Passion Quotient (PQ) & Curiosity Quotient (CQ)

During the last week of CEP812, we were asked to read the article It’s P.Q. and C.Q. as Much as I.Q. by Thomas L. Friedman.  Throughout the article, Friedman discusses the need for people to continue utilizing technology to invent and/or reinvent future jobs while focusing on our individual passions and curiosities in order for survival.  In education, we as teachers must utilize the technological tools available not to replace teaching but to continue educating with passion and curiosity in the 21st century classroom.  It is up to each individual educator to keep up with their own teaching skills in order to keep up with an ever changing education system. When teachers are aware of their own passion and their own curiosity, they can then incorporate new ways to allow students to find theirs.

Below is an infographic created to:

1. Represent how I bring Passion and Curiosity to my work as an educator
2. Show how I use technologies to instill passion and curiosity in my students.

(Click to enlarge)

I have had the pleasure of taking CEP810, CEP811, and CEP812 to inspire my own curiosity of incorporating technology into my passion of teaching.

Photo References:

Emlavieriscull, E. Equipment for Electronic Music Class (2012). Retrieved August 19, 2015: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ElectroComp_EML-200,_etc,_Equipment_for_Electronic_Music_Class.jpg#/media/File:ElectroComp_EML-200,_etc,_Equipment_for_Electronic_Music_Class.jpg

Royan, J. Students Practicing (2007). Retrieved August 19, 2015 from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AMunich_-_Music_students_rehearsing_-_5713.jpg

Woodleywonderworks. Music Classroom (2013). Retrieved August 19, 2015 from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/wwworks/8509359758

Infographic Quote:

Friedman, T. (2013). It’s P.Q. and C.Q. as Much as I.Q. 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

Wicked Problem: How to Keep Formal Education Relevant

Throughout CEP812, I have been working with three other colleagues in a think tank. Within this think tank, we have been focusing our attention on How to keep Formal Education Relevant.  With education constantly changing and technology playing such a pivotal role in 21st century education, this problem not only proved to be quite wicked for our think tank, but proves to be a problem for all educators and policy makers.

Prior to coming up with a possible solution, each member of the think tank created an infographic to illustrate their reasons of why formal education is becoming becoming harder to keep relevant.

Here you will see the infographic I brought to the table:

Once the infographics were completed, each member brought their findings to the think tank.  Through critical thinking, collaboration and discussion, we wrote the following paper which was intended for policy makers that included a possible solution on how to keep formal education relevant:

Infographic References:

Gee, J. P. (2013). The anti-education era: Creating smarter students through digital learning. [Itunes] Retrieved from https://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/the-anti-education-era/id569888330?mt=11

Olson, J. S. (2014), Transitions From Formal Education to the Workplace. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 2014: 73–82. doi: 10.1002/ace.20106

Week 5: InfoDiet

This week in CEP812, we were asked to take a look at the ways we gather information, also known as an informational diet.  Using Twitter, I briefly looked at the pages and the people I currently follow.  Without a doubt, I follow these people and these pages because there is a connected interest that is shared.  These pages, in which I follow, may include education, music, or social interests that I am interested in.  The reason I continue to follow people or pages and like images, quotes or links is because it continues to connect with me.

Throughout the week I was urged to look at three new sources that were different than what I normally read and follow.  These sources included: @edudemic, @educationnext and @mhhighered.  These sources together provided information on educational technology, educational reform and connecting educators and students.

Although I had a choice in which new areas I chose to follow this week, I was able to learn and read about information in which I normally wouldn’t bother to read.  To no surprise, each source provided information that would challenge my personal view, while allowing me to see an alternative view point.  These sources also provided a window of opportunity in which I tend to ignore.

As technology continues to be the main source for people to gather their information and learn, it is very easy for people to only enhance the information they already have.  If people are not careful, they will create a tunnel vision of  knowledge when they have opportunities to take control of their own learning.  Formal education continues to provide opportunities for collaboration and pushes students to challenge their own thinking.

People do not have to agree with everything they read nor should they however it is important to challenge ourselves.  By challenging ourselves, we are able to find new ideas and information that we currently didn’t know that might change our original thoughts and ideas, or we are able to provide concrete examples that support our original thoughts and practice.

