Horizon Report Pgs. 14-15 Using Video in Your Classroom

Video Script:

Intro:

Good morning! Today I want to talk with you about using video in your classrooms. Video can be a powerful tool to use with students. Allowing students to create videos in your classroom will not only increase student engagement, but it will give your students the opportunity to show their creative abilities. Your students will enjoy a change from the traditional classroom assignment.

It has been my experience as a classroom teacher that students will also be more willing to complete the assignment and do their best work when they know they will get to do a cumulative video at the end of the unit. Using video in your classroom is something your students will benefit from.

Let’s look at some examples:

*Here is an example of a video that students from a third grade class made. They took a book they had read and turned it into a video.

*Here is an example of a video that was made showing how to complete a math word problem.

These are great examples of using video in your classroom to increase student engagement and help your students become 21^st century learners.

Now let’s talk about the technology available to you to make videos:

You can use…

 Windows Movie Maker- It’s fairly simply to use and easy for students to navigate. Its free too!

Educreations on the iPad: This is an excellent tool to use to make short “how to” videos, or explanations of things. The math video you saw earlier is an example using Educreations. Educreations allows you to record video and audio and insert pictures. It is free also.

Green Screen by Do Ink: The #1 green screen app for the Ipad. It lets you create easy videos using the green screen effect. Students can easily insert backgrounds and audio. The Thanksgiving video you watched earlier was created with this app.

I hope this has helped spark an interest for you to consider using video in your classroom. Let me leave you with a few reasons video is something you should consider implementing in your classroom:

(Show PowerPoint slide)

Conclusion: I hope you have learned something new today. Have a great day!

Remind (Formerly Remind 101)

Remind is a text messaging application that allows parents and teachers to communicate without actually exchanging phone numbers. When a teacher signs up through the app, it provides them with a system generated number that parents see when they receive the text message. Through this app, teachers can send out short reminders/messages. They can also send out pictures and other attachments. There is also a private chat feature that teachers can choose to turn on or off. This feature allows parents to respond to a teacher text and also gives them the option to text privately. I have used Remind in my classroom for several years and I love it. I use Remind in many ways. One way I use Remind is to send pictures to my whole class to share what we have done for the day. I also use the private messaging feature and class text messaging feature. Remind is a must have for excellent communication between the teacher and parents.

Teacher Blogs and Gaming Space

Teacher Blogs: 

The following blogs are blogs that I am currently following. These blogs are related to the grade I teach. They each provide me with innovative ideas for teaching and integrating technology into the curriculum. The blogs are organized by months and subject areas that you can search freely. They also provide up to date research on the best teaching practices. You should check these blogs out...

http://www.teachingblogaddict.com/2011/04/3rd-grade-blogs.html

http://www.3rdgradethoughts.com

http://thirdgradebookworm.blogspot.com

http://teachingmycalling.blogspot.com

http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com

Gaming Space: 

Gaming Space is a shared space between parents, students, and teachers. It provides students with a digital environment where they are encouraged to take risk, completes task, earn awards, etc. The Gaming Space is set up in a way that a specific learning progression must be followed in order to progress to the next level. This type of learning, helps prepare our students for the 21st century technology they will encounter in college and their career. Students need to be comfortable with using technology in order to be prepared for their future. Gaming Space gives students control over their learning, which results in more engagement. Parents are able to view their child's progress, which teachers set the game into play.

Discussion Forums:

Discussion forums in a online format, should be aimed at content standards and 21st century skills. The discussion doesn't have to be a question/answer format. Sometimes, other options will give you more insight into a student's understanding of the content/material. For example, you may have students ask the questions about the material. When they do this, they have to dig deeper into the material in order to ask the question. You could also have students reflect on something in a "journal" type entry, where they share their thoughts. Forum discussion should be used to further learning, not just recall information.

Horizon Report Pages 10-11

While many believe that using learning styles to determine learning strategies is successful, others do not. After reading the article: http://reedgillespie.blogspot.com/2014/01/10-statements-debunking-using-of.html I believe even I am seeing things in a different light. The author, discusses the use of learning styles to determine learning strategies and he describes in detail why this isn't a good practice for educators. The author, Reed Gillespie, states that having students complete a learning style inventory, causes a forced response and not a true vision of their learning style. The example he gives is that anyone would rather see a science lesson demonstrated rather than having an uninterrupted lecture, because science is best learned by demonstration. He also says that recognizing a students strengths and weaknesses is good practice, but grouping them by those is not. That method is not helpful to low performing students. Gillespie also discusses how you can not label one group of students in the same class as auditory learners and another group as visual learners. There is not any validity to making that classification that is based on neurology or behavioral performance. The author also discusses how VAK is nonsense. He says that we build a picture of the world by our senses working together. Reed digs even deeper and states that the research on learning styles is weak and unconvincing. Also providing a quote that there is no evidence that learning styles even exist. To sum up his discussion, he points out that a vast majority of educational content comes from stored meaning and does not rely on auditory, visual, or kinesthetic memory, which is why little research is found on its validity.

After reading the following article: http://www.edudemic.com/7-ways-to-hack-your-classroom/ I chose to discuss choice boards. In my classroom I actually implement choice boards during literacy centers. Right now, I only use them with my word work center though. They are able to choose the working with words activity they do for the day. I would like to change that now and create a choice board for my whole literacy block. I could include several activities that they could choose from. I have seen more student engagement just with the word work choice board and I can only imagine the engagement I would see if they used a choice board for the entire literacy block.

