Minecraft Exploration

I didn't take to Minecraft immediately. The creepers, well, creeped me right out of the game. It was intrguing, but the nighttime deaths were taking their toll on my patience. I wanted to explore and not get destroyed. I wanted to build and not have to hide at night. I felt that I was not long for the application, and would leave it behind me after the course was over. Nope.
I found myself making my final project for 531 in Minecraft, and suddenly, I saw the appeal. I knew it was 'cool' to build allalong, but it just wasn't happening for me. But when I was tasked to build such that others would deliberately occupy the space, well, there was some motivation. I dug deep (literally) and found the preocesss to be wildly engaging. I wanted to discover more tricks, more hidden neat-os. I talked to my 10-year-old son about the game (he knew too much; I couldn't follow), and I had an afficiando of the game (a junior on campus) look at what I did, and he showed a few things I would never have found out on my own. Loved it.
My explortions so far have been limited, but after the experience of building for others to see, I feel that I will look further, I will try to fing the things I've read about like Disneyland in Minecraft. I do believe, I've become a fan of the game.

Cloud Hopping

Okay, so took the obligatory Hover Craft ride. Interesting, but ultimately just 'fast' moving through the land. Definitely worth the look, but uninteresting in the end. The land had nothing else to offer.
On to "Let it Snow" (by Advent), where there was something of an igloo with Christmas presents inside, and a bench and a snowman outside. How this person was able to create the effect of snow was an immediate thought for me, as the visual aesthetic was very appealing.  Photo:

Dressed for the occasion!!!

On to "Dabney" (by Lilli Thompson), where there was a Mediterranean-looking courtyard (palm trees) with a oil barrel fire. The dark and starry night was fascinating. Upon first glance at Cloud Party, environments seem limited, but as one sifts through the possibilities by looking at lands already created, it becomes obvious that limitations are set by one's own imagination. Photo:

Dark, but really cool.

Cloud Party: Save the Date

It seems that the UI has changed a bit since this quest was created, but the idea of inviting students to a Cloud Party location is indeed intriguing. An immediate thought would be an office hours situation, where students were invited (hopefully a Google+ option will appear on the cell phone) to discuss classroom topics from the comfort of their homes, while still improving knowledge bases in the subject at hand. Possibly a manipulative blackboard could be set up in the classroom build available, where students would inspect study guides or homeworks completed, along with the teacher available to answer/comment. Even more, students often find themselves in a bind with extra-curricular activities and jobs (of even baby-sitting) to be able to attend an immediately-after school office hours session. This would allieviate that dillemma.
Personally, I love the idea of setting up a group session as office hours in CP. I've so often struggled with students being unable to attend, or on occasion having too many attend and not being able to truly help individuals. Having a pre-arranged 'blackboard' available to view with necessary information, worked-out problems and the such, along with a chat function to communicate with the teacher sounds ideal. Multi-tasking for the teacher would be far easier, and the students could avail themselves appropriately and much more easily. Without question, this is a serious consideration for me.

Second Life and Me

As we've gone through edtech 531 this semester, we've encountered several virtual worlds for us to explore and hypothesize how our lives (either personally of professionally) might be affected if these worlds were included in them. When considering my personal life, I just don't see it. I prefer my world in its real form, in fact I love it. These trips into the virtual worlds are fascinating, but only for short-term experiences, similar to watching a television show. Certainly not to replace bits of my life as I currently live it.
Minecraft was interesting, but the game part of it was frustrating, where I had to avoid creatures intending to 'kill' me. I just wanted it to end. Second Life, however, at first use, was far more pleasant. It had similar elements in that youtry to create, explore, and associate, but it had less of a feel of a video game, and more of a feel of a life experience. Will I forever use it? No, not for personal use. The experience in the class setting is definitely anticipated, but further use beyond the course, as I sit here now, seems far-fetched at the least. In my classroom, however, I can definitely see a further use. Minecraft would seem more likely because Second Life has too many 'adult' arenas, but integrating a virtual world seems a brilliant idea. Why would I implement something in my classroom that I personally wouldn't use? I guess I feel that life experiences are critical for high school students, and the more I can present, the more I can have students engaged with, the grerater their experiences will be, and therefore the greater their education is.

