iBooks=iLike

I am so excited about the possibility of iBooks in the classroom.  Honestly, as a teacher with multiple "classroom sets" of textbooks, the thought of freeing up that space is ethereal.   As far as iAuthor goes, the ability to create my "own" textbook is super exciting.  I hate textbooks.  In fact, I loathe them.  I feel like so many teachers use textbooks as a crutch.  Have I done it?  Yes.  Am I proud of that?  Heck no.  The ability to generate useful material will take time, but oh my goodness, I am ready. 

Pros:
1. Could they have made this program any easier? Drag and Drop Technology
2.  Widgets= Interactive
3. Up to date not out of date

Cons:
1. I am a little nervous about copyright infringement
2. How many students/schools can afford this type of technology?  You have to have a Mac to create your own iBook, and students must have a device for viewing.  PDF versions are an option, but they won't be as interactive in nature.

Are You Sure?

I think this guy has lost it.  Seriously.  An invisibility cloak and shape shifters...right?  I will believe it when I see it.  Don't we have bigger problems in this world that need fixing?  Oh no, let's let our top scientist figure out how to make people invisible.  Honestly, I don't even know what shape shifting or it's purpose is.  How about charitywater.org.  Let's spend our time figuring out how to get these people clean water or invisibility will be even sooner on the horizon.  In the mean time, I like what this YouTube viewer had to say...

Do We Really Want To Play God?

To be quite honest, this video scares me just a bit.  Michio Kaku presents the theory that in a time frame of ten years we will be able to put our entire genetic make up on a disc.  This disc would only cost $1,000, whereas currently the cost would be around $50,000.  This drastic price decrease is due to rapidly-changing technology.  That isn't the scary part.  He believes we will be able to determine based on genetic studies what causes aging.  With that knowledge we would be able to repair the aging genes and prolong life.  Scary right? 

Can Games Really Save The World?

I have two questions after watching the video Gaming Can Make The World Better.

A) What are we saving the world from?  Are we saving the world from the oil crisis, pollution, global warming, etc., or is there something bigger.  Does the world need saving from hatred, oppression, war?  I would say those are the bigger issues, but how can gaming teach that?  Call me crazy, but I believe the key to all of those things is love; a love that can only be learned by human interaction.  As a Christian educator, one of my daily goals is showing my students the love of Christ, and how to love others.  Will I be able to teach that through gaming?  I would say probably not.

B) Are the games being created as “exciting” and “appealing” as WoWC? I have never actually played the game so I have no idea.  If the game can attract grannies, then I am guessing there is something pretty special about it.  Can that excitement be replicated in the classroom?

I can appreciate the fact that people are more engaged in games.  I get it.  I understand that people don’t have the fear of failure in games like they do in real life.  Could it be because they know the game is not real?  In real life there is a fear of failure because it can bring about death, pain, and suffering.  In a game, you can just hit restart if worse comes to worse. 

I think creating games that inspire people to save the world is a very noble cause.  I just don’t know how these games will stack up to WoWC.  If kids and adults know they are doing something noble, will that not defeat the purpose to some extent.  The kids in my classroom only want to do something because it is fun.  If they figure out they might learn something, it kind of looses it’s luster.  I guess everyone has an intrinsic desire to save the world, to do something purposeful with our lives.  If the game creators can appeal on that level then maybe some good can come. 

How does this apply educators of young adults though?  Today’s students cannot unplug.  When they are forced to in the classroom, they struggle to stay focused.  Our learners are changing, but we as educators are not. 

Gamification would cause the breeding of a whole new type of learner.  In the other class I am taking this semester we just learned about the difference between an adult leaner and younger leaners.  The adult leaners are more proactive and understand the need for what they are learning.  Will gaming cause students to be more proactive in their education?  Will the classroom change from teacher centered to learner centered?  As much as we would all like to think that that shift is already taking place the number of traditional classrooms (teacher centered) still outnumber those of student-centered classrooms.  I believe the overall issue is what we are trying to teach.  We have such a broad span of what “has to be covered” that we only reach the surface of the topics.  If we limited what was being taught, and really dug deep into the wealth of information available, I believe our learners would be happier in the classroom.  Would gaming help this change be possible?  I think so.  So many times we are asking our students questions that they can find the answer to on Google.  If we are doing that, we are failing them.  There are so many tools available online that would allow the students to do more than merely scratch the surface of a subject.  I am still wrapping my head around gaming.  I am still trying to figure out how this will change my classroom and those classrooms around me.  As for now, I am trying to keep an open mind.  If we can find solutions to the world problems through gaming, then that is awesome.  Through the gaming though, will we be loosing anything?  I would say yes.  We are loosing valuable face-to-face interaction time with our young people.  As humans, we need to have those relationships.  Will kids be too busy saving the world to have dinner with their family, or focus on problems within their own homes?  How will they learn to have healthy relationships if more and more of their communicating is done online? 

This Doesn't Surprise Me

Helicopter Parents Hover In The Workplace

Matthew was on his way home from work the other day and heard this story on NPR.  Being that we work in a private school, we definitely come into contact with "helicopter parents."  These are the parents that are overly involved in their child's academic career.  When I was a kid, my parents might ask me if I had homework.  The keyword... you guessed it, might.  Most nights, I just took care of it.  If I didn't, I was the one to fail in the long run.  In no way did my performance in school affect them.  I went to a public school.  They were not paying $15,000 a year for their child's education.

