I am excited about the future of our education system and the integration of technology in the classroom. Like the Horizon reported noted, the role of the teacher will shift, and I believe the use and availability of technology will allow teachers to adopt an inquiry teaching approach.
What is most exciting about the future of technology in the classroom is the emerging trend of 1:1 ratios between technology and students. I enjoy the concept of 1:1 because it means a student has limitless resources at their fingertips.
What is best about the integration of technology into the classroom, and as it continues to grow in the future is the change it can bring in instruction and assessment. We have talked about the shift from students being consumers to creators and proper integration of technology allows that. I'm hoping more teachers shift to the model Bryce Ridgen has created in his classroom, that is what I view as proper integration of technology!
Friday, March 6, 2015
Monday, March 2, 2015
TT #11 - Show and Tell
My show and tell app is the same I presented at the BYTE conference last Friday. The app is called Ubersense and is a free download for Apple devices. Ubersense is a video analysis app that is geared toward PE teachers and coaches, although can be used cross-curricularly as a slow motion camera for HALEP or Science classes. Ubersense is great for showing students the progression of a skill (such as a volleyball smash) with a side by side comparison. The app is also great for having students create, evaluate, or analyze (thinking of Bloom's Taxonomy) for a summative project. Check it out.
http://www.ubersense.com
http://www.ubersense.com
Podcast (TT #8) - "Waiting for Superman"
For TT #8 I chose to watch the documentary recommended by Jennifer Dyck-Sprout, "Waiting for Superman" as opposed to listening to a podcast. The idea of Charter Schools was mentioned by Jennifer last week in her presentation to our class, and is the theme of the film.
The documentary outlines the failed public school systems in NewYork and Los Angeles and follows children of varying ages on their path to escape the public school system and dreams of winning a lottery that would gain them entrance into a Charter School, schools that have a higher quality of education and greater success rates without cost to the parents.
What is most sad about the documentary is the lengths these parents, who are mostly low income families, will go to provide a quality education for their children, but no matter the lengths these parts are willing to go, such as waking up at 5am and riding a train across New York City to get to school by 7:45, the hopes of the parents and students are held in the hands of a lottery.
The film portrays the concept of Charter Schools both as a positive and negative. On one side it is great that parents who cannot afford to spend thousands of dollars on private school have the chance to send their child to a school that can provide them with a proper education, and possibly a future at a post secondary institution. On the other it is sad how schools across the United States have become "drop out factories" with students seeing very little chance at success.
It is a frightening reality that students as young as k-2 already have their academic future mapped out for them. The chances of attending a post secondary institution without attending a Charter or Private school are almost impossible. Hopefully Canada does not follow the path of our southern neighbours.
As for using podcasts in the classroom I can see how the would be great in an English setting, in particular using them in a Lit Circle format. By having students in Lit Circles create a podcast as opposed to talking without any type of moderation, the students are more likely to take the process seriously and less likely to get off track due to the teacher being able to listen to the podcast after. It would act as a classroom management strategy. The podcast would also act as a way for students to track the progression of their reading. Creating a podcast would also act as a great summative assessment much like the final projects in this class.
The documentary outlines the failed public school systems in NewYork and Los Angeles and follows children of varying ages on their path to escape the public school system and dreams of winning a lottery that would gain them entrance into a Charter School, schools that have a higher quality of education and greater success rates without cost to the parents.
What is most sad about the documentary is the lengths these parents, who are mostly low income families, will go to provide a quality education for their children, but no matter the lengths these parts are willing to go, such as waking up at 5am and riding a train across New York City to get to school by 7:45, the hopes of the parents and students are held in the hands of a lottery.
The film portrays the concept of Charter Schools both as a positive and negative. On one side it is great that parents who cannot afford to spend thousands of dollars on private school have the chance to send their child to a school that can provide them with a proper education, and possibly a future at a post secondary institution. On the other it is sad how schools across the United States have become "drop out factories" with students seeing very little chance at success.
It is a frightening reality that students as young as k-2 already have their academic future mapped out for them. The chances of attending a post secondary institution without attending a Charter or Private school are almost impossible. Hopefully Canada does not follow the path of our southern neighbours.
As for using podcasts in the classroom I can see how the would be great in an English setting, in particular using them in a Lit Circle format. By having students in Lit Circles create a podcast as opposed to talking without any type of moderation, the students are more likely to take the process seriously and less likely to get off track due to the teacher being able to listen to the podcast after. It would act as a classroom management strategy. The podcast would also act as a way for students to track the progression of their reading. Creating a podcast would also act as a great summative assessment much like the final projects in this class.