Mobile and Gaming Bridges into the Virtual World

I grew up in the 1980s, watching technology evolve rapidly from a unique anomaly in the world to the main driving force of everything economic and developmental. The Apple 2C was like we'd never seen, the Commodore 64's possibilities seemed endless, and Atari/Intellivision/Coleco grabbed our generation and glued us to our television screens. But we never viewed these technologies as any kind of "virtual world." They were fantasy experiences, board games we plugged in, or faster typewriters. As the years passed by, I personally sort of lost touch with the technological world. A stint in the military and several years of 50-hour work weeks of fairly hard labor kept me from diving back into the worlds that were being created in the '80s. I did see, however, others around me experiencing the rapid growth of the technological world. Video games got shockingly more realistic, people communicated with each other through electronic messages not letters, and professors were demanding I use something called a "word processor." And most interestingly, the younger the person was that I encountered, the more likely he or she was to be fairly fluent in the languages of these new-fangled technologies. These "youths" were doing more and more with these computers, and then suddenly they all carried around phones to connect each other immediately. I wondered why one would want such a thing at first, but it didn't take me long to see where the world had gone, and I needed to catch up quick. We all (basically) carry virtual worlds with us wherever we go, and the younger generation is fully immersed, deft with usage, and expecting us "elders" to understand it and adjust.
The classroom demands today that we bring the "virtual" inside it. The students demand it. It is the way of the world, and we as educators would be severely remiss if we ignored that reality. It isn't a matter of possibilities at this point, it is what directions within are we taking. The delivery of information needs to utilize modern technologies, and the processes of these technologies need to be understood as well.
My classroom is already using iPads on a daily basis. Lessons are done on them, student work is completed on them, and my textbooks are slowly being replaced by them. From here, I see the classroom becoming the device(s) as well. A student could ask me a 30-60-90 right triangle question virtually, with a real-world design in mind, on a Thursday night. Or a statistics student running a survey project through a Twitter account.
I feel caught up to technology right now, and now I want to be part of the further transformation. My students in geometry no longer watch me lecture at a whiteboard in front of them, they watch me use a virtual whiteboard on an iPad at their own desired pace. And soon, we'll develop within a virtual world simulations with the very topics we've used and learned since well before those magical 1980s.

Virtual Bodies and Human Identity

The statement by Dr. Jeremy Bailenson that "there is no such thing as truth" in a virtual world, blows my mind as I try to consider my role as teacher in a virtual world and students' roles in the same.  Self-image and identity seem to be such core principle in not just sense of self, but also in the educational dynamic in which a student interacts with the material, with other students and with the instructor.   Certain face to face psychologies, such as the effect of mimicry on a social interaction, can be key and the larger social dynamics of issues like attractiveness and height provide insight into the invisible code that structures our reactions to each other.  I wonder if virtual worlds can work to help us not be as caught in these.

The political studies using mimicry and facial identity capture made me doubt everything.  I asked my wife if I looked like the candidate I voted for in the last election; she assured me that I looked more like the other guy (although I'm not sure how comforting that is --  I want it to mean that my decisions were based on firm political principles rather than my desire to see those who look like me.) I remember reading about how they kept changing what Betty Crocker looked like, because they wanted  the largest number of American women to see themselves in her.  As the years went by, Betty Crocker -- an early avatar perhaps? -- changed her look based on what the advertisers could put together as being the quintessential homemaker for each generation.  Virtual worlds might be great for students just to move away from a world where everyone in every commercial and classroom "looks like them."  Even in the non-human avatars that Dr. Bailenson discussed  at the end, the transformed social interaction can broaden their experience, confidence and awareness of others who may not match them visually.

The positive possibilities for students to practice skills (like the example of learning a martial art by "doing" with an instructor in a virtual world) and to gain confidence from virtual selves seems incredibly positive for the classroom.  I've taught so many autistic students who struggle with the social cues of face to face interaction.  The possibilities suggested by the virtual clues they are given to help them learn appropriate eye contact in social situations would help them not just make others more comfortable in social situations, but as the "virtual mirror" studies suggest, help them succeed.  The dangers however of false memories (like swimming with Fudgy the whale) or skewed realities do make me nervous, as does Betty Crocker (below!)

School Evaluation Summary

School Evaluation Survey

One thing that this particular unit taught me is that having a plan to procure technology (which our school does) is not the same as having a plan to implement that technology.  The ad hoc way that we have gathered various devices and software means that no one really knows the big picture.  Since our charter school has so many big goals around equity, using educational technology to bridge gaps, employing assessment more effectively and teaching technology itself, a comprehesive technology use plan would be extremely beneficial.  As of yet, our technology "use plan" is vague at best.  Our technology coordinator is leaving without a replacement, so this further muddies the pot.  Teachers, however, have really stepped up to the plate in terms of finding ways to use technology in the classroom in order to help students succeed; this fact should drive our own plan.

