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.