The Classroom of the Future

The Classroom of the Future

     It is very important that school districts keep up in the ever changing technology world.  In order to guarantee that our students are given the opportunities to compete in the world of tomorrow each school district needs to ensure that all teachers are comfortable and well versed in the latest technology trends.  Schools are turning to the NMC Horizon Report to advise them on the technologies of the future.  Johnson, L., Adams, S., and Cummins, M. (2012) explains that “The NMC Horizon Report: 2012 K-12 Edition, examines emerging technologies for their potential impact on and use in teaching, learning, and creative inquiry within the environment of pre-college education.” This report is a positive approach to aiding school districts into becoming proactive for the future.

     In the future our classes are going to be working more with Cloud Computing.  The possibilities are endless.  On the website Cloud Computing For All it explains that it will be “having all the information, data or software stored in servers on the internet (instead in your local hard drive) and then it is cached temporarily on the user’s computer, desktop, notebooks, and mobile devices every time the information or data is being accessed.”  Students will be able to access their information at home, in the library, in the coffee shop or anywhere they are able to access the internet.  Students will be able to work collaboratively on projects or essays and they don’t have to be in the same room, the same town, or even in the same country.  

     Non-open and open sources are being developed that will be used throughout our future classrooms.  Some of those already used are Moodle, Web 2.0, Sakai, and Dokeos to name a few.    Many of these will eventually be incorporated in both open source and non-open source learning management systems.  (Wikiaeducation.com, 2009)

     The video called Classroom Of The Future HD: What's New in Educational Tech describes the classroom of the future with ceiling mounted projectors that engage larger groups of learners, wall mounted flat panels used to display computer based materials for smaller groups, and mobile devices in various parts of the room.  Within the classroom there will have personal learning environments.  These environments were described by Johnson et al. (2012) as “personal collections of tools and resources a person assembles to support their own learning.  Such things as smart phones, tablets and apps are examples of things that have begun to emerge as a compelling alternative to browser-based PLE’s and e-portfolios.”(p.9)  Therefor each student will not need to have a mobile device provided for them.  The goal in the future classroom is to let the students have more control over how they learn in school.

     The furniture will need to be lightweight and movable because collaboration will be a large part of the future classroom.  Interactivity between students will become prevalent in the future classroom.  Students will be leading the discussions.  Teachers will be moving around the room listening to the discussions and only guiding if needed.

     I think Ignacio "Nacho" Estrada said it best when he said, “If a child can't learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn." This quote helps me to describe why our classrooms should be using game based learning.  In the next five years will be using game based learning as an integral part of the education process.  Students today are in a never ending game world.  Educators will be using this fact to reach all students at all different levels.  These games give students a chance to submerge themselves and become a part of the solution.  Goal oriented games will center around concepts that the students of today feel are important.  The TEKS will still be the blueprint for the lessons that the teachers will teach but relevant real life experiences that interest our students will be used.  These lessons will motivate the students to become successful at their own pace while they learn from their own failures. What a perfect way to differentiate instruction.

     The classroom of the future has already started.  Many classrooms have the ceiling mounted projectors, computers, and are participating in the BYOD.  We are on our way to the classroom that is designed around students leading the learning with the latest technology at our fingertips.  Cloud computing, open sources, mobile devices and students driven discussions are only the beginning of the changes that we will be seeing in the next 5 years.  There is no time to waste because it is already upon us.  Educators need to be incorporating as much as they can because we cannot let the world move on without us.

 

References

Classroom Of The Future HD: What's New in Educational Tech [Video file]. (2007, September

     12). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcXEznPXj8k&feature=youtu.be

Estrada, I., (2012, March 1). Quotes Cafe.  Retrieved on November 3, 2013 from

     http://quotescafe.com/quotes/ignacio_estrada/

Johnson, L., Adams, S., & Cummins, M.. (2012). The 2012 Horizon Report: K-12

     Edition. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium.

