Prezi

Prezi is a presentation tool that I have known about for a while. My learners at school love to use Prezi. It is very user-friendly and unique when comparing it to PowerPoint or Keynote. The learners love the choices for templates and I found that there is a nice selection and I love being able to search for what I may be looking for. It was easy to navigate and insert images as well as video from YouTube. I like how you are able to share your presentations and it saves as you go.  If I did not already use it in my classroom I would definitely because it is so easy to use.

http://prezi.com/b_08i8fmrpic/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

Diversity, Cultural Understanding and Global Awareness

It is very important to teach our learners to appreciate various cultures, diversity and to be globally aware. I use Twitter daily as a form or ongoing professional learning for myself. I follow a very diverse group and through it have connections to many regions throughout the United States because of it. I taught and am now the technology integration coach at for my current district. The society we live in today it is vital for our learners to be globally aware as well as being aware of other cultures. The Vision for my school district is "Our students are lifelong learners who use their knowledge, skills, and influence to make the world a better place." As you can see it is a part of our everyday interactions in a project-based learning environment that we teach and model these things for our learners. We are always seeking out real-world opportunities for our learners. We want them to solve problems for a real world audience.


Our learners are 1:1 in grades three through nine (3rd iPads and 4th-9th Macbooks) so it is very easy to integrate collaboration tools into the classroom. Kindergarten through second grades have a certain number of iPads per classroom. A took and activity that my learners enjoy are Mystery Skype sessions. I use Twitter and my Professional Learning Network to locate other classrooms that want to Mystery Skype with us. We are a Google Apps for Education School and find that other schools that we "meet with" are actually use Google Hangouts. We have also done this with leaders or people within a company that we were interested in learning more about or trying to help them solve a "real world problem". Also, being a Google Apps School the learners love to use G-Suite to collaborate with each other. We are also a no textbook school so we work hard and close with learners in determining quality resources to learn as well as enhance their learning.


Parents and others are shown what all our learners are doing at school through a digital communication known as a SMORE. There are biweekly editions that go out per learning community. There is also a school-wide edition that goes out once a month. The community editions are sent to parents and posted on social media for a larger audience to be able to see what learners are doing. The community editions contain photos and things going on within the community (projects, activities, etc) as well as what standards are being covered through the projects. It also contains important information and dates. Learners attend Chinese classes taught through the Confucious Institute at Troy University here in Montgomery. Learners, kindergarten through ninth grade, either go daily for eight weeks or once a week for the entire school year.


We use "Fishbowls" to give feedback and reflect. We usually do two fishbowls at one time the larger outer bowl being the backchannel with something such as Today's Meet going making comments, questions and advice while only listening to the inner circle share. We did this with both parents and learners in different settings. The one with parents was to gauge how they felt things were going for our school since we are only in the second year of it being in existence. We used it with learners to reflect on their experiences as a learner in a project-based setting. 

Minority Report 2

I would introduce the topic of G-speak to others by first sharing vocally what it is. After introducing what it is I feel the best way to share the topic is through video. It makes so much more sense when you can see it and not just read it. G-speak is an interface that allows interaction when wearing specially designed gloves. It is a gestural interface. The system uses reflectors that are in the fingers of the gloves that are viewed by the system's camera to track motion in 3D. I would then use videos explaining g-speak as well as the trailer for "Minority Report" so those that may not be familiar with the movie and how it relates to g-speak. The resources below would be used to come up with the definition and the list of videos would be options to share with others to introduce g-speak.

Resources:

MIT Lab
UI
Computer Interface
Minority Report OS

Videos:

Vimeo G-speak

Horizon Report pg. 16-60

http://www.nea.org/tools/lessons/57730.htm
page 23
Authentic Assessment Toolkit
The most helpful thing I found about this site is that it provided help with assessments when real world activities are used to demonstrate mastery. I teach at a standards-based school and this website provides the four main components when creating authentic assessments. It also has links within the four components to help you better understand the topics. The four main components are: Identify Standards, Select Authentic Tasks, Identify the Criteria for the task and Create the Rubric. This is a great resource to bookmark for me to be able to go back to at any time I need additional help or thoughts when creating authentic assessments.