Even though our school has technology that would count it among the most privileged world-wide, without a clear vision of how to use this technology, these resources are not being maximized.  Without a designated adminstrator in charge of technology at our school, teachers must take on that role and collaborate with each other to shape a cohesive vision.  So many of our categories came out as "island" level because of the patchwork implementation and the lack of communication.  Hopefully, I can work towards being part of the solution.

School Evaluation

Survey Results

Technology Use Planning Overview.

Technology Use Planning:  

The Good, the Bad and the Complicated

Technology use planning goes beyond hardware and software.  A common mistake at my own school and those nationwide occurs when a school or district purchases technology and flies the “Mission Accomplished” sign.  Effective technology use planning sets flexible goals for how technology will be used, how it will integrated into classrooms, and how it enhances various curricula, as well as how teaching professionals will learn best technology practices.  Both the 2010 National Education Technology Plan and John See’s “Developing Effective Technology Plans” emphasize the need for a cohesive plan around not just what types of technology will be used in the classroom, but how this technology will be used help students achieve mastery. 

The National Education Technology Plan 2010

To put together a cohesive plan for the various educational needs of students across the learning spectrum in locations across the country is a daunting task.  They stress that effective use of technology “empowers” students to have access to experts, information and programs despite their actual location in the country.  

Their technology plan also puts teacher professional development at the forefront of effective educational technology.  Not only giving teachers cutting edge information and time to develop skills, but also using technology as a means for teachers to pursue a similar “empowerment” with their own professional development as they work towards providing for students. 

The focus on assessment stresses that technology should use data to drive effective assessment practices and that effective educational technology requires both formative and summative assessment.  John See describes an “effective technology plan” as one that focuses primarily on “applications” rather than on the technology itself.  This point clarifies that the technology is not an end in itself, but an ever-evolving tool.  The Department of Education applies a similar standard in how it conveys the fluidity of assessment, the need to adjust, and the need to “measure what matters”.  One of the biggest hurdles to successful educational technology would be the rigidity in application, since the technology shifts so rapidly, as does students’ ability to use technology in creative ways that quickly outstrip the expectations of teachers. 

Personalized learning means that students have a more individualized educational experiences that allow for innovation and inquiry.  The Department of Education addresses this aspect in its discussion of assessment and game models. In ideal educational practice, the technological capacities would allow individual students to adjust and pace based on their individual learning styles and needs.  Each student’s path would necessarily be different if inquiry-based learning and games provide unique feedback.  

Perhaps most of all, an effective technology plan allows for the growth of interaction, of what Larry S. Anderson deems “the explosive intellectual, emotional and spiritual growth” in his article “Technology Planning:  It’s More Than Computers.”  This communication and access will be for wealthy students in cities as well as poorer students in rural areas.  The Department of Education puts internet access and technology instruction as key components in a 21st century education, as they work to create cohesion in the educational technology of this diverse nation.  Individual schools and districts will have to personalize the challenge, adding curricular specifics and developing a vision of how exactly these capacities will help their students succeed. 

Public Charter School Technologies: Working Towards A Plan

Each year we have elaborate fund-raisers that in the past few years have honed in on technology.  Parents and donors are encouraged to purchase specific devices for classrooms and libraries;  in 2012, the fundraiser resulted in 160 iPads for classrooms.  As a charter school, much of our technology (as well as much of our furniture, paint, etc.) happens at the whim of donors rather than according to any kind of plan.  Thus, whatever we end up with, we have to then plan to use effectively.  Teachers who end up with surprise computers, projectors and iPads certainly don’t complain, but the ad hoc way that these technologies appear (and at times disappear) lead to less than systematic implementation. 

Since the only way to get technology in my classroom was to write a grant rather than wait for yearly fundraisers to trickle in device by device, I got a full classroom set of iPads before I had any experience using this technology or had read any kind of plan for implementation.  Montage of teaching mistakes follow.  Larry S. Anderson emphasizes that “honesty” is key to developing effective technology plans, and I must be honest that when I sallied forth confidently with 25 iPads and a smile, my lack of a cohesive plan caused many moments of chaos. 

