In the 80's and 90's did people predict we would be using 3D printing in the classroom? Did they see a future with one to one computers and Ipads? Was AR and VR a vision people knew would eventually come true? I look to our future now and find it overwhelming to think about what could be the future of education/virtual learning and technology. I see a world that has cheap and accessible technology for every child. A world that created fun simple versions of 3D printers, VR accessories, and holography to use in the classroom. In the ISTE video: virtual reality in the classroom of the future, some educators mention VR will become an interactive world where we can put students in workforce or problem solving situations. This will allow for a generation of kids to experience worldly issues before stepping out into the world themselves (ISTE, 2017). The future classroom may solve financial and accessibility issues that we often face with fancy tech today. I see a classroom with interactive screens on the desks. They would reflect what the teacher is referring to on their own board, while also being a place for students to reflect and document. We will most likely begin to revamp the image of a teacher. I look around at various districts in different states and there is an increasingly large amount of unfilled teaching positions. Could artificial intelligence and big data be the solution? We are already seeing programs that collect a vast amount of data on a student from kindergarten to high school. This data is then a diagnostic to determine the child's learning needs. With AI becoming more advanced, would it be realistic to have a virtual computerized teacher for every child? Could we have a future that has exceptional personalized learning and a 1:1 ratio? If this is a realistic possibility, are we prepared for the limitations and consequences of such a future? Personally, I think we are consistently many steps behind the technology we create and the repercussions are huge. Perhaps, we can learn from our mistakes and educate future teachers and leaders to be one step ahead when it comes to the future of virtual learning. Works Cited: ISTE: Virtual Reality in the Classroom of the Future. 2017. Retrieved from https://edtechmagazine.com/k12/media/video/iste-2017-virtual-reality-classroom-future Patel, A. (2017). AI, Big Data and the Future of Your Classroom- In Conversation with Priya Lakhani, founder of CENTURY. Retrieved from https://www.ashoka.org/en/story/ai-big-data-and-future-your-classroom-conversation-priya-lakhani-founder-century
0 Comments
Research Question: "What are the best teaching practices for teaching English online?" pg. 25-33
Resource 1: Chapter 2, The Online Teacher: Skills and Qualities to be Successful This resource lays the groundwork for the basic elements required to be a successful online teacher. The essential skills it lists are: 1) dedication/motivation, (2) flexibility, (3) organization, (4) passion, and (5) patience. These qualities are mirror to those needed in a traditional classroom setting. Which reiterates just how important these qualities are in any teaching setting. This chapter does also discuss the necessary skills needed such as technology, prior online experience, subject knowledge, and online communication. My own teaching ability has already been enlightened by reading this chapter and gaining more insight on how to be a successful online teacher. Qualities and traits of the teacher are just as important regardless of a screen being in front of the student and teacher. Bryans-Bongey, Sarah, and Kevin J. Graziano. “Online Teaching in K-12: Models, Methods, and Best Practices for Teachers and Administrators.” Information Today, 2016, pp. 69-74. Resource 2: A Case for Online English Language Teacher Education This study took a different approach to my question and sought to find the data for these three questions: (1) What language teacher education programs, workshops, and/or courses are currently being offered online, and what are their key characteristics? (2) At what levels is such education being offered (e.g., undergraduate, diploma, certificate, masters degree, doctoral studies, or individual workshops or courses for professional development)? (3) What issues arise in delivering language teacher education online? How have institutions addressed these issues? (pg. 18) This resource will help my own research because they look at the difference between a TESOL teacher who has been trained and one who has had formal schooling. The latter usually received more theory about their practice whereas a trained teacher may only know the skills necessary to be effective. I can use the findings they report as a means to gauge what characteristics they found necessary to be a quality English language teacher. Murray, D. (2013). A Case for Online English Language Education. The International Research Foundation. Retrieved from http://www.tirfonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/TIRF_OLTE_One-PageSpread_2013.pdf. As we enter the era of new ways to educate and learn, every facet of education is moving towards meaningful and engaging. We consistently ask ourselves, how do we help our students feel engaged? How do they walk away from this material and use it in their own life? How can we transform it into something that they can relate to? This strong desire within education to transform our teaching is evident in all areas of learning. The way we are transforming virtual learning into an even more engaging and purposeful tool is rapidly changing with new technology. For example, micro-blogging has allowed for a more interactive virtual learning experience. Traditionally, virtual learning has been able to take place on learning management systems through written, video, or audio mediums. Today, we see many educators in every education setting using micro-blogging. An article in the Journal of Interactive Online Learning, defined it as, "Microblogging consists of short, concise works of writing whether for social or academic purposes and differsfrom blogs." The study done in this journal gave insight into how much more likely students will engage with content through this method. Though they are still writing the same content, the ability to write on a keyboard, in a blog, and interact with classmates showed to be a more preferred method of learning. Besides microblogging, we have many other ways to interact through writing. Take for example, Good Docs, which allows real-time feedback. Students and teachers can write on the same document at the same time. Just in my personal experience with 2nd graders, I have had great success engaging students to write longer assignments all because they are using Google Docs. SlideRocket has taken collaborating to create a presentation in a new direction. Personally, I wish this had been available when I was in college. Users are able to access the same document and create attractive presentations together or on their own time. Today, we can ask our students more creative, in-depth assignments with tools like this. There is now more freedom to do writing assignments and presentations with these interactive tools. Works Cited:
Jones, J., Rice, M. (2017). Exploring Classroom Microblogs to Improve Writing of Middle School Students. Journal of Interactive Online Learning. Retrieved from http://www.ncolr.org/jiol/issues/pdf/15.1.2.pdf Thomas, S. (2014). 6 Online Collaboration Tools and Strategies For Boosting Learning. Retrieved from https://elearningindustry.com/6-online-collaboration-tools-and-strategies-boosting-learning My newest teaching experience is teaching English online. In this virtual classroom setting, I am responsible for keeping students enthused and engaged. This requires taking the provided curriculum and using total physical response methods, TESOL approved strategies, and delivering successful lessons all through an online platform. I will be using a Learning Management System, which will be the main online tool I will have to become familiar with how to use. The LMS will supply the curriculum and be the platform to connect me with my students. However, I will seek to use other resources online in order to reach all types of learners.
