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Week 7 Reading Response

eBooks was a topic i was hoping we were going to talk about. Everyone in my family either has a nook or an iPad, and i rarely ever see a new book coming into the house because of this.

In the article Digital Reading Spaces, we talked about how hard copy books are starting to decline very rapidly. Even newspapers can be accessed online now. Printed books are becoming far less common now. It is much easier to have a nook in your back pocket rather than having to carry around a book. Plus with eReading, you can switch between books as much as you like. Along with just reading, these devices (IPads, nooks, Kindles) have access to the internet and email as well so it is more than just a tool for reading. One controversy is studying on one of these devices. I, myself, find it much easier to have a hard copy of a document to read and take notes on and even highlight. For this assignment alone i printed out the articles to read in order to take notes. Having a hard copy makes it easier to flip between pages and look at side notes that you made for yourself. Although some of these devices allow you to do this, I find that a hard copy of the material is much easier.

Schools are turning to this new eReading idea. In highschool, some students are given ipads for the year. This iPad allows them to keep track of their textbooks and notes all in one, easy to carry, device. Even in college, they give the option to buy an eBook rather than the hard copy textbook, where you can keep multiple textbooks on your ipad or other device. To many, this is such a relief because they do not need to lug around these large textbooks and remember which one to bring to each class.

In the second article, we learn about the schools that do give ipads to their students for educational purposes. Not only will these ipads replace textbooks, but they can update the textbooks automatically each year without having to purchase new ones. This also allows the student internet access at all times for research and other school related activities. The students can also start to develop digital portfolios. The use of these iPads can extend the classroom beyond just the school. This also allows the teacher to use more "flipped classroom" type teaching styles by providing the students with screen casts and podcasts for home. Some controversy that comes with this is that parents do not see the educational value in an iPad, and because this technology is so new, it is hard to prove how affective this tool can be in learning.

Something that I want to further look into is the different teaching strategies teachers use in their classroom which these devices. I want to know more about the research behind the educational value of using an iPad over an old school textbook and paper. I know that one day every school will provide their students with a tablet because that is where the future of education is headed.

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Week 6 Reading Response

 Mobile games have a negative stereotype attached to them. People may think that these games negatively influence the learning environment of children. Video games have been thought of to cause distraction to children, for they may spend hours a day on these systems. Video games have a high educational value for children today. This may be true in certain games, such as grand theft auto, but some games actually enhance the learning environment for children because they are more engaged in these games rather than reading from a textbook.

 In Savannah: mobile gaming and learning, the authors argue the concept of video games having no educational value. This article says that mobile technologies enable children to interact simultaneously with both the physical world and with digital information. Video games are fun and provide pleasure for children who play them, so until recently they were just seen as distractions to the learning environment. These mobile devices are no longer just communication devices, but are being used as game platforms.

 The Savannah project provides children with two different areas of play. One area puts the children in a Savannah, where the players can see, hear and smell the savannah. There is also the use of GPS and PDA. This game provides the children with images and information related to the savannah. The point of this game is for children to act as lions and try to survive in their environment. Children use their handheld computers to act as lions in different environments as they travel around, which connect to a PC based server.  This game is a great tool for students to better understand wild life. Rather than looking at pictures and videos, the students are able to actually act as a pride of lions and face the challenges that these lions face every day. It was shown that students who played this game learned a great deal about wildlife. This is something I would love my child to be involved in. Mobile technology like this could be used for many subject areas, not just a pride of lions. I hope that in the future we can have handheld devices like this for all different topics and subjects in schools, so that we could shed a positive light on video games being used for educational purposes.

 In my opinion, the traditional way of learning is coming to an end. No longer will we learn through lectures and textbooks, but rather through experience and self-analysis. With this new technology and communication through the internet, there is a whole world of resources on any subject imaginable. Through these new systems of augmented reality, we can actually put ourselves in certain scenarios and situations in order to better learn from them.

 Squires article further explores games being used as educational tools. Digital games can help develop scientific augmentation skills. Online multiplayer games have been shown to use  productive literacy practices. Not only do some of these games teach social skills, but they also help develop problem solving skills and other literacy skills. These games encourage data collection and analysis, as well as other scientific strategies. Many games that I have played myself proved to be educational tools for the subjects I was learning. Online games, such as Age of Empires, taught a lot about history and reasoning behind different wars and disputes, showing different sides and view points.

