Learning Object

Last week I explored an online resource called Coggle.

I have only great things to share about Coggle, and you can check out this resource yourself through the link below.

https://coggle.it/

C, Duffy. (2016). Coggle Mind Map [Online Image]
Retrieved October 20th, 2016 from My Documents

C, Duffy. (2016). Popplet Mind Map [Online Image]
Retrieved October 20th, 2016 from My Documents

Initial introduction into Coggle is highly user friendly, providing a very brief tutorial video to familiarize users with the functions of the app.  The app itself is also very easy to use and visual appealing with different colours and line formats that you can choose from.  By this I mean, instead of just boring straight lines, Coggle allows you to move the lines in any direction you chose, making the process seem a bit more fun.

To the left are two examples of online mind map generators, the first being Coggle, the second Popplet.  These images show how Coggle differs from your average mind map generator.  With the different colours, the non straight lines and without the confinements of the boxes around text, I believe it appears to be more inviting, especially for elementary student users.


Coggle can be utilized in various ways and for various subjects.  In language and literacy, students can use Coggle to show character development.  In science, students can use Coggle to show the different causes and effects of experiments.  In Social Studies, students can use Coggle to show the development of a nation or government.  The list goes on, showing that Coggle can be used in a multitude of ways.

As well, Coggle has a sharing feature enabled which allows students to collaborate ideas and peer edit each others work.  This function can be used for whole class discussion as well, wherein students can add their ideas from their desks and in real time, the class as a whole can see how the mind map grows as individuals continue to add ideas.

Overall, Coggle is a highly impressive tool that all teachers should check out!

To Tech or Not To Tech?

Flick learning. (2015). Blended learning [Online Image].
Retrieved October 13, 2016 from http://bit.ly/2e5Fqe2

Knowing when to utilize technology in the classroom is imperative for effective teaching.  This week we looked at the difference between online classrooms and blended classrooms, which are very easily confused due to the technological aspect of these approaches.  While blended learning uses online application for collaboration, we must make sure we do not over do it with the technology.  Check out this blog which highlights the proportions of online facilitation Is blended learning the best of both worlds?

What differs blended learning from online learning is that blended learning couples face to face instruction with the technological usage.  This is why it is so important to know the line of when to use technology.  Do not completely abandon traditional teaching methods in place for technology just because.  Rather, use technology and apps WITH your traditional teaching methods.

This week we explored a couple new online apps to utilize in the class room.  The two I explored this week were Toondoo and Coggle.

Toondoo

Toondoo is an interesting online resource to be used in the classroom, which very much resembles the notable app "Bit Strips."  With Toondoo, teachers and students can create small comic strips or stories.  As it has a comic strip feature, Toondoo is probably not best used for detailed explanations, but rather for students to practice smaller concepts such as, classroom rules.  Students can work individually or placed into groups to make strips on the rules and then present them to the class. 

I also found it to be very useful for differentiated learning to incorporate different reading levels within one lesson, therefore students at lower levels will not feel left out because you can choose the level of vocabulary used in your comic strip. 

Overall, Toondoo is an engaging and interactive tool to get students excited about learning.  Use Toondoo in any subject lesson, an English lesson to mark key points in a story, a math lesson and bring literature into math, a science lesson by showing different theory's outside of a textbook context- it is a great tool for visual learners.

Students will enjoy using Toondoo, though it didn't find it to be the most user friendly and a bit overwhelming, once playing around with the app it becomes easier.  The downfall I do see with Tondoo is however, it can be time consuming.  Students will need time to discover how to use the app and then once familiar with the app, may get bogged down on the fancy add-ons appose to the actual content.  

Coggle

Coggle is a great tool to incorporate for blended learning!  It is an online app that allows you to brainstorm by making concept maps.  There are plenty of apps out there like this one such as Popple or Bubble.us however, Coggle is my favourite!  First its simplicity makes it very user friendly for the classroom- when the days already seem short enough the last thing you want to do is waste classroom time on figuring out basic ideas of an app. The simplicity of this resource begins right when you arrive on the site, it has a quick and easy tutorial video showing users all the basic and key functions of Coggle.

