Simple but Complicated

We had some speakers from Minnedosa come to our class today. Martin and Bryce talked to us about how 1:1 computing is working in their school. When doing 1:1 in the classroom they still use Blooms but like the SAMR model better because it is a model about how students use technology. Below is a picture of the model.

 



They strive to get students in the transformation region of the model as it demonstrates higher order thinking. They talked about how they have students do all sorts of projects using what ever technology they want. For example in math... yeah a real life math example :)... they get students to make videos anyway they would like about topics in math and the steps you need to follow.

I really like the idea of this and having someone who is actually trying it come and talk about both the positives and negatives was great. One thing I am still not sure about is that the school provides the technology. I think that this would just create problems in a larger school since you will most likely have more students who may not like school so could wreck their devices. I like the idea of having a bring your own device system. This way students are comfortable with their devices and will take care of them while learning!
Below is a 6 minute video on why going 1:1 is not really a choice if we want our students to succeed

Tweet Tweet Twitter

Tech Task #3. For this class I was finally forced to get twitter. I didn't really want to but I was optimistic and started an account.... I have loved it! I don't tweet much but more follow things I am interested in to stay updated more easily. I have also found some interesting people and groups that I have not heard of before and have followed them. It is not something I will use for my social life but it is definitely a tool I will use to find ideas for all aspects of my life not just teaching. I am still not sure yet if I would use it in my classroom but who knows, like teaching and the internet... anything is possible :).

Online Classes in Manitoba

We were fortunate enough to have two speakers from Winnipeg come talk to us about online courses in Manitoba. This was an eye-opening talk for me because I didn't even think Manitoba had online courses for high school students. The thing is though Manitoba actually has a total of 43 online course available and they range from grade 5 to grade 12 level. Since I knew nothing about these I went and looked around even more after the talk. The online courses are all laid out based on the curriculum outcomes so they are exactly what you need for the credit. We discussed the positives of these great courses. Accessibility is infinite if you have internet access. Therefore for students up north who can't get to a school regularly it allows them to still get their credits and graduate. Also some of the courses are not offered at every school so if a student is interested in something they can still do it online. I really wish I had the opportunity to take agriculture and it is a course that is offered online so students can now take it regardless if their school offers it or not. This is also really beneficial for students who become parents before graduating this way they can be at home with their child and do their schooling online when they want.

http://www.ivoclarvivadent.us/en-us/ivoclar-vivadent-online-learning-center/

Organizing Your Online Life

Tech task #2. We have looked at and discussed different ways of organizing yourself online. Before this class I just used the classic "add to favourites". This works but it does take some effort and time organizing it as well. We talked about a few other ones in class that allow you to access your information from any computer. For example Pinterest, Diigo and Feedly are just a few. After exploring these tools for curation I found I really like Feedly. Both the computer and mobile interfaces are really simple to follow and use. I also found when searching for things on Feedly  I found a lot of things I like and everything that came up was relevant to what I searched for. This may not be the case for everyone that has tried Feedly but it was for me. Below is a picture of what the mobile interface looks like.

I believe it is important for anyone who will be using the internet for resources to have themselves organized. Teachers and students don't have time to try and remember every site they like and think they might use so curation makes it simple. As a teacher I would give my students the choice of what they want to use because they might find something they prefer better than feedly.

Online Life for Young Canadians

What does online life look for the average young Canadian? This was the question posed and then answered in the article Young Canadians in a Wired World. This weeks article began by stating that 99% of students have internet outside of school. At first I thought that it sounded high but when I stepped back and started writing this post I think that it might actually be right. As I type this on my laptop at home and I will post it using my phone after I re-read it from wherever I am that I get cell service.

With this stat it made us pose the question if they have it and are using it out of school why shouldn't we get them using it more in schools? To do this and get the technology to each student it will cost schools a lot of money therefore I think BYOD (bring your own device) is the way to go. This of course brings up some issues as well. Students who cannot afford their own device would have to be supplied one which would still create some costs for the school. Also teachers would may need to learn a variety of devices and how they work in case a student doesn't know how to do something on their device. This being said and after reading the article linked above I believe it would be a really rare case that a student wouldn't know how to do something on their device.

Some strong positives for BYOD could be that students will take better care of the device since it is actually their own and it was not supplied by the school. They won't be able to use the excuse I don't know how to do that since it is not what I use usually. I feel that since it is the students personal device that they will bring it charged and with the charger most days.

Either way you look at it, students having accessibility to internet and devices at school is the important part. Regardless of whether the device is provided or if it is their own but I think it will be better and also faster to implement if it was BYOD.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/cainc/6283248242/

Online Presence Judged Offline?

We have discussed in class about: digital identity - how you  are seen and act online

                                                       digital dualism - online and offline life is completely separate

                                                       technological determinism - a society's technology can influence                                                                                                                                           .                                                                                                    the society's values and culture

The two big ones that I found important are the first two. First digital dualism, I do agree that both lives are completely separate but most people end up attributing online images to an offline person. With this being said this is why both a person's online and offline life need to reflect there values. So yes you can have to completely different lives, one online and one offline, but in the end they should reflect a person'a core values and beliefs. With this being said it leads right into digital identity. The importance of how you are perceived online depends, unfortunately, on your age and profession. After grade 12 is when your identity online becomes relevant. Post secondary, jobs, housing, etc. are all kinds of things that might take a look at you online. If someone researches you online and finds something they don't like they may put your name at the bottom of the pile. 

So what does this mean for teachers?? Well first we need to really make sure anything we have online that may be interpreted, even a little bit negatively is not put online. Also we need to make sure our students understand how their online presence can affect their offline life. As an example I know of people who search people online when they get their resume... if they see something they don't like online about this person they don't get the job and most of the time they aren't asked to explain why such things are on the internet.

http://www.launchablemag.com/?page=post&title=Startups-Build-Your-Online-Presence