Engaging, Enhancing, and Extending Learning



Engaging, Enhancing, and Extending Learning

Engaging Student Learning with Technology

What does it mean to engage students? Engaging students means the teacher trying to find a way to motivate or interest disengaged students. When teachers engage students using technology, it provides motivation to the students to actually do their work and be able to focus on the assignment at hand with less distraction.  When students are engaged in a topic, they actually want to learn about it and absorb the information. If students are presented the information in a way that can help them understand it then the learning environment becomes more enjoyable as well. For example, in a health class, the teacher could be going over a lesson on healthy relationships and when the lesson is done, the teacher can put some scenarios about different types of relationships up on the Smartboard and the students can use their phones to text in the respond to the scenarios at hand to see if they think that it is a healthy relationship or if it is not a healthy relationship.  This gives them the freedom to have their phones out in class and use them in a productive way.

Enhancing Student Learning with Technology

What does it mean to enhance learning? Enhancing learning is using technology to develop understanding of learning goals that could not have been accomplished without those bonds. When teachers use technology to enhance education, they use it to compliment the lesson for the day and help the students learn and understand the lesson better. For example, to accompany the lesson in health, the teacher could give them an assignment on Glogster to go through which might include various videos and activities to check understanding of the lesson. This gives them the ability to practice applying the material in the lesson online instead of on paper.

Extending Student Learning with Technology

What does it mean to extend learning? Extending learning is using technology to learn outside the classroom walls and continue to grow academically after they leave school.  Teachers can assign homework for the students to do that involves using technology such as apps on iPads and iPhones.  Students can take pictures and videos to upload to the class website for a project or as evidence that they visited somewhere that they were suppose to outside of class one day. For example, to accompany a basketball lesson in physical education, the teacher could assign the students to take a video of a basketball clip on Sportscenter and upload it to blogger and write a blog about what the players did right and what the players did wrong as far as the skills and techniques used.

It is critical that all of these elements are used by teachers so that students can get motivated and interested in learning.  Teacher can be more creative with assignments based on the technology that is available to them and the students as well. 


References

Bonnett, Cara. (2011, December 9). Capturing and extending learning through mobile technology. Retrieved from http://today.duke.edu/2011/12/mobilecapture

Keren-Kolb, L. (January 01, 2013). Engage, enhance, and extend learning! Learning and Leading with Technology, 40, 7, 20-27.  

Nesbitt, Barbara. (2007, November 28). A Vision of K-12 Students Today. Retrieved September 3, 2013. From http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A-ZVCjfWf8&feature=youtu.be

Richtel, Matt. (2012, November 1). Technology changing how Ssudents learn, teachers say. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/01/education/technology-is-changing-how-students-learn-teachers-say.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&

[Image of students using iPads in class]. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.padgadget.com/tag/classroom/

[Image of students using a Smartboard]. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/sis/newslog/default,date,2010-02-07.aspx

MyFitnessPal App

MyFitnessPal iPad App

 

At the beginning of this semester, Dr. Bell had all of the physical education majors download the MyFitnessPal app which counts your daily calories and it also will assist you is setting an appropriate daily calorie intake depending on whether or not you want to lose or gain weight. She wanted us to keep up with our daily diet for the whole semester to see how and what we ate throughout the semester and if it helped reach our individual weight levels.

 

 

Throughout the day, you can easily and quickly add food by the brand that you have eaten and it will go directly in to your daily calorie intake amount and will tell you how many calories still need to eat by the end of the day.  

 

 

 

 

As you enter in each food item, it also calculates certain types of nutrients such as calcium, fats, and iron and gives you a percentage of how much you have taken in and how much you have left to get throughout the day. If you exercise during the day, you can also enter that information in such as what type of exercise and the length of time that you did it. This will affect your calorie intake and most likely increase your daily amount needed because when you exercise you burn calories so you need to make up for the calories you burned.

 

 

Friends can also hold you accountable for your diet if they have the app as well. You can add contacts from your phone, facebook, or email so that they can help you stay motivated and on the right track to maintain and achieve your health and weight goals. As you weigh yourself periodically, you can also input that information and monitor your progress to your weight goal.

 

 

This app is very useful for health teachers. If you want students to keep a journal of everything that they ate for a week and also how much they exercised, this would be an easy way to do it. Also, if they went out to eat, instead of guessing the calories in the food they can just look it up through this app and it can help the overall diet and assessment be more accurate. I have used this app throughout the semester and I would highly recommend it.

Using iPads in the Classroom

Using iPads in the Classroom

Can the iPad be classified as an appropriate educational tool in today’s classroom? This question is currently being debated throughout many school districts but there is no definite answer.  Arguments could be made both ways in favor and against using the iPad in the classroom. In my opinion, there are three ways in which the iPad enhances the classroom which are multimedia, portability, and apps.

