Week 5 Linking people and ideas

For me, much of this week was about links - tenuous as some were. The week started with our class linking together on line with Elluminate (R). It worked, but not as well as an in-person class would have. I'd have gladly come to the campus to get more out of the 3 hours we spent. Nevertheless, most of the class linked up. The voice, chat, and whiteboard features enabled alot of ideas to surface. Group-1 did their presentation and included some features that would not be possible without computer connection. These included a quick survey and a pop quiz. Those interactive features made the connection to me that indeed more may be possible with a digitally connected classroom, than an in-person one. Kudos to Group-1!

The mind mapping and concept mapping exercises made a lot of connections for me as well. Not only in the diagrams themselves, which connected related ideas, but the very idea of graphic organizers as for visual representations of information made a connection. From a heiarchial chart, to a KWL chart, a pie graph, schematic diagram, fishbone diagram, flowchart, story chart, mind map, or concept map, these are all visual organizations of knowledge or ideas. They are tools we've used in industry, in physics, in literature, and other fields. I had never collected them all together in the concept of "graphic orgainizers". I see that visualizing information in these different ways can be so powerful (as opposed to say prose on a page, or verbalized). This also gives me a glimpse as to the power of gaming, or simulation software. Much of what we've done in the past on computers has been static (i.e. pictures or words). But the net-gen is more familiar with richly annimated dynamic representations of information. Could that lead to a powerful new level of learning?

Finally, this week continued the theme of critical thinking and evaluation of media, in a topic called, "media literacy". I believe this really is very important for a thinking society. I have had contact with Ithaca College's, "Project Look Sharp" and with Alan November in the past. It was nice to see this in the curriculum of a Teaching with Technology course, although, I have to admit, I didn't exactly see the connection to the mind-mapping assignments.

My greatest disappointment with this course has been with the organization. I beleive I could have learned more and better, and in less time, with a more structured organization. With all the tools we've been learning about for organizing ideas, I wish I could see them used to organize the material in this course better for me. The final connection may be, for me to use those tools in the classes I teach in the future.

Week 4 Reflections

I wish I could say this course is getting better. It's not. Maybe I am what was referred to in one source (I don't even remember which), as a "linear sequential thinker". At any rate, I am finding this course less and less valuable and even more frustrating as time goes on. (OK, It's past 1am. Maybe I'm tire too.)

I can't even count the number of hours we've spent on this course this week, and dare not think about the impact it is having on my other courses. I need to remind myself to keep thinking positive.

This week we had an on-line collaborative group meeting, an in-person collaborative group meeting, and numerous telephone calls and emails to put together the Newsletter project along with all day Friday working on that project. Thanks to Amy for assembling it from our input over the weekend.

Today, the day was spent evaluating websites. They were gold-plated websites, yet I had to go through a 50-point checklist for each one, including evaluation summaries and a summative reflection on the experience. Here is the reflection....

Web Site Evaluation Reflection

This is a reflection after evaluating three physics websites for teachers (and secondary students) using evaluation criteria listed in Kathy Schrock’s Critical Evaluation Survey: Teacher Sites (Schrock, 2008). All three sites were substantial bodies of content very likely to be used by a high school physics teacher, and offered to his/her students. They were published by reputable national institutions intended to take physics education technology to the next level in the richness of the learning experience. The evaluation exercise forced me to take an organized metacognitive look at the sites. Whereas I previously would have been satisfied with their content, the evaluation exercise lead me to examine the sites in a way that lead me to confidently use and recommend these sites while maintaining the highest professional standards. It also helped me understand the particular strengths each web site offered. For example, the PhET site (Podolefsky, Adams, Reid, & Harlow, 2008) lends itself to the richest and strongest inquiry based learning experience of the sites evaluated. The Teacher’s Domain (Teacher’s Domain, 2008) site had the most to offer in terms of directly connecting the content with the associated learning standards for specific grade levels in New York State. The examination of the MITOpenCourseWare site (Lewin, 1999) led me to appreciate the power of direct instruction available through the resources no high school could hope to have available otherwise. The credentials of each of these sites are of the highest caliber. The evaluation lead me to a position where I feel I can confidently use these materials in my classrooms, my own professional development, and with my future colleagues.

References

Lewin, W. (1999). Video index for lecture 10: Hook., MIT Opencourseware | Physics | 8.01 Physics 1: Classical Mechanics, Fall 1999: MITOpenCourseWare.

Podolefsky, N., Adams, W., Reid, S., & Harlow, D. (2008). Wave Interference [Electronic Version]. PhET: Physics Education Technology. Retrieved September 21, 2008 from http://phet.colorado.edu/index.php.

Schrock, K. (2008). Critical evaluation surverys and resources [Electronic Version]. Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators. Retrieved September 21, 2008 from http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schrockguide/eval.html.

Teachers' Domain, Amplitude, published August 9, 2007, retrieved on September 21, 2008, from http://www.teachersdomain.org/resource/lsps07.sci.phys.energy.amplitude/

Week 3 Reflection - The Net Gen Lives

After an intense two week introduction to the applications listed last week, this week was a bit of a breather, and an opportunity to start seeing these in context.

The readings, video clips, and exercises were designed for us to glimpse the cultural context of the "digital learner" in today's schools. I could go on to reflect on the cultural shifts described in the study material, or the imperatives for creative, and collaborative learning that today's students expect using technologies that engage them. Instead, I'd like to tell you about two new blogs I set up this week, after starting this one.

