Here is my my video for Digital Textbooks and the changing classroom. The speaker I am iintroducing is Matt Miller. He has a great blog, "Ditch that Textbook" where he shares ideas of how to meet your students with technology and to find the balance between the traditional and technology.
References
Baek, E.,
& Monaghan, J. (2013). Journey to Textbook Affordability: An
investigation of students' use of eTextbooks at multiple campuses. International
Review of Research in Open & Distance Learning, 14(3), 1-26.
Fletcher, G.,
Schaffhauser, D., & Levin, D. (2012).
Out of Print:
Reimagining the K-12 Textbook in a
Digital Age. State Educational Technology Directors Association.
Global News Toronto (n.d.). Kids use new
technology at young age | Watch News Videos Online [Video file]. Retrieved from
http://globalnews.ca/video/1138411/kids-use-new-technology-at-young-age/
Horejsi, M.
(2014). Textbooks 2.o. Science Teacher, 81(3), 8.
Lindshield, B. L.,
& Adhikari, K. (2013). Online and campus college students like using
an open educational resource instead of a traditional textbook. Journal of
Online Learning & Teaching, 9(1), 26-38.
Liu, H.
(2011). What do the college millennial learners say about an open source
digital textbook for a teacher education course? Journal of Technology
Integration in the Classroom, 3(1), 17-21.
Miller, M.
(n.d.). Ditch That Textbook [Web log post]. Retrieved from
http://ditchthattextbook.com/
Waller, D.
(2013). Current advantages and disadvantages of using E-Textbooks in Texas
higher education. FOCUS on Colleges, Universities and Schools, 7(1),
1-6.
As I look over the different technologies that are available
for distance education, I am assessing on how I use these same technologies in
my classroom full of middle school students.
Even though my main teaching practice is face to face, I am finding that
I am shifting toward more technology based information and communication with
my students. There are many reasons that
I have shifted to more technology base, one major one is the fact that my
textbooks are 14 years old and even though the basis of science remains the
same, there are always new discoveries that change the way we view
science. I have to be able to keep up
with these changes and let my students know about the changes and how it
affects their lives and our learning process.
Another reason is the fact that students are now “digital natives” and
approximately 98% of my students have a computer and internet at home available
for their use and use it on a daily basis.
Our school is in the process of becoming a total 1:1 building and I cannot
be left behind my students on how I find and process information. Students now days are used to finding information
on YouTube and other short clips of information and to reach my students, I
have to make sure that I incorporate this style so that my students can
continue processing information in a way that they use on a daily basis. The days of learning from static sources is
fast being left behind.
References:
McGreal, R., & Elliott, M. (2008). Technologies of
online learning (e-learning). In T. Anderson (Ed.), The theory and practice of
online learning (2nd ed., pp. 143-165). Edmonton, AB: Athabasca University
Press.
Education
has changed so much in the last 100 years, but the biggest changes have been in
the last 10 years. It used to be that
any type of schooling outside of a traditional classroom was looked down
on. In current times, non-traditional
types of learning are becoming widely accepted and even encouraged. Homeschooling is changing to on-line learning
and is experienced in both K-12 settings and in upper education and graduate schools. With the World Wide Web, almost everyone has
access to any type of information and course work.
For an
online course to be effective, the class needs to be structured in such a way
that the expectations are clear for both the instructor and the students. An on-line course can have similar
expectations as a face to face course, but without the students being able to
interact as easily, the on-line course has to arrange for the interaction
between students that is needed. The
instructor in an on-line course has almost more requirements than a teacher in
a face to face classroom because they do have to facilitate the interaction
between students and with the instructor.
To ensure this interaction, it takes plenty of prep work on the part of
the instructor or course developer.
There needs to be both formal interactions with discussion boards and a
place where there can be more informal interactions between students and the
instructor (Durrington, Berryhill, & Swafford, 2006, p. 191). The course also needs a clear syllabus and
rubrics so that will allow students more confidence that they are meeting the
requirements of the course. The
instructor also needs to be available to the students through email and message
boards. With the differences between an
on-line course and a traditional face to face course, the instructor has to
view his role differently. George
Siemens offers many different perspective of what an instructor can be like in
the modern educational system (2008).
With the technology available, the instructor does not have to be the
traditional lecture, but he can offer opportunities and direct what students
need to accomplish to successfully complete the course. An instructor needs to help students make the
connections so that they can take the information on and apply it to other
applications (Siemens, 2008).
An on-line
course can be a great opportunity for both students and the instructor. As the world has changed from face to face
communication to digital communication, education has to make the change
also. When there has been adequate and
proper planning, an on-line course can allow plenty of interaction between
students and the instructor that will allow all involved to be successful.
References
Durrington, V. A.,
Berryhill, A., & Swafford, J. (2006). Strategies for Enhancing
Student Interactivity in an Online Environment. College Teaching.
doi:10.3200/CTCH.54.1.190-193
Siemens, G.
(2008). Learning and Knowing in Networks: Changing roles for educators
and designers.
How to achieve interaction from all students? This is a factor in distance education (DE)
and in the face to face classroom. Each
student has their comfort level with public speaking and interaction and a
teacher needs to find the ways to allow students to interact as needed. As a middle school teacher, there are many
times when I feel that I am able to assess what my students know through our
classroom discussions more than on a written test. It is easier to have a student expand on an
answer or comment when we are speaking than on a test, when they just want to
be done with the test and move on to something else. With distance education, when there is no
face to face communication, it is important that there be some type of
interaction. This can be complete with
blogs or discussion boards, but again, how do you get an introverted student to
interact appropriately? The easiest
requirement is to have a minimum requirement of interactions, but how do I, as
the instructor, get to know the student?
