Information Literacy Quiz, November

In ETEC 524, at TAMU-Commerce, we are referring to Alan November’s website “November Learning” quite often. This week, we took an online quiz titled Information Literacy Resources.  I scored a 6.5 out of 13, which made me (according to the answer key) a Moderately Savvy individual. The answers to the questions were very educational. I did not know we could do so many things with search engines! For example, you can find who is linked to any website by doing a link: command search on Google. Type link: (followed by the website’s URL) in the search bar on the Google home page…. PRETTY COOL!

The class randomly analyzed websites and used what we learned from the November quiz to find if the sites were credible, or not. I chose:  http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/ . At first glance, the URL does not seem too fishy. It is neither personal, nor super crazy. Next I used a link: command. After pulling up the websites that link to this page, and the descriptions of them, it was OBVIOUS my website was bogus. Many sites were psychic octopus sites, and vampire sites, and my personal favorite: www.pointlesssites.com/atoz.asp. I next used www.easywhois.com to find the author of the site. It is a person who used a free website host to build the site. This does not make it very credible! I also searched its history, and viewed snapshots of the site when it was first designed in 2003. The information is almost the same, but now the site announces that they are not affiliated with any educational or school association. I cannot find any purpose for the site except to spread useless information. They are not asking for money, just want people to stand up and protest for an endangered, fictional animal.  The current website actually has hilarious real activist accounts. Elementary kids have held demonstrations in Ohio, and a vehicle that has been structured after the imaginary creature (the same creature that is being pushed out by the overpopulation of animals such as Sasquatch).

I loved this assignment and have learned so much! I have pages of notes, and have already text messaged some fellow educators ideas for introducing these sites to their classes. This was a very fun activity and I found myself testing many sites, before I was done with this assignment. Alan November has a great site that I recommend to anyone who uses the internet, educators or not! Take the quiz, and read through the answers, play around with the suggestions and learn a TON!

Technology in Relation to Age

There are many people who feel the older you are, the less you use (or know how to use) technology.  The opposite side of the age spectrum also has an assumption- that the younger learners want to be educated in only virtual classrooms. In the article, Is it Age or IT: First Steps Towards Understanding the Net Generation, the author argues that technology is not age based, and that the younger generations would actually prefer to learn with a combination of online and face-to-face learning.

Many questions have been been asked to prompt my thinking:

*Are you more comfortable composing documents online than longhand?

Yes

*Have you turned your "remembering" (phone numbers, meetings, and so on) over to a technology device?

100% yes

*Do you go to meetings with your laptop, iPad, or tablet?

Sometimes

*Are you constantly connected?

Yes- WIFI throughout my house :)

 

*Is the Internet always on whether you are at home or work?

Yes- in the palm of my hands... on my phone 24/7

 

*Is your cell phone always with you?

Yes- refer to the last answer

*How many different activities can you effectively engage in at one time?

Uhm, of the top of my head 4, and I'm doing them all right now right now. I am sure I could do even more if needed.

*Do you play video or computer games?

Yes, I love Solitaire and Words With Friends on my phone.

*What generational category do you fall in or are you a mixture of a few?

I'm mixed. I had a pager then a cell phone in high school, not many did.... But, I am just now learning many other technology avenues.

 

**This article focused on implications primarily for higher education; however, the characteristics for the Net Gen remain true for students in K12. What and how do we need to change?

We need to stay with them, and teach these kids in "real-time" . For instance, many students already know how to blog- so teaching the basics of blogging needs to be a very short lesson. The focus needs to be on where they can go from there and WHAT can these "Net Gen" kids do with blogs. The same can be said of many other applications as well. Our kids are using the technologies we have solely for social purposes, and have no idea how to transition them into the "real" working world. Teachers need to show them the many productive ways to use technology.

Electronic Portfolios

After reading the article Electronic Portfolios as Digital Stories of Deep Learning, I found that I identified best with the 8th principal of Assessment for Learning (AFL). The 8th principal is AFL develops learner's capacity for self assessment so that they can become reflective and self-managing. I feel this principal should be the foundation for building an educational-based portfolio, or even a work-based portfolio. If a student or employee does not assess themselves, nor become reflective, then they have not learned or earned anything. We, as students, should desire to reflect on what we have learned in order to gain knowledge. Many students take classes and do the coursework only to get the grade. They exit the class and retain little to no information. Instead, we should strive to use what we learn. Education is priceless, and many take it for granted.

