Blendspace, Google Doc, Evernote- for students or teachers?

Constructing our own handout on how to utilize a certain program was very challenging. I was assigned Google doc, a program I have used for many years. When I use Google doc it is almost second nature and I never would have considered how complicated using the program would be for someone encountering it for the first time until I had to create a handout with instructions. I wrote as much detail as I could with the page limit and as tedious as I felt it was to have "obvious steps" included I realized that those steps were crucial in building knowledge around the site. I feel that although my handout was useful going through it on a laptop step by step was very important and useful but, maybe that's just because of my "learn by doing" personality.

*Oh I learned something new from Rory while doing my presentation..you can export already made powerpoints into Google Presentation. Amazing.

During college Google doc was my go to site for group projects and I feel all students should have experience with it because of it's collaborative nature. It is evident that Google doc works with teachers as well (our class).

Having Evernote explained to me kinddaa made me wish I knew about it before the program. It would have certainly kept me more organized. I really liked the autosave function...I sometimes type things in Google email drafts so that I have my stuff backed up online in case I need to retrieve it later when I don't have my computer. I asked why the elephant was the logo and one of my group members pointed out that elephants never forget...if that was the reason all I have to say is, "crafty Evernote creators..crafty".  I feel Evernote can also be used as an extra tool for teacher and students who wish to have their material accessible online. I will say that for individuals who already have their "method" like me..it is harder to adopt.


Blendspace...oh my friend. Having someone show me BlendSpace made me feel like I have spent my life with blindfolds on and that specific individual removed them for me..only to uncover and show me a mound of gold. The site is INCREDIBLE. I love it because it is sooo teacher friendly. The smooth interface and it's wide functionality (quizzes, stats, Youtube, upload files) had me amazed. I will definitely use this website to help me monitor my class. Someone in my group mentioned that it could also be used as a project for students because students can create a lesson. That was a really novel idea and one that I would have never probably thought about.

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Video Games and Learning!?

I will tell you as a kid the games/tools on a computer that got me hyped up were mine craft, paint (if it is considered one), and solitaire. As I grew older Mario party, Sims, and an array of Nintendo games became a few of my favorites. My school never incorporated online games because...the "web" was still evolving. We live in a day and age where the internet fits in most of our pockets (smartphones) and provides an ocean of knowledge to aid in anything we may request (all the who, what, where, and when's). I feel that although the traditional route was helpful the technology era can advance education. I am going into Biology and I played around with Citizen Science because it pertained to ecology. I thought it was so fun...at first...but I then came upon a part where I had to create arguments and evidence and for some reason I just couldn't move on to the next level because I was doing something wrong. I spent a good fifteen minutes trying to figure out what to do and I was not going anywhere so I moved on and played a few other games pertaining to social studies and language arts. I felt the Global Citizen interface was a little too complicated. As cute as it was-it just was not the one for me.

James Gee discussed the implications of using games in the classroom and defined what a good game was. According to Gee Good games "incorporate good learning principles, principles supported by current research in Cognitive Science" in addition to being relevant,  he notes that good games also need to be user friendly. His main point was not to question if games should or should not be incorporated in school but rather how does one make a subject a game and how does one monitor that kids in and outside of school are learning and using "game" technique to think strategically.

I want to talk about experience with online games while working at Scarlett Middle School. Last week the students spent basically the whole day using the knowledge they had (multiplication, division, addition, subtraction) to participate in interactive online  math games. Two main games played had incorporated speed, however, both did not monitor accuracy. One of them was very fun and really prompted the kids to answer correctly and achieve a faster (speed rate). The other game did not account for accuracy and the students found that just clicking random answers would give them a higher score and a faster speed. That particular game had a major kink and to me it was a bad game. I feel that "good games" need to have all the kinks ironed out, not penalizing for accuracy was one that really impended student learning. Personally, I feel that games can be used in the class but they have to be tested and evaluated by teacher before they are assigned. Incorporating all of the characteristics that Gee mentions e.g customization, accuracy, identity, risk may be very difficult to find but teachers who wish to incorporate games should do their best to find such games in order to administer them in the class.

Standardized Computer Exams

Today our class observed varying levels of a standardized computer exam. The exam was a simulation that may very well  be adopted in the public educational system in the years to come. I took the 12th grade math exam and I realized that I had a lot of trouble with the calculator function as well as some other website interfaces. I also did not like the fact that I had to answer each question before moving on to another (no mark and review button). Not having the ability to move on to another problem and come back was very frustrating.

To play devils advocate I have to say this exam parallels many exams such as the MCAT, DAT, PCAT etc. I have taken the MCAT and I have to say the most challenging aspect of it had to be adapting to a computer exam. My whole life revolved around paper exams and I was very used to this method. Practicing for the MCAT was a huge transition because it was computer based and I wish had some experience and practice with a computer based exam, or two during the course of my academic career.

I will note that some exams such as the LSAT are paper based and those who aspire to be lawyers do not have to face the road block of learning a new test taking skill. However, those who wish to be doctors, pharmacists, and dentists need to be exposed and educated with the DO's and DON'TS of computer based assessments.

Although the computer based assessment we took in class had many kinks and lead to frustration I feel that with some more research it could be a useful tool for students who wish to venture into specific professional fields. The change has happened. MCAT, PCAT, DAT, and other exams are computer based. Students my age who take these exams who never took computer based exams prior may not be comfortable with them. Preparing students for the exams that they may take in the future that are computer based early on may be very beneficial. Creating a computer based standardized exam is very tricky and needs to be carefully constructed and it is imperative that the writers of such exams acknowledge the various factors that may influence a students performance when taking such exams.

John Dewey

Today's week focused on John Dewey. First, I asked myself...who is this guy?? After reading about him (after a quick wiki search) and as I read along I could definitely see traces of his experience and education shaping his ideas and thoughts. John Dewey was an educational reformer and psychologist who was born 1859 and died 1952 (good life span). He spent much of his life working to incorporate democracy into the classroom. His goal was to create a civil society. While reading, "My Educational Creed" I stumbled upon a really beautiful quote: "In sum, I believe that the individual who is to be educated is a social individual and that society is an organic union of individuals. If we eliminate the social factor from the child we are left only with an abstraction; if we eliminate the individual factor from society, we are left only with an inert and lifeless mass”. This quote made me smile a little because although he stressed the psychological aspects of learning heavily throughout his writing he stated, early on in "My Educational Creed" that, education in his opinion, had two sides: a psychological side and a sociological side. I felt that this quote revealed the importance of this relationship quite simply. 

Dewey's Creed should be a quote book because he states some very significant things that I really found myself pondering and understanding better after I finished reading.  As a future science teacher I felt intrigued by his criticism of science education. He explains that because science is so objective it is extremely difficult and challenging to tackle. Dewey professed many thoughts against didactic teaching and I completely agree with him but; unfortunately, our educational system is designed to be didactic for certain professions for example: medicine. Having had been pre-med--majority of my classes were designed to be classes that encouraged students to swallow a huge amount of material and regurgitate it back. A good pre-med student is a good regurigitaor. So why is this the case? How could it be different? Is it possible to change? These are things I ponder.