What is Cloud Computing? An easy definition of Cloud Computing. (n.d.). Cloud Computing

     For All. Retrieved November 3, 2013, from http://cloudcomputingforall.com/what-is-cloud-

     computing-an-easy-definition-of-cloud-computing/

Wikiaeducation.com. (nd). Course management systems. Retrieved on November 17, 2009, from

     http://schoolcomputing.wikia.com/wiki/Course_Management_Systems

Click on my link to watch my PowToon Video! Enjoy!

http://www.powtoon.com/p/cNpilavZgs0/#.UmQOxjOS554.mailto

Interview With a Veteran Teacher

Adjusting Through the Years

     Lina Cantu Cruz has watched many changes in her classroom transpire since the beginning of her teaching career.  She graduated in 1991 and completed her Master’s in Education in 2003.  She has taught English, Speech, College Transition classes and SAT/ACT prep courses.  As I started out our conversation with an explanation that our interview was going to encompass our school system before and after the availability of the internet, she smiled and said, “Where do I begin?”  Mrs. Cruz continued throughout the interview describing a positive change that has impacted the way teachers teach and the way students learn.  She did stop at one point and state that even though there were mostly positive aspects of the internet there did come a few negatives. 

     When it comes to our students of today prior knowledge is one of the areas that have changed.  Mrs. Cruz remembered how she once began her lessons by digging into her students experiences.  The experiences from 20 years ago compared to the experiences of today are widely different.  Most experiences came from their home life, something that they were taught in school, or an event that had happened to them.  The students that enter her classroom now have had a lifetime of internet experiences.  Many of these come from the games that they play.  Her job in this technology era has been to learn about these games, what interests her students on the internet, and then take that information and apply it into her classroom.  Mrs. Cruz explained, “My student’s life is their computer.  For me to reach them I have had to learn how to see the world through their eyes.”  In the article If I Teach This Way, Am I Doing My Job: Constructivism in the Classroom, it states that “Constructivist teachers organize information around conceptual clusters of problems and questions as opposed to facts in isolation.  Activities should be authentic (tasks should be relevant or of emerging relevance to students).  Such activities are often problem-based rather than drill-and-practice. Instead of concentrating on knowledge acquisition, problem-based activities allow students to develop a deeper understanding of the knowledge domain.” (p. 7)

      Mrs. Cruz described her students as being confident when it came to working with the computer.  Research, surfing, gaming, or problem solving did not cause any of them to worry.  They are not afraid to try out a new device or try and fix a device that won’t work but they start to stumble when they actually had to sit down and compose a sentence.  There were many contributing factors that led to this barrier but the one that stood out most in her mind was the usage of texting.  The students in her class would tell her that they would send and receive a total of 300 – 500 texts per day.  For instance, the usage of the letter u instead of the correct word you have become an issue when students sit down to write an essay for class.  It has become acceptable in texts to write a shorter version of a word and to write without correct grammar.

     When Mrs. Cruz described her teaching style from 1991 she found that the teaching styles of today have drastically changed.  Her role as a teacher has also changed significantly.  Back in 1991 she taught using whole group instruction where she was the leader of the learning process.  Technology wasn’t available so the information that was used was found in text books or resources available in the library where everything was not always up to date.  Mrs. Cruz described her classroom now as a place where students work together collaboratively, make speeches, and follow rubrics.  She went on to explain that since our classrooms are now set up with a vast array of learning styles and levels that we must differentiate instruction.  On the Cast website it describes a type of a lesson called Universal Design for Learning (UDL).  “A UDL recognizes that every learner is unique and processes information differently. UDL is based on CAST's research related to three primary brain networks (recognition network, strategic network, and affective network) and the roles they play in understanding these differences.” 

     Twenty years ago, students were taking standardized tests but Mrs. Cruz felt that the schools were not being held accountable when it came to those students that did not pass or make acceptable gains during the year.  Teachers are held accountable now with the Texas standardized testing.   All students are expected to make learning gains including special education students and other sub populations.  She realizes that many teachers are only teaching to the test, which is a negative, but watching over all of the students are an important aspect that was overlooked in the past. 

