"I Know What I'm doing; I Don't Need Your Help"

If I could get a dollar for every time I hear one of my students saying, "I know what I'm doing, I don't need your help" I would be rich. However, these same students will be frustrated and shutting down two minutes later when they don't get the same results as their peers.  Consequently, digital literacy is very important.  As an educator, I haven't figure out when to teach digital literacy or allow the students to figure how to use the technological tool and/or the game. I understand the importance of teaching digital literacy, but it is a challenge for me to find time to teach it explicitly to the students. As a group, we experience 50/50 successful rate in terms of engagement and completion of the task.  From the fail experiences, my choice of the media or game did not support the math concepts or it was repetitive.

I like online games for students, and I am looking forward to making it more meaningful for my students (Laureate Education, 2012). Many of the online games I used, in the past, targeted rote memorization of math facts and some logic games, but currently, I am looking for games that foster higher order thinking skills. Personally, I have never participated in virtual anything, and my son just recently started playing ‘woozworld’ with a bunch of his friends. I was surprised to see how well he was able to maneuver the site because he was not formally trained on the site. Watching my son maneuver that pleasurable site, I will look into Abar and Madsen Barbosa (2011) suggestion of using GeoGebra and Moddle in my classroom. I like the notation of using gaming to foster analytical skills, problem-solving skills, and be a change agent in their environment (Barab, Gresalfi, & Arici, 2009; Cobb, 2008; Westera, 2011).

Abar, C. P., & Madsen Barbosa, L. (2011). Computer, algebra, virtual learning environment and learning: Is it possible?  Acta Didactica Napocensia, 4(1), 31-38.

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

Cobb, J. (2008). 26 learning games to change the world. Retrieved fromhttp://www.missiontolearn.com/2008/04/learning-games-for-change/  

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2012). Technology, learning, and teaching. Baltimore, MD: Author. 

Westera, W. (2011). On the changing nature of learning context: Anticipating the virtual extensions of the world. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 14(2), 201–212.

Blah, Blah, Blah, Oh! Blogging

Oh, Blogging. What a concept or innovative tool to share and gather information.  Currently, I am blogging out of school obligation. I hope to have time in the future to use this tool to share and gather information that will continue to help me grow as a person.  I find it difficult to create time and space for myself to work hard or develop my intelligence (Dweck’s, 2010).  Because of tools like blogging, Google hangout, wiki, I hope to find creative ways to overcome the challenge of time. Knowledge is empowering to me in order to make change internally or externally. 

Teaching and learning is a reciprocal process, and I believe in that process. In my opinion, there is nothing new under the sun, and all ideas existed outside of an individual; which is one reason I understand Downes (2007) idea of connectivism as a theory. Dealing with digital natives in my classroom, and I am a digital resident, blogging is a great opportunity to share knowledge and create a union between myself (digital resident) and my students (digital natives), much like a cultural fusion. Siemens (2005) calls for a relational field between “rapid growth of information in a different field to merge in research.” In other words, research need to catch up to the exponential growth of the informational age. As a lifetime learner, I adapt to any learning environment, especially virtual environment. In virtual environment, facilitators and participants have to be able to balance flexibility and expectations because human expression look different and surreal.  Some things may be misinterpreted. 

Downes, S. (2007). What connectivism is?
Retrieved from http://halfanhour.blogspot.com/2007/02/what-connectivism-is.html

Dweck, C. (2010). Even geniuses work hard. Educational Leadership, 68(1), 16-20.

Siemens, G. (2005). Connectivism: Learning as network-creation. ASTD Learning News, 10(1). Retrieved from http://www.astd.org/LC/2005/1105_seimens.htm

What Social Media, Again?

Presently, there is no evidence to support or deny the effectiveness of social media on education. There are two views on any given topic, and social media or digital education is no different. For example, many researchers are on  opposition in terms of their views on social media (for or against). Additionally, these researchers (Prensky, 2008; An & Reigeluth, 2011) emphasized the rationale for the slow movement towards incorporating digital learning in their classroom. Prensky (2008) explained some teachers’ inability to imagine an era without rote repetition of basic math skills, whereas Asimov’s (1964) demonstrated digital education at his extreme point, classroom with robot teachers.

In my program, some days I wished I were a robot to help maintain a safe environment. It is becoming difficult to introduce social media to our students for a myriad of reasons. I understand that I may come across as if I am not innovative into the digital world or I am still teaching with the past in mind (Presnky, 2008), but that is the reality of teaching my population. With that being said, when things work out it is a thrill to be in that environment.

Kalin (2012) that the students are “already technical communicators” (p. 1), integrating social networking should be a requirement that facilitate learning. However, many of the students in the alternative program do not know how to use Microsoft office program efficiently, let alone understand what program to choose to complete a project. Lack of computer literacy is one of the biggest challenge in the program. Most importantly, there are only two computers in each classroom in the program, one for the teacher and one for students. The lack of computers makes it difficult to plan for group collaboration, especially when using wiki and google doc (Bonk, 2009). Social network is a challenge in the classroom due to a lack of available and functional computers.

