Sweatin' Outside My Comfort Zone

I spent a few minutes with my mother-in-laws exercise bike yesterday--30 minutes, to be exact. It was a leg/cardio workout. If I were to exercise I normally would not spend my exercise time on a stationary bike because I have not been exposed to any avid male "exercise bikers." I feel like this type of workout is usually associated with women--especially moms and grandmas--so I really don't feel drawn to it. Give me some barbells! <cue Tim Taylor grunt>. I will probably stay away from the exercise bike in the future, but would really like to spend some more time on my regular bicycle. The type of exercise is great, I just can't get past the "mom" stigma <shrug>.

Classroom of the Future--1980's Style

I always enjoy watching movies from the Eighties and Nineties and seeing how they portray life in the Twenty-First Century. One of my favorites is Demolition Man. I especially like the part about the three seashells--classic! Obviously, the writers got a lot of it wrong, but that's what makes it fun. These three videos are a glimpse into Twenty-First Century education from the mind of the 1980s:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

I'm kind of impressed at the accuracy with which these videos portray the abilities we currently have due to the advance in technology in the past 20+ years. I know in 1987 videoconferencing was not widely available (if at all). Now, with web apps like Skype or Apple's own Facetime, we can videoconference with people around the world.

The way he locates information about Marathon is similar to using websites like Wikipedia, or the many iPad apps that integrate Wikipedia into their interfaces (Qwiki, for example, even reads the text to you).

I didn't see any blatant, funny errors in these videos similar to the three seashells from Demolition Man. I think that everything in the videos is doable, if not, already being done.

iBooks, iBooks Author

I die a little on the inside every time I see someone's face light up when they see the relatively new iBooks 2 and its integration of textbooks. Textbooks! What a novel idea! The quality of our education system has waned over the past five to six decades and how does Apple suggest we fix it? Textbooks!

Insanity--doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

Don't get me wrong. I think being able to carry all your textbooks on an iPad is great for students, but more from a physical, I-don't-want-my-kid-to-be-a-hunchback sort of way. I don't understand why people get so excited when you dress up a turd and put a bow on it--it's still a turd. A textbook is a textbook is a textbook, no matter how much you can interact with it, no matter how colorful the pictures are, no matter how much it costs or how much you update it--IT'S STILL A TEXTBOOK. Textbooks and their publishers have been the bane of many educators for decades and this tool isn't going to change that. Apple's really good at marketing though, cudos.

Now, I do think that the iBooks Author is a good idea. The problem with textbooks is that they are made by textbook publishers. Textbook publishers know all the right stuff to jam into a textbook to really impress parents and school administrators--"Hey look, there's a table here that has all of the standards on it," "Look at how this picture has the standard below it, this is how you're going to KNOW your students are learning, just read these certain pages for these standards." While linking the standards and inserting "expert teacher" advice and colorful pictures make you feel good, they're not going to make a mite's difference in the education of our children. Good teachers are needed--teachers who know where the textbook errs and where, in Social Studies, for example, the publishers are putting a liberal or conservative spin on the content. Teachers need to smart enough to present "the other side" so our students get a multi-faceted education as opposed to the brainwashing some of our textbooks provide. With iBooks Author, teachers can create their own textbooks that have all the "flashy" new features of the publishers' books, but better content that is tailored to the specific class being taught. Hopefully we will see many open-source books in the the future that educators can choose to use in their classrooms in lieu of the outdated, old world, textbook publishers' books that are so last century.

Covert Front

Covert Front is a little less fun (in my opinion) than Peasant's Quest. I've tried to get into games like this before--the type where you are shown a screen at a time and are allowed to interact with the objects in the room. This can be through reading papers left on a table, picking up items off of shelves, or opening and walking through doors. I remember a noire style game like this I used to play on the NES, though I don't remember the name (because I didn't play it very much/long). Though I personally dislike this type of game, I do see the merit it has for learning. Players are given the opportunity to use critical thinking and problem solving skills in order to progress through the game. For example, I found some scissors in a box outside of a house and picked them up. Later, on the other side of the house, I found a power circuit that I was able to "short out" with the scissors in order to get the door to open. Had I not been searching every nook and cranny of the environment, I wouldn't have found the scissors and been able to get into the house to proceed further into the story.

