One of the first issues tackled in this chapter was the science of learning, and research supporting it. This, and the psychology implied by it, has always been a subject of particular interest for me. I consider it to be the teacher's responsibility to stay up-to-date on the most current psychology pertinent to the field. As such, I have found a copy of How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School online in it's entirety and look forward to working my way through it in coming weeks. I think I will have to start an offshoot blog to publish my reflections on this subject in a more in-depth manner.
Another section of the chapter highlighted technology's ability to foster communication and collaboration. I enjoyed reading about John Dewey's observations about the "outer" and "inner" attention of students. The communicative and collaborative aspects of technology allow the teacher to engage the students on the deeper, "inner" level. Today's technology allows students to discover the material for themselves, and to use the material to tackle issues that they and their classmates pose. This student-centered approach will be much more effective than some boring professor droning on and on about something that does not interest the student in the least.
Yet another section discussed creativity as a valued talent for workers, but also one that is not easily found. The open-ended nature of many technological applications helps to not only develop creativity in students, but also to showcase it. In this way, an applicant can display his or her creative skills to a potential employer or college admission board. When a student is made to become familiar with emerging technologies, or is forced to show off the skills already possessed, then that student's desired future becomes that much more attainable.
To go along with this chapter, I made a short quiz on Kahoot!. Unfortunately, I could not find an embed code from the site, so I had to brush up on the ol' HTML/Javascript and make my own. My embedded frame will follow, but in case I don't get it to work correctly (as I suspect will happen), this is a link to my quiz. Enjoy!
Additionally, it will require a second device (such as a phone or tablet) to act as the test taker.
Or this will open a popup that should act as a second device. I positioned the popup on my second monitor and eventually got it all to work.
Fantastic work on coding in the Kahoot! It worked great for me - though it really is much more effective in a classroom with a video projector. :) Fantastic questions and though your results will show I didn't get all of them correct, I might argue some of the reasons why - ha! :) You can see how fun and engaging this would be for students practicing for a 'real' test or as an introduction pretest to new content. Glad you explored!
ReplyDeleteContinue to do all of your exploration and research in making the content your own - you appear to be involved with the selected highlights quite well. Do remember, though, that the expectation to include, at the minimum, the textbook reference in a separate resource, is important.