I love the idea of make portfolios for an additional purpose of assessment. I feel traditional assessment, pen and paper, should be secondary to proving what you have learned. Teachers are always looking for new ways to assess their students. We, teachers, are all very frustrated with the same style of standardized testing that takes up so much of our yearly lessons. By making and keeping a portfolio throughout the duration of the course/degree is not only proves what was learned but should also allow the student to feel gratified. We all know whether we put 100%, or 10% into something. By keeping the portfolio a student can see their progress along the way and take ownership and pride in their grade and/or success with a degree.

When I am able to start my portfolio (still waiting for the link to buy the program), I know I will be very proud to add documentation of my learning and growth throughout this graduate degree coursework. As an undergrad, I know I blew off many of my classes. I was a social butterfly who was more concerned about the campus events than completing homework with 100% effort. Many of my grades were C's because I knew I could still graduate with the bare minimum. My goal for my ETEC degree is a 4.0. I am 1.5 classes in, and am currently upholding my goal! Keeping a portfolio is an opportunity to say, "Heck yeah! This is what I did. I worked hard, and made the grade!"

 

MY Idea of Education Technology

My Idea of Educational Technology

 

 

Part of understanding Educational Technology is to research…. EVERYTHING. Read journals, blogs, articles, and even notes from national technology conferences. This is exactly what I did, and wow, there are so many different viewpoints. After reading, I found that my feelings and ideas of technology within education became more concrete. I feel you can never have enough technology in the classroom, and students are always eager to learn new ways to do things. The most important element when integrating technology is “education.” Teachers and students must be ready to learn the product and when/how to use it. Technology is not “the way of the future,” but instead it is the now. We communicate and network with technology, and almost all jobs have a prerequisite of some level of technological knowledge. The concept of Educational Technology is more of a verb, than a subject or noun. Both education and technology are ever-changing through a progression of ideas and the death of current and past programs. Educational Technology is an act, or action. It is the act of “DOING” within education; the hands-on experimentation of hardware, software, programs and digital knowledge.

 

Searching the Net

Educators have a responsibility to teach students how to search the internet for information. There are so many ideas being exchanged online, that it can be mentally overwhelming or exhausting to process fact from fiction. The fictional information can be fun to read, or it can help frame ones ideas on any topic. Students must learn that the fact is what matters. While teaching high school, I came across so many papers that cited Wikipedia. We spent one week as a class examining what was a credible/valuable website, and why. I am confident in my past web-based information searches because I had an amazing teacher my first year of college. We did not use the web much when I was in high school because it was foreign to my teachers, and they were scared to enter the world of the web. Since the internet is used by all “digital natives” educators today must teach proper searching skills, and social network etiquette.

 

Social Bookmarks

I am a HUGE fan of Pintrest. When I had a baby girl, I found that I can craft with the best! This past May I was introduced to a social bookmarking site for crafters. Pintrest allows users to network with other crafters and gather ideas/projects to bookmark or “pin” on their digital corkboard. I "pin" ideas and submit my projects all the time! Using this concept with students is a great idea. I have never used a social bookmarking site for educational purposes (crafts can be educational, but not too useful when researching information). There have been many times I was online reading an article, when my computer froze. After turning it back on, I could not find the site I needed. This was always frustrating, but digital social bookmarks would keep that URL for you to retrieve later. These sites would also be beneficial for entire classrooms. Students could mark sites for others to look at, and all the class could easily access information.

 

November Learning

Alan November, is an educator with wonderful ideas. In his article, he discussed watching a teacher’s lesson and suggesting that they write an article. The teacher replied saying it was a normal day. November’s argument is that teachers need to communicate to share their stories so educators can realize how special their skills are. This portion of the article really hit home, because I remembered an in-service where we spent 3 hours discussing great classroom projects. Our principal was able to convince a cafeteria of 300+ high school teachers to stand up and speak about what they do in the classroom. With every teacher discussing different subjects and grades, it was the most interesting training seminar I have ever experienced. The discussion started with only 2-3 key teachers speaking, and then continued as each person was able to recall a wonderful lesson that fully engaged their learners. Teachers DO need to share their stories, so educators can collaborate and work alongside each other instead of being bound by four walls.

