Webinar Reflection

I can't believe this is my last blog of the fall semester in EDUC 504, once again it seems like the class just started.  For this blog I would like to discuss my experience creating a webinar and listening to my classmates various webinars over the last week.  In 504 we recently had a small group project where in our groups we successfully created and presented a webinar introducing a Web2.0 tool.  A Web 2.0 tool is any website that uses technology beyond the static pages of earlier websites, in essence they are more user-friendly and interactive.  My group, which composed of my two good friends and fellow cohort members Cory Cotter and Alexander Griffiths, presented Museum Box as our Web 2.0 tool.  Museum box is a pretty cool website that allows the user to build a virtual museum box composed of information that the user wishes to present in a unique and visually pleasing fashion.  To be honest I didn't find Museum box to be anything special when compared to other methods of presentation like Prezi, or even PowerPoint, but at least the option is on the table if an educator wishes to try something new. 

            As far as the experience of being introduced to webinars through 504, and having the opportunity to hear some and then create our own, I thought this was very insightful.  I learned that a webinar is simply a presentation, lecture, workshop, or seminar that is transmitted over the web.  I found the idea of a webinar to be a really cool alternative to a traditional lecture or class.  I really enjoyed listening to my fellow classmates webinars that they created and thought the whole process was beneficial to know as a future educator.  I don't know if I ever see myself using a webinar in the classroom at least in the near future, but I definitely would not rule it out.  In order to use a webinar in a traditional high school classroom this would require all your students to have internet and computer access and I know at my placement at John Glenn high school this would be challenging.  Also I'm not sure the students would be fully engaged and appreciate the use of a webinar.  I could see webinars being really useful in more of a college setting where access to technology and student engagement and participation is much higher.               

Flipping Physics with founder Jon Palmer

          Last week in EDUC 504 we had a great guest lecturer in former Mac'er John Palmer '00.  John Palmer his novel idea of "Flipping Physics" in an entertaining and captivating fashion.  Flipping Physics is a unique concept that quite literally flips the classroom, I'll explain.  John has modified his class where the students learn the material at home and come to class prepared to ask questions and do their homework.  I should add that John is a semi-professional video editor and creates videos for his students to watch and learn from while at home.  After watching his videos I must say they are really well done, entertaining, and funny.  Although most of the material goes way over my head because I am a terrible physicist, there were a few points that he made more easy to at least ponder.  John uses his basement and his acting skills to create funny skits in which he presents students with that nights material.    

            By "Flipping Physics" John creates a classroom that allows students to focus and work through their homework problems.  This gives students the opportunity to ask questions regarding the homework while in class.  Additionally, John can also go over the problems at the end of class and can also work through tough problems at the front of the room if confusion arises.  This model does require students to do the learning at home, but this is made fun with John's entertaining and well done videos.  Through the lecture John also talked about how a lot of time is saved within the class by adapting the flipped classroom model.  He also showed us some evidence that further backed up his claim that flipping a classroom creates a more effective learning environment.  He did this by averaging all the quizzes and tests from two semesters, one from a "traditional" classroom model, and the other of a "flipped" classroom.  His results concluded that the "flipped" model was slightly more effective seeing a three percent increase when compared to the "traditional" classroom model.  I don't see myself using the flipped classroom model in my history classes but I still respect the model and thought John's lecturer and presentation was very insightful.  I admire his dedication and intuitive approach to the field of education.             

Tech Tools in Use-Prezi

       

             Earlier in the semester three of my fellow Mac'ers presented the website Prezi to our cohort and I must say I was impressed.  I was impressed first and foremost by Cory, Even, and Matt's well done presentation and delivery of Prezi.   They explained the website top to bottom and spent a good amount of time showing the class how we as future educators can use the website to better present our daily lessons .  Moreover, I was also impressed with the actual product of Prezi.  Prior to the presentation I had only heard about Prezi and its ability to allow a user to create an aesthetically pleasing presentation.  Additionally,  initially I had no clue how to make a Prezi  presentation, I also had no knowledge of what the websites limitations were.  As a future secondary history teacher I see a lot of potential in Prezi and feel that I will definitely find a use for it in my class.  Through Cory, Even, and Matt's presentation I feel like I have a good grip on how to navigate the Prezi website and create my own Prezi from scratch. 

            I feel that incorporating Prezi presentation with a traditional history lecture could create a very effective combination for initiating learning.  With the ability to embed videos, music, pictures, and other medians I believe that Prezi is perfect for catering to the multitude of different learning styles present within an average classroom.  Throughout the groups presentation Cory, who is an historian by trade, showed the class a couple example presentations of how you can create and implement a history Prezi presentation.  Prezi allows the creator to include primary sources such as, maps, artwork, documents, pictures, political cartoons, and much more inside the presentation.  It also allows the creator to present the information with unique transitions and backgrounds that make the presentation much more captivating for students during their long days at school.  The technical term for these cool transitions that can be customized based on the users desire is "Zooming User Interface", or commonly abbreviated as ZUI.  From the few times I have messed around with Prezi since the presentation in class I have found the website to be user-friendly and easy to navigate.  All in all I give Prezi a grade "A" and find that it can be a very effective supplement when presenting information to students.                  

Technology at John Glenn High School

             It has been a little over a month in a half since my last blog and a lot has happened since then.  I am already in my fourth week of my year long student teaching placement at John Glenn high school (JGHS) in Westland, Michigan.  I have been placed with veteran teacher Michele Anderson in her U.S. history class that is composed up of mainly eleventh graders with an occasional twelfth grader in her class.  I would classify the use and role technology plays at John Glenn as mediocre at best.  The building, which opened in 1964, still has no wifi which makes using laptops difficult.  I am forced to leave my laptop stationary in one spot in the corner of the classroom next to the only ethernet cord in the class.  The classes are all equipped with Dell desktops that are literally 11 years old, which is crazy old considering the recent technological advances in computing the last few years alone.  Additionally, all classes have an LCD projector that is used in collaboration with Smart boards.  Most of the teachers seem to have a love-hate relationship with their boards sighting their potential uses and daily malfunctions and misuses.