Multimedia

Yes, many desktop computers and laptops in the classrooms have webcams, microphones, and movie maker programs but the iPad has a huge advantage in that department because of its portability and accessibility. Let's say you have a movie making project. Normally, you would need a video camera to take the video, a wire to transfer it to a computer, and a computer to edit and publish the video. I had a project like this in my communications class and it was so hard trying to transfer files to a computer, edit it, and then publish the video. If we had been able to use the iPad, we would not have had this problem because it can do all of this in one device with the help of the video apps available. It makes digital learning not just a special project but something that could easily be incorporated into any lesson.

Portability

Kids today already have to carry around a huge amount of textbooks from class to class and some school districts even require students to have a laptop and bring those to class as well. Instead of carrying around all of these books and extra weight on their backs all day, all they need is the iPad.  Students can load their textbooks on to their iPad, take notes, and carry it from class to class. This will also help students become more organized. Instead of keeping up with multiple notebooks and multiple textbooks, it can all be on one simple electronic device.

Apps

Perhaps the most appealing feature of the iPad are all of the apps available through the App Store. Many apps can be used in the classroom and can be personalized based on the user of the iPad. For example, the Edmodo app automatically keeps you logged in so all you have to do is open the app and your personal homepage is there with information from classes you are currently enrolled in that use this particular app. Another useful app is the google drive app. It allows students to store documents and information on the iPad and then you can open up your google drive account on a computer and view the documents on a computer as well. These, along with many others, can have a positive impact on students and their learning.

The iPad is revolutionizing the way that teachers teach and students learn and will continue to do so in the years to come.

References

8 Useful Video Apps for Your iPad. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/12/8-useful-video-apps-for-your-ipad.html

The device that changed everything is now changing the classroom. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.apple.com/education/ipad/ 

Thousands of apps. Endless potential. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.apple.com/education/apps/

SomeiPhoneHelp. (2011, September 3). Apple - iPad 2 - TV Ad - Learn **New Apple Commercial**(Video file). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjqSsScRCwQ

Pittinsky, Tzvi. The Advantages of Using iPads in the Classroom. (2012, November 25). Retrieved from http://techrav.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-advantages-of-using-ipads-in.html?m=1

Twitter, Jing, Edmodo, Wordle

Twitter

Twitter is an online social networking service and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, known as "tweets". It was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July. The service rapidly gained worldwide popularity, with over 140 million active users as of 2012, generating over 340 millions tweets daily and handling over 1.6 billion search queries per day.  It has been described as "the SMS of the Internet.”  I have a twitter account but I really don’t know how to use it.  I have tried many times but I have never been successful at learning how to operate it.

Here are a few ways to use Twitter in a classroom:

• Use Twitter to inform students of upcoming exams, assignments, trips and projects. This live feed of class activities helps students remain on task. The ability to use Twitter for class announcements also provides greater flexibility when making changes to the class syllabus.

• Post conversation topics and example questions on Twitter for student consideration. Enabling students to reply to the class Twitter feed encourages class discussion outside of the classroom. This is possibly the greatest benefit of using Twitter in the classroom as it promotes a greater sense of community.

• Twitter is a large community with many professionals in every field of study. You can use Twitter to host a class discussion with the author of a book, a politician or an award-winning scientist. The accessibility and speed of Twitter can yield some inspiring virtual classroom visits.

Here is a "how to" video for Twitter that may help others grasp a better understanding of how to use it.

Jing

Jing is a fast and easy way to capture images and create videos of what you see on your screen.  With Jing, you can capture what you want to say with a picture or a video instantly.  I had never used Jing until I got to this class and I found it very beneficial for putting pictures of videos online as opposed to saving the whole picture.

Here are a few ways to use Jing in a classroom: 

• Give your students the information they need, when they need it. 
• Record your feedback as you grade papers.
• Take a snapshot to share with your class.
• Your students can even use it to collaborate, or ask questions.

Edmodo

Edmodo is a free, secure, social learning platform for teachers, students, schools and districts.  Throughout this semester, I loved using Edmodo because it was so easy to turn in classroom assignments and to see when things are due.  Also, I loved being able to look at my grades any time as well as projects that I have created throughout the semester.

Here are a few ways to use Edmodo in a classroom:

• Edmodo provides teachers and students with a secure and easy way to post classroom materials.
• Share links and videos.
• Access homework, grades, and school notices.
• Teachers and students can store and share all forms of digital content--blogs, links, videos, pictures, documents, presentations, and more.

