PQ/CQ CEP 812 Reflection

Friedman’s (2013) article is all about ensuring that America’s future is prepared for the workforce.  The skills needed in our “hyperconnected” world are not the same as the previous skill set.  This paradigm affects not just our students but our teachers.  Many of the older generation of teachers are still teaching to the old skill set.  Students learn rote facts and the one logarithm to solve a long division problem.  However, the students need more than that.  There are many different ways to perform long division and creative students will find ways to do that.  Friedman (2013) states, “…you will need to develop skills that are complementary to technology rather than ones that can easily be replaced…”  Instructors should be guiding students into the skills they need in order to work safely and effectively with the ever-changing technology in their world.  This is connects well into the theme of this course which is to “…[focus] on the ways that we can use a range of technologies to address a range of teaching and education-related problems” (Hagerman, 2014).

Friedman provides two additional skills that people need to develop in order to thrive in our technological age: “passion quotient (PQ)” and “curiosity quotient (CQ)”.  These should be used “ to leverage all the new digital tools to not just find a job, but to invent one or reinvent one, and to not just learn but to relearn for a lifetime” (Friedman, 2013).  As an educator, I will find ways or continue to develop these quotients in my students.  

To visualize my thoughts and uses of PQ and CQ in my current practice, I created a board using Padlet.  I have shown my reflections of the concepts and some projects I have done in this class and in my own teaching.

 

PQ-CQ Padlet

 

References

Friedman, T.L. (2013, January 29). It’s PQ and CQ as much as IQ. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/30/opinion/friedman-its-pq-and-cq-as-much-as-iq.html?_r=0

Hagerman, M.S. (2014). Summer 2014: CEP Styling and guiding document. Retrieved from https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DhChcteXk4DcKzkI52WkOrQItB2_wlSVV9fT93mJyec/edit

Quotespedia. (N.D.). Quotes about talent [image]. Retrived from http://www.quotespedia.info/quotes-about-talent-have-no-special-talent-am-only-passionately-curious-a-1460.html

CEP 811 Reflection

Good teachers always reflect on their practices and learning.  As I have been back in student-mode for the past 7 weeks it is now time for me to reflect on this wonderful course.  I have explored many different teaching concepts and, at times, have been overwhelmed.  We have learned a lot about educational technologies and practice including: mixing, re-purposing, learning strategies, instructional and experience design, and UDL.  Along the way, I have explored many incredible web resources to use while teaching.  As I reflect upon my experiences in this class I also want to mention that, while challenging, this class never felt like work.  I had so much fun learning and exploring and I cannot wait to start incorporating some of these concepts into my own teaching!

Professional Assessment and Evaluation

I love the idea of using Maker Education in my classroom.  I love exploring these outlets and want to encourage that exploration in my students.  Unfortunately, I currently do not have a full time classroom.  I teach Hebrew school 2 days a week.  It is a little more challenging to incorporate the Maker kit (sticker circuits) I worked with into this environment.  I believe that my students would enjoy an activity using such devices but because of my time constraints the execution of such a project would be overwhelming. 

I would like to add into my classroom projects some of the other concepts we have talked about in class.  Even though I was frustrated in the beginning with the EdCamp project I think that it has a lot of potential for my Hebrew school class.  My class has a lot of discourse between students  and requires  a strong community to be successful.  The EdCamp set up functions best in those situations.  As I mentioned in my EdCamp reflection, there are several opportunities where I could integrate EdCamp.  We do not give out grades in the religious school but I do provide feedback to the students and for the EdCamp project I could base the rubric off of Wiggins’ (2012) Creative rubric.  I also comment on how well the students led and participated in each conversation.  My students last year did many presentations and it would be nice to have a common assessment piece for their ability to engage and inform their audience (Wiggins, 2012).  I have also book marked tons of the resources we have used in this course, more so than in CEP 810.  I have found some great tools that I would love to incorporate.  One of those tools is Triptico, which I discovered during the UDL week.  I have a SMART board in my classroom and am always looking for better ways to use it, especially for my more visual and haptic learners.  UDL will be important in my delivery of lessons as I have a lot of different learners with different amounts of background knowledge about Judaism.  Using Triptico, I can create games, quizzes, and other items.  All of which can be used as an engaging assessment for the students.  Using an assistive technology for assessment will help me differentiate my instruction for all learning needs.    