            The grading and attendance is all done at JGHS through an on-line program called Zango that is accessible from any computer.  From my experience with the program thus far I have found it to be exceptionally slow and not very user-friendly.  Through speaking with my mentor and other John Glenn teachers I have gathered that the program is really unpopular and more of a pain then a time saver.  Located in JGHS's library is a laptop cart with over 50 laptops and 33 desktop computers available for all students who need to do research or just type up a document.  The student body seems to be more connected with technology as are most twenty-first century students.  Almost all the students have cell phones and are always on them during passing period, with cell phone use being  restricted while in class.  My teacher Mrs. Anderson uses her Smart board nearly every class as she displays her PowerPoint on it during lectures.  I look forward to gaining more insight on the use of technology and its role at JGHS as my student teaching internship continues.          

Organizing my online life

Here is a screen shot of my organizing your online life document.  I found Pinterest to be really innovative and valuable as a future educator.  I plan to use it in my history classroom this fall while student teaching to show various primary sources like pictures and paintings to my students.  If you would like to refer back to my Pinterest blog it was published on July 17th, 2013.

Reading off of paper or an electronic screen?

                I really enjoyed this week's class and readings for EDUC 504.  I enjoyed reading the article "The Reading Brain in the Digital Age: The Science of Paper versus Screens."  I myself have always preferred doing my academic reading on paper, just because I feel more comfortable annotating and having it physically in my hands.  For some reason, I find it easier to flip through the pages and conceptualize when I have a hard copy in front of me.  This is particularly weird because I enjoy reading just about anything else (news, sports) on my Ipad or computer.  When I really need to concentrate on an academic reading I prefer to have it tangibly in front of me so I can sift through the pages, as opposed to doing it all on a computer screen where I have a hard time conceptualizing flipping through pages.  It should be noted that I grew up without a computer in my house till early middle school so I feel that this has something to do with my preference of reading on paper.  Furthermore, it is difficult for me to navigate electronic sources with the same ease as a tactile book or newspaper; I don't know maybe I am just old fashion.  I will say that over the last month in a half in the MAC program I have grown way more accustomed to reading electronic PDF's on the computer, as opposed to printing them all out.  My Ipad allows me to write on the PDF's and highlight whatever information I find important.  This has helped me not only save many  trees, but also keep all my readings centralized in one easily accessible location.  I will say that after looking at my computer screen all day it is nice to read a paper article and switch it up. 

            The article brings up a fascinating study that was done in 1982, and concluded that people read slower, less accurately and less comprehensively on screens than on paper.   Moreover, further studies have concluded that most people still prefer reading on paper, especially when reading intensively.  This trend could be moving though with the introduction of countless new E-readers and tablets.  I for one can attest to this change, having got an Ipad a few years ago and an E-reader app that I put on it.  I love how I can buy the kindle editions of books with one click of the mouse and have the electronic edition of the book in my hands within 30 seconds.  I wouldn't be surprised that if in the next decade physical books and newspapers become virtually replaced by electronic versions.  This idea being furthered by the growing ecological and environmental issues present in our world.  Additionally, the article discussed a study that found that students who read on paper absorb the material more quickly and thoroughly.  All in all, I feel that the preference of reading on a digital screen or book is still just that, personal preference.                 

ED-U-BLOG!

                For today's blog I decided to write about the education blog entitled "Speaking of History..." by Eric Langhorst.  More specifically, I would like to talk about his blog post from this Monday "Connecting the story.  In this blog, Langhorst discusses a workshop he attended in Washington D.C. conducted by Model Classroom and the Pearson Foundation.  He discusses the workshop as being an emotional experience and very thought provoking.  During the workshop he had the opportunity to attend the Vietnam Veterans Memorial which he discusses as being an emotional experience.  I have actually had the opportunity to travel to Washington D.C. and see this same beautiful memorial and felt the same way.  In fact, one of my close family friends actually had a brother who was killed during the Vietnam conflict and his name is immortalized on the wall.  My family and I all took a piece of paper and a black stencil and went over his name so that we could forever have it to treasure and honor.  I couldn't believe all the names on the wall, over 58,000 men and women died during the conflict that lasted well over a decade.   As a big history buff I found the trip to Washington D.C. with my family to be incredible. Moreover, as a future history teacher I plan to talk at great lengths about the Vietnam Conflict and the Memorial in Washington D.C..

             Switching directions a little bit, Langhorst also visited the Holocaust Museum during his Washington D.C. workshop.  I also had the opportunity to visit this museum with my family and found it to be just as emotionally captivating and moving as the Vietnam Memorial.  Ever since I was a young student I have always held a deep intellectual curiosity for WWII and the Holocaust.  It's so incredible to think that something as terrible and deplorable as the Holocaust actually happened, let alone in the 20th century.  Moving throughout the museum you could feel the intense emotion of what it must of been like to live and die in a Nazi concentration camp.  The inside of the museum is decorated and designed to look just like a concentration camp and only enhances the emotions and feelings experienced by the viewers.  I really hope that sometime during my teaching career I will be able to lead a field trip or study trip to the Holocaust museum and Washington D.C. in general.  Furthermore, I feel that my trip to Washington D.C., just like Langhorst's, will really benefit me as a future history educator.