"Helicopter parents" are so involved where I teach, that they want to know what homework their child has, tests must be posted two weeks in advance, and grades must be kept up to date.  After all, a parent can check a child's grades minute by minute via Net Classroom (an online parent portal).  This puts so much pressure on the students as well as the teachers.  Well, helicopter parents are not limiting themselves to elementary, middle, and high schools anymore.  Oh no, they are taking their kids to college and then into the workforce.  Literally.  Parents are writing resumes for their students as well as calling employers to give them the skinny on their child.  When I told my dad about this he said, "I would never hire some whose mommy called me to help them get a job."  My sentiments exactly.  I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree here.  The author of this article says maybe colleges and organizations should embrace these helicopter parents.  Give me a break!  Are these parents going to continue cutting up little Johnny's steak and tucking him in until he is 30?  What are these parents teaching their children?  I can tell you what they are not teaching them.  It is a little something I like to call responsibility!

The Home Row

I teach the most basic computer class known to man...keyboarding.  Although this class is very simplistic in nature, I believe it sets the foundation for future computer use.  Keyboarding is to computing as addition is to Algebra.  I drill into my students proper typing position which involves keeping their hands on the home row.  For some reason they fight me on this.  To them it seems easier to peck using their two index fingers.  I see that as exerting way too much energy!  I wish we could see eye to eye.  Eventually most of the class does come around and they appreciate all they have learned.  The see their typing speed increase and are excited about the results.  We make it a point to set goals at the very beginning of the six weeks, and I encourage students to meet those goals. 

Maybe as teachers, we should begin implementing technology with baby steps.  I'm asking the students to learn the whole keyboard in one day.  In fact we typically learn about two or three keys a day.  If we break up the technology and begin slowly fusing it into our classrooms, maybe we will a) be able to see the results because we arent' to busy to see them, and b) we will really be able to focus on the technology we are trying in order to gauge if it is working with our students or not.  Technology shouldn't be difficult, a bit of a challenge at first? Yes.  Something we have to get comfortable with? Yes.  But can technology be seen as the building blocks necessary to construct effective lesson plans?  Most definitely!

Let us keep our fingers on the Home Row and learn a few key elements of technology at one time.  One by one we can add more in and really see results!

PowerPoint, PowerPoint, PowerPoint

I had a teacher while an undergraduate that tried her hardest to use PowerPoint for her presentations.  There was one problem though...She did not know how to turn on the classroom computer.  I kid you not.  I literally had to turn the computer on for her each week and help her load her PowerPoint.  Even then the she read straight from the presentation.  We were bored out of our minds and in no way did the technology enhance our learning.  If anything her lack of skill hindered her ability to fully communicate with her students.  She was so incredibly concerned with what was on the screen to even break away from her lecture to ask students questions, or answer student's questions.  She was so zoned into the PowerPoint, I think she forgot we were in the room.
At what point does technology hinder or enhance learning.  I believe there is a very fine line that has been drawn in the sand.  From my experience, teachers either go completely overboard and bombard students with technology, or come up just short.  The first time I feel technology has been efficiently implemented has been in my current graduate level courses.  Maybe I am being too hard on teachers and over-generalizing.  The fact is, I can only go based on my experiences, and this is what I have seen thus far.  So for now, here is a link to ten things to keep in mind when creating a PowerPoint presentation: 10 Tips For Preparing A Professional Presentation.

“Last week I gave a fire safety talk (clears throat) and nobody paid any attention. It’s my own fault for using PowerPoint. PowerPoint is boring. People learn in a lot of different ways, but experience is the best teacher (lights a cigarette). Today, smoking is gonna save lives (throws cigarette into garbage can filled with paper and lighter fluid).”

Dwight Schrute, The Office, Season 5 – Episode 13, “Stress Relief”

The Beginning

I have been using a computer for the majority of my life.  I remember playing DOS run games on my dad's office computer at the age of six.  I had a computer class in the ninth grade in which I learned the basics of Microsoft Office, and one in college on the same subject.  I also took a class called Technology In The Classroom.  I vaguely remember going over PowerPoint and Front Page.  That class was just six years ago and is already incredibly outdated.  That is the problem I am having with today's teachers.  Unless they physically make themselves available for more technology training by means of taking courses or trying to keep up with it a little at a time by way of the Internet, then they are vastly behind.  I am one of the most recent graduates at my current school, and what I learned is already outdated.  Imagine these teachers that have been in the classroom for twenty five years.  How far behind in the technology curve are they?  Our students have never known life without technology.  Half of them sleep with their cell phones ready to answer a text or check Facebook in the middle of the night.  How do they feel when in a classroom that does not at all cater to their learning needs.  Now, do they need to be entertained all day?  By no means!  I do feel as educators we are doing them a disservice if we do not use the tools available to us to make learning easier for them.  With technology the way we have it, we really have the ability to go much faster.  In theory they should be learning more.  In my personal opinion, schools should offer much more in terms of educating their teachers on the use of technology in the classroom.  The material should be broken down in little bits easy enough for the teachers to digest.  We have to find a way for teachers today to understand the need for technology.  to understand that implementing technology in our classrooms doesn't mean just throwing together a PowerPoint for our lesson that day.  Technology is SO much more than that!  We have the opportunity to really communicate with our students via social media; to have instant feedback from our students via online polling or text polling; to go almost paperless via online quiz makers, etc.  Our students crave technology, and to be quite honest, teaching with technology is much more fun!