had a presenter come in discuss "Web Based Courses." To start the presentation, she asked many of the same questions we have researched and discussed throughout class. What do we think of technology in the classroom today? What is your technological philosophy? Now, there was one statement or question that I found to be particularly catchy and mind moving. Today, in schools, is there more of a focus on instruction of the material or the learning of the material? We further discussed how schools today are way too instruction based. Teachers have a curriculum and they have outcomes to meet and they spend a lot of their efforts creating different modes of instructions, ways to teach the students. All of this is of utmost importance to the teacher and the student however are we making the mode of instruction more important that the actual act of learning? That is where I really got to thinking, it goes beyond what types of teaching strategies we have but if the students has actually learned the material. That is what we are in schools for: to learn! It is important that we start to distinguish a difference between these 2 notions to ensure that students are first and foremost the centre of learning!

My Digital Footprint

My Digital Footprint

When reflecting upon my digital footprint I really had to take a look at what exactly my digital identity is. What kind of person do I percieve myself as online? As an experiment I decided to google my own name and see what sorts of things people have access to. It was shocking to see how much information is actually on the internet about my past experiences and current experiences. Some of the information I had put online myself, but there were many volleyball articles and write ups I was not even aware existed. Upon researching my own name I began to wonder if I am any different online then I am in real life. In real life I am a pretty social and expressive person. Am I like that online? I find I am actually a little bit less expressive online then I am in real life. Would I rather type out my feelings or say them to your face? The answer is easy, personal face-to-face conversation is a way better method for me. I was never one to post statuses on facebook and it wasn't until twitter that I truly began to express feelings, show quotes of interests. Interestingly enough, when looking at my digital identity I do have A LOT of pictures. Perhaps not so many words of expression but I do have over 1,000 tagged photos, some of which need to be erased from the internet. Harsh realization: once this pictures are online such a task is not so easy.  As a teacher we really need to teach our students about how easy it is to access information, whether its true information or false. Having a "What is your Digital Identity" class or unit for that matter would be a great start. What age? Well, students as young as grade 4 are starting to use  Facebook etc. SO YOUNG! 

Staying Organised Online

Staying organised online! Its interesting to think that being organised in your material life isn't enough, now we are receiving mass amounts of new ways to use technology, gather information and it almost seems as though it is an OVERLOAD. There seems to be a surge in social media website and other websites that in-cooperate a means to organised oneself. Whether it would be to organised pictures, thoughts, documents and videos. In a society that is extremely fast pace it seems only natural that we figure out the fastest and most efficient ways to receive and obtain our own information but also new information. How do I organize my own online life? Well, I am currently becoming more aware of things like DROPBOX, GOOGLE DRIVE and/or the fun more creative organizers like PINTEREST. If you are looking for a website, that initially seems to have one function (pure entertainment), with vast amounts of information organised then Pinterest is the way to go. I am not sure whether other education classes have used Pinterest to the degree we have but we have several different "Pin Groups" where people  can add and pin assignments, crafts, lessons pertaining to a particular subject area. For example there is an "english" pingroup where students are daily pinning great ideas to the group, making those ideas accessible to everyone who is part of the group. What a great resource!  Will I have my students use PINTEREST in my classroom? Perhaps. I honestly think its a great tool for collective ideas on certain topics, comparative to google but with more specific example. If a student is doing a project on Flanders Fields, they can look on Pinterest for craft ideas and poster ideas. They can also be encouraged to "pin" their own, final project to a group class pin. 

Just some #pinteresting thoughts!

This week we had to watch a very inspiring TED TALK video about a little girl named Martha who made a difference....

We have found ourselves another Martha Stewart... except she is 9 years old and merely began with taking pictures of her lunch. A girl from Scotland , named Martha, has made a difference. Basically Martha starts taking pictures of her lunch and starts a blog of her lunch and starts rating her lunches. People start sending pictures of their lunches to Martha and she keeps getting more attention. She even gets to go on a cooking show and talks about the quality of school lunches. Eventually she creates such an awareness that she starts a group called "Martha's Meals" and starts helping those (schools) who need more health awareness and nutritional information for their everyday health and wellness. This video really emphasized  how technology can help our world and how it enables us to be linked across the world. The role of technology in Martha's life made it possible for her to help others .

Essentially this video is telling us there are many Martha's in this world, so many young people that now have the outlet to make a difference. Perhaps we need to stop putting our entire focus on cyber bullying or sexting and just help our students realise they have the ability to make change. The presenter in this TED TALK said it perfectly:
               "If we want more Marthas we need to get rid of our fear and control of what our students are                         doing and focus on empowerment. We need our in school environments to be technology based                    places, give them access and advice and let them create!"

Honestly, take a second to think about it... How could you make a change? In what ways could you use technology to change something or affect someone in your life or furthermore in our world?

Lean on me... when you're not strong... ill be your friend... ill help you carry on...


YES that is technology singing to me...


