EDUC 630 Technology Lesson Demonstration - Traci Best

 

EDUC 630 VDB Week 5: Gaming

https://thedreamoftheking.blogspot.com/2021/02/educ-630-vdb-week-5-gaming.html 

VDB Wk 5: Gaming                                                                                     EDUC 630

            Utilizing gamification in the classroom has definite advantages and disadvantages. Gaming can be used in many ways such as to connect to prior knowledge at the beginning of a whole group lesson or facilitate group review of a lesson or a whole unit of study. In these types of applications gaming activities can be not just fun but motivating because students often enjoy competing with each other. The nature of this collaborative application also encourages interactivity and offers immediate feedback for correcting wrong answers.         

There are challenges though to using gaming in the classroom. Not just any game is going to necessarily be a good fit for a lesson. Roblyer and Hughes (2019) remind us that the objectives or purposes of some games may not align with the learning goals and objectives for our lessons. Also, it is always possible that students may start to lose the purpose for which they are gaming and be more focused on the competitive fun’ aspects as opposed to keeping the focus on learning and be tempted to get too rowdy and out of control.

Personally, in my classroom, I like to keep control of gaming activities by utilizing things I know are going to be teacher-directed such as a Kahoot game. I recently used this app to run through a 47-question unit review for my English 9 class. It was a fun way to cover the material that will be on the unit test, fix any misconceptions the students have about the material and expose my students to test wording prior to the actual exam. This bolsters confidence in test-taking and eases testing anxiety. It also allows the students to practice test-taking strategies.

Gaming is probably not going to be appropriate for testing itself, or graded work, particularly in the virtual school environment. Often internet connections are interrupted, and students may make mistakes in responses that would be difficult or impossible to change in that format rather than a traditional written test. Additionally, gaming-based testing might be ill-advised due to the possibility of programs being vulnerable to hacking for the purpose of cheating.

Resource

Roblyer & Hughes (2019) Integrating educational technology into teaching. New York, NY: Pearson.

EDUC 630 Professional Development Presentation - The Value of Profesional Organizations

 

Transcript: Professional Development Presentation EDUC 630

1.    Hello.  My name is Traci Best.  This is my Professional Development presentation for EDUC 630 at Liberty University. 

2.    Why is PD important, and why should you join a professional organization? 

a.     Educational development & continuing education is necessary for certifications and other required credentials 

b.    Awareness of the newest research and development in your field. 

c.     Vehicle to demonstrate your developing skills, to  make new professional connections, and pave the way for future job advancement. (Frederiksen, 2016) 

3.    International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE.org) is a professional association for educators.

o   Home to a passionate community of global educators who believe in the power of technology to transform teaching and learning, accelerate innovation and solve tough problems in education.

o   ISTE inspires the creation of solutions and connections that improve opportunities for all learners by delivering: practical guidance, evidence-based professional learning, virtual networks, thought-provoking events and the ISTE Standards.

(ISTE.org, 2021) 

ISTE Publishing – Books

ISTE publishes books by teachers for teachers to help each other put themselves at the forefront of knowledge and best practices in educational technology. (ISTE.org, 2021)

This is an example of a book I purchased recently to add to my professional toolbox for special learners who struggle to connect with subject content in meaningful ways. (Carter, 2019)

4.    ISTE Publishing – Peer Reviewed Journals

“The Journal of Research on Technology in Education (JRTE) publishes articles that report on original research, project descriptions/evaluations, syntheses of the literature, assessments of the state of the art, and theoretical or conceptual positions that relate to the field of educational technology in teaching and learning and inform P-16 school-based practice” (ISTE.org, 2021). 

5.    “The ISTE Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education (JDLTE) is a refereed journal published in partnership with the ISTE Professional Learning Network for Teacher Educators. JDLTE provides access to the growing body of research addressing the use of digital technologies in teacher education. Articles highlight contemporary trends and effective, creative and innovative uses of digital technologies that prepare preservice, in-service and teacher educators for teaching in technology-rich learning environments. JDLTE digital issues are published quarterly (ISTE.org, 2021)”. 

6.    ISTE Publishing Blog utilizes a YouTube channel to deliver ideas, content & resources for leading-edge educators every month, deliverable by monthly round-up email or simply by subscribing to the ISTE channel. (ISTE.org, 2021) 

7.    ISTE – EdTech Conference 2020 was November 28^th – December 1^st, 2020 in Anaheim, California. There were thirteen speakers this year presenting a wide variety of topics. I’d like to share with you a couple talks that interest me:

9. Dr. Desiree Alexander of Educator Alexander Consulting, LLC presented Digital Equity and the Innovation Inequity Paradox: Unintended Consequences and Future Planning. 

10. Sophia Mendoza of Los Angeles Unified School District is presenting Leading with Equity and the ISTE Education Lead Standards for educators, pre-k through 12.

“Explore how PK-12 instructional leaders leverage the ISTE Standards for Education Leaders with the lens of equity and citizenship advocacy to ensure that all students of color have skilled educators who strategically use technology to meet student learning needs.”

“Technology can fuel innovation, foster creativity and create engaging learning environments. At its worst, though, poor educational technology and instruction can punish our poorest and most vulnerable students. Explore the relationship between innovation and inequity and examine inequity challenges that are arising amid ongoing innovation. (ISTE.org, 2021)

 

 

VDB 2: EDUC 630 - Traci Best

VDB #2: Data Collection & Analysis                     EDUC 630

Collecting data and analyzing it to inform instruction is a pretty basic principle of the modern classroom. One very rudimentary example of that would be to assign an exit ticket activity at the end of a lesson. Students would be required to identify key elements of the lesson objective and state them briefly in either an electronic app-based program or with something as simple as a post-it note or index card and pencil. Teachers could then use the information to direct their lesson planning and make decisions such as whether a whole-group review was required, or maybe follow-up with a small group of students to review before the next lesson. The information from the lesson exit ticket could also be used to connect to previous learning at the beginning of the next lesson.

Roblyer & Hughes (2019) suggests that students might collect and analyze data from science experiments to test hypotheses or generate box and whisker plots to visually display data distributions.

Resource

Roblyer & Hughes (2019) Integrating educational technology into teaching. New York, NY: Pearson.