Tag Archives: ECI 833

Ed Tech is/has always been about us and our learners.

06 Tuesday Dec 2016

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Another semester learning about EdTech is in the books!

What stood out?

Apart from all of the great presentations covering presentation-formats, assistive technology, assessment, the evolution of the web, educational media and several more… there were several major ideas that stuck out.

  • Engagement helps with learning.
  • EdTech has developed over time to continue to engage people.
  • EdTech continues to develop and as educators we have to as well.
  • There are several different theories of education that are inherent within different forms of EdTech.
  • Those who create these technologies possess a significant amount of power in determining the direction of student learning.
  • EdTech can both act as a means to bridge learning gaps yet widen the digital divide.
  • Some forms of EdTech are meant to entertain.
  • Entertainment leads to engagement which leads to learning.
  • Therefore: EdTech is and has always been about us and our learners.

For your viewing pleasure, “Learner”, a remix of “Closer” by The Chainsmokers feat. Halsey.

Lyrics:

E, C and I 8 33
History of Edtech is our topic, okay?
Classmates, I tried to connect with you on google
but I forgot to tweet you again.

Theory is where we start.
Connective, evolving chaotic parts.
Ed-Tech, changes for all
And I am entertainer in my classroom walls
And my, my thoughts,
Oh, I will blog.

So let me tell you more about how education’s grown.
Distance learning for home-schooled
Or for students studyin’ abroad
And I won’t ever get over
The tragic death of Mr. Hooper
Entertainer is engager.
And I will always be an engager.
EdTech’s all about our learners.
And we are all a bunch of learners.


(I could email)
you and use power point inside the classroom
share my screen usin’ the app zoom, ya all day
Say, can we play formative assessment
Kahoot, Menti, or Soc-rative

Assistive tech creates parts
Makin’ learnin’ possible against all odds
And, for free or not
Trying to teach students to have critical thoughts
And I will blog
Oh my, my thoughts.

So Bill C let me know sir
‘Bout Aurasma cree instructor
Angus, bout web 3.0
personalize data or my info
Find out more about virtual
Reality and its scope
Engaging equals learning.
And I will always be a learner.

EdTech’s all about our learners.
And we are all a bunch of learners.

So Alec tell us more sir, bout EdTech and bout our learners.
How to help who can’t afford?
BYOD do we bring ours
AR/VR alters our world
Is real even real anymore?
Questions grow us all as learners
And EdTech keeps us all learners.

EdTech is all about our learners.
(And we are all a bunch of learners.)
EdTech is all about our learners.
(And we are all a bunch of learners.)
EdTech is all about our learners.
(And we are all a bunch of learners.)

EdTech is all about our learners.
And we are all a bunch of learners.
And I will always be a learner.

A whole new world: virtual and augmented reality.

25 Friday Nov 2016

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Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR/VR)!

First off, thanks to Bill for being a great presenting partner. I thought our teaching styles complimented each other very well.

Next, I wanted to provide something new to the #ECI833 readers than what we had presented about… and that is my experiences and subsequent beliefs, biases and views towards AR/VR. And for those of you coming in with pre-existing notions about the “uselessness of gaming” (yeah, you, Jayme. Your husband’s a good guy!), I got a class devoted to game creation and gaming’s power for learning that would beg to disagree!

My experience with AR/VR

AR

A student was playing Ingress (an AR game) in my class last year after completing his work and, prior to reminding him he still had more work to do, I listened to him mention that the company that made this was planning on making a Pokemon game… since I was partially raised in the region of Kanto (this is a location in the original Pokemon Red, Blue, and Yellow games), I patiently waited.

pokemon-go-1

Pokemon GO via MobiPicker

My wait was almost rewarded as the official release of the game was in summer 2016… in the United States… still unavailable to the Canadian public. Fortunately, I had an AP Conference in Anaheim, CA. Let the Pokemon catching begin. The young Logan was ALIVE and, surprisingly, with the augmented reality, viewing my surroundings with creatures of my childhood, I soon connected with strangers and with my environment. Adults. Youth. Men. Women. I met and talked with strangers, I learned about locations in and around Anaheim, and I had fun. I was engaged. Interesting.

