20% project April 18

I really don't have that many questions left about my project. I guess I would like to look into more of MinecraftEdu implementation in classrooms. With the remaining time I have left, I am going to research more about that specifically.

Augmented Reality

Augmented Reality is the fusion of digital information with either live streaming video or the viewer’s real environment, for example Google Glass. 

Here is a picture of my friend trying out Google Glass at a demo.

AR is a way to connect the virtual world with the real world, and this interaction helps us experience abstract concepts and seeks to enhance understanding. Some advantages of AR include apps that can help people get through their daily tasks; an example of this would be a map app that tells you how to get somewhere if you become lost. A disadvantage of AR, relating to teaching, is that the technology could serve as a distraction. My experience with AR would be using the Oculus Rift which is a virtual reality headset for 3D gaming. While designing the Oculus Rift, they came up with the idea of attaching a special camera lens so that you get a real-world view. I really enjoyed playing with it, because it was something I’ve never experienced before. It blurred the lines between what was real and what was virtual; it was a very cool experience.  

Here is a picture of the Oculus Rift that my friend got and let me play with. 

                AR will probably become more prevalent in the near future. My friend in the picture above was part of the Google Glass demo and he told me a lot about it. He said that Google believes everyone will be wearing Google Glass in the next 10 years; it will be normal to be walking down the street and see everyone wearing Google Glass. AR can be a brand new way to access information as well as teach in schools. I can see it being used as a way to possibly apply class material to real life. For example, if you’re learning about different biomes in an environmental systems class, you could use some sort of AR technology to physically look around a desert or rainforest. 

20% Project April 11

Well my project is actually very relevant to what we are learning right now in class. My project is about teaching through the video game, Minecraft, and it focusing on the organization MinecraftEdu. MinecraftEdu is group of people dedicated to getting an education modification of Minecraft into classrooms around the world. We actually watched a video about MinecraftEdu for one of our blog posts a couple weeks ago.  Currently our class is focusing on teaching through blogs, videos, and video games. During class discussions, I am applying everything that my teacher and classmates are saying to my project. I am very passionate about this topic and it is nice to know that others feel the same way. Some classmates in my group are sharing ideas and thoughts with me that I never considered before.

                On Wednesday’s class, we have to come up with an example of a video game that is a good example of a teaching aid. We came up with different games for different subjects like Portal for physics and Lemonade Stand for economy. I tried to think about my project and what subject Minecraft would fall under. I had a hard time thinking of a specific focus and then I realized that Minecraft is more of a way for students to be creative. Don’t get me wrong, there is a ton of knowledge children can learn from Minecraft. However, since it has so much variety and information to learn, I wouldn’t classify it under a specific subject. I would just classify it as a medium for students to express their own ideas while learning different skills applicable to life. 

MOOCs

I have taken an online course before and I did enjoy it for one main reason: I learned at my own pace. It was so nice to study and learn materials whenever I wanted to and be comfortable doing it. Along with MOOCs, there are also other online lectures that I have used to help me learn things for other classes. Online lectures and classes let you pause, rewind, go faster, go slower, etc. Each person can learn at his or her own each comfortable pace with MOOCs. It is also free for people who cannot affordable an education. This is also bad news. There is a possibility that teachers could become unnecessary and people could lose their jobs if MOOCs is cheap/free and/or easily accessible. This is my main worry with it. Research has shown that MOOCs hasn't been that successful when it comes to completion rates and actual learning. I believe that MOOCs can be a helpful thing, but it will be hard to motivate people to learn who don’t really want to. That’s why I think it is better as an aid for a class. 

 This is the website I used all the time when I was in Calculus II for Science and Engineering majors. It's called Khan Academy, and it started out as one making lectures online for all different types of math and science related problems. I think I learned more from this website than I learned in my class. However, I think that if this was an online class, I would have had more difficultly completing it. If I had a question, I could always ask my teacher, but if I was online, I would have no one to help me.



Here is a picture from Khan Academy that shows how the website maps your progress and how many skills you have left to master. This is something that an online course could have to help the students pace themselves and keep up with the work.



