When I first heard about the potential connection between gaming and learning, I have to admit that I really didn't think there was much there. Before we got into some of this week's content, and the book that Sam and I read, I thought the two were so different that trying to apply any strategies wouldn't transfer well. I didn't see how some student playing on his Playstation after school related to how we approach learning in the classroom. While I don't think that it's a perfect fit for what we are all trying to do in the classroom, I have come around on the idea when I think about how I could apply it to the curriculum and how our kids analyze information.
In the article from Edutopia that talked about creating school design from game design, it says that "the goal is to intrinsically motivate kids toward mastery. Students seek out knowledge because they need to know it in order to complete a project based task." This is what gaming is based on. I do believe that people want to learn, and enjoy learning. Video game designers have mastered setting up challenging tasks that once completed, only lead to more challenging tasks, that again leads to the next problem that players want to complete. Players participate in gaming communities where they blog about what they found, so they can share their knowledge to help other people. Feedback is given so often that it reassures and provides comfort to the player so that they know that they are on the right track. All of this sounds like how a great classroom would run. The challenge then is to be able to try and apply these strategies that are used in the game and into the classroom. I think that applying some of the gamification side to my own classroom might help build those metacognitive skills I hope to build in my students. At the beginning of each chapter we write down together what our learning goals are, and how they will be able to show me that they have learned the content. Could I apply more of a game, or journey, that students could follow as they self assess where they are in their own learning? Can I make "awards" somehow that recognize students when they have mastered these expectations? Can they map our where they are in their learning each chapter, and where they are going, through a gaming context? I don't know exactly how I can apply this today, but I am definitely more open to using some of these strategies to help build more engagement with my students. Finally, the video with Jane McGonical had some really interesting viewpoints about gaming and education. Her point about gamers being completely unafraid to take risks in the game really stuck with me. When people are playing a game, it really doesn't matter to them how many times they fail. They might get frustrated, or shut the game off, but they keep coming back. They seek out information from other people...on their own. They don't accept not completing the task and moving on. While I totally realize that pretending you are a flying hero that kills bad guys to save the world isn't the same as mixing substances together to see which is an exothermic reaction and which is an endothermic reaction, it does help reinforce the love that people have for learning. I just have to continue to work to find a way to help my students want to find that drive that already exists for gamers.
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When I started looking through the list of sites, I wanted to focus on ones that I thought I could apply to my classroom. A lot of the sites were for iPad or Mac only, so I tried to look at ones that all of my kids could use in the classroom. Other than EdPuzzle, the others that I looked at were Vocaroo and Vibby. Vibby I could see using in my own classroom but it was very similar to Edpuzzle. Vocaroo was a voice recording site, but seemed like that one had been passed up by other sites that could do more. Many of the other sites we have used in class (Adope Spark, Flipgrid, etc...), are ones that I plan on using with my students in the fall.
When the school year starts, I want to be comfortable with all of the new tools and sites that we have learned about in class. I see the benefit of using them, and really think that they will help with student engagement. The two sites that I focused on for my lesson was Edpuzzle (as a screencast type tool), and Flipgrid. The Edpuzzle site allowed me to create the "flipped" part of my lesson. Since the video is short, I am going to try and assign it in the true flipped model style. But I have a feeling that so many of my students won't watch it, that I am going to have to move more towards having them watch it during the first few minutes of class. The part that I really like about Edpuzzle is that it makes the video interactive. Normally I would show that same clip, and then have a quick class discussion. The clip I made allowed me to add my own audio points for them to follow, and questions for them to answer if I wanted to. I think the site does a good job of engaging students with the video more than they would have before. As I begin to really learn how to use Flipgrid, I want to learn how to use all of the different feedback options that it can offer. One of the other teachers at my site used it last year, and had a lot of success with it. My goal moving forward would be for students to create videos, get feedback from their peers, fix their videos, and then submit them to me for grading. I have seen how effective this strategy is, and want to continue to find new ways to use it moving forward. As I look towards the beginning of the school year, I am really excited to use all of these tools in my class. One of the biggest struggles in my experience at the middle school level can be getting students engaged. They want to use technology, but I want to make sure I'm not only using it to use it. As I transition to using Google classroom (instead of ECHO), Flipgrid, and Edpuzzle, I think that this will really help me find more success with engaging my students. I have always made it a point to give students a lab or project every week. I want them to experience Science the way that it was intended; with hands-on assignments. That has always helped get them to buy into the "boring stuff," because they know that the labs or projects will be included later on in the week or lesson. My goal is to find a way to integrate the technology in a way that the kids enjoy, but is also beneficial to their learning. With our readings from this week, and our focus on the need or our learners, I have tried to really look at my own practice and how I can continue to improve. I finally feel like I am starting to understand what Clark is writing about, and have been thinking about ways that I could implement those findings into my own classroom. I have also been thinking about different ways I can incorporate all of the information in regards to visuals into my current lessons as well.