Personal Assessment

We discussed at the beginning of this course being comfortable with failure.  It is absolutely something that I encountered throughout this course.  I have had to deal with a few assignments which have been challenging for me as a learner.  One main theme with this class was designing and making.  These are skills that I have never been too comfortable with.  I am a very logical and hands on learner but struggle with spatial reasoning which is a major component of designing.  The assignment using the popcorn mixer was probably the most challenging for me.  I had a hard time making my video look like the video I imagined.  I became frustrated with the program and felt this “failure”.  I completed the assignment and appreciated the effort it took to create the video and the work of others who create great videos.  I am interested in trying to create some other videos for my Hebrew school class to help explain some of my more challenging topics as well as develop a mini MOOC to guide through one of our units.  I believe that I can use these skills and tools in the future and refine my own abilities.  I have definitely seen my progress throughout the course.  I have been enthusiastically sharing some of the resources we have tried with friends and family and am trying to work in using tools like sketch up into my practice.  

 

References

Wiggins, G. (2012, February 3). On assessing for creativity: yes you can, and yes you should. [Web log comment]. Retreived from http://grantwiggins.wordpress.com/2012/02/03/on-assessing-for-creativity-yes-you-can-and-yes-you-should/

EdCamp Reflection

My Experiences

I was frustrated with this edcamp assignment because I was unsure as to what form my presentation needed to take.  After speaking with our instructor, Melissa, I settled on a powerpoint which explored the basic information of STEM education and technology.  I included some screen casts to explore and show my peers about different apps that incorporate STEM ideals.  After reviewing the basics of STEM I asked my classmates about how they thought they could use STEM and technology in their classrooms.  We discussed grade levels and ways to use the scientific method to teach problem solving. 

I liked being able to explore STEM which is something I am interested in but haven’t had many opportunities to use in my own teaching.  I like that it was a short presentation but because this was a new assignment I felt lost about what the requirements and expectations were—the rubric was unclear/unavailable until 4-5 days before the presentation.  I, personally, had a challenging experience with the presentation because I wasn’t able to join the Google Hangout until the end of the presentation.  I was able to watch a few minutes of the discussions live but I could not participate and spent most of the time trying to join the hangout.  Due to a work conflict I wasn’t able to watch the second day of presentations.  Having examples and clear instructions about expectation for this project would have been better although, in the end, I did enjoy being able to freely plan and present my topic.  My suggestion for this project is to find videos to share with students from an actual EdCamp Conference so that there is some context for developing person discussions for future classes.

Potential Uses

I like that these “unconferences” are teacher created.  This means allows teachers to put in the information they value and want to learn about, while skimming over content that is either not interesting or relevant to their needs as instructors.  Teachers can present in a way that is appealing to their teaching style and on items that are important.  Professional development would be a lot more interesting using this concept because it would take teachers out of a confined conference room.  My experiences in professional development have always been lecture based on information that was not important to my needs as a new teacher.  The EdCamp style would liven up lengthy PD days and allow teachers to create their own schedules and not be lectured at about how to use best practice. 

Teachers could also use this set up for classroom projects.  Students could select topics from a list and create a short presentation and planned discussion.  It would be informal and more engaging than a teacher led discussion, lecture, or project.  I may try to use something like this in my 7^th grade Hebrew school class in the upcoming year.  One project I had my students do was to research a local non-profit organization and learn how they can contribute and how that organization affects our community.  I could have students still research these organizations but create short discussions about it for their classmates.  Students would be able to have a short, focused discussion which, I believe, would be more meaningful to them and they could then create plans with one another to volunteer and give back to our community.

 

Organizing an EdCamp Conference

If I had to organize an EdCamp experience I would have staff or students submit ideas to a tool like padlet or a google document.  I would then narrow down the options and have each person select a topic to present.  After that I would have them gather in a large room and circulate between stations to have discussions about topics that interest them.  Things to consider for this idea would be how comfortable teachers are with technology and making sure there are hard copies of each presentation in case something happens with the internet.  I’d also like all participants to leave with digital copies of the presentations.  I have always found that hard copies that I receive end up wasting away in my car, but if I know I have an electronic copy I will be able to search for it a lot easier and find exactly what the information I am seeking.  

