BBearrick+21st+Cent.

The 21st Century Classroom Connected through Technology

= “Someday somebody's going to come along and knock this old fence down.” = = ― [|Jacqueline Woodson], // [|The Other Side] //=

// “The more you read, the more you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” – Dr. Seuss //

= Redefinition of the Connected Classroom through Technology = -by Brett Bearrick

Alvin Toffler wrote a best selling novel coining the title phrase “Future Shock”, which described the phenomenon of "too much change in too short a period of time". He claimed that the changes occurring in society as we moved from an industrial society to a “super-industrial society” causes humans extreme distress. Technology is accelerating so fast that people feel isolated and endure "shattering stress and disorientation”, or “future shock”. In that book Toffler also coined the now famous phrase, "information overload", which after a long day in class we can all comprehend. But the most fascinating thing to me is that Alvin Toffler wrote this book in 1970! Before the internet. Before cell phones. Before jobs became transient, and pensions became non-existent in the private sector. I was still taking naps and drinking milk in the 1st grade! Even Alvin Toffler could not have imagined the rate of change in technology today. However, just as those before Toffler could not have predicted the changes to come, the digital natives of today’s world could not imagine a world without their ipods, cell phones, and high speed 4G. Until, of course in September, when they go back to school.

__**Ecosystems to Elements**__

From the first column of the “Manifesto” we see the phrase “always connected”. This is not hyperbole. my own scientific investigation of the digital native is that they are always on their cell phone, texting, Vining, Snapchatting, Instagramming, Tweeting, and Facebooking. Nightly, I witness my 15 year old sitting on the couch texting, while watching a movie on Netflix, and researching lacrosse gear on his computer or ipad. And despite the “kids these days” mentality that many of us digital immigrants have (by the way our parents and their parents thought the same thing), I believe these kids can successfully gain the skills and strategies they need from column 2 to be collaborative, innovative and creative, and entrepreneurial. But it will depend on if they can become strong communicators and critical thinkers and problem solvers.

At times the video gaming, ADD, obesity, etc. do seem overwhelming, but the last spirit left in Pandora’s box is Elpis, the spirit of hope. Hope is where the Learning Designer for today’s digital natives can play a major role, as we have the ability to create a better ecosystem using the element of Technology from column 3 to bridge the gap for the digital natives to Connected in column 4. For many of our children, who are digital natives, the technology will help with the connected. But it has to be strategic (in the sense of SAMR). We need to give them the technology and tasks that will help them connect. It will be difficult for a child to walk into one class where they are allowed to use laptops and ipads and the next class where they are not allowed to use calculators.

Teaching is a relationship business. From 19th century learners to 21st century learners. And relationships start with connections. The new piece for the digital natives is that technology is a part of their relationships. It is how they stay connected. We need to give them ideas, not barriers on how to use the technology in different ways. Then we need to be open to learn from the students how they want to use the technology. In essence increasing our connectedness and to them and the technology. The connections are no longer linear, but divergent. Ironically, technology may be the only way we can keep pace with the necessary connections.

__**Artifacts**__

//**Artifact #1 Edmodo**//: Edmodo allows the Learning Designer to substitute and augment many of the classroom staples, such as, newsletters and parent communications, that can now be quickly and inexpensively dispensed. However, by including links, images, and videos, the newsletter can undergo Augmentation. Also, by attaching interactive polls and reflections to the newsletters, Learning Designers can learn from the digital natives and their Digital Immigrant families what information is helpful and what would be more effective, which is a Modification of the newsletter that could even be raised to a Redefinition through the collaboration of children, families and Learning Designer. Edmodo can also become a repository for homework, making it more efficient for the Learning Designer and shifting the responsibility to the child to manage their learning. Finally, Edmodo will definitely rise to Redefinition as the host of Flipped Classroom resources and the communication conduit for taking advantage of those resources.



