Evolving Classroom Education: Where is K-12 Technology Headed?

In his blog "Evolving Classroom Education: Where is K-12 Technology Headed?", Matthew Lynch discusses the importance of the action(s) that needs to take place in order to integrate technology into classrooms.  Lynch suggests three types of methods: BYOD, NUI, and PLE.  BYOD is known as Bring Your Own Device.  With this method, students are encouraged to bring their smartphones and tablets to school for classroom use.  NUI is known as Natural User Interfaces.  As defined in the article, NUI uses the body's movement to provide outcomes.  Today, there are many devices does this such as Nintendo Wii, Xbox Kinect, and Siri.  The greatest advantage about NUI is that it plays a huge role for students who are blind, deaf, autistic, and physically disabled.  PLE is known as Personal Learning Environments.  This type of method is student centered.  It focuses on  allowing students to choose resources through electronic formats for individual learning that best fits their learning style and pace.
Ultimately, Lynch provided good points that could help schools stay within budget on technology.  However, I do not agree with one of the three methods.  The idea of students bringing their own smartphones or tablet devices to school is asking for problems to happen within the classrooms.  Students may not pay attention to the teacher because they are busy playing Candy Crush or updating their Twitter accounts.  It is already bad enough in college, but to ask for students in K-12 to bring it to school   As for NUI and PLE, I would actually like to see these to take place in classroom(s).  I think NUI is a great way to incorporate students with challenging disabilities to stay connect and still be able to participate in the classroom. I also think PLE is another great method that allow students to learn in a way that best fits their style and pace.  Not all students learn the same way, so for students to use technology to help them learn things at a rate that is appropriate for them is fantastic.

Voki

Documentary: Bully

Bully 
/ ' boole/

(noun)
  - a person who uses strength or power to harm or intimidate those who are weaker

Who delegated those to pick on kids who cannot defend for themselves? What gives bullies the idea to torment a classmate? When will bullying stop?  Where did bullying began? Why we have bullies in the world today?  There are endless questions as to why bullying exists.  As shown in the 2011 documentary Bully, there are countless stories of kids who are bullied at school, online, on the bus, at home, through their cell phones, and on the streets of their towns.  But the really problem to bullying is that the victims rarely speaks up!  The only way to help lessen or even prevent bullying happening is by having school officials, faculty,and staff to take a course on how to identify those who are being bullied.  Also, schools should make the environment comfortable for students to feel safe and have the courage to speak out against their bullies.  Who cares if you are being a tattle-teller?  As long as you are protecting your life and dignity, then nothing else should matter.  The bullies are the scum bags, not you.

Augmented Reality Snags a Coveted Spot in Classrooms

In her article "Augmented Reality Snags a Coveted Spot in Classrooms", Laura Devaney writes to inform readers about augmented reality apps.  Augmented reality apps enhances things in reality by using things from the web.  At the beginning of the article, Devaney gave an example of how this app would work in a classroom.  The student holds a tablet in front of famous paintings.  For each painting, something comes to life-sounds, animation, or a pop-up fact linking the painting to historical events.  I found this really great for students to not only look at the painting but also see more to what the painting means.  I have never heard of augmented reality before but from what I have read, I think this would be a great app to implement in classrooms.  This would also help students in acquiring technology skills that they will be using later during their school career.

Five Essentials to Create Connected Students

I found the article "Five Essentials to Create Connected Students" by Vicki Davis funny yet so very true to society today.  Davis did a great job at pinpointing the simple, and obvious, mistakes many people make while connecting through social medias and blogging or creating a professional page for oneself.  Why?  There are two reasons: 1) there are still quite a few people who lack technology skills and 2)  some people have acquired the skills but do not use them properly.  For example, the misuse of hashtags.  Hashtags are used for searching something specific in the Twitter world.  I do not have a Twitter but I know some people who use hashtags on Facebook.com.  Even though I do not know anything about Twitter, I can obviously see that the overuse of hashtags are unnecessary.  Here's an example:

By looking at this, I did not know that there could be about 12 different ways to say food or seven ways to say "I"m tired."  This is so funny to me to read all these hashtags.  I just laugh at how unnecessary those are for just one post or picture.  