Below, I am posting the videos I created for my presentation which showcase 2 different applications that integrate STEM and Technology:

3D Brain

Gene Screen 

 

 

Final WPP [CEP812]

In the beginning of this course when I first started learning about “wicked problems” I immediately started connecting to a common Jewish lesson that we always review during the Passover seder.  This is a story of the 4 children: the wise child, the wicked child, the simple child, and the one who does not know how to ask.  My family often discusses the differences between the children mostly commenting that the wise child knows too much; the wicked child is already lost; the simple child is trying; and we must teach the child who doesn’t know how to ask.  

I thought about this while learning about the different types of problems we encounter in education.  Wicked problems, like the wicked child, often seem lost to us already.  We lack the experiences and skill sets to solve the problems and therefore just surrender to the wicked problem (Gee, 2013).  

Our group explored solutions to the wicked problem: how can online education reach its full potential.  What makes this a wicked problem is that there are many answers to this question and none are incorrect.  Wicked problems are based in technology, content, and pedagogy (TPACK) that often have one element missing.  Our group approached the wicked problem from a very practical approach beginning by brainstorming the many different questions brought upon by our wicked question and then finding trends to narrow our results down.  What we came up with is that online learning can reach its full potential through student-centered learning. Our curation (through blendspace.com) takes you through our problem solving process in a mash-up video, explores our solution to the problem in a white paper, and ends with a visual representation of our findings.  

UDL [CEP811]

This week in class we explored properties of Universal Design of Learning.  “UDL helps address learner variability by suggesting flexible goals, methods, materials, and assessments that empower educators to meet these varied needs” (CAST, 2011).  As I explored different assisted technologies I thought about how I could use these to incorporate the guidelines of UDL into my own teaching and my Maker lesson.  I found some great new technologies like Cacoo, Triptico, and signed stories.  I especially wanted to incorporate cacoo because of how easily students can create mindmaps alone, or with a group.  

I made a few changes to my lesson which you can view here.  The changes for UDL are in green. 

It is difficult to plan lessons for large classrooms.  Teachers need to differentiate between achievement levels and multiple intelligences.  Using UDL to differentiate lessons seems like a daunting task.  However it is very thorough and inclusive.  The guidelines help support differentiation not only just for students with special needs but for all students. 

Based off of the guideline template, I saw that I was already doing a good job at providing options for comprehension.  My lesson plan had students starting to understand why we need to consider where we place important objects in certain areas.  They did this by relating to the organization of their bedrooms and making some notes about why important objects are placed in specific locations throughout their room.  The lesson then moves into understanding why Michigan’s most populated cities were settled in their specific locations.  This use of analogy is helpful in comprehension because it allows the students to relate to something that otherwise is not important to them.  Something I added to incorporate UDL is the different media students could use to create this drawing.  Originally, I wanted it to be a quick sketch but after reading and playing with Sketch Up I thought that would be a great way to provide students options for expression and communication (5.1).  I also thought students might prefer to use The Sims as a way to replicate their bedroom and easily insert furniture and other objects.

I also added an aspect to fit guideline 9.3 “develop self-assessment and reflection”.  For this, I put at the end of the lesson or start of next lesson a journal response for reflection.  Students would respond to the question, “Which Michigan city would you most like to live in and why?”  This will provide students the opportunity to reflect on the whole activity and make connections from themselves to the world around them.  This reflection piece would also be helpful for the class because students who finish the activity and exit ticket early will have something to work complete. 

The bulk of my lesson is an exploration using different sources like Google Maps, Google Earth, physical maps, or reference material.  In order to organize the information I incorporated one of the resources I explored earlier in the week, Cacoo.  Cacoo provides web based graphic organizers that students can collaborate on.  Since the exploration is using collaborative groups, I thought this would be a nice addition because students can use this tool to keep their information organized and accessible.  This aligns with guideline 3.3 which refers to processing information.  Providing students the use of graphic organizers helps students develop organizational and cognitive skills.  It also helps makes students responsible for completing part of the exploration.  