Since this is a new experience for me, I took time to find tools and resources that will help me be a consistent and productive teacher. The first resource I found will benefit myself and, indirectly, my students. It is TESOL resource center that provides teachers tips and ideas for developing their lessons. I thought this was a useful tool because I can often refer to it as a I find new areas or issues that I am unfamiliar with. I have already been able to use it to understand the most essential components of an online learner verses a traditional classroom learner. Looking further into the website, I found tools for teaching various English lessons, ideas for engaging my students, and using online tools. The second tool I found beneficial for online teaching is Lyrics Training. It is resources such as this that make learning English effortless and relevant. Students listen to their favori te songs and follow along with the words and type in the blanks. It seems like a good bonus resource I could use with students or ask them to do on their own time. The other resource isn't new, but offers many great tools for learners and teachers. YouTube's selection of English lessons and how to say various words is expansive. I can use this as a tool to find ideas or direct my students to YouTube to learn the concept in a different way. Additionally, I can make my own videos and post it on their for students to view after our session. There are many benefits for using YouTube in the online English classroom. These resources are just a few in the thousands of ready available tools for virtual classrooms. To understand the importance of using different activities it is important to familiarize yourself with the UDL principles. The below graph describes how UDL supports different regions of the brain and aims to engage all diverse learners. UDL supports personalized learning. Hanover Research journal claims that, “student achievement is likely to increase when students are able to learn at their own pace with a variety of teaching styles and formats available to them. Personalizing students’ education enables them to access a unique learning experience based upon their individual needs, rather than receiving instruction through a standard, paced curriculum.” With easier access to technology the likelihood of achieving personalized learning has become a realistic expectation. There is no end to the list of how we can achieve personalized learning in a traditional, blended, or online classroom. These tools can help engage learners and provide alternate means of showing understanding. This is especially helpful for students who need visual or audio support (Perez, 2018). Students can express their creativity using movie makers and concept maps such as: Popplet Book Creator Google Keep Imovie Story Puppets The key factor in personalized learning is that not everyone may benefit from the same tool. Understanding your students and their needs will help make UDL and personalized learning more effective. We are aware of the various learning styles whether you look at Myers-Briggs, Howard Gardner, or another theory. These learning styles all suggest that we all learn and process information differently depending on the output (The Peak Performance Center). Personalized learning can help engage all types of learners. A few great resources I found or have used include: Storyboards or creative writing Art projects Math practice using Reflex Explain Everything Class Dojo Seesaw The takeaway from this week is that we can and should be giving our students more personalized learning opportunities through the engagement, representation, and action/expression phases of learning. We may succumb to the idea that we do not have enough time, but with all the resources on the web available to teachers, this task doesn't seem as daunting. Through professional development and awareness of the digital age, any single teacher can implement different modes of teaching and learning at any age. Works Cited: Hanover Research. 2012. Best Practices in Personalized Learning Environments (Grades 4 – 9). Retrieved from https://www.hanoverresearch.com/media/Best-Practices-in-Personalized-Learning-Environments.pdf Lynch, M. 2017. TOP 9 must have personalized learning apps, tools, and resources. The Tech Edvocate. Retrieved from http://www.thetechedvocate.org/top-9-must-personalized-learning-apps-tools-resources/ Perez, L. 2018. 30+ tools for diverse learners. ISTE. Retrieved from https://www.iste.org/explore/articleDetail?articleid=434&category=Toolbox&article=30%2b+tools+for+diverse+learners Universal Design for Learning Guidelines. 2017. National Center on Universal Design for Learning. Retrieved from http://www.udlcenter.org/aboutudl/udlguidelines_theorypractice I have always viewed standards as a guidance tool rather than a measuring assessment. As an educator, having a source that tells me where I should focus my lessons has been an immense help. I can see where I need to get my students and where this skill will help them down the road. Education is about working together, and standards allow us to achieve this. The ISTE standards are an easily underrepresented tool in the education world. These standards are guiding our tech-driven education in a linear direction. I found it to be a snapshot in time looking at the first ISTE standards published in 2000 (ISTE, 2000). These reflect the age where technology was ambiguous to many, but the potential was