  The third article I chose is called CS Training: Introducing Mobile Educational Games in the Learning Flow http://www.e-ucm.es/drafts/e-UCM_draft_164.pdf, This article talks about Technology Enhanced Learning. In certain fields, learning is best done through simulations and game modules. One of these subjects is engineering. Mobile devices can also enhance the learning environment, by having large amounts of knowledge at ones finger tips. There are games that have been developed to exercise the mind, one being the game Brain Training. This is made to engage and challenge students to critically think and analyze in order to pass certain levels. Because these games are handheld, they are accessible anywhere. Many of these devices have internet access as well, aside from just the game. This allows children to have a resource to look up things in the game they may not understand. These games should be used in the classroom, for they are engaging and exciting to students and help to stimulate their brains. Children might also be more inclined to use these hand held games to learn because it gives them the feeling of having fun and playing a game for pleasure, rather then being forced to learn.

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my mobile interview

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Week 5 Reading Response

The readings this week were very interesting. The first I would like to talk about is the video by Evgeny Mozorov. With this new use of internet and technology, Mozorov feels that Democracy is an inevitable factor. The internet greatly affects political movements, and promotes democracy. This new use of blogs allows people to put their own personal views online, with the possibility of others commenting on this. This is very interesting to think about. People have their own freedoms on the internet, to post and read whatever they like. Active users can also form groups on the internet to agree or disagree with certain aspects of government or anything for that matter. Is all of this power good? Other countries do not view the internet the same as we do. Some countries do not allow this power for people, because they may see it as a way of protesting.

Meyers article on quasi groups was also interesting. People today are all part of the social group, with access to a wide range of social media in the palm of our hands. This article talks about different groups that are formed with people, who have similar or different interests and views. It is easy to see how this is true just by looking at social media. There is a section of facebook where you can form certain groups and invite people to it. Even blogging can form groups, when you have a circle that reads and responds to the others blogs.

In Castells article, a very interesting section was the section about Mass Communication and Media Politics, because this is something that happens around us but we may not realize. In politics, the main goal is to influence the other persons mind. The way politicians do this is through the mass media systems we have. TOday, there are so many communication devices we use on a daily basis to get our information. Through TV and the internet, the politicians have an entire cyber world to try to sway a persons vote. Is this saying that our power to vote lies in the hands of the media? Are peoples views swayed that much through the media? Personally, I think this is partially true. Especially for younger people, or those who do not follow politics, if you are to vote it will be for someone that you see or hear the most about. If you open a web page and you see "VOTE FOR BARACK OBAMA" in big bold red white and blue letters, every day, this may sway your vote when you enter those voting booths.

Occupying Wall street was very interesting to me. THe first picture of the gas canister which said made in the USA really hit me. This picture spoke 1000 words. It was a man, who seemed to be a rioter or protester, who was probably going to use this bomb to cause harm to others, and it was supplied to him from the USA.Also, watching a new york police officer pepper spray a crowd of people without a care in the world was absolutely disgusting. These people seemed to be peacefully protesting, and as a means to shut them down, they got pepper sprayed. What happened to freedom of speech and democracy here? IN the final video, a riot squad was called on a group of students who are sitting on the floor in protest. The police were armed with paintball guns and pepperspray and used the spray on the students. WHat is going on in our country where even peaceful protesters have no rights to speak their mind and assemble. Where is the democracy in these situations??

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I am from quiet but loud

Where it is safe to play outside at night

And the streets are lined with fun and laughter

  I am from footballs and green grass

Where dirt marks on our jeans are frequent

And the common cold is far too common ‘cause of the cold New Hyde Park air

  I am from a warm home

With candles blazing and TVs turned up loud

  I am part of a group of gentlemen

Brought together under a common purpose

Community service, Strength of brotherhood, and endless memories

  I am who I am

I am me

I am legend

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Subscribe For More Vines ~ http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1j0hQISLyy7MRZMADkoDaw Vine by - Rachel Olson extra tags. "vine compilation august 2013" "girls v...

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“I mean already you're thinking who is this kid? I mean he sounds accomplished, he is not nervous, and he is making a great case. This is such great stuff."