John See stresses that an effective technology plan does not just indicate what should be done with the computers and such; an effective technology plan also addresses professional development.  My professional development consisted of various attempts in the classroom, frantic internet searches for solutions and mid-stride adjustments when things started to derail.  As our school adds the various technologies provided by fundraisers, it does not provide professional development or a cohesive plan for how we will use these technologies to further our curriculum goals.  I hope to be a mentor to those with iPads and an advocate for what See terms a “focus on a vision.”  If teachers articulate and share what can help students personalize education and achieve, then this vision can take shape.

In my experience, planning could save time, effort and a multitude of mistakes.  But as John See states, these plans need to evolve as the technology does.  When I first saw a teacher use an iPad in the classroom, it could create wonderful graphic displays, serve as a personalized whiteboard and allow students online collaboration.  But then, when I wrote the grant for my classroom set just a year later, suddenly these iPads also had cameras and video recorders.  I could not have anticipated or planned for just how useful these cameras and video recorders would be for student demonstration of mastery.   See prioritizes the group project using video, for example, as one where not only the curricular skills of showing statistical sampling would be valuable, but also the collaborative strategizing itself. 

As our school moves (a bit haphazardly) towards a schoolwide technology use plan, I need to be part of the solution.  I couldn’t agree more than when John See says that the teachers who will implement the plan need to be part of making it;  in my experience, plans and assessments developed by those who are not teaching do not have the same effectiveness as plans and assessments developed by teachers actually using the materials.  Previously our school’s technology plan has focused on nothing but the technology and the access to the technology.  In the last year, we’ve begun to add basic skills for research, but not integrating technology into curriculum.  In my own classroom, I need a more cohesive plan for the ever-shifting role technology plays in high school mathematics instruction.  These classes in my first semester at Boise State have already forced me to re-evaluate and expand my horizons, which is both incredibly exciting and a bit exhausting!

Digital Inequality

This particular lesson was very revealing for me.  As I have worked hard to use technology in the classroom, I definitely haven't given the issue of digital inequality as much thought as I needed.  Also, as our school works feverishly to "flip classrooms", reading the research and the articles made me realize just how many students we will be leaving behind if we continue at a breakneck pace without considering how different students have very different digital skills, access and assistance.

I loved the TED video that described the digital divide/digital inequality issue as a "new illiteracy".  So often my second language students or students with dyslexia struggle in school not with the actual mathematical concepts, but with the literacies of the textbook or mathematical terms.  Over my 11 years of teaching in public schools, I've worked to increase my awareness of this issue and develop classroom strategies in response.  The issue of digital inequality is the same.  I now have a responsibility to address these "new illiteracy" issues in my classroom, just as I have with the aforementioned issues.

Below please find my very first voicestream ever!

Digital Inequality in the Suburbs

EDTECH CHALLENGES

EDTECH CHALLENGES

This week's content was appropriately titled, since I did indeed encounter some challenges.  Although I had fun experimenting with xtranormal.com, my first attempts erased.  The site seemed to be very wonky on that day, so I walked away and returned a few days later to find that it worked perfectly.  So despite the initial frustration,  I think that xtranormal.com is a very cool vehicle for presenting information, especially in terms of conversation or argument.  It seems that students could really have fun with the sound effects, motions, etc. as well as conveying great information relevant to a classroom topic.
The Horizon Report was great.  I'm not sure if other students were completely in the know, but as with many other aspects of this class, the Horizon Report and the New Media Consortium were completely unknown to me.  I had heard of Educause previously, but overall, this was all new information.  What a wonderful place to glean new information, new direction and new resources.  I especially appreciated all the links they included to groups working in various areas that they discussed.  The newest research and the emergent technologies seem absolutely essential to a teacher not only using educational technology in the classroom, but also attempting to justify changing the way this classroom works within an established educational system.  I addressed exactly this in my xtranormal.com video.  Although it may seem a bit exaggerated in order to convey some of the frustrations I have experienced in my attempts to use educational technology with inquiry-based learning in the classroom, this conversation accurately reflects some of the resistance I've encountered and expect to encounter as I shift paradigms in order to use educational technology in the high school mathematics classroom.

