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Week 9 Post

The article A Dad’s Plea To Developers Of iPad Apps For Children discusses the issues of  a concerned father who is worried when it comes to purchasing appropriate book apps for children on the iPad/digital devices explains four essential guidelines for developers who on iPad apps for children (1) Affordance Is King: Most children apps do not clearly indicate which elements of the book are interactive. Kids have a hard time with this and will touch everything on the screen until something happens. The solution for this is to clearly mark which elements on the screen are interactive so children can gain the full interactive experience. (2) Pagination Is A Primary Action: Most common forms of pagination in children’s apps are touch-based arrows and swipe-based gestures. Difference methods work depending on the target age for the app (touch-based arrows work best for younger children). Arrows should be placed at the top of the screen since children touch the bottom of the screen by mistake more often. (3) The Menu Is A Distant Secondary Action: No interactive elements should be placed at the bottom of the screen (especially menu actions).  Kids will touch the menu button and depending on the age, will have a hard time returning to the story they were reading. A two-touch method to open the menu usually works best to avoid this problem. (4) If You Try To Trick My Kid Into Buying Stuff, You’re Dead To Me: Some children’s apps will place icons on the screen that lead to automatic purchases attacked to the Apple credit card number on file. The icons draw attention away from the app and trick children into purchases. This has even happened to me and you have to be very careful that you did not just purchase something you didn't want in the first place.

Designing an app for children is difficult, but all children’s apps should follow basic guidelines to ensure safety and quality. We all know that children come in all shapes and sizes. Some students have a hearing or processing problem and no matter how loud or soft you speak, they can’t make sense of it. Or maybe they lack the coordination to write legibly. Just as there are adaptations teachers can make for the various levels of academics in their rooms, there is technology to help all types of learners. Simple fixes, such as noise reducing headphones, all the way to complex machines to help children communicate their wants and needs. But which technologies benefit which students and what are the essentials? In general, many school districts have at least one of just about every piece of technology there is for special education. These technologies don’t have to be expensive and complicated. Anything that helps a child meet their potential can be considered an Accessible Technology. But again the question is, what is essential? The goal of accessible technology is to increase a child’s self-reliance and sense of independence. Search any app store and you can find thousands of so called educational apps geared toward children of various ages. However, teachers and parents soon learn that some of these apps are good, some are horrible, and some are simply awful. The great apps are few and far between, and when they are found, they are shared amongst these groups quickly. So what makes these great games so great? It is a combination of several elements that, when measured just right, end with an educational masterpiece. Great games have good graphics that keep kids engaged. They have sounds and music that make the game fun. The interaction is just right for the targeted age bracket. It achieves what it sets out to do without getting distracted or over simplified. One of the most important elements to great educational games is having a clear goal. The app is a game and should have objectives. However, these objectives need to balance between simple gaming objectives and educational objectives. The gaming objectives keep the game moving even when the player is unsuccessful at the educational objectives and provide a boost of confidence. In interactive books, for example, these are found in the form of collecting objects or matching the pieces. The learning objectives are what the game is really about, however. Using interactive books again, these objectives are to listen to the story and often answer simple questions at the end.  The objective in any game should be more educational than game oriented. A challenge is to incorporate some game play into the app so that it is not so learning heavy. The educational goals should also be very easy to spot.  The objective is that the learner increases their knowledge and then can apply it to other areas. Good graphics can make or break a game. Kids are drawn to things that are colorful, loud, and interactive. A game that targets sight words effectively, but does it in a boring way will not get much screen time. On the flip side, a fun game that might not effectively relate to the objectives and goals will probably get a lot of attention. The primary objective of any game is that the player is engaged in the game. Unfortunately, secondary are the educational benefits, however, these must be present. Graphics also have to be clear and have a point. Cluttering the screen with really cool things will be countered productive. One dad appeals to app designers in his blog to make things simple and easily located. All graphics need to be simple and have a purpose, other wise they are no more than interference. Great educational games need simplicity. These games tend to focus on one or two specific objectives. They do not try and cover an entire subject area. You definitely cannot teach an entire curriculum, but we can teach simple concepts and ideas to help enhance and engage instruction.

The problems that Jakob Nielsen identifies in his usability studies extremely affect users. For example, sometimes Web pages designed for laptop/desktop systems are translated to touch interaction without much thought given to what works and what doesn't. The conventions for touch interaction lead to different problems, some in the area of discoverability. It may not be obvious in a given touch application that a long press or a swipe on an icon does something, for example there's typically no visual indication that they're possible, and these are the kinds of actions that users may activate by accident.

 As for myself, and others that I know who use an iPad I do agree with some of the things discussed in the article. Sometimes the touchable areas are too small in many apps and too close together. This sometimes causes me to accidentally tap on the wrong app or link I originally wanted which becomes frustrating after many times of just needing to access one instead of the other 4 that are displayed. Sometimes I also cannot tell what areas I can tap on and which ones are not touchable which will not bring me to a new page. “The most common uses reported by our participants were playing games, checking email and social networking sites, watching videos/movies, and reading news. People also browsed the Web and performed some shopping-related research. But most users felt that it was easier to shop on their desktop computers.” My mom has an iPad and she is not the most tech savvy person. She uses the iPad for basic things, such as email, games, Facebook, and shopping. However she has complained of not being able to access a link because it is too small or there not being certain features such as back buttons for the different sites or apps she visits. Over time the iPad will eventually become more user friendly. It already is a user-friendly device, but there are definitely some flaws that need to be improved.

Apple products are in high demand all over the world and as a result, it’s important that the apps in Apple’s iTunes App Store also maintain a high-level of design and usability for consumers.  These documents help application developers a set of recommendations in order to improve the experience for the users by making applications interfaces more perceptive, learnable, and consistent. Developers must consider several main principles provided by Apple’s iOS Human Interface Guidelines and keep in mind application styles before even attempting to build an app. These are based on visual and behavioral characteristics, data model, and user experience. When it comes to the app development process, its always good to keep it as simple as possible.  Developers should ask themselves: What would be a user motivation to use your application? How should the user experience be when your app is opened? What is the goal/objective of the application? How should the information/ visuals be organized and displayed? This is very important for a developer to achieve and is definitely something that apple has done well over the years. iOS developers are very familiar with Apple’s iOS Himan Interface Guidelines (HIG). The guidelines are a long, detailed; comprehensive document that defines how an intuitive iOS app interface should look and feel, as well as what functionality and programming methodologies should be used within the inner-workings of an app. In short, it’s a guide that defines how to build an iOS app the right way… according to Apple. From an app user’s standpoint, the influence of these interface guidelines takes the form of common buttons, dials, and familiar swiping gestures and menus. Apps that follow the Human Interface Guidelines look as if Apple built them. .

For an app developer, these guidelines can help them find solutions to complex interface problems and resolve dilemmas involving how to display content, how to take user input, and which common interface elements to use for certain purposes. As an app user I like an app that is designed specifically for the device I am using. If I begin to have trouble or get frustrated using the app that is probably the last time I will be using it. No one wants to use an app that is not appealing and causes frustration and confusion. “When an app fits well on the device screen and responds to the gestures that people know, it provides much of the experience people are looking for. And, although people might not be aware of human interface design principles, such as direct manipulation or consistency, they can tell when apps follow them and when they don’t.” There are clearly some strong advantages to following these interface guidelines, but there may also be downsides. Developers share a common look and feel with many other apps and this can make the task of making the app stand apart difficult. For typical app purposes (list apps, social media apps, note-taking apps, etc.) there are usually dozens of apps or more for each purpose, which means that you can only distinguish yours by how you design your interface. If everyone is following the same exact guidelines, their apps could be very similar, which in turn will offer little variety to users, crowds the app store with nearly identical options, and ultimately reduces your efforts. Some apps don’t follow the HIG and they have been just as successful if not more successful because of their unique interfaces. To say developers should only follow Apple’s HIG for every app or project being created would be saying their way is the only right way. I think as long as developers create an interface with extreme simplicity and usability with a unique design the app will be successful. The advantages of using HIG are obvious, but there are also many prominent apps that have become extremely successful while not following HIG design. How many developers create an app that looks and functions like so many others? Is this a good or bad thing?

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App Review

Game design as a whole has come a long way. However, some developers have made better use of the advances than others. Great educational applications are few and far between. However, they share some important characteristics. Quality educational games have clear goals from the start. Players are engaged through the use of colorful and essential graphics. They also are very specific in their targeted objectives and audience. These resources can help a child participate in class or on the computer. Many teachers already have these in their classrooms or can easily access them. These resources cover a wide range of disabilities and specialties; however, teachers cannot control what types come into their room. When specific needs arise, teachers should not be shy about dipping into their districts supply of resources. The goal is to ensure that every child reaches their own potential and this is just one step along the way.

