EdTech 541 Relative Advantage of the Basic Suite

When I saw the content for this week and read the words Basic Suite, my mind immediately went to the Google Suite family. I had to remind myself that prior to the G Suite family, the basic suite had been around for some time. While the Microsoft products were the "go to" product for some time (and are still around) there were even earlier iterations that I remember using back when the screens were green and the discs were large and floppy. 

Relative Advantages of Basic Suite

Quality: The first relative advantage that comes to mind for me is the improved quality of both instruction and the improved quality of student submissions. In the Basic Suite, I can consistently create professional looking documents, spreadsheets, and presentations for my students. I'm able to create templates for any number of needs (rubrics, assignments, etc.) and can modify any of the work without having to start over or use white-out to remove information or fix mistakes.

The students, in turn, are able to create higher quality projects and turn in a higher quality of work. When I first started teaching I dreaded having to decipher the hieroglyphics that some students turned in to me when they submitted written assignments. The word processing in a Basic Suite allows students to avoid the issues they may face with sloppy handwriting. Students can use other components to share data and present information with their classmates in ways that would have been hard to replicate prior to the availability of the Basic Suite software.

Access: In the past, only students with a home computer or access at school were able to consistently use the Basic Suite for classwork. With the introduction of Google Suite into the picture, it has opened up the possibility of using productivity software for students. A student can now access their classwork in any location where they have a device and internet capability. I have students in my classroom who access their classwork at home using a tablet or smartphone at times. In addition, students have discussed working on classwork at their parent's place of work, the local library, and many other non-school locations. The advent of the G Suite means that students can no longer state that they forgot their work or that they lost the assignment. It is stored online and is accessible to them (and me) at any time. An additional advantage is that students can share their work with each other with a few simple clicks to aid in collaboration and peer reviews.

The ability to share and collaborate with colleagues is another component of access that the G Suite offers. I can work with colleagues at my school, across the district, or in other places to refine lessons and build curriculum that we can use. I no longer carry around a USB drive or stacks of paper to meetings as I can just grab a Chromebook and accomplish a higher quality of work with less effort. I get feedback from my peers without having to interrupt their schedule or class. I can work on lessons at home or grade students papers without having to physically transport anything. It makes my life so much easier.

A last component of access to discuss is that previous Basic Suites (Microsoft for example) were "pay to use" products. You had to have a license if you wanted to use their tools. G Suite is free, which eliminates another hurdle for my students and their ability to access tools for schoolwork. 

References:

Roblyer, M. D. & Hughes, J. E. (2019). Integrating educational technology into teaching: Transforming learning across disciplines. New York, NY: Pearson Education, Inc.

EdTech 541 - New Horizon Report 2017

Introduction

After reading through the 2017 New Horizons Report (K-12 Edition) I saw a number of areas where the content presented could affect my teaching and presentation in my classroom. I'm going to focus on the changes I can make to my Language Arts class, as I have already transitioned many aspects of my technology-based courses (Junior Engineering and Robotics) into formats that reflect the trends presented in the article.

How will the New Horizons report impact my presentation?

I think the component that will most impact the presentation that I use in my classroom is the connection to the curriculum. It answers the "when will we use this in the real world" question rather nicely, as students are immersed in simulations and experiences connected to something concrete from their future. Instead of lecturing my students I present ideas and questions and ask them to work together to find solutions.

One area that I would like to adopt more is the redesigning of learning spaces. I currently have tables and chairs which I group into pods so students can work together. I would love to be able to create a more open learning space in my classroom introducing some soft seating, yoga balls, and more informal seating/table arrangements. Two of my colleagues are trying out alternative/open seating this year and I am watching their implementation and making plans to transition in that direction soon.


How will the New Horizons report impact my teaching?

One change that I continue to make and that matches up well with the trends discussed in the New Horizon report is the increase in the deeper learning approaches which "engages students in critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration, and self-directed learning." (The NMC Horizon Report, pg 18) As mentioned in the article, my classroom has evolved into a student-centered collaborative environment. We spend more time per subject with discovery-based learning as our focus (research, collaboration, etc.) in creating new knowledge. My students spend less time in their seats listening and more time moving around the room to collaborate and work towards solutions.

