Course Reflection

Coming into this course, what was your level of technological savvy or skill?  What aspects of the course did you find the most difficult and which did you find the easiest?

I think that my level of technological skill coming into class was pretty high.  I found creating presentations and navigating websites to be the easiest.  The most difficult aspect of the class was my blog, where learning how to post and edit your submissions took a while to gain competency.  Social media apps were also a little difficult to wrap my head around, because my generation didn’t have access to these apps in school, since dial up and AOL was just beginning to become widespread.

In what ways has your level of tech skill/knowledge increased the most this semester?

I think that I have become savvier in using online educational resources this semester.  My skill as an online blogger has grown, from zero to barely passable, where now I understand how to create and publish materials for either personal or professional use.  I have been exposed to Prezzi presentations, where before I had heard about it but never seen it in action.  Finally the snipping tool in windows has been a great tool that I have learned about this semester.

What have been your favorite activities/assignments in class so far and why?

I think that he TPL assignments have been my favorite in class.  This is only a second year course in most college curriculum, and having the exposure to creating lesson plans especially with the technology we have access to today has been good for me.  It is amazing how much more access to supplemental material you have for your students that you can include into your lesson planning.  I think being able to integrate everything and letting your creativity out has made it my favorite assignment.

How do you see yourself using educational technologies in the classroom?  Out of all the tools we’ve learned about so far this semester, which ones do you see using the most frequently as a teacher and why?

I think that I can see myself using multiple educational technologies in the classroom.  The use of teacher blogs as resources for lesson plans and in class activities will be a great resource in planning out my lesson plans, especially as a new teacher.  This class has also opened my mind to using websites like Khan Academy as supplemental learning materials for my future students to help either in class or at home.  I can also see the use of social media in my classroom as a good way for me to stay connected to my students and also their parents as long as my district permits it.

What do you want to know MORE about concerning educational technology? What are you still curious about?

I would like to know more about the devices that can be used in the classrooms.  I know what a smart board is and have seen videos about it, but I have never actually seen one used in person or used it myself.  We talked about using phones and computers for formative assessments during lectures and I would like to know how to effectively use technology like this in the classroom.  I think we are at an age where the older generation is leaving the educational institutions and the newer ones are trying to integrate the never ending advancements in technology now in the classrooms.  I see someone trying to sell districts and states VR technology now to help students learn about things and environment that they don’t have access.  May be every year, this course can start looking at some of the newer technology for the classrooms, so teachers can see were the integration might start happening when they graduate.

The Disconnection Experiment

“The Disconnection Experiment” we were assigned in class has us not using media through technology.  This means we can’t use a computer, television, radio, and smart phone.  While I am not as technology dependent as others, I still think it will be hard for me to disconnect from my devices which I have integrated into my life.

--What day did you choose to “disconnect?”

July 20, 2016

--What would you usually be doing on this day? How did your plans change because your “disconnected” status?

Normally I would be completing my homework from my online class and also watching television and playing video games during breaks.  My plans changed, because I chose not to do my homework this day and rather planned to do work around the house so that I wasn’t staring at the wall all day.

-- What were your feelings that day? (Freedom, liberation, misery, boredom?)

I do like getting out into nature, and some places like Egypt valley or AEP reclamation land doesn’t have cell or internet service, so I do know what it is like to be disconnected.  However, this day it was the worst heat and humidity of the summer, so after work I limited my time outside, which left me inside most of the day after work.  I was pretty bored that day because I didn’t have a lot of inside work to do, because my wife had been on vacation so the house was already clean with no new messes.  The misery came from realizing that I used food as a crutch, so it actually made me feel worst that day.

-- What media did you miss most and why?

I missed my computer and internet the most.  I use my computer to research, listen to music, watch videos, and play games.  I can live without a television and even my smartphone, because I can do everything I need on my computer.

-- What sorts of things did you do instead?

I spent a little time in the garage working on building furniture for my kitchen, but the heat and humidity got to me, so for the rest of the day I ate, slept, and filed my mail.