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Week 3 Reading response

In these readings we learned alot about one laptop per child and the one-to-one computing initiatives. This is saying that every student should have their own laptop to use in schools to better their education. With the increase in wireless connectivity, having technology at our grasp is the new way to educate people. Using technology to learn is affective for students. They were born into the internet world and are immersed in it every day. By providing the students with internet access, they may be able to find more equitable resources for learning and research. It may also improve the learning environment for students as they have a world of resources on the internet at their disposal. With all this new technology, learning could be transformed for good. Teachers must use this technology and integrate it into their own classrooms. I feel this is a very difficult part. Older teachers may have trouble using technology themselves, let alone have their students use it. Much training is needed for teachers especially in order for them to use these tools in their classes. Using laptops, students can keep notes organized, practice typing skills, and even communicate with teachers and peers. Take this class for example. All of our communication is through blogs and posts, as well as many of my other classes.

This idea for laptops for every student was started in 2006 by the UNDP. The laptop was said to be only $100. It would have all the essentials that students need to learn and explore. Each of these laptops were fairly small, but very appealing to children and students. It would provide the students with many resources to learn and explore new knowledge online while in the classroom.

I strongly believe that this form of education is our future. We are already in a world where technology rules. The internet is not only a tool that every human has the right to use, it has the power to change the way we learn and think. In this day and age, communication can be any time throughout the day. As teachers it is our job to familiarize ourselves with the internet and the possibilities it holds. We must embrace these tools given to us in our classroom. No two students learn the same. By giving our students the ability to use the internet to learn and explore, we may be able to get them more interested in their work and be able to apply what they learned to real life applications.

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Tech Report

I am also interested in researching GPS or Augmented Reality.

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A new apple Laptop with no keyboard, but only a smart wheel. Watch this video tell me what you think.

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Week 2: Situated Cognition

These articles brought a lot of cool ideas and views into my eyes.

The first article i looked at was What can the iPad do for Museums by scott Billings. This article brought to my attention the use of mobile devices in museums. hand-held devices are commonplace in our lives today. I read this article on my iPad in my home for example. With this growing use, these devices are being utilized everywhere. Museums have taken these devices and developed apps to be used. In some cases, you can take a complete tour of a museum in the comfort of your own home. You can have virtual tours and activities at your disposal. This is so cool to me because not only does it save you a trip to the museum, but you can look at the pieces as many times as you like, and even take screenshots. In some apps, you can interact with the works you are looking at and even play games. This raises a big question however, do mobile guides generate revenue? This was the question dwelling in my mind while reading this article, how do these museums bring in money if these apps are free? My question was answered. Some of these apps must be bought from the app store, which could bring in revenue for the museum. By selling some apps, not only will people be buying them on their phones, they might also take the trip to the museum to see the works in person.

The next article I read was Communities of Practice. Before reading this article, I never thought in depth about what this is and the huge benefit it can have on a community of people. In short, communities of practice are formed by people, not only with similar interests, but a shared domain and a bond. Communities of Practice are collaborative groups of people who want to learn and share ideas between each other about a common passion. This requires a high level of commitment. These groups share information and build relationships with each other. In education for example, schools may have common bonds and knowledge, but without communication they cannot learn and help each other. Especially with the new common core, schools all across the nation are learning the same topics at the same time. With a community of practice between teachers, they could share lesson plans and work with each other to better not only their classrooms, but the classrooms of others. Being in education I like to look at these articles from an educators point of view. When i go into a school, i hope to become a part of this so that i know I have a network of people who have similar passions to help me better my lessons and better myself.

The article Using Mobile Technologies for Multimedia Tours in a Traditional Museum Setting directly links to the first article I talked about. This article was about a study performed at the Lapworth Museum of Geology in the United Kingdom. Mobile technology was introduced into this museum to see if this would engage visitors and have them learning.  The article talks about what attracts visitors to certain pieces and how they take in what they see. As a personal experience, I am in a class now where we explore education in museums. On my museum visits I left very unsatisfied. I wanted to know more about the works I had viewed. I wanted to learn what the artist was trying to say. On some of the works, there was a short paragraph or two describing the artist, but nothing describing the piece I was viewing. I even said to my teacher "Is there an app i could download to learn more about what this artist is trying to say?". It was fascinating to read that this is the direction we are heading. Reading the requirements was also very interesting. I do not agree that we should omit the use of specialist language. Although some words are hard to understand, with a proper explanation we have the potential to learn something new while learning about this piece. I also agree that the videos and audio need to be coherent. While looking at a piece and understanding its nature, I do not want to stop my thought to rewind the audio in order to hear what was said. The use of these mobile technologies can greatly benefit how people view the works in museums and what they can take away from it.