We cannot change the way we educate until we understand what is available to us.  If we as educators do not look beyond what we already know or believe, we won’t see the possibilities which could lie ahead.  Social media, like Twitter, allows us to stay on top of new inventions, ways of teaching, ways of incorporating classroom technology  and thousands of other areas that could educate not only in the classroom but outside of the classroom.  It is up to us as educators to not only teach our students to think outside of their comfort zone, but also for us, as educators, to think outside of our comfort zone.

In the 21st century of education, educators have the opportunity to have their students collaborate in a participatory culture in which other generations would have never been able to have.  Technology allows us to learn, and share knowledge with others all over the world while expanding our very own bubble of information.  Because technology has become so easy to use and provides information that we want to know or already know through its filters, it doesn’t always provide new information that challenges us.  Technology can be useful in many ways, but it is up to us as humans to control it, not for technology to control us.

Creative Commons Photo References:

Information Monitor (2014). Retrieved from: https://pixabay.com/get/ef2c7962cbfe924085ae/1439144745/monitor-862116_1280.jpg?direct

Social Media (2015). Retrieved from: https://pixabay.com/get/69bd4021fbddd335dc0c/1439144394/social-media-550767_1280.png?direct

Tunnel (2010). Retrieved from: https://pixabay.com/get/e274aab5a3d4902e7391/1439143888/books-21849_1280.jpg?direct

CEP812 Week 3 & 4 – Survey Results are in!

During weeks 3 & 4 I have created a survey and analyzed the data regarding my colleague’s use of technology in the classroom as well as the teacher’s knowledge and ease of incorporating technology into their lessons while finding out how they would like to learn about new technologies.  Because the district is so small, I included all teachers within the district.  With 29% of the teachers responding, surprisingly enough, the results were similar across the entire district.

The 7 question survey can be found here

The analysis and results can be found here

Complexities of Keeping Formal Education Relevant

This week in CEP812 we were asked to continue working on our wicked problem project.  In order to work on finding a solution on how to keep formal education relevant, we must first find some of the problems.  I have created an infographic that lists a few of the main problems with Formal Education.

http://www.easel.ly/index/embedFrame/easel/2255250

Infographic References:

Gee, J. P. (2013). The anti-education era: Creating smarter students through digital learning. [Itunes] Retrieved from https://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/the-anti-education-era/id569888330?mt=11

Olson, J. S. (2014), Transitions From Formal Education to the Workplace. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 2014: 73–82. doi: 10.1002/ace.20106

Week 2: CEP812

This week in CEP812, we were asked to read specific chapters in James Paul Gee’s book The Anti-Education Era Creating Smarter Students Through Digital Learning.  We were then asked to use the reading to answer the question “What limitations prevent us from solving big, complex problems smartly?”  With chapter 7 primarily in mind, I discussed how Status and Solidarity play a factor in solving problems.  My essay can be viewed here.

References:

Gee, J. P. (2013). The anti-education era: Creating smarter students through digital learning. [Itunes] Retrieved from https://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/the-anti-education-era/id569888330?mt=11

Week 1: Problems of Practice

This week in CEP812, we were asked to find ways technology could enable students with a particular learning need.  I decided to look at noteflight and auditory processing disorder.  Here is what I came up with:

Auditory Processing Disorders (APD)

People who have an auditory processing disorder generally have difficulties recognizing and interpreting sounds. The hearing process is “underpinned by the transmission and analysis of sounds from the external ear to the auditory cortex. Disorders of the external, middle, and inner ear are well recognized, but recent advances have made us aware of hearing disorders related to the auditory nerve and brain” (Bamiou, Luxon, 2008).

Incorporating Technology

To help teach students with APD, I like to use the technology software noteflight. Noteflight has a variety of opportunities to teach foundations of music through its visual format. Because students may be limited on what they are able to hear, they can follow along to the written notation. The teacher or the students can write musical pieces and the class can follow along and see which instrument is playing at each particular moment. Music can be written on one line for a solo or you can write multiple lines for more complex pieces such as one for an orchestra. Students will also be introduced to the layout of instrument when written on a score and learn note notation. You can also use this software to teach the duration of notes, names of notes, time signatures, chords, and tempos etc. This software can also be incorporated into all grade levels.