One app that I decided to review is called BrainPop. BrainPOP was visualized as a creative way to explain difficult concepts. Students can learn accurate, age-appropriate information about specific topics within the Sciences, Math, English, Social Studies, Engineering & Technology, Health, and Arts & Music. From an educational perspective, the app is great because of the range of content it offers. Kids can access hundreds of movies covering what they’re learning in school, or pretty much anything they might be curious about. It’s a great tool for clarifying and underscoring the lessons they learn in class, and it’s a great tool for more informal learning on the go. BrainPOP helps kids learn through videos, games, and quizzes. Students can also use their critical thinking skills to make connections between topics in the same and in different subject areas, helping them build the concept that most learning, if not all, is interconnected. BrainPOP is an application helping kids learn a well-rounded variety of information.  But on a more basic level, the app is just very appealing and engaging, from Moby [the robot mascot], to the animation, to the movies’ tone and humor. All BrainPOP movies are aligned to the Common Core and other academic standards. From the website, teachers and parents can access the Standards Tool and search for relevant content by grade, state, or subject area. They cover hundreds of standards-aligned topics within Science, Math, Social Studies, English, Engineering & Tech, Health, and Arts and Music. They are advised by a team of academic advisors, and many of their writers are former teachers themselves. It is a custom app, so their approach was to update the design and about adopting the principles of iOS 7 than reflecting specific changes in the standard UIKit elements. Their previous app featured a lot of visual indicators of physicality (bezels, gradients, and lighting effects, etc.) that were characteristic of earlier iOS versions. They did away with that and added some of these details to simplify, allowing the content itself to play a more prominent role. They also added parallax effects and translucent overlaps in appropriate places to create a richer sense of depth, and made the navigation more motion like and flow easier by allowing users to swipe back and forth through their navigation history.

BrainPOP is a standard-bearer for quality, self-directed online educational content for older grade school-age kids. There is also an app called BrainPop Jr. which is targeted for younger grades and students. BrainPop includes interactive videos, audio prompts, graphics, and games in a blended format that will be very familiar to most kids. Students and teachers can spend hours exploring many of the main topics that contain more sub-categories, like the science and math sections. Most games are clever, creative, and helps to address learning concepts not traditionally explored in this format. They also offer kids a really nice way to actively engage with the subject matter. Papert explains that students learn when they are engaged in constructing a public entity – “learning by making”. Constructionism emphasizes the significance of the publication and sharing of students’ end products as a key factor that motivates their learning. By using a variety of software’s in class, we can uncover various ways to get students motivated by sharing their work and help to fulfill meaningful learning experiences.These fun and exciting videos then lead to a variety of other activities students can move onto to reinforce the video content. Activities include comic strips, additional fun and interesting facts, quizzes (printed and online), different writing or drawing prompts, practice questions, worksheets, and many games! Not only is this tool useful for parents that don't know how to safely keep their student entertained on the computer, but also for parents who homeschool, teachers, schools, and other tutors as there are often accompanying lesson plans, ready-made worksheets, and quizzes that are all printable. Additionally, there is an English as a Second Language (ESL) website - BrainPopESL.com - and BrainPopEspanol.com that translates the original BrainPop concept into Spanish. The best part of BrainPop's educational app is the 2 main characters that narrate the videos. The highly knowledgeable young female/male student and his/her robot friend, Moby, who beeps are well-spoken and deliver the content clearly. The robot, Moby, draws the attention and eye of both students and adults. He is fascinating and we can easily understand what he communicates through his beeping and the female/male student's dialogue. I have used this app and enjoy it as much as my students do! The catch is the cost. For many it is highly prohibitive. An annual family subscription it is $99 and monthly it is $9.95 month with a 12 month commitment. The pricing only goes up from there. It can definitely be considered an investment.

The advantages are that it covers multiple subjects, has many different activities (videos, interactive quizzes, activity pages, etc.), has homework help available, animations aid in understanding topics better and help bring curriculum to life, content is aligned with standards, appeals to different learning styles, users can view student or teacher-made video clips on YouTube, very appealing to all ages of students, it can be combined with a SmartBoard, interactive features such as quizzes can be used as a whole class lesson, opportunity for students to ask questions or contribute ideas, can be used as a remediation opportunity to reinforce a concept with struggling learners, activity pages can be typed on and printed out to offer differentiated forms of instruction, there are experiments for most topics that can be used in classroom or at home, there is home access available for teachers to plan after school hours, it contains graphic organizers on activity pages to help some students organize their thoughts, contains extension activities that can be used as supplemental projects or extra credit, it can be used as whole-group or individual instructional tool, students can e-mail results of graded quiz to teacher, animations are very simple, fun and straight to the point, can be used with ESL students, certain activities and readings are in Spanish for those students who do not speak ANY English, BrainPop K-3 is appropriate for young learners, activities can be printed out and done in small groups, all topics are described thoroughly, engaging, educational games students can use as free time option in the classroom and still learn, and most school districts see the value in this program and have free accounts so it is very easily accessible to both students and faculty.

Even though there are great advantages to this app there are some weaknesses to the application as well. It can be very expensive and users need to purchase a subscription except for the occasional free videos, you have to watch the videos first because they’re not always relevant to the topic it is associated with, vocabulary may also be on a more advanced level than state standards were written thus creating confusion. It is still just watching a video--not truly interactive except for the quizzes which can be more interactive via SmartBoard, Questions may or may not be response from Tim and Moby, there is limited home access for students with subscription, Does not provide feedback to answers on the activity page (student must print --> teacher must grade), it contains only a small amount of topics covered in each subject (particularly math), home access is only available for an additional cost. (However, it can be accessed prior to 5:30 PM at home on weekdays.), videos would require headphones for students to use independently in the classroom (in stations or working solo) unless done as an entire class activity which is what I have done in the past and its worked just as well. Quizzes must be printed or emailed to the teacher, making it difficult to grade since printing problems are likely and emails could be cumbersome. Assignments lack the ability to be altered and tailored to teachers needs. Teachers sometimes need to print the worksheets in advance (for activities and watching the video), make photocopies, and have them complete as they interact with the site (which is what I have done and it keeps the students on task and engages them.

Some opportunities that come from this app is that is helps to enhance or reinforce a lesson with video clips, uses quizzes to check comprehension, used as a pre or post activity explanation (good supplement for labs), additional activities included to reinforce concept, helps to entice visual and verbal learners, helps to add enrichment to lessons, it is also good to use as a center during differentiated instruction, and it allows students to work at their own individual level. Some ideas for the classroom is to show BrainPop videos as a transition between activities because the videos are great to introduce a new topic. Teachers can also have the class watch a video and come up with what they felt were the most important facts and see if those are similar to the quiz questions provided on the app. Students could create their own Brain Pop video to explain a process. Teachers can use this as a "center" in the classroom so students can rotate through while teacher works with small groups. Teachers can use this for a whole class review with teacher-created teams answering quiz questions for points. Teachers can print the quiz and use as an assessment for end of unit reviews and use videos to create WebQuests to increase student interaction. Teachers can also help reinforce reading skills by having students complete graphic organizers based on the video and integrate common core.

I have used Brain- pop in my classroom many times. It offers lessons in all subjects and has content for all grades. It has music and song sites for learning math and reading facts, history and science lessons, and ideas for non-traditional teaching. I use Brain Pop as an introduction to new topics or as a quick review of material for my science classes. Sometimes, we watch the videos as a whole class and then I will show the quiz. Next, I will randomly choose students to answer the questions correctly for a piece of candy, so they don't know who will get picked and they have to pay attention. They enjoy this and always ask if they can take the quiz! I have used many of the "activities" that are listed with the videos. Many of these activities are fun and quick ways to explore more of the topic. Sometimes as a pretest, I have students watch the video independently and then take the quiz. Their results help me determine how much they understand a topic and what extra information I need to cover. This can be a good indicator for planning lessons. Instead of taking the quiz, I will create a paper that has the questions on it and they can answer while they view the video independently. I also use Brainpop as a way to open students' minds to a new topic. I use it as a basis for an introductory discussion about what students were going to learn. The students were engaged and ready to learn even more, and when they went into specific vocabulary for certain  processes, many of the students would recognize the terms from the video!

I first realized how useful this product was by my mentor teacher. I have to believe that this is one of those systems that really work and that is why so many teachers use it to help their students remember information and new materials. It allows students to discover new material, and to test their knowledge. Students in the classroom are introduced to a BrainPOP lesson through the viewing of an animated video about a new subject. I was able to utilize the classroom SMARTboard to both play the video, and to allow the students to take an interactive quiz (also provided by the website).  While the students watch the video, they are actively engaged in the material and clearly demonstrate interest in what they are viewing.

One interesting factor about the BrainPOP website, is that this technology allows for student lead assessments. It creates an environment in which students are free to interact with each other, and have the opportunities to direct many aspects of their own lesson. Additionally, each lesson contains the same animated characters, and follows a similar basic format, allowing students to have an understanding of what to expect with each lesson. BrainPOP also provides options for game-based learning, and some content is available for download on smart phones. There are lessons designed at the Junior level (grades K-3), along with lessons created in Spanish. The accessibly and likability of the website has caused many students to pursue further learning about subjects they have learned in class, or to use the website to discover new material on their own. While some free content can be found on the BrainPOP website, the majority of lessons can be accessed as a result of a subscription purchase. Rates differ depending on whether the subscription is for home, school, or classroom use. 

The animated video lesson website, BrainPOP (http://www.brainpop.com) allows students to be presented with interactive lessons.  There seems to be somewhat of a sea change happening in this field. Educators are starting to believe what many researchers and advocates have long known: Video games can be excellent teaching tools and an effective way for students to learn. Although games can never replace the role of a teacher, games can accomplish a lot of things that traditional teaching methods can’t. Video games let students simulate historical events and scientific processes and experiment for themselves. Games can help get unmotivated students excited about math and ancient history, and reach students who don’t respond to conventional teaching methods. Aside from just teaching new concepts, video games can get students to apply critical-thinking and problem-solving to subjects they have already learned. When many people are asked why we should use games in education, they respond with answers like: “Kids love them!” “They are fun!” “Games engage students!” While these statements are true, they don’t tell us much about what makes them good for education. We all know that many kids love video games, but we need to understand how games engage and motivate kids, and why they are good educational tools.  Kids Feel Themselves Improving: Students become disheartened when they feel overwhelmed by large bodies of information and complex subjects. Most video games break down learning concepts into smaller goals and milestones. This makes the feeling of progress and improvement much more attainable and concrete, and students feel the immediate effects of their improvement as they become better at the game. Games Provide Instant Feedback and we all know that receiving feedback from teachers about one’s mistakes teacher is a crucial element for effective learning. However it often takes teachers time to grade and return work, and the feedback is not as effective. Games often provide instantaneous feedback to students, allowing them to simply try again and make the necessary corrections or adjustments to their approach. Corrective feedback is necessary for learning, and games provide an easy way to achieve this on an individual level.

Games Create Interactive Experiences and unlike receiving information passively from a lecture or a book, games allow students to actively interact with the subject matter. Educational games make learning an active and physical process. Games Allow Kids to Experience Alternate Realities and kids love to engage their imagination and play “make-believe,” experiencing fantasy worlds and taking on roles that are more exciting than their real-life existence. Games allow students to do this in a safe and structured way, creating immensely engaging experiences for children. This can be especially powerful in an educational setting. Simulation games let students experience historical periods or imaginary scenarios, helping them gain a better understanding of the time and motivations of the people involved. Players can experiment, make choices, and see the effects of their decisions, turning the abstract concepts that they are learning about into tangible experiences. Some skills in school (like learning the times tables) come to down to pure practice and repetitive drilling. Games can be a great way to motivate students and make these repetitive exercises fun. If you have ever watched a child play a video game for hours on end, you know the immense power that good video games have to motivate people. The intense motivation that games can foster increases students’ time on task, focus, and persistence through difficulties, leading to increased fluency and automaticity. Good educational games can use the same motivational techniques as commercial video games to motivate students, but instead of just entertaining themselves they are practicing different subjects.

Wishart mentions that we must help to deliver education in a new and improved way by integrating mobile learning into the classroom. One way to promote teacher comfort with technology is to integrate mobile learning technologies into teacher preparation programs. Wishart shared how teachers were able to successfully use PDAs to reflect on their teaching practices and record student data, including video-based student work samples. Although she highlights some barriers around restrictive policies regarding the use of personal Smartphones as well as some device specific limitations, teachers reported several benefits. What iPad and all forms of digital learning should do is to help prepare students for moments of interactive, complex, changing communication that is our Information Age.  This is the current age in which our students have inherited and will help to shape. There are many ways to learn. By supporting each individuals needs through the use of technology, it will allow students to receive a differentiated form of instruction by allowing them to go at their own pace. . As we know technology is part of our everyday lives. With new advancements in computers, software programs and handheld devices people are using these 'tools' for communication, scheduling, organization and of course for fun. So if we are using these devices in all aspects of our lives why not incorporate them into the classroom. Pasnik also supports the use of iPods in the classroom. In her paper she discusses how iPods can be a powerful educational tool for students. She outlines six key points of what an iPod can do in the educational setting. In the paper she explains that audio and video players equals multidimensional learning. With the use of iPods there is the potential to increase students' understanding of the material in different subject areas. Ipods can provide greater opportunities for students to extend their critical thinking skills and to build information literacy. And of course the iPod encourages media literacy.

For all the reasons I have mentioned, I believe that good educational games can be a fun and powerful way for kids to learn. They cannot replace the importance of a teacher, they are just one of many tools that teachers and parents can utilize to aid in a student’s education. However, there is still a disconnect between the quality of mass-market commercial video games and educational titles. We need educational games that are every bit as fun and compelling as traditional video games. We also need to teach educators and administrators the best way to utilize games effectively and implement them into their schools. This is still a new and growing field, and there is lots of room for improvement, but I am very excited about the potential that games hold for the future of education.

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Week 8 Post

The authors in this article Cognitive tutor: Applied research in mathematics education. developed a successful approach to computerized instruction called Cognitive Tutors. This article goes through some of the history of the cognitive tutor. Design of the tutors followed 8 principles derived from ACT-R: 1) Tutors should be informed by an accurate model of the target skill to set curricula objectives and interpret actions of the student, 2) Communicate the goal structure underlying problem solving, 3) Provide instruction in the problem-solving context, 4) Promote an abstract understanding of the problem-solving knowledge, 5) Minimize working memory load, 6) Provide immediate feedback on errors, 7) Adjust the grain size of instruction with learning, 8) Facilitate successive approximations to the target skill.

These tutors focus on the instruction of mathematics and are widely used. They are called Cognitive Tutors because they are built on cognitive models that solve problems in the same way that students do. They individualize instruction by two processes called model tracing and knowledge tracing. Model tracing uses a model of students' problem solving to interpret their actions. It does this by finding a path of cognitive decisions that produces a match to the observed actions. Given such an interpretation, the tutoring system is able to provide real-time instruction individualized to where a student is in the problem. The second process, knowledge tracing, involves inferring what skills the student has mastered and then selecting new problems and instruction suited to that student's knowledge state. They began to characterize problem solving as symbol manipulation and the search through a problem space of possibilities starting at a start state until reaching a goal state. They also began to characterize problem solver knowledge as a production system of condition and action rules.

While positive results have been reported for the tutoring systems, I feel that they are limited. One is diagnosing what a student is thinking. The only information available to a typical tutoring system comes from the actions that students take in the computer interface. The inference from such surface behavior to underlying thought is risky and also the accuracy of the cognitive models. The cognitive models in the tutors are quite basic relative to the complexity of the actual cognitive processes. The first question that came to my mind is how could this methodology actually be applied to a cognitive tutor, given that regular instruction is impractical? The potential application is not the delivery of instruction (which will still take place in classrooms and at home on a computer), but rather the development of the instruction. Teachers could evaluate different tutoring designs by seeing their consequences for the mental states of students

The ACT-R model of cognition the authors created was used to develop GPT and ANGLE, both cognitive tutors for geometry proofs. After field-testing and close work with experienced educators, the programs have proved to be educationally successful. The authors call for 4 components of "research-based curriculum: 1) solid theoretical foundation, 2) application of basic theory to particular domain and objectives of interest, 3) evaluation of results, 4) methodology for improving curriculum on the basis of use.

ACT-R is the primary theoretical basis of Cognitive Tutors. "The view that emerges from ACT-R is that learning is a process of encoding, strengthening, and proceduralizing knowledge.” The authors studied the reasoning involved in solving particular kinds of mathematics problems and distilled the procedural and declarative knowledge needed. From this they created an ACT-R model and cognitive tutor that can track the student's skills and suggest problems to strengthen weak links. If students are learning then they should make less errors on any given task over time. However, the activities given to students should progress in complexity as well so the percentage errors that they make should remain relatively constant. In order to achieve flow, there must be a balance of challenge and ability. It seems very likely that this would lead to a steady percentage error across time! As long as the percentage error is at the correct level, the students should presumably enter and maintain a state of flow. The system is able to collect an enormous number of observations that is then used to study and improve the cognitive model's ability to predict student achievement. For example, the model was over-predicting student's abilities to solve equations of the form ax = b. Analysis showed that the over prediction was due, in part, to the case where a = -1. Now, the cognitive tutor tests for problems with the related concept and provides extra practice if necessary.

As I reflect on Multimedia Design and Development, the principle that stands out most, is that multimedia is an instructional designer’s “power tool,” that can help a learner create a visual to enhance their learning. I’ve learned a lot about media design and development, and still feel there is more to learn. One thing that stands out most about multimedia is that an instructional designer has the ability to help learners to focus and build a mental model of a dynamic process, or the ability to create a distraction, causing cognitive overload and reduce effectiveness. Before taking this course, I was very aware that media could be used to motivate and focus learning.  I’ve have seen and have used media in such a way to make learning effective. However, I’ve also been on the flip side when media has been distracting during a lecture or graphics were unrelated to the concepts being taught, which in turn makes learning very difficult. I’ve learned how multimedia can be effectively leveraged to design good learning experiences in a few ways. The most important principal when using multimedia, is to know when and how to use animations appropriately. Mayer discusses fiver features that are the most effective in multimedia which include: 1. Systematicity – meaning the graphics lead the viewer to components of the system, their potential behaviors and the relations between the components. This helps the learner to build a mental model of the system. 2. Referencing – meaning the graphics have a relevancy and connection to the text. This helps the learner build connections between words and the graphics. 3. Conciseness – meaning the graphic is relevant and to the point without extraneous detail. This helps the learner to focus on the vital information in the message without distraction or confusion. 4. Sociability – meaning the audio component of spoken text is informal, conversational and humanistic. This helps the learner to accept the computer as a social partner and extend the same respect and openness as he or she would to another human being, which strengthens the learning process. 5. Conserving – meaning the words and pictures are cohesive and symbiotic without competing for attention in the visual channel. This helps the learner to keep his or her visual and verbal channels within a maintainable cognitive load.

Mayer mentions animated media - these technologies provide both animation and narration, utilizing both channels of processing. These tools can incorporate podcasts. In addition, pretraining components can be added to each module. Pretraining breaks down a whole piece of machinery into its component parts. Pretraining helps students build models of each part of the whole so they can better understand the following training (Mayer, 2007, 176). In addition, instructional designers would be able to incorporate branching options, so learners can progress at their own speed. Learners that master concepts would move on to the next topic, while those who do not would receive additional instruction. This could also act a bit like a flipped classroom model. If employees only need training in one module, the learner would have the option of completing only that module. Training can be accessed at anytime from anywhere. Since “the overarching principle guiding this work is that multimedia messages should be designed as an aid to how people learn. Thus, the starting point is to consider the learner’s cognitive processing, and the goal is to determine how multimedia messages can be designed to facilitate the learner’s cognitive processing” (Mayer, 174). Multimedia is not just about interactivity and “cool” tools or games.  There is a theory that underlies the use of multimedia. Mayer has taught me the multimedia principle that shows how learning is enhanced when audio and visual aids are used. The most important ideas I learned from Five features of effective multimedia messages: An evidence-based approach, revolved around how learners process information in regard to the use of multimedia in the instructional design process.  I have to make sure that in the design process, I reduce anything that is cognitively unnecessary.  Mayer calls this “extraneous processing,” and it happens when the learner has too much to focus on and gets lost in the learning process. Lessons have to be coherent.  The goal, as I have learned in this course, should be to focus the attention of learners on the instructional goal.  If I do this as an instructional designer, then I can manage what Mayer refers to as “essential processing” meaning that items are placed appropriately within the multimedia or text design. These were ideas I had not previously considered, but I know they are an integral part of ensuring that learners are able to meet the instructional goal.  Along with managing processing comes the idea of “fostering generative processing” in which learners take what they are learning and apply it to new and different. This is key for effective multimedia design because it produces transfer of material and knowledge; and it means the learner is thinking more critically and solving problems.  They have the basic foundation, but generative fostering leads them to problem solve and become invested in their own learning.  Bridging the gap between learning the material and using it relevantly is now more important than ever.  Another major idea I have come away with is that I have to teach my learners to move beyond rote memorization or drill and kill practices. With the advent of countless Web 2.0 tools, come greater responsibility and a critical need for instructional designers to teach learners how to effectively use multimedia tools.  As a high school educator, I can help my student’s bridge book knowledge with real world practice.  I am astounded at just how much technology has changed in the classroom.  Students are more likely to use multimedia and social networks.  It only makes sense that I include the use of these when appropriate in my instructional design.  My students live in a world that is fast moving and where knowledge is changing.  My students have to be able to work alone and with others while efficiently using multimedia tools. Online instruction should employ interaction to compel the learner to actively participate.  Moreover, learners have to engage in active demonstration of information in order for it to become meaningful. 

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Week 7 Post

Clearly there are advantages and disadvantages to e-readers just as there are for print books. The new e-readers on the market are creating a lot of excitement. Sales of e-readers like Kindle and e-books from Amazon.com and other web outlets are skyrocketing. This is a good thing for reading and for books. Many e-reader owners are also increasing their purchase of print books. Reading and books have changed by technology in the past and will continue to change with the technology of the future. Each development brings a larger base of readers as books become more affordable and more accessible. So are we a nation of readers or e-readers, and is there a difference? While e-reading is soaring, it still occupies a small portion of the book market. Clearly there has been a change going on in what we read, where we read it, and how we read. The Internet has provided opportunities for new kinds of reading – email, blogs, Facebook, websites. This is reading that did not exist 20 years ago. As online reading has flourished it has taken the place of other forms of reading like books. 
A positive impact of digital reading is the development of digital reading devices. Dedicated e-readers as well as tablets and smartphones are bringing people back to the reading of books. People are reading these e-books in places and at times previously not used for books. Whether in hardcover, paperback, or digital text, people are immersing themselves in literature. We are a nation of readers and e-readers. As long as we read good, quality literature, it does not matter the format. Let us celebrate books and e-books, reading and e-reading and bring these tools to our schools to develop the next generation of readers.

In Terje Hillesund article Digital reading spaces: How experts readers handle books, the Web and electronic paper, there is a focus on changing reading characteristic among group of expert readers. The article talks about how long-term texts can be transferred into the digital reading space. There are two challenges, the first is to replicate conditions for continuous imaginary reading and the second is to create favorable conditions for sustained reflective reading. In my opinion, a flexible design will make digital texts accessible in formats fit for their actual use. Some academic projects are engaged in development research and IT companies — such as Adobe, Microsoft and Google — are working on a variety of digital text solutions for newspapers, magazines and books. Tool builders would have greater success if digital tools were more in line with the ways in which literacy events actually take place. By including a physical and material perspective in reading research, and by broadening studies to include different age groups and circumstances, a richer description of reading may result and probably a better understanding of how reading and technology interact in real–life situations. Such insight might assist developers and companies in their efforts to create enhanced reading applications and devices. It might even contribute in bringing texts from the cultural heritage into the digital domain in fashions that secure links to the times–long tradition of written discussion. However, there are just expert readers mentioned and the main problem lies somewhere else. What about non-experts? Or even children? There is a great need to teach and learn media literacy to enable non-expert readers to find relevant texts and to critically judge them, especially because the Internet provides a number of different texts and contents. Reading technologies are developing fast, but a huge segment of people do not follow. According to what I have mentioned above, there is a good reason to question the popular assumption that children are cyber experts. It seems that they do not always find online contents and services easy to access and use in a manner that both meets their needs and avoids the attendant risks. For example, many young people have yet to learn adequate techniques for accessing and searching content, and their critical and creative skills remain undeveloped and often little practiced. That is why we first should teach children and youth how to read reflectively. Only then digital reading will be successful and only then great digital reading landscapes will be 
beneficial for society.

In order to explore new online reading strategies, necessary to learn within new informational environment such as Internet, there are three perspectives that came to my mind.
The first perspective views reading as an active, constructive and meaning-making process. According to this perspective, readers actively construct meaning as they interact with text. Expert readers use a range of strategic cognitive processes to select, organize, connect, and evaluate what they read. These strategies include asking questions, developing connections, and making inferences. In addition, readers use their existing knowledge to more clearly understand new ideas encountered within texts. Use of informational texts, in particular, requires readers to attend to structural text features, interpret their intended meanings, and evaluate the relevancy of certain text portions in relation to the task. It would make sense, then, that these strategies would also play a role in online reading comprehension. 
A second perspective is new literacies. The construction of new literacies means many things to many people. Some define new literacies as social practices or new discourses that emerge with new technologies. Others see new literacies as new cultural contexts made possible by new technologies. According to this new literacies perspective, reading comprehension becomes an important issue to study because new comprehension skills, strategies, and dispositions may be required to generate questions, and to locate, evaluate, synthesize and communicate information on the Internet. 
A third perspective was cognitive flexibility. The Internet requires readers to draw from and integrate multiple knowledge structures while adapting to the rapid changes from one reading situation to the text. Internet readers are called upon to construct meaning of the text and to construct it through flexible choices of relevant hyperlinks or icons. Thus, reading in Internet contexts requires the ability to flexibly reassemble existing knowledge with new knowledge applications customized to each new reading situation. While looking at these three overlapping perspectives, we should explore the nature of reading comprehension strategies prompted by Internet texts. In order to have successful outcomes both inside and outside of the classroom, strategies like these must come into play. Even though our students are digital natives, they still have difficulty interpreting and developing skills to make the connections through literacy. This is a big problem, especially when common core is thrown into the mix. Yes, my students can probably work an iPhone, tablet, and navigate through a computer faster and better than I can. As far as having the skills to navigate through the text, and then interpret, develop, and connect the text cognitively my students struggle immense amounts. It is not because our world does not focus on literacy because we do, but now I feel digital technology is focused on a lot more, and literacy/text is becoming a thing of the past and is not focused on as much in schools as it was when my parents or even I was in grade school. This is a problem in schools today, and can potentially get worse as time goes on. Common Core Curriculum is trying to ensure that literacy is used everyday in every curriculum. Many parents and educators are upset over the harsh standards children are being held to, and I do agree that it is a lot for their little brains to handle. However, I do feel that holding students accountable for developing the skills necessary to interpret the text needs to be done, because instead of students actually reading, reflecting, and responding with their own thoughts they just use others thoughts without thinking twice about what the text is really saying, and this is why our students cannot read/interpret text. Yes I do believe that digital literacy and text can be a positive addition to our society, but it has to be used and integrated correctly.

The New York Times, “Math That Moves:  Schools Embrace the iPad,” by Winnie Hu: discusses an attempt across the country to put iPads into high school classrooms in an effort to improve math ability. I do feel that if we change the technology but not the method of learning, then we are throwing our money away because the iPad will act as nothing but a toy. You’re giving kids a very fancy model with enormous educational potential and, because they are kids, they will find exciting things to do with it. Many of those things will be beneficial, exciting, and will help them be more proficient in the 21st century world of new forms of communication and interaction.  If you leave kids to their own devices they will also find ways to learn.  The iPad distribution is just fine and the user interface on tablet computers is appealing, the multidisciplinary possibilities inventive, and the potential for downloading apps for just about anything which helps to make the iPad a flexible, smart device.  However, the downside is that it is not a classroom-learning tool unless we restructure the classroom.  There is absolutely no benefit in giving students iPads in school if we don’t change school instruction. Without the right pedagogy, without a significant change in learning goals and practices, the iPad’s potential is limited. The iPad is great, but it misses the real point of education as well as the full potential of the device.  What iPad and all forms of digital learning should do is to help prepare students for moments of interactive, complex, changing communication that is our Information Age.  This is the current age in which our students have inherited and will help to shape. There are many ways to learn. The problem is that we choose one way for all students to learn which doesn’t work for all of our students/learners. Some students would work better and develop more skills in a classroom where there are iPads and digital devices at their finger tips, while others could sit in a classroom and learn the old fashion way. However, with changing times and the way our world is being shaped with new these new innovative technologies, what student wouldn’t want to learn with an iPad? I certainly know all of my students would fly off the handle if I walked into my classroom tomorrow and handed them out all iPads, and then told them this is the new and improved way of how we are going to learn in the classroom. The real trick for teachers is-- okay here is the iPad, now what are you going to do with it and how will you use it to effectively teach students the proper concepts and skills they need in order to be successful in their education? This question is still being answered, and I am looking forward to seeing what will come into play with the use of iPads in our classrooms in the future. 

