Digital Blog Post #F

One/Two/Three Time Activities
Automate or Informate
Developing a Technology-Leading Mindset

When integrating technologies into the classroom, teachers and other administrators often come across problems such as the participation gap, digital divide, and digital inequality. These situations arise when technological resources are limited, scarce, or nonexistent in educational areas, both inside and outside the classroom. There are, however, strategies that can assist teachers in negating these problems. One such strategy listed by Maloy, et al., is the practice of one/two/three time activities. This instructional method has teachers split the class into groups of two or three and has each group perform a separate activity. After a specific amount of time, the groups will switch to the next activity. Furthermore, one or two of the activities should utilize technology (Maloy, et al, 2013, p. 309). I feel like this instructional method would be very beneficial in practice, especially with lower-income schools that do not have the resources to fuel every class's technological needs. Although not every group would be able to have someone advising them, one activity could be specifically designated for having the teacher help the students, or the teacher could be available for questions at a desk/ could be walking around the room asking the students their questions at each station. My only concern is the grading requirements and situations/problems that could arise while doing group work (one student is working more than the others, some students do not understand the activities and can't reach the teacher, etc.); however, this would not happen in every classroom. Therefore, I think this practice would be significant in teaching lower-income schools and classrooms; however, as with any group work, teachers would need to make specific individualized grades to ensure that each student is cooperating.

Changes to the way classrooms teach are necessary for incorporating technology into lessons. The authors state that Alan November has compared two different ways that people use technology in their lives: to automate or to informate. Automate is used to describe the incorporation of technology into a process to make a process easier, faster, or ultimately better. Using my "professional knowledge" in science (i.e. the knowledge I remember from my high school chemistry course), the piece of technology being used and integrated into a process is similar to a catalyst in the body; the catalyst does not change the process/reaction, but instead increases the rate at which the process is performed. On the other hand, utilizing technology to informate learning will alter the process to achieve higher outcomes than without the technology (Maloy, et al, 2013, p. 311-312). I believe that introducing technology into the classroom to both automate and informate an activity is important to engage and stimulate the classroom in order to assist the learning process. I have made an example on Padlet (shown below) about how it can help automate and informate the journal-writing process in an English-classroom-like setting.

Created with Padlet

Because this my second to last Blogger post for my EME 2040 class, I wanted to talk about developing a technology-leading mindset, which was one of my personal goals for this class. A teacher with a technology-leading mindset means that you have to be willing to understand that incorporating technology into the classroom to give your students (and yourself!) an overall better educational experience. And just utilizing technology is not enough; teachers need to be able to continue learning about technology so that it can be used and have a function in  the classroom (Maloy, et al, 2013, p. 321). I believe there are two parts of having a technology-leading mindset stated in the book that are the most significant. First, being able to comprehend that making mistakes, experimenting (and sometimes failing), and coming across glitches with technology is all important in building experience. An educator's mistakes could lead to a better understanding of technological material, and that educator will be able to teach that material with full confidence. The second part is knowing that teaching is not equivalent to never learning again. Just because a person becomes an educator, does not mean that they should quit learning and only stick to what they already know. While this concept applies to developing a technology-leading mindset in the book, it also should apply to any educator in any subject. Broadening your horizons might lead you to developing a new teaching style or finding a new tool to use in class. Technology is ever-changing and continuously enhancing, and in as little as ten years, the world will have technological advancements far beyond what we can imagine. Therefore, it will be necessary for educators to keep up with the technological world, be open-minded, and be willing to try new things.

Resources

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Steuber, S. (2016, April 22). Automate and Informate Using Padlet in the Classroom Created with Padlet http://padlet.com/shelbysteuber/3iojyxkwi7i9

Digital Blog Post #E

Information Presentation Design
Video in the Classroom
Democratic Schools and Classrooms

Utilizing different forms of media and technology is sometimes not enough in the classroom. When the technology being used is not visually appealing, whether it be too colorful and garish, or overly simplified an dull, the presentation will not attract the desired attention of the audience. Information presentation design is the creation of presentations (usually PowerPoint, but could be other presentations as well) that are visually appealing, both with text and images. The authors further state that information presentation design is important for engaging the classroom in the discussion topics, and creates memorable presentations for students (Maloy, et al, 2013, p. 223). I find this topic extremely important, as I love most aspects of graphic design. Whenever I work with PowerPoint, I find myself taking almost too much time working on the visuals. A presentation is memorable when it has a background that matches the font color, the font type that matches the mood and tone of the presentation, and pictures that flow easily with the overall presentation. I even remember some of my classmates PowerPoint presentations in my public speaking course.

By Shelby Steuber | Made With Wordle

Another technological tool that assists in engaging students is video. Video in the classroom is beneficial to learning because it provides student interest, an abundance of resources and a unique learning experience. Additionally, there are multiple strategies for using videos within the classroom that creates the most productive learning environment (Maloy, et al, 2013, p. 225-226). Because YouTube is such a common activity among younger generation, students would be more excited and focused to watch a video in class. I think videos are especially helpful at the beginning or ending of class. At the beginning of class, teachers could introduce the topic by providing a basic foundation of the learning outcomes with a video. Other times, a video could be used at the end of class as a summary and enforce the topic taught that day. Videos from Khan Academy are great for Introduction; they provide students with an abundance of information that can be taught further throughout the lesson. Furthermore, videos from the YouTube channel "Crash Course" can be used as an ending video; these videos are often fast-paced and provide a lot of information at once, and it would be better to play them once the student already knows the material and can follow along with the video.

The final topic that I found very interesting is about democratic schools and classrooms. According to the authors, this idea creates schools and classrooms where both administration and students make important decisions about the events and aspects of their education. And, while there are criticisms of this practice allowing students to make decisions and make school more about having fun, the practice ultimately has teachers/ administrators make final decisions (283-284). I really like this idea and practice. Students will be able to voice their opinions and be heard about problems they are having, solutions they have for those problems, and other ideas. Not only will this help students with problems, they can also develop decision-making, public speaking, and debating skills. If I were a teacher, I would definitely want to hear what my students have to say and offer for their education. Therefore, I would advocate for democratic schools and classrooms to be implemented more in schools.

Resources


Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Steuber, S. (2016, April 3). Untitled Word Cloud Created with http://www.wordle.net/*

*There is not/I can not find a specific URL that links directly to my graphic