How talking inspires learning

After last week's Tech Play, I had to search hard to find an app or website I thought would be worth researching for this week's assignment. The app I have decided to highlight would not right away be associated with my content area because it is not a hands on creation app. What this app holds is ideas and more important than a piece of art is the idea behind it.

TEDTalks, a phrase I am sure anyone who is internet savvy has at least hear in passing, are the most academic the internet gets outside of academia. Formatted into ten - twenty minute video, speakers - sometimes famous - are given the stage to discuss an idea. The subject of these idea range from new approaches in sciences, Like self-healing asphalt, to justifying collecting sneakers to why everyone should play video games. TED has made all of it's Talks available on it's website for free and if you cannot find it there, I am fairly certain it is on YouTube. All of these ideas inspire in one way or another and that is why I would put this into the hands of my students. For this assignment, I used the official TED iPad app as I'm working towards integrating using iPads in my classroom.

The UI for this app is well thought out if not a little plan. It is easy to navigate and search for a specific Talk. The only draw back to this app that I can find is some of the videos are not in English, subtitles are provided, but they are also not labeled as such. I did not know a very interesting video on being an everyday artist was in Korean until I started to watch it. I then had to figure out how to start the subtitles and then restart the video. This might be a hindrance to my students, reading subtitles, but I would encourage them to view the video anyway, as the information gain is worth the small inconvenience.

Immediately, this app might not be seen as finding a place in the TPACK, as it's a collection of videos essentially. But say I give my students an assignment that gave them their choice of watching three of the five videos, picking one to research in-depth and presenting to the class a real world application that impacts them of the idea presented in the video. I have given my students the choice of their topic. I have given them a starting place for their research - the presenter's name, background, and authority - and I have given them the opportunity to brainstorm how that idea would look to them. They would have to use build on knowledge they already have for applying the idea to the world around them, they would have to do research about the technology associated with the idea, and they would have to use critical thinking skills about which videos to watch.

What else could come of my students using this TED app? Independent research, gaining an understanding about communicating ideas. TEDTalks are always great to watch, if one of my students choice this format to present to the class, I would be elated! I feel like what this app does it present opportunities and forms new thought paths in the viewers mind. Share ideas worth spreading is a good way to inspire students to learn.

TED takes this into account and has an Inspire button.

Tools to Create By

For this weeks tech play, I wanted to stick with the idea of using hand held devices for creating content. I focused on using the iPad as the platform and started by searching the App Store for educational art apps. There is no shortage of apps that will let you draw on the iPad. I knew this before opening the app store but still wanted to see what other types of art apps I could find that would be useful in the classroom.

I found quite a few apps of interest, some published for use in a museum, others used to curate a virtual museum on the iPad. Though these apps where useful for viewing art, they did not help a person create art so I put these on my list of apps to explore later. After viewing several drawing apps, I came across one called DrawCast which allows you to using your finger to draw a picture.

As I mentioned before, there are several drawing apps available in the App Store and each one allows you create a picture to some extent. The reason I would suggest DrawCast to my students is it allows you to use the function and technique of layering to make images. The brush controls are very fine in this app, allowing for the building up of colors like when using paints. Also, as you work, you can make different layers, like in Photoshop for more content creation control.

The real selling point of DrawCast is the attached online community. You have to create an account, which is free, but this allows you to follow other people and comment on their artwork as well as they commenting on your work. This function can be useful in that critique can happen in this space. While testing out this app, I didn't see any honest critique happening as most comments where the default 'You're Awesome!' and 'Wow! So cool!', but because students can find each other by username, you can have students leave feedback that would help the artist grow as they continue to make art.

Another really useful feature of this app is the ability to watch the artist create the image you are viewing. If you tap the image, a video streams to your device and you can see the steps taken to make the piece right before your eyes. This is extremely useful in that the students can see view the process the artist used to make the piece. This can be useful pedagogically in that students can see how the steps of creation is not some magical process that happens behind closed doors but a step by step technique based on the foundations we talk about in class. The only drawback to this video feature is the lack of controls for video playback. There is no pause or rewind feature, once you start to watch a piece being created you have to watch through to the end.

An advantage to using this app over physical paints or drawing materials in class is students can practice the technique of layering and building up colors on a canvas without having to buy painting supplies first. Does using this app on the iPad replace painting or drawing on canvas? No, but it does help to give students a real tangible experience before venturing into painting or drawing.

The others apps I played with were, Pixlr Express+, this is a photography app that lets you apply color correction to your photos along with different effects and overlays. Snapseed, another photography app but more like Photoshop in it's function than say Instagram. ArtSite, this app lets you make gallery exhibits in a virtual museum and share that museum with others. This one requires a years subscription ($10) for the teacher and is free for the students. I think once in my class I will use this app with my students. Cropped, is a shortened history of Graphic Design. It's pretty neat information but only information, no content creation is available.

