Gee: The Anti-Education Era
My assignment this week in my educational technology class (CEP 812) included reading selected chapters in James Paul Gee’s (2013) book, The Anti-Education Era: Creating Smarter Students through Digital Learning. So far I have found the book to be thought provoking and enjoyable. While I think much of what Gee says is true, there are moments of contention; nonetheless, I am always thinking and reflecting.
Why has true education reform been so difficult in the United States? Why are today’s classrooms, with a lecturing teacher in front of rows of desks, so similar to the last century’s classrooms? Do schools in the United States need a paradigm shift? What would it take for educators to bring about this change? What is preventing us from solving this complex problem smartly?
These are questions I attempt to answer in my response to this week’s reading. You can view my response here in Google docs.
In the film Dead Poets Society, English teacher John Keating challenges the “frozen solutions” of the school. Mr. Keating’s actions are frowned upon by school administration.
CEP 812 Week 1 Screencast with Edmodo
Click on link to play Edmodo screen cast video: http://screencast.com/t/HfvwvV2m2
To increase student engagement and discussion inside and outside of the classroom I will be using Edmodo.com. Edmodo is a social networking tool for teachers. It is a great resource not only because it creates a new platform for student discourse, but it also allows teachers to review and critique student discussion. By participating in this online forum I am ensuring that 100% of my students are participating in genuine discussions, something that can be difficult in a traditional classroom setting.
In my government and economics classes student opinion and dialogue play a significant role in mastering our learning objectives. To be successful in these classes, students are responsible for identifying and understanding different political and economic views.
For many of our concepts there is not merely one correct answer. As an example, students may be asked to find a solution that would increase revenue for the government. Answers may range from cutting taxes to increasing taxes and both could be correct if explained properly.
I think Edmodo will be successful because social media is already embedded into the daily lives of teenagers and this website acts a s bridge between social networking and academic learning. As a teacher, this will be a great tool as it allows me to observe and respond to student discussion at a convenient and appropriate time.
Maker Experiment #3 (final post for CEP811)
CEP811 has been a positive learning experience for me. The course has helped me grow as a teacher who wants to incorporate technology in the classroom to transform how learning takes place. I have no doubt the experience from this class will help me continue this growth, both in the MAET program and in my classroom.
While unfortunately I don’t think I will be able to actually use my Maker Kit, the Squishy Circuit Kit, in my own classroom, I do think working with it during this class was worthwhile. For me, there was not an obvious connection between the Squishy Circuit Kit and my classroom or content areas, government and economics. Because there was no obvious connection I had to think outside of the proverbial box to repurpose the Squishy Circuit Kit and make it successfully fit into a lesson.
Repurposing tools teachers use, including technology, is something I constantly do. I often am repurposing tools without even thinking about it. At this point it has become second nature for me and many other educators. The reality is most teachers do not have an unlimited amount of resources and they have to make the most of the resources that are available. Teachers are always searching for new tools, sharing resources and ideas with their colleagues.
While working with my Maker Kit I was not only thinking about how I could use it in my class, it also made me think about repurposing in my classroom. I thought of how I already repurpose tools and technology in the classroom. From something as simple as using popsicle sticks with students’ names on them to randomize who I call on in class to students using cell phones to take polls and participate in class, there are many ways I am already repurposing. The truth is I have never really tried to brainstorm ideas to repurpose in my class. Most repurposed ideas and tools have been shared with me by colleagues.
After CEP811 I think I am more aware of my repurposing. Going forward in my teaching career I know repurposing will be something that I will be constantly thinking about. This is especially true as education becomes more technological, even though the availability technological resources may not keep up with this.
As the technological world evolves and educators have new resources at our disposal it is important for teachers to evaluate these new tools they are using. I would like the technology I use to transform my classroom and teaching. I do not want to use technology to simply transfer what my students already do, like writing with a pencil and paper, to doing the same assignment with technology, by writing on a Word document for example. It’s important to pause and think about how technology is being used and whether a new tool is actually beneficial in the classroom.