Peasant Quest

I just beat Peasant's Quest. OK, I had the walkthrough open the entire time. But I still played from start to finish.

The graphics and music of the game are reminiscent of 8 bit RPGs I used to play as a kid. In most cases, the story really makes or breaks a game like this. I remember trudging through hours of gameplay to try to beat the evil monster at the end or save the princess, all along the way you have to follow the story like a detective, trying to figure out which item you need for the next part of the quest, where it is located, who you have to talk to in order to obtain it, fighting monsters all along the way. I really learned a lot about critical thinking and problem solving through this type of game. Peasant's Quest is a little different in that the player isn't locked down with certain functions and it isn't obvious (at all) what you're supposed to do next. One could spend hours meaningless meandering, trying to figure out where to go and what to do (hence my use of the walkthrough).

Evernote in the Classroom

Evernote is a great tool for note-taking on any mobile device. If you have multiple devices, Evernote will sync every note you take across all of them--laptop, iPad, iPhone, etc.

Concerning education, Evernote can be a very useful tool, especially in a 1:1 setting. Students can create a notebook for every class they have. In each notebook they can insert relevant pictures, or audio clips to reinforce concepts learned in the classroom. The teacher can actually email photos to students they want their students to include in their Evernote notebook. Notes can be added as well. By the end of a unit, students can have an in-depth study guide for the unit that is more than just words on a page, but words accompanied with pictures, and voice clips to help ensure recollection.

I would use Evernote much like Rob Van Nood, where students upload their work into a notebook throughout the year that can be used as a portfolio to gauge student learning. It can be a place to reflect, create, and share learning experiences with classmates.

Teachers can also create a notebook that has tons of information in it, utilizing the audio and picture capabilities of Evernote, then share the entire notebook with the class to help them understand the big picture. This is huge for social studies teachers. I know I struggle with getting my students passed the knowledge and comprehension levels. As students see Evernote modeled correctly by their teachers, they will be better-equipped to use it to attain the synthesis and evaluation levels of the taxonomy.

FERPA 2.0

Let's face it: privacy doesn't really exist anymore. With a simple Google, Facebook, or app search, anyone can find an astounding amount of information on anyone else. Further, if the curious party is determined, plenty of websites are willing to dig into someone's life for them and present their findings for a small fee. Even scarier, the "curious party" is usually the website we enjoy using. In order to provide personalized advertisements Google and Facebook are collecting an incredible amount of data about you. 

But just because privacy as we knew it in the 20th Century isn't a reality doesn't mean that we need to completely let our guard down to the "inevitability" of someone finding and using your information for malevolent purposes. Especially as educators, we need to be vigilant in our use of Web 2.0 tools to ensure the safety and privacy of students.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, teachers may act in place of a parent or guardian to give consent to websites in order to collect personal information about students. With the power to allow students to sign up for and use websites as a part of learning, teachers need to understand the responsibility that comes with this type of power. It is incumbent upon districts, technology leaders and teachers to learn as much as they can about a particular website before allowing/requiring students to use it. 

Consider the following when encouraging students to sign up for online services (especially if they are under the age of 13:

1. Have students use an alias
2. Encourage students never to put personal information about themselves online, such as address, age, etc.
3. Continually monitor students as they participate in the online environment
4. Teach students how to interact appropriately on the web
5. Monitor students' accounts
6. Make students aware they can tell you if anything seems out of place (they clicked on something that they shouldn't have, etc.)

