"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