ILP 2 "Participation" - Lynda Course in Interpersonal Communication

For my participation ILP, I completed a course on Lynda.com titled Interpersonal Communication. Hear all about it in my voice thread!

Interpersonal Communication Course Voice Thread

Qualtrics Survey

Hey, guys! Be kind to me and take my quick 5 second survey on procrastination!
https://fsu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_d4ptJ2Hw5Mvsy3P

Blog 9: Should America Switch to a "Flipped Classroom" Paradigm?

Welcome back, everybody! Enjoy the last few weeks of class because after this semester, we're all going to have to endure the burden of what will feel like an everlasting summer. I hope you all survive it. Onto the actual topic, I heard an interesting term thrown last week: "the Flipped Classroom". The Flipped Classroom concept pertains to the idea that students should do most of their learning at home and come into class ready to work on exercises allocated for the lesson of the week. I have mixed opinions about this learning technique. On one hand, I think the structure we have now works fine. Students receive the material together in a comfortable space, and teachers are able to help one-on-one whenever possible. Then, their skills are tested at home, on their own. The Flipped Classroom aspect in a K-12 setting would not work as well, since I feel most students would fail to actually try to learn the material, which means they'd show up to class unprepared, and would probably result in the teacher reteaching the entire lesson anyway. On the other hand, this is pretty much how I do most of my own learning as a young adult. I have an internship where all I do is edit videos, so when I have free time, I look up some tutorial videos or take some short classes (free classes, of course) to expand my skills. I, then, show up and try what I learned and adjust according to the feedback received. It works for me, but because I want to do the learning myself for my own professional development. Kids in the K-12 don't care about professional growth, yet, therefore I feel it is necessary to have an educator with them throughout their learning, and provide them with a requirement of one online class for graduation in order to get them accustomed to future learning experiences.

The Flipped Classroom concept may be a little wishy-washy, but something I can definitely get behind is OERs. Open Educational Resources (OER) are typically online resources that are available to most people free of charge! No, this is not an ad for OERs, but it may feel like it in a minute! The reason why I believe OERs are fantastic, aside from the fact that they are free of charge, is because they are provided through a network that is available to a massive amount of people ready to improve their personal and professional development. Of course, there's the whole issue pertaining to the Digital Divide, and as educators we should all advance to a society where that divide is diminished exponentially as the years go by, but I believe this to be a great first step in general. To give a well deserved shout out to one of these OERs, and probably my favorite (still not an ad), I bring you Quizlet! I am assuming that most of my peers have dabbled with this before, and if you haven't... why? Quizlet is a website where students are able to create previously used studying techniques (like flashcards and matching) and keep them centralized in one area for others to use as well. Most of the pages are created by students, in which they enter the information Cornell notes style, and then the website is bale to use those notes and create quizzes, flashcards, matching, etc. An example of this would be a student enrolled in an American history class creating a quizlet for their terms and definitions pertaining to their lesson at hand, which they would then use to study for a quiz or an exam. Once created, other students looking for a quizlet with these terms can search it and study from it as well. I will provide some links to the website, an example, and 5 tips on how to use Quizlet below.

On a different subject, I have slowly but surely realized that PowerPoint is my least favorite of the Microsoft Office softwares. It's not a bad software at all, but when it comes down to it, PowerPoint has always been a program that I needed to use rather than wanting to use it. For example, I use Word all the time in school and in my professional life, but I also use it in my free time to write stories and such. Excel is fantastic for managing my financials and alerting me when I have gone complete overboard at Chik Fil A. PowerPoint... is there for school. I did complete two new projects on the program recently, and I did learn some new useful skills for the future, which is never something to complain about. Both assignments had their fun to them. The first one was a PowerPoint presentation and slideshow that allowed me to create a lesson on basic editing for media students. Looking back at it, I wish I had made the line strokes during the recording of the slideshow rather than on the actual project, which would've made it easier for the students to understand. I think the other project had more fun to it, since it included adapting a children's story. The second assignment was meant to be more interactive, completely taking away the linear aspect of the project. I never knew that this was a feature on PowerPoint, not that I was looking either, but I am very glad I know I can use this in the future! Looking back at my second assignment, the only thing I wish I had was more time. I liked the end result, but if I had had a little more time planning (which was my fault for not making the time), I think the creativity as well as the design would've been off the charts. I'll provide some screenshots of both projects and you guys can let me know what you think!

That's all I have for you this week, till next time!

-The Tank

Quizlet

Quizlet Example - American History terms

5 Tips Using Quizlet

First and second PowerPoints assignments, respectively.

Blog 8: Did I Become an Ambassador for Diigo?

Welcome back! Hope everyone had a fantastic Spring Break, I know was eventful. Surprisingly enough, during the break, I thought a lot about Diigo. Unbelievable, right? Well, Diigo happens to be, if not the top, one of the top resources for students to use for their classes. After interacting with Diigo in class, I have noticed many ways that students can benefit from this website. Diigo has allowed me to search for online articles and/or websites with interesting facts that I think my classmates would like to read, save them, share them, and even annotate them! In a classroom, Diigo can be utilized similarly by giving the students an assignment involving looking for online resources to write short essays about the new lesson being taught that week. Students would provide their resources on Diigo, so that other students may utilize them as well.  This can be done by bookmarking the resources and sharing them with the class group. Annotating and leaving comments for the class to see would also be an essential part of the learning through Diigo, since students will be able to see their peers' opinions.