I think the best way to ensure privacy is protected is for teachers, parents and students establish acceptable guidelines pertaining to the use of websites that require personal information. Furthermore, teachers, parents and students need to have clear, open and ongoing communication about online activities.

Michio Kaku on Immortality

This guy is crazy! (in a "this-might-actually-happen-sometime-in-the-next-century" kind of way) In this video, Michio Kaku, theoretical physicist, describes the process by which scientists can compare complete genomes of old people to those of young people to pinpoint where aging takes place. That will enable them to possibly reverse the affects of aging. Fascinating. Looks like Walt Disney put his faith in the wrong theory....

Remind 101

Remind 101 is a text messaging service that allows teachers to send messages to students and parents about upcoming events or assignments. I think this is a really great service for teachers who are willing to put themselves out there and go the extra mile to make sure students (and their parents) are aware of upcoming assignments and tests. Keep in mind this service is one-way communication. Students cannot reply to messages and students don't see the teacher's actual cellphone number.

This service is similar to sending students reminders via twitter or facebook, except they do not have to sign up for any accounts, and as long as they have a cellphone (any type of cellphone that has a texting plan), they can receive messages through Remind 101.

I think this is a great tool for teachers who are willing to use it. Personally, I don't see myself using it any time soon because I have so many redundancies already built into my classes, this only adds one more place to put the information out there. But I can also see the benefit of being able to get short, quick messages to students.

View a video about Remind 101 here.

Harry Potter and the T-1000

I know this sounds crazy, but it's legit. I had read/heard about the type of technology being developed by our military that can basically make a soldier invisible, much like Harry's cloak. This guy apparently doesn't think invisibility is that big of a deal. He gives the idea about 5 seconds then spends the rest of his  3 minute video discussing T-1000-like technology and how scientists are currently working to create such technology. I'm a bit of a scifi geek and get a little excited every time scifi theoretical physics becomes a possibility. Anyway, watch this (and other videos) and imagine where we could be in 50 years (or 100...or 500).

Ed Tech Box

I really like flying. I think I'm getting the hang of this Second Life stuff too.

I flew around EdTech Island a bit trying to find the sandbox. It took me about 5 minutes of flying to figure out that different areas of the island have names (USERS or CAVE for example). So I flew around for a bit, keeping my eye on my "location bar." After a few more minutes I found myself in the Sandbox.

I quickly right-clicked and got to work. I noticed I could build a number of shapes, including several different regular polygons as well as a tree. I chose the box icon and started working my magic.

It wasn't long before I was enjoying a relaxing afternoon, sitting on my box. It was a pretty cool feeling--not because it was a difficult task to achieve or puzzle to solve, but because it opened my eyes a little wider to the potential of this MMO in an education setting.

I am excited about the possibility of creating engaging environments for my students. I haven't looked into the cost aspect and I'm sure it would involve an immense amount of time, but I think it would be worth it. I also need to look into the possibility of an iPad app, since my school is implementing a 1:1 initiative. If it is possible to use Second Life on an iPad, this application is going to be very appealing in the coming years.

My only issue with Second Life at this point is that it is extremely choppy while the objects are loading. I'm not sure if that is a Second Life issue or if my computer is in need of an upgrade, but my experience would be much more enjoyable if the environment loaded a little faster/smoother.

Second Life--Moving and Viewing

So, I just spent a few minutes walking around Eagle Island and have noticed some really exciting features of Second Life. I am really beginning to see how it can fit into an educational setting. I really like that SL allows it's citizens to fly. The first thing I did was fly to the top of a nearby mountain to see the surrounding landscape:

After flying around a bit, a video started playing. I didn't intentionally start the video, so I had no idea where I could find it to turn it off. So, off I went, on an epic adventure to end the chicken reproduction system video. I looked at the nearby videos and in the lab, but couldn't find it.