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Week 6 Post

In the article Savannah: Mobile gaming and learning? The purpose of the study was to explore how mobile gaming, physical movement in connection with interactive gaming, can effectively work as a teaching and learning tool. This study aimed to teach the group of students about the behaviors of lions in the Savannah using an interactive environment and mobile gaming devices. This study was conducted with children aged eleven to twelve and ran twice. Each trial took two days to complete, with the first day acting as a sort of “tutorial” where the children were able to explore their environment and learn how to use the equipment, and the second day acting as a opportunity to use those new found skills in scenarios presented by the game servers (hunger, heat exhaustion, bush fires, angry elephants). Each student was given a GPS that would track him or her as they moved around the playing field, and a personal digital assistant (PDA) that acted as their main method of interaction with the game. This PDA allowed them to interact with the virtual world by communicating what their lion saw, smelt, and heard through the use of pictures and voice commands. Additionally, there was a room known as the “Den” that the children would return to when the simulation had concluded. Here, the students were to reflect upon their experiences with the guidance of the teacher. With the use of an interactive flip chart, the students were able to see their movements across the playing field and view the locations of the markers they posted. At the conclusion of the study, it was seen that the students were able to make the connection between what they were doing in the game and how a lion would need to behave in the wild. It was interesting to see how the students quickly learned that they had to work together to take down larger prey, which preys to avoid, which situations were safe and which were dangerous, and how to keep their energy levels up. In the debriefing (the “Den” discussions), the students were saying “I actually thought that what was on the screen was actually what was real”, “It felt like Africa”, and “When there were flies I was like [turning head, to check where the flies were]”. This showed that the students were connecting with what it meant to be a lion in the Savannah, effectively learning about animal behaviors. Undetermined to be concluded was the question of whether this method taught the students more effectively than conventional classroom methods. However, it was definitely realized that this method could connect with the students and allow them to absorb the intended information while remaining entertained. I do believe that gaming can have a positive effect on students and their learning, however what worries me is how “real” this actually is. Technology today is still very new to education and being that it is new, how effective could this be in an everyday classroom. I feel that this is definitely headed in the right direction, but this needs to be studied much further and explored in ways that would truly be an effective teaching tool in the classroom.

Augmented reality is not new technology, but is being more widely used and researched for educational purposes. As educators find new means of uses in course curriculum more questions are posed for research opportunities. One specific opportunity for research occurred as a direct result of new applications of augmented reality to science classes. When students come within approximately 10 feet of these
digital artifacts, the AR and GPS software triggers video, audio, and
text files.  Students then work collaboratively on problem solving
challenges based on these narrative, navigation, and collaboration
clues. This type of interactive, mobile gaming augments students’
experiences by providing physical, interactive, situated, and
collaborative learning activities via the handheld devices. In the article, Mad City Mystery: Developing Scientific Argumentation Skills with a Place-based Augmented Reality Game on Handheld Computers many people questioned the application of augmented reality to building inquiry skills used in science. Squire and Jan (2007) conducted a designed based research project that compared three case studies of students in an environmental science game. They came from an elementary school, a middle school, and an alternative high school with a wide range of experiences. The students’ ages ranged from nine to fifteen, and all read around an eighth grade level. The students participated in an augmented mystery game on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The game started with a mysterious death and was followed by the students collecting data, accessing documents, and using inquiry based skills to connect information. After each case study was complete the information was compared to search for evidence that inquiry skills can be enhanced through the game based augmented reality. Squire and Jan (2007) concluded that inquiry based science skills can be developed using augmented reality. As for the method, it seems like it has potential. I do like the Sherlock Holmes style of gameplay that requires the students to go from an end event and retrace the steps backward asking specific questions. This is missing from higher education. I would like to see sustained use through multiple grades. My concern about this game, however, is the openness regarding the gameplay. The authors state that there are many reasons why the person might have died and it is up to the students to make a storyline. The issue I have with this is that there appeared to be no wrong answers. While I agree that the path should be complex for the children to ask deeper questions, it is unclear if they tend to start going down the wrong path if they are nudged back in the right direction. It is easy to rationalize mistakes and seem like a logical conclusion was made. Augmented reality is an emerging technology that has been applied to many facets of life. While research in augmented reality has been focused in a variety of areas including student perception, teacher application, and academic growth many questions are left to be answered. Current research is becoming more available and producing new questions that will be addressed as time moves forward and technology continues to increase in availability and use. Many new opportunities for engaging students are being enabled through augmented reality.  There are firm theoretical foundations for using this within any curriculum.  Augmented reality can fit in to any type of education whether it is a virtual environment or a face-to-face environment.  Though the technology itself its not new, augmented reality is new to the world of education.  Augmented reality can be a useful tool in many educational areas such as, but not limited to, science, math and reading.  As it is used more and more in education, research continues to be done.  Though there are limitations that should not discourage educators from exploring this tool with their students in the classroom.

http://www.usdla.org/html/journal/FEB02_Issue/article01.html

The article that I picked was, GROWING UP DIGITAL How the Web Changes Work, Education, and the Ways People Learn by John Seely Brown. It discusses how a relatively newly invented tool, the Internet, has been affecting our lives since the early 1960s, in just as dramatic a way, and more recently especially in the field of education.

Brown argues that Internet is an environment in which working, playing, and learning co-mingle. Internet provides us with the ability to “navigate through complex information spaces”. In addition, Internet is a method of learning through informal teachings, and based on a series of repetitive actions. Another social impact of Internet is on the new generation, digital kids. The Internet has made it accessible to the new generation to “learn learning”. In order for powerful learning to occur you have to “look to both the cognitive and the social dimensions” And the only way to accomplish that is “two-way radios”. What makes this experimental environment of learning distinctive from any other is the almost intangible border between teaching and learning. In other words, we are all part consumers and part producers. We read and write on the Internet. Also based on this work, other inventions like Eureka (which makes ideas and stories more accessible within a community of people) and prototype system (a new way of capturing and storing video on a digital media server) can be very helpful tools of learning, which are only possible because of the web’s recent developments. In the end, Internet has created a discovery-based learning environment, which blurs the line between teacher and student, to a great collaborative unit. 

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Samantha Horowitz and Erika Reisman’s Week 6 Podcast…..Augmented Mobile Gaming: It’s Potentials and Challenges. Enjoy!

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Hi Everyone! 

Here is my mobile computing interview! I hope you enjoy the content and knowledge I gained from this are able to take away a new perspective to mobile technology as a whole! Mobile computing is a part of our everyday lives and it will eventually consume the way we communicate and live our lives!

Enjoy! 

-Erika :) 

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Reading Response Week 5

In the article, Castells touches on many issues in which I already knew but I didn’t realize it based on the way he presents it. For example, the “ongoing transformation of communication technology in the digital age extends the reach of communication media to all domains of social life.” (Castells, 2007). I did know this, I experience it every day, but it is impressing to become aware how much media influences us. For example we can get the latest news the whole day, even in the night. In the past, without Internet, this was not possible. Castells examines the interaction between communication and power relationships in the network society. He argues media has become the space where power is decided. The rise of mass self-communication is growing as a result of the growth of platforms for horizontal communication such as MySpace, Facebook and YouTube. It is mass because of its global reach, and it is self-directed and produced by “many that communicate with many” (p. 248). He refers to the growth of mass self-communication as “electronic autism”. I got the feeling that he says that we are more socialized with the Internet. I don’t know whether you can describe it as more or less socialized. When you describe, “socialized” as communicating with others as much as possible and often as possible, we can say that we became more socialized. On the other hand, for me, “socialized” means interacting with people personally. Do you think you are socialized when you only communicate through a mobile phone or Internet? I am torn on this issue. Castells take on the emergence of counter-power where he highlights how people push for their agenda using their blogs is particularly interesting. This has created a new twist as media corporations search for these blogs to pick up materials for the mainstream media. Castells calls for “more critical work on the interaction between the political and social actors and media business in both mass and networked media and among different media systems.” This article shows exactly how different platforms in the Internet are changing the way power is negotiated, and somehow presses readers to think where these power negotiations will lead. In the end, Castells concludes that “our societies continue to perform socially and politically by shifting the process of formation of the public mind from political institutions to the realm of communication, largely organized around the mass media” (Castells, 2007). I agree to some extent, because I do think that the mass media becomes more important but there are already some limitations. In the past you could see nearly every music video on YouTube. Now this is not possible anymore. There are also many songs, which are not allowed to play in some countries. Technology has already changed the society into the world we know today. For example, the Internet decides how we spend our day. Without a computer or internet, we would probably spend more time outside, but since the internet became such an important part of our life, our daily behavior is influenced by it.

 On the other hand I do understand why Castells could be negative about the new network society; it makes everything less personal. For example this blog, it would be a totally different experience when we would talk about this topic in person. Now we use the Internet, because it is easier and you can read the blogs of the other students everywhere. But it is a new development that changes the old communication patterns into a less personal version. 
I personally do like new technologies because it creates new options and allows exploration to flourish, but I also feel in order to have a personal experience I have to have a face-to-face interaction for it to seem personal. 