                                                              

 

References

CAST (2011). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines version 2.0. Wakefield, MA: Author. 

The Wicked Problem Project [CEP812]

The wicked problem, is, in itself, a wicked problem.  Our group looked at solving the question of “How to help online learning reach its full potential.”  What makes this a wicked problem is that there are many answers to this question and none are incorrect.  Wicked problems are based in technology, content, and pedagogy (TPACK) that often have one element missing.  Our group approached the wicked problem from a very practical approach beginning by brainstorming the many different questions brought upon by our wicked question and then finding trends to narrow our results down.  What we came up with is that online learning can reach its full potential through student-centered learning.  Our curation (through blendspace.com) takes you through our problem solving process and ends with our paper.

 

REIMAGINING ONLINE LEARNING

Comments are much appreciated! Please feel free to leave your thoughts about our project.

Communities of Practice [CEP812]

The very interesting part about technology is the great resources we have in our peers.  We work with some truly amazing people who are always willing to share their expertise.  I tapped into this resource this past week in my technology integration survey.  I created my survey with Google Forms, which I have used for my own teaching practice and love!  It is incredibly easy to make professional surveys.  

This survey was sent to my colleagues at Adat Shalom and at Sylvan Learning Center.  For my analysis I look at the data and how the participants responded to make some conclusions about how technology is used in supplemental education.  I also pose some questions for further exploration.  

Read my analysis of the survey here.  

Re-visioned Learning Environment [#CEP811]

The classroom I am redesigning is my room at the religious school where I teach.  The space is called the “youth lounge” and is used by the entire synagogue for informal gatherings, classes, meetings and other purposes.  It is a friendly space with good colors and a lot of space.  In its former life, the Youth Lounge, used to be a library.  There are a lot of book cases and not a lot of wall space.  This limits the amount of student work I can display and reference material I can mount.  Since this is a shared space I also have to take down most of the materials I use for the class.  We have an attached computer lab with ancient desktops, only half of which work.  Most of these computers crash and aren’t useful for collaborative learning.  We have large conference style tables that lend themselves pretty well to whole group discussions but are monstrously large and heavy.   Overall, the space is pretty conducive to learning and working for 7^th graders but too large for elementary students.  

In my redesign of this space I would like to keep the size and openness of the room.  I would replace the large conference tables with smaller collaborative tables that can easily be moved if we are doing whole group work.  I teach using collaborative learning which has its roots in social constructivism which uses “…authentic or ‘situated learning’, where the student takes part in activities which are directly relevant to the application of learning and which take place within a culture similar to the applied setting (Brown, Collins, & Duguid, 1989).”  Having furniture that can be easily manipulated and set up for collaborative work will make these projects more meaningful because students will be oriented toward each other.  Along with having the furniture, I would like to have a lot of workable wall space.  I’d like to be able to display group projects and give students space to brainstorm and create.  For this, I would like to have an entire whiteboard wall where students can plan, erase, build, and develop their thoughts and activities.  Tedde van Gelderen says that “experiences are the holistic view of how people go through a set of events as they are in time.”  Experiences are what I want my learning environment to encourage.  My students should be able to work with each other through a series of events to complete a project or understand a Jewish principle or historical event.  

I wouldn’t need much to implement my re-visioned learning space.  My classroom already has a SMART board and projector, couches for informal gatherings/breaks, and a computer lab.  I would only need to replace the bulky conference tables with easier to manipulate materials.  I also have a small class so I would only need a few tables and new chairs.  The chairs should be easy to move and comfortable.  Based on a tip from “The Third Teacher” I would like the chairs to be comfortable and swivel because “the movement will increase their [the students’] ability to concentrate (tip number 22).” I would also need a whiteboard wall which can be made by installing shower board or using dry-erase paint. 

This youth lounge really acts as a multi-purpose room for the synagogue so there are many stakeholders.  The students, teachers, clergy (rabbis and cantor), president and other directors of the synagogue would need to be involved in this “revision” of the room.  However, the changes I am envisioning would be well suited for the many purposes of the room. 