clear. Today, we have thousands of tools, websites, Apps, and devices to improve education practices. The ISTE standards published in 2017 use powerful words such as, “inspire, collaborate, empower, discover, accommodate, etc." Just scanning the standards and noticing these words shows me I am and will continue to promote this type of learning in my classroom. I will continue to use the ISTE standards with my students by giving them ample opportunities to develop and create, collaborate, communicate, and gain a digital citizenship understanding. This course adapts these standards by 1) being an online format that requires collaboration and communication via technology and 2) exploring content that addresses a virtual learning environment and its purpose/success. I hope I can use the following tips and techniques within this virtual class and in my own classroom: (taken from classcraft.com)
Works Cited:
Haiken, M. 2017. One teacher’s take on ISTE 2017 and its education trends. Retrieved from https://www.classcraft.com/blog/iste-2017/teacher-reflections-iste/ ISTE.2017. ISTE standards for educators. Retrieved from https://www.iste.org/standards/for-educators ISTE. 2000.ISTE national education technology standards and performance indicators for educators. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/docs/pdfs/nets_for_teachers_2000.pdf?sfvrsn=2 Puentedura, R. 2014. SAMR and Bloom's Taxonomy: Assembling the Puzzle. Retrieved from https://www.commonsense.org/education/blog/samr-and-blooms-taxonomy-assembling-the-puzzle This topic about CoI has been informative to learn about as I finish my last semester. I am able to reflect on the classes I have taken at UAS and other schools to compare the different experiences. Some courses had me captivated and eager to learn the entire time. Other courses felt like I was talking to myself on a screen.
The community of inquiry (CoI) model has helped me identify why some courses were beneficial and others were not. I am able to look at them from a teacher and student perspective to see how the CoI model influenced each course. A CoI modeled classroom highlights the social, cognitive, and teaching presence within a virtual learning experience (Bryans-Bongey, 2016). Each one dictates the success of a course and how students will respond. The dynamic model supports a holistic approach to online teacher. This style is more applicable to meeting the needs of all learners. These concepts are held of high importance in the traditional classroom. This model provides ample opportunity for the instructor to carry these philosophies into an online course. The research behind this came out in 2000-- nearly 18 years ago (Bryans-Bongey, 2016). I find this fascinating considering I have taken many classes online in the past two years that clearly did not follow the CoI model. This clearly shows that the research and theory has not quite reached all online instructors. How do we make this just as important to know as we do with traditional classrooms? What tools and resources are out there for instructors to refer to as they begin an online classroom? And with evolving times, does the CoI model need to evolve as well? These are some questions I will continue to look at through this course as I undertake more techniques as an online instructor and learner. works cited: Bryans-Bongey, S., & Graziano, K. J. (2016). Online Teaching in K-12 : Models, Methods, and Best Practices for Teachers and Administrators. Medford, New Jersey: Information Today, Inc. Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2000). Critical inquiry in a text-based environment: Computer conferencing in higher educationmodel. The Internet and Higher Education, 2(2-3), 87-105. Before this week I thought of virtual learning from a very matter-of-fact view. Someone is on one side of the screen and another person, from any distance, is behind a different screen. Yet, answering the question, "what is virtual learning?" made me take a step back and analyze its depth. It's far more similar to traditional classroom settings than I may have previously thought.
These types of questions allow us to see our biases and areas that we still aren't knowledgeable in. Even taking an entire Master's course through a virtual learning setting wasn't enough to get me thinking about the intricacies behind virtual learning. A few things that caught my attention was that virtual teaching does need to happen in a variety of forms to reach all learners. It needs to be even more engaging and relevant in order to hold the learners attention. The material covered should be discovered and not digested. Students learning in a virtual setting learn a great deal more when they follow the SAMR model and create or develop projects. This ties into my own teaching practices as I begin to teach English online. Before I dive into this part-time job, answering this question prepares me for what I need to do as an online teacher. It also helps imagine what I'd like my students to do and how I want them to learn English through an online format. After this week, I'll be more inclined do to projects and deliver the content in a variety of ways. As for my own personal experience with virtual learning, this weeks topic has allowed me to see why I was so successful in some courses and not in others. I truly depend on variety and relevancy to keep myself engaged in an online course. The amount of self-discipline and motivation relies heavily on meaningful content. |