After reading this article, I realized that technology has evolved in so many ways.  I can remember back then when computers were used for homework and gaming and phones were used for calling each other.  Where has this gone to?!  Today, it is hard to separate ourselves from our phones.  We cannot last five minutes without looking at our phones for a text message or updating facebook statuses or taking photos on snapchat.  It is ridiculous!  I must say that I am one of the many people who cannot put the phone down.  I know my limits such as no texting and driving and no texting during class and work.  

21st Century Skills: Why They Matter, What They Are, and How We Get There

Ken Kay, president of 21st Century Skills, discusses the reason why the education system of the United States needs to be revised to adapt to the changes of the 21st century.  He made three valid points: 1) the world is constantly -and rapidly- changing, 2) schools across the nation are neglecting to adapt to the changes, and 3) the United States has no clear focus on the future of our economic competitiveness.  Kay goes on to expand each of his three points.  Point #1 - the world is constantly changing.  Technology is replacing anything and everything such as garbage trucks and assembly factories.  Machines are programmed to take place of human beings' jobs.  Point #2 - schools across the nation are neglecting to adapt to the changes.  Kay states that the public education system is not implementing nor preparing students for the economic, workforce, and citizenship opportunities and demands of the 21st century.  Instead of trying in schools, students are dropping out because they fear of actually applying themselves in schools.  The current school dropout rate is up to 70% in the United States.  Point #3 - the United States has no clear focus on the future of our economic competitiveness.  Because students lack the 21st century knowledge, there is no one to maintain America's economic statuses.

I completely agree with Kay that schools are shying away from teaching students the 21st century skills that they need.  The education system should be reinventing itself to fulfill the acquired knowledge of those skills.  I also feel that students should learn how to think, learn, solve problems, communicate with peers, collaborate, and contribute as a whole.  Just reading from a textbook will help improve someone's knowledge, they need to engage and learn from each other.

Why Tough Teachers Get Good Results

Would you rather have a nice and fun teacher or an intimidating and challenging teacher?  In the article "Why Tough Teachers Get Good Results", Joanne Lipman emphasizes on how the education system needs to be "old-fashion"- meaning no more giving the students the easy way out of learning.  At the beginning of the article, Lipman gave an example of a teacher she once had.  He was strict and wanted the orchestra to be PERFECT.  If someone was off key, he would stop the whole orchestra and called them "idiots".  Lipman compliments on this his way of teaching.  However, not the name calling but definitely the challenging aspect of it.  She also encourages for the education system to implement tougher teaching skills.

Overall, I absolutely agree with Lipman and her findings in this article.  I do believe that students today are being spoiled in the classrooms.  They are handed the information and basically copying it onto their papers for grading.  Easy A+.  I have also noticed that teachers give out way too many praises.  Praises, as stated in the article, are good but not great to be used all the time.  Sometimes it is okay to tell a student that they are wrong.  It will only encourage them to work harder the next time around to get the right answer.  Lately, I have been hearing teachers tell students to "don't memorize" information.  Well if you don't memorize, how else can you retain the information.  The article then mentions that "cultural difference helps to explain why students in China (Chinese families int he U.S.) are better in math."  Not to be bias, but I am proud to have grown up in an Asian decent household.  My parents and siblings pushed me to work harder in school.  While I was still in 2nd grade, I remember them already teaching me 3rd grade materials!  My father would be disappoint, not only in me, but also my brother and sisters when we make a B or lower on assignments.  As a result, I am a hardworker in school and I do not complain much about the amount of assignments given.  Instead, I work on those assignments to the best of my ability and I always keep in mind that I am a day closer to becoming a teacher.  When I do get my own classroom, I do see myself implementing these "old-fashion" teaching.  

Inspiration Comments

Erika

• The color choices goes well with theme of "Where the Wild Things Are".
• The activities are engaging.

Jacqueline McMillian

• Great pictures
• The games sound really fun and connected with the story. 
• Add more writing

Mary Katheryn

•  PBS kids website is a great source.
• I love the bear activity!
• Add more discuss about the book or let them write a story similar to Corduroy.

