Article 5: Challenge Based Learning

     These sites, videos, and readings on Challenge Based Learning were very interesting and informational for me as this is the first time that I've ever been introduced to the concept. I think this is a great way for students to really explore their own potential to make a difference and also delve into a deeper level of thinking. I personally think that as a student prior to being in college, I wasn't forced to think analytically and really challenge myself as often as I should have been. When students are able to use complex problem solving skills and think beyond surface level concepts and ideas, they acquire a lot of valuable knowledge and experience that will be applicable across a plethora of life situations.
     I also really like that this experience will help to empower kids and help them see that they are capable of being world changers. It gives them a safe environment to step out of their comfort zones and challenge themselves to think outside the box and also have to opportunity to build their leadership skills and their ability to work with others. Challenge Based Learning seems to be a fun, empowering, and character building activity that can really enhance a student's learning opportunities. I'm excited to get to put this lesson together with my group.
   

Article 4: iPads and Apps for Literacy

     I found these articles to be so interesting and full of great ways to integrate the technology of tablets and apps into teaching literacy. I am constantly amazed by those pieces of equipment and all the things they are useful for and capable of. The opportunities are seemingly endless for teachers to integrate this technology into their instruction and enhance their teaching and student learning ten-fold. On the site for Education Literacy Apps we saw over 60 different apps available for literacy. These apps are interactive, fun, interesting and relevant to students, and they allow students to be creative. As one article mentioned, they encourage students to practice and use the skills they have with technology and also encourage team work and interaction among peers. 

     Another thing that I thought was really great from the article about iPads for literacy was that it says that iPads and tablets allow students to learn anytime and from anywhere. Students no longer have to be in a computer lab or sitting in front of a computer in order to utilize technology. They can be completely mobile and can learn from wherever they are. It also talked about how students can be more creative and are given options on the iPads which allow them to be learning in a more relevant way because they can choose things that interest them. I think that iPads must also be a great educational reinforcement or reward in that a student can earn game time on the iPad by doing something that they might not prefer or struggle with. 

     Personally I have seen iPads used in really incredible ways, even further than in teaching literacy. My boyfriend's cousin is 13 years old and has Down's syndrome and cerebral palsy. She uses her iPad as a communication device and also takes it to school and can use it for educational purposes as well. My roommates brother is also 13 and has autism and Down's. He uses his iPad as a communication device as well and it's been incredibly useful for their family. 

     Using these types of technologies in the classroom does require that teachers be more flexible and adapt their instruction or the logistics of their planning, but to me it seems worth it for all the benefits they afford. 

Article 3: "Keeping Students Safe"

     This article, "Keeping Students Safe: What Works" is about the way that schools need to come up with more effective ways to teach students about safety when it comes to technology, the internet, and cell phones. It starts by discussing how the approach of teaching safety from a fear perspective is no longer working and schools need to move towards a more research-based method to help kids understand how dangerous the internet can be.
     I think that it is so terrifying how much power a person can have by being tech-savy and literate on the internet. We want all of our students to be up to date with technology, but it's also scary to see how some people can use that ability for such horrible things. The thing about the internet that's always scared and amazed me the most is that once you post something on the internet, it's there forever. Even if you think you've deleted it, it will live there forever, and all it takes is someone who knows how to dig deep enough to uncover your past--even if it is just that--your past. I think it's interesting that the article says that teaching from a fear perspective doesn't work, because all it takes for me to watch the things I say and post a little more closely, are horrors stories about other teachers and students like me getting in trouble because of the internet.
     Another thing the article mentions that I find to be really incredible but also very frightening is that fact that you can make something so widespread on the internet in literally no time at all. It's even possible with cell phones. All you have to do is send a mass text or message with any information, pictures, or anything you want, and it can be in the hands of hundreds of people instantly. I have even seen teachers become the victim of this kind of harrassment. In junior high students made a Facebook page for a teacher that wasn't well-liked and they posted cruel and malicious jokes about her and she wasn't even aware for the longest time.
     I really liked that the article talks about how the most effective way to keep kids from falling into these behaviors is to simply teach them how to treat people. If we start from the youngest kids and instill in them the value of doing good and the value of being kind and caring for people, it can make a huge difference.

Transliteracy

     I find it so amusing that when  most of our teachers from elementary school and grade school were becoming teachers, they probably didn't even have an Instructional Technology class dedicated to teaching ways to incorporate technology into instruction, how to use it, the pros and cons, etc. There wasn't much technology to incorporate back then. Now we have multiple classes in our major dedicated to just that, and even still, once we become teachers our students will be progressively more advanced and tech-savy than we are as technology continues to abound with improvements and updates.
     One part that I found really interesting and ironic as I was reading was the bit about having to teach students to read differently than left-to-right and up-and-down because text on technology can be formatted in so many ways. Just before this, I was literally trying to figure out where one section of text ended and where it picked up again. Even though I know how to read books and I read things on the internet, this problem still comes up every once in a while when the format of an article or web page is slightly confusing or different than we've ever seen.
     I also think it's so important that we stress instruction of teaching student's how to read and comprehend dense and complicated text and really read for content because with so many articles online with hyperlinks and headings, it's very easy to skim and get the bear minimum. I know that I am very guilty of this in classes that seemed uninteresting to me, or the article was just too long. It's easy for students to read too quickly and not thoroughly enough to learn from what's being read.
     Although it has its cons, transliteracy is a fascinating new movement in education and as the article mentioned, it's important to change and progress with the times. Students aren't going to be interested in dusty old books and newspapers when they know that their friends in another classroom get to learn all the same things from a shiny, new and fast computer or iPad. We must stay up to date in order to make learning relevant and fun for our students!

Article 1: "I Can't Think!"

     This article is about how our brains can become overloaded, and essentially shut down the part of our brain responsible for making sensible decisions, when we are given too much information or too many options. Personally, I find that many articles assigned by professors, this one included, cause me to feel overwhelmed and overloaded by information. I found myself having to back through and read sentences over again because I couldn't process what it actually meant the first time through. 

     I can also really relate to being a "maximizer". I will admit I'm always on my iPhone, or always finding something to do on the computer when I'm bored or want to avoid homework. I've even noticed that sometimes if I'm shopping online, I will become so overwhelmed by all the things I'm interested in, how much they'd cost, what color I would choose, what kind of shipping, what discounts I can find, etc., I just choose to quit. In this case I decide not to buy anything because my mind as become overwhelmed by all the different options I have, and it's easier to not make a decision at all. 

     One part that I thought was really interesting and also kind of confusing was the part about just stepping back at times and "let your unconscious decision making system kick in". I think that the unconscious mind is a really fascinating and incredible thing to study but also a very complicated and baffling to try to understand. In my mind, it doesn't make a lot of sense at first to say that my unconscious mind is better at making a decision for me than my conscious mind, which could be making plans, weighing pros and cons, etc. But then again, that's just why the unconscious mind is so intriguing. 

    Lastly, I thought for a bit about how this concept of brain-overload will affect us as teachers, and also as current students. Often times, as aforementioned, I become bogged down by reading the assigned articles I receive from my professors. I'm also sure that as teachers someday, there will be times that we overload our students with information. Therefore, I think that it is imperative that we are aware of this issue and prepare our students with skills and strategies to use in order to avoid it. The article offers the helpful tip of removing yourself from the flood of incoming information, and allowing yourself to focus on the manageable amount of information before you.