Blogs: Your Personal Journal for Everybody to See

Class dismissed!

Sadly, that is what happening to Technology class—today this highly interactive, almost hectic class comes to an end. I did not want to post any farewell, so I will talk about another tool instead: Blogs.

Blogs are wonderful tools to share information of any kind. One can post text, pictures, videos and links to other sites; these can be about any topic, ranging from travels, inspirational speeches and eggnog. The possibilities are limitless, so it would be a great to tool for education as well.

Teachers can flip their classroom by having student visit a blog with information about the class. Another way of using it is creating a blog specifically for a class and have students post content and comment on it. They can also create their own blog where they can post their progress on the class, which is totally not what I have been doing here, mind you.

Anyways, I just want to thank you for taking your time to read this blog's content. Just enduring my writing for so long is a great achievement in and of itself, so I might as well congratulate you for making it this far. This does not mean that "My Techy Corner" is over, but the main inspiration behind it sadly is, nevertheless. For this reason, it might take a little bit longer for me to post new content.

Thank you, Professor and classmates! I love you all! (No snarky remarks this time)

See you soon!

 

[Comp.] Reflections 2

What did I learn? Part 2

This reflective composition deals with a rather controversial topic: Video games in education. I am used to be an avid gamer and game designer, so I get easily "triggered" when people talk about video games and how people become violent only because of them. For this reason, I am just going to limit myself to sharing my composition on the subject matter.

Reflection Paper 2

            “Learning by playing” is not, by any means, a new topic in education. For many years, playing games has become the source of educational research. There have been studies whether this takes places or how “useful” the skills acquired through learning can be. With the advent of video games, the topic has resurfaced once again and there has been a lot of controversy about these entertainment devices and their use in the classroom.

            There are two fundamental issues about using video games for learning purposes. One of them is choosing the appropriate one for the lesson to be taught. This writer believes that they should be planned just as if they were a certain story book for a reading class; this means it is necessary to analyze the usefulness, attractiveness and versatility of said game. The other issue is whether the students will get hooked by the game or would be not interested in it, which can greatly support or inhibit the meaningful learning that every teacher expects to generate.

This writer has been surrounded by video games his entire life, and experience has shown that video games do teach many things, albeit implicitly. Not only do players learn game’s characters, story, or mechanics that govern its universe, but also learn to measure, analyze, visualize, anticipate, investigate, and many other skills. There is the wrong perception that video games are just toys or time-wasters, but they are more than that because they go through a very lengthy and complex process to be made. Many people have invested their efforts to make games like they were art pieces, so if education ever discovers the potential that this media has, many doors to new theories and methods would be opened.

Video games rule! There, I said it.

See you soon!

QR Codes: Much More than Dots and Squares

Linking anything, anywhere.

QR Codes are widely known for their convenience when sharing links, especially those from restaurants, teathers, Facebook pages, etc. However, they can be used for educational purposes as well. For instance, one can share articles or any other material through a QR Code. One has to go to a QR Code generator and paste the link of the article. Presto! The code is generated. After that, you can save it as an image, share it in social networks, or even print it.

I would like to emphasize its use in the classroom. You could make many activities with them. For example, I once created a scavenger hunt in which my students looked for clues and a treasure at the end. They had to use verbs, prepositions and adjectives to find the next clue. Another way to use it is to divide the classroom into different groups or just to send information to a student individually.

Honestly, the best aspect of QR Codes is that you never exactly where they lead you; whether you are moving in real life or just browsing the internet, it is like a portal or way to something exciting.

If you do not feel the same, just scan this QR Code:

They are still dots and squares, though.

See you soon!

[Comp.] Technology-Enhanced Activity 2

Now we are using technology! Part 2

As I told you before, Kahoot would be the next tool for our technology-enhanced activity. This time, we worked in pairs to use a tool explored in class. We settled for Kahoot and we even made a video (in a few minutes) to explain how this amazing tool could be used. It is not much, but Beverly and I did our with what we had. Thank

Here is the video in all its glory:

I also wrote a composition about this tool, and how it can help teachers in the assessment process, which can get very difficult sometimes. Please take a look:

Kahoot: A Fun Way to Assess Knowledge

            Teachers can come up with many ways to assess what the students have learned—tests, oral presentations, compositions… these are some examples of how teachers can make sure that learning has taken place. However, these strategies might not be engaging and could even intimidate some students, causing affective inhibitions that prevent the student from showing his or her knowledge. For this reason, there is an online tool that can make assessment dynamic and engaging: Kahoot.