Xtranormal in action

EDTECH Research

I feel like Rip Van Winkle a bit, as I remember wandering through the dark corners of libraries trying to find a particular article when I was in college.  The capacity to use Google Scholar and access these articles without venturing into those darkened corners seems like a revelation (and makes me want to say to my students that they have no idea how great they have it -- the research equivalent of saying, "in my day I had to walk a mile to school and it was uphill both ways.")  Access the Boise State library from the wilds of Colorado also seems quite magical.  Perhaps I would have been a bigger fan of research projects in college had this all been available way back then.

The articles I found reinforced my determination to use educational technology for inquiry-based learning and provided a few key cautions to my journey.  The biggest warning that came through was not to use technology as an end-all be-all but as a tool in the secondary mathematics classroom.  The role of the instructor doesn't disappear and become the internet.  The instructor must be even more careful and provide explicit guidance when there are so many thickets and distractions on the nexus of paths through cyberspace.

I was also frustrated with the articles that looked amazing but cost too much money to download!  I kept getting super excited by a title just to find that I would have to pay for a yearly subscription to a journal in order to read.  Since I have five children and am paying to pursue this degree, I must admit that I limited myself to the available articles.  Below please find the link to my work.

Annotated Bibliography

RSS in Education

So there is definitely a learning curve with screencasting.  I had to try it several times, in order to create a fluid product.  It was also hard to keep hearing my own voice (ugh.)  But the possibilities for the classroom of having these screencast artifacts is amazing; students who struggle with certain concepts would definitely benefit from having a YouTube channel full of specific tutorials.

I must admit that I never really paid attention to RSS feeds before, despite the amount of time I spend on the internet.  I thought they were automatic and provided by the web browser.  Quite the learning curve for me on this particular topic!  Once I understood what the streaming possibilities were, I got very excited by the applications in my high school mathematics classroom.  Since my personal philosophy of teaching math is one of encouraging students to see math as a way of understanding the world around them, the RSS feed provides a great opportunity to do just that.

Exploring RSS feeds also made me engage with the possibility of Twitter as an educational tool, which is DEFINITELY an idea I never considered previously.  So much of what is entertainment or pop culture can be reconfigured as a classroom tool -- that's one of the most prominent themes of this program for me so far.  I look forward to going even further in the process of noticing, of paying attention to something that I previously took for granted and finding ways to use it in the classroom.

Elements of Educational Technology

501: Introduction to Educational Technology

3.4 Policies and Regulations

So thinking about educational technology apparently gets me all hot and bothered.  As I was reading this article and reflecting on the notion of "facilitating" I kept thinking about issues in the classroom.  I love the shift to student ownership of learning and progress.  I love inquiry - based learning.  What I don't love is figuring out how assessment works and how these much more unique assignments and progressions work in an educational world that has become so so focused on "data."
I'm not saying that great use of educational technology or inquiry-based learning doesn't produce data.
In my experience, the standardized testing frenzy has gotten in the way of my units, my instructional time and the format of my own classroom assessments when my principal wants us to format  everything exactly like the TCAPs (the Colorado state standardized tests that last year were called the CSAPs and next year will be called something else all together.)  I love the idea that this in-flux definition of educational technology relies upon notions that I hold dear -- that problem solving skills are more important that fixed sets of information.  That's what so exciting about technology as tool for students to use, to create with, to explore by way of.
Sorry to rant!  That's what happens when I analyze education! This first week has been intimidating (Google plus and the Blogger are, as one my classmates said, not intuitive) but exciting.  Reading about what true educational technology means makes me very glad to have chosen to pursue it.

Here goes:
Elements of Educational Technology

Welcome

Hey! My first blog! I believe the purpose of this is exactly what I first titled it: Learning. I guess it'll evolve over time as I figure what I'm doing and how I'm doing it. I've been teaching a class for seniors for 8 years now that I've slowly changed into a technology-based math class that focuses on the math/numbers/money that the students will be facing in the next 5-10 years of their lives. It's been very successful, and has won several awards and grants! Here's a video I made that won an award through the Council for Economic Education (it also details fairly well how I am as a teacher):

Good fun making that in a parking lot in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.

My desire to get this degree comes from my desire to make technology a practical tool for students.  I want math to cease to be an abstraction for my students and to be something that informs their life decisions.  Although I have iPads in the classroom funded by grants, I know that I can do more with them as tools for students to demonstrate mastery and for us to share/collaborate/create.  I'm excited by the possibilities but at times overwhelmed by the technological details.

I live in sunny Colorado with my wife and 5 children.  When not teaching full time or pursing this degree, I love trivia competitions and Miami sports.