Collaboration Age

 I took some time and read "World without Walls: Learning Well with Others" written by Will Richardson. Basically, Richardson is talking about how modern communication technology has changed the whole way people learn. He refers to it as "The Collaboration Age." In the past, we collaborated generally with people that were local or on site but today in an instant you can be working with or learning from someone that lives on the other side of the world. He touches on some positives and a few pitfalls that this shift in learning has created but leaves us with a call to action for teachers to embrace the changes and strive to implement more technology into the classroom.

I have to share Richardson's opinion that connecting technologies have transformed the way we learn. I also believe that students being able to seek out rewarding learning experiences easily from the comfort of their own homes is a great thing. Free online college programs, forums, online groups, etc have allowed people to gain valuable opportunities to learn. I agree with Richardson that educators need to embrace this shift in education and introduce their students to all that is available to them online. I wasn't really shocked to read that a college student in Canada faced expulsion because he set up a group to with his classmates to share notes and ideas, as a lot of education institutions are still not sure what to accept when it comes to the utilization of online resources.  I can only imagine how this paradigm shift will affect the way I learn and teach my class in the future but it's my responsibility to keep up to date with it and provide my students with the best learning experience possible. 

Link for the article

Will Richardson

Rethinking Curriculum

 I decided to read the blog post titled "Three Ideas for 21st Century Curriculum" written by Terry Heick. This blog caught my eye as I was hoping to read some new ideas about possible ways to modernize my curriculum. Heick touches on three ideas on how to "globalize" a curriculum. He suggests ways to adapt to learners, rethink learning spaces and leveraging role playing. He suggests that educators need to adopt modern technologies such as social networking sites and even video games to engage modern students more effectively. He says teachers need to create spaces that promote learning and stimulate the students mind. Finally, he calls on teachers to create informal learning areas so students are able to work together.

Heick, kinda rehashes some familiar ideas that have been floating around for some time. I have to say that I never read anything new in this blog. However, I do agree with many of his sediments. Living in Korea, I find this country is a bit lacking in the three areas of curriculum globalization he touches on. Speaking from my own personal experiences, I would really like to have more support implementing more technology into my class. However, I have recently taken steps on my own to address this. I also believe that the learning environments need to be improved in many Korean schools. The classrooms I teach in are very drab and there isn't much of anything to stimulate the students. Also, there isn't much in the way of collaboration spaces that are available to my students. The classrooms are not set up for students to interact with one another. Finally, I would also like the university to create some more informal learning spaces that the students can utilize. We currently have an English Cafe but more work could be done to create spaces where students are able to work together on projects and learn from each other.   

Here is the link to the article.\

Terry Heick

A great video that is related to this blog is by Sir Ken Robinson. Here is the link

Where is my Presentation? It is under this title

Hi guys,

Here is the information for my presentation. I'll probably create another copy of this presentation without the pictures of me and minus the beer store so this presentation could be implemented into a younger students class. So, you can check back later at the link I provided for that version.

My presentation is a good lead up if you have to teach directions in one of your text books. I will be using it when I teach shopping or eating out at restaurants as well. It can be useful for a few different topics. I have uploaded the picture of the map I showed you in class so you can let your students know what kind of map you expect them to create. I have also have included the link to Draw Island so if you want to make the lesson completely paperless you can do so. Another program, that is good is Google Sketch which I have used a couple times on my own.

As I said while I was talking, this presentation is meant to get the class participating in the lesson. I prefer this to just having the answer a bunch of questions on a worksheet. More prepositions can be added but for me the eight that I used are generally sufficient for beginner classes.

If you have any suggestions to improve the presentation they are welcomed.

Thanks

Here is the link to my Prezi presentation. I will keep trying to embed it on this page but for now the link will have to due.



http://prezi.com/8u_54mv05loz/prepositions-of-location/

Here is the link to the zip file that contains a word doc and PDF of my rubric for the presentation and the map presentation.