There was a lot of information in the readings from Clark, but I really only want to focus on one area and how it might change my own practice. The chapter on concepts vs facts really resonated with me when I think about teaching science to middle school kids. Up until recently, a lot of the focus has been on memorizing facts, a pretty surface level type of understanding. When discussing learning and remembering, she says that "concepts are much more efficient than facts." When we store facts, we have to make room each specific one. Then there is really nowhere to go with that information other than remembering. So how do I move kids past that stage and into deeper learning? Moving forward, I think I need to keep this in mind when I am designing my new lessons for our new NGSS standards. Rather than have kids memorize the definition of a solid, liquid, and gas, can I focus on the concept of states of matter and ways to apply their understanding? And if I can move this direction, how can I give students the factual information they absolutely still need, but make the application part the focus of their learning? As she states, when teaching concepts "you must always provide a definition and examples of the concept." So the trick really is weaving this all together so that it makes sense for kids, but allows them to try and move further in their understanding. I also appreciated her examples of using non-examples, but ones that are carefully chosen, to help students conceptualize and understand the concepts that they are learning about. This will definitely be something that I try and use more of moving forward. I also found the part about "cognitive load" in the Baggio book pretty interesting. There have been so many instances where I have been at a presentation and have just been overwhelmed by so many visuals and text on a slide and I can't make any sense of any of it. It's mentioned in there that when we first see the slide or image, we try and take it all in at once. If we can't make sense of it, we don't take anything in, and then we can't remember any of it. We really need to make sure that we don't "overshadow the content" with our presentations. I also found the part about moving the text from one side to another pretty applicable. It seems like such a simple but effective strategy to use to help keep students engaged. I only really like readings or lectures when I feel that they apply to what I do in the classroom. I want it to be useful and helpful to my students. Learning how to structure my visuals and text, and strategies to engage students in deeper learning definitely fit that description. As Baggio says, "content is king." Ultimately how can I strengthen my own practice? What strategies can I pull from our readings that will actually benefit my kids? I feel I will be able to apply a lot of this in my own classroom with the assumption that it is going to take some practice, but will ultimately help me get to where I want to be. From looking at the site Twitter feed, this conference looks like something that I would want to attend if given the chance in the future. A lot of the tweets were information about different break out groups that were happening, but didn't provide any information unless you were there. There were some people who did send out some helpful links to information though. One of the links I did find led me to some useful Chrome extensions that I found helpful (OneTab was one in particular.) It also led me to a Google Keep blog, which also looks like a very useful tool moving forward. I can see how following a conference like this could be beneficial to a teacher.
My experience with Google forms was pretty limited before today. In the past I used it to have students submit assignments and for qualitative data collection for our research assignment. I have always been a big proponent of data collection as a way to drive future instruction. In my own class I have used data collection as a way for my students to track their own progress and for me to use formative assessments as a way to help me focus on where we need to go in an upcoming unit or chapter. While my knowledge of forms is pretty limited, I can definitely see myself learning how to use it better so that I can incorporate more of its uses into my classroom.