         Technology is not only a part of society, but it produces society as well. Technology is not only a part of society, but it produces society as well. One of the pieces of media that I looked at was “We are the 99 percent” and “NYPD Police Pepper Spray Occupy Wall Street Protesters (Anthony Balogna)” which just showed how technology gives society a voice in todays world.  Today our society is using their voice in ways to hurry up movements by protesting and giving themselves a voice in this democracy we have. Our society focuses on the voice we have rather than on what we don’t have.  This type of media that is used allows individuals to have a voice and become passionate about what they believe in. This allows them to express what they feel and then the photographs, videos, mobile devices, and online sites speak for themselves.

         Doctorow’s definition of “techno-optimism” as he notes, is the belief that unless we do something to affect the balance between “open vs. closed” technology then “technology could be used to make the world worse.” Just how far should we go to advance Doctorow’s vision and “steer” technology in a better direction? This lays the difference between a ‘‘technology activist’’ and ‘��an activist who uses technology’’ – the former highlights tools that are safe for their users; the later arranges tools that accomplish some activist goal. The trick for technology activists is to help activists who use technology to appreciate the hidden risks and help them find or make better tools. That is, to be pessimists and optimists: without expert collaboration, activists might put themselves at risk with poor technology choices; with collaboration, activists can use technology. All the time we talk about technology as a means to make the world better. But for the most part it seems to me a new technology is hoped for to fix the problems the old one has created. Especially when we are talking about social problems. From where I stand we could, as a society, just say no sometimes (or yes). We don’t want this or we want that. Thus interpreting certain technologies unrelated, whether they already exist or are hoped for. There always seems to be this one-sided focus on the role of technology, which is about the role of will and choice.

      In Reassembling the Social Bruno Latour reevaluates the ambiguous term ‘the social.’ He claims that the dominant trend within sociology has been to conceive of the social as a given totality, “always already there,” which provides a solid base for understanding any other phenomena (p. 5-8). Only to the extent that the thinker pays attention to all the agents and relations involved in a given assemblage, he writes, does she have any right to suggest a unifying theory of the whole (p. 5). His well-intentioned saying for the social scientist is “follow the actors themselves,” learn from them what the collective existence has become in their hands” (p. 12). Latour introduces ANT not as a theory, but as a method, which main principle is in fact following the actors (p. 12), i.e. tracing their multiple associations and translations. In this sense, the ’social’ becomes a mode of associations (p. 9) between heterogeneous (human and non-human) actors, made by the actors themselves. This also ties into Mayers article Quasi-groups In The Study of Complex Societies and how they both emphasize on the actors and how their associations undergo a metamorphosis process (translation) in each mode of grouping. So ANT obviously describes a field of controversies and uncertainties, about groups, actions, objects, matters of facts or even the research-approach itself, but depends on the very results of concrete collections. The need to include the agency of objects in our understanding of sociality, but instead of interpreting society and social practices as human products, we should acknowledge that subject and object are co-equal partners in sociality. Subjects and objects both participate in social practices; they mutually create and are part of interwoven and dynamic links in our social reality.  I think that if we want to be able to understand how automated social networking redefines our current notion of creating and maintaining social networks, we should trace the connections between the human and the object in this process. By tracing the actions of subjects and objects we will be able to study the content of connected social networks and their effects more thoroughly.

      The Internet has the transformative powers of the web to change society for the better. Part of a reason that governments in these countries do not want the Internet being used is that they don’t want the rest of the world to know what is happening in their countries. Morozov said in this RSA animation presentation that if social networking had existed in the 90’s, that the genocide in Rwanda wouldn’t have happened. The reason why I believed this is that information about what is going on in the world hits the Internet rapidly fast. Think about how many news articles are posted daily around the globe through the Internet? We use the Internet as an outlet to communicate with the rest of the world to inform what is going on in society. A lot of these countries that censor their citizens from using the Internet do not want to conform to western values. Leaders in countries such as Iran and Liberia think the Internet gives the people of their country too much thought, expression and freedom to say how they are feeling. People in these eastern countries confuse the intended uses of technology for the actual uses of technology. What people in these countries don’t realize is that blogging about issues in their countries are actually helpful rather than harmful. Government leaders may come across with people stating the issues in their country and actually fix them. When the government fixes issues that their citizens are not happy about, it actually leads to a better economy, a happier society, and less violence as well as protesting. It would be a very good thing for these countries to see outside views and opinions that people have about their countries being ran. The Internet in countries with a democracy is empowering citizens to state how they feel and the people in these countries can express their problems without being repressed. In Egypt, Iran and China; the Internet there is censoring citizens and not allowing them to have the freedom to use the Internet.

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Samantha Horowitz & Erika Reisman’s Slidecast References:

Fidler, R. (2012, June 4). Who uses mobile media devices?. Retrieved from http://rjionline.org/news/2012-rji-mobile-media-news-consumption-survey-executive-summary‬

Williams, T. (2011, December 1st). Why schools need to get social,...

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Mobile Media By Samantha Horowitz & Erika Reisman

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Week 4 Reading

Most schools have a ban on the use of handheld devices within the classroom. Students are not permitted to have their iPod, iPhone or any other device out in the classroom for the reason being that students will be texting and therefore distracted from their learning. I for one am somewhat against my students having their phone in out in class because I see it as a distraction, rather than an educational tool. However in middle school it is not as big of a problem as it is in older grades such as high school. When I was a substitute teacher in high school the students would be on their phones as much as they possibly could. All students’ want is to be on their phones, but schools today find it more as a distraction to students learning then beneficial and a useful tool. But is this ban the correct answer? Is there a way to make these mobile devices part of the classroom and curriculum experience? There is some evidence indicating the positive aspects of iPod use in the classroom. As we know technology is part of our everyday lives. With new advancements in computers, software programs and handheld devices people are using these 'tools' for communication, scheduling, organization and of course for fun. So if we are using these devices in all aspects of our lives why not incorporate them into the classroom. Pasnik also supports the use of iPods in the classroom. In her paper she discusses how iPods can be a powerful educational tool for students. She outlines six key points of what an iPod can do in the educational setting. In the paper she explains that audio and video players equals multidimensional learning. With the use of iPods there is the potential to increase students' understanding of the material in different subject areas. Ipods can provide greater opportunities for students to extend their critical thinking skills and to build information literacy. And of course the iPod encourages media literacy. I think that ipods can be very beneficial, but before allowing them to become part of our classroom there needs to be some professional development of how we can use it and make it an educational experience. Too often teachers are afraid that this technology will act more like a game and less like a lesson/learning experience. Pasnik explains that storage capacity and authoring tools equals personalized learning. Combining iTunes with iLife allows students to be their own creators of media products. Therefore, developing skills in self-expression and creativity and also supporting portfolio content creation. The simple design of the iPod equals pervasive learning. The iPod can deliver content in a variety of ways therefore differentiating instruction and reaching all types of learners. Its simple design helps to support time management skills for both teachers and students, freeing up class time for discussions. This led me to think of a flipped classroom. Where the students would engage in their own learning and then class time could be used for discussions and other useful instructional strategies. Students need to stay up to date with their skills and tools available but teachers must do the same. The iPod can assist teachers through the use of podcasts to hear from other teachers' reflections of their classrooms and instructional strategies. I think this tool would be very beneficial for teachers because they can collaborate easily and effectively with one another without having to do much. Pasnik also brought up the price of the iPod. It can provide us with affordable teaching and learning strategies/techniques. Its simple, the iPod is inexpensive in comparison to the laptop or computer and brings with it similar features. Not all schools can afford to buy laptops for their district because they are very expensive, however, ipods seem to be less expensive now then they were a couple of years ago. Why not allow our students and teachers to experience a differentiated form of learning and teaching.

In Mobile learning transforming the delivery of education and training, Wishart mentions that we must help to deliver education in a new and improved way by integrating mobile learning into the classroom. One way to promote teacher comfort with technology is to integrate mobile learning technologies into teacher preparation programs. Wishart shared how teachers were able to successfully use PDAs to reflect on their teaching practices and record student data, including video-based student work samples. Although she highlights some barriers around restrictive policies regarding the use of personal Smartphones as well as some device specific limitations, teachers reported several benefits. It definitely makes sense that if teachers learn through these teacher preparation programs and ongoing professional development they will use these mobile technologies and feel more comfortable using this technology in their own classrooms. If we don’t give the proper training to our teachers they are going to be fearful of incorporating these technologies into their coursework. By giving them training and a mentor to help them, it gives teachers support and diminishes their fears of not knowing what to do or how to enhance their ways of teaching with the technology at hand.