Rubric

Here is the image of the Map that was made by one of Tristan's students. My students did a poor job. ha

I got 21 questions.....

One of the real challenges of teaching mostly low level ESL students is developing lessons plans that are to be honest at elementary school level but entertaining for adult students. There are a few lessons that I use that have went over well in the last few semesters. I would say that the modified Guess Who game I do with my students is one of their favourites.

We have a unit in our text that deals with describing people. It includes describing a persons appearance, occupation and nationality. Pretty dry stuff, right? I was trying to think of  a lesson to liven up my classroom a bit. I remembered playing Guess Who with my sister when I was growing up and so I decided to modify it into a combination of the original game and 21 questions. It isn't a complicated game at all. Basically, I created a power point slide show. I conceal different celebrity pictures and give the students a varying number of questions depending on time. Then, the students try and guess who the person might be. By dividing the class into teams the competition revs up a bit. Another element that keeps it entertaining is choosing challenging celebrities to guess and picking funny pictures of them. 

Before they begin we review be verb questions such as "Are you male or female?", " Are you tall or short?", and "Are you from Canada?". Then we get started. I usually make the last slide myself. Luckily, I have learned how to use Photoshop a little so, I have been able to spice up some of photos so that they are more humorous for the students. 

By the end of the game students usually have increased their vocabulary of several adjectives used to describe peoples appearances and have a better understanding of be verb questions. They have also increased their vocabulary about jobs and nationalities.  This lesson is appropriate for all age levels and abilities. All a teacher needs to do is modify the pictures to suit the audience. This lesson is not overly complicated but the students seem enjoy the game. 

ChrisTRON

When I was a kid I had a much different idea of what my digital self would be.  ( Damn you Tron!) Like a lot of other kids, I pictured myself in video games jumping on turtle heads or saving Zelda. The reality is much less glamorous but creating a good digital self is more important today than ever. Often times, your career or potential career may hinge on the digital footprint you leave on the internet. So, it is extremely important to have a clear understanding what your online reputation is and to protect it.

When I first started using the net, it seemed like an anonymous place where just about anything goes and there were no consequences to anything you might do or say. This couldn't be further from the truth, as the internet has a memory and it rivals that of the elephant so don't peeve it off. As I have gotten more internet savvy , I have tried over time to take the necessary steps to protect my online reputation. I thoroughly review all the privacy settings available with the different social networking sites I participate in and I'm more selective with the content that I upload online.

A quick Google search of myself doesn't drum up a lot of information. The various social networking sites I have profiles on pop up but not much else. On these sites I have tried to create a profile that presents the qualities I want others to know about me. Anything personal I might have on sites like Facebook are protected by viewing settings and only available to people I trust. However, I am highly considering taking the time to go through the painstaking process of reviewing all the pictures and posts I have made and removing any that I might deem a bit suspect. I like posting funny videos which despite being hilarious might not give the right impression to my peers or potential employers.

Another area  where I could improve my online reputation would be to take more time to properly review all the features offered by the various networking sites. I have a Linkedin account but to be honest I have not really explored the site much and don't know much about the applications or features I might be able to utilize. I'm sure there are features that would have enhance my reputation.

Finally, there seems to be a lot more sites that I can participate and build my online reputation. Many of the sites we have spoke about in class are new to me. Sites like Reddit are familiar but I haven't bothered looking at them. I will have to get a lot more familiar with them before take the step to join their respective communities.

There is definitely a fair bit of room for improvement of my online reputation and I am looking forward to learning more about the ways I can enhance my digital footprint. Now, if could only be as easy picking up a hammer and smashing a bunch of turtles.

Jacking my classroom into the Matrix

The world is shifting more and more into the digital realm. Therefore, it seems logical that educators shift away from traditional forms of information distribution and make efforts to digitize their classrooms. Moving towards a paperless classroom may be one way that I can improve the quality of my classroom environment. In a my previous post I commented that I would like to improve the connection I have with my students and digitizing my assignments might be one way that helps me achieve this.

