I have spent the past few days thinking about the subject for my EDL630 20 percent project. I have made various lists, but no particular concept really gained my interest.
My father, Alan, was raised in England, post WW II. Times were tough, forcing my dad to become a Jack of all Trades. Rather than know a little bit about everything, he invested his time in learning a lot about everything. I believe that this self awareness is a part of who I am. I am very passionate about many things and when I am, I will not stop until I achieve a high level of success or mastery. That being said, it makes me very competitive. My wife and I stopped by my parents house this evening. I asked my mom what they had for dinner and she commented, "your dad's famous chicken!" Now many people enjoy my fathers passion for BBQ, but as a self proclaimed grill expert, I think my BBQ chicken is better. As my dad and I began our usual friendly quarrel, he mentioned that he was interested in trying to smoke some Mackerel. I laughed at the idea and then realized that neither of us have ever smoked meat. It then occurred to me that my EDL 630 project can be on anything, as long as I have never really attempted the idea before. Why don't I try smoking meat. Now being the self aware man that I am, I refuse to run to the store and buy a new smoker. Rather, I would make one. I have a huge charcoal grill at my parents house that I only use for big family gatherings. I wonder what it would take to convert this charcoal BBQ to a smoker? The authentic questions are below: 1) How do I convert my charcoal grill to a smoker, while still having the ability to just cook using coals? A dual purpose... 2) What parts would I need to complete this project? 3) Will I need any additional tools? 4) Where do I find the conversion parts to make the charcoal grill a smoker? 5) What is the best wood for smoking meat? Where do I get this special wood? 6) What is the ideal temperature for the fire to smoke the meat? What are the differences in temperature depending on the type of meat? 7) How long will it take me to convert the charcoal grill into a smoker? 8) How long does the meat need to be in the smoker to reach the ideal internal temperature, ensuring the meat is cooked? 9) How much effort does it take to monitor the temperature of a smoker over a long period of time? 10) How tasty is the end product? Will I see smoke rings? 11) Keep in mind we will use the same conversion smoker, but will my food taste batter that my dad's? I think this is a great example for a project and the highlight is spending time with my Dad. If all works out well, hopefully I can bring some delicious food into our group meeting. Please advise Family Pelagic!!!! Cheers, Nick The video of Michael Wesch is by far one of the most powerful and engaging presentations I have ever seen. Humorous and educational, I concur with Wesch that the power of the internet and its recourses create a different learning environment that challenges students. It allows for over population of classes, can cause a disconnect between teachers and students and lastly forces students to work harder for success. The point I connected with the most was student engagement and the challenge that teachers endure in order to have the students make a personal connection with the subject material. Moreover, the material must allow the student to explore their thoughts and further entertain them using the World Wide Web. Wesch presents his point about connect, organize, share, collaborate and publish, but many fail to see the importance. It can be hard to connect with others and if you can’t connect, you won’t be able to collaborate and if you can’t collaborate nothing will get published. To me Wesch’s idea of connection and collaboration go further than basic social media. I have a Instagram account and it allows me to connect and in a basic fashion sometimes collaborate with others after publishing a photo. I can post a photo at any time, add some hash tags and Instagram allows people to respond. But, is there any depth in this short form of publication. Wesch argues that for proper connection, collaboration and publication, teachers must embrace problems with students to which the teacher doesn’t have the answer. This challenge will offer the opportunity for students to connect with one another. Next, the teacher must help the student by providing the appropriate tools or technology to make the student successful. This is a form of collaboration. Lastly, the student is responsible for submitting an assignment or publication. We, as students of the 630 class, should acknowledge that this is what the class is offering. It asks questions and encourages students to use technology, exploring various websites and resources to come to a conclusion. In Wesch’s words, the goal of a teacher is to allow students to seek more than just meaning, but to create. I believe that I already embody these three key ideas in my curriculum and teaching style. Students must be able to sort and analyze new information which helps them discover the answer. After watching Dr. White’s presentation of Visitor/Resident Theory About People’s Motivation on the Internet, I wish he had created a third category, which falls in between visitor and resident. At first, I considered myself a visitor, as I am very private in regard to my internet life. The less time I spend on the internet, the more time I can spend outside doing the things I love. For example, playing with my son, in the gym or spending time surfing or on my paddle board. However, as I am now retired from the fire department and a full time teacher and student, I spend more and more time on my computer everyday. I am slowly developing an obsession for the FoodNetwork.com and various surf/paddleboard web sites. With this new found craze, I find myself somewhere between Visitor and Resident, as I no longer just pay bills and check email. Rather, I occasionally post my own recipes or photos of me and my friends on our paddle boards. What truly stuck out to me when watching this presentation, occurred in the beginning when Dr. White spoke about Prensky. Prensky’s theory was based upon Native and Immigrants in which he basically stated that,” unless individuals have grown up with technology, the will be foreigners.” To me this resonates heavily, I have chosen to never really engage in computers and technology, thus I sometimes feel like a foreigner when exploring the internet. Computers have never been an interest of mine and I have had to force myself to try to keep up with technology. As well, being a fireman for the past ten years, has allowed me to sort of put technology on the back burner, as my chief says Fire Fighters work from the shoulders down. Although this seems negative, I am a firm believer in personal growth. I always tell my students the best way to grow is to identify a weakness and address it. In the past few sentences, I have stated that technology and I are like water and oil, we don’t mix. However, I realized last year that in order for me to be a better instructor, I need to remedy the situation. I have stated time and time again that this master’s