Another key component of Coggle is its ability to invite others to share and edit your work.  This is great for blended learning as it allows students to collaborate and brainstorm with one another.  This concept can also be very useful during instruction in order to get quieter students to speak up without having to do the public speaking.  Students can add information to the concept map from their own devices at their desk and if it is projected, the class will be able to see all the changes being made when they are happening.  

This is another tool that is great to increase student interactivity and heighten learning for visual learners.  It also gets students involved in the instructional aspect of the lesson, which would be engaging for kinesethetic learners.  

Coggle would be a great tool again for all subjects.  At the beginning of a lesson you could create a wonder map with the class.  For instance we are going to be learning about WW2, what do you want to know?  Students will then be instructed to add their thoughts to the concept map.  This could be a good way to keep students involved throughout the lesson. 

Duffy, C. (2016). Coggle Mind Map [Online Image]. Retrived October 14, 2016
 from Coggle.it

Both resources, Toondoo and Coggle are great for the classroom.  Toondoo will help students to understand a variety of texts beyond novels and short stories and further, will teach them how to create their own.  This is a skill that can then be transferable into other subjects while simultaneously meeting strands under the media literacy section of the curriculum.  Coggle involves students in active brainstorming and collaboration.  This app reinforces and molds students planning, processing, critical and creative skills.  

Now these are great tools to add into the classroom, but moderation is also key and remembering to maintain a balance with technology and traditional learning methods maintains an effective blended learning environment!

Benvenuto, V. (2015). Benjamin Franklin quote [online image]. Retrieved October 14, 2016 from http://www.pixteller.com/img/37610

                         

Tech-no Problem!

Delving into a tech course at the beginning of September was highly overwhelming until I began to see it's simplicity.  I have always been the type to pawn off my technological problems to someone who knew it better than I did- though the answers are easily accessible through Google or Youtube.  Now, I still can not reconfigure the hardware data on your laptop, but I have learned how to use unique online apps to integrate not only in the classroom, but my daily life as well.  Some include, but are certainly not limited to:

Animoto
Bubbl.us
Plickers
Popplet
Powtoon
Read Write Think-Trading Card Creator

All of these resources are great to integrate some creativity and excitement in your classroom!  This week we discovered how to use Google Drive to create surveys and this has saved my genius hour!  Last week I had been finding it difficult to find mutual times to set up Q and A's with participants of my research from over sea's.  However, using Google Surveys I was able to construct the same interview in a written format and facilitate the Q and A at a conducive time for everyone.

With this I had to adjust my Genius Hour, but such implications are great steps for learning and growth!

With such implications I have also learned to embrace tech issues on my own, which will make me a more effective teacher in the future.  How much did we all huff and puff at teachers who took up the majority of the class trying to figure out tech issues- at times just getting a Youtube video on with sound.  Students are incredibly receptive to the small things.

Kyle Schwartz, a third grade teacher, conducted a short survey on her students that asked one question "I wish my teacher knew_________" students were required to fill in the blank and the answers she received she found to be insightful enough to compulate into a book!  "I Wish my Teacher Knew: How One Question Can Change Everything For Our Kids" I have recently started to read and I highly suggest it to everyone looking to gain some insight into what students think and want.  The tech issue was one!  Students want their teacher to be tech savvy!

So, take the plunge!  Throw yourself out of your comfort zone if you have a "tech phobia" as I once did, and immerse yourself into the super creative and cool world of technology.  In a math lesson, throw in Twitter and get students engaged with brainstorming activities- a very cool account to follow is @MathInTheNews.  This account takes real life news and turns them into math problems- see HOW kids collaborate to solve problems on Twitter.

Instead of using your regular boring power point, try out Animoto or Powtoon, which you may be surprised can be even easier than power point and way more engaging!

In a social studies lesson try out Read Write Think-Trading Card Creator to familiarize students with political leaders.  Create a game and have students trade as if the are Pokemon cards, this can get students more familiar with certain leaders merit in an engaging way- be sure to vary up the vocabulary so that students of all reading levels can enjoy!

