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Technological advances in the classroom: The good and the bad plus my point of view

Pros and cons of technology in the classroom

Purdue University (2017) argues that even with technology at our disposal, classrooms then and classrooms now do not have striking differences. The picture above illustrates a 14th century classroom, and to be honest, it isn’t too far from what we still see today. Aside from the togas and funny looking turban-hat-things, classrooms are still mostly comprised of a teacher standing at the front the class, students listening with open books, and students that are bored or asleep. However, technology has not let us down completely. 

Firstly, books and other resources were scarce during the medieval age, but now, students have a plethora of information readily available on their phones that they can just store in their pockets (Purdue University, 2017). Personally, I think it’s great that we don’t have to travel around the world just to hold a book... all we need to do is “Google” something and we’ll have our answers right then and there. McCoy (2017) also says that research has been made much easier with technology -- “If a school's library is outdated or lacking in a selection of titles, a student might find it difficult to compile the necessary research for an essay or research paper.” But with so much information online and with books being turned into e-books or with journal articles being into soft copies, students are able to find ample amounts of data for their work. They just need to careful as to the credibility of the website they are using. However, even though we have a vast array of information at the palm of our hands, it’s what we do with this information that still needs to be worked on. One downside of this advance in technology is that some students may not listen in class anymore because they know they can just look up the lesson later. This leads to less engagement from the students and thus less learning. 

Secondly, “opportunities for communication and collaboration have also been expanded by technology. Traditionally, classrooms have been relatively isolated, and collaboration has been limited to other students in the same classroom or building” (Purdue University, 2017). McCoy (2017) even says that students from around the world are able to meet each other and exchange insights because of the long distance range of technology these days. Moreover, teachers are able to take online classes from universities across the globe, and many professionals are able to attend talks wherein they would have otherwise needed a plane to do so. In my opinion, this is one of the most helpful benefits of technology. Because my group mates and I can collaborate online, we can avoid travelling 2 hours out of the way just to have a meeting. I’ve seen that programs such as Google docs allow students to work on papers at real time (users can see each other’s work/edits as it is being typed), which means students can work at the convenience and safety of their own homes. Social media has also made collaboration easier in that students can talk to each other instantly from wherever they are. Typically, students would have to find a common time to meet -- which would mean coordinating with each other’s schedules. This also means finding a place to meet that isn’t too far from anyone. These can be quite taxing, and so technology helps to solve this problem. 

Thirdly, “technology has also begun to change the roles of teachers and learners” (Purdue University, 2017). One thing I learned in Ed Tech 2 is that teachers can flip their classrooms so that students deal with the material at home and then any questions or concerns can be addressed once they are in class. For instance, a teacher might ask the students to watch a video at home. This allows for the children to absorb the content at their own pace, without the pressure of others watching. So when they come to class, they are already prepared and the teacher can move on to other things. Although I thought that this approach was very smart, I do have some problems with it. What if the teacher ends up not teaching? What if she just relies on the material she gives her students and ends up not playing a part in the learning process? What if students opt not to read/watch/etc. the material since they can just ask about it during class time? I feel that if flipped classrooms are to be used, they should be well thought out.

Overall, technology has made some aspects of education easier, but with those advances came new challenges. I think it’s a good idea to use technology in the classroom -- teachers just need to be careful as to how they go about it. Some teachers have raised the concern that if students are able to use their laptops and phones in class, they will just use it to go on Facebook or to play games, making technology a major distraction (The Milford Messenger, 2013 ). Certain strategies can be employed to prevent this -- I know of one professor that makes his class face the other way so that he can see what’s going on in their laptop screens. However, at the end of the day, if a teacher gives them permission to use technology for classroom purposes and they do not comply or choose to use it for other purposes, then it will be them that will face the consequences.

Teachers just need to be discerning and they need to make sure they maximize the technology so that they can maximize their students’ learning.  

McCoy, William. (2017). Five positive effects of technology on education. Retrieved from: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/five-positive-effects-technology-education-31222.html

The Milford Messenger. (24 Apr 2013). Technology: Positive and negative effects on education. Retrieved from: http://www.themilfordmessenger.com/uncategorized/2013/04/24/technology-positive-and-negative-effects-on-education/

Purdue University. (2017). How has technology changed education? Retrieved from: http://online.purdue.edu/ldt/learning-design-technology/resources/how-has-technology-changed-education

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Student Hacks pt. 2

What student doesn’t use Google? Well here are some tips and tricks to make googling even better!

I’ll only be showing two tricks but these literally made my googling experience so much easier. Plus, they’re super simple too! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve used these since we were taught how to use them. 

When you use the “DEFINE:”, Google will give you a legit, dictionary definition. i used to type in “what is the meaning of ________?” or “what does ______ mean?” or “_______ meaning”... Yeah, the shortcut is so much easier (HAHA). 

The “FILETYPE:” shortcut helped me in so many of my reports and papers. A lot of the time, my professors ask us to review certain journal articles or ask us to use journal articles as sources. So this means we can’t just use a simple website that has an article on our topic, it needs to be a journal article. By searching “filetype:pdf” it has been so much easier for me to find journal articles online and this has literally saved the day so many times. 

So there we go! Hopefully this was as helpful to you as it was to me!

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Student Hacks pt. 1

In my Educational Technology 2 class, I learned a lot of shortcuts and tips tricks for Microsoft Office. Keep reading if you want know my top picks!