The Internet is full of tools for educators. Some tools are built for teachers, like Edublog, and others have been created for everyone, like YouTube, but teachers have found them useful in the classroom. The Internet can be viewed as overwhelming because there are so many possibilities, or it can be viewed as unlimited gifts to unwrap. There are many Web 2.0 sites and applications available, some of which we have used in CEP811. I am eager to try out more Web 2.0 tools, but I also recognize that each site needs to be evaluated for its benefits and how it will or won’t transform my classroom.
In fact, just today I had my students sign up for Edmodo accounts and join class pages. I think this Web 2.0 tool has great potential to transform my classes. In fact, it already has. After I sent an email to my classes with instructions to sign up, one of my absent students created an account from home even though she didn’t know exactly what Edmodo was. After joining the class page she was able to read my post describing what we did in class today and was able to get the assignment she missed. This student appreciated this new tool and its immediate impact was obvious by the comment she left. When this student returns tomorrow (hopefully), she will already have the assignment complete and will not be behind her classmates.
CEP811 has been an excellent class and I have learned a lot in the last eight weeks. I appreciate well-organized content, the thoughtful feedback from our instructor, Melissa White, and the opportunity to work with and learn from our MAET classmates. I look forward to the rest of my classes in the program!
Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)
I was pleasantly surprised by my success in finding useful and relevant information in this week’s assignment. Like many people today, I am used to using an Internet search engine to browse academic Websites when researching. There are, of course, many great things about the Internet and access to scholarly Websites is a big one. That being said, there are other traditional and nontraditional academic resources that a search engine simply may not direct you to.
For this assignment I had to contact a librarian at the Michigan State University library for help finding five scholarly resources that relate to my teaching practices and interests. Since I live on Arizona, physically going to the library was not an option. I figured I would have to call a librarian even after I discovered there is a 24/7 “Ask a Librarian” Instant Messenger available. In my past experiences with messenger helpers they have only been somewhat useful and often just an automated system.
I was half expecting the traditional automated response when I first sent my question message. It was nice to find out I was talking to an actual person who was knowledgeable and able to assist me. I explained what I was searching for and asked for suggested locations on the library’s site to search. They were very helpful in guiding me what to search for and where to search. I ended up mainly using ERIC and EBSCO (Education full-text) and found excellent scholarly resources.
After using the Instant Messenger librarian I would recommend this feature to classmates needing assistance with research. I found the librarian to be pleasant, prompt and very helpful. It was also nice to be able to ask them questions and search the library’s Website at the same time without having an awkward moment of silence while waiting on the phone. The only problem I had with the Instant Messenger was not receiving an email of the transcript of our conversation like I was told would be sent to me. It would have been nice to have all of the recommendations for my record.
Here are the resources I selected:
Article 1:
Roberts, S. (2013). The “Chalk Talk” 2.0: Using Google Docs to Improve the Silent Discussion in Social Studies. Social Studies, 104(3), 130-136.
http://www.tandfonline.com.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/doi/abs/10.1080/00377996.2012.703972#.UxK3jPRdXO8
This article, with a focus on social studies education, highlights the importance of discussion in learning. The article notes that in a traditional classroom discussion teacher’s can struggle to have 100% participation. To increase student involvement “Chalk Talk” was developed. Chalk Talk requires all students to participate in a discussion by having them stand around a chalkboard (or dry erase board) and silently answer questions, give their opinions or generate new questions by writing these on the board. This will help with students who are hesitant to speak aloud in front of the entire class and it gives them time to think about their answers before they respond. The article suggests that this in class chalk talk can now be done outside of the class using a Web 2.0 tool like Google Docs. Students are able to use a blank document as their chalkboard and participate in a discussion as homework.
I think the “Chalk Talk” idea is an excellent way to encourage all students to participate in discussion. I especially like the idea of using Web 2.0 technology to change the way students do homework. With tools like Google Docs or blogs students can now participate in a genuine discussion about important topics from the class. As a social studies teacher I appreciate this concept very much. The author of the article explains how important class discussions are to students understanding topics in social studies and I agree. It would be extremely difficult for a high school student to fully comprehend social studies concepts by simply listening to a teacher speak, reading about the concept and then answering book questions about it. Discussions with the teacher and peers are essential to learning in social studies.
Article 2:
Capo, B., & Orellana, A. (2011). WEB 2.0 TECHNOLOGIES FOR CLASSROOM INSTRUCTION: High School Teachers’ Perceptions and Adoption Factors. Quarterly Review Of Distance Education, 12(4), 235-253.