In Designing mobile communication tools: A framework to enhance motivation in online learning environments the author discussed collaboration between learners through social interaction because it helps encourage learning and inspires students to obtain the knowledge needed to succeed. They discussed cooperative learning groups, which helps each student feel recognized for their efforts and therefore helps the learner’s motivation to increase.  I enjoy discussion forums and collaboration with my peers. I feel like I actually get something out of the course and the content. I also feel that social media plays an extensive role in online learning environments, such as videos, live streams, and digital representations. I am a visual learner, as well as many other individuals, and I do believe that in order for an online course to be successful there must be differentiated types of instruction implemented into the design of the course. It helps to start self-managing and makes it easier to stay on task. Support for online learning (distance learning) comes in a variety of ways such as, advising, counseling, coaching, mentoring, and supporting with technology and the website. I think this is a great way to facilitate online learning. Some learners need that hands-on interaction, face-to-face interaction where they can connect not only what they are learning but whom they are connecting it with. I think this is a great way to support all types of learners, and can help students who are new to this kind of format not shy away or be intimidated by this type of educational learning. Sometimes online learning can only provide a certain level or type of support, but what about our other learners who do not feel comfortable with it? Bringing in other ways to provide support can help them feel more at ease with the programs and learning at a distance. Learners engage more successfully when they have control, skirts the deeper cognitive issues of how learners connect to, or feel ownership of their learning. Today’s learners probably feel more of a connection to online learning since this is the generation and age they have grown up in. They are constantly on their phones, tablets, computers, etc… It is something they did not need to adjust to, but rather they were born into. They are digital natives and since they are born into the world with all of these electronic resources and materials, it will rise in popularity overtime. Just like learners who grew up in a generation that liked paper-based resources, they will always support that way of learning rather than electronic resources made available. This is why our parents and grandparents generation feels more comfortable with paper-based resources, and why our generation can go both ways, as well as why younger generations are glued to electronic resources. It will only increase and change overtime and I am looking forward to the new ways of learning that are coming our way. 

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Where I Am From Poem:

I am from a small family. I am from stories my grandparents have told me. From laughter and sadness. I am from happiness and carefree. From running around and staying up late. I am from long car rides home. From sing-alongs, to games galore. I am from coffee, which I cannot live without.

I am from moments that are kept safe in my mind and photographs. I am from loving memories that will never be forgotten, of albums that hold these memories, faces that bring happiness, and individuals whose humors brought laughter and joy. I am from those moments, that we’re snapped to be remembered. I am from where I have been, and where I am going.

I am from adventure and travel. From wonders all over the world, places I cherish with my heart. I am from the decisions I have made,from the most difficult to the simplest kind.

I am from home, a place filled with love, joy, and laughter. I am from my parents advice and guidance. From “I believe in you.” And “It’s okay, you will achieve your goals, just have patience.” I am from friends who always know how to make my day. Memories new and old, laughter until my stomach hurts.

I am from a history of hardships. From accepting and forgiving, but never forgetting. I am from making my dreams come true. I am from a school, a teacher changing lives, for the world to remember. I am a beautiful journey.

Photos and poem have been posted from my iPhone! :)

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Week #3 Post

I really enjoyed the readings and video this week. There are some practices in which I completely agree with and others that have me on the edge. I can see both sides to certain issues, which is why our world is so split when it comes to issues in education and technology. Papert explains that students learn when they are engaged in constructing a public entity – “learning by making”. Constructionism emphasizes the significance of the publication and sharing of students’ end products as a key factor that motivates their learning. By using a variety of software’s in class, we can uncover various ways to get students motivated by sharing their work and help to fulfill meaningful learning experiences.

The implementation of one to one laptop programs in schools is seen to be beneficial for both teachers and students. As a science teacher, bringing laptops into a classroom is not only beneficial but there are also many ways to differentiate instruction. Where one student may be struggling and another may be exceling, by using these laptops in instruction, it can really help every student and in different ways. I believe that in order for such a program to be successful there must be a change in the attitudes and beliefs of administration and teachers. Administration must support the use of laptop technology in the classroom and provide teachers with the needed training. If teachers are not given the proper training how can we expect teachers to give students these opportunities? Penuel discusses that prior to the implementation of one to one program teachers must receive professional development support in order for the program to be successful. I am a firm believer in professional development. If administration wants me to implement certain teaching practices into my instruction then I need to be fully made aware of what I will be incorporating. They also need to provide the resources for teachers, in order to feel comfortable with the tasks at hand. Penuel also discusses that laptop computers, have the ability to assist with the collaborative learning process. I think this is absolutely true because students who use laptop computers are more apt to direct their own learning through active learning activities. In our world today and in education, personal computers are another tool for learning that needs to be utilized to extend skills rather than as an alternative writing/presentation tool. Teachers need to explore the opportunities to teach with the available programs and focus on individual needs and strengths. Further, computers remain a tool that is not always the best fit for instruction. Rather, using discussion in group situations may be better at certain times, as well as individual work and group work in which they all have a place in education.

I think that what teachers or instructors believe about technology also effects their decisions on whether they use it or not. Penuel brings up an extremely great point. Teachers which have more student-centered beliefs tend to use online learning in more meaningful ways, utilizing the technology with more inquiry-based activities.  On the other hand, if the teacher doesn’t believe that the technology aligns with the curriculum, if the teacher doesn’t feel that they are prepared, or are not confident with using the technology, then they tend not to use the technology. Personal development does help with this problem. Instructors very comfortable with their subject matter are more likely to take risks using technology. I see this everyday where I teach. The younger teachers are more apt to implement technology and online learning in their classrooms, where other teachers who are older dont feel as comfortable with the technology at hand. Administration should provide ways to help educators who aren't familiar or are uncomfortable with the different technology. Should technology be more than just improving what educators are already doing? Should it be changing the system?

Supporters of computers for education believe in its capacity as a worldwide machine. There is no better technology for storing, processing, displaying, and allowing interaction with information. Negroponte adds a further point that programming a computer is like teaching it. The underlying issue is that education requires prolonged motivation, either internally generated or externally motivated. Children have a lot of internal curiosity, which requires good adult guidance required for a good education. Today’s technology can/cannot provide that motivation. Learning is a social process that thrives due to human encouragement, approval, guidance, direction, etc., and all preferably from adults who are caring, educated, and attentive. As for “teaching” laptops through programming, programming does require deep understanding, but how does a child acquire that deep understanding in the first place? I took a course a couple of semesters back called “Introduction to Computer Programming” and could not have gotten through the course if it was just the laptop and myself teaching me what to do. Not only did I have to understand how to program, but I had to understand the language that was used to program. Some students will be able to use a computer and teach themselves what to do. They will be able to educate themselves, but then you have other students who have a tough time understanding information and need guidance or other ways in which it can be taught. This would then lead to suggest that a laptop can be enough for a child to learn the substantial content of formal education, but it can also not be enough for others in which children need that guidance, and direction to fully be successful. Children can learn how to read on their own, but the important thing is that their surroundings are stimulating. For example, in my classroom I am always encouraging them to read articles pertaining to science and to write a one page summary of what they read and why they think its important/useful. If we encourage students to become literate members of our society eventually they will think nothing of it and WANT to do it, instead of having to do the work. The most important thing is that in education, whether or not its teachers who encourage students, the community, or the student’s parents at home, it has to make them eager to learn to read. It is important to just inspire children to learn and give them the basic resources.

Kids need people to teach them, and the tablets and computers should be used to reinforce that knowledge and to put that knowledge to use. Learning a subject is not something that comes naturally. But, cumulative knowledge cannot be gained from a simple tablet, no matter how sophisticated the software or device. People learn best by imitating and from first hand instruction and from others' experiences. The biggest obstacle to learning via tablets or computers is the discipline, which will be lacking with those "students". Once they learn to "play" with them, and perhaps even pick up some real knowledge, they will become bored and tired of them, and they'll be right back at square one, where the need for a "teacher" will be most important. A teacher does not have to be someone with a 4 or 6-year degree from a university, and could be anyone with valuable information that can be shared. The quest for knowledge is universal, and yes, a teacher would be a great thing, but that requires a person to be present and willing and able, which is probably hard to find in Ethiopia for free. Sure these kids will probably play more games than not, but eventually they will ask questions of things they're interested in, and the tablets could provide them with that. Many individuals can learn EVERYTHING about what they want to know/learn on the Internet! (Not through courses, but through forums, tutorials, etc.) The general public is the teacher, and can be theirs too!

I find that the biggest obstacle to learning is not having a teacher. Can you figure out how to get a teacher for these kids for $35? That's the price of the One Laptop per Child machine that is being manufactured in India.  It may be that a human teacher could do a better job, but this technology is going to make it possible to reach millions and millions of people who would otherwise receive no education. We have a billion illiterate people in this world, one tablet can teach a family. And not just make them literate, but also open the world of information that is available on the web. 

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Tech Report

Hi Everyone!

Sam and I are interested in researching mobile media (video, audio, animations, web/html/css, etc). Anyone who would like to jump on board is more than welcome! :):)

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Haha what our world is coming to! #postedfrommyphone😃😃

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Reading Response Week #2

In the text “Situated Cognition and the Culture of Learning” from John Seely Brown, Allan Collins and Paul Duguid. They discuss “that knowledge is situated, being in part a product of the activity, context, and culture in which it is developed and used” The authors think that the activity in which knowledge is developed and implemented is not independent from cognition and learning. So, learning and cognition are essentially situated. As a science teacher I am always trying to engage my students both at home and inside my classroom. One idea that really drew me in was the idea of learning and tools. The authors state, “Conceptual knowledge is (…) similar to a set of tools.” It made me think of my students and the content they are learning in 8th grade. The concepts are very abstract and their tiny little brains are exploding with the material they will be assessed on at the end of the year. Through instruction it is a vital part to not only talk about the tools and how they are used, but to have the students ACTUALLY DO IT! Tools can only be fully understood through use. Using these tools can help to change the student’s view of the world and this will enable them to adapt these changes into their own learning. People who use tools build an increasingly rich implied understanding of the world in which they use the tools and of the tools themselves.

The term, environment, is meant to communicate more than just physical location.  “Situations might be said to co-produce knowledge through activity.” So, the environment is made up of the location, the situation surrounding the learning, and the process of learning itself, or the activity. Another word for environment, as proposed by the authors, is culture.  Supporting this idea, the authors believe that “activity, concept, and culture are codependent.  No one can be totally understood without the other two.  Learning must involved all three.” This is something I strongly believe in as a teacher. As an educator students cannot understand a concept without the activity and understanding the culture behind it all.