Next, I flew up and out to find a section of the island to which I did not have access. After flying in circles for a few moments, I found an outdoor classroom with a huge screen at its center. There, I found the chicken video and turned it off. Next, I flew to the beach for some much needed relaxation after the stress of flying around to find the chicken video (SL can be stressful :-p). So I laid down in the hammock. Brilliant!

Next, I roamed around to several other "boothes" that were set up that had some interesting information linked to them. I ended my time on Eagle Island this afternoon by watching the sunset. Sitting on...a goat.

As I was walking (running, flying) through Eagle Island, my creative teacher-juices began to flow. I began to think of the various destinations that have been created to mimic real life (at times, historical) places. Students would be able to access these places to get a 3D view of the particular region or city we are studying. Also, I realized people can create museums, or islands of specific events in history. For example, it wouldn't surprise me if someone has created an island for WWII or the Holocaust to be more specific. The potential to create these and other such "displays" makes SL much more intriguing and usable in the classroom. The more I experience, the more likely I am to actually try this with my students. I'm excited to continue to explore the SL world and its potential to aid in instruction.

Second Life--Moving

After moving through the tutorial in Second Life, I hold to my previous assertion that the mechanics of moving in Second Life are a bit choppy. I haven't looked to see if this is possible, but I think it would be awesome if I could rebind some of the keys to mimic games I've played in the past (WoW). I keep hitting the spacebar meaning to jump and the "q" and "e" keys trying to strafe (which, I'm not sure strafing is even possible). 

Here's a pic of me kissing the parrot......and here I am fresh off of learning how to sit

Anyway, for a game that you don't have to pay for or house locally on a harddrive, it's not bad. I can't wait to learn how educators are using it as a part of their instruction.

Second Life

Hello. My name is JosephSchmoe. At least it is in Second Life.

Second Life is an MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online Game). An MMO is a type of game that provides virtual worlds in which potentially millions of people can interact online. You can sign up for a free account and begin interacting with real people (or at least their avatars) in fascinating virtual worlds. Having spent a significant amount of time playing World of Warcraft, I am a little underwhelmed by the lackluster graphics and controlling my avatar doesn't seem "natural." Other than these minor setbacks, I am able to see some benefit to using this game in the classroom.

Through selecting destinations, you can travel to various places. Many of these places are fictional, however, there is a "folder" of destinations labeled "real." These locations are replicas of real life places such as Battery Park, the Acropolis, and the Golden Gate Bridge. Having students explore these places on their own adds another dimension to any discussion on these topics.

The Second Life community has devoted much effort to education in general. On the Second Life Wiki, an entire section is devoted to education. Second Life novices who would like to utilize this online tool in their classes should start there, familiarizing themselves with available education resources.

Groups of students can meet in an aforementioned location or in a designated classroom to discuss relevant classroom topics synchronously. This will allow students to interact in a chatroom setting in which many who do not participate openly irl (in real life) may be more inclined to chime in.

The whole point to "gamifying" education is to "meet students where they are"--to engage them on a level they prefer. Although Second Life is not going to be the ideal method for all students, many will be excited by the prospect of playing a game while learning. Initially, I am intrigued by the potential of this program. I think it has potential to be a pretty good tool.

Seduction of Video Games

This post is a reflection on an article written by Keith Stuart.

Keith points out several fascinating arguments in support of the argument that, contrary to popular belief, video games are not "just a waste of time," but that they actually "fulfill intrinsic human needs." And you thought your kids were playing Call of Duty just to see blood spatter their screen and (hopefully) their adversaries. Apparently, we don't play games just because they're fun or they're beautiful. Here a the reasons Keith mentioned in his article:

1. We learn interesting stuff from games in ways our brains prefer
• Our brains prefer to learn "through systems and puzzles." Games provide an educational environment where it is OK to fail, unlike the high pressure we often feel in real life to get it right the first time
• Games provide us with tools to complete tasks, beginning with simple tools and simple tasks. We are also given the time and environment to master the simple tools and simple tasks before progressing to bigger, more difficult ones.
2. Games give us the control
• We like to play games that give us the ability to make big decisions that effect the outcome/storyline. Sims, for example, lets us "play god."
3. Games notice/reward us
• You do something in a game, you get something out of it, whether it is some item or a screen animation telling you how awesome you are with music effects. When you keep your head down and do your work in real life, you aren't usually noticed.
4. Games exaggerate our victories (and failures)
• When you do really simple tasks, you reap really big reactions. For example, when you kill someone on Call of Duty, blood squirts in every direction, sometimes onto your screen. Sometimes, the other player gets blown back. It's really fun to watch. Even when the gamer messes up or gets killed he has fun doing it if the "dying animation" is fun to watch.

Now for the million dollar question. How do we translate these four concepts imply as we relate them to an educational environment? 

• Educators need to create an environment where failure is OK. I'm sure you can think of an old saying about failure leading to success. Our primary goal as educators is the success of our students. Let them fail, but let them fail safely, so they are not crushed and ruined by failure, but hardier and wiser as a result. Secondly, teachers need to provide students with tools to succeed, starting with simple, easy tools and working up to the more complex. 
• We  need to allow our students to master each skill before progressing to the next one. Too many times teachers move on to the next chapter even if sally and bobby failed the last one. Ideally, we would figure out what went wrong and where, and allow students to master each skill/level/task before moving onto the next.
• Reward students for even the most menial tasks. This can be done through an encouraging word or a pat on the back. A smile works well, too. Many students love to be recognized in front of their peers. Don't tell Michelle Obama, but I think candy is a good reward as well. You would be amazed at the power of a single skittle. Kids are hungering for positive attention. Let's reward positive behavior with positive affirmation.
• Exaggerate. If Bobby usually makes Cs on a test and he makes a B, how about a high five? Announce to the class that Bobby worked extremely hard and has shown the most improvement on his grades, or make up some other really-super-awesome reward for his efforts. Celebrate small victories in big ways. 

Epic Wins in the Classroom

In early 2010, Jane McGonigal delivered a TED talk about taking advantage of gamers and the skills they acquire in games such as World of Warcraft to solve real world problems. You can watch the video at the bottom of this post. The whole point of the talk is that gamers spend an incredible amount of time in virtual worlds battling (and winning against) evil super-bad-guys in a never-ending quest--all to achieve that next "epic win." Epic wins, or successfully completing a very difficult task through much time and effort, are partially what make games addictive. In fact, McGonigal points out that the average young adult will spend roughly 10,000 hours playing games by the time they are 21. That is nearly identical to the amount of time a person spends in school between 5th and 12th grade. Over the course of their roughly 10,000 hours of gaming, gamers acquire 4 skills, according to McGonigal:

1. Urgent Optimism--Gamers can't wait to embark on the next quest or mission. They set goals and anticipate reaching those goals, whether it is achieving new skills or a higher leve, or picking up some sweet new piece of gear. They know that if they spend time playing the games, they will reap the benefits of their efforts.
2. A Tight Social Fabric--In real life, gamers are usually depicted as the thirty-something male who lives in his parents' basement, surrounded by pizza boxes, trash, and the unmistakeable stench of bad hygiene. They are social outcasts. Conversely, in the virtual world, these guys have characters who are the avatar equivalent of Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise. Not only do they fit in, they are envied, respected, even popular. Thousands of others online are willing to trust them with integral roles in their next world-saving mission.
3. Blissful Productivity--Gamers devote a lot of time to their games, not because they have to, but because they want to. It's fun. They know that working hard in the game is going to pay off later. Even the most menial tasks in the virtual world lead to some kind of positive reward, making even the most menial tasks "worth it" in their minds.
4. Epic Meaning--Gamers feel they are a part of something important. They belong. They share in the joy and excitement of the epic win. They know the group could not have achieved the epic win without them.