Jennifer

• Great worksheets
• I like the writing assignment!  Very creative.

 Amanda

• I think it is a great idea for the students to act out parts of the story.
• Thumbs up to parent involvement. 

Jordan

• Thumbs up to personal experience with hurricanes
• Great hurricane project!  
• Overall, the concept map contained creative activities.  The pictures corresponded with the activity planned for the class. 

Jonathan

• On the concept map, the lines that connects the activities are hard to see what it is connecting to. 
• Thumbs up to movie reference to show students emotions

Do Not Track Me

I would not have known that on every website I routinely visit that I would be tracked.  From two trackers to 15 trackers, it is hard to believe the amount of trackers being blocked just to gain information of my interests for advertisement.  After downloading, I was eager to browse the web.  I first went to Facebook.com and there were five trackers.  On Amazon.com, there were three to four trackers.  The last website I tested was pinterest.com.  Surprisingly, I found no trackers.

By seeing all the trackers being stopped, I realized that this download is very helpful in the prevention of identify theft or any other malicious Internet actions.  For instance, a lot of people like to shop online because it is convenient and easy.  If an online shopping website such as Forever21.com has seven trackers, imagine trying to type in your credit card information to confirm your order.  Would you feel at ease knowing that there were seven trackers on that website?

The Padagogy Wheel

Apps are so useful for today's technological generation.  There are apps for almost anything you could image such as cooking, games, magazines, newspapers, etc... The Padagogy wheel - while using Bloom's taxonomy- is an example of the many apps that educators can utilize in classrooms and with their students.  Although these activities are online based, the underline meaning of the activities are helpful and useful to students and teachers.  Just to list a few, these activities help develop critiquing, graphing, editing, mind mapping, social networking, storytelling, and the list goes on.  Of the many apps on the Padagogy wheel, the Toontastic app and the MindMash app are the two apps that stood out to me the most.


Toontastic is an app that allows children to draw, animate, and share their cartoon stories with family and friends.  I like this app because art is being taken for granted in classrooms today.  Art is barely introduced to children at a young age which hinders their creativity outlet.  With this app, children are able to spark that creativity outlet and run wild with their imagination.




MindMash is a brainstorming and note-taking app.  It allows students and/or other users to create any ideas mash-up by combining and manipulating text, images, and drawings in a visual and free-form manner.  I like this app because I know from firsthand experience that taking notes and trying to decipher it later that evening is hard.  I would have notes along the side of the paper, inbetween lines, and pictures with no textual reference.  With this app, students can easily take notes and brainstorm in a neat and fun way.

Greeting Card Scam (lookstoogoodtobetrue.com)

Have you ever received one of those adorable, heartwarming e-cards form family and friends?  I know I have once before.  However, did you know that some those e-cards can also be harmful to your computer?  In the article "Greeting Card Scam" from lookstoogoodtobetrue.com, it states that the FBI has been receiving reports of Internet fraud based on electronic greeting cards that have malware embedded in them.  These cards are sent by perpetrators claiming to be from a family member or friend.  Like most malware, the spam directs recipients to click the link provided in the email to view their e-card.  Once the recipient clinks the clink, the computer is unknowingly taken to a malicious web page.  A way to prevent opening spam e-cards is by asking the supposedly sender if they actually sent you an e-card.  If that family member or friend did not, then do not open it!  As always, be cautious of unsolicited e-mails.

Concept Map - Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

Standard: RI.3.8 Describe the logical connections between a particular sentence and paragraphs in a text (e.g., comparison, cause/effect, first/second/third in a sequence)

I.    Parts of the Newspaper

A.   Group Activity:
The students will work in groups of four. Each group will be handed a newspaper and they must label the parts of the newspaper that corresponds with their vocabulary.

B.   Vocabulary:
 The student will define a set of vocabulary words pertaining to newspapers.

Vocabulary Words:
1. Index
2. Headline
3. Dateline
4. News Article
5. Feature Article
6. Editor
7. Editorial

II.  Make Connections between Passages

A.   Deciphering the Article:
The teacher will read samples of articles.  With each article, the students (as a class) will point out linkages between paragraphs, cause/effect relationships, subheads, and more. 