During a lesson, a teacher could upload a musical excerpt from Beethoven. Students would then be able to visually see the tempo, the dynamic changes, the structure of the piece and many other detailed pieces of information most classrooms may overlook. They could then write their own, or compare the works of other composers or even musical eras.

Music is often seen as an opportunity to express ones feelings. Although most people use the sound of music as an outlet, you can also use music as an outlet by writing music. Once students learn the basics of music, they can write and share their projects with other students through noteflight. There are also opportunities to comment and share new ideas that allow music writing and learning to be fun.

Teaching music to students with auditory processing disorders doesn’t make it impossible, but instead challenges the teacher to think of teaching in a different way during this complex problem of practice. Music is a useful “medium for expressing and perceiving emotion, and it ought not be lost to children whose hearing is limited.” (Darrow, 2006). Through the use of technology, teachers can continue to make music meaningful and exciting by adapting content material to the student ‘s need. Noteflight will create opportunities for students to continue learning not only the fundamentals about music, but also have the opportunity to create music.

References

Bamiou, D., & Luxon, L.M. (2008). Auditory Processing Disorders. BMJ: British Medical Journal. 337 (7682), 1306-1307.

Darrow, A. A. (2006). The role of music in deaf culture: Deaf students’ perception of emotion in music. Journal of Music Therapy, 43(1), 2-15.

CEP811 Recap

For the final post in CEP811 I have created another infographic using piktochart that summarizes what I have learned throughout the duration of the course:

As I reflect on my own learning, I see myself continuing to re-purpose items within my classroom, and incorporating new technologies that promote learning and creativity.  I want my class to not just be a learning environment, but rather an experience in which students enjoy being a part of.  Using the research and theories learned in CEP811, I can support my own creative process when restructuring my classroom and lessons to support 21st century teaching.

Photo Reference:

Erdman, A. (2009). Theda Delta Vison 1. Retrieved April 26, 2015 from http://alex-erdman.deviantart.com/art/Theta-Delta-Version-1-143681836

Assessing Creativity with Maker Projects

For this final week in CEP811, we were asked to focus on ways to assess creativity in student learning.  In most cases, creativity is not always part of a rubric.  Incorporating creativity into assignments can provide many benefits to learning and understanding.  As an educator charged with the assessment of student learning, I would assess creative problem solving during maker-inspired lessons in the following ways:

Student Involvement.  Whether right or wrong, ideas can be beneficial and creative.  Many maker projects allow students to work together.  During this time,  creativity can be assessed by student’s collaboration of ideas when problem solving.  Working together and taking risks together can bring a variety of student’s imaginations that inspire them to go far beyond what they could if they were isolated.

Student/Teacher Assessment Rubric.  The engagement among students and the teacher promotes a team-building learning environment as well as opportunities for creative brainstorming.  Involving students in the assessment planning also provides better understanding for students regarding the expectations and outcomes.  When students are involved in the planning, they will have better understanding of what the teacher will be looking for because they were already creatively involved in building the rubric.

Student Presentation.  When students use maker kits, the end product is often quite engaging in itself however the reason behind their decisions may not always be quite clear.  Having opportunities for students to present their work will allow their creative thinking to be expressed verbally as well as allow them to support their decision-making.

The design of these assessments is justified by the following connections to James Paul Gee, Eric Isselhardt and Grant Wiggins.

Gee stated in his video Grading with Games that schools will stress their ability to “solve problems, but not just to solve problems, but to do it collaboratively, where you can work in a group where the group is smarter than the smartest person” (2008).  Having maker projects, or projects in general that promote collaborative learning will be beneficial to all students and will also provide differentiated learning.

The teacher-student assessment rubric can also be beneficial because it promotes student-driven learning.  Isselhardt stated in his article that “Rather than acting as directive teachers, faculty members were more like coaches in a student-led inquiry environment” (2011).  Although states require standards and benchmarks used in lessons, other areas of rubrics can be created by students and teachers together.  This will allow better understanding on what should be included and promote a positive success rate because the students are the ones involved in creating the rubric.

