Blog C: Chapter 7 Exploring Problem Solving with Software, Apps and Games &
Chapter 8 Communicating ans Collaborating with Social Media
The first thing that really stuck in my mind is the Wiki. WIKI....what in the world is a wiki? A wiki is a collaborative blog. Basically a wiki is a community site. You can set up a wiki and many people can contribute to the site. The nice part about this is the fact that you all do not need to be sitting together in the same area to work on this blog together. Each person just needs the URL to the wiki and you can work together.
The last topic that stuck with me is Computer Games as Learning Resources. As we all know, most kids love video games, (adults like video games). Children spend many hours playing video games and applications on smartphones and iPads. So what better way to get them engaged in learning but to bring learning in on the devices they love to use. Computer games and simulations range from simple to more complex programs. These programs are interactive and dynamic. It is to an instructors advantage to incorporate these games into their learning curriculum.
From my experience as a volunteer in an elementary classroom, I have seen first hand how well these games work. We have a game on the computer called GoMath, the kids love using this site. They ask daily if they can spend time at the site. It have worked so well that most of the students are working well over the 1st grade level, most are at the tail-end of 2nd grade or the beginning of 3rd grade. The students I work with are 1st graders. I would definitely incorporate computer game learning into my curriculum.
In conclusion, I continue to learn new technology. Some I am eager to use in my future classroom. Some I am unsure of. I will need to work with those things more to become comfortable before I consider it for my classroom. Bring on the learning!
Resources:
Maloy, R., O'Loughlin, R., Edwards, S., & Woolf, B. (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.
Video Games and Learning. Youtube, 2013. Film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rN0qRKjfX3s : moved to http://penny-arcade.com/patv/show/ext
The first thing that really stuck in my mind is the Wiki. WIKI....what in the world is a wiki? A wiki is a collaborative blog. Basically a wiki is a community site. You can set up a wiki and many people can contribute to the site. The nice part about this is the fact that you all do not need to be sitting together in the same area to work on this blog together. Each person just needs the URL to the wiki and you can work together.
For the classroom, the instructor can set up a wiki and open it to
specific students with a join code. These students then can work on the
wiki. This can be a great learning tool, as long as you have a way to
make each student responsible for his/her piece. Also, you want to be
sure not to penalize others if another does not do their part.
Although, it is imperative the team tries to encourage all members to
complete their part.
As
you know, we are all responsible to participate in a wiki project this
week. I am very interested to see how this works out. This is the
first time I have heard of this type of learning. I can see in theory
the value of a project, but I am interested to see an actual real-time
outcome before I come to any conclusion.
The next thing that caught my eye was Problem-based Learning. We all
know easy problem solving such as that in math. You are presented with a
problem and you find the answer. The one and only possible answer.
The kind of problem-based learning I am talking about is real life
problems. Students are presented with real life situations and are
instructed to come up with possible solutions. There are no right and
wrong answers. But if done properly they will learn which solutions
could possibly work and those that are destine to fail.
The steps to get started are as follows:
- Understand the problem. The student must identify the problem. They need to make sure they understand what the question is asking and what information they need to know to successfully answer the question.
- Using problem-solving strategies. Students will then start to implement problem-solving strategies. They explore several different approaches and break the problem down. They then decide on the best approach and apply it.
- Checking the results. Students now determine whether their solution is successful or not. If unsuccessful then they are to go back and determine why their solution does not work and re-examine the situation.
The last topic that stuck with me is Computer Games as Learning Resources. As we all know, most kids love video games, (adults like video games). Children spend many hours playing video games and applications on smartphones and iPads. So what better way to get them engaged in learning but to bring learning in on the devices they love to use. Computer games and simulations range from simple to more complex programs. These programs are interactive and dynamic. It is to an instructors advantage to incorporate these games into their learning curriculum.
From my experience as a volunteer in an elementary classroom, I have seen first hand how well these games work. We have a game on the computer called GoMath, the kids love using this site. They ask daily if they can spend time at the site. It have worked so well that most of the students are working well over the 1st grade level, most are at the tail-end of 2nd grade or the beginning of 3rd grade. The students I work with are 1st graders. I would definitely incorporate computer game learning into my curriculum.
In conclusion, I continue to learn new technology. Some I am eager to use in my future classroom. Some I am unsure of. I will need to work with those things more to become comfortable before I consider it for my classroom. Bring on the learning!
Resources:
Maloy, R., O'Loughlin, R., Edwards, S., & Woolf, B. (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.
Video Games and Learning. Youtube, 2013. Film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rN0qRKjfX3s : moved to http://penny-arcade.com/patv/show/ext
You didn't try a digital web 2.0 tool this week? Thanks for your reflective insights and expressing your mixed feelings about some of this technology. ;) The wiki has many accountability tools built in so it makes a great collaborative tool due its transparency nature. For example on your wiki, click on the Recent Changes link on the left navigation panel and you can see who contributed and what day/time. Go to the Resources page, and click on the Revisions button (2nd button to the right of the Edit button) and you'll see a place to actually go back to a previous revision and in the process see the additions/deletions made). Anyway, keep on learning!! :)
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