In terms of social media, I like Google hangout for collaboration. My students used it often to look up information for pleasure or academic. Sometimes, the students and I would share the screen on Google hangout in order to explore different game sites that support their learning of a math concept (Regulation, 2012). I shared with my students that I used Google hangout to talk with one of my professors that lived in Germany in order to get help with one of my project. It was one of the most helpful experience I have ever had using technology. I shared with them this is some of the ways we could use social media to support their learning of math concepts (Conole & Culver, 2010).

References

An, Y., & Reigeluth, C. (2011). Creating technology-enhanced, learner-centered classrooms: K-12 teachers' beliefs, perceptions, barriers, and support needs. Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education, 28(2), 54–62.

Asimov, I. (1964, February). The fun they had. Fantasy and Science Fiction, 418–420.

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

Conole, G., & Culver, J. (2010). The design of Cloudworks: Applying social networking practice to foster the exchange of learning and teaching ideas and designs. Computers & Education, 54(3), 679–692. 

Kalin, J. (2012). Doing what comes naturally? Student perceptions and use of collaborative technologies. International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning, 6(1), 1.

Prensky, M. (2008). Backup education? Too many teachers see education as preparing kids for the past, not the future. Educational Technology, 48(1), 1–3. Retrieved from http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky-Backup_Education-EdTech-1-08.pdf

Reagle Jr., J. M. (2011). Good faith collaboration: The culture of Wikipedia. Retrieved fromhttp://reagle.org/joseph/2010/gfc/chapter-3.html.

Regulation: User responsibilities for computer systems, electronic Information, and network security (2012). Retrieved July 14 from http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/policy/pdf/igtra.pdf

Can Motivation be Innovative?

Motivation is a concept that most individual knows some things about.  However, it is more than just a superficial concept. Motivation is the engine that propel people to action (Keller, 2008), or a lack of motivation immobilize a person. Mowrer (as cited by Schunk, Meece, & Pintrich, 2014) explained motivation in terms of the role of emotions.  He explained that emotions are like bridges that mediate between stimuli (fun activities) and our responses (love for the content).  Nonetheless, motivation is still a difficult concept to account for all variables in order to create a single theory or a framework.  Human beings are different and unique in all aspect, especially the way we use the brain. Therefore, using any model, in this case, the ARCS motivational model would be innovative if it influences teachers and students motivation positively.  In addition, the ARCS model are motivational tactics to target a learner’s motivation to learn a concept or to improve a learner’s confidence or self-perception; it is not to address engagement, as learning style does. Therefore, the question is can motivational model be innovative, specifically ARCS model?

Keller (2010) outlined a systematic framework to design courses with motivational tactics that will assure learners' motivation increase.  Keller described the model using four components: attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction.  It is important for course designers or educators to plan tactics that target all four components to maximize learners' engagement.  As of now, I have not found any alternative educators using Keller's (2010) ARCS model to engage students.  More importantly, I have not seen a model of a workshop where the facilitator used Keller's ARCS model to engage alternative educators. I am in the process of exploring options on how to set up a training workshop using the ARCS motivational model. I would like to discover if these tactics were used in a workshop with alternative educators would they use it with their own students.  Once that is teachers applied these motivational tactics, what impact will it have on middle schoolers attending an alternative program?

Majority of the applications for Keller's ARCS model are in online courses’ designs when to increase and engage adult learners. I was excited to see an application of Keller's ARCS model using voicethread to engage online learners. As a novice user of voicethread, I was glad to read this article how the author was applying Keller's ARCS motivation model using Voicethread.  When I was first introduced to voicethread, I questioned if I was ever going to use it again, and now I see it being used as a motivational tool; I cannot wait to use it again in the future. As I continued my search for application of Keller's ARCS model, it was interesting to notice how the author S. Ganapathi used Smith and Ragan's Framework for instructions in conjunction with Keller's ARCS model.  After reading the blog, it increased my curiosity to see what other educational models could be combine with the ARCS model, especially with technology. 

Keller, J. M. (2010). Motivational design for learning and performance: The ARCS model approach. New York, NY: Springer.

Keller, J. (2008) Motivation design. Retrieved Sept. 12, 2012 from: http://www.arcsmodel.com/home.htm 

Schunk, D. H., Meece, J. L.,& Pintrich, P. R. (2014). Motivation in education: Theory, research, and applications (4th ed.). Columbus, OH: Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall.

What Do You Think?

I recently finished a course on motivation, and I was disappointed that the facilitator did not used any of the strategies suggested by the course text. We read Keller's ARCS motivational model, and I like the model so much I'm planning to use it as my dissertation topic.  I am confused when things like that happens. It made me wonder if the facilitator read the book.  I also wonder if facilitators of adult learners realized that the same motivational model they use at K-12 can also be used with adult learners.

A word of encouragement means a lot