-- Were you able to completely avoid all media? If you could not, what was the “breaking point”?

I was not able to completely avoid all media, at work they have music playing, so I did have radio and music for my morning during work.  Also, with my wife being gone, I had to answer my phone at night to talk to her, so my whole day wasn’t disconnected, but majority of it was in the “dark.”

Growing Up Online

In educational technologies class, we watched slightly older Frontline documentary about a generation of kids growing up online, with access to the internet and social media.  The documentary dealt with the use of technologies in the school system, how social media affects student's behaviors, and some of the negative consequences such as cyber bullying and even provocative behavior to be popular.  While some of the material is a little data, the concepts can be carried over to the newer generations and what kind of technologies they use today that keeps them online an connected 24/7.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/kidsonline/view/

Why do you think the number of parents who reported the Internet being a good thing for their children has decreased?

I believe that the reason that parents have reported a decrease in the Internet being a good thing for their children comes down to lack of technical knowledge and the media.  Most parents are not as tech savvy as their children, and this creates the illusion that parents can't monitor or trust online activity, giving a sense of loss of control.  Another reason is that the media needs to make its money by coming up with scare tactic stories.  In the video, a study found that most kids knew not to talk to or take propositions from strangers that they didn't know online, which unfortunately doesn't align with some of the news' companies stories that they want their viewers to watch.  This has helped create mistrust with parents' children and using the internet.

In terms of student writing, what are some different types of "cheating"? What are the elements you would include in your definition of "cheating"?

There are two different ways that students can cheat with a writing assignment.  One way is to use sights that create cliff notes or summaries of the stories, so that student's don't have to actually read and reflect what the literary meaning of the articles or stories.  The worst way of cheating that can be found in students writings is plagiarism, or taking other's ideas without giving proper credit.  I do believe that plagiarism is what I would consider in my definition of cheating, however as much as I would like students to actually read and interpret on their own, I don't think sites that give summaries of literary would be considered cheating.

" Should students feel guilty for using “shortcuts” like this? Why or why not?

I think that student's should feel guilty for shorting themselves the experience of reading and interpreting stories and articles, but not that they are cheating.  I bet that when graphing calculators first started to be used in every statistic and calculus classroom, that there were those who thought it felt like cheating, however we should always be able to find value in tools that help us understand the material better.  Books can be considered wonderful tools, but just like long proofs and calculations, maybe some students can interpret better with the cliff notes rather than the original.

What are the positive and negative consequences of blurring the line between being a celebrity and a regular person?

A couple of positives that can come from blurring the line between celebrity and regular person would be finding friends and people you belong with and also for a young person it can be a way to create experiences in trying to find your true self.  Now there are many negative consequences as in Autumn Edow's case is that it can create behavior that isn't proper for a child, just to find attention.  Another consequence is that it can start to blur the lines between reality and online personas, causing psychological problems that can be hidden from parents and other love ones.

What elements of this FRONTLINE program are likely to increase parents’ fears? What elements of the program might be reassuring?

I think some of the elements that can cause fear with parents is cyber bullying, which Frontline took to extreme by talking about child suicide, creating the fear that this could happen from your child using the internet.  I think parents knowing that most kids are smart enough to not be duped by predators is reassuring and also the report about schools teaching children how to be good internet citizens.

What are some of the short- and longer-term consequences of these types of behaviors for life online and in the real world?

Some short term consequences are cyber bullying and the sense of rebellion that can come from life online.  Longer term consequences would be psychological damage, loss of identity, loss of self control, loss of reality, and in the most extreme cases death.

Assistive Technology for Students with Blindness or Visual Impairment

                The type of disability I am choosing to research assistive technology is blindness and visual Impairment.  According to IDEA from the idea.ed.gov website, visual impairment including blindness means an impairment in vision that, even with correction, adversely affects a child's educational performance.  This definition is used for partial sight and blind students.  This type of disability puts students at a huge disadvantage because most of our classrooms in public schools are set up to be visually stimulating with aids like diagrams and posters to help students learn.  There is good news though with the level of technology today, many types of AT technology is available to help get the student the education they need in the least restrictive environment.