Another tool I am very excited in using is PowerPoint, as well. Recently, the idea that a PowerPoint presentation needs to be linear is pretty much non-existent in my world. I have been more interested in interactive PowerPoints, since they engage the student more than when they are just pressing the "next" arrow, in my opinion. Looking at Bloom's Taxonomy, I think that PowerPoint can be used to enhance all levels of the taxonomy. Interactive PowerPoints may test student knowledge by providing quizzes and/or knowledge-based games. The same idea will help the student's comprehension why they got an answer wrong or why they didn't receive points for one question in the game by providing an explanation as to why that was the result. Other ways of using interactive PowerPoints is, for example, in math classes, the student using the PowerPoint may receive homework questions where they need to use their classroom knowledge to provide the right application to the question, and the presentation does not move on until the question is right. These PowerPoints can also help students with analysis of the lesson at hand, for example, in a Biology class, a student on the PowerPoint may have a task where they need to match different animals to their nomenclature classification. In teamwork, students may use synthesis through an interactive PowerPoint by having specific areas to be in charge of, and then coming together at the end and combining the information into a master presentation for the class (maybe a quiz on the Revolutionary War). Sticking around the same idea of students creating their own interactive PowerPoints, students may team up at their own accord, or for a grade, to study for an exam by using their PowerPoint to test each other and learn from each other's evaluations. Very exciting, I know!

By now, all of you can probably tell I have a slight fascination with the implementation of technology in the classroom. Well, that is because I live by a simple notion: that we have to move along with the world around us. The more we grow as a society, we will see more and more improvements to technology, which means we will need people to know how to use it properly. The next generation of students will need to learn to be technologically savvy, for the most part. But, for this to happen, we need to create an elite force of educators with adequate technological skills fit enough to educate the next generation.  When I say, "elite force", I don't mean like the "Avengers" elite, rather just moving towards a society full of teachers who value and desire to teach in technological environment. For this to happen, educators need to go through professional development. The idea of improving yourself is an ingoing thing, and every teacher, in my opinion, should look forward to self improvement in their career, especially if it involves the use of technology in some type of way. A resource I like to use to keep myself up to date with latest technology trends is TED.com. The videos lectures consist of new technologies, innovative ways to use or improve technology, and methods to help think out side the box. Sometimes, a video consists of all three. Most videos are an amazing watch and can teach many of us, including teachers, a thing or two about how to move along with the world.

Well, till next time, everyone!

-       The Tank

Blog 7: Is Weebly the Truth?

Welcome back, everyone! Hope everyone is doing well. About a month ago, I talked about a couple technology topics pertaining to education, among one of them being Twitter. Now if, you didn't read it and you are wondering: "How can Twitter ever be educational?", well then you must've had the same "devil-may-care" experience I had when I began using Twitter frequently. Until now, I have used it as a way to network with other businesses, however, lately Twitter has aided  me expressing my love for education. Everyday I use Twitter, I learn an extra function a day. Twitter has helped me see that there are many people out there willing to provide information for the sake of people being informed, and your account followings narrows or widens your information subjects. For example, I have two Twitter accounts, one for business, one for education. I follow very different people and organizations on both accounts, which allows me to keep one mindset as I am scrolling my feeds. Twitter can serve teachers, as well, if they would like to implement an long term assignment where the educator and the students interact through the social media app, teaching the students about: 1) online safety, 2) interactions online, and 3) it helps them become more technology savvy. That's a great idea, I don't know where I got it from but someone write it down implement it. It also helps teachers, or people alike who'd like two professional lives separate or even just their work and personal lives. I will keep observing, gather information, and display my data to all of you. Or maybe I'll tweet it, I don't know, yet.

What I do know is my website is finally up and running! I've been keeping it on the low just in case we had to scratch the project, but it's finally here (link and picture below). At first, I was very excited to build a website, since I've been building a separate one for my Web Design class. However, my excitement went out the window once I started using Weebly. So, the website I am building for my class I built from scratch (code wise), but for this website I used Weebly to help me knock it out faster... and I hated it. I felt like I had sixty percent of the control pertaining to the final product. I attempted moving paragraphs, lists, sentences, pictures, sections, and all of them just stayed locked in place where they originally placed. I attempted making new sections to try and enhance my page layout... big mistake. I attempted adding some personal pictures to make the website look more personalized, and all the pictures came with weird scales, so I only kept the ones on the home page. It just felt like a very intuitive application, yet, it's supposed to dumb down the process of creating a website. Well, I could say I am never using Weebly again unless it becomes an absolute necessity. I can't see myself building a website in general, but that's what my Web Design class is for, so I am not worried either. But, this experience did make me realize that teachers could benefit from having their own website for students to visit where they could receive more information and/or resources. So, I will definitely keep this experience in mind.