Video Games & Learning: They are VERY similar

Game designers make millions of dollars a year. They know the tricks to keep gamers interested and always coming back for more. If we looked deeper at the features of gaming, we might gain some insight into how gaming features can improve our educational settings. Let's look at the following aspects of gaming and see how they can relate to the learning environment:
1. Failure is ok: In a video game, failure is ok. You just keep trying until you make it to the goal. Most times in education, failure is not encouraged. If failure was encouraged, more kids would be comfortable trying and not worry about the let down.
2. Interesting Tools: Video games provide players with interesting tools such as weapons and magic. Our students need interesting tools too. They need current emerging technologies at their disposal, they need time to research. Too often, students are expected to memorize the material, but they aren't given the tools they need to be successful. Students need hands on practice as well as paper and pencil.
3. Acquire, Test, Master: In a video game, players may be given a gun for the mission, but they are only given access to one part of the gun. Once they master that part, they are given access to the next part. In education, wouldn't this be a great idea! As educators, maybe we need to break apart tasks into smaller tasks. Give students the skills they need to master the small task, and continue to move on to the next small tasks. This would allow students to not be so overwhelmed with a huge task all at once.
4. Go at your own pace: Video games allow the user to work at their own pace. They can take their time mastering skills and moving on as they would like too. In education, most teachers are so slammed with curriculum standards, they can't allow students to move at their own pace. Students that don't keep up with the rest of the class, have to have intervention and then move on. If the education system would allow students to work at their own pace, and actually master a skill before they have to move on to something new. Students that move on to new material without mastering the previous material, will eventually be lost.
5: Autonomy: In a video game, the player has autonomy, they are in control of what they do and where they go in a game. When students are put in control of their learning and given choice, they are more interested and engaged in their learning.
6: Expected Progression and then a surprise 1/2 through: This is the element of surprise that video games have that keep the players interested in the game. They know the goal, but when they are close to the goal, they get a nice surprise that they aren't expecting. In education, we don't do things like this, and we wonder why are students are disengaged in the learning process. We have to keep learning interesting and have unexpected surprises, which in turn will keep students engaged and ready for the next task.
7.Disproportionate Feedback: In a video game, the gamer receives huge rewards for small tasks. In education, we often forget that students need to be rewarded and encouraged. School has become monotone and boring. We need to celebrate the small accomplishments. We need to make their small successes seem BIG! This will keep students pressing forward to the larger goal.

Video games are making billions of dollars and gaining more and more gamers everyday. They must be doing something right. RIGHT? The education system could learn a lot from game designers. Wouldn't it be wonderful if our students were as interested in learning as they are playing video games? Wouldn't it be great for our students to feel that same success about their education as they do when they "beat" a game? Think about that for a minute!

Augmented Reality

Link to Augmented Reality Article: http://www.jite.org/documents/Vol13/JITEv13IIPp045-055Tanner0464.pdf

This article began by describing the implications of Augmented Reality (AR) in education. The focus of this research project was to test whether or not the use of AR can enhance the comprehension of a task. In the article two groups of sixth graders were given Lego robots to build. One groups was given robots using a basic manual to put them together. They had to read the directions and do it on their own. The other group of students were given iPads and they were able to use the Aurasma app on the iPad to scan the instructional booklet pages and watch the instructions come to life. The group that used the Aurasma app completed their robots within 25 minutes, with little to no assistance. The other group that did not use the Aurasma app, took over 35 minutes, and they asked more questions and required teacher assistance more often. The conclusion of the study was that the augmented reality enhanced the students ability to comprehend the task at hand. The students were more engaged during the project and enjoyed the project more than the other group.

I think that augmented reality will be used in the future to create holographic images in the classroom. When students are learning about the earth and how it rotates eventually a teacher will be able to project a holographic image of earth and manipulate it right in front of the students. Augmented reality is used in the classrooms now on a much smaller scale. For example, students may do a research project on a famous American and then used the Aurasma app to bring them life and give facts about them. Augmented reality has many uses, and as the technology continues to enhance, the uses of Augmented Reality will also change and grow.

Wearable Technologies

One type of wearable technology that I researched was the Myo Armband. The Myo is an armband that allows you to control music, video games, presentations, etc. with only the movement of your arm. The band uses the electrical impulses from the muscles in your arm and the movement of your arm to control whatever platform you are using. The Myo comes in two colors, black or white, and it sells for approximately $199.99. One feature that stands out with the Myo is the users ability to create customized gestures that will work with your laptop and band. Click on the links below to watch a short video about the Myo.
Myo Demonstration Video

The next wearable technology I researched is the Go Pro Camera. This camera is a camera that can be worn instead of held. It will take 1080P video and 12mp pictures. This camera take 30 picture frames per second. The camera is also water proof. The camera is has built in Wifi. The Go Pro camera will also take night pictures and video. This is a great camera to use when riding a roller coaster, hunting, or mounting to a baseball fence to record the game. This camera can be used in multiple ways. It sells for around $450.00. There are many accessories that go with the camera to make it more useful. Click on the link below to a watch a video about the Go Pro Camera.
Go Pro Camera Video Demonstration