Top Readings: Summer 2017
Over summer semester I took Technology and Digital Texts with Dr. Funk. We looked at technology and it's ability to facility collaboration and communication. Here are 4 of the top readings.
Michael Allen's Guide to e-Learning: Building Interactive, Fun, and Effective Learning Programs for Any Company, Second Edition, Michael W. Allen, Chapters 15-17 AllenCh15.pdfAllenCh16.pdfAllenCh17.pdf
In these three chapters, Allen writes about serious gaming and how to integrate instructional content into those games. Allen contends that the best games do accomplish serious learning goals while engaging the student in something they consider fun. He also states that games don’t need to be expensive or complex to be successful but rather have a solid set of rules. “What actually makes many games fun is discovering how to use rules to achieve desired outcomes.” Looking at different types of games and how they can be applied, Allen brings out a couple components of successful serious learning games: good rules, strategies, instructional content, and CCAF (context, challenge, activity, and feedback). Lastly Allen looks at different types of learning games and how they relate to the framework. He looks at extrinsic and intrinsic games, gamification, theoretical frameworks, and intrigue.
These chapters are essential as we look at creating learning content that is both exciting and essential to our classrooms. Making sure a student is engaged in serious learning is what separates a classroom from a playground and should always use it’s best tools available.
Facilitating Collaboration in Online Learning, Caroline Haythornthwaite fascilitatingCollaboration.pdf
In her paper Facilitating Collaboration in Online Learning, Haythornthwaite writes about the importance of good collaboration in our classrooms. One of the biggest points that she discusses is why we collaborate and what we hope to accomplish through collaboration. She explores the interactions and outcomes that can be created using collaboration. In her paper she works to answer three questions:” Why do we emphasize collaboration and try to engage students in collaborative activities and collaborative learning? What outcomes do we expect from collaboration in terms of how students interact, tasks are conducted, learning accomplished, and knowledge created? How does communication differ online from offline, and how does the difference affect collaboration?” I think the biggest takeaway from this article for teachers is questioning why we create collaboration in our classroom. Haythornthwaite encourages us to "Consider when, and for what kinds of tasks, each kind of collaborative activity is appropriate.” Instead of having collaboration for collaborations sake, we need to be sure to have intentional collaboration in our classrooms and facilitate the appropriate kind and environment for that collaboration.
National Discourse: Invited Article, Teaching Art in a Networked World, Juan Carlos Castro CASTRO_2013.pdf
Castro writes this article for National Discourse to attempt to discuss the ramifications and pedagogy of teaching in an internet influenced world. In the article, Castro discusses the differences in a world that has moved away from public, social spaces in favor of “an environment that is commercial and primarily accessible by automobile.” Today’s students are primarily using online means to maintain social interactions. This online networking has created a difference of speed and quality in the social lives of our students. “We should not just rely on the algorithms of social media and student activity alone to deliver difference. How can our curricula also provoke difference in conjunction with social media? There needs to be pedagogical and curricular shifts to amplify these new qualities of teaching and learning enabled by and through social media.” In the article,Castro discusses differences of networks and how they can be applied in a learning environment. We need to see these networking differences as a useable tool in our classrooms and embrace the change that it brings.
Teaching Millenials, Our Newest Cultural Cohort, from The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education, Angela Provitera McGlynn.
mcglynn_teachingmillenials.pdf
“Facilitating leaming involves understanding who our students are.” In this article from 2005, McGlynn takes a look at millenials, or students born after 1992. She looks at the differences of students coming in and the previous generations. She make some widespread generalizations while also maintaining that the millenials are also one of the most individualistic generations. Calling out the amount of “non-traditional” students enrolled in colleges, McGlynn discusses ways that educators can address, interact, and engage with these students. She reinforces the idea that these students must be actively engaged and that the more connections we can make the better. “Our task as educators involves far more than teaching the content of our courses. We need to teach students how to become effective learners and guide them in honing their critical-thinking skills. The goals are the same for all our students—to foster academic success. The means may vary depending on many factors...For Millennials, that very well may mean engaging them with cooperative learning exercises, empowering them to be decision makers in the course, and getting them to analyze their own learning strategies.” As educators we need to be able to adapt to and engage with our student population. Even though this article is already over a decade old, it does give insights to a disparity in our students in regards to technology and what was known and expected in the past. Understanding them is key to communicating with them.
Bonus Reading that I thought was crucial to helping me understand Middle School students that turned out to be all kinds of sad and terrible: Paterson, Katherine. Bridge to Terabithia
Double Bonus Reading that was phenomenal and I'm hoping the upcoming movie lives up to the book:
