Week+10+-+Mar+22nd

=Thoughts & Reflections... =

Reading # 10 - "Attributes of Digital Learners" - Ian Jukes

In this week's reading the author explores the fact that because of the technological bombardment, today's learners are neurologically different than all other generations before them, and offers a glimpse into some of the specificities of those differences.

First off, the author notes that today's generation have developed "hyper-linked minds" - their brains actually process information in a parallel or simultaneous manner, whereas the brains of generations before them process things in a linear or sequential manner. Likewise, this generation reads information on a page in an "F" pattern, ignoring the right side and bottom half of the page unless there is something in those areas of the page to motivate them to look there. Conversely, previous generations have always read a page in a "Z" pattern - from left to right in a sequential manner. Furthermore, today's learners do not like the traditional black text on a white background. They prefer red, pink, neon green or burnt orange coloured text on a black, red or blue background.

To further drive home his point that there are monumental differences between today's learners and previous generations, the author constructed a chart comparing how today's digital learners learn versus how previous generations - today's teachers - teach.

Here is a summary of the chart:
 * Today's learners like to access information quickly from multiple media sources, whereas schools traditionally like to release information slowly and in a controlled manner
 * Today's learners like parallel processing and multitasking, whereas schools teach linear processing and single-task activities
 * Today's learners prefer to process pictures, sounds and colour before text, whereas schools prefer to provide the text first
 * Today's learners prefer random access to hyper-linked multimedia information, whereas schools prefer to teach information linearly and in a logical fashion
 * Today's learners prefer collaborating and working through problems with other, whereas schools prefer students work independently before they interact with one another
 * Today's learners want to learn "just in time" whereas school prefer to teach "just in case"
 * Today's learners like instant gratification, but the school system is set up to provide delayed gratification
 * Today's learners want to participate in learning situations that are relevant, useful, active, and fun, however schools tend to only teach memorization of curriculum content

Current brain research tells us there is no greater anti-brain environment than the way that teaching and learning currently take place, and according to the author, the challenge faced by today's teachers is finding a balance between the world of today's learners and their world.

So how have my feelings about technology and its place in the classroom changed from week 1 until now??

I can proudly say that as a result of what I have learned and explored in this course, my opinions have undergone a complete transformation!

I can finally see the relevance of technology in the classroom and why it is an important tool in the motivation of today's students.

I still have some reservations about social networking in the classroom, although I am at least open to the idea.....

I am really looking forward to applying some of the technologies I have become aware of in my future lessons. I will most definitely make use of Audacity for podcasting, and Windows PhotoStory, Comic Life and Bitstrips for digital story-telling. Likewise I plan to create a class wiki to keep students and parents up to date on upcoming assignments and handouts. I also plan to look into online marking programs, and would like to explore the benefits and drawbacks of turnitin.com some more as well.

I believe the most important thing I have learned from this course is that technology is the reality of the 21st century, and it is not something to be afraid of, but something to be embraced.



=Information & What I Have Learned... =

This week we....


 * Were required to create a multimedia presentation showcasing who 21st century learners are and how they learn.**

Our Presentation:

media type="custom" key="5681375" width="340" height="340" align="center"

__Programs used__: Audacity, Comic Life, Photoshop Elements, PowerPoint, Windows Movie Maker, Wordle.

__Other technology featured__: Bitstrips, Cell Phones, Facebook, PDAs, Still Photos, Videos, Wikispaces

__Sources consulted__: Attributes of Digital Learners [] Literacy is Not Enough []


 * Here are my thoughts and observations on the multimedia presentations created by my classmates:**

Presentation #1 - Helen
 * Historical overview of education through the decades
 * Excellent use of historical and interesting photos
 * Using her family members, provided a real life example of a digital native - good personalization of the project

Presentation #2 - Jenny & Karen
 * Examined 3 generations of learners (digital immigrants, the in-between generation, and digital natives)
 * Use of interactive and student centered games to teach students content (check out [|Scratch] )
 * Provided a sample PhotoStory assignment for a history class and a sample Comic Life scene depiction assignment for an english class novel study
 * I loved the music with used in the presentation - it was very upbeat and fun

Presentation #3 - Jesse & Allison
 * Through the use of such programs as Bitstrips, Google Docs, and MSN, this presentation effectively demonstrated how today's students collaborate and learn online
 * *Aside from online collaboration, not much else was said on how to accommodate the needs of 21st century learners in the classroom

