Gamification: The Experience of Experience

     I love the idea of learning through hands-on experience, manipulation, creation, and the true ownership and engagement of the learner. I have no idea, however, where to start to implement the concept of gamification into my own class and content. I agree, as the author of " At Libraries Across America" stated, that teenage boys were highly motivated by the gaming options of the local library. It makes a great deal of sense to me that gaming could be used as a tool to reel them into the library, have them read text embedded within the games and somehow expose them to traditional text while they are there as well. One great difference between gaming in education and more traditional instructional strategies is the trial and error experience, the risk of failure, and yet the accountability resting on the students to reach a goal. This becomes an authentic learning experience when students can become a part of the experience rather than a passive participant. What I don't know is what games would be beneficial in my English I, II, III and IV courses. What is out there and available? Should my students create the games and if so, how? As I approach a new semester of teaching to include English IV, traditionally British literature and not my greatest strength, I wonder what is out there that might motivate my students to be a part of something unimaginable otherwise? I found a great infographic that mentioned a game that allowed the experience of Shakespeare's world to come alive. If I knew more about this, could find this, what technology requirements would I need from my school and for my students? I actually would have loved to see us explore this concept earlier in the course. It seems like common sense to think that making learning a game would be a great motivator. I have thought this all along. My only complaint is that everyone may not see it this way and may fail to see the value in such lessons. And I know there are games available that require little reading, little creativity and limited analysis. Learning disguised as fun. I love it!! Let's play!

I-Movie and Such

I-Movie: I can do that. I can have my students do that. They are natives to such technology. Let's create a trailer to summarize the text. Let's add an Act to Shakespeare's work but let's make it modern. I have found that students love using I-movie and the IPADs are made for that application. They benefit from the ability to add appropriate music, to conduct video surveys, the options are limitless. This is a time when I love that my students are a part of a one to one program.
    Audacity: It is downloaded but I am not sure where to go next. Should I record mini-lectures, assignments in oral form, reminders about upcoming projects as you do in our course? I am facing the difficulties of navigating the medium at this point but I am excited about the possibilities that this offers. As far as the big project, I am little nervous and concerned about how I plan to do that. I plan to Youtube myself presenting the Prezi and summarizing the material and research concerning the devices our students benefit from the most. I also plan to research how I can use my smartphone for these applications as well. Now this finally feels like a Technology course and it makes me want to scream for help and be excited at the same time!!

Facebook: A Violation of our Privacy Rights?

Facebook is a tool that I use practically each day. In fact, I become frustrated when it doesn't connect and I find myself checking Facebook like my grandparents might have gotten up and read the newspaper. However, as "fun" as Facebook is and as connected as it makes me with people whom I would otherwise be disconnected with, it has its drawbacks. I particularly enjoyed the article " I quit Liking Everything". Like the author states, the Facebook like is somewhat disconnected. It sends a message that one nods the head in approval but the picture doesn't warrant a genuine comment. I find it quite interesting when someone posts " Pray for my family as we have just lost a dear member" and someone "likes" the post. Really? You like and approve that someone has passed. Maybe you like the prayer request if you believe in prayer but this strikes me as strange. If I post a picture of the most beautiful toddler ( my daughter, of course)  in the world dressed haphazardly as Rapunzel on Halloween and you respond with a like, I wonder why you didn't take the time to state how cute she is, how cool her four foot mane of hair is, etc, etc, Consequently, I commit to at least reduce my like activity on Facebook in hopes of reducing ads, seeing more of my friends' status updates, etc. And I hope that others will notice and appreciate the time I take to make a comment about their new baby, wedding announcement or request for prayer. I commit to quit the like.
    Institutional Privacy: I believe that we have a constitutional right to this. Social Privacy is in our hands. We can choose what to post, when, and with whom to share. I make a conscious effort not to post while flooded with emotions. This will only lead to irrational comments, and "drama".

    I definitely believe that teens are subject to drama. It is never acceptable for someone to use the web to create this drama. As far as cyberbulling, this is the common medium that teens use to bully today and awareness of all teens can impact this and hopefully diminish it. If people would see the internet as the public records source that it is, there would be a greater respect. Additionally, it comes down to common sense. I always ask myself how others may perceive my posts. Once I even deleted a post ( quickly I might add) that praised my visit to a new church. I honestly began to analyze whether or not my home church, where I have been a member since childhood, would take offense to my new enthusiasm. I may be overzealous about that but that is better than being complacent. On another note, I am no longer a teen. I am thankful that we didn't have Facebook or social media during my teen years. I may not have the job I have today ( just kidding). At the very least, I know problems would have arisen. Teen focus does not always contain common sense.