“Web 2.0 Technologies for Classroom Instruction” takes a close look out who is actually using Web 2.0 tools in the classroom. The results were not promising for Web 2.0 technology. Overall most teachers that participated in the study said they do not use these tools in their classrooms. Of the teachers that use Web 2.0 technology in their classes it was at a very low rate of frequency. For example, the percentage of teachers that responded they either use these tools frequently or always are in the low single digits. On the other hand, teachers that said they would not use Web 2.0 tools in their classrooms were in the double digits, but not over 50%.
The results of the study mentioned in this article were not surprising to me. When I think about the school that I work in I know there is a small group of teachers that are gung ho about using technology in the classroom, but the vast majority of teachers do not want to change the flow of their classes that they have created over the years. Of course, some teachers are hesitant to try new technology because they are not used to it themselves. I think if more teachers understood Web 2.0 tools and had an opportunity to practice with them they would be willing to use them in their classes. I understand why some people may not want to jump through hoops to try this technology out. For example, in the school I work at it seems that the tech department is working against me trying out new technology like a blog or granting my students access to specific websites. There is a legitimate online safety concern and I understand that.
Article 3:
Scheuerell, S. (2010). Virtual Warrensburg: Using Cooperative Learning and the Internet in the Social Studies Classroom. Social Studies, 101(5), 194-199.
In this article the author encourages social studies teachers to use the Internet to enhance cooperative learning. The article states that 94% of students admit to using only the Internet when researching for an assignment and many young learners are stereotyped as a generation that only works alone. The author suggests that social studies teachers can use the Internet in a positive way that will bring students together to communicate and learn. He suggests using cooperative groups of students to use the Internet to research a specific topic and then generate a Website about their assigned topic. Dr. Spencer Kagen’s PIES (Positive interdependence, Individual accountability, Equal participation, and Simultaneous interaction) theory is noted in the article and is noticeable in the Website building activity.
The author of this article did a good job of tying cooperative learning with a practical use of the World Wide Web. I found the ideas mentioned in the article to be thought provoking, relevant and useful. This is definitely something that I will be able to implement in my classroom. An idea I had for my government class is for students to work in cooperative groups to make a campaign website for a candidate. Given the background information of a candidate they will have to research online to find out where the person would be on the political spectrum, where they would stand on specific issues and what their campaign messages would be.
Article 4:
Wilson, E., Wright, V., Inman, C., & Matherson, L. (2011). Retooling the Social Studies Classroom for the Current Generation. Social Studies, 102(2), 65-72.
This article explains that the way the current generation of students communicates has changed from traditional methods. Today’s students are used to the digital world of communication and that is how they prefer to communicate. The author highlights significant Web 2.0 tools to use in the classroom. The article states that teachers – specifically, social studies teachers – need to utilize Web 2.0 tools to effectively communicate with this new generation of learners.
As a social studies teacher wishing to further implement technology in my classroom I found this article to be very exciting. I loved the Web 2.0 tools that were discussed, websites that were recommended and the author’s examples of how these tools can be practically used in a social studies classroom.
Article 5:
Kitsis, S. M. (2008). The Facebook Generation: Homework as Social Networking. English Journal, 98(2), 30-36.
http://search.proquest.com.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/docview/237310178
In “The Facebook Generation” Kitsis explains the importance of discussion in learning. She found that students felt their homework was isolating them. Homework traditionally is completed alone and for busy students could be the last thing on a to-do list late in the night. Kitsis decided to “rethink” how her homework was assigned and created a new discussion based homework format. She required students to exchange emails that discussed an assigned reading. This was a success and Kitsis points out could be done with other social media tools, such as a blog or Facebook.
I thought this was a fantastic article and loved the idea of having students participate in discussions outside of the classroom. For several months I have been seeking administrative approval to create class blogs. Unfortunately, the permission to start one has been caught up in the district’s bureaucracy. I understand some of the associated safety concerns, but waiting is still very frustrating. I believe I can use ideas from this article in my classroom. To increase student engagement for homework I can have students participate in discussions using Google Docs or by an exchange of emails.
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