Horizon Report pg. 14-15

                                  



Script:

Video tutorials can help students with questions on homework or test preparation. However, students are finding the value in creating tutorial videos themselves for other students. It is very beneficial to have learners create their own videos. If the learners have ownership over their learning and are afforded the opportunity to create videos explaining concepts and standards that they either have high interest in or maybe even something they struggled with that they have mastered and want to help others who may be struggling too. This not only gives them the ownership but also boosts confidence of those that may have previously struggled with learning in a traditional way with a textbook, paper and pencil. It also allows for creativity and making the material exciting. As a teacher, you can start seeing learner’s passions and their passion for various topics. There are many options available on how learners can create videos. I have seen the most learners using iMovie on either an iPad or a MacBook. It is mind blowing how much the learners know about iMovie and making them creatively. If you have access to iPad's learners using the app Explain Everything is a great resource to create a video. I have seen it used for explaining math concepts as well as literacy, comprehension even creative writing. Explain Everything is a unique screen casting interactive whiteboard. It is so user friendly that it can be used by kindergartners. I also really like iMotion HD as a mobile option for making videos. I love that students can use this app to make a time lapse or a stop motion style video. I could see this being beneficial especially in science but could be used across the board. You are able to combine still photos to form a video and with the paid version you have access to music as well as the option to upload directly to YouTube. If you have a channel for the student created videos this is a fantastic and straightforward way for learners to publish their videos. While there are way more than three options available there are the three I chose to share with you. If you would like additional help with one of these or looking for something else please do not hesitate to ask and I am more than happy to help.

Games Can Make the World Better

• Can play and learning be combined?
  Yes, play and learning can certainly be combined. Gamers are willing to work hard all the time, if they are given the right work. Through game play people can be the best versions of themselves. They are also challenged and guess what it is OK to fail. This is a hard-life skill but is crucial to learn because you cannot always win. We want to have a combination of collaboration and problem solving in the environment. 
  
• What role does acknowledging progress play in successful gaming and is their transfer to education?
  Acknowledging progress is important in successful gaming because you are provided with positive feedback. There is transfer to education in that though we don't "level up" or earn things like strength and intelligence from the prospective of a virtual character we as educators can provide learners with positive feedback. We want to provide them with constant positive feedback, support them when they fail and help them be the best versions of themselves that they can be.
  
• What do you think about McGonigal's thought about parallel tracks of education (school/games)?
  I agree that if learners are learning as much about gaming as they are everything else by the time that they are adults they will be virtuoso gamers. They will be good at anything that they do and very successful in the world. Learners are becoming experts at something.
  
• Reflect on Jane's 4 things that games do to make us "virtuosos": Urgent Optimism, Social Fabric, Blissful Productivity, Epic Meaning.
  To be a virtuoso at gaming which is easily transferable to a learner in a classroom the person must be self-motivated. You must be willing to try and keep trying when you fail. Games also teach us trust with others when we play with someone we expect that they play to the end, play by the rules, and in general spend time with us. I see a teacher learner set up in that learners should be able to trust their teachers; we have rules that should be followed to provide all with a safe and effective learning environment as well as they are with you to help you progress as the school year goes on. Gamers are willing to work hard when they are given the right kind of work. This too applies to learners when they are given the right kind of tasks and opportunities they will work until they can't work anymore. They even ask to come before school or after school. As with games such as World of Warcraft learners are attached to missions and wanting to fulfill a story.

Horizon Report 12-13

Read this blog post - http://go.nmc.org/livefro - what teacher blogs are you following? Find and name five teacher blogs to follow and list them on your blog. Post one on the class FB page and give a short description.

1. http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/
2. http://www.freetech4teachers.com/
3. https://www.edutopia.org/
4. http://www.techsavvyed.net/
5. https://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/



What is "Gamingspace?"  http://go.nmc.org/gamspa

Gamingspace is a unique opportunity for learners, parents as well as teachers to come together to explore. Learners are afforded the opportunity to have more control over their learning this way. It is a time and place for the learners to collaborate and interact with other learners as well as adults.


Read about discussion forums - http://www.k12blueprint.com/blog/michael-gorman/ten-ways-use-discussion-forums-promote-digital-citizenship-and-academics. What should be your point of emphasis when designing discussion forums?

The point of emphasis when designing discussion forums would be to keep in mind your learners. The content standards and 21st-century skills are also a vital part when considering discussion forums.

Horizon Report PG 10-11

1. What does the author say about learning styles and the evidence for their use in determining learning strategies? (Do not insert any opinion unless you back it up with multiple refereed journal articles as sources.)

The author is very blunt in stating his dissatisfaction with learning styles and their ineffectiveness. He states that they are ineffective and potentially harmful. He provides the reader with ten different statements from ten different people disproving the use of learning styles in education. The learning styles pigeon holes teaching and it doesn't leave much room for student choice. The focus should be on deeper learning approaches. We need to recognize learners strengths and weaknesses but it can be detrimental to classify a learner based solely on what we see as their strengths and weaknesses. 


2. Choose one of the seven ways to give students choice and describe how you will implement this in your classroom using technology.

