EDE 678 Emerge Tech Week 2 Reflection

Open learning is an educational topic that I think many rural Alaskan schools need to seek out because of the potential to offer more classes with not needing to hire more teachers. I am not trained in or taken any computer science courses but I have used a MOOC through Harvard so that my students can still learn some concepts of computer science.

A few of my classmates made some points that I hadn't thought of such as the reality of applying open learning fully in the classroom. At this point in my career, I don't know if I have the complete tools to support my students have a completely open learning classroom but I will use it to my advantage in parts of the classroom. Start small and go from there!

EDET 677 Mech App Week 2 Reflection

First thing first, I totally messed up and forgot about our brief meeting on Wednesday. I had some coworkers who were leaving and not coming back to the school next year that I ended up spending time with after school and took them to the airport. I have begun setting alarms for myself so that I am reminded at the beginning of the day and one hour before class begins. I need to email our professor and see what meeting times were set up for this week. Which reminds me, this week I am in Valdez for a math teachers course so I hope to meet for all meetings but I will definitely reading the material and posting on blogs.

This week I really enjoyed thinking about how tinkering, hard play, and growth mindsets connect because my Superintendent has had a focus on growth mindset this year. At the beginning of the year he gave every staff member a copy of Carol Dweck's book so that we can keep on recognizing that all students can learn and might learn through what some people might think, failure. The connection between tinkering and growth mindset will be a great start in presenting to my district how having a makerspace will benefit our community.

EDET 678 Emerge Tech Week 2 Blog

EDET 678 Emerging Technologies

Week Two Blog

Essential question: What do you see as the promise of Open Learning as an emerging technology/pedagogy/philosophy?

            Open Learning is a term and concept that I have run into a few times while studying in the Instructional Design courses. After reading a bit more about open learning, I realized that I was missing the piece that open learning is not only free access to learning materials for all but also the ability to take these learning materials and revise them if needed to have the maximum impact on the individual group of students. There are many open access courses, materials, etc. but the main focuses of these are for postsecondary students. It seems that there might be success in this open learning environments for postsecondary students. Pitt reports that the University System of Georgia used open textbooks (a resource of open learning) and the retention rates and completion rates of the course increased in the time semester of using the open textbook versus the semester of not using it. (2015) So why not use the fact of the positive impacts of open learning on postsecondary students and apply to K-12 education.

            A promise that open learning can provide for school districts is saving money on curriculum/textbooks that isn’t needed because the material that will be used for learning is free. Pitt compiled the information that Columbia Gorge Community College saved its students from needing to buy because the materials were provided through open learning. (2015) The district will need to have clear guidelines on the ownership of material that is being created in its schools. Graham et al. explains how “in some districts, teacher-created intellectual property is considered to be school or district property, while in others it is considered the creator’s property.” (Graham, et al) The same case is for student created material. When good material is created with open learning in mind, then the district needs to have guidelines for teachers and students to publish or provide these materials to the rest of the world to access through open learning.

            Open learning is an emerging technology for the K-12 scene of education mainly because we don’t know as a community exactly its impact is or can be to students and schools. Research is still needed and emerging technology is a piece of technology or idea that is still being researched. I have used open online course with one class of my students. The course is through Harvard that any person can sign up and then work through the guided practice, assignments, videos, notes, etc. to learn about the topic. The course I guided them through was CS50, which is a computer science class on how to code in different languages. All materials were provided and I was there to help the students. This is what we call a blended learning classroom and this was beneficial for the students because I could not have offered the course myself.

Resources:

Graham, L., LaBonte, R., Roberts, V., O’Bryne, I., & Osterhout, C. Open Learning in K-12 Online and Blended Learning Environments. Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/10311797/Open_Learning_in_K-12_Online_and_Blended_Learning_Environments

Pitt, B. (2015). Gorge Open initiative saves 379 students over $35K in textbook costs. OER Impact Map. Retrieved from http://oermap.org/evidence/gorge-open-initiative-saves-379-students-over-35k-in-textbook-costs/

Pitt, B. (2015). Use of Open Textbooks shows increased retention and completion rates. OER Impact Map. Retrieved from http://oermap.org/evidence/use-of-open-textbook-shows-increased-retention-and-completion-rates/

EDET 677 Mech App Week 2 Blog

Week 2 Blog EDET 677: Mechanical Application

Essential question: What is the link between “tinkering”, “hard play”, and the “growth mindset”?