VR

I had never tried out a VR device prior to this class. After registering to present about it (mostly out of post-Pokemon GO excitement), I mentioned it to my father, and he conveniently picked up a Playstation VR (for himself, not me, for the record) on sale three weeks prior to our presentation. He told me I needed to come over to try Batman Arkham. Several days later, I did…

And?

Shut.

the.

front.

door.

It was incredible.

I! WAS! BATMAN! I PUT ON THE BAT SUIT, GAUNTLETS, TESTED OUT THE BATARANG, AND I HUNG OUT WITH ALFRED!

There I was in downtown Gotham City, analyzing a crime scene, yet simply doing 360’s in my basement looking around desperately for clues to solve a murder. I searched a morgue to locate a key, problem-solved using tips and inferences from the environment I was in. I was learning in a game. It was more than I’d ever felt playing a game before. My legs responded to the environment as my brain accepted what my sight and hearing had presented as real. (If you have an opportunity to try it, do it!)

Learning Implications of AR/VR

Then the implications came, and I was almost overcome with emotion. Perhaps place-based learning in a Saskatchewan classroom is possible for more than four months of the school year… this could change my environmental science 20 class!

Virtual tours. Simulation of activities re-imagined. Pseudo-hands on experience/training. Distance learning 3.0. Assistive technologies?! Imagine therapeutic treatments made possible with Virtual Reality… or transcending our mortal lives to exist as a series of light, sound and code for loved ones to reconnect…

A New Reality

But it’s not reality… or is it? If it’s not reality… is that okay?

I would be inclined to argue that reality is subject to what we make of it… a virtual reality, though digital, is still reality nonetheless. Are we ignorant to accept it as real or toy with our brains to escape reality? We have built other devices to better observe reality (telescopes, glasses), why is this different?

morpheus.jpg

Morpheus via Pinterest

What is real? How do you define ‘real’? If you’re talking about what you can feel, what you can smell, what you can taste and see, then ‘real’ is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain. – Morpheus, The Matrix (1999) via IMDB

At least we’re not in the matrix… or are we? At least robots aren’t simulating this reality for us… but who is? Who is creating the reality for us? Angus elaborates with detail on the potential for misinformation and personal agendas made possible through these wildly interactive realities.

Ultimately, the uses for AR/VR are whatever we can imagine and create, with some concerns of spam, privacy, . Some of it is available for free; apps like Aurasma can be used in our schools to augment the reality of your classroom. Others with more intense experiences with virtual reality headsets are available in a wide variety of styles and processing power. The industry presents a limitless potential for incredible learning. All of this predicated on the large assumption that you are wealthy enough to purchase a device that makes it possible.

So, if you can, go get a headset and immerse yourself in a whole new world. If you can’t, then, education system, let’s work on making this possible.

What are your thoughts on AR/VR? Comment below!

Logan Petlak

Distance education: bringing the Mr. Petlak Classroom Experience Worldwide?

28 Friday Oct 2016

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I have been travelling the #edtech world for several years, and here’s what I’ve seen:

However.

All the tools presented and proposed in this class are actually a bit overwhelming! There are so many options and yet what feels like so little time to experience all of them. The clock is ticking as I consider how to deliver content in my AP Biology course synchronously as soon as next school year for Prairie South Schools (and SunWest doesn’t offer this, yet! I’ll be a hot commodity). In our meeting October 25th, Jade Ballek mentioned that SunWest even offer classes to international locations such as China… how do they receive funding for this? Do they receive a tuition from Chinese students (what is listed is $500 on the website)? Do they charge more to international students?

Can I use this?

A colleague/friend of mine, Jeff Boulton, mentioned the potential of offering distance education privately. At $500/student, could I offer a Biology course to 10 students for $5000? And could I even have this class programmed asynchronously so it basically funds me once I complete my initial prep work? And if it’s asynchronous, with automated marking programs, couldn’t I manage well over 10 students?