One blog was for members of a team I volunteer with. The idea was to set up a private blog for the team members to share ideas about the group's long term plans. We are planning a fireside retreat in 4 months, but I thought preparation via an asynchronos discussion on the blog might get us going. The other members of the group are brilliant organizers, very well educated, and over 60 years old. It's been close to a week, and none of the other members have quite figured out how to connect to the blog. I'll walk them through it when I get a chance.

The other blog is a "family blog". It is a private place where my daughters, my wife, brother-in-law, and wife's parents can share with each other reflections of our days. My older daughter was born in 1997 (now 11), and so would qualify for membership in the Net-Gen. As boomer parents, we've been quite protective of her exposure to "screen time", but "allow her" to use the computer for a few minutes nearly daily. Shortly after I set up our family blog, my daughter was bubbling with excitement to get started, and within a few minutes, and our cautious supervision, she had her first g-mail account. When I got home the next day, I checked the blog. To my surprise, not only had she logged in and posted to it, but in addition to the text, was an image she'd taken of herself (copied above), as well as a creative and digitally enhance video she'd made expressing her excitement about hoping to finally get a chance to use a real blog. I was amazed. The creativity and enthusiasm for collaboration that reached this 11 year old, (and in this respect, I don't consider her much different from her cohorts) truly illustrated the point. Teachers couldn't spend enough at their local dollar stores, on stickers, pencils, and other rewards, to buy that level of engagement. Clearly, for better or worse, technology engages today's students. Teachers would be wise to employ it. Even if that means stepping out of their "comfort zones".

Last Monday (9/8/08) our Teaching with Technology class had its first on-line session together. The excitement of my kids, and the children of others, at seeing the technology, and learning something from their parents was compelling. So does this mean that as teachers we need to stay ahead of our students in order for them to learn? When it comes to technology, I don't believe that is necessary. But I do believe Don Knezek, ISTE CEO, 2008 put it well: "Teachers must become comfortable as co-learners with their students and with colleagues around the world. Today it is less about staying ahead and more about moving ahead as members of dynamic learning communities."

Week 1-2 Reflections at Midnight

It's Sunday 9/8/08 just about midnight and I am feeling both excited and disappointed in this course. I'm disappointed because I have spent an extraordinary amount of time on this course (instead of with my family) and with the feeling like everything was coming at me at once. I feel excited, because I know a lot of it can be very useful. If fact I feel it is so useful, that I've enlisted a group of friends with whom I am sharing tidbits of what I learn each day. So far they have been delighted!

PDF printing: I learned how easy it is to create and save PDF files (using CutePDF).

Blogging: I learned how easy it is to set up a blog, and that it can be a valuable tool for reflective thinking -- alone, and with others.

Wiki: I learned that a wiki is a tool that can far surpass email for coordinating events between groups of people. I am involved in numerous volunteer efforts, and can see the value immediately for organizing. A memorable point was when I realized that I might be able to use a wiki to gain insight from physics students and physics teachers, all of which might help me become a better teacher.

Personal Web Site (PWS): I found that refining a website can take a lot of time, but it will form a good basis for assembling an e-portfolio down the road.

Changes in Learning Culture: The videos and presentations related to Web 2.0 and the highly interactive nature of today's adolescents was enlightening. I was surprised that fantasy-based learning surpassed reality based learning, but can now recognize that in my own daughter's education.

Level of Technology Implementation (LoTi): I was surprized to learn that much of the technology I've seen in schools, really just touches the surface, and that much higher levels can be achieved.

Whole Class Meeting: I appreciated having met the members of the class, the instructor, and my group personally. It helps me recognize the real people behind all those discussion posts.

Group Meeting: The group meeting was clearly the most memorable moment of this course so far. I so appreciated having connected with them by voice so that we could talk together.

Problems and Frustrations: I was working full time the first week and the second Monday class meeting was lost to Labor Day, so it felt like too much at once to get a handle on. Moreover, trying to do work on the MSMC campus was frustrating because the server moves are causing the school system to run extraordinarily slow. I don't know what "Tapped-In" is going to be used for. I can't distinguish written directions by my instructor from advertising statements. I worry about the security of my computer getting compromised, by all the accounts I set up. WiZiQ did not work as expected. I'm still not sure where assignments are supposed to go (DF or PWF).

I know that when I first started looking for physics resources on the internet last year, I was overwhelmed by the quantity of excellent (and lousy) material that is out there. At this point, I need to have faith that the overwhelming feeling will come together by the end of this course, and more importantly, when I start teaching. Given the number of things I've learned this week (and had difficulty with), I can readily see how many teachers would be discouraged by these technologies, and give up on most of it. I'll hang in there though.

Just starting to blog

Strange to feel like I'm just becoming literate. This is my first blog. I am creating it as an initial assignment in a Teaching with Technology course. It should be fun to see the progression of my own learning between now and the end of the semester.

As an mechanical engineer, to me"technology" often related to physics, and humankind's forming and use of physical objects in the world. I am finding that in education, the term is more narrowly interpreted to refer to electronic technology, and usually more specifically, to computer software.

Computer software knowledge can be useful and fun, but I've always thought of it as fleeting knowledge that quickly becomes obsolete.

So the question is, "By the time I'm teaching Physics in a year or two, will people be blogging anymore?"