The first topic that stood out of me was the concept of digital games for learning. In the high tech world we live in, what would be the best way to get students to want to learn? Catering to them and their interests. While there is much debate over video games and the affect it has on children, there are many studies that show videogames can have a positive influence on them as well. The American Psychological Association did a recent study where they studied the positive effects of playing video games (Shapiro, p. 6). They include cognitive benefits, motivational benefits, emotional benefits, and social benefits (Shapiro, p. 6). So if video games can provide all of these positive benefits, why not implement them within the classroom for the purpose of learning? Within the past five to ten years, the market for digital games for learning has increased greatly. Jordan Shapiro, an educator at Temple University, created a guide for teachers who want to begin using educational games within the classroom. He discussed short-form games and long-form games. Short form games are best when they are focused on a specific topic or skill. While long-form games are best used when students have to build skills over time. Some websites he gives to find these games is: GlassLab, Filament Games, and Muzzy Lane.
The video below shows a 4th grade teacher and how she uses learning games in her classes.
The second topic that stood out to me was the idea of student-centered learning vs. teacher-centered learning. In teacher-centered learning, the focus of the classroom is based on what the teacher wants. The teacher talks, while the students exclusively listen. During activities, students work alone, and collaboration is discouraged. While in student-centered learning students and instructors share the focus. In this type of learning environment students and teachers interact equally and group work is highly encouraged so students learn to collaborate and communicate with one another. Personally, I have been in both settings during my education. Any classroom that I was in when it was a teacher-centered environment was torturous. Sitting in lectures for an hour or so, with no activities can really drain a student. Especially when that student has two or three classes in one day. However, student-centered learning, I believe, has a much bigger impact on students. It fosters the student-teacher relationship and the student-student relationship because the teacher is asking for input from the students and there are mass amounts of group work.
Group work is always dreaded in classes. However, with the use of technology, it makes group work practically hassle free and a lot easier. Technology opens up possibilities in group work that were once practically impossible. By using technology, your group can communicate and collaborate much easier than ever before. There are plenty of websites that are free to use that all group members can work on easily. In the past, I have used many of these and all of the group projects turned out to be very successful. Some of the tools that I have used were Prezi, Emaze, and Google Slides. The awesome thing about there websites is that they are all cloud based servers. Which means that they are stored through the website so you can access them from anywhere. All of these sites have a 'share' option so you can share them with your group and each member can work on them at their own pace, without having to rely on other group members.
Resources:
Calabrese, A. (2016, 29 May). Student vs. Teacher. Created with ToonDoo, from http://www.toondoo.com/privateView.toon?param=pyTz%2FDxcapQOa8x3MzW0q1xqh5CXUB5E4iZIfWApw6V%2BFLb1J8dP0Q%3D%3D
Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Shapiro, J, et al. (2014). Retrieved on May 29, 2016, from http://www.kqed.org/assets/pdf/news/MindShift GuidetoDigitalGamesandLearning.pdf
The Joan Ganz Cooney Center. (2012, May 2). Retrieved on May 29, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e54Vq3W8kNM&list=PLA3C69D48D4FFE87E&index=3
University of Wisconsin-Madison. (n.d.). Retrieved on May 29, 2016, from http://engage.wisc.edu/collaboration/
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