Whether presentations are verbally presented or presented in a written format, students should have the opportunity to explain their work.  Creativity can be incorporated in this area of assessment by the way in which students present their work.  Presentations can often times be engaging or “boring” to students and teachers.  “We don’t have to say “boring” but we should certainly say if the readers were not engaged, shouldn’t we? (Wiggins, 2012).  Although student’s can write or present a good material, the way in which it is presented can be disengaging.  Wiggins believes that “Yes, you get some points for content and process, but impact matters” (2012).

Overall, I believe there is valuable importance of assessing creativity in classrooms.  Many classrooms often overlook creativity as they are too focused on the material and its parallel to standardized testing.   Being creative is what allowed Benjamin Franklin and Albert Einstein to be successful and household names.  Creativity can be implemented into every classroom for student growth and success however it takes a creative teacher to incorporate that into everyday learning.

References:

Gee, J. (2008). Grading with Games. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JU3pwCD-ey0#t=61

Isslehardt, E. (2013). Creating Schoolwide PBL Aligned to Common Core. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/PBL-aligned-to-common-core-eric-isslehardt

Wiggins, G. (2012). On assessing for creativity: yes you can, and yes you should. Retrieved from http://grantwiggins.wordpress.com/2012/02/03/on-assessing-for-creativity-yes-you-can-and-yes-you-should/

Why #MakerEd is So Good for Students

During this week’s creation, I was asked to bring together all of my work throughout the course and create an infographic that represents my learning.  I decided to use piktochart to summarize the reason why I believe Maker Education is good for students.

(Please click image above to view larger.  If the image does not appear please follow this link:

https://magic.piktochart.com/embed/5630729-maker-education)

Due to limited space, I decided to simplify my infographic images and text to maximize the important aspects of having Maker Education.  The “Road to Success” provides many benefits of Maker Education using various ideas taken from CEP811 . Below are the reasons why I chose those texts and images:

During week one, I decided to focus on creativity after viewing Dale Dougherty‘s We are Makers video as well as reading the Maker Education Initiative.

During week three, I focused on the importance of having immediate feedback. While watching Richard Culatta’s  TEDx talk on Reimagining Learning he discussed the importance of using technology to promote immediate feedback.

During week four, we focused on teaching students a lesson using our maker kits and the benefits that can occur.  Dr. Stephen L. Yelon suggests having an objective fit into a “real-world problems or ideas” (2001).  Maker kits, like Makey Makey, allow students to learn about real-world problems or ideas that fit into the everyday setting.

In week six, Sheridan and Halverson (2014) talk about the “community of practice” and where teamwork is an “ongoing part of social interaction rather than a discrete activity” (pg. 509)

References:

Readings:

Enriquez, A. G. (2010). Enhancing Student Performance using Tablet Computers. College Teaching, 58(3), 77-84. Retrieved from:http://ezproxy.msu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/742861000?accountid=12598

Sheridan, K. Halverson, E.R., Litts, B.K., Brahms, L, Jacobs-Priebe, L., & Owens, T. (2014) Learning in the making: A comparative case-study of three maker spaces. Harvard Educational Review, 84(4), 505-565.

Yelon, S. L. (2001). Goal-Directed Instructional Design: A Practical Guide to Instructional Planning for Teachers and Trainers. Michigan State University: Self-published, Not in electronic format.

Creative Commons Infographic Photos:

Create: Retrieved April 19.  http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5213/5523800294_80f0687af7.jpg

Feedback: Retrieved April 19.

https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7454/9568156463_86087625dd.jpg

Makey Makey: Retrieved April 19.  https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5338/7167031572_d7c902c16a_o.jpg

Students: Retrieved April 19.  http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Students_work_on_robots_at_Ca%C3%B1ada_College.jpg

Success : Retrieved April 19.  http://pixabay.com/get/96d65d36093d623264dc/1429473114/success-479568_1280.jpg?direct

Teamwork: Retrieved April 19  http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Working_Together_Teamwork_Puzzle_Concept.jpg

World: Retrieved April 19.              http://urbanext.illinois.edu/earth/images/55.jpg