The article, Technology Will Not Replace Teachers by Jeff and Katie Dunn on Huffpost, supports the idea that teachers aren't going anywhere. They say, "Will MOOCs or a similar online learning concept start to take over? Will we have robots for teachers?" The role of teacher plays is irreplaceable; teachers motivate and inspire students as role models, facilitators, leaders, guides, and mentors. "A computer can five information, but a teacher can lend a hand, or an ear, and discern what's necessary for a student to succeed, and to want to succeed."

Creativity and Innovation Project Reflection

Our project was about a program called Evernote which could replace notebooks and binders. While making the infomercial, I really wanted to concentrate on all the advantages Evernote had over notebooks. It was important to convey to the listeners that this product could make their lives easier in many different ways. So my group and I came up with funny scenarios that could portray just have much Evernote could better the lives of students. This forced us to be collaborative, but also, we had to be creative and innovative with our ideas and resources in order to find a direction to go in. This project also made me want to get the program for myself. I realized, through all the silly scenarios that we made up, that Evernote could really actually be the future of notebooks and binders, and all students may only just carry their laptop. I can already see it happening now and, with where technology is heading, I don't see it going away but only increasing.​

I learned quite a lot from watching the other infomercials. There are so many different tools out there like Edmodo and A Novel Idea that people can use to do other tasks in an easier and more efficient way. It was also cool to see all the different approaches people took when trying to advertise the tools. While talking about different technologies in an infomercial, we all had to use video cameras, editing programs, screen capturing and more. This shows just how much we must be technologically literate.  

Partner Blog #5

I really enjoyed reading these articles because this is something that I personally am extremely interested in. James Paul Gee says that digital media, video games in particular, work just like books. He focused on the game, World of Worldcraft, which is the most widely played multiplayer game in the world. He talks about how social gaming forces you to solve problems by working together and integrating different skill sets. Each player must also understand the big picture of the game. He also talks about Portal, which is one of my favorite games of all time. The world of Portal follows all the laws of physics to solve complex puzzles forcing the player to think outside of the box.

Here is my gaming library on Steam, a gaming platform for computers. Here you can see many different games, all with different concepts, puzzles, and information to learn.

He then moves on to talk about how playing a game is only part of the understanding. After people play the game, they go online to discuss, modify, and research more about the game. Along with Portal, I’m doing my 20% on Minecraft which explores this same dynamic. People go online and explore the different deeper learning that can be obtained from playing the games. Gee says just this, “Far from there being no articulation and language of the knowledge being developed in the game, there’s a whole community devoted to doing just that.”

Kurt Squire proposes that gamers often ask after playing a game, “Well, why are things the way they are?” by relating the game world to what is going on in the real world. So what they are trying to do with educational games is design and build games around current issues, and then get kids motivated  to get the skills to go out and solve these problems as a direct result of playing games. He also talks about game culture and social organization around them just like James Paul Gee. I have personally experienced this when I play Minecraft and communicate through the subreddit with other players where I can share my work and see all of theirs.

In the classroom video, the teacher talks about how every child is a gamer. The teacher focuses specifically on MinecraftEdu, which is what my project is on. Being someone who really understands this game, I feel like I teach very well through games like Minecraft. This video really got me excited for my project and hopefully working with students in the future through this type of medium.

Here is a barn that I built on my Minecraft server. This took many hors of collecting materials and creative thinking: 

20% Project March 21

I have gotten the chance to talk to a couple people who I believe would really benefit from learning information from my project. The first person who I’ve spoken to is my old chorus teacher’s wife who is a communication teacher for children. I’ve gotten the opportunity to shadow her when she works with children. She didn’t use too much technology is her daily work with children (just computers sometimes) so maybe if I told her about my project, she’d be interested. After shadowing her, I realized just how much MinecraftEdu could really benefit young students. Kids are really easily distracted and I feel like a game like Minecraft, which is extremely addictive from what I know from personal experience, would catch their attention and hold it while teaching them tons of information. My experience shadowing her helped me get a chance to interact with kids while trying to teach them something; which I realized is a lot harder than it sounds. She helped me learn how to keep their attention and I think that I could help her with my knowledge on MinecraftEdu. The second person I talked to is a speech language pathologist. She works with children on a day to day basis and tells me that they use all sorts of games and mediums of technology to teach their kids. I think that many modern day SLPs would suggest something like games or ipad apps or something that to teach the kids and also keep them entertained. 