     When asked to compare the characteristics of her students 20 years ago to students of today she concentrated mostly on the upbringing of the kids.  She felt as though many of her students had parents that became parents at a much younger age.  These parents that she is describing as younger are blaming teachers for all the problems that their students are causing.  Many teachers are afraid to teach as well as discipline because the parents run in to defend their children.  Mrs. Cruz describes a society of parents that are giving these students the power to halt the learning process in the classroom.  Mrs. Cruz used the word entitled to describe the students that don’t listen, work, or care because they know that their parents will jump when asked to jump to defend their lack of effort. 

     Her classroom today has a very different feel to it.  The teacher is the facilitator and her students are learning from each other.  She might start out as whole group instruction but she has found that students collaborating together on the assignments have them learning more than she could have ever expected.  With technology the students have no boundaries.  In the video Big Thinkers, they described the modern classroom as a room where you are working in a group where the group is smarter than the smartest person.   Working collaboratively in this type of environment will allow you to come up with your own solutions and use the tools that you choose.  Both Mrs. Cruz and this video shared the idea that we must move our students past the standard solutions that we expected yesterday. 

     There have been many changes in the classroom through the years.  Mrs. Cruz described it as a necessary but difficult journey.  In order for her to keep up with the technology age she has had to change her teaching practices and theories.  It was difficult because she did not grow up with this technology and she felt as though the students were always one step ahead of her.  With a constant strive to learn and her desire to reach all students she has learned to transform her classroom into a collaborative learning environment that uses the internet to reach what was known as the unreachable in the past. 

 

 

 

 

 

References

C Sprague, D. & Dede, C. (1999). If I teach this way, Am I doing my job: Constructivism in the

     classroom. Leading and Learning, 27(1). Retrieved from the International Society for Technology in

     Education at http://imet.csus.edu/imet9/280/docs/dede_constructivisim.pdfonnectivism

Cast.org (2009). Model UDL lessons. Center for Applied Special Technology. Retrieved from

     http://udlselfcheck.cast.org/

Edutopia.org (nd). Big Thinkers: Howard Gardner on Digital Youth. Retrieved from

     http://www.edutopia.org/digital-generation-howard-gardner-video

EDLD 5364 Week 5 Course Embedded Reflection

The readings and videos in this class were based around completing a group assignment that was to create a Universal Design Lesson (UDL). The scenario consisted of students with varying degrees of learning differences. It was very stressful in the beginning because I wasn’t sure how I was going to collaborate with my peer teachers through technology.  Web 2.0 tools made this process easier.  We asked each other’s advice and assessed each other’s steps frequently.  Collaboration allowed us to construct a much superior unit than one person ever could have.

Integrating technology into my classroom is something I have always wanted to do.  I have been afraid to due to my fear of change.  This class has pressed me to look into technology that I could incorporate into my lessons.  I now have a Mimio Connect, a Classroom Performance System, and a Facebook group.  I feel as though I am using these devices minimally but in the future through research and help of my fellow teachers I plan to incorporate them more. 

The readings from this class were very informative but they were outdated.  The dates ranged from 1996-2008.  Current articles and videos would benefit us more because technology is changing every day.

Because I have a variety of learners in my classroom I have always differentiated my instruction.  UDL was a new term for me, but I feel as though I have basically been following those steps.  On the Cast Lesson Builder web site it explains that every learner is unique so their learning styles are different.  “UDL provides a framework to create and implement lessons with flexible goals, methods, materials, and assessments that support learning for all students.”  (Learn about Universal Design for Learning, 2013).  It is essential that there are alternative methods for teaching.

Everything that I read and watched stressed that technology is our future. Allowing our students to learn through technology is going to help them create, explore and use more powerful tools than any other past student. I have learned that I cannot allow fear to hold myself back or my students from becoming successful learners.