Situated Cognition and the Culture of Learning was a great article to read. This article starts off by saying we must separate what is learned from how it is learned. They also talk about how knowing is different than doing. The authors provide a number of examples in this article to express their points. One example is how we learn vocabulary words. They state that people generally learn words in the context of ordinary communication. This is so true. For me, i always learned better by applying what i know, rather than reading it out of a book. With vocabulary, we can all look at a dictionary and get a well written definition of a word, but that does not help us use this word in every day life. They say that the average 17 year old learns vocabulary at a rate of 5,000 words per day, which is 13 words per day. This is not from looking at a dictionary, but by learning these words through communication and in context. In my elementary school, we would have a "word of the day" where we would be given a word, and we were challenged to use it in every day conversations for that day. This was so fun to me and every time I had the chance to use this word, I would. Another great part of this article was comparing knowledge to a tool. This stood out to me because it is so true. If you have a tool but you do not know what it is used for, you will not understand it and use it properly. One example was the old-fashioned pocket knife (which I did not know). There was a tool on this knife that was used to pick stones out of horses hooves. I am certain that today's generation did not know this, so we may have been using that tool wrong for decades. While learning, we must be able to understand and apply the knowledge we gain to every day life. This article also talked about Authentic Activities. One thing I liked was how they stated that authentic activities are not only pursued by experts of the craft. Some activities are common knowledge. I also gained knowledge that I will take with me as an educator. The article talked about how a professor taught his college students how to think like a mathematician and apply mathematics to the world for a greater understanding. If i can manage to get the majority of my class to think like mathematicians then they will be able to apply their knowledge to real world applications and hopefully achieve a better understanding of what they learned.

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John Traxler’s article Current State of Mobile Learning was very intriguing to me. I have thought about mobile learning a lot and I feel it is the future shift in education and something that all educators will adapt and all future learners will be born into. With this new shift in mobile education and learning, learning can take place anywhere. Information and knowledge can be accessed anywhere, at any time.

We live in an internet world. Smart phones and tablets are now used in every day life as every day habits. These are also being used in education everywhere. Some schools even supply every student with an IPad to further their education experience.

One thing that mobile learning still needs to work on is their approach to education. There are so many apps and devices out there to be utilized in the classroom, but most are disregarded or misused. We know that mobile learning is the new shift in education. There are conferences, seminars, and workshops all dedicated to further the understanding of mobile learning.

Mobile learning is far from perfect. Mobile learning using these handheld devices is still very immature, but its development is happening so quickly. What we need to shy away from is those educators that use technology just to use it. We need to show these educators how beneficial these tools can be in their classrooms.

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Week 1 Mobile Learning Blog- Computer for the 21st Century

In The Computer for the 21st Century, by Mark Weiser, it is amazing to see how far technology has come. This article is from 1991, when people first started to own computers. Weiser talks about Ubiquitous computers, which are computers that are everywhere. Back in 1991 this was a new thought, and now we are living in it. He talks about computers that can be brought anywhere, such as the beach, jungle or an airport, to list some examples. In this day and age we have this. We have smart phones, and tablets, and mp3 players, and even some watches which have this advanced technology. We also have these “multimedia computers” that Weiser talked about. Weiser also brings up the vision of computers that know where they are and can adapt to where they are. In our day, we have GPS and even cell phones that have global positioning on them that can tell you exact coordinates of where you are. Weiser also has the idea of computers of different sizes. We know these as the common cellphone, desktop computer, tablet, or even laptop, as well as many others. Weiser and his colleagues had this idea of tabs, pads and boards. Pads can be explained as tablets that we have today, which are handheld devices that are about the size of a piece of paper like he states. Also, boards are like the common Smart Board in classrooms, which are large interactive computer screens. Another thing that Weiser touched upon was wireless connections, which today we know as WiFi and fiber optics. This allows hand held devices and computers to be carried around and still have access to the internet. It is amazing to see how far we have come in over a decade and how all of these visions are now reality.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbGw1fX9tMk

Here is a short video of futuristic ubiquitous computing