Wordle

Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends.  The first time that I had used Wordle was at the beginning of the semester.  I really liked it because you could create a picture with your choice of words.

Here are a few ways to use Wordle in a classroom:

• Summarizing the content of an essay or any piece of work. Useful way of telling people what the essay is about.
• Wordle can be used by the teacher as a means of assessment. Student creates a Wordle of their presentation and uses that as the basis for a discussion.
• Self Reflection.
• Summarizing survey results from text fields.
• Illustrate a student’s writing with a picture.

PBS Teachers

PBS Teachers

Pbsteachers.org is a very good website for teachers to use to create and develop lesson plans.  The website splits up the lesson plans by grades and by the subject that the teacher may teach as well as the topic that the teacher may be teaching. This website provides outlets of media such as videos, slideshows, and online games that may be beneficial to their students. If a teacher is looking for a new idea or an interactive way to engage students, this website offers many opportunities to do so. This website can help teachers develop new ideas to create their own lesson plans as well as projects and games for their classrooms as well. Here is an example of a video from the K-2 Health and Fitness section of pbsteachers.org

This resource is for grades K-2 and it is designed to test each student’s sense of smell and taste and try to see if the student can tell if they are related in any way. I really liked this resource because it is age appropriate and I believe that the students will enjoy it.  Also, I like the fact that it is interactive between the students and me throughout the entire process.  I know that kids tend to get off topic sometimes and the video in the middle of the experiment will reel them back in and help them stay on task.

This online activity is for grades K-2.  It is a fun game called “Freddy’s Switcharoo”. The object of the game is to collect only healthy foods in the shopping cart and it will tell the student which foods that they need to collect for that level and what good purpose it serves your body.  Once the student collects so many of them then the student will move on to the next level.  I really like this game because it is a game and all students can play it individually and it tells them why they need certain fruits and vegetables to maintain their health.

This online activity is for grades 6-8.  It is a game called “The Kayak Challenge”. This game is designed to see how long you can stay afloat on the river without running in to any obstacles.  Because most students do not go kayaking that young, this would be an alternative way to see how hard it is to control your boat through rough waters with your fingers, let alone actually in the water.  Also, it gives them an idea of what kayaking is like and what it looks like.

Internet Safety

Here is a brief overview of cyberbullying provided by Ann Luce, a PHD researcher from Cardiff University.

 
Did you know that about one-third of online teenagers, ages 12-17, have been cyberbullied?

According to stopcyberbullying.org, Cyberbullying is when a child, preteen or teen is tormented, threatened, harassed, humiliated, embarrassed or otherwise targeted by another child, preteen or teen using the Internet, interactive and digital technologies or mobile phones. Despite progress in defining and identifying cyberbullying, confusion remains surrounding exactly what constitutes cyber bullying. It might help to first understand some of the various ways your child could be the target of a cyberbully.   Here are the laws against cyberbullying in every state provided through the National Conferences of State Legislature

 

Common types of Cyberbullying

Harassment- In order for a behavior to be labeled as harassment, it must be repetitive and offensive. And for it to be considered a form of cyber bullying, it must occur online. Online harassment is common among kids who use e-mail, instant messaging, text messaging, and social networking sites. Harassment is probably the simplest way to bully another child online. A bully can send hundreds of hostile e-mail messages and can enlist the help of her friends to do the same.

Flaming- Flaming can be described as a contentious or heated online exchange between two or more kids. It usually begins as a normal interaction in a chat room, on a discussion board, or even during an instant-messaging session.

Denigration- When a child is the victim of denigration, it means that someone has spread a lie or started a malicious rumor with the intention of maligning the victim's character and reputation. This can be carried out numerous ways: an e-mail or instant message containing false accusations and statements could be sent out to other students; a slanderous statement could be posted on a website or social networking site; a nasty passage could be written about the victim in an online slam book; or a photo of the victim could be digitally altered and posted online or sent via e-mail to others with the sole intention to humiliate and embarrass the victim.

Impersonation- This is where one child poses as or impersonates another child (the victim). Great harm can be wreaked if a child's online identity is stolen and it is made to look like the victim sent hateful or hurtful communications to others.

Outing- When someone shares personal information that was meant to remain private, it is called outing. Girls tend to use this method of cyber bullying more than boys due to the more intimate nature of their relationships. When two girls get in a fight, chances are good that both girls have a stockpile of personal information that they can share with others online that will hurt, embarrass, or humiliate.