This also led me to think about differentiated forms of instruction and how educators use them in the classroom. I have students with IEP’s, 504 plans, and students who are wise beyond their years. Through differentiated forms of instruction, whether it be through working on vocabulary and concepts, to hands on activities or visual aids, every student in the classroom can benefit from these forms of instruction. There are two major points I took away from this reading. It is one thing to know something and another to know how to use it.  Also how we learned what we know is as fundamental as what we learned.  These two things combined create an environment of situated learning. This also ties into Using Mobile Technologies for Multimedia Tours in a Traditional Museum Setting by Laure Naismith M. Paul Smith The authors describe how museums are meant to create "free-choice learning," (p. 249), allowing participants to investigate, explore, and develop new knowledge at their own pace, in their own style. "A common problem faced by museums is that visitors often do not make good use of the range of learning opportunities that they offer. Mobile technology can support visitors by providing both location-based information and guidance through this information based on the learner's interests and needs," (Naismith, L. & Smith, M.P., 2009, p.250 ). This study was particularly interesting to me because not all students are on the same learning level and all students have different needs. By supporting each individuals needs through the use of technology, it will allow students to receive a differentiated form of instruction by allowing them to go at their own pace. “Mobile interpretation is not about the technology. It is about the user experience and particularly the content. Museums should focus on telling a story that answers questions, creates emotions, inspires a response, rather than using the technology for the sake of it.” This is particularly important not only for museums, but for technology implemented into the classroom as well. As educators we need to make sure that the technology we are implementing into our instruction is also serving a purpose to the content and not to use the technology just so we can say ‘Well, I used it in my instruction.’  The real judgment is how we used it and how the technology enhanced the content for all different students with a variety of needs.

Communities of practice a brief introduction by Etienne Wenger-Trayner helped me realize that communities of practice are all around me and as an educator I am tied into many communities. “Communities of practice have been around for as long as human beings have learned together. At home, at work, at school, in our hobbies, we all belong to communities of practice, a number of them usually. In some we are core members. In many we are merely peripheral. And we travel through numerous communities over the course of our lives.” As a middle school science teacher one of the communities I am tied into is my team of teachers. Everyday we meet and discuss the students on our team, how they are doing, and if there are any concerns we might have. Another community I am a part of is the science teacher community where I am constantly collaborating with other science teachers by sharing ideas to better enhance instruction in the classroom. This is done both in person and on the Internet as part of a listserv of many science teachers all around the country. 

Our students today are digital natives and have grown up using this technology. If we want to keep them engaged and actively draw on what we want them to accomplish in a course, these technologies will help us do just that. We are living in a world where technology is vastly changing and growing, a world where our students are being taught with these different technologies. I think they are a great way to help spark interest, however they need to be used effectively and proficiently. There still is a lot of work that needs to be done to perfect how teachers can and will do this. It is a lot easier to write a plan on how we will do it, however to actually put our plans into action is a different playing field. These technologies are going to continue to change, get better, and more challenging. It is our job as educators to learn how we will implement these into our classrooms efficiently and use it as an effective learning tool. 

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Reading Response Week #1

As I was reading Mark Weiser's, The Computer for the 21st Century, I realized how interesting and beneficial his ideas were to what technology we have in our society today. One issue that particularly made me realize that we are not alone in whatever we do in today’s world when it comes to computing is privacy and security which I feel requires a lot more investigation. To have moderately loose security seems like a bad idea. For example, in a current system, it is impossible to break in, but that’s only until someone finds a way that was never thought of by the developers of the system.

The computer is a normal part of our lives, and is still something we notice that is present. We open our laptop and go to a browser to go to a Website to gather information. In reality we really aren’t going anywhere and we are actually navigating around within the computer, or other computers we are connecting with. When I think of how much of our day revolves around a computer, tablet, smartphone, and other electronic devices it makes me feel like I wasted my day hovering around a computer for 12 hours. At some point in the future this will eventually come to a stop, right? Soon the interfaces between our world and technology will no longer exist. The term “ubiquitous computing” that Mark Weiser uses refers to not just smart devices that we are seeing more of today, but a network of devices that are integrated into common pieces of everyday life. “First were mainframes, each shared by lots of people. Now we are in the personal computing era, person and machine staring uneasily at each other across the desktop. Next comes ubiquitous computing, or the age of calm technology, when technology recedes into the background of our lives.” If we really sit down and take the time to think about this, someday we actually wont “think” about the computer and we wont go to it as a “device” we need to use because it will be everywhere. The few interfaces that we face in todays society will become hundreds of interfaces throughout our day. Everything will be a computer and so the interface of our everyday lives and the technology that we all know and love will someday not exist anymore, rather it will become universal.

Marc Weiser discussed the types of devices we would encounter in the new century. At the time, they probably seemed very far off for our own everyday use! However, today we are using them and in ways that we probably never thought were possible.  He mentions “Tabs” which were basically tiny, and potentially wearable devices such as a smart phone or digital cameras we use today. He mentions “Boards” which he describes them as “home, video screens and bulletin boards; in the office, bulletin boards, whiteboards or flip charts. A board might also serve as an electronic bookcase from which one might download texts to a pad or tab. For the time being, however, the ability to pull out a book and place it comfortably on one’s lap remains one of the many attractions of paper.” He also mentions Pads “in contrast, use a real desk. Spread many electronic pads around on the desk, just as you spread out papers. Have many tasks in front of you and use the pads as reminders. Go beyond the desk to drawers, shelves, coffee tables. […] Someday pads may even be as small and light as actual paper, but meanwhile they can fulfill many more of paper’s functions than can computer screens.” It is quite interesting that everything Weiser mentions has come into play in todays world. Some examples are the smartphones such as the iPhone, Tablets such as the Ipod and Ipad, and Boards such as Smartboards, Promethean boards, etc…

When I take a step back and look at what our world has to offer it is absolutely incredible how all of these different technologies come into play. We are starting over with all these new devices and thousands of little apps. When the iPad came out the main question everyone asked was: “Why do I need an in-between device? I already have a laptop and a smart phone.” This was my initial reaction as well! Within months everyone had to have one, and the question became not about where the iPad fit in, but where doesn’t it fit in. Schools today use these devices in the classroom, and publishers are able to deliver content in exciting ways. For people who are designers and developers they are so closely tied into Websites and applications, so this ubiquitous computing world seems closer. For those outside of that industry (such as the general public), these devices and gadgets are still somewhat of foreign objects that sometimes help, and sometimes frustrate us to no end! This interface that we have today will end someday, but the interfaces of our future will still need to be designed.

In the reading “Current State of Mobile Learning” by John Traxler it made me think about mobile learning and how it is creating a lot of excitement in the learning community. When we think about mobile learning, there is an increase in number of App stores, a rapid development of wireless handheld devices (smartphones, tablets, etc…), an obscene amount of mobile learning tools and platforms that are constantly growing, an increase of new learning content and apps, and a growing number of buyers and users. So everyone wants mobile learning.  But… what is it, exactly? Defining what constitutes mobile learning seems to be a topic for more discussion than we might think. Mobile learning includes the use of mobile and handheld devices to perform delivering education and learning, foster communications and collaboration, conduct assessments and evaluations, and provide access to performance support and knowledge. John Traxler postulates an initial mobile learning definition as follows: “Mobile learning can perhaps be defined as ‘any educational provision where the sole or dominant technologies are handheld or palmtop devices.” He also points out some of the vagaries of defining mobile learning, “However, any such definitions and description of mobile learning are perhaps rather techno centric, not very stable and based around a set of hardware devices. These definitions merely put mobile learning somewhere on e-learning’s spectrum of portability and also perhaps draw attention to its technical limitations rather than promoting its unique pedagogic advantages and characteristics. The uncertainty about whether laptops and tablets deliver mobile learning illustrates the difficulty with this definition.”

Instead of focusing on the technology and its “perceived limits”, in the educational community we should think about the huge potential of mobile learning to engage the user, and provide “just in time” content in manageable, “bite-sized” packages. Traxler also stated, “People use a variety of words to describe the nature of learning when it is mobile. Many of these characteristics are the core of what separates mobile learning [from] e-learning…” By focusing on the advantages mobile learning provides, we can begin to think proactively about how to influence mobile learning to capitalize on these benefits.

This led me to think about “digital natives” and “digital immigrants.” Twenty years ago our society did not have the type of technology and gadgets we are accustomed to today. I think about my parents and grandparents and the ways in which they used technology growing up compared to children in our society today. The difference in the proficiency skills of using a tablet, smartphone, or downloading a simple app for people like my parents is more difficult than for someone like myself. As a teacher I see my students constantly on their phones, downloading apps, using the internet, and excelling in this area. Mobile learning for students can and will become the future for our educational system. The real question remains, how can we use these applications and features to better enhance our students learning both inside and outside of the classroom? As an educator myself, I wonder how can I make sure that the type of technology I am bringing into my classroom act as a learning tool and aid in the engagement of my students, and furthermore not act solely for entertainment?

The challenge for our industry is to capture all of these advantages in the constantly shifting world of technology. That very change can keep mobile-learning so interesting and engaging for the users. By focusing on the advantages that mobile learning can provide for learners rather than on the limitations of the technology, we can use our learners engagement to deliver fundamental benefits in mobile technology and provide learners with the best and most convenient learning tools possible.