OER (Open Education Resources)

 Colleges are infamous for giving their students a long list of books that they must be for their course. I for one dread this with a passion. I believe that in these modern times where students are constantly on the move and can't afford to carry around twenty something books a day in their book bags. There should be a more modern way for college students to acquire books in a way that will not break their backs. I mean come on it is bad enough that these books already break our pockets. So instead of these heavy, hardcover, thick textbooks I propose that instead of this old fashion method we go paperless. This move can make the already hard life of the modern college student a little easier in some way. This change can bring about environmental changes, efficiency in access to books, and a step into the modern era.  This form of modernization is called Open Education Resources or OER for short. OER is not only limited to books. It is a way for students to get all the information they need in a digital format. This allow students twenty-four hour access to information. This is perfect for this modern era where everything is digital and every book can be accessed through kindles. There are a lot of schools that made the transition to OER such as prestigious universities like MIT. This allow students to get a code after they sign in and they can either download the book or view it online. This method shows that now in our time we have come to a point where we do not need a forest cut down in order to provide textbooks for an entire class. Also when you think about it in cost wise it cost on average $205.95 to make a textbook when it cost almost fifty to make an E book available. This saves money even in public schools that use this system. The downfall to this is the access to OER depends on the funding that schools get. Schools in low budget areas may not have the ability to get the digital material. I believe that digital is the way to go and that's why i fully support the use of OER in schools.

Flipped Out?!?!?!?!

A flipped classroom is all about watching videos at home and then doing worksheets in class, right? Wrong! A flipped classroom is where  short video lectures are viewed by students at home before the class session, while in-class time is devoted to exercises, projects, or discussions. The video lecture is often seen as the key ingredient in the flipped approach, such lectures being either created by the instructor and posted online or selected from an online repository. While a prerecorded lecture could certainly be a podcast or other audio format, the ease with which video can be accessed and viewed today has made it so ubiquitous that the flipped model has come to be identified with it. With technology nowadays this is very reachable. With Mac computers their are apps like iMovie that can be used to make these podcast. Although flipped learning is convenient there are drawbacks.Here is a link that gives you step by step instruction on how to use iMovie to make a podcast here (Please excuse the site name its the only one that spoke "english"). The flipped classroom is an easy model to get wrong.Although the idea is straightforward, an effective flip requires careful preparation. Recording lectures requires effort and time on the part of faculty,  and out-of-class and in-class elements must be carefully integrated for students to understand the model and be motivated to prepare for class. As a result, introducing a flip can mean additional work and may require new skills for the instructor, although this learning curve could be mitigated by entering the model slowly. As stated in a blog post earlier teachers tend to be afraid to use technology due to the lack of familiarity. Also there has been complaints of students that there is a lack of face time between them and teachers. This may cause difficulties in messages getting across and force the student to drop academically.The outcomes of it may be  that students will become more technologically inept and it helps them in the working world. Also this gives a chance for all students to be able to catch up with school assignments since flipped learning is a style that can be accessed at anytime. To get further acquainted with some more pros and cons I recommend you go here I feel like if this is implemented well enough it can become something that can be used to create an ideal classroom. It is convenient for both teachers and students and provides a 24 hour link between the two. Especially since i want to work in an urban school where students are sometimes faced with multiple problems when coming to school that would cause them to fall behind in lessons. With flipped learning that learning gap can be closed. quickly when they miss days. This video shows the model for the flipped learning classroom in its ideal environment.

Experiencing Group

Recently I have been experiencing new tools that I can use in the classroom. Ranging from google drive to learning how to use iMovie in our classes.Google has not only taken over the world, but they are positioned to take over many of the classrooms! There are many Google resources and applications that can be utilized in the classroom. Google Drive  is an online word processing application that does not require the user to install any special software in order for it to run. The service offers real-time collaboration, document import and export, real-time saving and revision history. The strength of Google Drive is in its ability to afford mobility to the computer user. For example, a person who uses a Windows computer at work can work on a document there, and then work on it at home from his Mac computer without the need for OS-specific software.THis also allows for a teacher to do in class edits while their students work on essays. This also allows for 24/7 communicatio beween the teacher and their student.

 

My Beliefs about Technology and Learning

With the amount of technology nowadays a person can do the tiniest of task such as ordering a cup of coffee on their phone before they even turn the corner. With that type of convenience it comes as a big shock when its noted that few teachers integrate technology in their classrooms. Although there are many factors that contribute to this. During this pass economic recession schools faced major budget cuts which really affected what schools can spend on. Some schools ended up saving money by not spending on tech for the classrooms. There are many schools across the United States that do not have the space in their budget to spend on smart boards and laptops. This means teachers do not have the up to date tech required for integrating technological use in their classrooms. There are other reasons too such as the good old fashion “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” policy. Meaning teachers have been teaching with just a text book and chalkboard for years and it has been working just fine. 

Although I disapprove of this reasoning it is a truth. In today society revolves with technology and teachers should start to keep an open mind about tech so students can be more tech friendly and children easily transition into a society that runs on cell phones and Wi-Fi. There is also the problem of  teachers simply not being tech savvy which forces them to shy away from the use of technology in the class. This can be resolved simply through teachers taking computer classes in order for them to use computers more often than not. 

Some teachers just don't get it 

Although recently there has been many teachers that have been integrating tech in their classrooms through some creative ways like this one teacher, Joel Levin who uses the popular game Minecraft in order to teach his students problem solving techniques. Here is a link to an interview of his method and reasoning for giving his class a  Minecraft experience:

Important To Me

While on the path of becoming an educator I started to realize there are certain things I feel is important while doing this profession. As a future educator I believe that there should never be anything more important than becoming a guiding light for your students. I believe that a teacher's job is not just to teach the kids information right out of textbooks but to provide them with moral lessons that they can carry on to the future.  While growing up i realized this while watching movies like "Lean on Me".

In that movie you see that Morgan Freeman's character takes the heavy burden of instilling life lessons into the youths in his school. Motivated by this movie at a young age i dedicated my self to becoming the kind of teacher that can give my students all the knowledge they need in order to succeed in life instead of teaching students that will be "book smart"  and nothing more. While holding on to this moral I hope to become a guiding light for future generations to follow and become a change I wish to see in the near future. Also it would be pretty awesome to be the type of teacher Mr. Keating was Dead Poets.