Stupefy!!!

This week I've been exploring game-based learning and wanted to try out a game that I thought might be able to be used in a school setting. I have read all about complex games that help students with decision making skills, developing strategies, and improved hand-eye coordination. While the game itself does not have a specific subject area, there are many lessons and benefits of complex games. I chose an XBOX 360 game called Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I.  I chose the game because of the complex nature and also because it is based on a children’s novel. Also, let’s face it, I love Harry Potter. This game is most certainly a complex game. There are many small goals throughout the game and the end goal is to defeat Voldemort and his death eaters. Having read the book, I know that I haven’t even scratched the surface in completing my goals and missions, yet. The game leads Harry, Hermione, and Ron through the parts of the book. At each part of the story that the death eaters may be around, you must cast spells and defeat them. There are new spells and potions to gain as you go through the missions. Additionally, the game makes you choose the path that you are going to take and you have to keep your strategy in mind.

I had two excellent assistants to help me try to defeat the death eaters!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I...tougher than I imagined!

While playing this game, it is nice that there are short instructions that guide you to learn which buttons control movement or spells. It is difficult to remember what all of the buttons do all while being attacked with vicious spells from death eaters! I chose “easy” and almost immediately said to my fiancé, “this is difficult!” There is definitely a learning curve and you must have persistence to play the game and continue making the decisions necessary to complete missions. Whenever I failed a mission, it was a little easier the second time around. I did not kill enough death eaters or I was caught with my invisibility cloak on meant that I had to go back to the last time it auto-saved from the last mission. I like that games like this really make kids, and adults, think about how they messed up and correct it in order to move forward. It is very much like many instances in real life. I look forward to learning new spells and hopefully catching on with this game so that I can eventually defeat Voldemort! I really like that this is the type of game that saves throughout and you can continue at your own pace. I learned that these games are NOT easy. I also discovered that I can only play these games for a short time period and then I have to take breaks. I also tend to get frustrated easily when I can’t figure out how to complete a task. I reminded myself of some of my students while I was playing this game. It gave me an interesting insight into how they feel sometimes at school.

I have learned that video gaming can be very beneficial to students in learning real life skills and tactics. I never realized how much concentration and memory is needed for these complex games. There is also, surprisingly, quite a bit of reading involved in the learning of the games. I like that literacy is necessary to complete tasks. So many of them also involve calculating what move is best for your character and mission. I have truly seen what video games can do for children in today’s society through not only my reading, but through actually experiencing the learning myself. I certainly have more respect for the children who are relentless in their gaming techniques and are very goal oriented in their missions. Gaming is much easier to watch that actually participate!

Pencil Me In

I read the book Pencil Me In, by John T. Spencer, this week and was intrigued by his approach to writing about digital integration in education. His book is a fiction story following 19^th Century teacher, Tom Johnson, through the integration of such new and innovative technology such as pencil and paper, telegraphs, photographs, cameras, etc., into his curriculum. The entire novel is written in a metaphorical sense in that the integration of these tools then is similar to the integration of technology tools like tablets and netbooks of today. There are the pencils (computers), plogs (blogs), SmartCharts (whiteboards), telephones (cell phones), pen pals (social networks), iTablets (iPads), and other relative comparisons. The book started as a blog, Adventures in Pencil Integration, and evolved from there. I really like that while he “dated” the blog as the 19^th Century, he didn’t date it in the sense that he is talking about specific technology that is used today, but might not be used in a year or two. It is humorous in nature and sends his message in a unique way that was enjoyable to read. Spencer’s overall point of the novel is that integration of new innovative tools is important, but we also need to keep sight of the practices that work with the most basic of tools, such of our voice. There is no right or wrong way to integrate and use new tools, but it is process that each teacher needs to develop in order to best benefit their students and class.

I feel like the book takes the reader through the journey that teachers take when integrating something new and not really knowing the best way to both take advantage of the opportunity for new tools, but also to do what is best for students and the projects at hand. Mr. Johnson has quandaries throughout the novel about the way that pencils are being used in his classroom and whether they are a benefit or a distraction. When they are no longer being used to accentuate a lesson or project, it is time to use another medium. One of the programs that Mr. Johnson has to teach in his class is, “the Career Readiness Achievement Program.” I did laugh as I read this knowing that this was C.R.A.P. It was a program full of worksheets and had much in common with what many teachers are still forcing on their students in class. They wonder why they are not engaged! Mr. Johnson and some of his colleagues come to the conclusion that student guided lessons are the best way to teach for students to be prepared for critically thinking in the real world. He mentions pen pals as a metaphor for social media networks of today and teeters back and forth on the pros and cons of having these as part of the classroom activity. There are some risks involved for the students; however, they also get to collaborate with each other and students around other areas. I feel like the use of social media and collaboration across borders is truly dependant on the project and the group of students. It just isn’t black and white, just like with graphite, there are shades of gray. As mentioned in many of my previous posts, I feel like the use of technology is very important in teaching and education today, however, I also know that hands on creativity cannot be replaced by a technology gadget. As an art teacher, I will ALWAYS feel like there is no replacement for creating with your hands, no matter what technology tools become available. Some methods are just timeless.