 

 

Edutopia.org (nd). Welcome to the Digital Generation. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/digital-generation-project-overview-video

Lessonbuilder.cast.org (nd). The Brain Research. Retrieved from http://lessonbuilder.cast.org/window.php?src=videos

Lessonbuilder.cast.org (nd). Diversity of Learners. Retrieved from http://lessonbuilder.cast.org/window.php?src=videos

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

 

EDLD Week 5 Reflection

This week the videos that I watched were mainly about teaching the students today through gaming.  In the video, Big Thinkers: Sasha Barab on New-Media Engagement ,Sasha Barab discussed the fact that the schools of today are giving teachers old tools in order to teach the students.  He goes on to explain that students need to be given an opportunity to integrate the information that they are learning by actually solving problems.  Giving students the opportunity to use the information that they have learned is going to give them a connection, a sense of power, and a reason to learn the information put in front of them.  From a very young age children are sitting in front of a variety of gaming devices which allows them the control of the outcome.

One of the subjects that I teach is science.  I can only imagine the learning that would be taking part in my classroom if I had access to a program where my students watched, learned, and then took part in fixing, building, or living in the units that I teach.  I can teach about forces, life cycles, rock cycles, and the water cycle but if they were able to be a part of each one of these in a game type scenario they would be able to transform that information, see it in action, and convert the written text into an experience.  Experiences are going to make more of an impact on the student and the knowledge he takes away from the unit. 

Allowing our students to access this technology frequently brings us other important aspects that we need to be teaching our students.  Researcher Howard Gardner in the video called Big Thinkers: Howard Gardner on Digital Youth, discusses that we should be teaching our children digital ethics.  He conversed about what exactly it meant to be ethical on the internet.  They were a sense of identity, sense of honestly, sense of privacy, sense of ownership, and a sense of authorship.  There are many problems that arise from being in a technological world and he understands that you can learn a lot, find out whatever and with almost whomever,  but it is very important to know that these new forms of learning should not dictate to us they should just be opening up new avenues to our learning world.

Teachers are going to have their hands full.  They need to learn new ways to teach our students through technology but also learn, delegate, and model ethical behavior on the internet.  It has never been an easy job to teach the students that are coming into our classrooms but I am worried that we are not being given the tools that we need to ensure their success.  There is so much new information and new teaching strategies it will be vital that schools give their teachers updated tools, and direction in which to use these tools. 

 

Edutopia.org. (nd). Big Thinkers: Sasha Barab on New-Media Engagement. Retrieved from

     http://www.edutopia.org/digital-generation-sasha-barab-video

 

Edutopia.org (nd). Big Thinkers: Howard Gardner on Digital Youth. Retrieved from

     http://www.edutopia.org/digital-generation-howard-gardner-video

EDLD 5364 Week 4 Reflection

 

This week the readings and videos that I enjoyed and learned from were about cooperative learning groups and accurately assessing our student progress. 

I am always amazed that there are teachers that do not buy into the Cooperative Learning theory.  When I Read Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works (2012) I completely agreed with the statement that said

 “Cooperative learning can also increase motivation for learning by establishing a strong kinship and a sense of obligation to one another among students, which can lead to greater buy-in and increased achievement.”(p. 73)

Cooperative learning groups work because teachers are allowing the students to talk as well as listen amongst themselves.  They are permitted to learn and deepen their understanding through their social interactions.  Pittler, Hubbell and Kuhn (2012) recommends three things that we should incorporate into the cooperative learning groups.  The three things include small group size, both positive interdependence and individual accountability, and to use cooperative groups consistently. (p. 74)

Reading about the UDL framework in Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age: Universal Design for Learning, Chapter 7 I learned that assessing my students progress should not be completed by the same written test.  Rose & Meyer (2002), stated that “when teachers give the same written test to all students it is neither fair not accurate”.  All students have different learning styles and we differentiate instruction so we should also be differentiating assessments.  Technology is one possible way to track differing individual assessments. 

 

 Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom

     instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum     

     Development, 139-154.

 

Rose, D., & Meyer, A. (2002). Teaching every student in the digital age: Universal design for

    learning.  Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Chapter

   7. Available online at the Center for Applied Special Technology Web site. Retrieved from

    http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/ideas/tes/       

The Life Cycle of a Butterfly Link

Please click on the link below to see the eBook that I made titled The Life Cycle of a Butterfly.

http://bookbuilder.cast.org/view.php?op=share&book=08d09ece188fd0a4dc5eea1d0118c94a&sid=13778

I hope  you enjoy it!