            Kahoot is a game show-like tool that lets the teacher create quizzes and surveys, but it has a colorful interface, time limit, and speed-based mechanics. The latter is the main reason this is a great tool to engage students because they must think fast in order to win the “game”. In addition to that, students would most likely have to work in groups, so it also strengthens the bonds among peers.

            A common situation in a classroom is having two or more students that do not get along very well. Kahoot, being a game-show looking tool, can make those students stay so focused on the task that they can overcome their differences just to answer as fast as possible. It is just a matter of working as a group and complement each other’s strengths.

            Kahoot can also be used to review before a written test or students can even make their own quizzes to challenge their classmates; overall, it is a very flexible tool that can spice up a class that is perceived as dry or not engaging enough.

...aaand, here it is the link to our game:
https://play.kahoot.it/#/k/39eba58d-75ef-44e8-b6d6-05abf70cf0bb

This was quite a busy day, but it was interesting all the way the through.

You expected a lot more from the game; I know. Sorry.

See you soon and thank you for your help, Beverly!

Kahoot: Spicing Up Quizzes

This tool certainly amazed me, or should I say "amused me"? 

Quiz shows or games bring a lot fun wherever they go; it would be interesting to apply them in class. However, they usually take a lot of time to prepare and plan, not to mention the investment one would have to make for resources to make it more flashy. Thankfully, Kahoot is a simple tool that can create such games in couple of minutes.

You can create quizzes, surveys and even include intro videos. The only gripe about this tool is that it requires participants to have their own device, which is not always a possibility, especially at lower levels. Nevertheless, we can still find ways around this problem. For example, there is a Team Mode where several people can share one device to play.

We played a couple of games in our Technology class, but Team PENGUIN (my team) only won once, sadly. It was very fun because of the music, colors and the cheesy lines the game itself shows whenever you answer a question. This tool caught my attention so much that I decided to use it for my next Technology-Enhanced Activity.

Here is the link to the webpage; there they guide you through the whole process, so it is worth a try.

https://kahoot.com/

Stay tuned for the link to my Kahoot game.

No game's link? What a bummer...

See you soon!

 

[Comp.] Technology-Enhanced Activity 1

Now we are using technology! Part 1

We had the opportunity to make a Technology Gallery or "Tech Gallery" for short. We worked in groups to show how we could use certain tools for teaching purposes. My group chose Google Slides to make a very attractive presentation as well as a game using Google Slides's engine to link different slides through images.

Here is a short composition I wrote on this amazing tool:

Technology-Enhanced Activity: Google Slides Game

            Technology has brought many possibilities for teachers to expand their horizons in teaching strategies and techniques to engage students in the learning process. Companies like Microsoft, Yahoo and Google have created services that can be used for teaching purposes; one of those such services is “Google Slides”.

            Google Slides lets you create presentations in a similar fashion to Microsoft PowerPoint, but with the added functionality of cloud storage. This means that the presentations you make are linked to your Google account, and you can get access to them from any computer with internet connection. Finding a place to connect to the internet might be easier than going back home to retrieve a memory stick or card, so it really has convenience factor as well.

            In regards of the teaching itself, it is very useful not only to add pictures, videos or colors to an otherwise plain whiteboard, but also to create “games”. One can make a picture work as a button to go to a different slide, which brings a lot of possibilities to make the presentation active rather than passive. For example, it is possible to place a picture of an apple and a lemon, and then ask the students which one is sour. They can select the picture of the correct and be awarded with a congratulating message or sound effects. If they do it wrong, one can simply put a funny picture and make them try again. It is a simple yet engaging activity because they might not expect a slide to be interactive, so it could quickly grab their attention in case they are used of looking at PowerPoint presentation. Moreover, the institution might have a dedicate app for the smartboard in the classroom, but it might be compatible with the teacher’s device; Google Slides, however, does not have such issues and can be used freely even from smartphones.

            Google Slides is a practical app due to their cloud functionality and the wide array of options available for teachers. Just like Google Slides, there are many other apps that can enhance the teaching process and make the learning process more engaging and meaningful; it is just a matter of looking into the toolbox that is known as “World-Wide Web”.

Here is the link if you feel like checking it out:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/19Z0QEV_XE33iT5jKe3HVkylsIUWBolflnTTY1unRJ5M/edit#slide=id.pun

That game is rigged, I say!

See you soon!