Connected Constructionism

This assignment asked us to create our own "mash-up" learning theory based on two or more existing theories. We were to draw a diagram that represented how the pieces fit together. Above is my illustration of "connected constructionism."

The theory starts with connectivism, which places greater value on the capacity to know rather than what is known. Networks are fundamental to connectivism. One might say networks are connectivism. In today's digital word, it is simply unacceptable for the teacher to be the sole proprietor of knowledge and ideas. Teachers must facilitate connections between students, between other teachers, professionals, scholars, documents, resources, etc. Students must see these connections as valuable, they need to be taught how to navigate them, and it needs to be accepted as OK that there are multiple ways to access these networks, and that different discoveries are possible depending on the networks one accesses.

Once students are exposed to a variety of ideas (new knowledge), they need to be able to place them into a schema that makes sense. This is where constructionism and prior knowledge comes in. Learners need to be able to make meaning of new information in order for learning to occur. This is why learning is so very personal. Today's educators need to develop a mindfulness for the learner, attune themselves to how students learn, and place equal (if not more) credence on the process of learning as with the content of learning.

Visual explanation

The lines above Connectivism all link to various ideas. Regardless of the path one chooses to explore an idea, eventually the learner will be able to travel all paths and encounter all ideas if he or she chooses. I tried to illustrate the importance of the network, and the interconnectedness of both ideas and those who seek them out.

Once a learner is exposed to a new concept, it needs to become meaningful. Prior knowledge and experience allows for this. When you add that to new knowledge, learning occurs. Because I see these ideas building on one another and allowing for knowledge to grow, the graphic reads upwards from left to right.

Questions for the reader

I wonder if by only using connectivism and constructionism in my mash-up, I am forgetting or neglecting some important aspect of cognitive development that renders my mash-up invalid. Should I throw in another theory, or is this sufficient to stand on its own?

I had some trouble reconciling in my brain the relationship between the paths learners can take to access the network, and the ideas they can find there. Are all ideas really linked? Is it possible to access the same ideas from two different paths or perspectives? I definitely made some assumptions here. I hope they weren't false.

Overall, this was an enjoyable assignment which gave me an opportunity to articulate the relationship between two learning theories that are really central to my instruction as a high school English and journalism teacher.

Project 1: Multimedia Instruction

One of the reasons I became an English and journalism teacher is because I enjoy reading, writing, and photography. Whenever I need to create instructional materials, I look for opportunities to hone my skills and practice my craft. That was very much the case with this assignment.

I knew I wanted to utilize a predominantly image heavy approach. Once I settled on the topic of panning and photography, I began to envision specific slides I thought would be effective in conveying this technique's chief principles. It didn't take long to realize that  not only would I probably be better off taking my own images, it would be more fun too.

I thought about also mentioning something about shutter speed, and how it can be manipulated to create some dramatic images that convey motion. But because I didn't want to overwhelm my viewer by introducing too much new information, I left out slides on shutter speed.

An effective follow-up to this presentation could be another about the role shutter speed plays in freezing objects and conveying motion, and how panning and shutter speed can work together to create some incredible exposures.

I've noticed it can be easy to throw too much at an audience too soon. Pacing, volume, and sequence matter, and its important to be mindful of them when designing instruction. It's also worth noting that an appropriate and manageable amount of material can be obfuscated if the delivery of that material is not done according to the principles of design.

The most important things about 'gamifying' education

 
There's been a chasm between games for "edutainment" and entertainment. Educational games' primary focus is to educate, and can leave the player with a feeling of being smacked in the face with a lesson plan. Entertaining games can sometimes leave players feeling flat once they're done, as they haven't necessarily bettered themselves in some way.

Video games can utilize tangential learning to both engage and educate. When one exposes an audience to topics it's already interested in, it will often choose to "self educate" and seek out new information.

Tangential learning can both be subtle and obvious. It's all about smoothly integrating it into the narrative of the game by picking the right moments and opportunities. Done this way, the gaming experience can be enhanced with learning while still being fun.

By exposing players to new concepts, designers can lay the groundwork for new learning. This idea makes sense, and is perhaps one of the reasons Assassin's Creed and Mass Effect - two games I love - have been immensely popular. When I play these games I have fun, but I also learn, so the time spent playing doesn't necessarily feel "wasted."

7 Ways to Reward the Brain

It was quite amazing to me to learn that the major games today are measuring one billion points of data per day. This means game designers have an incredible amount of information at their disposal. This data allows designers to tailor games to an appropriate level of challenge, which, in turn, leads to engagement. As an educator, this makes me think how we could be more effective if we had the kind of reliable, informative data that is readily available in the gaming world. What do students get? What don't they get? What is just beyond their grasp? This information takes time, energy, and effort to discern. With electronic games, this kind of data is recorded instantaneously.

I really like the idea of rewarding effort and not punishing failure. It's so important, and yet the current educational system is loath to reward effort and seems to thrive on punishing failure, both by students and teachers.

Something else I take away is the concept of the "reward of uncertainty" that really lights the brain up and engages people. When things can't be predicted, they're exciting. As educators, we should work to infuse our teaching with more of these moments. 

Response to video game 'seduction secrets'

Last spring The Guardian published an article dubbed "The seduction secrets of video game designers." The piece, which was tweeted more than 700 times and "liked" on facebook more than 600, articulated the elements which keep users coming back to games - at the tune of $50 billion annually.

The article also offered insight into the parallel applications of "game seduction" for creators and consumers of online instructional content. Games, and, increasingly, online learning environments, are serving as fertile grounds for learning due to the fact that failure is OK, even welcomed, according to game designer Raph Koster.

As a learner, I speak from experience that some of my greatest and most significant instances of learning occurred after experiencing a setback, understanding why I failed, acquiring new knowledge, and trying the task again with a better understanding of how to proceed.

As a teacher, I need to remember to provide my students with "opportunities to fail," and to not penalize them when they do so. I want my students taking risks, pushing boundaries, and expanding their knowledge and understanding.

Mass Effect 3 Creative Commons image by scorp_stanton on Flickr

Creating My Learning Log

After having initially set up my Learning Log in Wordpress  when I took EDTECH 501, I have since migrated back to Blogger. I've been using Blogger for more than five years, and I find it intuitive and easy to change settings and appearances to my liking.

Wordpress was usually a struggle to decide what to click on and what screen I wanted to be viewing in order to access what I thought it was that I wanted in order to change the thing I thought would give me the desired result I needed. Blogger is much simpler and more streamlined, yet still offers a high level of control and customization.

The Association for Educational Communications and Technology has created a variety of standards which this Learning Log will eventually demonstrate. This blog post represents Standard 2.3, Computer-Based Technologies. Not only am I using a computer to type this post, a server is allowing me to save this post "to the cloud," which allows me to share it with anyone who has the link.

Social media has transformed the web, and is working its way into the K-12 education sector. The EDTECH program at Boise State has allowed me to conceptualize the shift in learning that's possible with cloud applications and social media, and better incorporate them into my instruction. EDTECH is really about more than technology. It's about how people learn and think, and how certain environments can be created to foster and facilitate growth, learning, collaboration, risk-taking, and other such activities that are instrumental to education and progress.

VW Explorer: SS Galaxy

I visited the SS Galaxy. I found it underwhelming compared with some other places I've visited in SL. I've found that the "Editor's Picks" can often lead to some incredible destinations. While I understand the novelty of an "event space," and I can see the usefulness of an accompanying website to a Second Life locale, I just didn't see a lot of users at this particular destination when I was there. Also, the "ship" was not as large as it appeared on the website image.

After visiting the Galaxy, I was curious to experience another "aquatic" environment. This other place was an enclosed room under the sea, similar to Atlantis. It too had a similar function, with events at different times, except it was much more populated, and more visually appealing. It would be fascinating to chart the evolution of such hangouts and learn how popular places evolve. What makes a spot "hot?" How does a place grow and gather members, then fade? What are the characteristics of a Second Life spot with staying power?

I look forward to increasing my understanding of SL hangouts, and learning what SL users value in a venue.

EDTECH 513 Introduction

It's great to be sharing this blog space with all of you. I've been looking forward to taking this class since I first saw it in the EDTECH course catalog. Like most EDTECH classes, it promises a healthy mix of theory and practice. I'm looking forward to dabbling in both familiar and unfamiliar multimedia technologies this semester, and hope that with the knowledge we can acquire about how people learn, we'll be able to create multimedia content that's both engaging and effective.

I am in my eighth year of teaching high school English and Journalism. Over the years I've been acquiring classroom computers. I now have 25 workstations in my room (17 PCs and 8 netbooks), so I've really been able to apply cloud and social media tools (Google Docs, Blogger, Twitter, YouTube) into my pedagogy. It's still a work in progress, and there are usually weekly glitches we need to overcome, but I feel that as a whole, my students and I are able to be more productive because of the way we've integrated technology into the classroom.

Below is a vocabulary video I created earlier in the year as an exemplar for a new assignment designed to teach vocabulary in a meaningful way. While the students have done a nice job creating their own videos, part of me thinks the assignment could benefit from some refinement, so the videos max out at one minute, rather than two. I'm optimistic that I'll learn something this semester that will give me insights into how I can make this assignment (and others) more effective.

P.S. Before I read about this assignment, I posted comments on most of your profiles on the Moodle page. This looks like a great mix of students. I'm especially excited to have a couple of English teachers as colleagues this semester. I look forward to learning about ways you've integrated EDTECH into your curriculum, and hopefully trying out some of your ideas in my own classroom. Cheers!

The EDTECH Program at Boise State

EDTECH 502 Reflection

(Originally posted May 3, 2010)

While at times it had been a struggle, and there were a few moments when I questioned the necessity of learning the language of coders, I can now say that EDTECH 502: Internet for Educators has given me sufficient skills to create and edit websites for academic and personal purposes.
Learning HTML and CSS was nothing short of becoming immersed in a second language. While it took me a little while to overcome my resistance, the more I worked with code, the more familiar it became, and the easier it got.  It’s been nice to look back at my body of work for this class and see the gradual improvements and accumulation of skills and concepts.

While I’ve acquired the ability to write in code language, I’ve also become familiar with the theory and design behind visually appealing and effective websites. I appreciated this aspect of the class, as it were as if I was an architect, building a digital creation that needed to be accessible and functional for my users. Thanks to exposure to programs like Adobe Dreamweaver and Fireworks, I gained experience with some of the tools of the graphic designer trade.

I look forward to applying the knowledge gained from this course to future projects and Internet-based creations.

Creative Commons Image by Ashley on Flickr