            Tinkering, hard play, and growth mindset are three parts to an overall picture of a potential classroom environment. Now how do the three fit together? Well let’s first look at what each means in the realm of education. Then I will attempt to connect the three into a meaningful thought that we can apply to our studies of mechanical application.

            Martinez and Stager explain that tinkering is “a playful way to approach and solve problems through direct experience, experimentation, and discovery.” (2013) Tinkering is where students experiment on how to create a product and can mess up or not get the product fully created the first time. Tinkering is done when you don’t quite know what to do but what you do is lead by your previous knowledge and curiosity. For example I have many friends who like to homebrew (who doesn’t in rural Alaska?). The friends who have the best homebrew and your not too worried on drinking their beer try different methods, ingredients, flavors, bottling techniques, etc. They have been doing this for years versus my one attempt on homebrew with some inexperienced friends is thrown out about every other bottle. We did not tinker around and therefore haven’t learned how to properly brew beer.

            My understanding of hard play is still developing but of what I can come up with follows. Students learn through play because it gives them a chance to practice what is being learned through playing. In play a child usually behaves above their average age and also creativity flows because wants and desires are becoming true and kids usually see how this can happen. Hard play is identifying this learning through play and providing these opportunities in classroom. Sometimes the play is more on a conceptual level but sometimes it is on a physical level.

            As explained by Popova, growth mindset “thrives on challenge and sees failure not as evidence of unintelligence but as a heartening springboard for growth and for stretching our existing abilities.” (2013) In contrast a fixed mindset is the idea that a person has only so much talent and ability. A student with a fixed mindset would say that they can’t do math or they can’t learn a language.

            All of the terms connect back to the way that many inventors, mathematicians, scientists, entrepreneurs, actors, etc. have learned, created, and been successful in the past and present. In the area of a makerspace, students and teachers need to have a growth mindset while coming up with ideas in hard play and then tinkering with these ideas. Tinkering will always have what some people think as failure because the product won’t be perfect the first time but if one has a growth mindset, then they know that this is not failure but a learning opportunity.

            Heggert gives some great ways on how to develop a growth mindset within the adults of the school and I think these are very applicable for students in the classrooms. To develop a growth mindset it is helpful to model by being a growing a student as a teacher, build time in the classroom to have self-reflection, and provide formative feedback to the students. (2017) If we begin in the classroom and school with a growth mindset, I believe everyone involved is more willing to use tinkering and hard play as a way to learn in the classroom.

Resources:

Heggert, K. (2017). Developing a Growth Mindset in Teachers and Staff. Edutopia. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/discussion/developing-growth-mindset-teachers-and-staff

Martinez, S. L., & Stager, G (2013). Invent to Learn: Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom. Torrence, CA: Construction Modern Knowledge Press.

Popova, M. (2014). Fixed vs. Growth: The Two Basic Mindsets That Shape Our Lives. Brain Pickings. Retrieved from https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/01/29/carol-dweck-mindset/

EDET 678 Emerge Tech Week One Reflection

Emerging technologies are very interesting to me because of the fact that there needs to be research, practice, and attempts at implementing the technology into the classroom. It seems like an adventure to me that brings others along by sharing the findings with my colleagues. This is why I am stoked for this class because it is the best environment to discover and share the emerging technologies and how they apply to the educational world.

I commented on a few of my classmates' blogs and many of them said similar things to me about what emerging technology is. Some have already began with some examples which gets me thinking how in about two/three weeks, I will be presenting one of these emerging technologies. Time to get researching!

EDET 677 Mech App Week One Reflection

It is the same for me as my classmates, this first week of classes was difficult to get back into the groove of things. I am excited to work with the Arduino starter pack with my classmates. I have not opened up the box but I know it will be some great learning because we will be creating various things that can solve problems.

