Week 11 - Simulations and Gaming

Let me first start by saying I’m very blessed to have two wonderful teenage kids who are well mannered and behaved and I love them both dearly. I have a 15 year old daughter and a 13 year old son. My daughter spends little time in front of the television or computer (other than a few minutes to check her MySpace). She does well in school and is very self-directed when it comes to her school work. In her free time she’ll turn her hip-hop music on so all the neighbors can hear, try on 18 different outfits and leave them all on the floor. She’ll create 27 new hairstyles; leaving all the bobby pins, curling iron, hot rollers, flat iron, blow dryer, crimping iron, barrettes, and hairspray out on the bathroom counter. She’ll paint each fingernail and toe nail with an intricate design. If you ask her to play DDR she will, and perhaps Mario Cart once in awhile, but other than that she doesn’t play much in the way of video games.

If I would let him, my son can spend 12 straight hours playing World War Craft (WOW). The boy lives to game. He doesn’t make a mess around the house because sitting in front of the computer or the T.V. doesn’t require that he pull out a lot of stuff. We have set rules in the house regarding his gaming privileges. He must have all his homework done prior to gaming. How can it be, two kids raised in the same house can be total opposites?

So what is this attraction to gaming? My son tells me it is because the game offers competition (although when it comes to sports he is not competitive – he hates seeing the other guy lose), skill is required, sometimes you get lucky, and the risk of dying. He is normally a quiet kid; however in front of the game, I’ve witnessed him show excitement, frustration, and relief (I hear a lot of Phewwwws). Do I worry about him gaming too much. Sure, I’m a mom.

Mark Wagner, a Walden graduate, helped relieve some of my worries pertaining to gaming, with his dissertation. Mark’s dissertation on Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing games (MMORPs) revealed “MMORPGs might be useful for helping students develop 21st Century Skills such as critical thinking, creativity, comfort with computer use, fluency in multimedia, economic literacy, and global awareness” You can view more of his result on his blog at http://edtechlife.com/?p=1960
On a post, dated Feb. 06, 2008, Mark shares a story of meeting with a superintendent http://edtechlife.com/?p=1943 . Interestingly enough, the 51 year old superintendent is an avid WOW player. The superintendent is interested in creating a 3D Virtual School. Rather than using a ‘flat’ medium like Blackboard, he believes a 3D virtual school would enhance community and students would be able to do rather than memorize

Week 10 - Repositories and Learning Objects

I originally created videos demonstrating how Spotsylvania County Schools are using both an LMS and LCMS. After a kind suggestion from my classmate Marvin, I decided to omit them from my blog (too much information to be shared). The point I was trying to make with the videos was that the possibilities to enhance student learning are boundless. Today, I was talking with a colleague who asked me if I placed extracurricular club activity information on the LCMS. I said no and instantly thought, but what a great idea.

I'm an advisor for Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA). We just held a fundraiser this weekend and the LCMS would have been a great utility for having students sign up to volunteer. I could use the LCMS to post podcasts from Business Leaders, post competition information, volunteer opportunities, and social events. Often times the student may be hesitant to get involved but if the parent finds out about it, they convince their child to participate. Two goals my department has this year is to increase parent communication via the LCMS and to increase participation in FBLA. What a great way to kill two birds with one stone.

By the way, I have posted a video in this week's class discussion.

Cyndi

Week 9 - Are LMSs On Their Way Out?

Although many schools haven’t even started using Learning Management Systems (LMS), they may already be starting their demise, or at least a major overhaul. According to Mark Crosslin, founder of the EduGeek Journal blog, an online community that promotes news and views from the ed. tech. world, claims educators are looking for alternative to the packaged LMS. Educators who have limited funds are turning to free tools like Facebook, Blogger, Wordpress, and pbWiki to present material. In addition to costs being a disadvantage of current LMS, he believes current LMSs confine students to the application and does not expose them to the world. He suggests such improvements as including multilevel blog systems, social network components, and extension tools for continuous learning.

Crosslin’s Death of the Learning Management System is a 5 post series that can be found at http://www.edugeekjournal.com/blog/index.php?filtertype=site&filterselect=1&tagid=9 .

Week 8: Wireless Technology – Cell phones in the classroom

I am truly interested in integrating cell phones into my high school classes. Seventy nine percent of teens have them and if the majority of them are like my own teenagers, they don’t leave home without them. Rather than saying no, no, no, how can we as educators integrate them to enhance the learning of our students.

Liz Kolb, the guru of cell phones for learning provides a plethora of strategies for integrating cell phones into the classroom. Check out her blog at http://www.cellphonesinlearning.com/ On her blog you’ll be able to listen to her blogtalkradio show that she does right from her cell phone. I would love to do it; however at $7500 per month, it’s more than this doctoral student can afford. Her first episode, “Should Cell Phones Be Allowed For Learning”. Interestingly, she talks about a study being done at Presbytarian Ladies College in Sydney (Devaney, 2008). I included this same study in my presentation on Cells Phones in the Classroom. This study demonstrates the importance of creating assessments that align with 21st Century Skills.

Hall Davidson is also a supporter of cell phones for learning. He presented at NECC in San Antonio this past July. His presentation, “It’s in your pocket: Teaching spectacularly with cell phones” highlights strategies for teachers who wish to incorporate cell phones into their classrooms.