The eFolios are coming!

This week we experimented with ePortfolios, the emerging technology that enables a student to share their learning experiences with others. Working much like a physical portfolio, an ePortfolio, or eFolio, showcases assignments, final projects, and whatever else students would like to share with the world. Though originally conceived for educational showcases, eFolios are being adapted for use beyond a person's educational career. This week was the first time I have heard of the name eFolio but I am very familiar with the idea as I have seen websites, eResumes and their like for a number of years. Having already used wikis and websites to show my work, I decided I would use an already made system for my Tech Play this week.

Because I use my phone for just about everything, I started to look in the iOS app store for eFoilo type apps  that would be mobile friend. My main requirement was that I could build and edit, even if limited, using the mobile app itself. Another requirement was that the app or service didn't have a cost. I found the Epsilen app  and installed it only to have to sign up on their website first before I was able to use the app. This was frustrating as I wanted something that would be mostly mobile in nature. I did later sign up on my computer and found out that the website is formidable. It is an entire social network unto itself, allowing you to connect with people just in a small network of your choosing, people who attend your school, or the world. The site also provides a plethora of options to show a variety of work. Resumes, videos, certifications, and ecetra can be share with this service. Another plus is a person does not have to know any web languages to create and share their eFolio with the world.

What I didn't like about the site was how it's clumsy layout of your information. It is no intuitive nor does it work the same way any other social media site does. To me Linkedin provides a better way to share and show your growth as student or professional. I would not recommend this website for my students and would instead invest the time and effort in teaching them how to create a website or a wiki as learning those tools and skills will be valuable over the course of their education and professional careers. 

Though I didn't put much on it, here is my Epsilen page.

Blogs, the new normal.

Picture from here.

In the simplest metaphorical form of description, a blog is the journal you used to write in English class. The one where the teacher would give you a prompt and you, usually puzzled and mildly interested, would write a response either "telling a story about that one time" or how you might "in a given situation". The audience for that journal was your teacher, only a single set of eyes. It was comparatively easy to write for that one teacher, you know what they were looking for.

In it's most complex metaphorical form, a blog is a sign being held by a person standing on a street corner or the busiest road in the history of mankind, asking people to give the only form of currency left uncorrupted, their attention. Some people's signs have words on them, others have photos they have taken or videos they've made. Some of these sign holders have three people viewing their sign. Others have millions of viewers, whole communities invested in viewing the sign.

So how do you use something like that to further education you ask? How could a sign that can show anything help students be better learners? I would start with the end in mind, asking myself what am I looking for that shows me my students have understood what I am trying to teach them? I'm going to be an art teacher, so let's start with the basic elements of art as the subject. I want my students to show me they understand the seven elements of art. They are going to show me they understand by giving me examples of these elements and producing a piece of artwork themselves that incorporates three of the seven elements.

This is a project I would assign over the course of a six weeks, expecting the student to post two to three times a week, those post in response to the materials we talk about in class. In class we would review the vocabulary, view pieces that have explicit and implicit examples of these elements, talk about culturally important artist who both challenged and defended these elements, and I would give the students time to work on their pieces exhibiting the elements. The main purpose of the blog would be to have the students talk about their learning process of the elements of art and follow their creation process of their piece.

This method has contructivism written all over it, and I'm okay with that. I strongly believe in encouraging students to be aggressive learners, taking their own education into their hands and constructing it for themselves. Not only does the learning anchor deeper into the students, it affects them mentally and emotionally, building self esteem and making them better students and people.

Because this type of technology is native to the students, it's not a stretch for them to use it for displaying what they are learning in school. Even if they have never published a blog personally, they are aware of what it is supposed to look like and how it works. The affordances are pulled from the students involvement with other media heavy, social websites like Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr. Because of it's ubiquitous presence, this tech can be used to show students applying what they learned in the classroom in practical application in the real world. If a science class is learning about chemical reactions, students can show what chemical reactions they found in their home, like baking soda and vinegar, lemons on apples, and water on metal. In Language Arts classes, students can showcase their writing (that's an easy one) but they can also turn their story on paper into a live action dramatization and shoot a video.

I think the biggest obstacle to using this technology is the student having access and a desire to use it. In the school where I am student teaching, there is one computer lab and the students only get to visit it once a week. Most of the children don't have internet access at home and this can be a huge barrier for the students completing their work. In addition to not having easy access, the internet itself can be a huge distraction, even for a disciplined mind. Children without regular access wouldn't want to spend the precious time they get with a computer completing homework. It is very easy to get off task and spend hours on really, nothing at all, how much more so when you have limited access?

Knowing all of this, I would still employ this type of technology in my classroom. The skills the students will learn about how to present the knowledge they learned, along with what they learned about the elements of art, will help them tremendously in the future.

The blog, as a form of information distribution, is the new normal.