But, let's talk about something that can actually work, and that is adaptive and assistive technologies in a classroom setting. In a technologic setting, chances are most students won't need accommodations provided for when utilizing the tech. Some students, however, may have a disability that hinders them from accomplishing their tasks. For example, a students with a auditory disability may not be able to listen to the video playing in the class, or even the teacher. And I hope this goes without saying but, as a teacher, you must provide accommodations for your students with disabilities. So, how do we accommodate? Enter adaptive and assistive technologies, which are those types of techs designed to aid students with disabilities in the classroom. To go back to the example with the student with the hearing impairment, an adaptive/assistive technology they could utilize is a hearing aid, and when watching a video, the teacher could turn on the Closed Captioning. That could become a challenge, though, because if my class had a unanimous-minus-one vote to not turn on Closed Captioning, then do you ignore all their preferences? I mean, is not a huge deal, I would turn them on any way, but another challenge may arise from the fact that there are no Closed Captioning, and I want to make sure my disabled student receives the same information that everyone else is acquiring. In that case, assuming the student has a hearing aid on, I can seat them up close to the projector screen and ask them if that is a comfortable method for them to successfully retain the information. For the most part, I don't think it'll be an issue, I remember in high school, one of our peers had a physical disability where he couldn't write readable words. Everyday, the kid would bring a customized typewriter (a keyboard with a tiny screen at the top; basically a large label maker), where he would type his notes, complete in-class assignments, and even take tests. And, don't quote me on this because I might be remembering this wrong, but I think that paper printed out of that thing, too. I, mean I want one of those... But, it worked for him, and I am pretty sure he graduated, so that's a win for adaptive/assistive technologies in my book.

Stay safe everyone, it's tornado season apparently, and till next time!

- The Tank


Storytelling Through Editing

Blog 6: Have I Found a New Pet?

What is up, everyone! Welcome back! I have been going through some school websites in my free time, you know, for nostalgia, and I decided to view my old high school's website and see any updates recently made. The school is a Grades 9-12 secondary school called Olympic Heights Community High School. Honestly, I don't remember what the website used to look like, but it looks good now! Browsing through, I found some interesting web page links, for example, a link to a web page providing the school calendar and detailing the block schedule for the entire year. Pretty helpful resource, if I may say so myself. Another web page link redirected me to a page encouraging students and parents to download the school district app. The app has many different helpful features, from providing parents and students with important times (class changes, lunch, start and end of day), to allowing parents and students to utilize the app as a way to ensure safety in the community. Which, fascinated me that they added this feature, because another web page link directed me to a page informing students that they must wear their ID Badges on campus. I assume this action by the school is a direct reaction to the horrible event that occurred at Stoneman Douglas High School a little over a year ago, being the fact that the schools are relatively close to each other. I will leave the link to the website below, as well as a screenshot.

Speaking of screenshotting, I used VoiceThread recently to complete an assignment and I think that is the magic tool to use in my future class. The website allowed to use screenshots I took while editing three random clips together on Premiere by Adobe. In retrospect, I wish I had been a bit less monotone on it, but I will keep that in mind for when I implement them. I think that I will use this tool for incoming students to the class each year so they can become more familiar with the software before I formally teach them. I will also have some VoiceThreads for some tips or skills I couldn't potentially cover in class. I just have to make sure I am more charismatic, and my screenshots and descriptions need to be more informational. Check out my last blog to hear about my experience!

Another experience I had that allowed me to see some of the cool technological items teachers could use in their classrooms to enhance the student's learning, growth, and development, was my tour to the FSU Tech Sandbox. Oh my gosh, talk about Disney for this generation's intelligentsia! The 3D Printer is always a pleasure to see, and the VR though the Oculus is an awesome experience (the scary game made me rethink some things, not going to lie). I also thought the "3D" pens were pretty cool, but I know they have more potential. I think the pens are still at a very early stage, however their function still boggles me. Now, let's get to the bread an butter of the Sandbox: the robots. Oh wow, the robots they had were cutest, most awesome things I have ever seen! They are little robots named Dot, Dash, and Cue, and their function is to teach kids at a young age basic coding skills, and the robots learn along with the student! Now, I know what you are thinking... well actually I think you have two thoughts: 1)"These things should become the new class pets!", or 2)"Umm... this is the plot to iRobot...", yes, you are right! But, they are so cute, and they will actually help the student understand computational thinking as well as create a relationship with an item they get to raise themselves. Now, don't worry, I have some pictures of the robots for you, I'll insert them, but do yourself a favor: try to contain yourself...

But, that's it for this week! Till next time!

-The Tank

Olympic Heights Community High School Home Page

ILP "Design" - Premiere Pro by Adobe

For my tool for my class, I decided to use Premiere Pro by Adobe as an editing software for videos that the students could create themselves. The explanation is basic and to the point, and the content is random royalty free for the sake of figuring out how to tell your own story with other people's free work. Below are the links to the voice thread and the final video:

Voice Thread to Premiere Pro Basic tutorial

Practice Video for Students