As far as my own practice is concerned, I can see using it in a variety of different ways. In one of the Alice Keller articles, she highlights its ability to use it as a way to generate feedback. The example that it gave showed students giving responses on how well their partners contributed to the group project. Or I could use it as a way for groups to give feedback to other groups presentations before they submit them. I also read in a Matt Miller article about Flubaroo. I haven't ever used it in the past, but my goal is to try and learn how to use it this summer before the school year starts. This last year I started giving pretests to my students before every unit. We then take the exact same assessment when the unit is over so that students can track their growth on their learning trackers. I have been printing off these assessments and then students had to hold onto them. It looks like using that app though will allow me to create an answer key, and then the scores can be emailed to the students. This still allows students to have instant feedback so that they can track their scores right after the pre or post test. I am also looking at using it for digital citizenship and bullying at the beginning of the school year. I think that as I become more comfortable with it, I will start to use it more and more. For my capstone/research project, I can see myself still using forms as a way to collect data. My understanding is that we will have another round of data collection in the fall as we continue to build off of our research. My hope is that I will be much more comfortable with forms by then, and can use different and more creative ways to collect data from my students. I decided to participate in a new teachers to Twitter chat. My initial intent was to continue to learn the basics, but to also hopefully get more information on different ways to incorporate Twitter into my own classroom. I don't plan on having students use Twitter in my class, but I'm sure there are other applications that I could find useful, and was hopeful of finding those in the chat that I participated in. As far as norms were concerned, it was kind of all over the place. Most people answered using the system that we were using the other night . But there were other people who were participating that were advertising their own books, seminars, etc... I imagine that is just part of the deal since the chat is open to anybody who wants to participate. I did see how it would benefit my own practice though. There were references to books that people were reading for their own PD, discussions about relevant topics, etc... I think that finding a few chats that have shown to be helpful would be something that I might be interested in following in the future. I think that anything that relates to the new NGSS standards, digital literacy, new tech tools, etc... would be helpful for me as I continue to try and develop my own practice.
I have always struggled with social media. The original intent and responsible use are the good in social media. Unfortunately, there is also the negative side to social media that has kept me from really ever engaging in it personally. But I am trying to be open minded in how this could benefit me as a professional, and really how it can benefit my students. Through our discussions last night, and some searching I have done through Twitter today, I do see some resources that would be valuable to me in our profession. Things like hashtags that focus on the new NGSS standards, the digital citizenship one that was mentioned, new tech tools that people are talking about, all bring awareness to information that I might not have run across without it. I also like the idea of using social media in some capacity (maybe not Twitter) to help reach out to my parents as a communication tool. Roughly 60% of the email addresses we have for parents don't work. Often the phone numbers we have aren't correct either. As a 8th grade team we have been discussing new ways to help keep our parents informed. I think that this will be able to help me in that regard. But as the Edutopia article referenced, you have to have a plan. While I might not be drawing up a legal document with a lawyer, I do need to have strict and clear guidelines with my students if I am going to incorporate social media into my classroom. I think if done correctly, it might be another tool that I can use to help engage and support my kids.
In regards to how I would handle a student posting inappropriate language on social media, that is a tough one for me personally. I am a big free speech supporter. I feel that it is fundamental to who we are, and helps hold people in power accountable for their decisions. I feel that freedom is slowly moving towards possibly being taken from us because people take it for granted. It seems too often that some people only support their own views and are less tolerant of what other people might think. I also see the grey are here though. For a lot of the students who come through our rooms, we are the only stable, responsible person in their lives. They often look to us for guidance, and we need to try and help them make the best decision possible. While what the student posted in his tweet from the article doesn't break any kind of law that I know of, I think that helping the kid be more mindful of what he is saying would be beneficial. There are ways to express your dislike for a movie without hoping people die for making it. He can rip the movie all he wants; that is what the freedom of speech grants us. But I do feel that you can express your opinions without dropping F-bombs too. I think that if you had a good relationship with a kid, you could probably expect a somewhat different tone in his next tweet if you took the time to have this conversation with them. Hopefully. I thought of a bunch of different tools that I currently use in my classroom. Since I started these classes I have used Socrative, Padlet, and Adobe Spark with my kids. I also use (as some of you know) Peergrade in my class. This was the site that I used to help me in my research assignment from last trimester. I was already looking for new ways students to give feedback to each other when I ran across this site. The reason that I wanted to focus this blog on that particular tool is due to a different way that I plan on using it moving forward. As we have been discussing digital literacy and how we can effectively teach it to our students, it got me thinking of how I could use this site to help with that process.