program is a great way for me to learn about technology, so I can incorporate it more in my life and into the classroom. That being said, I am slightly apprehensive. The more I learn about technology and expose myself to it, the more I realize that I want to maintain privacy in my personal life. Although I am now active in a few forms of social media, partially because of this program, I continue to think about the content of what I say and post as it will always be available to others and reflects directly on me. I want to look back on my digital footprint and be proud of the content I have posted. I was very surprised and pleased with the content of the essay by Will Richardson. As I read each page of “Why School?” I made personal notes regarding the author’s key points and positions on technology. I found the content of the essay to be extremely profound, as a student and an instructor. The author’s introduction which addressed his son Tucker and the use of technology was very captivating, as it offered the opportunity to reflect upon my experience with technology as a youth. When I was five, I had just moved from Leicester, England to Palm Springs, California. My family and I moved in March, right around the time of my birthday. As a surprise, my parents bought me a Nintendo which was my first exposure to technology, a small game console with poor graphics and a controller with two red buttons and a few directional keys. As I reflect upon my first Nintendo, I think about my son Aiden and his exposure to technology. Aiden is now five and he can use my I Phone 5 better than me. If one was to analyze the differences in technology available at the age of five between Aiden and I, it is apparent that Aiden is not only exposed to more advanced technology, the technology is readily available. As a parent, I am concerned how technology is used in the classroom and as an instructor I feel it is my responsibility to implement technology into the classroom, where it truly benefits the development of the students. In his essay, Richardson addresses the two ways which he believes technology is being used in education. The first generates big corporate profits and takes away from the students thought development and focus primarily on passing standardized tests. I believe the second option is the best, as it focuses on using technology and encouraging student development and learning.
Currently in the United Sates, Richardson argues that there are two different mindsets in regard to education. The first is a reform for education based upon corporate profits and high test scores, best associated with the development of Common Core Standards: “Focus on the efficiencies that digital delivery and assessments can bring to schools…we reduce our focus on the whole child so we can meet the standards in less messy, more quantifiable ways.” Richardson argues that with the implementation of Common Core and the continued addition of technology to the classroom, the curriculum is shifting to where we can have larger classrooms where students sit in front of a computer and focus on learning material to make them more successful at standardized tests. Although I see value in obtaining high marks, training to pass standardized tests takes away from the idea of student development and imagination. It is almost like an athlete training for the Olympics, everyday they focus on competing and the medal or end result is what is important: “ Higher student achievement and for being more competitive with the world.” As an athlete and a competitor, I love to win. However I disagree with this idea, as educational mindset should not be similar to that of a competitive sport. I believe this approach to education fails to recognize the students’ development or journey and hinders imagination. I believe that Richardson’s addresses this best in the section of his essay titled, “Another way.” The second idea which Richardson suggests eludes to an enhancement of learning, allowing students to use the internet and technology to connect to other students all over the world: “Prepare students to be learners, above all who can successfully wield the abundance at their fingertips…prepares students for the world they will live in, not the one on which most of us grew up” (61). In this quote, Richardson argues that we are no longer looking for mastery, but rather focusing on learning how to be successful in a technology based world. If my son Aiden has to be exposed to the same curriculum I was exposed to growing up, his learning and needs will not be supported. In this day and age, understanding the advancement of technology is essential. In all honesty, that is half the reason I applied to this master’s program. As a parent, I want to be able to support Aiden and as a teacher I want to be able to help my students. I feel that I am not up to date with technology and struggle to integrate technology into my classroom. In regard to the six learning ideas which Richardson presents, I believe I am already committed to the second idea Discover, don’t deliver, the curriculum. In the article, Richardson makes reference to High Tech High in San Diego, a charter school based on Technology. Well, Health Sciences High Middle College is based closely on the same principles of High Tech High, as teachers are encouraged to “inspire students to pursue their own interests in the context of the subject matter”(98). I teach Fire Science at HSHMC and as a teacher I always try to relate the content material or encourage the students to make a connection from what is going to be taught to their personal lives. For example, I may be teaching a lesson on Ladders and the purpose of them in the fire service. First, I might ask the students their experience with ladders. Second I would take the students outside and allow them to play with the ladder in order to encourage understanding and purpose. Next I would model how the ladder is used and explain the various parts of the ladder. Once finished, I would work with each student so they have the opportunity to explore the ladder and learn the proper techniques of lifting and placement. When the students start to show mastery of the skill and content, I invite them to practice using the ladder without my help and encourage the students to verbally quiz one another on the components of the ladder. I feel I have this mastered, the only thing I know I need to work on is incorporating more use of technology. I believe that this would help me in regard to the category Share Everything. If I gave the students the opportunity to share more of what they are learn online, possibly with students around the world, it would create more interest in the subject matter. As they begin to explore the internet and other ideas, they would learn other techniques and possibly begin to question my methods for ground ladders which would further engage them in the subject context. I might even learn something new. References Richardson, W. (2012). Why School: Why Education Must Change When Learning and Information are Everywhere. Retrieved September 6th, 2014 from ITunes |
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