20% Project March 7

Because my project is about a multiplayer game, it is very easy to find information about it on social media sites. There are thousands of Minecraft servers where groups of friends can go on and play together over the internet. I am currently in a server with some friends and we have a facebook group as well to ask questions and share our creations with each other. Other social media sites like tumblr and reddit are great ways for people to discuss the game. There is a sub-reddit where people post tutorials, photos, stories, questions, videos, and more all about Minecraft. Whenever I have a question, I could write to the facebook group, write on the server, post on reddit, etc. Social media really makes Minecraft more comprehensive. I haven’t really commented on any related blogs yet, but it has helped me to ask questions on reddit and facebook so it’s probably a good idea as well. Youtube has also served as a really great tool for learning about the game. In a video medium, people are able to easily show and explain how they built their creation. Text and pictures are usual as well, but sometimes the more complicated builds could really use a video with a voice walking through it. Overall social media really has benefitted my knowledge and understanding of the game. Now, I can properly understand how teachers are using the game. I understand all the mechanics and how they built what they built. Hopefully I can use this knowledge to teach others. 

Visual Literacy: Reflection #4

Media literacy is just as crucial to education as is reading and writing. Relying heavily on the right lobe of the brain, our perception of images, sounds, spatial, and emotional dimension helps our function and thrive in everyday life. Visual literacy is important in the 21^st century because movies, television, and computer games are ubiquitous. Directors, like George Lucas, envisioned and created new intergalactic worlds to share with others. Now he envisions a new way of learning; a new language of expression. He pictured students being taught the language of sound and images in all forms. Graphics, music, and cinema are just as powerful and in some ways more deeply intertwined with students of the 21^st century.

For me, I watch a lot of movies and play a lot of video games. It’s hard to realize just how much I’ve learned from watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy with hierarchies and fantasy creatures to playing Bioshock Infinite with the multi-universe theory. My 20% project represents exactly what I hope to do in the future; incorporate the virtual world to help teach.

Here is a painting that is hung on my wall in my apartment. This is a painting of one of my favorite characters from one of my favorite movies. He is from Lord of the Rings.

Something that wasn't really mentioned in the articles was art and storytelling in the form of comic books. Captain America was a military solider from the 1940's. This is a poster of the cover of one the comic books from the 1950's that is hung on my wall in my apartment as well. This cover actually ran in the 1950's as war propaganda as you can see Captain America punching Hitler in the face. 

It is a little difficult with having to make our own visual representation, but I think it forces me to think outside the box; and I think that being creative is a very important quality as a future teacher. 

Classroom Floorplan

Well, I made my classroom in a auditorium style shape and put a smart board at the front where the teachers desk is. This setting will make it easier for students to collaborate with the teacher and write their own ideas on the smart board. I also put the desks in groups so the students could work together, but the desks are still facing the front of the room so they can collaborate with each other then collaborate with the teacher.

20% Project February 28

I think that I will benefit a lot from what I learn. I am interested in incorporating new teaching strategies into my future job, and that includes the progression of teaching through video games like Minecraft. Researching about MinecraftEdu will help me find ways to teach through one of my favorite video games which will possibly benefit me a lot in my career. The others who will benefit from this will possibly be the children that I help in the future. I believe that video games are great for keeping a child’s attention so if we can utilize it for teaching, a lot more learning will probably occur. If I want to benefit future children, it would be a good idea to convince schools and parents that this is a good idea. Playing video games in school doesn’t really sound like actual learning. I would write my blog with a new lesson every post; I would also try and think outside of the box with ideas from MinecraftEdu with my own twists. If I ever got a chance to teach a child through Minecraft, I would also post updates of his or her progress on my blog to prove that the child is learning. Since I probably won’t be teaching in a classroom setting and I’ll be working one-on-one, it’ll be a chance to focus on one individual and correctly evaluate his or her progression. I would also ask the child often how they feel about this teaching strategies to make sure they even like it.

"Is School Enough?"

20% Project February 14

When I first started looking for topics for my 20% project, I already had a broad idea of what I wanted to research. I knew that I wanted to learn about the integration of video gaming in classrooms after I read an article about it last semester. When I began searching, I read about different games like Angry Birds, World of Warcraft, and others. I knew that “Integrating video games in classrooms” would be a very broad topic so I chose one video game specifically to research about. I choose Minecraft because it is one of my favorite video games and I’ve learned a lot from just leisurely playing it over the years. I can easily see how this game could be implemented into a classroom setting.

