Computers As Critical Thinking Tools

I am going to use this blog to post some of my work from IDE 656,

Computers As Critical Thinking Tools.

Project 2 prototype of the deliverables that I would expect my (11th grade) students to create during the lesson using visualization tools:

Prohibition Timeline A

Wordle:  Women's Christian Temperance Union (article on PBS.org)

Short reflection on the two visualization tool activities above (please note that details for the assignment are found in the lesson plan):

My Reflection on the Use of Visualization Tools for the Prohibition Lesson

 

The timeline visualization helped me use critical thinking skills to determine what events should be selected for the timeline visualization activity.  I had to identify and analyze various events and people associated with the prohibition era and select those for the timeline with associated verbiage, dates, and images.  I enjoyed using the tool to learn about the content.  It was fun to express the prohibition concepts/events in this manner.  I also appreciated how the tool separated the events and each would pop up, with the description and image.  The Wordle visualization tool provided a visual of the words that were used in the article I selected, which was about the Women's Christian Temperance Union (and from PBS.org).  The Wordle was a fun, artistic way to look at which words were used the most and analyze if those words were indeed the key concepts.  Some words that appeared larger and were therefore used most in the article, include the words immigrants, Temperance, Christian, cause, alcohol, organization, and women.  These words truly do align to the key concepts involved in the Women's Christian Temperance Union. 

Both visualization exercises helped me better understand prohibition.  The timeline allowed me to identify then evaluate the specific the key social, political, and economic trends that influenced the prohibition era in order to determine what and how I’d list the items on the timeline visualization activity.  The Wordle activity provided a quick visual in which I could identify words that were used most often in an article and then evaluate those words to see if they were indeed key concepts.  I found from both my Wordle and the Wordles from my classmates’ articles, that the vast majority of the larger words in the various Wordles were indeed key concepts.  Both visualization activities allowed the prohibition era to come alive for me, through my research and the use of the tools.  Using visualization tools made history a little less boring for me!

As I noted above, from the discussions we had in class, the Wordles very accurately expressed key content and themes.  It was an added bonus to be able to change the font and look of those words that came out larger and thus, reflected the key content/themes.  The timeline visualization could have a range in accuracy in regard to expressing key concepts and themes.  It visualized exactly what I inputted so hopefully my example is accurate.  I think it is, given the time I took to identify, analyze, evaluate then articulate the various timeline events, descriptions, and images that I selected.

I hope we can use these visualization tools again in class – both seem to align well to historical events and specific writings about these events.  I am going to use both tools at home as they are free and fun to use.

Reflections on Blogging

This was my first attempt at creating a blog, posting regularly, and following others' blogs.  My topic has been Web 2.0.  I found the whole experience very beneficial.  As this blogging activity was one of our main assignments for IDE 611, it really forced me to take time to research and reflect on my topic (Web 2.0) then develop a personalized written communication on the topic on a regular basis.  Without the specific requirement of being a class assignment, I would not have explored blogging to this extent.  I would not have even set up my own blog.  Blogging has allowed me to "try on" this specific Web 2.0 tool.   Because my topic was so broad, I had the luxury of researching and exploring additional Web 2.0 tools and technologies discussed in class.  Blogging allowed me to go more in-depth on various topics and also to present my opinions on those topics.  I really enjoyed how technology has enhanced what used to be journaling in a notebook....now it's on-line, interactive journaling with an opportunity to link to various resources and set up your own personalized blog site.    Which brings me to the interactive part.  It was fun to see various blog responses.  Most tended to be general agreement.  What would have been fun would be more responses that challenged my opinions or made me provide more rationale.  Also, I found "following" other blogs to be a good opportunity to quickly get into various topics and hear others' opinions.  By following others', I could grow my knowledge very quickly and also get a flavor of others' thoughts, interests, and styles.  I could also comment.  Prior to this experience, I had never taken the opportunity to comment on anything on the web, other than customer service surveys!

From my experience blogging, I think it would be a great opportunity for professional development and networking for many - pre-service teachers, educators, and in my world, various groups of employees at Syracuse University, such as the managers or even specific departments that share a common purpose (such as Residence Life, HR, etc.). I think it would be a great component to the K-12 curriculum.  I like the fact that it's fairly self-directed, even for younger children, and it allows for some creativity, innovation, and best of all, ownership as what you say and share gets posted as part of a personal blog for followers to see.  I also like the fact that you can blog at any time of day, allowing for flexibility in scheduling of the activity.  What I need to research more is how you find blogs....I assume there are tons out there...how do I search for those I may wish to follow?  And how would others (not in our class) find mine?  It appears I've given myself one last homework assignment related to blogging!

Interesting Statistics All Right!

As our class is wrapping up, this is our last week of blogging (for class, anyway).  I wanted to go back to something that caught my eye in the Teachers for Tomorrow Blog that was introduced to us in class.  It's Gary Hayes' Social Media Counts and the numbers are just fascinating.  I'm not sure why the numbers are moving and it says October 2010, but regardless of the actual numbers, the point has been made - the vast usage of social media sites and tools is amazing, considering they didn't exist just a few years ago.  I really enjoyed looking at the +1 year tab...now that is mind boggling to me!  It's the numbers behind the whole discussion of Web 2.0 tools and technology in education.  We have a plethora of opportunities available to us as educators and our challenge will be to understand and use the technology in a manner that enhances the learning process.  Just take a look at those numbers!