B.   What's the Picture for:
The teacher will point out photos, diagrams, charts, or tables in the samples of articles and the class will discuss how the graphics and captions support the article.

II Good or Bad Article

    A. What Makes a Good Article:
       -The students will  practice with headline writing by playing a series of interactive challenges online that will help students understand how good news headlines and comments should be written. 

B.   Practice Makes Permanent:
-The teacher will show the class a few headlines and help analyze which ones are good or bad.

IV.Observations about an Article

A.   Investigate:
-The students will find an article on the website.  Once they find an article that they like, the student will present their article to the class and answer the following questions: What made the article appealing you; What is the purpose of the article, and can you point out any linkages between paragraphs, cause/effect relationships, subheads, or conclusions.

B.   Why that Article:
-The students will look at some articles and choose one to write a paragraph on what they learned from that article.

V.     Writing an Article

A.   Constructing a Newspaper:
-The students will type and edit their articles and work together to make a class newspaper.

B.   Making Your Own Article:
-The students will work in groups of four.  Each group will be given a different newspaper headline such as sports, advertisement, etc... and will write an article pertain their headline.

LooksTooGoodToBeTrue.com Test Results

Test 1: Are You Protecting Your Identity?

• My results revealed that I am low at risk of identity theft.  I keep up with my bank statements and shred unwanted documents that contain personal information.

Test 2: Are You an Unwitting Accomplice in Crime?

• In the second quiz, my results revealed that I am not an unwitting accomplice in crime.  I do not send money to people I have met online nor do I go into chat rooms.

Test 3: Are You the Lucky Winner in a Sweepstakes or Lottery?

• In the last quiz, my results revealed that I am an at low risk of being a part of any online sweepstakes or lottery scams.

Malware Analysis: Drive-By Download

Let's admit it.  We all may have been fooled by those intriguing ads along the sides of our favorite or most visited websites.  But do we ever actually click on them?  In most cases, those ads may be implanted with malicious codes to malware our computers.  These sneaky viruses are called drive-by downloads.  Drive-by downloads are unauthorized programs that automatically download and install onto your computer without your say so.  It is one of the fastest growing threats in the internet.  All you need to do is to destroy your computer is to click once on that program.  According to the video that talks about drive-by downloads, drive-by downloads happen almost noticeably.  Our eyes are fooled when we see the malicious html download normally; however, there are some obvious ways to detect that our computers have been a part of a drive-by such as: unusual apps in your program bar, your web browser's homepage changed, unfamiliar toolbar appears in your Web browser, your browser has a new Bookmarks that you didn't make, pop-up windows display ads, and unusual files in different directories on your computer.

First and foremost, I think it is pretty funny how this malware is called drive-by downloads.  I found the video about drive-by downloads very informative.  It is a great video to allow people to become aware of these malicious acts and it is helpful by giving tips on how to prevent and detect a drive-by download.  It goes to show that everyone needs to invest in an antivirus and anti-spyware software.  No matter how "safe" you are on your computer, drive-by downloads can still happen to anyone at any time.

'Safe Practices for Life Online'

1. What are three online social networking sites that are used to form connections and develop relationships online?

• Facebook, LinkedIn, Myspace

2. http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/technology/2012/02/fed-up-north-carolina-father-shoots-daughters-laptop/

3. Definitions (Source: techterms.com)

• Sexting - sending erotic materials via text message
• Cramming - to learn a large amount of information in a short period of time
• Cookies - saved information about user from visited websites
• Trojan Horse - a hacking program disgusted as a safe program
• Phishing - the act of stealing one's information 
• Spyware - a program that "spies" on your activities on the computer
• Rootkit - a  software that permits user unauthorized access
• Zombie - a computer that has been compromised

4. Why are these screen names poor choices? Actual student screen names: Trashmouth, IHaveOnePairPants, BoogerDude, Pig.

• When you create a screen name, you want it to be a positive and professional representation of yourself. 

5. Why might someone harass those with these screen names: InYoFace, Badboy2U, Lookin4Luv, IMAHottie, FatMama, suPaFlirt.  Choosing the wrong screen name can encourage others to treat students poorly.  

