What is your reaction to the 10 Big Shifts in Education? Which shift(s) will be easier and harder for your to integrate in your future teaching/classroom? Please explain.

I think it is exciting to be able to be part of the information "revolution." I think this is an exciting time in history where EVERYONE has freedom of press and EVERYONE has freedom to access this information. (Okay, well everyone in America and most developed countries.)

As a teacher, it is exciting to think about things like creating my own textbook through collaborative online spaces. It's also comforting to think about being able to access so many other teachers online. Learning is collaborative and as teachers we should never stop learning, so the internet is a fantastic tool for a sort of on-going education.

I agree with both collaborative construction of meaning and teaching is conversation. And I think "inviting students to become active participants in the design of their own learning [to] teach them how to be active participants in their lives and future careers" is a really powerful notion. It's surprising just how socially just using the internet for education really is.

As far as "where" learning happens, I am a little concerned letting go of the idea that some memorization is good. In my opinion, the more you have stored in your brain, the faster you will be with responses. I guess you can become really good at knowing where to look up information, but in some cases I still think some things will need to be committed to memory.

During this class I have seen the realization of 'writing not being limited to text' and 'mastery is in the product, not the test.' I think the podcast is a good example of this - during the pod cast I felt because i was required to find music and images to help communicate my story, it required me to consider what I was trying to say in a whole new light - I had to understand the emotional context of my message which I think is very powerful. (Emotion --> hot cognition --> long term learning.)

And I think there is a lot of power in contributing to the growing sea of data. I like to believe that having an audience of this size will inspire my students to really think about and care about the work they produce. And there is something really nice in thinking that we're contributing to something so much bigger, but in a very linked-in and connected way.

Video Editing Project Blog

I'm actually looking forward to using iMovie again (I have a 4.5 month daughter at home so I have an endless supply of material!). But this is a project for a long rainy day. I feel like there would almost never be enough time to explore all of the cool features on iMovie and to perfect all of the tiny little details.

I think the video recording/editing process is interesting... it can be a lot of fun, but I prefer to be behind the camera. :) The editing process is lots of fun - and its amazing how easy and user friendly iMovie is.

I definitely would like to share this tool with my students. I think allowing them to create creative artifacts is quintessential to my pedagogy. This would be a great way for them to demonstrate an independent research or a group project.

I learned all about iMovie - and I didn't have any experience with editing before this. However, I used to be in marketing and worked closely with our advertising producers. I now have a LOT more respect for what they do and for how long it really takes. They made it look so easy that I thought it was a bit more simple than I experienced. I should give them a call and thank them (in hind sight) for their amazing work. :)

AwesomestChemistryClass wiki

My wiki is http://awesomestchemistryclass.wikispaces.com/

1. I do plan on using this wiki in my future classroom. I actually really love this tool and found it's easy to get carried away designing my wiki. One challenge I had was making one page customizable and keeping the others private. It said I needed a paid subscription to do that - so I can see myself signing up for a more sophisticated account in the future. I also look forward to being able to update my wiki to truly follow along with my class curriculum. The amount I rely on this wiki however depends on the type of internet access my students and their parents have.

2. I would like my students to create a blog, but if they are just getting used to wikis, I'd like them to focus their attention on visiting and updating the course wiki before they get too involved with their own wiki. However, I do think it could be a really great project - perhaps as an artifact to a self-directed learning assignment.

3. I'm very happy with the quality of what I've learned this semester. I was really impressed with how much I had accomplished in just 6 weeks - and it all seemed to be quality material that I was happy to add to my wiki.

4. With the building of the wiki, I realized I could search the internet for html codes for just about anything - and I was really impressed with my ability to do this (on my own accord) as I wouldn't have classified myself as a tech-savvy person before this class. I'm very confident in my skills at this point and realize that the beauty of the internet is that you can learn just about anything in just a few clicks, a few blog reads and a few "trial & errors."

Wk 5 November readings

Blog/Reading Questions:

• Should all teachers be encouraged to create online activities for students within traditional classrooms? Please explain.
• Envision the role of social networking in 21st century learning environments. Write a brief description of this vision.