Money? Interesting.It is here that we reach our quandary. Do we sell our educating soul?

chappelle cash gif.gif

Chappelle Swag via Giphy

I possess the ability to offer education to individuals worldwide and potentially receive money to do so. Should I? Would you? Based on my principles and beliefs related to open education and how learning should unfold, I should make my content and work free, which I have, but if I were to actively record instruction and create lessons to educate students worldwide, do I take a “small handout or reward”? Is it okay to?

It’s important to note that I believe that every individual deserves an education… so perhaps the solution lies in equity, with affordability to those who can’t and collection from those who can to promote my use and production values?

All these questions aside… can I even replicate the Logan Petlak Classroom Experience online? Is the educator I am on a screen the same as that face-to-face? I would argue probably no. Not without active discussion and interaction with students. That’s my favourite part of teaching, getting to work and talk with as well as read and respond to students… is that gone in the distance classroom – even with synchronous sessions (perhaps offered via Zoom)? And does this lend itself to more direct instruction? What about the socialization of being on campus and engaging with other students in the classroom? Many sources will tell you that a cons to distance education is a lack of “student to teacher face time” and “no social interaction”.

Solution?

Digital citizenship: fostering a digital presence and creating a networked learning community. And from that networked learning community, perhaps presents opportunities to collaborate with professionals from around the world to invite to contribute to class sessions (Adam reminded me of this idea with Skype).

This stuff you’re teaching Alec is starting to take shape more and more, day by day!

What are your thoughts? Does distance education present an opportunity for us as educators to earn beyond our negotiated salary? Do we as educators have a moral obligation to simply provide instruction to all and do this in the most cost-effective way possible?

– Logan Petlak

Learning as a chaotic, evolving mosaic.

04 Tuesday Oct 2016

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Which learning theory is right?

learning

“learning” via BlueDiamondGallery

Ashley Murray nailed it: “As teachers I think that it’s important that we avoid getting caught up in which theory is the BEST theory to use.”

Taking a page out of John Dewey‘s playbook, I feel the need to ‘link sciences’. What is my take on learning theory?  Learning as a chaotic, evolving mosaic. I use mosaic in the biological sense, when separate genetics are present together. Substitute genetics for learning theories, and away we go.

Much like evolution as a “theory”, they don’t become theory without reputable and verifiable strategies, experiments, and support. Since so many streams of learning theory hold weight, combining them and treating learning as an evolving and changing process. Let’s allow learning to proceed as a complex science including constructivism, behaviourism, cognitivism, and every other learning theory.

Ultimately, as educators, when we consider our philosophies it comes down to the first two questions Schunk (Learning theories: an educational perspective, 1991) asked:

  1. How does learning occur?
  2. What factors influence learning?

Learning occurs through connecting with others who may have different ideas and perspectives than us, through the chaos of diversity. We associate and establish similarities and differences between what we know and seek to learn. We conceptualize and translate texts, tones, and visuals. Everything we learn, builds to the next lesson. Every experience we’ve had, problems we solve, memories we retain, every innate ability and predisposition we have influences how we learn. Reinforcement and punishment influence our perception of how we view it, but even that knowledge and learning is organic and evolves as we reflect. We independently yet dependently learn holistically (physically, socio-emotionally, mentally) and it manifests itself in our society as a mosaic. This particular quote resonated with me and diversity and complexity of learning: “Which theory [or theories] is the most effective in fostering mastery of specific tasks by specific learners?” Adjust and adapt. To lock yourself into one belief of learning theory and deny others seems counter-intuitive, or think it is something clean and linear (like a pyramid). Humanity learns.

Ideally, that’s what my classroom would look like. Does it look like that every day? Maybe not upon initial viewing, but it’s rooted in what I do. And it’s constantly changing.

you-gone-learn-today

via Giphy

Do you agree that learning is hard to classify? It’s worth looking at all the different beliefs on learning. Some may have more evidence than others, but as a connectivist would tell you, even the opinions we don’t agree with have relevance and meaning to learning.

– Logan Petlak, lifelong learner.