Can technology be a teaching aid? After exploring a little bit I am at the conclusion that yes it can. I have always downloaded and used apps in regards to things of interest: volleyball stats, fitness management, nutrition calorie counting, games and it with these internet courses that I need to realise: APPS can help you in the classroom. I find I seem to be at a slight disadvantage in that I have not fully explored technology in the classroom because the majority of my teaching is done in the gymnasium. Using technology in a gymnasium is not easy, it is not really taught to us how to in-cooperate it as the main goal in a gym: is the be active physically! So what particular apps I should use in the classroom are somewhat foreign to me. Any help? English? Math? I know there are apps for math and how to make math more visual and more fun but I just am uneducated with what they are. Continuing on that math tangent... I am not good with numbers, decimals, dividing, EVERYTHING number related and honestly I feel comfort in the idea of an APP being able to assist me in teaching Math and helping me learn as well as teach the students. At King George every Wednesday we had "Mathletics" which is basically a math program that the students use their computers with and do math examples and problems with/against their classmates AND also students from the other side of the world.


 Its a challenging world in that there are so many different types of phones and different types of APPS that apply to only certain types of phones. How do we find an APP that generically works for all phone types? The presenter this week made an interesting point in that us as educators need to step out of the realm of "everyone learns the same" into different people have different learning styles and that can be applied to different learning APPS. The students need to learn how to use their device and hopefully reach the same learning outcome even if they are doing it differently. This was an interesting thought to me ...!


#mathleticsforlife
#apphelp

Okay so this blog is catching me a moment of pure frustration with the ol inter web. My current class, in which this blog is necessary, has suddenly decided to tell me there are tech tasks due. Now, if I had a hard copy of the course outline and proper explanations of what exactly is due I would have them completed. Instead we kind of have to do these on-line tech tasks via the internet (which I struggle to use) and I honestly have finally located the actual tasks but read the task without a hot clue how to even do them on the internet. I need to learn how to use the internet and instead of relying on visual hard copy mater representations of assignment: I need to learn how to see the documents up on the screen and understand them. It is a weird transition for me I think as I am a hands on learner: merely reading the tasks on-line do not really tap into my learning self.

ANYWAYS, the plan is to get my ducks in a row in terms of the tech tasks and figure it out. Also I forgot snack today.. that was the icing on the cake to my frustration. I do love technology but sometimes I just do not know how to stay on top of it. Which is why I am extremely happy to be in this class because I want to learn how to learn using the internet. On a side note I went 14 hours without internet yesterday and I felt uneasy the whole day... whats going on? Have I missed something on Facebook? On Twitter? What if someone is trying to get a hold of me... blah blah blah. Sure enough, I finally get reconnected and to my dismay: NOTHING. No inbox messages, no tweets, no emails... in 14 hours! Sooo moral of the story life can go on with out our dear friend I-web but its really not as fun or as creative.

#sorryfortherant
#feelingbetter

Digital Identity?




It's interesting... we currently live in a generation of self identification and expression. Who am I? What do I believe? How do I let the world know I am original, I am unique, I am me... whether you like it or not. So it only seems natural that the notion "Digital Identity" would emerge. People now have that outlet and tool to express the utmost best and worst sense of self. It is self expression to its greatest degree. Throughout one of my field placements I had the opportunity to teach grade 8 ART and I created an Identity lesson. Essentially the assignment was to chose a symbol, whether it be a established symbol or a self-created symbol, that reflected what you feel represent yourself and who you are. Some of the students dug deep and were able to really inspire and find appropriate symbols, whereas the majority of the class merely viewed themselves as part of social networks. I had students drawing facebook symbols, instagram symbols and twitter hash-tags. Enlight of this sudden realisation I changed the assignment in that the students had to outline their symbols in personal descriptive words that pertain to their personal symbol and then title their symbol. Now the students had to think, what is my digital identity in the instagram world? Now that I know this terminology I bet it would be beneficial to teach the students about digital identity and all things that create it.


What would your identity symbol be?




#volleykrahn

Hello hello,


Finding myself back in the forced upon blogger world and couldn't be happier... But actually, it seems a though blogs have taken off since last year when I started this blog. I decided to enroll in another class that teaches us teachers how to use technology with our students. I found myself at about 4:15 pm last week in a class, learning about Twitter. Yes, a Twitter 101. I have my own twitter account.. I would go so far to say that I am averaging about 2 tweets a week and only when something comes up that is tweet worthy. I think the further exploration of Twitter is going to be beneficial because whether we like it or not Twitter can be used educationally. It is a way of unifying and organising thoughts, feelings and classes together as one. Fast forward a few years... am I going to be tweeting things to me students? Who knows... that very well might just happen. If its educationally beneficial for my students and perhaps even the school staff. I haven't quite explored the group hash tags, like our class one : #I4E.. such a hash tag may just take off. Who would have thought the little symbol # could have become what it is today. People of our past generations will forever look at that symbol a different way then that of our youth today. Oh the hashtag... a way to be incredibly creative and descriptive. I personally love it, love being able to think, be creative and clever.


#bye


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57dzaMaouXA