The first artifact for the course that stands out is the PBL unit that I created about the bottled water project. I was actually able to integrate (at least some of) the topic today for some of my students for our PSA unit. Students are to choose a relevant topic and create a public service announcement about it. The overarching theme goes along with our "Lights, Camera, Action" unit about theater and screenplays. One of the groups was leaning towards an environmental issue so I steered them towards the bottled water topic and they were definitely interested. Some of the challenges creating this PBL include some aspects of "reinventing the wheel." With all of the prescribed units that come from our district, I found myself having the time to see where I could fit this all in. The PBL unit led me to create the grant request for a field trip that tied into the unit, but I decided not to have a copy sent to my principal for the grant because at the present moment I'm not sure where exactly it ties into the curriculum, however. It probably ties very well into it, but with all the changes in our building this year, it's best not to try to "reinvent the wheel." I am looking forward to using the unit at some point, possibly next year. Here's a link to the unit.
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The second take-away from the class is the consideration of "fake news." Granted, there wasn't a formal assignment per se, but this issue is something that I am curious about as a consumer of information in the digital world. Regardless, I struggle at times with seeing the value in Facebook (as a huge "supporter" of fake news) or other social media when I see the damage that it does in perpetuating false stories. My tendency lately is to isolate from most media (namely, TV) and any form of social media. I find that if I do reactivate my Facebook account I soon deactivate minutes later without anything being gained as a result. In other words, it's a giant waste of time. However, I do check some news outlets such as cnn.com and foxnews.com in order to get a more balanced perspective.
I think the reason why I feel that fake news is interesting is because it is a result of the nature of news stories shared online. It also ties into the notion that there is an opportunity for one to make money off of the mindless browsing that so many people fall prey to. It is not hard to find in most situations that people are tied more to their smartphones than before and this equates to opportunity. I do think it's quite brilliant yet awful at the same time. And largely ironic, of course. How can we determine the cost benefit ratio of our convenience that we've all become accustomed to yet are the victims of that convenience. Are we any smarter with all of our consumption when what we consume is not real? As a teacher, I find the fake news notion troubling. Of course, it has made me question everything I see on TV or on the internet. Perhaps in my 38 years I've discovered that the media is so slanted at every turn that it's hard to teach when I question how I know anything to be true if the source is shaky. Or maybe I'm just at that natural stage of my development as a thinking, human being? In the module, we were asked to use some filters to determine what is real and what is not. Our district has kid friendly search engine subscriptions and I found a checklist of questions to use to determine whether a story is credible or not, however. The danger in all of this is the mindless consumption that has created a market for swaying popular opinion for major decisions that we all make as voters. I think the most valuable tool from the list is when asking the question of oneself is to consider what emotions you felt when clicking on the link. Indeed when doing research for a project or school assignment, then yes. Students may have the mindset of evaluating web resources. On the flip side, so many people seem to be spending their "off" time online and being influenced in ways that they may not realize. I feel that all of this access to anyone's opinion relayed as truth is such a double-edged sword. I wonder quite frequently, who's the expert? That leads me to think about what makes someone an expert anyway. My point in all of this is not to be the naysayer in the room, but I just want to really try to make sense of things. I know the class is all about integrating technology in the classroom, but as limitless and limited that it can be, it's just hard to navigate sometimes. And frustrating to know that people are so swayed by what isn't real. The module that stands out the most to me from 678, Effective Technology Integration, has to be the flipped learning module from week 5. I feel as if this is definitely the wave of the (my) future, but very much so is the present in many districts (just not quite yet in mine). The assignment for that week was to post a link to a tool that could be used in the flipped classroom. I chose to use Screencastify for the first time and I felt like I was probably the last person on the planet to have discovered this. I had no idea that the add-on was already installed through G-Suite. And it was ridiculously easy to use. I guess my overall take away is that yes, flipped learning is completely different from what I'm used to, however. It isn't that far of a stretch to think that I can do it and that it's probably right around the corner.
I would say that I've definitely grown as a connected educator through this course. I am working towards my endorsement in educational technology. This is the 2nd course I have taken in the series and did see some overlap with 675. This is not too surprising since most of the applications today have many different features or, for lack of a better term, applications. I remember hearing about Hapara, a G-Suite monitoring program that helps with device management. From this discussion about device management, I learned that not only can you monitor what students are doing in the classroom on their devices, but you can also distribute materials and group students however you see fit. This program would be used on several different levels including using technology to differentiate and personalized learning goals. I have no doubt that many of the tools and modules will be revisited later on in the coursework for different reasons. I am thinking a lot lately about what I want to do with my endorsement after I earn it. I'm thinking that I'd like to put into practice the tools I've learned to use as I go along and then decide what to do next, however. I am struggling with just handling all the changes that have happened this school year in my building and am having a hard time using anything new I've learned about with my students. Of course, I use G-Suite daily and post things on my Classroom as well. I'm just not finding the time to tinker with those tools that I'm learning about in class. I guess it's all a learning curve. I did just recently assign a PSA project to my students where they are writing a screenplay for a 45-60 minute effective PSA about a relative topic to a specific audience. Now I just have to decide which tools I'd like them to focus on when they do the storyboard phase and then the filming phase. All in due time I guess! |
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