For those that may still have some restraints check out this educators tips for conquering your tech phobia on Education World.  Here, Owen shows how to properly and effectively use technology in the classroom and how us educators can work with technology and not against it.

So, take the leap!  And next time a tech problem arises, tell yourself "tech-NO problem!"

Genius Hour Blog

Welcome!

This week I began my initial research for our genius hour projects and one very important finding came up...

I love genius hour!

Bradshaw, R. (2015). Students Leading Learning [Online Image].
Retrived October 2, 2016 from http://bit.ly/2eq0u23

Teachers college is a unique experience and a very new experience for us university undergrads.  This is because of its highly creative nature.  But, what I like most about it is that our teachers are not up their lecturing, they are teaching theory and teaching techniques through practice.  This gives us teacher candidates an opportunity to evaluate what we like and don't like about certain techniques.

So from this experience, I've learned that genius hour is in fact an activity I would do with future classes.  I like genius hour for its versatility which includes, its large scope in practice, its endless options for topics, its ability to enhance research capabilities and its highly embedded in notions of being a good digital citizen.

Large Scope in Practice

I love genius hour because it is an activity that can be used on a larger scale, such as the one we are doing currently.  Large scale projects similar to this one would be beneficial to wrap up a unit.  Students will already have knowledge on the subject matter, but to dig a little deeper, we can get students to ask one last question.

What are you wondering now that you know what you know?

Such projects would be ideal for any subject- wrapping up a history lesson on WW1 or a science lesson on heat and light.

Or alternatively, genius hour projects can be cultivated on a much smaller scale.  In this circumstance, maybe students only need to write one paragraph explaining what they've found.  Teachers can facilitate smaller scaled genius hour projects through more engaging means such as twitter.

At the end of that science or history lesson, a teacher can post a video or a relateable subject to twitter and get students to answer it as homework- or even at the beginning of a lesson to get students interested and excited about what they are going to learn.

Endless Options of Topics

Tucker, S. (2014).  Bored kid in class [online image].  Retrieved September 30, 2016

         from http://bit.ly/2dcVV91

Genius hour tailors to all types of learners- how many times have you seen this image above in the classroom?  You've assigned a task, but the student "doesn't know what to write" this image is all too ubiquitous.  Genius hour mitigates this effect by allowing students to pursue what they want!  While replying to my fellow class mates on their topic ideas, I noticed some very interesting questions, yet I would be this kid in the image above every night as I tried to engage myself simply because I don't have a desire to speak Japanese and I don't like macaroons.  And this goes for my classmates as well-my genius hour project is heavily based on research, which would absolutely bore some people.

Enhances Research Skills

Proper research skills can be a difficult task to master, especially when you're researching something you have absolutely no interest in.  Genius hour gives students the excitement to want to research, while increasing their ability to distinguish credible sources from non credible sources.  Students will also learn how to be a good digital citizen through real life practice.  In doing so, many areas of the curriculum for the media studies strand can be checked of without boring students with a lesson on it.

Valentina, A. (2015).  Research your question [Online Image].
             Retrieved September 30, 2016 from http://bit.ly/2cQXuK4 

These are only some of the many benefits of genius hour.  For my genius hour, I have decided to cross reference definitions of altruism across different cultures through video interviews.  The flexibility of genius hour has allowed me to gain contact with many of the people I have met along the way of my travels throughout the years- this is incredibly exciting!  This aspect of the assignment makes me excited to research and work on the project.

With this approach there have certainly been a few hiccups along the way- one significant one being time differences!  When I'm finished work/school here at 5pm it's nearly midnight in many places of the world, making interviews a little bit tricky to conduct.  Now that this stage is complete, moving forward I need to conceive of a way to organize the findings I've incurred through interviews.

All Rights Reserved

Welcome back, this week has a focus in Copyright policies.

What does copyright mean?

Wikimedia Commons. (2010) [Online Image]. Retrieved on September 22, 2016 from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ME_109_Thief.png

Well, I thought I knew, and I guess I knew the basics- but the guidelines extend so much further than I ever imagined.

