Augmented Reality

Augmented Reality (AR) is a recently emerging technology that will soon find its way to the everyday consumer.  A youtube video that I recently viewed described the new Google Glasses, which is a wearable head mount display.  Here is a link to the video

Google Glass and Augmented Reality’s Future

http://youtu.be/qdD5-woi_os

Google has developed and will begin to market an AR wearable glasses unit called the Google Glass.  This  technology will enable the user to have access to a plethora of information via a pair of lightweight glasses.  Google's  advertisement shows users doing intricate and exciting things with the AR glasses such as snowboarding, bunji jumping and flying a fighter jet.  However I feel as though the most common and practical use for these glasses would be to allow users to have real time quick access to information.  For example when arriving at the airport the glasses would automatically display your flight number, gate number and flight status.  Or when driving or walking, the display could show directions to a destination and replace the need for a separate GPS system.  And finally also building in a phone, camera and video camera would make the Google Glass the most complete and only SMART device that a user would need.  I am excited to see when AR products like Google Glass enter the mainstream and become affordable enough for me to purchase!!

Game Based Learning

In todays day and age getting students interested and excited about learning mathematics can be extremely challenging.  Students was to see how learning and education is real and applicable to their daily lives.  As educators we need to explore and see what kind of games exist out there, and how we can apply theses games into our curriculum, with the intent of raising student engagement and achievement.

One particular game that I have implemented into my classroom in called DimensionU.  This game is one that is similar to capture the flag.  Students can work individually or cooperatively in teams.  The teacher can select type of questions as well as the difficulty of the questions.  Players can run throughout the game world and attempt to capture an opponents flag, however there are certain doors that can only be unlocked after answering a math question.  Also there are certain special tools and weapons that a player can access or grab only after he/she has answered a mathematics question correctly.  Also when a player is shot, hit or stunned they can return to game action only after a series of mathematics questions are correctly answered.

I have noticed that incorporating this video game based tool has helped my students to become much more motivated and engaged in the classroom.  I feel as though we as teachers need to harness our students natural interests and find ways to apply them into our teaching curriculum.  Students are competitive by nature and by allowing them to channel that competition in constructive ways, we can enrich their educational experiences and skill sets.  Students can also gain important team building skills by working together with teammates to accomplish their mission goals,  and ultimately improve their mathematics abilities at the same time.

MOOC Summary Blog for ETEC 647E

Here is a link to the MOOC that I have been observing for the past six weeks.

Introduction to Databases - Stanford University Online

http://online.stanford.edu/db-win13


The MOOC (Massive Online Open Course) that I choose to sign up for was titled Introduction to Databases.  This is a free course that is being offered and taught through Stanford University Online.  I chose this particular topic because as an undergraduate student I studied engineering, which involved a  fairly large amount of computer programming.  Since it has been over 10 years since I have had any computer programming experience, I was very excited to see how much I had remembered and how effective an online MOOC class could be.

I was also very excited because I read a quick biography of the instructor of this course Professor Jennifer Wisdom.  She is an accomplished professor and researcher at the university level, and I will be receiving the same instruction and training that Stanford students also get.  So going into this course my expectations on the quality of teaching, rigor of the curriculum and relevance of the learning were extremely high.

The format of this course if relatively user friendly and intuitive.  It consists of seventeen major topics that the professor will be teaching throughout the semester.  Each topic consist of one or more videos containing powerpoint slides.  These slides are easy to follow and read.  The audio and video content of this course is excellent.  At the end of nearly every section there are review questions and examples problems which have proven to be very helpful in checking to make sure that  have a firm understanding of each particular topic.

As for the grading system, in addition to periodic quizzes at the end of most of the sections, there is also a midterm and a final exam.  Students in this class do not receive "GRADES", however if a student achieves 50% or more of the possible points in the class, then a certificate of completion is award.  This course also does not offer any college credits.

The instructor was able to offer this as a MASSIVE class due to the fact that all of the lessons were conducted via online pre-recorded video feed.  Quizzes, Midterms and Final Exams were either multiple choice questions or questions that could be automatically graded and checked by computer program.  Also rather than asking questions to a professor directly students could ask questions or post answers to questions via an online class forum.  This proved to be the quickest and most effective was to get answers to questions.