I enjoyed reading the book on the surface, although, it was somewhat monotonous for me towards the end. I occasionally had to go back and read sections again because there are a number of pronoun agreement issues or words that did not make sense in the writing. I was quite surprised at the number of mistakes in a published book about teaching. I guess, overall, it does not affect the storyline; it was just frustrating, at times. On the one hand, I would recommend the book for the ideas upon which it is based. I would absolutely have to preface the recommendation by saying that the grammar and writing leaves something to be desired in many instances in the book. Taken as a whole, I enjoyed reading it more than some of the more research based texts that I have read for education because it was a novel. Spencer admits, himself, that there is not really a clear story arc, and it really is more the idea behind the story.  

I really have a benefit of teaching at a school that has already gone through many of the steps that Tom Johnson and his colleagues took in order to integrate technology into their classrooms. Many of the lessons that Mr. Johnson learns in the book are old news to me, as we have gone through the questions and struggles ourselves, at Delaware, and we’ve come out ahead on the other side for the benefit of our students. I think that, more than anything, after reading this book, I just feel overwhelmingly lucky to teach at Delaware Elementary with the staff and students that I get to work with every day. It is evident that not everyone is as lucky.

21st Century Learning: Delaware Elementary Style

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. The pictures in the video below show the students at Delaware Elementary at their finest! They are working with technology, doing hands-on projects, and collaborating with others. 21st century skills are so widespread that students have to be using multiple skills during every lesson and all of the projects on which they are working. I believe that classes today still need to have a balance of human interaction and group learning, hands on production, and technology use. Our students need to know the technology that they will have to use when they have jobs in the future and we need to prepare them for this, but they will also need to know how to work with people and that should be part of our teaching, as well. 21st Century learning is truly a comprehensive process that requires numerous types of teaching and collaboration such as those shown in this video. Enjoy!

How Can We Create Amazing Digital Citizens?

This is a topic that means a ton to me. We are a very fortunate elementary school in that we have netbooks for all grade levels and grade level sets of iPod touches and iPads to use for our lessons. Our population is 95% poverty and I love that while our students may not have access to these technology tools at home, they have a plethora of them at school. While we have the access, our students sometimes do not have the knowledge necessary to use the tools that we have. I have created an action plan that our staff can implement each school year with all grade levels in order to improve our students' digital literacy and citizenship. A presentation of the steps we will take as a staff to ensure amazing digital citizens at Delaware:




A little more detailed explanation of the presentation, but not as many pictures. :o)


Digital Citizenship Action Plan

Literacy...How Is It All Connected?

What is literacy? Wikipedia states that it is "the ability to read for knowledge and write coherently and think critically about the written word." There are so many new forms of literacy today that go way beyond reading and writing! We are so lucky to have the technology and information readily available in society today. There are many ways that these types of literacy are interconnected. Below is a graphic that shows the ways that I see the forms of literacy connecting in an almost circular infinite manner. Everyone would likely have a different viewpoint of the connections, this is just what I see!

In addition to the graphic, I have a link to the explanation of why my mind sees the literacy connections this way. I also have a definition of each literacy and an example of how it might be used in a classroom utilizing digital tools. I hope that this opens your world to all the literacy that surrounds us every day! Please click on the"New Literacies...Explained" link below and check it out!

New Literacies...Explained

How to Bridge the Digital Divide

The digital divide has shifted from being having access to technology and the web versus those who do not, to how people are connecting to the internet. While many people used to have no access to the internet in any form, many people now have access through smart phones. This is better than nothing, but it is absolutely not the same as having access through a broadband Wi-Fi connection.  Job applications, submitting resumes, and other necessary tasks can usually only be accessed through computer access. Students that do not have access at home to technology and the internet, for fun or practical purposes, will likely not have the technological literacy that is necessary to function in the digital world. It is our job, as teachers in today’s society, to teach them how to utilize the resources available at the moment. While many schools are still lacking in the technology that would enable the teachers to instruct on the many uses, slowly but surely, we are getting there. Unfortunately, the new digital divide is still leaving some schools behind as new technological resources are developed daily. It seems as though there may always be some sort of digital divide as products and software evolves. My hope is that it will become more common in ALL schools and that the children in schools now will learn how to make the most of the amazing resources available.

As teachers, we need to keep in mind that students need to use technology for more than just a reward. We need them to see the internet and technology as a resource that can be used to learn, not just to play. We also need to ensure that the students are taught how to use netbooks or iPads so that the navigation does not slow them down on researching topics and working on projects. At Delaware, we do not have textbooks. We use netbooks, iPod touches, and iPads as our textbooks. It is imperative that our students know the basic commands of each technology so that they are not bogged down with how to save their work and tasks such as that. As a staff, we have been committed to creating meaningful and practical lessons that are standards based and employ real life situations. We have grade level PLC (professional learning community) meetings to plan and discuss what is needed for grade levels. We also do vertical alignment so that our students know that the expectations of them in class are not going to change year after year. We have seen much success with the programs and reform we are implementing at our school. Not only does having the technology available make planning our lessons fun, it makes them engaging lessons for our students. Using technology at our school is not an infrequent occurrence, but a daily requirement. Our students can make a Prezi (prezi.com) in an instant, as well as many other web applications, and can teach me tons in just one class period when it comes to the digital world. We allow the students to create and contribute to the digital world and they LOVE it. When you think of the jobs that our students are likely to be doing when they graduate both high school and college, technology knowledge is an absolute MUST! The best way to learn and to have it become second nature is to dive right in.

Our collaborative VoiceThread on "Bridging the Digital Divide"