I do think teachers should be encouraged to create online activities for students within traditional classrooms for many reasons. The first is students "live" online, so having online material is a great way to help students stay on top of their tasks outside of school. Also, learning should not be restricted to the classroom only - online learning is a great way to extend learning beyond the school room. Online learning also offers students' families to view and engage with the content. Online activities offer ways for students to connect with others - everyone from classmates to children from across the world. This is important because learning is social, so online connections can facilitate learning. Finally, we live in the information age - where information is plentiful and dynamic. Siemens theory of Connectivism would suggest creating online activities helps teach students how to navigate the sea of information, figure out how to access and use and as well as critically evaluating the information to see if it is useful or not.

I think social networking in the 21st century could be used to foster debates outside of the classroom which could lead to deeper understanding. This could be done through forums or blogs. Programs like iChat can serve as a way for students to have virtual study groups regardless of where they are. And since students are busier and busier, this offers a convenient way for them to connect with other students, and better information, at any time.

PowerPoint Presentation

I used PowerPoint to create a reference guide for my students on how to write a lab report. The intention would be to show this presentation in class and also upload it to my website so they could reference it at home.

I did use some of the challenging features like adding a chart and a table. I did try to use the narration feature, but had troubles. My computer said it saved it, but then when I played it back, there wasn't any narration. I'm going to try to talk with my classmates today to see what I did wrong. I also don't understand the smart-graphic feature - I don't understand its intentions. I'm interested in seeing a classmates presentation that includes this feature.

I did learn a lot of PowerPoint on a Mac - I'm more familiar with using PCs with ppt. However I'm now confident in my abilities to navigate through ppt on Macs. I also learned how to include a YouTube video in my presentation. (I had to first watch a YouTube video on how to play a YouTube video in a ppt.) I used mediaconverter.org to save the video file and then I was able to insert the file into my presentation.

I think ppt enhances presentations by providing visual stimulus thats helpful for visual learners. I also like that it can be uploaded to a course website so that students can print it out before class and take notes or they can reference it after class while they are studying or trying to write a lab report, for example. It also is a nice tool to present information in a clear, well laid out manner.

wk 5 Learning Theories T2P - Applying our Heuristic

If I experience problems in my class then I can apply the heuristic we developed in class today to either solve the problem or realize what I need to control myself to optimize my students' learning experiences. As a teacher it is imperative that I realize how my personal pedagogy affects my class dynamics and that my ability to control or change myself and my pedagogical practices will ultimately help me tailor my classroom so that I can truly teach for my students. For example, if I perceive an issue in my class, say I see a marked decrease in a student's academic performance, it is important for me to not jump to a potential fix and assume for example that they no longer care. I should collect more data and ask myself if I notice other changes within this student. Has attendance changed? Have other teachers noticed changes in this student's performance? Has this student's extra curricular activities changed? I could even ask this student if there is anything in particular that they perceive has become a problem.

Once I have collected this initial set of data, then I can make a preliminary hypothesis about what their issue might be. Say I've noticed a drop in attendance, the student has dropped extra curricular activities and is also suddenly performing poorly in other subjects. I might hypothesize that this student is experiencing issues at home that are distracting the student to the point where their affective domain is no longer conducive to learning.

I should then involve other experts - to come up with a good solution path. I can talk with the school guidance counselor. I can Google this issue to learn if other educators have experienced similar problems. I can inquire with the student's family - although this may be an area where I would need guidance from a school social worker as there may be an issue so severe that I am not equipped to manage it. Let's say this data all points to the fact that the students parents have both lost their jobs due to the recent economy and the student now has picked up a full time job outside of school to help cover family expenses.

At this point I can consider a solution path that fits with my pedagogy of democratic, social justice. Perhaps I could work with the student and the school guidance counselor to set up a work-study program for the student so they could obtain school credit for the work they do at their job. This might free up some time so this child can have a more manageable and meaningful adolescent high school experience.

If this is the path we all agree to put in place, it is my responsibility to continue to check in with this student to see if this path is helpful or not. If not, I need to go back to the drawing board and start again.

Learning Theories wk 5 T2P - YouTube Case Studies

1. Youth, Technology and Learning: Opportunities for Educators and Future Employers

If I recognize the ubiquitous, teen act of communicating through technology as a legitimate aspect of youth culture then Duncan-Andrade would argue that I can motivate them to learn by leveraging their culture. They use technology to communicate, to access information and to multi-task. As an example, in the YouTube video Youth, Technology and Learning: Opportunities for Educators and Future Employers four, female, soon-to-be high school sophomores discuss how social mediums frame the way they communicate and learn. Anna and Sara share that they are “used to texting while doing other things” like listening to music, watching TV and doing homework. In their very busy lives, they view texting as a new and efficient form of communicating; stating that one text can communicate to multiple people and texting is a lot faster than calling someone. Texting also allows them time to consider their thoughts before sending a statement, further making each communication more succinct and meaningful. The ever-present act of texting – Morgan texts an average of 12,000 times in one month – has instilled in them a sense of constant connectedness to each other. In addition to connecting with each other, their mobile technology affords them instant access to endless information. A Google search is just a text away. These students are very busy; never idle. They are used to “doing 10 things at once.” As a result, they consider a lecture and note-taking form of education to be slow, foreign, disengaging and flat out boring. Lecturing will not ignite “hot cognition” in these students. As an educator, it is my responsibility to remember that I am teaching for this busy, technology-savvy generation. Friere would advise that I need to start with the culture they know and to help them construct knowledge from there. I should borrow a page from Vicki Davis’ play book in that I must define the end goal for these students, and empower them to get there on their own. Autonomy will motivate them to learn. They already know how to access information. It is my job to show them how to use and critically evaluate it to obtain true subject-matter understanding.

2. Finding our Turf: Youth Voice

If African American youth are going through what Phinney calls the Ethnic Identity Search/Moratorium stage of development then may feel alienated by their dominant majority government because they feel that their government doesn't care about their needs (which unfortunately has proven too true in our history) and start to "opt-out" of the democratic process. A dangerous cycle can ensue - they don't speak up for their needs, their needs go unmet, they continue to feel disenfranchised and they are less likely to want to fight for their needs at all. This is demonstrated in the YouTube video Finding our Turf: Youth Voice where Silver Springs teens state whether or not they think the local Montgomery City government will provide them with a recreational center. Of all the youth interviewed, the African American youth feel the government will not listen to their request for a recreational center, which is in contrast to a small number of Caucasian youth who hopefully believe the government will provide for them they simply ask. As an educator, it is important to first understand how Phinney's model of Ethnic development can be used to describe the ways in which minorities view themselves in relation to the dominant culture in their society. In the case of this YouTube video, they feel powerless. This must be a scary and frustrating feeling. As an educator, this is a situation where Noddings would suggest the importance of showing these students how much you care for them and for their best interests, so that they may start to feel empowered to become active participants in American society. Teaching for a better democracy means preparing all students to be active and responsible members of society, where they feel their voice can be heard and they will fight for the belief that they deserve their needs must be met.

3. Youth Voices

Vygotsky teaches that if we can get to know our students, and really understand their social culture, then we can help them migrate to their next zone of proximal development because learning is social. In the YouTube video Youth Voices Eric, a 15 year old male high school student in Pacoima, CA talks about how his personal life affects his drive in and beyond school. His main concerns are the health, comfort and financial security of his father. He is motivated by the idea of a better life for himself and his family. After college, he plans on going to the military to be able to send money home and to free up a room that his parents can rent out. He asks that his teachers try to figure out what's going on with him. He wants a chance to try to figure things (school work) out because he doesn't always understand at first. He doesn't want to get "work service" (which seems like a physical labor type punishment) so he tries to not talk back to his teachers. In a situation like this, as a teacher, it might be easy to ignore Eric's needs of basic security, especially if he is behaving and not acting out in class. But when a student is single-mindedly focused on feeding his family, Maslow's hierarchy of needs dictates that he will not be able to obtain knowledge, let alone true agency. As a teacher, it is my responsibility to try to figure out kids like Eric and try to show them their potential beyond their current zone of proximal development.