Unstructured innovation time: The learning environment at my school mirrors all seven of these ways to give student choice. My learners favorite is what I chose to share in this post. At least once a week we provide our learners with "Patriot Time". The learners can choose whatever they would like to do for 30 minutes to an hour depending on how many times we are able to have it during the week. The learners love to use paints, paper folding and such for art, some enjoy reading books during this time, computers to design and create as well as using various materials in the room to craft and create their own ideas. 

7 Ways to Reward the Brain

 Games have the power to motivate or compel us like nothing else has before. We can learn things about learning through game play. Players play games almost every day. Wanting (ambition and drive) and liking (fun and affection)= engagement. I have to agree with his statements and could easily see games being used in the classroom. I am very likely to put the time and effort into designing games for learning after researching and then hearing accounts such as this one. It takes a lot more work on the front end to prepare it but once you design it you are done with the exception of tweaking it as needed. I am personally not a "gamer" but have thoroughly enjoyed this "game" to learn for this class. I find myself looking at quests to determine how many I have available, how many points they are, how many points I have and how many I need to "beat the game". I was always competitive growing up and seeing people finishing already pushes me to want to finish myself.

List the seven ways games reward the brain and how those might be used in the classroom.
1. Experience bars measuring progress- visual learners see this as well as competitive learners and it would motivate them to press on and complete the task at hand. 
2. Multiple long and short-term aims- Break down the assignment into pieces to keep the learners engaged. In the classroom take a standard and break it into an overall picture for the long term and break the overall picture into smaller pieces to ensure the learner understands all components of the standard. 
3. Effort- Learners get credit for any work that they put in. This is done in my school and classroom in that we are standards based so if they do something in regards to the standard they get almost approaching expectation. If you do nothing you get not meeting learning expectation. 
4.Feedback- positive feedback happens daily in my classroom as learners work through standards. We praise what is done correctly and what they know and encourage them to keep working to get to meeting learning expectation if they do not the first time.
5. Element of uncertainty- getting a reward when you aren't expecting a reward. I have loved that about this class. I had a busy week and did not complete anything and I had a 5 point reward waiting for me. This was a nudge of encouragement to get me back on track. In a classroom, this can be done with points, extra recess time or privileges depending on what they reward is for.
6. Confidence- we have to help our learners be willing to take risks and even fail. Failure is ok its real world. We can use our words when conferencing and observing to build our learners confidence.
7. Memory- we have to take into account that when someone is actively engaged they are more likely to remember so we have to give those opportunities.

Augmented Reality

https://www.vrs.org.uk/augmented-reality/

Augmented reality is essentially where 3D models or videos are projected and look like you are really there. The ability to use mobile devices such as a smartphone makes augmented reality such a hot topic. A phone using the right app can take the 2D image found through the phone camera and augment it in some way with sound or pictures. There are options such as Google Glass that keep projects what is being seen instead of seeing through the mobile device. There are many options available to achieve augmented reality. The end result is the same though and that is digital information blending with the analog world. The largest development of augmented reality has been in the gaming and education worlds. We are going to see more and more augmented reality in our daily lives as time goes on. It will become part of the daily norm. If you own a smartphone it is just an app away from having augmented reality at your fingertips.

The implications this technology has now is that while there are a nice number of people who use it there are still a large number of people who do not. I feel like people that I have asked about using augmented reality they don't really know what it is or how it works. I think in the future advertising and free apps on more than just primarily on Apple devices will bring more awareness to augmented reality, what it is and how it works. The more user friendly it is the better. 

Reflections of Assistive Technologies

List and explain the disabilities demonstrated in the videos and tell how the technologies supported the students.

1. Meet Elle- Elle is a fourteen-year-old girl who enjoys going shopping at the mall. She was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and has a Dynavox that she uses to talk. The Dynavox is a communication device that she uses by looking at pictures. She enjoys writing emails and she is able to do this using her Dynavox. She tried several different things to communicate with others before the Dynavox. The book her mom made worked but when they advanced to a Pathfinder it was too difficult and she became frustrated. It had too many buttons so they moved to a laptop with communication software. They ended up with the Dynavox based on data in her IEP and the IEP team helped find the best device for Elle. The Dynavox has opened up possibilities for Elle that she did not have previously or were frustrating to her. The IEP Team and Assistive Technology Coordinator will continue to monitor and check into new technologies that might better suit Elle's needs.


2. Meet Mason- Mason is a six-year-old boy who likes a variety of activities. He is visually impaired so some of his favorite activities are difficult for him but it does not slow him down from trying and having fun! He is blind in his left eye and can only partially see with his right eye. He is a normal child living with a normal family and uses adaptations to help meet his needs due to his vision loss. At school, Mason uses the Mountbatten. It is used primarily for writing activities. The Mountbatten is a brailler that the district provides for him. He can read some large print but is learning Braille so that as he gets older and print gets smaller he has an alternate form of reading.  He also utilizes an iPad for learning as well as the class SmartBoard. Technology for the visually impaired is constantly advancing and changing. Mason is very technology driven and no doubt will do well with any new technologies that become available.