The cost to implement this room wouldn’t be too overwhelming.  Dry erase paint can be as low as $20.99 for a 27 ounce kit.  The shower board can be bought for about $11 for a 3×5 piece.  The collaborative furniture can become a little more expensive.  For example, the Everywhere table from Herman Miller costs $459. This is a project that could come together fairly quickly since most of the big things are already installed. 

Overall, this revised classroom would be designed for collaborative workspaces and learning.  The students would be able to discuss, plan, think, and revise their ideas and relationships to Jewish values and history.  This type of collaborative learning is important in Jewish culture and would allow students to discovery in a similar manner as Jewish people from hundreds of years ago learned. 

 

References

Brown, J. S., Collins, A., & Duguid, P. (1989). Situated cognition and the culture of learning. Educational Researcher, 18(1), 32-41.

Gelderen, T. (2010). Tedde van Gelderen on Experience Design [YouTube Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BB4VFKn7MA4#t=132

The Third Teacher. (2010). 79 ways you can use design to transform teaching + learning [pdf]. Retrieved from http://static.squarespace.com/static/509c0d15e4b058edb8f35a86/t/50ec7ca4e4b01d8c697c0b6c/1357675684568/79%20Ideas%20Overall%20List.pdf

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) [CEP812]

This week for class we had to explore a special learning need, research it and find a tech resource that could help a student with this special learning need.  I researched Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs).  In this paper, I will summarize what are ASDs and discuss what causes it as well as some treatment options for ASDs.  I also explore some of the limitations of ASDs in a general education classroom and will also share some strategies to help in the classroom.  The last part is exploring MakeBeliefsComix, a great, free, website that allows you to create your own comic strips.  I will discuss how it can be used to help a student with ASDs and also share an example.  

ASD White Paper CEP 812

 

After reading my paper please look at this nifty guide to Make Beliefs Comix

Then, look at my final product.

 

mMOOC [#CEP811]

As part of the MOOC (Massive Online Open Course) movement, I am creating a micro MOOC (mMOOC).  This project explores the skills needed to integrate technology, pedagogy, and content (TPACK) to create a functioning class people would be interested in taking.  As I personally play with these concepts I have created my mMOOC around a new hobby of mine: knitting.

In my “I knit knot” course my peers will master basic knitting skills by knitting a scarf and develop a tight-knit network to help you along the way.

Course Topic: This course will cover all the basics of knitting.  You will learn how to read a pattern, cast on, and how to knit and purl like a pro.  Upon completion of this course you will have a scarf that you made all by yourself! As the course progresses, you will also develop a network of like-minded friends who can help you along the way or after the course is finished. 

Anyone interested in learning the very basics of knitting will come to this class. I’d expect to have a range of ages from 18-30.  Many people try to learn how to knit just by watching videos on YouTube and they miss out on some of basics like reading a pattern.  Students will want to participate in this experience because they will be able to understand all of the foundational skills needed to knit a scarf or any other project.

Module 1[1 week]– Reading a pattern. 

• Learn- common abbreviations, what to look for (materials, gauge, finishings, etc), tips to use as you follow, good resource for reviewing this if you forget!
• Explore- search websites for easy scarf patterns (ravelry, lion brand yarn, etc.)
• Create- create your own reference book/sheet of the most common abbreviations and mark up your pattern to help you remember all of this
• Share- copy a link or scan an image of the pattern you are going to use into a google spreadsheet.  Instructor will review and make sure it will be easy enough.
             

Module 2 [1 week]– Buying the materials

• Learn- different types of yarns (weights, styles, dye lots), needles (sizes, straight, double pointed, circular, lace), stitch holders
• Explore- visit a local knit shop to get an idea of what all these look like, these are great places for information if you get stuck (you usually have to buy the yarn at the store for them to help you on a project though).  Look into ordering a knit kit- these are helpful and have essential tools to help you knit
• Create- purchase the materials you’ll need for your project
• Share- post a comment to the discussion board about the store or website you used to find the materials and how helpful it was

Module 3 [1 week]– Getting started

• Learn- watch videos to show how to cast on, knit, purl, cast off, and other basics
• Explore- try some of these out with your yarn and needles.  Try casting on 20 stitches, knit a few rows, make sure you still have 20 stitches, purl some rows, make sure you still have 20 stitches.  You just want to get used to the feel for the tension, keeping track of stitches, etc.
• Create- Continue practicing from your explore activity, also practice casting off.
• Share- Post to discussion board: How did this go? What was troubling for you? Where did you go for help? What was easy?

