For the assignment this week in Technology in Education we are required to read 3 scholar or peer reviewed articles about K-12 online learning and then discuss one of them. The three I chose were, "Keeping Pace With K-12 Online Learning" (Watson, 2005), "The Landscape of K-12 Online Learning: What is known" (Barbour, 2018), and "Offering Preservice Teachers Field Experiences in K-12 Online Learning: A National Survey of Teacher Education Programs" (Kennedy & Archambault, 2012). The article I am going to focus on is the later. This article talks about the new need for teaching teachers how to use online education for their students. Currently, "Data show that only 1.3% of responding teacher education programs are addressing this need via field experiences in virtual schools" (Kennedy & Archambault, 2012). The need is not being met to keep up with technology in education. I am glad my college, Regent University, is on top of this trend and teaching us what we need to stay current as teacher.
Barbour, M. (2018). The Landscape of K-12 Online Learning: Examining What Is Known [Ebook]. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Michael_Barbour3/publication/330275960_The_Landscape_of_K-12_Online_Learning_Examining_What_Is_Known/links/5c36af42458515a4c71a2dc6/The-Landscape-of-K-12-Online-Learning-Examining-What-Is-Known.pdf
Kennedy, K., & Archambault, L. (2012). Offering Preservice Teachers Field Experiences in K-12 Online Learning. Journal Of Teacher Education, 63(3), 185-200. doi: 10.1177/0022487111433651
Watson, J. (2005). Keeping Pace With K-12 Online Learning [Ebook]. Naperville: Learning Point Associate. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED489514.pdf
There are some great web-based tools currently which can greatly enhance the teaching experience. Take for instance Google Earth. This is a great way to learn many subjects that would include the earth in some way. One thing I like, in particular, about Google Earth is that it can be made into a game which is really fun but very educational at the same time. The game is called "Geo Guesser" https://geoguessr.com/ ("GeoGuessr - Let's explore the world!", 2019). The game uses Google Maps and drops you somewhere in the middle of anywhere in the world and the user needs to use street signs, addresses they see and Google Search to figure out where they are in the world. It is very fun and also educational. However, to use this as an educational tool, one would need to give the assignment with clear directives. An article regarding Google Earth said this; "Like other instructional strategies, technology use has the unfortunate potential of being ineffective if not paired with clear objectives and appropriate assessments" (Johnson, Lang & Zophy, 2019).
There is a method called the "Assure Method" (Karen, 2019), which gives good guidelines for using technology as a teaching tool. The following video provides a synopsis of the method:
There are five basic premises in the Assure Method. They are; Analyze learners, State objectives, Select method, media or materials, utilize media and materials, Require learner's participation, and Evaluate and revise (Karen, 2019). It is designed to keep students on track with learning and also to continue to evaluate the effectiveness of the technological material.
One issue that comes to mind when working with the internet is sites that impressionable minds (and don't we all have one of those?) can stumble upon. One way I see to overcome this is filtering. My household personally uses a site called, Covenant Eyes, https://www.covenanteyes.com/
("Screen Accountability™ | Covenant Eyes", 2019). It filters out anything that you would not want a child to see and also sends the teacher (or any designated person) a list of the sites that were visited while the students were on the computer. This keeps everything open and honest.
References:
GeoGuessr - Let's explore the world!. (2019). Retrieved 30 November 2019, from https://geoguessr.com/
Johnson, N., Lang, N., & Zophy, K. (2019). Retrieved 30 November 2019, from https://learn-us-east-1-prod-fleet01-xythos.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/5c2960be25208/1584295?response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%2A%3DUTF-8%27%27Overcoming%2520Assessment%2520Problems%2520in%2520Google%2520Earth-based%252C%25202011.pdf&response-content-type=application%2Fpdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Date=20191130T142238Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=21600&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAIBGJ7RCS23L3LEJQ%2F20191130%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Signature=ff1dcbf941d32ce32f48f2e9b813abdecdc49a2fbdde6f5240b08e6e3acd10dd
Karen, K. (2019). YouTube. Retrieved 30 November 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ3i-_AIQmM
A new phenomenon is taking place in school today because of technology called the flipped classroom. In a flipped classroom, the first exposer and teaching happen at home on some type of technology. Then the concepts are talked about and explored in the classroom ("What is a flipped classroom? (in 60 seconds)", 2019). The basic concept is explained in the following video.
The benefits of this are that students can learn at their own pace and pause teaching as needed so they can absorb what they heard. Or they do not experience frustration if they are ahead of the rest of the class and have to constantly slow down for others to learn.
Possible challenges go with some of my personal thoughts about this. I love it and I hate it at the same time. The reason is the same thoughts I have about homework. I don't believe in it. School should be for learning and after school, a child should be able to relax and play and not have to have the pressures of school. This is the only time in life when one can experience the carefree aspect of life and I feel homework hinders this. Flipping a classroom just a new form of homework in my mind.
However, it is also a brilliant way to learn how to learn individually and without the pressure of measuring up in school when a student's individual pace may be slower than someone else's. This is what I love about a flipped classroom. It is a new way of teaching and learning and as with anything, there is good and bad that comes along with it.
References:
What is a flipped classroom? (in 60 seconds). (2019). Retrieved 14 November 2019, from https://youtu.be/r2b7GeuqkPc
There are basically two opposing arguments for and against technology. One school of thought says that it actually helps students be more creative and intelligent (Hockly 2011). The other way of thinking says that it makes us less creative, intelligent, and empathetic (Hockly, 2011, p. 323). Personally, I have nothing but good things to say about technology. I do not see one downside. The arguments made against it are probably made from someone who has not tried to experience it in a way that would benefit them personally, in my opinion. For instance, the thought that technology is making us less creative is not true. I cannot tell you how many projects I have learned how to do on YouTube. Take for instance this video, ("Building Popsicle Mansion Time Lapse HD", 2019).
Now, I will tell you that my house turned out nothing like this, but I can't tell you how much fun I had trying. I have also learned many intellectual things from the Internet. Regent University has an entire electronic library of peer-reviewed articles for learning purposes ("University Library | Regent University", 2019). I also feel the empathy argument is not true. Look at anyone's Facebook page who has recently experienced a death or some other tragic event and there is much-expressed empathy. It just looks different today. So no, I don't agree that technology has weakened us as a society in some way. It has decidedly advanced us.
Building Popsicle Mansion Time Lapse HD. (2019). Retrieved 2 November 2019, from https://youtu.be/ept5lAWcmXU
Hockly, N. (2019). Retrieved 2 November 2019, from https://learn-us-east-1-prod-fleet01-xythos.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/5c2960be25208/1581488?response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%2A%3DUTF-8%27%27The%2520Digital%2520Generation%252C%2520Hockly%252C%25202011.pdf&response-content-type=application%2Fpdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Date=20191102T123303Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=21600&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAIBGJ7RCS23L3LEJQ%2F20191102%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Signature=5dd631a87512c003008707e2dec2a2dc017875b0a1fdb0c7c4d981c14947624a
University Library | Regent University. (2019). Retrieved 2 November 2019, from https://www.regent.edu/lib/