• The screen names listed above are set up to where the user will be harassed.  Lookin4Luv may project to other users as a desperate single person.  InYoFace and Badboy2U sound like a threat.  IMAHottie and suPaFlirt sounds very egotistical. 

6. Too much info can be given through screen names.  What info is being revealed through the following screen names?

• Tom_Evans34: Tom has revealed his full name and possible age.
• Missy-13: The 13 may represent her age or the year of her graduation which will allow another user to find out her age.  This screen name also reveals her name.
• AndyKarateKid: Andy is a kid who likes/does karate.
• ViolinGurl: This female plays the violin.
• restlinmatch: This person either likes wrestling or does wrestling, or both!

7. Good and bad choices for screen names.  Write whether you think these are good choices or poor choices and why.  

• Depending on the setting of the screen names, I feel that the good screen names are: i8sushi2, Soccerstar, Puppygirl1234, Bookworm, 2BorNot2b, Choco-holic, AmrcanIdol2, and SimpyMe.  Those screen names does not provide too much personal information.  On the other hand, the bad screen names are: KeKe1995, CapitlOfens, BellaIsabella, DarkAngel666, Karla-Love-1996, gUn4hiRe, babyfaceLA, and Watup?  These screen names either reveal too much personal information or negative representation of the user.  

8. Create three different screen names that you will meet all of the following guidelines: Unlikely to attract negative attention, free of bad language, don't reveal too much personal information, don't reveal real name, age, or gender.

• YellowDaisies, BubblegumPop, AutumnSkies  

9. How likely is it that a password can be cracked?  A poor score is a warning to create a new password immediately.  

• My score for the password quiz is +6, which means it is less likely that my password will be cracked.  

10. List the most common reason and least common reason that students' online accounts are broken each year.

• Most Common Reason: Students give their password to their friends, who then decide to use it or give it to others who use it
• Least Common Reason: Other students see the password as the student enters it on a keyboard

Use Arts Integration to Enhance Common Core

The article "Use Arts Integration to Enhance Common Core" discusses ways to incorporate fine arts into classrooms under the Common Core State Standards.  It is a tough transition for schools across the country to implement the Common Core into schools similarly integration into classrooms.  The article also makes note of that adding art into the unit will involve students to try different learning styles.  Art integration will also have students to be exposed to social, cultural, and intellectual needs.  

I am a big artsy person. I think that most things can be taught with art. I also feel that art is being taken for grant nowadays. Art classes are being forced to have a tight budget and with a tight budget, what can teachers provide for their students to create a work of art?  I think it is great for integrating the arts into the Common Core. Think of it this way: without art, how would we have know how to write essays or draw an interpretations of the world or label things?  

John Hunter and the World Peace Game

Who is John Hunter?  John Hunter is one of the most inspirational teacher I have ever encountered.  He is one of those teachers who children look up to and inspire those to become future educators themselves. Hunter showed so much compassion for his students and cares about what they are gaining out of class.  I'm not saying that other teachers do not care if their students are learning or not, but Hunter takes his class on a journey that many teachers feel it being too vigorous for the students.  Hunter taught 4th grade gifted students.  In 1978, he created a game to teach his students about the problems in Africa.  Instead of lecturing his students, Hunter wanted to build a model for his students to see what he was talking about.  Hunter's World Peace game consists of the different layers that comprise of the ground level, sky level, and outer space.  On the ground level, there are four countries that the students have made up.  Hunter gave his students a list of problems/crises and wanted to see how they would solve them.  To our astonishment, the students were actually discussing and collaborating with one another to solve their problems.

John Hunter shows us that we do not need the Common Core to get students to think critically and/or collaborate with each other.  Where Hunter teaches at, the state of Virginia does not implement the Common Core State Standards.  This goes to show that we do not need the Common Core to get students to think as "college-and-career-ready" students.

Common Core Standards for ELA and Literacy

1. What is the purpose of the college and career readiness standards?
- The purpose of the college and career readiness standards is to keep the students focused and supply them with the skills to be successful in college and their careers.