Module 4 [1 week]- Make a gauge. 

• Learn- what is a gauge and why do you need it also when do you really need it?
• Explore- look at your pattern and find out what kind of gauge you need to make and find a good reference website to help with gauges and what to do if your gauge doesn’t measure up
• Create- Make the gauge for your scarf, be warned that if it isn’t close to the measurements needed you’ll have to start over!
• Share- show off your work! Post a picture to the discussion board

Module 5 [3 weeks]– Start knitting your scarf. 

• Learn- Review any information from previous modules to help you get started on your scarf
• Explore- Go back to helpful websites to make sure you know everything you have to do in your pattern, read through it again to make sure you know what’s up.
• Create- Knit away!
• Share- post an update about how things are going for you

Module 6 [1 week]- Troubleshooting

• Learn- view videos to show how to go back and fix a stitch, grab a dropped stitch and other troubleshooting things that come up while knitting
• Explore- review some common websites and find one that works for you so that you have a solid reference to go to when you get stuck
• Create- keep working on your scarf
• Share- share the resource you found on a google doc so that you will always have a list of great resources

Module 7 [1 week]- Ending the project. 

• Learn- review how to cast off, and watch some videos about how to finish and block your knitting
• Explore- again, refer back to a source you like about how to finish your knitting
• Create- finish up your scarf
• Share- post a picture of your scarf and show off your hard work

Course is a total 9 weeks.  Each participant will end up with a homemade scarf and an expanded learning network to include online knitting communities to go to when they have a problem for a future project or are looking for a new knitting project.      

Participants in this course will be able to knit a scarf.  The planning of this course and skill goes hand-in-hand for backwards design (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005).  The nature of knitting is that you begin by choosing your end product.  This is the first step in backwards design, “identify the end results”.  For the beginner, and most advanced, knitters we select a pattern with a picture to show us exactly what we are making.  The second step, “Determine acceptable evidence”, in relation to knitting this means that as the student learns he/she will be assessed on the final project.  This means that the final project will be the appropriate length and follow the pattern with very few mistakes.  The teacher can use a rubric to fairly assess the time/effort, final product, and technique using (http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?screen=ShowRubric&rubric_id=2445563) this rubric which students can also use to self-assess.  The third step, “plan learning experiences and instruction” requires the breakdown of all the skills necessary to complete the project.  This is what will be used to create the modules of my mMOOC.

This mMOOC also falls in with the learning theory of “Communities of Practice (CoPs)” from the article Use it or Lose it which outlines that in order for effective learning to take place three conditions should be met:

(1) a domain of knowledge defining a set of issues
(2) a coherent group of people concerned with the domain and one another’s learning needs and aspirations and
(3) a developing and adapting shared practice

Each of these elements is integral to the mMOOC and its success.  The community needs to have this common interest and desire to help each other succeed while creating a practice of knitting that works for them. 

The course is organized around the “learn, explore, create, share” model followed by the CEP classes.  In my experience this has been an effective and consistent model to follow and learn from.  All parts build off of one another and relate to each other.  This helps guide the learning process and allows for enough scaffolding in an online community.  I have also included places for students to discuss and share with each other to help become strong communities of practice as well as enhance their own personal learning networks when it comes to gathering information for this skill. Videos are used as instructional tools and can be referenced and brought back in any of the modules. 

 

References

Pixabay. (2014).  Wool knitting needs [image]. Retrieved from http://pixabay.com/en/wool-knitting-needles-crafts-sew-268620/

Wiggins, G. and McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by Design, Expanded 2nd Edition.  Prentice Hall.  pg 13-33.

Use it or lose it. (2012). Development and Learning in Organizations, 26(2), 27-30.http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/14777281211201213