How do I stay current?
ISTE-nets-c objective 6.a states that teachers should "demonstrate independent and continual learning to deepen content and pedagogical knowledge in technology integration and current and emerging technologies." My methods of staying current rely on word of mouth from my peers and colleagues, and whatever information I learn from reading general technology blogs like The Verge and Ars Technica. These methods are passive, and so one of my challenges during this class was to find more active ways to stay current with educational technology. I researched popular social studies twitter hashtags, and found excellent blogs maintained by social studies teachers, which is my discipline. Going forward, I plan to check these hashtags daily, and check the blogs weekly. Of course, I still plan on getting ideas from my colleagues as well, but hopefully I will be able to share something new with them too.
Books and Reports
A valuable resource to read to stay current is the NMC Horizon Report: K-12 Edition. This report has a lot of really cool and inspiring ideas, like history teachers using 3-D printers to print out copies of historical artifacts for students to manipulate and study (p. 20), or teachers coming together to create their own textbooks based on open educational resources (p.10). This report is something I plan to read every time a new one comes out, and I think even the ones that aren't specifically for K-12 education will be valuable.
I also learned about two intriguing uses of MML in Mobile Media Learning: Innovation and Inspiration. One was a summer civics class called 'Race to the White House' that used geocaching to start a dialogue between the students and the public about issues that were important to them (p. 157-168). I never would have thought of using geocaching in the context of teaching a concept like public support for a political issue. The other case study I read about really struck a nerve with me, because it is about encouraging girls to learn how to code (p. 171-195). The study described the Technovation Challenge, where teams of girls from around the world identify communicate problems and create apps to solve it, then pitch their idea with a business plan to tech experts. Even though I don't know anything about computer programming beyond basic html code, I was inspired by reading about these girls. I think when I start my placement in the fall, I will see if there are any girls interested in attending a Hack Day at the very least.
A valuable resource to read to stay current is the NMC Horizon Report: K-12 Edition. This report has a lot of really cool and inspiring ideas, like history teachers using 3-D printers to print out copies of historical artifacts for students to manipulate and study (p. 20), or teachers coming together to create their own textbooks based on open educational resources (p.10). This report is something I plan to read every time a new one comes out, and I think even the ones that aren't specifically for K-12 education will be valuable.
I also learned about two intriguing uses of MML in Mobile Media Learning: Innovation and Inspiration. One was a summer civics class called 'Race to the White House' that used geocaching to start a dialogue between the students and the public about issues that were important to them (p. 157-168). I never would have thought of using geocaching in the context of teaching a concept like public support for a political issue. The other case study I read about really struck a nerve with me, because it is about encouraging girls to learn how to code (p. 171-195). The study described the Technovation Challenge, where teams of girls from around the world identify communicate problems and create apps to solve it, then pitch their idea with a business plan to tech experts. Even though I don't know anything about computer programming beyond basic html code, I was inspired by reading about these girls. I think when I start my placement in the fall, I will see if there are any girls interested in attending a Hack Day at the very least.
Blog List
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Twitter Hashtags
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