The article discussed how learning is becoming more personalized and this was again discussed in the class text within the section on personalized learning systems. The ability to give agency, depth to the content and an integrated approach (Roblyer & Hughes, 2019) are all things I feel make a direct impact in a student-focused classroom.

I've been lucky in that I have had 1:1 technology in my room for three years now. This has allowed me to integrate technology on a daily basis in a number of different ways. This year, we started blogging in place of a number of other assignments which creates additional time and opportunities for other student-centered activities. My students have responded to the increase in the use of technology in very positive ways.

References

NMC horizon report: 2017 k-12 edition. (2017). Retrieved from The New Media Consortium website: https://cdn.nmc.org/media/2017-nmc-cosn-horizon-report-k12-EN.pdf

Roblyer, M. D., & Hughes, J. E. (2019). Integrating educational technology into teaching: Transforming learning across disciplines. New York: Pearson Education.

EdTech 541 - Vision and Mission Statement

In the time that students spend within the four walls of my classroom, there are a number of goals that I set out to accomplish with them. Most importantly, I teach my students to value themselves for who they are. I build meaningful relationships with my students by using honesty, compassion, trust, and empathy. I love to see my students grow, not just as learners but as well rounded thinkers who reflect on their experiences and the world around them. As academics, I push my students to look past the easy or basic answers and create well-rounded responses that reflect on their experiences and intentional thoughts. We reflect together on learning and work as a team to create knowledge that the students show ownership in and can be proud of. Technology is a key component in everything I do to create meaningful experiences and relevant learning for my classroom.

Meaningful Experiences
Thinking back to the many hundreds of worksheets that I filled out during my years as a student in the public education system, I can honestly say that none of them meant anything to me. I've forgotten most of the paper tests and papers I wrote as well. On the other hand, I remember almost every project that I was a part of throughout school. The appropriate use of technology in the classroom can create experiences that will connect students to the content using student projects and learning experiences. Students no longer have to just read about the Great Wall of China, they can visit it through Google Maps and Youtube or walk down the wall using virtual reality. 

Another integral part of the meaningful experience is the collaboration between students and collaboration with their instructors. The importance of students learning and reasoning together was first introduced by Lev Vygotsky and is a key component in the social constructivist theory. Technology makes this collaboration easier now than it ever has been. Through the use of e-mail or direct instant messages, students can discuss and work together without being in the same physical space. The use of blogs and micro-blogs (Thoms, 2012) is another fantastic way to create meaningful collaboration in your classroom.

Relevant Learning
In my first few years of teaching, a not uncommon question that would pop up every now and then was, "When will I use this in real life?" In most instances, I was able to justify or explain how this particular skill may come in handy some day. Occasionally I would suggest that this particular skill would be used later on to learn a new and more relevant skill. It always left me wondering if what I was teaching was, in fact, useful or relevant to my students. Briggs (2014) writes; "Relevance is a key component to intrinsically motivating student learning. By establishing both personal and real-world relevance, students are provided with an important opportunity to relate the course subject matter to the world around them, and to assimilate it in accordance with their previously held assumptions and beliefs." As a student of the constructivist theory, I see components of those ideas in Briggs' statement. Personal experience and real-world relevance create connections to the content that stay with the student in a way that a lecture will not. 

In the last five years, there has been a dynamic shift in the use of technology in the classroom. Most of the students I see have at least one piece of portable technology in their life and some have access to many. We have Chromebooks available for every student in every classroom. We have access to more information through the world wide web than anyone could possibly learn in a lifetime. As an instructor, I can choose to embrace technology and show students how to use it productively or I can ignore it and watch my lessons become irrelevant.



References

Briggs, S. (2017, March 24). How To Make Learning Relevant To Your Students (And Why It's 
      Crucial To Their Success). Retrieved August 31, 2018, from 
      https://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/how-to-make-learning-relevant/

Thoms, B. (2012). Integrating Blogging and Microblogging to Foster Learning and Social Interaction
      in Online Learning Communities. 2012 45th Hawaii International Conference on System 
      Sciences. doi:10.1109/hicss.2012.332