This last week was graduation at the high school and the week coming up is the last week of school for the rest of the students. Summer classes will be much better after the school year is finished up. My classmates' blogs were very informational about the various forms of teaching and it was great to hear what they heard of constructionism.

EDET 678 Emerge Tech Week One

EDET 678 Emerging Technologies

Week One Blog

Essential Question: How do we define Emerging Technologies?

            The first time I encountered the term emerging technologies I had an idea of what this meant. I thought the definition was something along the lines of new technology that has come to be important in education by being used on regular basis. After doing some research I realized that I almost had the correct definition but was a little off. Emerging technologies are not necessarily technologies that are used already but more has the potential to be used in the classroom effectively.

            As explained by Veletsianos in his blog, emerging technologies are not necessarily new for example Virtual Reality has been around for 10+ years but it is still considered as emerging technology because new aspects of the technology are coming out. (2008) Emerging technologies are not necessarily one hundred percent accepted by the educational community but a piece of technology that is being researched and practiced on how it can support learning in education. Sometimes these technologies are important for a few years and sometimes they are long-term ideas that will impact education for a longer time.

            The Horizon Report has given six main focuses in education with long and short-term in mind. The trends include coding as literacy, students as creators, collaborative learning, deeper learning approaches, redesigning learning spaces, and rethinking how school works. The technology that supports these ideas include but are not limited to makerspaces, online learning, robotics, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and wearable technology. (2016)

            The possibilities are endless in what emerging technology can be and I look forward to what I find and test it out.

Resources:

The New Media Consortium, & The Consortium for School Networking (2016). The NMC/CoSN Horizon Report: 2016 K-12 Edition. Retrieved from https://uasemergtech.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/2016-nmc-cosn-horizon-report-k12-en.pdf

Veletsianos, G. (2008). A definition of emerging technologies for education. Retrieved from http://www.veletsianos.com/2008/11/18/a-definition-of-emerging-technologies-for-education/

EDET 677 Mech App Week One Blog

EDET 677 Mechanical Applications

Week 1 Blog

Essential Question: Do you believe Constructionism brings any new ideas to the table as a theory of education? Why or Why not? 

            As described by Papert, constructionism is using manipulatives in learning but extending this as a meaningful product for the student (Martinez & Stager, 2013). The maker movement is a way to use constructionism learning in the educational world. Halverson and Sheridan define the maker movement as a specific trend in the last five years where people “are engaged in the creative production of artifacts in their daily lives and who find physical and digital forums to share their processes and products with others.” (2014) Constructionism is exactly what the maker movement embodies by creating everyday materials, tools, etc. that can be used to solve a problem in the creator’s life.

            Constructionism does not seem to be a new theory of education but rather a practice that has been given a name and officially adopted into the education community. Martinez and Stager give plenty examples how people in history have learned through what was not called constructionism but rather the concept behind it. Johann Pestalozzi was a man who thought that children learn better through action, from nature, play, and observations of the world not through words. He put his theory to test by working with abandoned orphans and found that they learned through these actions. Many other influential teachers (not necessarily in a traditional setting) such as Friedrich Froebel, Llyod Wright, Maria Montessori, Jean Piaget, and John Dewey led their lives with thought that learning is best done through meaningful creation or action. (2013)

            Constructionism might be new in a way that educators en masse are seeking out to provide the opportunities for students to have meaningful learning in terms of creating an object or a solution to a problem that they have. I find that constructivism (hands on learning) is used in many science classes because of the nature of science experiments and discovery. The moment that students get to come up with an experiment that solves one of their daily problems and gets to execute this experiment is the moment that learning becomes a constructionism approach.

Resources:

Halverson, E. R., & Sheridan, K. M. (2014). The maker movement in education. Harvard Educational Review, 84(4), 495-504,563,565. Retrieved from http://egandb.uas.alaska.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1642662200?accountid=44766

Martinez, S. L., & Stager, G (2013). Invent to Learn: Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom. Torrence, CA: Construction Modern Knowledge Press.