//**Article #2 Photostory, Knowmia, and Nearpod:**// It is no accident that I put these three video creating tools in the order from Photo Story to Knowmia, and finally Nearpod. These three programs increase in functionality as we move up the order. Photostory is a pc based program that we have used successfully in past years to display and narrate photos in a talking powerpoint. Knowmia allows the creator to use amazing “John Madden-like” telestrator capabilities to enhance the narrated PowerPoint effect. And Nearpod allows for interactivity to create truly modified and redefined learning experiences. However, the caveat is that each of these programs also increases in time to teach the children how to use them and availability of the technology as we only have 30 ipads in the entire building to be shared among 400+ students. Creating Knowmia and Nearpod videos will be necessarily limited for the children. However, as the learning designer I can use Knowmia to create helpful intervention videos for learning cvc, cvvc, and cvce spelling patterns, for example. Moreover, I can also use Knowmia for a flipped classroom experience which is specific to my classroom but I will rely on other sources, such as TED, Khan Academy, and YouTube for most cases, which will rise to the level of redefinition.

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//**Article #3 Google Forms:**// Google Forms could be considered a substitute for gathering information. But I would argue that it’s reporting and management utility raise Google Forms to Augmentation at the very least. Furthermore, one could argue that because it is so easy to manage that the Learning Designer can make better and more use of quick formative assessments that leads to Modification of the tasks. Teaching the children to use Google forms can lead to the redefinition of tasks to learn about data sets, inquiry, etc.

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//Article #4 Google Docs:// I am a huge writer’s workshop, reader’s workshop and recently have dabbled in math workshop as a Learning Designer. Since I began teaching second grade 14 years ago, I have been a leader in my building in integrating technology in a way that would be considered Augmentation and Modification at the least. I use the laptop for the entire writing process from prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, to publishing. The use of laptops, augments the revision process by making it easier and therefore more desirable. The use of Inspiration augments and in someways modifies the prewriting process. Using the internet for research also modifies the task by allowing the children to research and insert pictures, something they could not do as effectively by hand. The file sharing feature on Google Docs allows me to modify and redefine the way I can interact with the children's writing. Before I had to find the userid, login as the child and then find the file, if I wanted to locate a file in a child's folder, a task which was so time-consuming it necessarily demanded that I use the work-around of having the child print everything I needed to see. Now I can have them share their account with me and I can go online, assess, and comment from anywhere in the world with WiFi. But I believe for the second grade child, Google Docs will lead to a redefinition of the conferencing and revising steps of the process. Now entire groups of children can conference and comment on a document. Two or more children could be collaborating on the same document at the same time. My philosophy has always been that children can perform better and learn more in a more relevant, realistic situation. Google Docs will create authentic, collaborative opportunities.



= How Will I Measure Success =

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Among others, author Seth Godin, described the “dip” that necessarily comes with learning something new. the learner may need to first learn other skills and strategies or may not react quick enough to change strategies. But whatever the case, there is a phenomenon that bringing in something new can result in initial success and then a dip before eventual sustained mastery. In the case of my room, I typically use and try lots of new technology. I am a digital immigrant, but I gained my citizenship years ago, so I will jump into new technologies. In the case of using Edmodo, I predict a smooth transition. Of course, I will have to teach the children how to use it and finding computer time at school will be a challenge, but the savings for me on the other end with data collection, data management and a repository for all things communication should move Edmodo towards the Redefinition end of the continuum. =====

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My indicators for success will be how much activity am I able to generate on Edmodo in December and then again in April. similar to the “Dip” in undertaking a new task, classrooms go through a dip especially during the doldrums of December and April. I will also have a special measurement of how much I can increase family to school communication. Since my class of 2007 years ago, I have noticed a steady decline in family participation. The distance learning component, combined with the potential for higher engaging homework tasks should help increase involvement and engagement of families. A measurement indicator for me will be the nominal count of how many families are using Edmodo and the associated technologies I load on their page. =====

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A final indicator for success will be the rise in my productivity. Can I perform more formative assessments? Can I perform more learning surveys? Can I perform more reflections with my students and families? And more importantly, can I analyze and then use this data to improve my instruction. =====

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