There are several benefits to digitizing my assignments. From a teaching perspective, using a digital medium will give me the ability to be a lot more creative in the assignments that I can give. There is a plethora of online resources that a teacher can access to create an assignment that will be engaging and informative. For example, letting students use a resource like Prezi to give a presentation about, let's say the weather, would definitely give them the ability to be more creative in their approach and would most likely result in a better learning experience.

This in turn would generate an improved classroom environment. If students are relating better to the materials I provide or the assignments I give then no doubt a much livelier discussion on the classroom content would ensue. Letting students utilize a digital medium in their work would undoubtedly foster a better peer to peer learning environment as well. When students are able to interact with each other in a way that excites them then only good things can come of that. More and more I am finding that students are not interested in traditional methods of teaching. They lose interest and focus quickly when there is a lack of stimulation in the classroom. I have found overtime that the classes that seem to garner the most attention are the ones where I use some sort of digital medium. So, for certain topics I have developed digital content for my lessons but after the discussion in class, I'm mulling over ideas to create accompanying assignments to give my class.

From an organizational state point, digitizing assignments could definitely lighten some the workload teachers often find themselves burdened with and by utilizing the various software programs/online resources available ,teachers should be able to keep better track of when assignments are submitted and the scores for each assignment. I often run into trouble with students submitting work late or not at all and because I have so many individual students to keep track of, it can lead to a lot of wasted time sorting through assignments or even test papers to see if my students have completed their work. Using a digital medium, such as an online quiz can definitely relieve some of the difficulties I face when trying to track down individual students assignments. And from a purely practical stand point, not having to print, copy and lug around stacks of paper is definitely appealing.

There might come a day when students are able to plug themselves directly into a computer and upload Kung Fu lessons but until that day it is my responsibility as an educator to seek out the best methods to teach my students in a fashion that they can relate to and embrace. Digitizing my assignments is just one small step I can take to build a better learning environment and if it means that I never have to unclog another photocopier in my life then insert me into the Matrix.

**Picture provided courtesy of Warner Bros.**

Lets get this rolling.

The course has officially begun. Time to get this show on the road. It seems like a logical place is to start by answering the question about what areas I feel I need to improve on as a teacher and what I hope to learn from this course.

The ways I would like to improve as a teacher are many. Like most teachers, I find daily ways to improve areas of my lessons. I have no illusions of grandeur when it comes to my teaching abilities. I know that there is a lot of room to improve. One specific area, I would like to improve is being able to engage my students to participate more freely in my class. I have access to some tools to help me achieve this but maybe I am lacking the ability to integrate them fully into my classroom setting. One the reasons, I got excited about this course was seeing the syllabus and really getting the sense that the practical nature of the materials would allow me to easily implement them into my lesson planning. Just from one morning session, I think my first impressions were right as I have already thought about a dozen different ways to improve the way I teach.

Another area, I feel I need improvement in is connectivity with my students. I want my students to fully engage themselves into my class but with the language barrier that exists it is difficult to form real relationships with them. Without some sort of connection between teacher and student, a disconnect can occur which can form a barrier to learning. Once again, I think there are already a few ways that this course will help me resolve this issue. I definitely see the potential that getting my students to participate in Schoology could help break down some of the barriers that exist between student and teacher. As we discussed, some students are more introverted than others and given the opportunity to communicate freely via a posting board on Schoology would allow these students to connect with me and the others students in a way they might not be able to in person. As others suggested as well, Facebook can also be useful in creating this type of environment.  Korean students are especially interesting in creating an digital identity so I think using some of these digital mediums above will help encourage them to create one within the context of my class. 

I'm sure there will be countless ways that this course will help me improve but from just a brief introduction I am excited about potentially being able to truly integrate technology more efficiently into my lessons. 

As Bugs Bunny says.....That's all folks.