So we were taught several shortcuts and tricks but today I’ll be sharing the ones that I found most useful:

Microsoft Word

I only have one trick to share for this one but it literally changed my life (HAHA). I have a lot of paper work to do in college and sometimes I need to change some of the pages to landscape without changing the other portrait pages. What I used to do was create a separate document that contained all my landscape pages and another document that contained all my portrait pages, print all my documents, and then just fix the order of the pages once I have them all together. What a hassle, I know. Well here’s the solution to the problem!

1. Open Microsoft Word

2. Go to Layout

3. Click on Breaks

4. Select Next Page

That will create a new page and this is the KEY to solving the problem. 

You want to make sure the newly created page is the one that is selected, and then click on orientation and change the page from landscape to portrait or portrait to landscape. 

5. Tada!

Problem solved.

Powerpoint

One shortcut that really helped me was the “Black Screen” shortcut. Basically, if you press the letter B while you’re presenting your powerpoint, the screen will turn black. This really helped me because sometimes the slide that I just used has served it’s purpose already so it just ends up being distracting since it’s still being flashed. Usually i just disconnect my laptop from the projector or just keep flashing the slide. With this shortcut, I don’t have to do that anymore! I just need to press a button and problem solved (again)! You can also turn the screen white by pressing the letter W. 

Well that’s all I’m sharing for now! Hope you enjoyed :) 

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Educational Softwares: Math

For Ed Tech 2, we were tasked to find at least 5 educational softwares for the subject that we were assigned to. I was assigned to the topic of Math and I chose 3 applications and 2 websites. If you want to know which ones I recommend, keep on reading!

1. Pizza Fractions 1 (app - Pizza Fractions 1 on the App Store - iTunes - Apple)

2. Math Fight (app - Math Fight - Fun 2 Player Mathematics Duel Game for Free on the App)

3. Todo Math (app - Todo Math on the App Store - iTunes - Apple)

4. AAA Math (website) - www.aaamath.com

5. A Plus Math (website) - www.varsitytutors.com/aplusmath

For an in-depth discussion on all of these apps, you can click here!

Of all the softwares, I found the app Todo Math to be the best. This is because it offers a wide variety of age-appropriate activities for young children (preschool - 2nd grade), and all of the activities are very enjoyable and have the ability to keep kids engaged. The games are intuitive, visually pleasing and colorful, and most importantly they are educational. It “includes 600+ Math activities” for  Counting and Cardinality, Number Operations, Mathematical Reasoning, Time and Money, and Geometry. 

Todo Math has received various recognitions:

Winner of the 2015 Parents’ Choice Gold Award”

“Best Design Award Winner at Launch Education & Kids Conference”

Ranked #1 in US, UK, and Korean App Stores

I actually played the game myself and you can watch me play it here, but below is another great demo that I found online.

They sure put the “fun” in Math Fundamentals! 

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Dramatized Experiences Teaching Demo

Here is the lesson plan we plan we made for Dramatized Experiences as well as the slides we used!

Click on this link to view our lesson plan! 

Here are our slides: (you can click here for a copy of the actual ppt)

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Report: Dramatized Experiences

Sofie, my blockmate, and I reported on Dramatized Experiences! 

Today, I will be sharing with you our PowerPoint slides! If you want an in depth discussion, you can refer to the book “Educational Technology I” by Corpuz and Lucido. 

Don’t forget to check out my post about my teaching demo for Dramatized Experiences! You can check it out here!

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Learning List

The definition of each can be found here (credits to my prof)! However, when I was taking this up, having this list helped me so I wanted to share it with you guys!

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Principles of Learning: My Top Picks

Learning consists of several basic principles, but for the purpose of this post, I will be sharing with you my favorite ones along with my insights on each one. 

1. Learning is an active and dynamic process

People, the society, and the dynamics of everyday life are all part of a never-ending process of change. With that, it is easy to understand that the way people learn changes too.

In one of my professional education courses, Curriculum Development, my professor talked about the need to respond to the fast changing time in terms of curriculum innovation. She expressed to the class that, at first, she had many questions as to why classrooms need so much diplomacy nowadays (her and her siblings were subjected to teacher-centered instruction and traditional assessments, but they still turned out fine). She realized that because society keeps changing and keeps innovating, curricula needs to adapt to the needs of the current society. Moreover, advances in neuroscience and the like have changed the way people view learning so there is really a need for a modification as to how teachers handle their classrooms. These needs for change can all be attributed to the fact that learning is an active and dynamic process. 

In line with this, teachers need to have a flexible mindset so that they can cater to their students’ expectations in terms of what kind of technology will be utilized in the classroom. This tells me that the principle that learning is an active and dynamic process, applies to teachers as much as it applies to students. Teachers need to embark on a journey of lifelong learning so that they can remain active -- they need to constantly update themselves with the latest technology and take the initiative to understand each one. This way, they will be able to engage with their students on a higher level, which in turn will hopefully help the students become active learners as well. Teachers also need to adapt to the dynamics of each class they handle, and this entails becoming tech-savvy with the technology of the current generation.

2. Learning is a process of integration

A piece of information that I think will always stick with me is the fact that it is better to teach in an integrated manner, meaning teachers should not present isolated bits of information.  Teachers should aim for vertical and horizontal articulation. This means that the subjects that are taught in one year level are all aligned with each other (vertical), and the last topic of a lower year level is the first topic of the next year level (horizontal). This way, the topics will not be isolated but rather integrated, and this could lead to a more meaningful educational experience for the students since they will see the connections between everything that they are learning. 

In the same way, the technology that teachers use in the classroom should be appropriate for the classroom and should be articulated as well. For instance, if teachers use a manual, pen-and-paper way of computing for statistical equations, through horizontal articulation they can work their way up to using Excel to compute for the equations.