• You can hand out only a short excerpt to students in a handout
• "Short" means up to 10% of a copyrighted work only
• You can use statues, regulations and court decisions BUT not if you life in Manitoba, Nunavut or Quebec

Copyright guidelines are riddled with these contingencies, but the basics of it are still not hard to follow and moreover, are important to follow.  Though all throughout our school careers the always dreaded and tedious task of creating a works cited page was I think every students worst nightmare, these pages have crucial roles in academic work.  Works cited pages are there to maintain the integrity and ownership of the writers original thinking/work.  

Teaching this concept to younger students could pose some challenges as they would have a harder time in seeing its importance.  "Well if they put it online for everyone to see then they obviously don't mind, its what they want." But think about a time when you told someone a good joke (one you made up on your own) and then later you hear that person retelling YOUR joke and everyone laughs, but they take the credit- sucks doesn't it?!

Friends- Chandler and Ross Fight About the Joke. [YouTube Video]. (2004). Retrieved September

               21, 2016 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVq94nRrj5s

Since copyright guidelines can be easily confusing and maybe a little tricky to manouever explaining every stipulation to them is probably going to be too much, as well as irrelevant.  But it is still important to teach students about plagiarism and protecting their own work as well, or else you'll end up like Ross and Chandler.  While teaching students about the importance of copyright guidlines I would also find it important to teach students HOW to copy right their work through creative commons- something I didn't know before this week.

When you publish anything online whether it be a picture, a piece of writing, a video etc. you automatically have an all rights reserved copyright to that piece of work.  This copyright restricts anyone from using this work.  But what about when you make music and you wnt people to download it or do a study and want people to use the findings what then?  I think its important to teach students how to share their creativity with the world.

MacEntee, S. (2011). All Rights Reserved [Online Image]. Retrieved September 22, 2016

                      Retrieved from http://bit.ly/2d3FhbK

Welcome Blog

Welcome to my blog on teaching through digital technology!

When I finally figured out my schedule at Brock and began to sort out the EDBEF01D07FW's from the EDBE803D07FW's, these course codes began to have meaning- Teaching in the Ontario Context and Cognition and the Exceptional Learner.  Before entering each class, I of course had my own preconceptions of each, Teaching Digital Learners in a Digital Age I thought was going to be an easy course.

I was wrong because technology beyond the confinements of my Iphone is not easy!

I am not saying I do not enjoy the class, I enjoy it greatly, however I have never felt this out of my element!  I think even more so because its just widely believed that us millennials are all tech savvy, however I think I am proving them all wrong right about now.  This course is a challenge, but what I am quickly noticing about the use of technological teaching is that the options are endless.

Children can learn almost anything they desire through the use of technology.  There are a vast amount of resources out there to aid any type of learner and quench any curiosity.

We began to learn about genius hour today.  Genius hour I was introduced to about a year ago and tried it with a classroom of grade 4/5's.  Having this been the first time I had ever heard of genius hour, I was a little perplexed by it and its open endedness.  At the end of it however, the results were amazing, students who throughout the year had struggled to hand in any work at all were entirely enthralled by it.  After work completion, instead of drawing students were lining up for an Ipad to work on their genius hour and students whose reading and writing levels were well below their grade were even able to participate due to technological advancements on Ipads and computers now.  Thinking back, I couldn't imagine doing genius hour without the accessibility of technology.  With only the teacher, myself (the volunteer) and one EA, the students who couldn't read at a DRA level above 2 would have sat at their desk feeling defeated rather than motivated to research more. 

I read a quote from another reading on Invitational Teaching which stated, 

“Invitational Theory seeks to explain phenomena and provide a means of intentionally summoning people to realize their relatively boundless potential in all areas of worthwhile human endeavor. Its purpose is to address the entire global nature of human existence and opportunity, and to make life a more exciting, satisfying and enriching experience" (Purkey & Novak, 2015).

I just love this. Genius hour helps teachers unlock students' boundless potential by engaging them in what THEY love, instead of teaching them strictly based on the confinements of bullet points in a book administered by the province you reside in.

In math class we discovered that we're in school for over 3000 days in our lives- some more, why not make school exciting and something to love rather than loath through techniques just like genius hour.