One way that Karen Swan states in her article “Relationships between
interactions and learning in online environments” is to have rubric that encourages
the desired cognitive behaviors and interactions (2004). Another strategy is to have both public and
private responses between the student and the instructor (Swan, 2004). An introverted student, even in the privacy
that online can provide, may still not be willing to respond to a large number
of students or even to the instructor when others may be able to see their
responses. The privacy and the one on
one time is needed for many students who are taking the course because they do
not have the time to attend a face to face class or have such a class near enough
to be able to. It is important that the student
realizes what type of learning environment works best for them so that they
will succeed in the classwork learn to the best of their ability (Moller,
Foshay and Huett, 2008).
When a student does not like to interact with fellow
students on a collaborative assignment, how can fellow students and the
instructor handle this situation? This
happens in a face to face classroom also, and can be a struggle to adequately
assess the students. The type of
personalities of the students make a big difference on how much each student
interacts. When one student takes over
as leader and does not necessarily listen to their fellow students on idea and
has a fixed idea of what the project should look like, it can be prevent other
students from feeling like they can participate. In my middle school classroom, I have
students grade each other on their participation, always with the caveat that
I, as the teacher, can overrule their scores.
I may have different expectations for students based on their ability
and other difficulties. This works well
in a classroom setting, but what about an online setting? Communication between partners is the
paramount need. If one of the partners
is struggling, they need to let their partners know and their partners may be
able to help them through a rough area and will request help when needed. For this to be successful in an online
community, it is important that at the beginning of the class, the students and
the instructor need to create that feeling of community (Palloff & Pratt,
2007).
References
Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Huett, J. (2008). The
evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the
potential of the web. Tech Trends, 52(4), 66-70.
Palloff, R. M., Pratt, K., & Palloff, R. M. (2007).
Building online learning communities: Effective strategies for the virtual
classroom. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Swan, K. (2004). Relationships between interactions and
learning in online environments. The Sloan Consortium.
Monday, April 7, 2014
Matt is a leader in the Textbook free classroom.
Keynote Speaker Storyboard – Digital Textbooks
NarrativeVisual
Schools of the past (30 sec) Traditional
classroom with desks and textbooks
Schools of the future (30 sec) one to one
classroom
What is missing from the future (30 sec) traditional
textbook
What is the future of education (60 sec) computers,
digital textbooks/no textbooks
How digital textbooks are perceived (60 sec) graph of student
use/comments from students,
How are digital textbooks being used now (30 sec) College/kindle/nook
Introduce Matt Miller (60
– 90 sec) Matt’s
blog “Ditch that Textbook”
Sunday, April 6, 2014
My storyboard is going to be a day late. My internet at home crashed and it took 3 days to get a repair man out to find the problem. It was also Spring Break and visitors came unannounced and stayed for a couple of days. Sorry. I want to make sure that I have it completed correctly and not rush on something and pay the price later.
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Classmates blogs visited the week of March 23, 2014:
The changes that have affected a business and educational institute over the last two decades have been astounding. I remember when collaborative interactions with individuals in another building or even across the country meant that you either flew out to the place or everyone was crowded around a fuzzy speaker phone. The phone was great, but it was easy for attitudes and intentions to be misconstrued or the difficulty in trying to visualize a concept. As a teacher, I value the times when I am able to interact with my fellow teachers, whether in my building or across the country or world. I am able to learn much from them.
One of the biggest changes in the past couple of years for interactions has been the advent of Twitter and the groups that are formed on there. I belong to Edutopia. This is a group that communicates through Twitter and blogs about ongoing education changes and reform. The blog on July 8, 2010 titled: Igniting Innovation in Education through Collaboration (http://www.edutopia.org/blog/edchat-education-reform-rob-jacobs) examines the how online interactions can help a teacher in the classroom and even how a business can be successful with collaboration. The blog refers to "crowdsourcing" which allows the interactions from anyone who has a desire to learn more about the subject, they do not have to be an expert in the field or use the equipment and technology, just be passionate about the subject.
The Titan File Blog, https://www.titanfile.com/blog/online-collaboration-building-a-bright-future-for-higher-education/, has many posts about effective collaboration. This particular blog refers to the need for effective collaboration with higher education online courses. Students are separated by large distances, so they need a chance to communicate. This can be done through online discussions set up by the instructor or by Skype or other technologies, but it is necessary for the students to be successful.
Distance Learning or On-line learning is a growing field. My master's was completed entirely as an On-line learning experience and my oldest daughter completed high school with on-line curriculum due to health issues, so I have experienced on-line education in different ways. I have experience online classes that were basic ones where the students watched a video or presentation and then took a quiz, to classes that were interactive in both discussions and much interaction between the participants and the instructors.
One of the biggest complains about on-line learning, is the lack of focus and not meeting the needs. This can happen in a traditional classroom or training. For a well designed learning experience, the instructor has to be familiar with the needs of the learners. This concept is discussed in the three part article, The Evolution of Distance Education: Implications for Instructional Design on the Potential of the Web, by Huett, Moller, Foshay and Coleman (2008). With the how fast the internet is changing and the new technology and web sites and how technology minded younger students are becoming, distance education needs to change with the time.
There are many advantages to distance learning for both business and schools. Many business are looking toward distance learning because it can be a cost savings for them. The ability to have the training on-line means that employees can access the training at a time when it is advantageous for them. This means that the business does not have to be shut down and with the improvement in the speed of the Internet and availability allows the employees to participate in on-line conferences and interact with other participants and not have the traveling expenses. Many of these ideas is discussed by Michael Simonson in Making Decisions: The Use of Electronic Technology in Online Classrooms (2000). It is important that the instructors chose the appropriate resources for the audience.