Educational blogging

Stephen Downes assumed, in 2004, that blogging should be the future of classroom education. He even quoted a man who said blogging would sew information within different disciplines together and take education out of isolation. Looking back now, I am sure he agrees that we have not met this potential. I believe the reasons are shared between the educator and the student. Most teachers have been afraid of technology, until recently. There are still people who are hesitant to try the “new” things, such as blogging, but far less than in previous years. Blogging has turned into more of a sounding board for adults, most with few comments (interaction). Kids are using blogging as another social media site. Being a coach, I was constantly getting screenshots of blogs that were less than friendly between teammates. This was my introduction to blogging, and how I had to figure out how to use different blog spots. On the flip side, I have seen many blogs where my students hold tutorials for different subject. They discuss, and talk each other through lengthy physics or calculus problems. I feel that if teachers jump on board blogging can be useful tool. While using it, we can teach the younger generations’ proper etiquette.

My Educational Philosophy

Having taken many undergraduate and graduate level education classes, I thought I had my educational philosophy and teaching style down. I learned how to be the best teacher from my teachers, and entered the classroom with confidence. Quickly, I realized that my approach to teaching was just beginning to evolve. After have two kids, and watching how eager they were to learn, my thoughts of how to educate changed drastically. I am more in tune with individual learning styles and get so much joy watching my students get excited to learn new concepts or information. I like to give people the power to form their own educational destiny, and offer them the tools to pave their future.

The sole purpose of education is to learn. Both the student and the teacher need to take active roles in the learning process. The teacher I am striving to become has been formed from watching my children grow and develop, and from my interactions with former students. A teacher should not be afraid to ask questions, nor should the student. The environment should be beneficial to both sides. I expect my students to be actively involved in the learning and education processes. There should be a burning desire, or hunger, for knowledge and understanding. No two students are alike, and very few have just one “learning style.” A teacher is the facilitator to the information; one who teaches the student how to get there, but not exactly where there is.

I once had a professor named Polly Detels, at TAMU-Commerce, who I thought was crazy. She assigned us books that had content unrelated, and asked us to relate it. That’s it. The whole class was on chapters out of these two books and finding harmony within them. There was very little lecture, nor structure. We, the students, were in charge of making the course have structure. I had never taken a class like this, and felt lost and helpless without having a specific outline. I was anxious every time I sat in my desk, but also excited. I was never late, or absent from her classes.  At the end of the semester, I was glad to be out and had no idea the impact she made. Now, looking back I do know how much I learned about education and how much I did learn. I find myself thinking about her class and wanting to make my students feel anxious and excited at the same time. The combination of these feelings created a wonderful teacher-learner environment.

As an educator, I compare myself to a clerk at a grocery store. I understand that I am not fully educated on everything in my store, but I can tell you where it is located and even guide you to the correct aisle. Students are the impromptu bakers. They come into my store to choose what they want to buy, and then develop a meal. Each meal is different, based on the ingredients they sought out. Each meal is representative of life and the path they choose. I feel my job is to guide them to the right aisle and maybe suggest a good brand, then let their creative imaginations fly from there. Teachers can open their store of knowledge, but students must choose to purchase. It is up to us to make sure our store is enticing so they might pull many items off the shelf, and have the desire to create a wonderful dish.

I do not expect everyone to agree with me, because I once even thought this was a bizarre way of educating. Now, I believe 100% in guiding students, whether they are adults or children to experience education. An education is something to be proud of, and it should be highly sought after. I want to be a part of what people are seeking out, and to help fan the flames of desire for education.  

 

**I absolutely loved writing down my philosophy. In my head, I knew the kind of teacher I wanted to be. Writing it down helped me make my goals concrete. I am now confident in the path I am choosing to follow, and I know it will be met with much opposition. The ultimate test will be in the classroom.**