To make it even more specific, I going to research about an organization called MinecraftEdu that was created to help get Minecraft into classrooms. Minecraft is interactive survival game where kids can explore and create whatever they can imagine. The game forces kids to think critically and creatively at all times.

To divide my project into different questions for each week, I will focus on a new lesson to be learned each week. There are so many different tools, machines, kids can build. MinecraftEdu created a modification specifically made to help teachers teach through the game. I could focus on a new lesson from that modification each week and ask questions about it. With my extensive knowledge on the game, I can ask very well informed questions also. 

Horizon Report

The first trend that I read about was Cloud Computing which is basically when students engage in computing and communication, data storage and access, and collaborative work via cloud-based applications and services on the internet. I can see Cloud Computing becoming more implemented into K-12 classrooms even sooner than the full near-term horizon (within the next 12 months). Well into college, I am using Dropbox and Google Drive to save and access assignments. I even distinctly remember using these online programs in my High School Economics classroom. My Dropbox account currently has years and years worth of assignments and papers that I have done for many different subjects. 

Open Content refers to the current form of a movement that began a decade ago when universities such as MIT began to make their course content freely available. Open Content is projected to grow on a mid-form horizon (within 2 to 3 years) and expand more than it already has. The increase in the Open Content movement is due to the rising costs of education, the desire to provide access to learning in areas where such a access is difficult, and an expression of student choice about when and how to learn. I believe that Open Content learning is a great opportunity for so many people who don’t have the chance to get a good education. However, we must be careful of how much we integrate Open Content learning because we might put teachers out of work with the availability of learning anything through an online class. Although Open Content has and will positively influence many people’s knowledge, we have to be careful that we don’t go overboard.

3D printing has always sparked my interest. On the far-term horizon ( four to five years away), it has become much more affordable and accessible in the recent years. Schools, like my high school, are using 3D printers to illuminate the design process, build rapid prototypes, and create models that demonstrate concepts in the curriculum. I am very interested to see how 3D printers work and to have the opportunity to interact with one. Hopefully, I will get the chance to play around with one in the next few years.   

Personal Reflection

Over the course of the Foundations of Technology Integration Project, I've learned a lot about integrating technology into the classroom. I understand that technology will never replace teachers but will only aid them in their teaching. Technology is an intellectual partner in the process of teaching and learning. I have wondered about this relationship, however. I believe there is a fine line between helping and substituting. My big question is: How much can we integrate technology before we cross that line? I have learned from my readings that a teacher will also be needed for meaningful learning to occur. But what if websites, videos, and online courses start to replace classroom, lectures, and teachers? I hope that technology never advances to this point, because meaningful learning would be more difficult for students to achieve and teachers wouldn’t have their jobs anymore. The one thing I would do to integrate technology to create meaningful learning would be utilizing video games into my curriculum. Educators are increasing the use of entertainment software as a teaching device in a growing number of classrooms and business settings. Entertainment software helps impart knowledge, develop life skills and reinforce positive habits in students of all ages. In addition to being a great way to keep students engaged, researchers have found that video games have real potential as next-generation learning tools. Games use new technologies to incorporate principles crucial to human cognitive learning. Dr. Jeffrey Taekman, the director of Duke University’s Human Simulation and Patient Safety Center noted, “serious games and virtual environments are the future of education.”
As a gamer myself, I’m very interested in the application of my favorite hobby to the learning environment. When I’m a specialized teacher, I will be following the development of educational video games very closely.

Meaningful Learning with Technology: Chapter 1

           The biggest takeaway I got from “Meaningful Learning with Technology Chapter one” was that technology is not a replacement for a teacher but more of a teaching aid. I've never really thought about how important teachers are when it comes to actually teaching. As technology becomes more and more prominent in classrooms, teachers will still always be required for meaningful learning to occur.

            One thing that surprised me was the all the different ways in which technology can aid meaningful learning. Technology is a tool to support knowledge construction, an information vehicle for exploring knowledge, as authentic context to support learning, as social medium to support language by conversing, and an intellectual partner to support learning by reflecting. Technology should be used as an engage-r and a facilitator of thinking.