Imagine if every student approached their education with urgent optimism, a tight social fabric, blissful productivity, and epic meaning. How do we provide that for our students? How do we create an atmosphere for our students to experience learning in such a way? How do we make epic wins possible in the classroom? Simple. Make education a game. Create a virtual environment that gauges the "level" of each participant.  Provide each participant with specific and important tasks that are on the verge of what each player is capable of. Engage students with epic adventures, tons of collaborators, an epic, inspiring story, and frequent, positive feedback. Meet students where they are. If they want to spend 10,000 hours gaming by the time they are 21 years old, why not teach them English and Social Studies in the process. It's a win-win. Students play games. They learn.

EdTech Picks

Here are a couple of cool sites that made eCampusnews' top 50 in 2012:

WatchKnowLearn
Great resource site to find videos for every subject. Created by Wikipedia co-founder. It's easier to find videos on this site than say, Youtube if you don't know exactly what you're looking for.


DimensionU
Game-based learning for K-12 students. This is similar to the class I am currently taking: play games, learn stuff.

Educate the World

Last Fall, the the government in India release the Aakash Android Tablet. It is a tablet that costs a mere $35 dollars (with a government subsidy, about $60 without) that the Indians hope will be used to connect millions of students to the greatest learning tool ever developed--the web. India, being one of the most populated countries in the world, has a huge share of impoverished people. Hopefully for this massive group of Indians, the tablet will better educate the future generations, leading to upward mobility and a drastically reduced number of poor.

This same model could be applied to the United States, one of the riches nations in the world. The US could relatively easily put this technology in the hands of its students. Unfortunately, Americans, as a whole, are a little spoiled. School-aged children are already familiar with top-notch technology by the time they are preteens. The Aakash, being less than $100 is not as powerful, responsive, and enjoyable to use as say, the iPad. I think many American children would have a difficult time regressing to this type of technology.

Educational technology in this case is very similar to food. If the Peace Corps showed up in some suburban white neighborhood and offered some kind of cheap, but nutritious gruel, the kids are probably going to respectfully decline. But if you take that same batch of gruel to the inner-city, it's going to be eaten. The difference is the kids are starving. For food. For education. For something better.

I think the Aakash could play a pivotal role in revolutionizing learning for millions (if not billions) of people around the world. I guess, you just have to find someone who is hungry.

Check out the Aakash on Wikipedia.

Gaming to Learn

Can gaming actually help us learn? This is exactly what Tim Chatfield argues in the following Ted Talk, and it makes a lot of sense. First of all, gaming has proliferated in the past twenty years. It is a multi-billion dollar industry. Tim argues that this is at least partially due to the rewards individuals (or groups) reap while engaging each other and the environment in a virtual world. Game designers can measure billions of data points while the game, and then calibrate the game--that is, balancing effort and reward--to keep players engaged.

Tim mentions 7 ways games reward the brain:

1. Experience bars--players can see their experience level and compare it to an end goal. They see themselves progress and take ownership of their attempting to reach the goal.
2. Multiple long and short term goals--lots of different tasks to give people a variety of options to choose from
3. Rewards for effort--everything done in the game reaps some kind of benefit. For example, if you kill a monster, you get at least a little bit of in-game currency.
4. Rapid, frequent, clear feedback--the player is often reminded of how she is doing and whether she is on the right track
5. An element of uncertainty--the gamer always has a chance for something really awesome to happen--they will get an extra, unexpected reward, for example.
6. Windows of enhanced attention--by measuring dopamine levels in the brain, we can predict windows of time when learning is taking place at an enhanced level.
7. Other people--"the biggest neurological turn on" is interacting with other people.

If we could somehow apply these same ideas in an education setting, I think the benefits would be huge. I envision a class in which students are engaged on an individual basis, each one learning at his own pace. Each achieving at a level appropriate to him. Some students zoom ahead of others at a blinding pace, others take the tortoise's approach, everyone learns. This is differentiating instruction at its finest.