Week 8 Reflection - Using Video Games

Oh how I miss my first Atari...

I was in middle school in the early 80's when my family finally scraped enough money together to purchase a video game system. I remember my father telling my mother that I would be able to use it for school - to help me learn. I also remember he said the same thing about my Commodore 64 computer, With it's huge storage capacity of 64 K of memory, I could type and save my papers for school. Only problem was - there were no printers - so typing and printing was out of the question. I remember spening most of my time playing games. As I look back, the only video game I played that had any educational content was the original Oregon Trail. I played that for hours, until I was either at the coast, or dying from diptheria somewhere along the way.

Preparing students for the future begins in the classroom. Very few jobs these days require employees to sit in a room and listen to their boss lecture about productivity for 7 hours. Students will probably not have jobs that will require them to work 8 hours per day, then go home and work an additional 2 to 3 hours before going to bed. Students will have jobs in the future that will require them to work in multiple technology and communicative formats. Future jobs will require employees to work in a miniaturized electronic office that they carry with them. They will communicate with people around the globe. They will work and conduct business via computer technology that has yet to be invented.

Video games provide students the opportunity to receive lots of practice in a specific area, while reaping the rewards of quick feedback and evaluation of progress. “Good video games lower the consequences of failure; players can start from the last-saved game when they fail. Players are thereby encouraged to take risks, explore, and try new things. (Gee, 2005)” With school districts nationwide facing huge budget cuts, I believe that the traditional textbook is about to undergo a huge change. Textbooks still provide valuable reading and writing skills (especially in Science), but I look at the pictures and graphics used and wonder what about the book continues to appeal to students. Soon, textbooks will become interactive and just touching the book screen will give students access to much more varied and current information. I see the ability of the IPod touch, IPad and net books to deliver this content to an extent. But using online games opens a new area of teaching. A new era where students and teachers work together to bring the best teaching tools to class.

Gee, J. P. (2005). Good video games and good learning. Phi Kappa Phi Forum, 85(2), 33–37

What Can Moodle Do For You (or our students)?

I know that we have all been to basic "Moodle" training in the fall, but there have been a lot of upgrades and improvments to the District's Moodle web site. I believe that at the middle school level, we can begin to teach our 8th graders some Moodle basics to get them ready for high school and their new adventure with their own District laptops in the fall. But that doesn't mean that 6th and 7th graders should be excluded from using Moodle. As we move students into the mindset of 21st Century Learners, we need to provide as many opportunites as possible to interact with technology both in the class and in the computer lab. Please watch the video and feel free to leave any comments you may have. I will pass along suggestions during the next tech team meeting at the end of the month. There might be some great ideas to try before the end of the school year - or early next school year.

Video Bibliography

Gillard, S., & Bailey, D. (2007). Technology in the classroom: Overcoming obstacles, reaping rewards. The International Journal of Learning, 14(1), 87–93

http://www.district70.org/moodle/

Lemke, C., & Coughlin, E. (2009). The change agents. Educational Leadership, 67(1), 54–59.

www.moodle.com

Week 8 reflection

Week 8 Final Reflection
EDUC-6714I-4 Reaching and Engaging All Learners Through Technology
Walden University

Differentiated Instruction starts with one student and grows from there. During this course, we – as Masters Ed Students- were given many opportunities to experience DI both as a student and as a teacher. As a DI student, we were allowed to experience and participate in various forms of assessments. From multimedia presentations, to voice-thread, to written text, knowledge was assessed in various forms. It was nice to get the opportunity to explore these resources as a student, in order to get hands-on work with the programs.

Making learning modifications for that student gives the teacher the resources necessary to begin modifications for a larger group of students in the class. Technology allows the instructor to modify instruction and to determine each student’s particular learning style. Once learning styles are established and incorporated into the classroom, students can begin to take charge of their own education. “If you want your students to truly take ownership of their learning and their work, they’ll respond more enthusiastically when given choices and particularly when given product activities that they’ve had a part in designing.” (Smith and Throne 2007)

Technology not only can help students process information differently, technology can serve as a catalyst to engage students in learning that appeals to their love for computer games. It is also important to emphasize critical and creative thinking as a goal in a differentiated instruction lesson design. “The tasks, activities, and procedures for students should require that they understand and apply meaning. Instruction may require supports, additional motivation, varied tasks, materials, or equipment for different students in the classroom.”(Rose 2002)

Through the design and collaboration of the Differentiation Station social network, groups of students were able to collaborate and share various DI resources. This online social networking site was a nice complement to the weekly discussions and applications. On our group’s NING site(http://waldensng4.ning.com/), we were able to review and share many different applications. There is a growing collection of software and technology tools, digital content, and World Wide Web resources available for UDL and DI including: Multimedia composition tools such as HyperStudio, Kid Pix, PowerPoint, Web-capable electronic graphic organizers such as Inspiration and Kidspiration. Plus there are programs that support the translation of content from one medium to another (text-to-speech and text-to-image) such as CAST eReader, Pix Reader, Pix Writer, and Intellitalk II.

Teachers now more than ever have the opportunity to implement the best resources to allow every student to succeed. By bringing Differentiated Instruction and Universal Design into the classroom, teachers are allowing students to begin to plotting their own path to educational success. With DI and UDL, teachers and students become collaborators in education, utilizing the best of all educational and technology tools to become great teachers and great students.

References
Rose, D., & Meyer, A. (2002). Using UDL to individualize teaching methods. In Teaching every student in the digital age: Universal design for learning. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Reprinted by permission of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development via the Copyright Clearance Center. Located at http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/ideas/tes/chapter6.cfm

Smith, G., & Throne, S. (2007). Differentiating instruction with technology in K-5 classrooms. Belmont, CA: International Society for Technology in Education.

Pray for Haiti

I spend a lot of time in Science talking about and discussing earthquakes and volcanoes. Even though I currently teach biology and physics, I still bring in current science events and my students discuss the implications of natural disasters and their effects on humankind.

I can't help but be overwhellmed with grief for the people of Haiti. A few years back, my wife and I had the opportunity to travel on a mission trip to the carribbean island of Tabaggo. While visiting that country, we couldn't help but notice how impoverished most of the residents were. There were some nice houses, but mostly we saw shacks and small houses. Some of those shacks had roofs, but some did not. As Americans, we have nicer garages for our cars than most of these people had to live in. I've never traveled to Haiti, but I can assume that living conditions were the same as Tabaggo (or more than likely, even worse.)

As I talked about the earthquake and it's effects on the Hatian culture, I couldn't help but remember a quote from Brian Willams of NBC News as he reported from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. He said simply "all of us, no matter where we live, are one natural disaster away from homelessness. Be thankful for what you have, and that you have it." We continued to discuss how natural disasters not only change the face of the planet, but also change the face of humankind.

Who cannot watch a video or look at a picture of the suffering in Haiti and not offer up a prayer.