Davidson, H. (July 1, 2008). It’s in your pocket: Teaching spectacularly with cell phones. Presented at the National Educators Computing Conference, San Antonio, TX. Retrieved October 11, 2008 from http://ubiquitousthoughts.wordpress.com/2008/07/01/necc-2008-july-1-hall-davidson-on-cell-phones-in-education/

Devaney, L. (Sept. 2008). Open book exam 21st century-style: Educators begin to ponder if students should be allowed to use digital devices to take tests. Retrieved October 11, 2008 from http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/?i=55284

Week 7 Synchronous and Asynchronous Discussions

This week as I was researching synchronous and asynchronous learning I came across a study that compared the two types of online discussions. Fernandez and Ghosh (2004) conducted a study of an online mathematics teachers’ course to compare the participation rate during synchronous and asynchronous discussion. The study revealed 40% of the students felt they were able to share their thoughts more freely in an online discussion compared to when they were in a traditional face-to-face classroom. The study found that the asynchronous discussions allowed students a greater amount of time to formulate responses and offered flexibility in when they joined the discussion. Interestingly, 100% of the participants checked back to see if anyone had responded to their posts and 60% claimed to be disappointed if no one had while 80% said it was important to read and respond to others posts.( I guess Walden professors have empirical evidence to support their posting requirements :O))

The study reveals that the synchronous discussions provided immediate feedback. The students did comment that within the synchronous format, the responses were shorter and not as well developed and that conversations were sometimes hard to follow. The study revealed the benefits of synchronous discussion to be that students felt they were able to form social connections and develop a sense of community with the classmates. Although the responses were less developed, 67.6% of the students perceived the synchronous discussion to be more valuable.

This study highlights the benefits of integrating both forms of discussion into the online classroom. But does it have to be limited to the online classroom. Rajesh Ratogi ( http://www.eltworld.net/times/2008/10/virtual-classrooms/) comments in his blog that having a blended environment may be the solution to meeting more of our students needs. I agree. I teach in a traditional classroom and I have a CMS which allows me to post assignments, announcements and also lets me integrate live chat and discussion board forums into my daily lessons. I have found the kids enjoy the live chats and really get into it. The discussion board provides them the opportunity to ponder their response and in my opinion use higher level thinking skills. I use the live chats as almost a brainstorming activity and the students take what they have learned from the synchronous discussion and expand upon it in the asynchronous discussion, backing up what they say with research.

Fernandez, M. & Ghosh, S. (2004). Examining asynchronous and synchronous communication in an online mathematics teacher education course. Retrieved October 17, 2008 from http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p117654_index.html

Podcasting

The technologies explored this week in my Computer Technology and Multimedia course highlight the reality of classroom walls becoming transparent. Podcasting and sreencasting are taking learning outside the confines of the classroom. Learners can take the podcasts virtually anywhere (Yes, even underwater, check out http://www.h2oaudio.com/ ). What does this mean for the teacher? “More and more students come to school with these skills [podcasting]. This is a language they not only understand but use often on a daily basis” (Campbell, 2005, p.35). Teachers are doing them a disservice if they fail to incorporate them into the classroom (Campbell). Yes, it is a new skill to learn; however, the potential benefits of incorporating podcasts can be substantial.

Podcasts have the potential to make the teacher’s job a bit easier. Students missing instruction due to illness or a field trip can listen to a podcast of the lecture without having to spend face-to-face time with the teacher. As a computer science teacher, I often have to show students several times how to perform a function within an application. For example, layering/arranging objects in Publisher. By creating a screencast of the lesson, students may replay the screencast as many times as they like until they get a firm grasp of the concepts. This saves me time and the student does not have to sit idly waiting for me to come over and answer his/her question.I subscribe to NPRs technology podcasts (http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast.php?id=1019 ). These podcasts allow me to bring information regarding emerging technologies straight to my classroom without spending precious time searching for them. I use these podcasts as an integral part of my weekly lessons. Students listen to the podcast and then post a response to the weekly discussion board. Although I am in a traditional classroom, I have found this approach useful in meeting the diverse needs of my students. Many of my students have IEPs, and listening to a podcast rather than reading a news article provides them with an alternative to understanding the information.Campbell, G. (2005). There’s something in the air: Podcasting in education. Educause Review pp. 33 – 46. Retrieved October 10, 2008 from http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/erm0561.pdf

Wikis -What Good Are They

Blogs and wikis take education and training out of the confines of the institution. They allow people to learn and gain knowledge from many different sources. My current research interest involves m-learning and the use of cell phones. Liz Kolb is the guru on cell phones for learning. Her blog, Cell Phones for Learning http://www.cellphonesinlearning.com provides the reader with cutting edge information regarding the use of cell phones as learning tools. This information is not yet available in a textbook and most educators are not aware of the resource connections that can be made with a cell phone. Blogs keep pace with the burgeoning change of information. Students in a classroom that is dependent on a textbook and a teacher, who doesn’t subscribe to RSS feeds from blogs, tweets, etc., may ultimately be short changed.Wikis allow for asynchronous collaboration. Wikis are made up of various web pages that can be modified by all members of the group. Members can hold a discussion while making modifications to the pages. In addition, a history of all the alterations is available. Members of the wiki are responsible for creating the content. Julie Lindsay and Vicki Davis have created a global collaborative project in which two classrooms, located on opposite sides of the globe, work together to solve real world scenarios http://flatclassroomproject.wikispaces.com based on Thomas Friedman’s “The World is Flat.” The wiki eliminates the classroom walls and allows for children of different cultures, race, and educational backgrounds to come together to solve a problem.Wikis are not only for collaborative projects. Helen Barrett, a leading authority on e-portfolios, claims a wiki is a free and effective way to create an e-portfolio http://electronicportfolios.org/web20portfolios.html The student can upload his/her artifacts and college and employment recruiters can get a clearer picture of the student’s abilities and personality.I’ve personally used a wiki to do collaborative project in Educ. 8808, 8812, and 8813. In each one of these courses my classmates were spread out across the United States and in one case, a group member was located in South Korea. The wiki was an effective collaboration tool that eliminated the location and time obstacles.