The Peergrade site allows students to anonymously submit their completed work, and receive peer feedback from 3 different students. There are prompts that students must follow, and you can set a time limit for students to complete their work. As I was trying to think of different sites that could help me build lessons centered around digital literacy, I was thinking about making credible sites part of their grade. This brought me back to the site that I used for my research paper. I think that with our first project of the year, I am going to have each of the students do some research on their topic, including references of where they got their information from. I then will have students enter their assignments into the site, with the goal for students being checking other student references. One of my prompts might ask students to explain why they think the article is credible or not, and then provide evidence to support their answer. Feedback has shown to have a high effect size on learning, and I think think that students actually having to go through the process themselves will make them engage in higher level thinking and hopefully retain a lot of the information they learned from the process. When addressing the website itself, it does have a few weaknesses. If a student only reviews 2 rather than 3, it stops the students from seeing what other students wrote for some reason. It also has a bunch of times that you need to set up for each window of time, which can be a little cumbersome the first few times you use it. After I used the website a few times (with some frustrating moments), it started to go pretty smoothly. Overall, the students like the site. When I asked them, they spoke of how the process helped them, and they liked seeing what others wrote. I am also interested to see what everybody thinks, or improvements or changes I can make. If you have any ideas, I welcome the suggestions. When I think of the roll out of Chromebooks, improved band width, and increased focus on using technology in the classroom, it's surprising to me that digital literacy hasn't been more of a focus throughout the district. We all want our students to be good digital citizens, but part of that process is being able to navigate through a very complex digital landscape. In one of the articles on the KQED site, it mentions how "search competency is a form of literacy." Students need to be taught the skills of how to evaluate all of the content that they have access to. These skills are not something that we should take for granted that they arrive with us when they enter our classroom, The question for me is how do we address it efficiently and effectively?
Kendra brought up a great question the other day in one of our breakout sessions. Do we teach these lessons in isolation or within the curriculum? When I thought about it at the time, I thought that this was something that should be taught within the context of the topics/content that we are discussing at the time. These are skills that need to be taught and constantly refined as the school year progresses. Ideally, all teachers would be addressing this in one form or another in every subject. A few weeks ago, I thought that teaching digital literacy and/or digital citizenship would be enough in an elective, but I have changed my stance since then. Another article from the KQED site addressed this when it said "if these skills aren't embedded within the instruction, it will have no relevance." It continues to talk about how important it is for students to build these skills so that they can be their own internet filters. We can't always count on school districts setting up filters, because often times students figure out ways to go around them. The trick then moving forward is embedding these lessons that run parallel with the standards that we are currently teaching. When I think about incorporating this into my own lessons next year, it does seem overwhelming. This process has really opened up my eyes to something that I have not been giving enough time to. Another article discussed the problem of students just using Google to access information when conducting research. It said that "research has shifted from a relatively slow process of intellectual curiosity and discovery to a fast-paced, short term exercise aimed at locating just enough information to complete an assignment." In my eyes, not only do we need to teach them certain skills, we have to unteach bad habits that they have repeated for several years. We need to get students to move away from just looking for a quick answer first, and then teach them the long process of checking for author names, cross checking, looking grammatical errors, etc... I think as I look towards next year, I will begin with some basic lessons during the first week of school addressing digital literacy, and what my expectations are of them as we progress through the school year. But before every assignment that requires research, I am going to need to not only develop ways from them to practice these skills, but ways to hold them accountable as well. Making credible sources a part of their grade (another good idea from Kendra), will help with the accountability piece. So just to sum everything up:
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