                The first assistive technology I would like to discuss with portable not takers.  These are devices that are very portable, about the size of a book and take electronic Braille notes.   Teaching VisuallyImpaired explains that these portable note takers can be used by Braille learners to read books, write assignments, find directions, record lectures and even listen to podcasts.  Now visually impaired students have the information they need transcribed readily so they can communicate with teachers and classmates, especially if those people don't read Braille.  These devices are expensive and can cost up to $6,000, making them not available for all visually impaired and blind students unless they can get it with government assistance.

                Another assistive technology I would like to bring up for the blind and visually impaired is audio books.  Again TeachingVisually Impaired explains that the use of audio books can be a very invaluable especially with pairing it with books in large print or Braille.  Audio books can have a wide variety of formats and can be played back on many different devices that are much easier for students to gain access for learning.  Regular printed books can even be scanned in as pdf documents and then be read back to a student with the use of adaptive technology or in embossed Braille.  The government also has the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) to provide a free library program Braille and audio materials through the mail free of charge.

                For the future of assistive technology, computer scientist Chieko Askawa and her team is trying to bring technology form digital to the physical world.  She has worked since 1982 to develop technologies to facilitate computer use for the blind, but her new project call NavCog is trying to use today's personal gadgets to help students navigate around schools and campuses.  This technology places beacons with Bluetooth emitters around campus and then guides the visually impaired and blind through their phone app with a Siri-like voice.  In the future they would like to also pair with facial recognition software that can identify acquaintances when they walk by and inform users when people they encounter are not talking to them.

               

References

http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2016/02/how_technology_helps_the_blind_navigate_the_physical_world.html

http://www.loc.gov/nls/

http://idea.ed.gov/explore/view/p/,root,regs,300,A,300%252E8

http://www.teachingvisuallyimpaired.com/notetakers.html

http://www.boundlessat.com/Blindness/Notetaker

ORC Lesson Plan
7th Grade Probability

This lesson plan will allow student to learn about probability.  It is developed for 7th grade math students.  Students will able to define theoretical and experimental probability and the differences between them.  Students will also be able to predict the outcomes of different probability exercises like rolling a dice, spinning a wheel, or flipping  a coin.

This lesson plan will cover the Ohio common core math standards 7.SP, lines 5, 6, and 7.  This standard covers statistics and probability by investigating chance processes and developing and using probability models to evaluate these processes.  This lesson will introduce the notation P(T) = 1/2, and how to develop models for predictions of the outcome of flipping coins.

I would implement this lesson in my classroom at the first lesson plan into probability.  I think the coin flipping will be the most successful because it is hands on and gives good visual learning.  I think that the Questions that recall what they have already learned will be trouble for some of the class, because recalling that prior knowledge might provide challenging so supplemental lesson might need to be included as a refresher.  The most part I would anticipate problems will be with the coin flipping, there might be some students who have never flipped a coin and some that will want to go crazy with flipping the coin everywhere but where they should be flipping.

http://www.achievementfirst.org/fileadmin/af/home/Get_Involved/Instructional_Resources/Middle/Seventh_Grade_Probability_Unit_Plan_121109.pdf

Ohio DL Schools

After looking at the following DL School choices, Connections Academy, ECOT, Ohio Virtual Academy, Virtual Community School of Ohio, and Virtual Schoolhouse, I decided that Ohio Virtual Academy might be the option I would consider for my child.  Ohio Virtual Academy had one of the better overall reviews from about 5 different websites.  I would be worried about my child not getting the social interaction as they would get in a normal school setting, but the academy provides many opportunities for interaction throughout the year.  There are still clubs, a student council, and even a parent boosters to help keep involvement within the school community.  Their report card isn't the best, but if I lived in a Columbus school district, then it is phenomenally better then sending my child to some of the public school choices.  

I do like that the Virtual Community School of Ohio has part-time classes so students can take extra classes to transfer to their school if they don't have the right amount of credits to graduate with their class, plus it too has good reviews.  ECOT doesn't have the best reviews but I do like that they have field trips that include Ohio attractions, family nights and even a senior prom.  ECOT has a very bad report card through and is very questionable based off of the Ohio Report.