Source:  Teachers for Tomorrow Blog, Retrieved on December 8, 2010 from:

http://www.teachersfortomorrow.net/1/post/2010/10/interesting-staticstics-to-think-about.html

Critical Consumption (or crap detection) - A Social Media Literacy

Last week, I facilitated our group's discussion on the topic of social networking.  As the topic is still fresh in my mind, I found an article I liked that focuses on five social media literacies:

• Attention
• Participation
• Collaboration
• Network awareness
• Critical consumption

I hadn't heard of the term "critical consumption".  Per the author,"Critical consumption, or what Ernest Hemingway called "crap detection," is the literacy of trying to figure out what and who is trustworthy—and what and who is not trustworthy—online."(Rheingold, 2010).  This is truly a critical literacy for all of us in the digital age.  The Educause article entitled, Attention, and Other 21-st-Century Social Media Literacies, gives some good information on all five of these social media literacies and challenges us as educators to explore these interconnected literacies and we attempt to engage ourselves and our students in our current networked society.  My favorite part of the article is indeed the discussion of "crap detection" which I think is a critical skill for all of us to develop as we journey through the massive information on the web.  I know for myself, I've spent too much time reading "crap" on the web or trying to source accurate information.  Using a couple of the techniques described in the article may help me weed through all the junk and find useful, accurate information.  I guess I'll be honing my "on-line detective" skills.  How about you?

Source:  Rheingold, H (2010).  Attention, and Other 21st Century Social Media Literacies.  Educause.
Retrieved on November 30 from: http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE%2BReview/EDUCAUSEReviewMagazineVolume45/AttentionandOther21stCenturySo/213922

Did You Know?

As I was a bit freaked out by the vision of the future in the Web 3.0 world (as discussed in my last post), I wanted to find something a bit less scary but still focused on Web 2.0 (or 3.0) this week.  I viewed a few of the "Did You Know" videos and really liked this one.  It's from 2009 so some statistics may have changed, but it gives some interesting facts about such things as the decline of traditional media and advertising versus the rapid growth of on-line media and advertising.  And did you know that Wikipedia launched in 2001 and now contains over 13 million articles in over 200 languages?  How about that 90% of the 2 billion e-mails sent each day are spam?  Anyway, this video is a fun way to look at how technology has truly changed the world.  What this says to me is that the educational system - K through 12 and higher education - must change in order to keep up with the students who are served by this system and prepare our future generations to effectively and appropriately use these technology-based tools.  What are your thoughts?

Think About What's Coming - Web 3.0

As we all know, technology is rapidly advancing.  So what does this mean for us?  Web 1.0 evolved to Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 is next...  Take a look at this short video, Evolution Web 1.0, Web 2.0 to Web 3.0, by clicking on the title.

I enjoy using and learning about the various Web 2.0 technologies and services, but I've got to admit that Web 3.0 sounds a bit scary.  I don't currently use all the Web 2.0 technologies and services.  But Web 3.0 sounds like everything is integrated so using various technologies will no longer be an option but a required way of live.  Why must my washing machine ever be connected to the Web?!!  Really, I don't understand (yet).  Also, the idea that Web 3.0 is "intelligent and omnipresent" is a bit scary, too.  What outright alarmed me is the idea that the computer will come close to or surpass human intelligence.  Reminds me of one of those horror movies when high-tech machines overtake the humans and the world.  However, I do like how Amazon.com functions - and more of that would be fine to me.  It'll be interesting - and perhaps scary - to see how Web 2.0 evolved to the next generation of the Web.

What are your thoughts about the potential of Web 3.0?  Does it scare you, like it does me, or no?  Why?

Online Learning Can Even Change Those Boring Lecture Halls

Our discussion topic this week is on-line learning so I took the opportunity to find and share an article I like on the topic.  The article, from The Chronicle of Higher Education, is YouTube U. Beats YouSnooze U.  Feel free to click on the title/link to view the article.  The author talks about the tradition of 300-person lecture halls in higher education in which the students sit passively listening to lectures as the professors pontificate (ok, so that was my word) on a topic and stare at a sea of blank faces.  He says there was nothing that could be done with this "broken learning model" until recently..."We can now deliver on-demand content to any student for nearly zero incremental cost.  The video content can be paused and repeated as needed.  Content producers can get real-time data on use, including student attention and efficacy.  Students can focus on exactly what they need to know." (Khan, p.3)  His solution then, to the traditional "broken learning model" is that student watch lectures on their own, in their rooms or wherever they would like and at their own pace.  The  300-person former lecture room becomes "an opportunity for active peer-to-peer instruction rather than a passive, one-size-fits-all lecture."(Khan, p. 3).    Khan also makes a bold prediction that ten years from now "the current (broken) paradigm of lecture, homework, and snapshot assessments" will shift to "students learning at their own pace...and grades and transcripts replaced with real-time reports and analytics on what a student actually knows and doesn't know."(Khan, p. 3).  Per Khan, the classroom will be interactive and the role of teacher will be that of mentor or coach.

Khan paints a great picture of the possibilities in higher education, using technology and on-line learning as a way to enhance learning and allow the face-to-face instructional time, which currently can be all lecture-style, to be a time of interactive problem-solving for the students.  Per Khan, many current aspects of learning in higher education would change.  I, for one, think it would be an incredible transformation.  I really do think it's a better model to allow students to learn at their own pace (through taped lectures, videos, etc.) and then collaborate during class time.   However, I really don't think that we'll see it in a large-scale way in just 10 short years from now.   I think the changing expectations for the professors would take a bit longer to make a reality.  What are you thoughts on the potential transformation of college classes (especially lecture classes)? If you think that those traditional lecture-style classes will change, when do you think it might happen?

Source:
Khan, S. (October 31, 2010).  YouTube Beats YouSnoozeU, The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Retrieved from:
http://chronicle.com/article/YouTube-U-Beats-YouSnooze/125105/