Overall I thought this course was a great experience.  The one major downside being that access to the professor was very limited.  This course would not be recommended for a student who is not self motivated and cannot keep pace on their own.  While MOOC's are a wonderful way for self motivated and driven students to enrich their learning and their lives for free, this method of learning is definitely not recommended for students who need constant supervision, accountability and live contact, and encouragement from and instructor.

Tablets for Learning

It was excellent hearing from Mark Hines ETEC doctoral student and head of the Student Centered, Project Based Learning program called Mid-Pacific Exploratory (MPX).  He spoke about the wonderful and exciting ways that the Mid Pacific Institute has implemented and incorporated the Apple iPad into its curriculum.  It was really interesting to hear about the research and the decision making process that went into selecting the iPad.  He also discussed the many obstacles and challenges that took place while both teachers and students were being trained on the use of the iPad.

I still have my own doubts and reservations about using the iPad as a students exclusive technological device.  I myself am a avid and loyal iPad user.  However I mainly use my iPad for video chatting, web browsing, video/picture taking and social networking.  I have found through personal experience that typing on the iPad is extremely slow and cumbersome.  Even after I purchased a bluetooth keyboard for my iPad I found that typing more than a paragraph or two is very slow, uncomfortable and generally annoying.  Anytime I have to do any sort of extended writing for emails, letters, memos, or papers I find that using my laptop computer is far easier and more convenient.

While I do agree that the iPad is an innovative and groundbreaking device, I sincerely believe that it cannot be a students exclusive technological device.  It can and will function wonderfully as a supplemental device, but I sincerely believe that any serious student also needs a laptop to write papers, use spreadsheet software such as Excel and use other web page programming software.  So I guess the bottom line is that in an ideal world with an unlimited budget all students would benefit most from owning both an iPad and a laptop computer.  However if their were budgetary constraints, I would recommend that my students spend their money purchasing a laptop computer instead of an iPad.

     

Big Data and Learning Analytics

The topic of Big Data and Learning Analytics is one that has risen in popularity recently, however this is also a topic that is riddled in controversy.  It is a well known documented fact that many high profile retailers such as Target use big data and learning analytics to predict critical information about its shopper such as age, sex, socioeconomic status and even whether a person may be pregnant or not.  This cyber information is can be track, recorded and accessed easily through database storage and retrieval.

This information can be critical for the success and profitability online business and retailers.  Companies can adapt and custom tailor their sales, marketing and advertising strategies according to each particular persons demographic information and shopping interests.  This can obviously result in increased sales and profit margins.

However Big Data and Learning Analytics may also used effectively in the context of education.  There are certain test such as the GRE (Graduate Record Examination) and the GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test) that are known as CAT (Computer Adaptive Tests).  These tests base the difficulty of future questions on a participants correct or incorrect responses to priors questions.  These tests have been shown to be much more accurate and precise than traditional tests.

However educators can take this even further.  Teacher and administrators can examine students behaviors and responses to particular questions online via the internet.  This information can be dissected, compiled and examined.  Then concepts and topics that each particular student struggles with can be identified, and further instruction, remediation or action can be taken.

Mobile Learning

In todays day and age handheld mobile communication devices have become very commonplace.  I just  spoke with one of my neighbors yesterday and she mentioned to me that she had just purchased an iPad for her 3 year old daughter.  Even as I walk around my high school's campus I see students constantly talking, texting and surfing the web on their cell phones, iPads and other mobile tablet devices.  Many schools now prohibit or ban the use of these mobile devices during class times.  Instead of trying to ban the use of mobile technology, we as educators need to embrace and leverage these powerful tools.  These mobile devices can be used for note taking, research, communication, collaboration, creation and a plethora of other applications.  Now is the time for teachers to receive training and professional development to be better equipped to utilize these powerful mobile computing devices to enhance student learning and increase student achievement.

Flipped Classroom

I spent some time this week exploring the TED-Ed website as well as doing my own research on the concept of flipping lessons.  This whole concept of sharing different lessons digitally online could significantly improve collaboration among teachers and improve the overall quality of teaching and learning throughout our state and country.  Instead of being forced to create your own lesson from scratch, TED-Ed allows you to modify, change or enhance an existing lesson that has already been created and published online.  This allows you as the teacher to customize the lesson to fit your specific learning activity and you students learning styles.  I am really excited about the prospect of using TED-Ed and other video sharing website such as YouTube to share and flip lessons that I have created.  I really believe that this could change the way that teachers learn, share, interact and collaborate with each other.