2. What are the benefits and challenges of the shift to reading and writing non-fiction texts?
- The benefits and challenges of the shift to reading and writing non-fictions texts are to read closely and logical inferences.  Another benefit is that reading informational texts can help students become better writers.

3. What are the benefits and challenges of having standards for science, social studies, and technical subjects?
- The benefits and challenges of having standards for science, social studies, and technical subjects are that children learn how to read complex texts and it will promote conversations and collaborations.

The Common Core's Fundamental Trouble

In the article "The Common Core's Fundamental Trouble", Valerie Strauss discusses the pros and cons of the Common Core.  The positive outlook of the Common Core is that it will provide stronger critical learning skills, require student-centered teaching with collaborative and reflective learning, and set higher expectations for all children to do better.  Continue to read the article, we soon realize that Strauss is not in favor of the Common Core.  She reminds the readers of No Child Left Behind.  It was similar to what the Common Core is trying to do; however, the Common Core is a revised version of it.  Strauss also makes note that NCLB. had no significant results for schools.  After a decade-long of implementing NCLB, it was "a dismal failure in both raising academic performance and narrowing gaps in opportunity and outcomes."  By adopting the Common Core State Standards, Strauss feels that the country is repeating the same mistakes as it has when it enforced NCLB.

Learning should be F.U.N!  School should be a place where children can go and look forward to everyday. As schools across the Nation are adopting the Common Core, the fun and excitement of school are slowly but surely being sucked out of the system.  I remember a professor told me that as teachers, we should never make our students memorize information.  Instead, we should encourage them to learn to use the information they learned in school and apply it to every day life.  The Common Core is basically teaching children to memorize what they learned and regurgitate on standardized testing days to measure how much they learned.  This is not F.U.N.  Keep in mind that kids need to be kids.  They should not already be stressing out over tests.

The Biggest Fallacy of the Common Core Standards

"How does anyone know that the Common Core standards will prepare everyone for college and careers since they are now being adopted for the very first time?"  I ask myself that every time the issue of adopting the Common Core arises.  Yet, it is so true!  Where are the statistics that shows the increase of "college-and-career ready" students?  Written by Diane Ravitch, the article displays the unnecessary change for schools to implement the Common Core.  Why spend millions of dollars on standardized tests when the money can be used towards art or music or physical education.  At a young age, children need to enter classrooms where they can express and explore their learning environment.  I don't believe that children should go to school just to learn how to test.  What sense does that make?  I would be more in favor for the Common Core if there were actual results of how well or bad it has affected schools.  Instead, states across the country are adopting these standards in hopes that their schools will do better.

How Teachers are Integrating Technology into the Common Core

In his article, Fred Sitkins discusses his support of technology being used in classrooms. He outlines the main points of the Common Core that corresponds with technology. With technology, the classroom is opened to endless possibilities and discoveries for students. Students are able to learn and create documents, spruce up any presentations, and collaborate with classmates.

I am a strong advocate of technology being introduced into the classroom.  To many, it is surprising to see many people struggle while using technology.  Today’s generation is all about technology.  Children at the age of two already know how to play with an iPad!  In the article, Sitkins mentions that, “… [Students] can define unfamiliar words as they read them or even have the pronunciation of those words spoken to them.”  I agree with Sitkins on that statement.  I can recall in high school not knowing many words in my readings.  Because we were not allowed to use our cell phones during school, I wished I had a device such as an iPad to look up those words at the time to have a better understanding of the word.  Technology is a great attribution to a classroom; however, it must be monitored because students can and will abuse the use of it in class.  They may also become less appreciative of teachers.  Technology will also hinder students' chance to receive authentic teaching methods.  Some students may even venture off during lecture and may log onto a social media or play games.  Overall, I would like to see technology being in more schools soon. 

Introduction

 

              My name is Thy Nguyen.  I am currently a student at The University of Southern Mississippi.  My major is Elementary Education.  I am originally from Pass Christian, MS.  It is a small town located on the Gulf Coast.  My hobbies include painting, watching movies, enjoying the company of family and friends and being outdoors.  My goal as a teacher is to return to the Gulf Coast and to help the Vietnamese community understand the school system.