Never Stop Learning

In today's society a lot of students will never come back to a class that they have previously finished. Have you caught yourself remembering a random gen ed you took in college and thinking to yourself "what even happened in that class?" For my digital learning experience, it is important to never stop pondering about this coursework. Digital learning is the essence of today's society and it is important to keep a fresh understanding of this concept to obtain an upper edge in the professional world.

From day 1 in this class, Professor Darche has inspired our class to explore the free programs that are offered in the digital world, especially through Google. Getting an understanding of various software that can be used in the classroom will give me a superior advantage when it is my time to find a job in teaching.

In order to be a professor of technology, it is important to make the software you are teaching as exciting as possible and Professor Darche did exactly that. You would've thought she was a saleswoman for Google by how passionate she was about some of these programs. She was right though. Google offers its users an array of tools that can completely alter a classroom for the greater good. It is important for me to not lose touch of these programs and to always refresh my memory on what Google is doing. 

One goal I have is to stay tuned to an educational podcast to stay informed about the technological world around me. Podcasts offer great knowledge on concepts and there are great resources out there. If you are reading this, I would recommend checking out the Google Teacher Tribe Podcast.

Genius Idea

I was scrolling through my twitter feed the other day and saw a post my brother had composed. The tweet read, 

"The poorest thing that I do on a regular basis is grab an American cheese single from my fridge before driving to McDonald’s for the $1 sausage biscuit."

I started laughing after reading this post but then I started to think "Wait, why am I not doing this?" I asked my brother if he was actually serious about this instance or if it was exaggerated for his twitter following. He told me that he has been doing this practice for years now and that the McDonald's workers always get a kick out of it. 

After sharing the post, my brother got a handful of  'favorites' and also a few retweets. One of the funnier retweets was from a girl named Amanda who claimed "This is what I do at restaurants when I order omelettes!" Imagine if this became the norm? Going to a fancy steakhouse and a patron pulling an extra ingredient out of his or her pocket just to save a buck. I bet the owners would be thrilled...

My brother went on to say he even switches up the cheese flavors sometimes. Last Friday when he went for his sausage biscuit he goes to the lady "I got pepper jack today!" and they both shared a laugh. I wonder if the food engineers at McDonald's corporate imagined this happening to their recipes. Certain individuals around the world getting their food off the menu and then adding a special ingredient to it to make it taste better. I know it was a few Thanksgivings ago where the new rage was using White Castles' burgers as a form of stuffing for the holiday bird. I am curious to see what the next fast food trend is going to be and I am excited to try it. 

Learning How to Learn

How do I best learn?

I learn from experience and my peers. I like to think I keep all of the concepts I have mastered as tools and when life requests me to think, I grab a tool from my box. I believe I have learned all of most important life lessons such as morals and values from other individuals. These skills were not taught to me by book or website. It is important to strive for human interaction because it helps as grow as humans. When I am remembering something in my mind, I can hear a person saying the words; my mind doesn't remember words in a book.

Technology is introducing itself into the classroom in more ways than ever with more and more schools having the right capabilities. With this turn, classrooms have introduced a concept of flipped learning. In short, flipped learning is the concept of students coming to class prepared before the lesson is taught in the physical classroom. The students are learning the lesson from a web-based program that gives them the opportunity to have a virtual lesson.

Pros of a virtual lesson:

• Students can pause and rewind if a certain topic is difficult

• The student can learn at the best time for them. They have autonomy in a manner that they are on their own schedule and are able to choose when to start and finish the lessons

• The same lesson will be repeated identically from classroom to classroom. All students will be on the same playing ground and receive the same educational lesson

Cons of a virtual lessons:

• It is internet based. If the student has any type of connection issue, he or she will not get the full education he or she could have gotten from an actual teacher

• If a student has a question during the lesson, it is harder to get an answer at the drop of a hat

• A child might not have a quiet environment at home to learn in the best possible way

Do I support Flipped Learning? 

I do not. I believe a child should have the freedom to do what they want in their own free time. If a student's home life is too school-centered, he or she will not have the opportunity to explore and grow with the outside world. The child is already attending school M-F. The time used in class should be used to introduce educational lessons. When a child goes home for the day, he or she should have the chance to unwind and maybe think freely about what they learned that day. Teachers should teach students. A web-program should not teach students. The first thing that comes to my mind is computers coming to life and there would be a tech-apocalypse (little dramatic). 

Why don't you look it up?

Isn't it weird how much education has changed since the boom of technology? I remember in grade school if I needed to know how to spell a specific word, the teacher would tell me to look it up in the dictionary. So I would then go over to the bookshelf, choose the dictionary, find the specific word, and write down the correct spelling. Now students don't have to go through this hassle. They can just simply type the word on a computer screen and hit spell check or they can have the dictionary app on their smartphone (highly recommend this app!) CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

Another technology tool that is changing the game is GPS. Before the popularity of smartphones, one must print out directions on MapQuest or use a physical map to get from point A to point B. Now, future travelers do not need to worry about this fuss. They can simply enter in an address or a landmark and have an answer in seconds. Do you think this is taking away the fun of a road trip? It does sound a little safer IMO because young travelers are less likely to get lost.

The last technological advancement I want to mention is just the smartphone in general having the capability to explore the web. Us human are now walking around with electronic libraries in our pockets. I remember as a child, my father would be at a bar or restaurant with his friends and they would get stumped by a trivia question. If it was a younger centered question, they would call me and ask me. Now this really isn't a thing. If you have a quick question, you can just type it into your browser on your phone and have an answer in seconds. Add the encyclopedias to your recycling list, they are now just a waste of space and time.

Positives and Negatives of Technology in Education

Many schools are incorporating technology in new ways in order to stress the importance of the growing world. A few examples include 1 to 1 in-class tech, which means for every student in the class, there is a smart device.

• Is this concerning to adults?

Having computers in classrooms is a growing concern, but is it actually that bad? It will be the students using computers in their future jobs, so getting a head start seems beneficial. If a student can learn the ins and out of technology at an early age, they will be on the right pace for the future world.

• Why do I need to learn this if I just can google it or use a calculator?

With more and more students, classroom learning seems to be losing its buzz. Why should I child have to sit in a classroom from 9-5 when education is literally at their fingertips? The answer may be experience. It is the educational experience of a teacher that separates knowledge in what a student can learn on the internet. Yes, a student can just simply google or plug an equation in their calculator, but how did he or she get there? It is important to stress the perks of technology but not to take advantage of it.

• Learning in your pajamas

Why must one have to physically go to class when online schooling is now a thing? Technology has created advantages for some learners to make their own schedules and to learn at his or her own pace. With online classes, a student can watch the lecture via video format and he or she has the power to fast-forward of rewind for selected subject material. In physical classrooms this may not be the case. So who is to say that this isn't a higher learning? Student A may prefer going over his or her lessons at 11 o'clock at night, rather than 10 in the morning. Technology can give a student more autonomy to succeed.