EDLD+5364+Teaching+with+Technology+Week+5

The future of education in light of technology was the focus of this week's videos and readings. Gaming was an interesting topic that was brought up. James Paul Gee conveyed in an Edutopia video that gaming was in a sense just a type of assessment (Edutopia.org (nd). //Big thinkers: James Paul Gee on grading with games.// Retrieved on Oct. 5, 2009 from [].) I had never thought of gaming that way, but indeed it is. Our students play games that test their skills at solving problems both individually and collaboratively, give immediate feedback, redirect, as well as give supports "just in time" along the way. Students learn a lot from playing games online, on the computer, and using video game consoles and they just keep getting more and more graphically realistic and engaging. Wouldn't it be wonderful for schools to tap into that well of motivation for students to learn? Why don't we use gaming more in schools? Some of the videos dared educators to dream of schools that used technology to teach kids in the way that they desire to learn - collaboratively and authentically instead of a "drill and kill" factory model of learning. The last video, sponsored by Microsoft, showed a variety of technologies used in the "dream" school such as students with tablet PCs, students using Web 2.0 tools at home to learn and prepare for lessons, a robotics presentation, students actively engaged in learning using digital tools, and a table top touch screen PC used for collaborative learning in the classroom as well as set up to show student portfolios and grades at a parent/teacher conference (Youtube.com (nd). //Vision for 21st Century Learning.// Retrieved on Oct. 5, 2009 from [].) All of the tools shown are available now, and the only drawback to fulfilling the dream seems to be funding. Technology costs money and when another "Sputnik" happens, as one of the videos described, a shift in the way we educate our children will begin to occur.
 * Week 5 Reflection**

Reinforcing effort in students and showing them the correllation between effort and their academic performance through the use of technology tools such as spreadsheet software, like Excel, and data collection tools, like Survey Monkey is extremely beneficial to them according to research. According to Pitler, research shows that many students do not see the importance of effort and that many give credit for their successes and failures to outside factors, such as patterns in the academic ability of their parents. He goes on to say that using tools such as Excel to create rubrics to clearly define what effort is, as well as tables showing the correllation between effort and grades helps students begin to change their way of thinking (Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). //Using technology with classroom instruction that works.// Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 156-157.) Effort and attitude surveys using tools such as Survey Monkey can also be conducted to make connections in this way as well. In fact, I used Survey Monkey this week for the first time to create a technology product for our group Google site. I found it suprisingly easy to use and something that I will be using myself with my own students and sharing with my colleagues as a quick and easy resource for student feedback.

In addition to educational gaming being used to assess, other authentic means of assessment using Web 2.0 tools were shared by Solomon and Schrum in their book, //Web 2.0: New Tools, New Schools//. Many examples were given of alternative means of assessment through the use of such tools as podcasts, videoconferencing, social bookmarking, wikis, blogs, and the creation of electronic portfolios. The use of these tools in the past have been limited, but as we move into the future of education, these tools will begin to be used more and more. I am excited to be an educator on the cutting edge of a shift in thinking about our educational system. I have learned much during the course of completing this class and look forward to continuing to apply much of what I have learned in the classroom.