Presentations and Dizzying Prezis

I can recall learning how to create my first powerpoint presentation. It wasn't in public school, but probably my first year of college at the community college (on the same campus where I currently teach). Now, it seems I can whip up a power point at the drop of the hat. At that time, it was encouraged to create a "flashy" power point that utilized transitions, animations, sounds and other bells and whistles that I later learned were actually distracting. Now, students can create power points in the first grade. It is something they have done time and time again. When they reach me in high school, power point is something they are sick of or a comfortable friend with whom they don't want to part.
  One my duties as an English teacher at my school is to oversee and mentor students completing their "Graduation Projects". This is a project implemented into their English IV course where students must research a topic, write an extensive paper about their research, create and complete a related product and finally present their experience to a panel of community judges. They are required to have some sort of digital presentation. They always choose power point. Though teachers like myself have shown them alternative slide programs, they have declined. There is a comfort in the power point. While recently practicing speeches, I told my students to use the power point as digital index cards and then take it away once they felt confident. This would help them avoid reading from the slides.
  Reading from the Slides: This must be the biggest problem I have with Power Point. Placing too much information on slides as well, is laborious for the audience. Overall, I think that Power Point is a great way to keep your points organized but I feel that it is too heavily relied on. It is overused.
   Prezi: I haven't fallen in love yet. It is often difficult to navigate, dizzying and overwhelming. Some of my younger students enjoy this tool, mostly freshmen. As one author stated, it is more appropriate for some presentations than others. This is the key to all of this. Finding the tool that is most appropriate for the topic and content. And like everything else we have discussed, sometimes it is used well and other times not so much.

Storify: Oh, Ms. Story!!

Before I married, in the early, naive years of teaching, my name was Ms. Story so I find this new tool "Storify" amusing. Seriously, I find it quite interesting and I want to know more about it. First of all, here is a link to my meek creation: My Storify. While reviewing the material on this topic, I wasn't sure if I would be able to create a Storify or if I could see a valuable use for the tool. Immersion was the catalyst. Once I began to play around with it, review the model Storify provided and start dragging and dropping links, videos and tweets into the template, I started to see what the hype was about. One aspect that I feel most strongly about is that Storify allows the author ( imagine a student) to tell their story or present their findings and show exactly where it came from. Because the author can also embed original text, they can then summarize the video, link, or various source for the reader's review. There is no longer question of where did the material originate.
     It seems like everything today, including education, is about integration rather than isolation. Though this seems overwhelming at times, it is the way it is. Storify is an example of the integration of multiple sources. This is actually a common core standard for the high school English I teach. Storify is the perfect tool to use to allow students to do this. It allows the author to write an original narrative aided by social media, links to scholarly texts and articles, and things like tweets that would provide the public's view/perspective. I can't wait to implement this into my class. Students will love trying something new that is digital and integrates tools that they use daily.
   On another note, I wonder how Storify will impact "news". Will all online news look like Storify? Will formal narratives describing news events continue to be available? What instances are most appropriate for Storify? The jury is still out in my opinion. Yet, I plan to continue manipulating this tool and discovering what it works best for. I will keep you all posted.
 