To be completely honest, all of these schools have pretty bad report cards, with Ohio Virtual Academy just inching slightly higher than the others.  I think it takes a highly motivated student or a helicopter parent to have success at these schools.  Most only require 30 hours of school work a week, which is less than going to a physical school, where are at classes to learn, but then take the learning home for more instruction and reinforcement.

Picmonkey

So in my Education Technologies class one of our assignments was to modify a picture of our self in picmonkey.  Like more websites, they want you to pay for their premium service to get the full picture editor.  It was pretty easy to use, but if there was a instructional walk through it did not prompt me for it.  Just to use the free service, they give you some good tools to use including adding text and some silliness to your picture.  I might not see myself using this service again, but I do recommend it for what free stuff it does provide.  Below you will see my result, I hope you enjoy!

The Link if anyone is interested:  https://www.picmonkey.com

Classroom Presentations

Last Thursday I gave a power point presentation to my education class about why I wanted to become a teacher.  To recap the reason I want to become a teacher is to pass on all this knowledge I have been collecting over the years so that I can help the younger generation hopefully learn from my mistakes and hardships.  All of this amounts to my Grit, or what it takes to pick yourself back up after things don't go the way you planned.  This idea about Grit, I believe is one of the best things I can bestow upon my future students so that they know that no matter what as long as they can get back up, then they can find a another way or path to achieve.

Since I am coming from a construction background I thought it would be a clever idea to use a construction theme.  So, in my presentation I used terms like detour, building and merging.  The original plan I started out with in life lead to many detours and finally is merging together for me to become a middle childhood educator.  The cool thing about it is that I mentioned workshops in my presentation and this week coming up I have a woman's workshop to teach them to build crafts and also a kids workshop, where I can teach kids how to use simple tools to build pre-made kits.

I used Microsoft Power Point to make the visual aid to help me present.  I picked power point mostly because it is what I had access to at the time and also I am familiar with it.  I have tired prezzi before, but for some reason find power point more comfortable.  Some of the the prezzis in class were very nice, so I might try using that next time.

Three Great Teaching Blogs

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/teaching-ideas

- This one is great because it provides many points of view for different grade levels, so there is always something that can be found relevant to all teachers.

http://thejosevilson.com/

-  I like this blog because we are considering taking the teacher's grant from the government and so I would be required to teach in a low socio-economic school for 4 years.  This blog gives some good insight on how to approach topics and issues related to in a low income school.

http://www.weareteachers.com/blogs

-  Again this is a good sight that covers many grade levels and problems that can help all teachers.

Welcome to My Blog

Hello internet, my name is Patrick Morris and I am creating my first blog for EDUC 2200 at Columbus State Community College.  Since I am enrolled at Ohio University Lancaster in their Middle Childhood Education program, I am limited to taking classes here at CSCC, because out in the rural schools they mostly close down for the summer.  Luckily this class will transfer to OUL, and I will then be able to move on to my junior level classes this upcoming fall semester.

I originally transferred from CSCC almost a decade ago to Ohio State University to earn a degree in Civil Engineering.  However, I have learned that I am not the best at the higher level math needed to obtain said degree, so I switched to Construction Service Management.  Unfortunately I found out that I am too nice to be a construction manager, so with my wife's help we sat down and looked into what else I could do with my career.  Upon further research and deliberations, we decided that maybe teaching was something for me to consider.

I teach many home improvement workshops a month and my wife says I am good with kids, so we decided to put the two together and there was the start of my journey to becoming a teacher.  Ideally I would love to teach middle school social studies, but since I have the heavy background in mathematics already I am in a good position to pass on my years of hardship and knowledge to hopefully be able to help our youth succeed in their studies of math.

My wife and I really enjoy traveling and working out.  She is much better than me, but that's okay.  I also enjoy anything science fiction especially with the ideas of how humanity will look when it can finally leave Earth and explore the universe.