Exposure- This is when kids post inappropriate photos or videos online. In the past, when a kid took an embarrassing or compromising photograph of another kid, just a few people were likely to see it. It might get passed around in school or at soccer practice, but the power to embarrass and humiliate was fairly limited. Today, that photo can be posted online for millions to see, and it can hang around in cyberspace forever and come back to haunt the victim even in adulthood. In the past, when kids would fight, it would be a similar situation. There might have been a few kids who witnessed the fight and talked about it for days or weeks afterward, but when it was over it was over. Today, fistfights and beat-downs are being recorded with digital cameras and cell phones and uploaded to video-sharing websites like You-Tube. The fight is exposed to millions of viewers, who can watch it or forward it as many times as they please. This type of exposure leads to unending humiliation and victimization.

Exclusion- It hurts to be excluded from cliques and groups in real life, and it can hurt just as much to be excluded from online groups. A child can be suddenly blocked from sending e-mail or instant messages to one or more other people. A child can be denied being added as a friend on a social-networking site, and it can hurt as much as being blocked from sitting at a certain lunchroom table that suddenly becomes too full or a study group that has no room for one more. To be excluded from online social activity can be like a social death to some kids. Communicating online has become a natural extension of in-person socializing and when that communication is blocked or cut off, it can be devastating. The victim is left out and has to live with the knowledge that all the other kids are talking, gossiping, making plans, and having fun without them.

Signs of Cyberbullying

1.    Social withdrawal- Your child stops playing games online or using the phone, and his or her comrades are mysteriously MIA.

2.    Fear of technology- Your child spends evenings catching up on his or her reading instead of logging on, and appears nervous when text messages pop up.

3.    Bad behavior- Teens might start getting in trouble as a way to get their frustrations out because they are being cyberbullied.

4.    Ask around- Odds are your child told his or her best friend about the cruel comments made about his or her weight in a chat room, and then they told their mom. Check in with parents you trust.

5.    See for yourself- If all else fails, Internet parental controls and monitoring software -- as well as regular, honest chats about your kid's online life -- can help you identify an elusive bully.

Ways to protect your child from being cyberbullied

• Never share information about their online activities, such as their gaming name or passwords that could be used against them.

• Never respond to a cyberbully’s attacks, which will only escalate the abuse.

• Save abusive messages or websites as evidence in case the bully needs to be reported to authorities.

• Report abuse—Every Internet service should have a code of conduct and way for you can to notify them about abuse.

Here are some safety pledges that all children are encouraged to look at and memorize before they embark on a journey in to the cyber world.

My Technology Background

Technology Throughout My Education                                                   

The Chalkboard Years

From kindergarten all the way through fifth grade in each classroom there was only one chalkboard in the entire room for students and teachers to use. We thought that this was the best thing in the world to be able to write on some type of board in the classroom and compared to older pieces of technology used in the classroom, it was the best thing. It was hard writing with the chalk because they were not the cleanest way to write.  I always got chalk on my hands.  There was only one positive aspect of chalkboards.  No matter what grade I was in, at the end of each day my teacher would select one person to wipe down the board to make sure that it stayed clean and was ready for use the next day.  We also had what we called "over heads" which was where the teacher projected notes and information on the board.

The Dry Erase Board Years

I went to a K-8 school so when I went to “middle school”, it was a separate building with classrooms and a gym in it but we had to go down to the other building if we were leaving for the day, to use a computer lab, or to eat lunch.  The building, which was usually referred to as the upper building, was much newer and more advanced than the lower building because it was built when I was in third grade.  The building had dry erase boards instead of chalkboards which were a lot less messy to write on.  I had this type of board in all of my classes until I got to high school.  We still had the over heads that we used on a regualr basis for projecting notes and assignments on the board.

The Smart Board Years

Once I entered my freshman year at Forbush High School, my county had finally received enough money to put Smart Boards in most of the main subject classrooms such as English, History, Math, and Science. The teacher was mainly the only one that got to use them.  Most of my teachers actually just used them as projection screens and really did not use them interactively. We actually got rid of most of the over heads because the Smart Boards were connected to the teacher's computers so there was really no need for over heads anymore.  Throughout my years of high school I remember using a Smart Board only once when I was presenting a project in English.  I wish that I would have been able to learn more about how to use a Smart Board before I graduated.

The Future of Education

The future of education will definitely rely heavily on technology, but in particular cell phones.  I could see text messaging being integrated in the classrooms.  Students could answer questions by sending a message to the Smart Board or even post discussion questions by texting them to the Smart Board and teachers addressing them along the way.  I could see this being utilized in middle schools, high schools, and colleges across the country.  Maybe this will help students enjoy school and have a positive attitude about coming to school every day.

Technology in the classroom has certainly changed over the years but this is just the beginning...

This video below demonstrates how technology has changed over the years from chalkboards to copiers to VCRs to the internet, just to name a few.  Many of these upgrades in technology have not only benefitted classrooms across the nation but also in everyday life.