Pinning Great Ideas and Facebooking the Curriculum

So I was more excited about this week's reading because I actually use these tools. The first thing that comes to mind, however, is the stark prohibition of tools like Facebook in the classroom in the district where I teach. Recently, the board policy regarding this has undergone review but in the past it has been strictly forbidden to have a student as a friend on Facebook, use Facebook in the classroom and the website has been blocked. At one time, even the site Edmodo, an educational site that looks similar to Facebook, has been nixed. Though some authority figures say they want students to enjoy the learning experience, it seems that this contradicts what they actually allow. As educators, it is imperative that we meet students where they are and use the tools they already use on a daily basis to engage them in academic conversation, analytic thought and more. Edmodo is a great tool that is less criticized but doesn't do everything that can be done on Facebook. While we have discussion forums on Edmodo, I have often wished that students could mention each other in a comment, as is possible on Facebook. In that way, Sally could comment directly back to Joe and they would know this by checking their notifications.
     Another tool of topic this week was Tumblr. My prior knowledge of this site was just what I heard from students. Apparently, Tumblr is the site that students choose to use with hopes of not being monitored by their parents. In other words, it isn't the "old people's site". One of this week's readings, about these tools, Doug Ward and Carol Holstead's account of "Using Facebook and Tumblr to engage students", describes how teachers can use both of these tools in the classroom. It suggests using Tumblr to find resources for the classroom, to organize sources, and to follow blogs that for example, might offer helpful hints for vocabulary strategies. Facebook is already a common tool that I use so I am planning on further utilizing this tool in my class. Even though my district hasn't officially opened its mind or doors to doing so, I feel confident that I can prove my utilization to be beneficial and appropriate. Some ways I intend to do this include: Facebook Discussion groups for class topics to discuss, source sharing group pages, and the use of the image macro for distributive summation in the classroom.
    I also already love Pinterest. Though I use it to look for creative crafts and homemade solutions as the parent of a toddler girl, I know that this tool is also helpful if I find myself lost for creative outlines in the class or how to use and create citations and more. In fact, Pinterest led me to a great tool for teaching citations, one of the most boring and laborious parts of teaching writing. I cannot wait to try this out. My students could use some additional visual help with the importance of citations as we speak!

Classroom on the Go

As a student in my undergraduate work, I became somewhat familiar with the commonly used digital teaching tool, Blackboard. I also used this heavily during my graduate work, both at the same university. My instructors typically had us engage in discussions but it was also a tool for organization, a place to save and retrieve course documents, and find contact information. I found it easier to navigate than the tool I would later encounter, Moodle. The anxiety caused by that tool would soon dissipate as well. In fact, I will soon be teaching Developmental Reading and English via Moodle. I profoundly believe that these tools are necessary to the learning process and that anyone can learn to navigate these with proper training and practice. I also believe firmly that a positive attitude about the use of technology in the class can make a world of difference.
    Let me start with an example from my previous Developmental Reading course. The course, designed more traditionally than my current course, required students to access reading practice exercises and take assessments via a website that corresponded with the traditional textbooks. One student will always stand out in my memory. He approached me and exclaimed that he "couldn't touch one of those things", referring to the outdated desktop in front of him in the lab where our class was assigned. Though he was referred to the tutoring center for both reading and technology usage, he has always stood out to me as a symbol of many others who were less bold about their experience with technology. I can't help but speculate whether technology is a detriment to some students. In other words, does it deter some older, more traditional students from pursuing their education? There are definitely some alignments with age, socioeconomic status and such when profiling who is comfortable with technology and who is not. This being said, my full time job is at an Early College, where students are selected to attend partially based on financial need.
    Our school has a one to one initiative with I Pads. We are currently debating the effectiveness of these tablets since we have had several glitches in the system. These students, unlike the 50 + student described earlier, seem to have a natural  ability to navigate technology. These students share a financially challenged background with the older community college student but access and popular culture have played a role. On the other hand, I wonder if our students are truly accessing the abilities of technology access. Commonly, they engage in online discussions, share and retrieve files, use the internet for research, create presentations.
    As a teacher, tools like Edmodo, Blackboard, etc, are complements to the traditional classroom. I can provide supplementary tools for my students that may be optional. I can save paper in the classroom. I can have students collaborate on documents and projects. If I find something great that accompanies our lesson, I can quickly post it to Edmodo for student access instead of waiting for time to print a copy, make a copy, and wait to incorporate on the next day. In other words, I can utilize the "teachable moment". This is invaluable for me. I hope my students see the advantage that they have.
So, yes I do think that CMS systems like Moodle, and Blackboard enhance the learning in the college and even high school and middle school classroom. I think that like a workbook, test generator, or the old-fashioned overhead projector, these are tools. Tools are just means of delivery and sometimes the means of delivery happens to adhere to the changing world in which we live. Technology like this helps teachers meet the different learning styles of students. It goes beyond the student recording a lecture. It provides a way to access supplementary information on the go. I elect that our teachers get completely on board with this, and learn how to implement the tools effectively. I include myself in this lot.