A Systems Framework Examination of the Impact of ICTs on Education

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I have had the great pleasure of spending part of my sabbatical as a visiting professor in Chile, working on a few different projects with the Faculdad de Educacion. This is the first of what will be three presentations that I am giving during my last week. In this presentation, I look at the impact of ICTs on Educational Practice using Bronfenbrenner´s Chronosystem, Exosystem, Microsystem, and the Individual to frame the discussion.

A Systems Framework Examination of the Impact of ICTs on Education from Anita Zijdemans Boudreau

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Learning to Change Changing to Learn

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Was cleaning up some of my other resources and still like the message of this video: Learning to Change Changing to Learn [5:37] 

video source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tahTKdEUAPk

Other Resources Related to Technological Literacy

Mobile Teaching & Learning https://sites.google.com/site/tech4tlcontent/mobile-learning

Other Video Resources:
Digital World: Digital Teachers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2j9qw-A0NM&NR=1&feature=fvwp

Education today and tomorrow [2:31] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fnh9q_cQcUE&feature=related

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Multi-Access Learning Framework

I was really excited to see this article from Irvine et al. (2013) as it addresses some of the very thoughts that I've been having around how to pull together the best elements from learning theory - can't forget our foundations :0) -  along with what we have been learning about MOOCs and Online Learning into a model that makes sense for those of us in Higher Education. The article references the works of:

• Brown & Campione's Fostering a Community of Learning [FCL] - research-share-perform; 
• Bruner's 4 Aspects of FCL - agency, reflection, collaboration & culture; and 
• Code's Agency Model - personal, proxy, and collective 

to establish a theoretical foundation for their Multi-Access Framework. Their definition: Multi-Access Learning a means of enabling students, in F2F and/or OL contexts, to personalize their learning experience while participating in a course.  The framework consists of 4 Tiers:

Tier 1 - F2F: traditional classroom teaching & learning
Tier 2 - Synchronous: both F2F & OL through web conferencing.
Tier 3 - Asynchronous: OL access to archives of F2F classes + collaborative activities that support co-construction of meaning
Tier 4 - Open Learning: following the xMOOC & cMOOC approach, non-credit students are able to access the course at no cost & the learning community has potential for global reach.

This post is written for a business audience, as it is talking about the role of learning in the workplace, but I think it gives some food for thought about the role of the LMS in learning and in education. Jennings captures something in this statement: Learning can only be managed by the individual in whose head the learning is occurring. The visual highlights the increasing role of informal, self directed learning particularly in  the workforce. In education, however, we should be thinking not only about the informal learning that takes place outside the classroom but also in eLearning contexts.
source: http://charles-jennings.blogspot.com/2013/04/managing-learning.html

PEW Results: Cell Use & the Internet

Of a national study - surveys and interviews - of 2252 18 years + from April to May 2013, results indicate that 63% are cell internet users [i.e. use their phones to access the net] up from 31% in 2009. if this, 34% - comprised most likely of young adults, non-whites, with relatively low income and education - are cell-mostly internet users.
http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2013/Cell-Internet/Main-Findings/Cell-Internet.aspx

Adding Formative or Summative Grading to G Forms Using Flubaroo

Google Forms: are a great way to create surveys, quizzes, etc, but combined with Flubaroo instructors now have a quick way to grade.

Flubaroo: http://www.flubaroo.com/ is an tool that integrates with Google Forms [just add the Google App Script from the gallery in the spreadsheet drop down menu] that lets you easily perform diagnostics, grade assignments and do in-class assessments [such as dipsticking or thumbs up/down but on an individual student basis], as well as exit slip/tickets to see how well students have understood content. The tool allows the isntructor to create a report and these results can be emailed or shared out to students [with an individualized message and their score]. 

More information on how to use Flubaroo can be found at Google Education - which includes an archived webinar]:  https://sites.google.com/site/eduonair/conference-sessions/using-google-apps-to-enhance-instruction

The history of technology in education

This short video provides an timeline of some of the technologies that have influenced how we teach and learn through the centuries [The only thing I saw missing in the 510BCE Pythagoras Academy the was the use of wax tablets]. The journey ends in 2011, with the Smartboard. What struck me was how, in the short time between then and now, we have had an explosion in mobile learning and Apps.

App Review Socrative 2 Minute Overview

A nice quick review of the possibilities for using the App Socrative - http://www.socrative.com/ -  in the classroom. The power of the tool is that it is user friendly and can be used across different devices for quick a formative assessment or CFU [check for understanding].