BYTE 2015
Last Friday marked the BYTE conference held at Crocus Plains. Jon Filewich and myself were participants and presented on the use of technology in Physical Education. Our session primarily focused on using video analysis apps in Phys Ed, outlining the uses as a means of showing students how skill are properly preformed as well as how they can be used to create summative assessments.
Prior to this semester my background in Phys Ed was non-existent, but I do have an interest in technology and effective integration into the classroom. My interest in the topic was spurred from this desire for effective use of technology as well the Early Years Phys Ed methods class I took this semester.
I believe the conference was a success and I hope those who attended our session left with a desire to implement technology into Phys Ed to improve both Physical and Digital Literacy.
Prior to this semester my background in Phys Ed was non-existent, but I do have an interest in technology and effective integration into the classroom. My interest in the topic was spurred from this desire for effective use of technology as well the Early Years Phys Ed methods class I took this semester.
I believe the conference was a success and I hope those who attended our session left with a desire to implement technology into Phys Ed to improve both Physical and Digital Literacy.
Sunday, March 1, 2015
Everfi & Charter Schools
This week we were lucky enough to have Jennifer Dyck-Sprout visit our class. Jennifer has an interesting background when it comes to her career in education. Currently she works for Everfi, but previously has worked in New York and is familiar with the New York School Division.
Although Jennifer came primarily to talk about Everfi (check it out here -http://www.everfi.com) what resinated most with me was the discussion and comparison between Manitoba school and the New York School Division. Jennifer didn't sugar coat the fact that their are major flaws in the education system in New York. She outlined the premise of Charter Schools which are publicly funded like a general public school, except admissions are based on a lottery.
I am torn about the idea of Charter Schools in New York. On one hand it is great to see that students who come from lower income families have the opportunity to receive a quality education and are not excluded because of a cheque book. On the other hand it is sad that public schools in New York have such a dismal graduation rate, and in a sense whether you gain entrance into a Charter School or not is the determining factor of a post secondary education. Hopefully this is a short term solution to the education crisis in the city and next focus will be on improving public schools.
Although Jennifer came primarily to talk about Everfi (check it out here -http://www.everfi.com) what resinated most with me was the discussion and comparison between Manitoba school and the New York School Division. Jennifer didn't sugar coat the fact that their are major flaws in the education system in New York. She outlined the premise of Charter Schools which are publicly funded like a general public school, except admissions are based on a lottery.
I am torn about the idea of Charter Schools in New York. On one hand it is great to see that students who come from lower income families have the opportunity to receive a quality education and are not excluded because of a cheque book. On the other hand it is sad that public schools in New York have such a dismal graduation rate, and in a sense whether you gain entrance into a Charter School or not is the determining factor of a post secondary education. Hopefully this is a short term solution to the education crisis in the city and next focus will be on improving public schools.
Sunday, February 22, 2015
WestCAST 2015
WestCAST 2015 was a huge success, not only was it a break from the final hectic weeks of school, but also a great opportunity to meat new people in the education field and continue my learning through professional development. Two items of the conference stuck out to me the most:
1: Jay Wilson, the keynote speaker, discussed the role of technology in education. He emphasized the importance of educating our students to become good digital citizens. Although this is not a groundbreaking topic, it is something that cannot be stressed enough. Take the time to educate your current or future students to be good citizens both online and in the non-virtual world.
2: A group named STARS (Student Teachers Anti-Racism Society) discussed the prevalence of racism among todays students. Often this racism is learned or expressed somewhere online, whether that be in the comment section on YouTube, behind a Twitter handle, or through a gaming console. By teaching students to be good digital citizens hopefully the trend of "cyber" bullying is eliminated.
I can't help but think back to how Bryce Ridgen models the use of Twitter in the classroom, and although this is not something that can be as easily done in a middle years setting, in high school I think it is valuable. By having a teacher encourage proper use of Twitter and be aware of what students are tweeting I think it is less likely the students are using the site inappropriately.
Monday, February 16, 2015
Comment on a blog (TT #10)
I chose to comment on a blog from Mrs. Krowchuk's class in Boissevain School. Not only is this my alma mater but this is the class that I will be student teaching in come March. I commented on a few of the students blogs but like Jon I will let the pictures do the talking so here is one.
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