3. Meet Jared- Jared is an ad/website designer. Jared loves utilizing his computer, communicating with others around the world, playing online games, designing and spending time with his family. He was born with cerebral palsy. It affects him physically but he is a very smart young man and has a passion for computers. He uses a sip and puff to utilize his computer. The sip and puff is somewhat complex in that it sends a signal to Jared's environmental control unit on his wheelchair. It then sends a signal to the task switch; which sends a signal to the intelli-key switch. A wireless signal is then sent to Jared's computer which controls a software program called SwitchXS. This software allows him to do anything on his computer. He began in elementary school utilizing technology to help him function. He started out with the Leaf Switch to access the computers. The Leaf Switch is a device that is activated when the user lightly presses against the Leaf in one direction. It provides auditory and tactile feedback.Then as he got older utilized a Jelly Bean Switch and moved on to the Sip and Puff. The Jelly Bean Switch is also an activation surface with tactile and auditory feedback.

Plickers

Plickers is a very simple, easy to use tool that will allow you to complete formative assessments without the learners having to have devices! This is so cool!!!! You can use Plickers for quick checks for understanding to know whether your students are understanding big concepts and mastering key skills.You simply print the cards and the learners hold up the one that corresponds with the answer they want to respond with.

Example 1: My learners are studying ways animals communicate through their senses; how they take information in and process it. I could use Plickers to do a quick review at the end to make sure they understand how various animals use their senses to communicate and process information that they take in.

Example 2: My learners just finished up talking about the body systems and how they work together. I could use this within their discussion groups to check for understanding. It could even be a "game" with each table being a group working together to see who can earn the most points. All kids love a good competition!

BYOD

• 
  Bring your own device is a plan where schools or classrooms have learners bring their own devices to utilize while at school for learning vs. the school providing devices for all learners.The pros are you can take a distraction and turn it into a learning tool. They can be used in various ways within the learning environment. Learners are able to easily collaborate together, keep notes and share things with their teacher. The cons are that these devices can be a huge distraction. There are many schools that worry about not all learners having a device to bring.
• 
  My school has issued devices based on grade level. Our preschool- 2nd-grade learners have 10 devices per classroom. The 3rd-grade learners are 1:1 with iPads and fourth-ninth grade are 1:1 with MacBooks. I like that we have devices that belong to the school vs having learners bring their own. We have filters in place and could filter the personal devices on the network, however, it is much easier to manage the devices through JAMF and be able to take a device when someone is doing something inappropriate. It is harder to take a device when it doesn't belong to you even having a policy in place for it. We have to face it there are children who will look for ways around things and it is easier if it is theirs and only filtered not managed.
• 
  Smartphones are definitely here to stay but would be something that I would try and steer away from in a BYOD classroom. It is so hard to be productive having such a small screen as well as trying to type things on them. They would be fine for videos but then hard to do any kind of editing. If I had to use them in a BYOD classroom they would have to be placed on the school wifi to filter the content they access to ensure they are only accessing things that they should while at school. There would have to be a policy for use that the learners would have help in creating to ensure that they are using them in a beneficial way.
• 
  This emerging trend makes digital equity a little more attainable as most children in this day and age have a smartphone regardless of their socioeconomic status. I don't understand this but it is a reality. It is also likely that "old phones" could be donated for those that do not have a device. It could be a plus for lower performing schools and the teachers who teach there being able to incorporate technology into their lessons making them more collaborative and engaging which could boost student interest and performance.
  Science fourth grade: they can be supported by providing them with quality professional development to help them have a better understanding of how they can incorporate various tech tools into their curriculum. There are various free apps that can be accessed to read current events on grade level, create videos to demonstrate an understanding of science concepts or math concepts. 
• 
  Professional development has to start looking differently and focus on technology integration to make sure that we are giving learners every opportunity they can to use tech tools to help them complete assignments. If we do not teach teachers how to use these tools that the learners have access to they are useless to us and we are just saying we have BYOD or devices and they are not being used to their fullest potential. We as teachers also have to have an interest in wanting to learn the new and emerging technologies so we aren't afraid to step out and use them in our classrooms. Be a lifelong learner! Technology is ever changing and advancing.
• 
   I think we are doing a disservice to our learners if we don't teach them to use mobile devices beyond entertainment. The world we live in today is very technology rich and many jobs require the use of technology. If we do not expose them to technology-rich learning environments we are putting them at a huge disadvantage.