10 Skills Modern Teachers Must Have

Some useful things to consider when trying to keep abreast in these digital times. Here's the visual summary of the article and the link  http://www.edudemic.com/the-10-skills-modern-teachers-must-have/

PowToon

In this cMOOC I'm currently taking, we have to create an artifact each week summarizing what we have learned. In addition to doing my reflective post in my blog, I decided to do a summary of the highlights using a tool that one of the other MOOC participants shared called PowToon - http://www.powtoon.com/edu-home/. I have by no means used all of the features in this tool [I didnt add sound for instance] but I'm sharing what I created just to show that it is a fun way to pull together an animated video presentation. It's quite intuitive and downloads either to your computer or YouTube. The tool is in beta, so hopefully it will continue to develop [and continue to be free]

eLearning in the Age of Choice

Ed Week Webinar 8/28/2012
Presenters: Sue Winkler Davis SD, Utah & Cleon Franklin Memphis City Schools

Two case scenarios are presented as examples of how districts are developing online courses to both meet State requirements for HS students to have an online course experience, as well as meet the needs of students.

Highlights from Davis SD
- Clients include homeschoolers, credit acceleration, credit recovery, blended learning
- Created own content with district teachers vs. using outside providers
- Developed consortium with 6 other districts based on common LMS and joint agreement to share resources
- Year round course offerings

Education in the Age of Mobilism

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10/25/12 Lightening Webinar, ISTE’s SIGML
Education in the Age of Mobilism: Biggest Change to K-12-Ever
Eliot Soloway, U Michigan Cathleen Morris U N. Texas
Webinar: http://iste.adobeconnect.com/p3qqtqqf1rn/

The essence of this webinar is that the shift to mobile is here, but SW + mobile devices need to reflect 21st century learning – i.e. 4 C’s – Collaboration, Communication, Critical Thinking, Creativity – and not to reinforce outdated pedagogies.

Smartphones to Surpass 1 Billion in 2013

Smart phones will grow 40 percent this year compared with 2012, while the overall mobile phone market will grow just 7.3 percent worldwide to 1.8 billion units. By 2017, smart phones are expected to reach 1.7 billion unit shipments per year, with overall cell phone shipments reaching 2.3 billion units.

iCharts

Source: http://campustechnology.com/Articles/2013/09/05/Smart-Phones-To-Surpass-1-Billion-Units-This-Year.aspx?Page=1

The Anthropology of Mobile Phones

What are the top 3 most important items that people carry? Money, keys, and our cel phones. According to Chipchase, this is true across gender, cultures, and contexts.

This TED talk shares some interesting and surprising discoveries about how people in third world countries strive to connect over time and space - some 3 billion + have mobile phones worldwide. Street innovations - such as using the mobile phone as an ATM to send money to rural villages, and reverse engineering to meet the demand for fixing broken phones - exemplify how necessity is the mother of invention, as well as our impressive creative capacity when faced with few or limited resources.

Source: http://www.ted.com/talks/jan_chipchase_on_our_mobile_phones.html

Transcript: HERE

Trends in Mobile Device Acquisition 1975-2011

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We've all heard about the massive proliferation of mobile devices, the worldwide increase in the purchase of cellular phone. This image [does not include all mobile platforms] shows units of devices shipped from 1975-2011 and provide an interesting window on trends in the marketplace.

PCs on the downfall:

• iPad can no longer be considered a niched- volume of sales in its first 2 years places it within an order of magnitude of all PCs sold.
• iPhone, Android, iPad as the new entrants into personal computing have a combined volume that is higher that PCs sold in the same period [approx. 358 million vs. 336 million excluding Macs in 2011]

Three Phases or Eras

1975-1991: Emergence & rapid growth but also multiple standards and experiments

1991-2007: Microsoft Dominates

2008 - 2012: iPhone & Derivatives Dominate

Which Tablet Case...?

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As I prepared to loan out the half dozen iPads that I was able to pull together - from my Faculty Development Grant and loan from our Educational Tech Director Al Weiss - I was faced with the question of how best to protect the devices to ensure the longest shelf life. This turned out to be quite the challenge. First off, there are a gazillion varieties to choose from. What I'll share here are the 3 models we ended up going with. I did also buy one standard case sleeve model seen on the right here - those provide good basic protection and come in at various prices - but as those are fairly basic no further explanation is needed. 

I ended up buying 3 different models through Amazon, and between using them personally and getting feedback from my students have some thoughts about what one might want to consider when looking for a case:

Kensington - KeyFolio Pro 2 Removable Keyboard, Case and Stand For iPad 4 with Retina Display, New iPad (3rd Gen) and iPad 2 (K39512US) - approx $50 AMAZON