Presentation # 4 - Alex, Andrea & Daljit
 * This group created a wiki to showcase their video and the work relating to their video - good idea
 * Used a variety of technology including a Google Docs survey to illustrate how 21st century students learn
 * Because dialogue was filmed and not added in later, it was very difficult to hear as there was a lot of background noise

Presentation # 5 - Justin & Luca
 * Through a creative and entertaining use of Bitstrip characters, this presentation took us on a Christmas Carol Scrooge-type journey to find out what the 21st century learner is all about
 * Message: we need to keep evolving with our students and not grow stagnant as teachers

Presentation # 6 - Dane & Mathew
 * Focused on differentiated instruction and student motivation
 * Creative use of clip from //Ferris Bueller's Day Off// to show the unengaging teaching style of the 20th century

Presentation # 7 - Kristin, Natasha & Taylor
 * Created a news broadcast outlining how 21st century students learn
 * Good coverage of classroom relevant technology and how it can be applied to teaching (i.e. wikis, Google docs, e-learning)
 * Check out this site that helps make an amateur newscast look more professional: [|vlogIT]

Presentation # 8 - Alex & Brad
 * Looked at 21st century learners and their cell phones
 * Used a neat program called [|Gabcast] that allows you to create podcasts through your cell phone

Presentation # 9 - Stephanie, Pat & Lily
 * Covered various technologies and websites and how they can be applied in the classroom
 * Also looked at Acceptable use policies - are they relevant? Will students actually honor them? *teachers need to be sure not to be hypocritical (they must not download or use internet resources illegally either)

Presentation #10 - Sejal & Lisa
 * Used [|Camtasia] to make their multimedia presentation - [|Jing] is the free version of this program
 * Offered ideas on how technology can be used to motivate student learning

Presentation # 11 - Jenny & Laura
 * Short multimedia video in the form of a Public Service announcement
 * Comparison between traditional vs. digital learners - good use of music to emphasize transition

Presentation # 12 - Graham & Steve
 * Clear message that technology has a place in the classroom and should be used
 * Created original music using garage band


 * We also discussed...**
 * 1) The importance of having a DIGITAL portfolio
 * 2) Consider creating a portfolio on a wiki (bring a business care with the wiki address on it along with you to interviews) OR consider creating a DVD or CD that contains your portfolio - offer to leave copies at the end of an interview
 * 3) How do you make your regular portfolio into a digital version? Scan your documents into PDF files (so they cannot be edited by others, take up little storage space, and can be opened by virtually anyone) - be sure to create a table of contents
 * 4) Make your CD or DVD look professional - use printed labels to identify their contents and place them in real jewel cases!
 * 5) Be sure that spelling and grammar are PERFECT - especially on your résumé
 * 6) Be sure to include your philosophy of education as well as photos of you in action (consider taking photos during your practicum placement)
 * 7) Important interview topics:
 * 8) Assessment and evaluation
 * 9) Differentiation
 * 10) Special Education
 * 11) Discipline (i.e. progressive discipline)
 * 12) Technology
 * 13) The articles read during the three previous weeks:

//Acceptable Use// -Why do students from kindergarten and up have to sign an Acceptable Use policy in the OCDS? To protect teacher's behinds -We need to warn students ahead of time about things if we want to be able to punish them afterwards for doing something wrong -OCDSB Acceptable Use Policy is very vague - it is way out of date, and should include something on mobile devices (what is acceptable, where should mobile devices be stored, what do you say to students if they do bring the technology to class?) -Make sure your students have signed and understand the policy BEFORE taking them to the computer lab!

//What IF Technology// -The classroom presented in the article is the exception not the rule -Technology still an optional course in Faculties of Education - unfortunately, this is still the case at the University of Ottawa as well -None of the different school boards mentioned in the article are on the same page - they all have their own technology pet projects, but no one is in the same place -This is considered a key document on technology for the province of Ontario -it offers an overview of where we would like to be in regards to technology and its use in the classroom

//Literacy Is Not Enough// -Traditional fluencies: numeracy and literacy Vs. Ian Juke's 5 21st century fluencies -LOTS (lower order thinking skills) and HOTS (higher order thinking skills) - in the 21st century we need to focus on HOTS -The Learning Cone - students need to do project based learning because this is how they retain information -Sir Kenneth Robinson - a creative education specialist - big on creativity and how education kills creativity = =