Horizon Report
Video in the Classroom Presentation Script
YouTube video link: https://youtu.be/R3wNP4C9GOY
Friday, February 17, 2017
Diversity, Cultural Understanding, and Global Awareness
Diversity,
Cultural Understanding, and Global Awareness
As an educator I would model and promote diversity in
the classroom by creating a collaborative project that would involve showcasing
diversity. Students would be required to create a video using the free app
iMovie to create a video presentation related to their culture. Students would include
in the film their parent or guardian discussing their ethnic background. The
film can include cultural beliefs, foods, and languages associated with their
cultural. As an educator having the students explain
their cultural heritage allows for a deeper understanding and
appreciation of what each student brings to the classroom. This project would
be a good collaborative piece to allow for open-ended questions to give
students the freedom to discuss diversity in the classroom. To further
promote/model diversity in the classroom could be to have translators and translation
apps in the classroom to address language
barriers. As an educator I need the
students and parents to feel a part of the learning process without the worry
of not be able to be heard in the classroom. Including translators in
the classroom, would show the parent and student that their voice matters in the learning process. Notably, learning is universal, and it takes a collaborative
approach to making learning accessible to
all cultures.
Secondly, as an educator I would address cultural understanding by finding
learning material that represented all students in the classroom. For example,
if teaching reading, I could include different books from all around the world to
be read. As an educator, having all students exposed to different literature
around the world, would promote unity in the classroom. Each student can relate
in some fashion to the reading material and learn to embrace another culture
learning curriculum. Another tactic to promote culture understanding as an
educator would be to have students work in groups. By assigning specific tasks
to each group, students can learn how to express their problems and solutions
in a team environment. Students can learn from one another how to resolve
conflicts and value everybody’s contributions within a group. Lastly, another
collaborative project would be to have each student draw something related to
their heritage. Students can use the free app Drawing Something to share their
artwork digitally to engage the classroom. Gives each student an opportunity to
show visually how each culture operates and provides students with valuable
information to understand their classmates. Overall, to understand another person culture
is to have an open line of communication to learn from one another.
Lastly, to address global
awareness, students can use online apps like a wiki
to collaborate and communicate with other students around the world. The wiki allows for students to interact with
other international students to form a social
bond. As an educator, another tool to
address global awareness is Skype. With Skype,
students can speak with other students around the world in real-time. Skype
enables students to a have visual of the student they are speaking with to make it a real virtual interaction. Wiki and
Skype provide students a way to reach other students around the world to
understand how they learn and live. Overall, as
an educator to promote global awareness is using online social media apps to
interact with other students around the world to learn their cultural history
and learning curriculum.
Tuesday, February 14, 2017
Video Game Seduction Secrets
Video
Game Seduction Secrets
Playing games provide an
effective learning environment wherein
there is no punishment in the virtual
world for making mistakes but rather an
encouragement to try new adventures without judgment. Having that open-ended freedom to explore the learning environment promotes positive critical thinkers to solve theoretical issues. So, implementing games into
the classroom can work in the same manner to have students play educational
games that encourage a variety of problem-solving
strategies without penalty. The students can have free range to think outside
the box to solve complex problems in a manner that best suits them without judgment. Overall, games permit players to have
creative control and set the pace of how they will conquer the journey without
set perimeters.
Secondly, including interesting
educational tools like magic wands or keys that unlock mystery doors to the next
adventure, promotes engagement in the learning process. Learners out of curiosity want to succeed to
the next level because of the mystery bonuses and items that await them in
their educational journey. The “acquire,
test, master model” engages learners to experiment within the virtual world and
challenge themselves to evolve through intuition (Stuart, 2011). Games like
Portal 2 used the concept of puzzling challenges to promote experimentation continually with the virtual
world and rely on the players to use their reasoning on how to solve the
problems. Overall, the tools are an added exploratory feature embedded to
enhance the learner’s quest to progress through the game.
Notably, games like The
Sims games allows the player to control how the virtual humans will live in
their virtual world. The player essentially controls when and how they eat,
sleep, and interact in the virtual world. To some extent, players have the creative control to strategize how they
will interact with the virtual world. In an educational setting, students to a certain
degree have control over their
learning environment. Respectively, whether the student is actively or passively
involved in the gaming experience is their choice.
The gaming industry uses the senses of curiosity and motivation in
creating engaging games. Students will engage in
games that peak their curiosity and provide rewards along the way to keep them motivated
to learn. Game developers strive to incorporate twist and unexpected adventures along the educational
journey to keep learners on their edge of their seat for the climax of the
story. The players enjoy the interactive challenges because it provides them
control over their destiny. However, once the player reaches their desired
destiny, they are self-fulfilled in their accomplishments.
Furthermore, when it
comes to the design of accolades in a game, students enjoy being celebrated for
their hard work but also enjoy the motivational rewards when they fail the game. These reward designs provide a
disproportionate feedback that gives the player a sense of accomplishment and
empowers them to be life-long learners. Surprisingly, the theory of
disproportionate feedback can be celebrated in a win or lose situation. Oddly
enough the disproportionate feedback can be looked upon as a positive
reinforcement in the learning design.
In conclusion, games are
not seen as a waste of time now but rather a way to fulfill the intrinsic human need to have control and acceptance.
The students desire to have control over how they learn and embrace changes
that are vital to their learning process. Educational games need an array of options
that are relatable to the student’s needs. Embedding accolades that are
positive and negative build the learner’s
confidence to stay motivated in the learning process no matter how complicated
it may get. The overall design concept in
games is the virtual control to manipulate how to succeeded in the learning
journey.
Monday, February 13, 2017
Tactus Technology
Tactus
Technology
Tactus Technology created
a new type of overlay hardware that externally raises the flat keyboard and
gaming controls on the touch screen mobile devices to have a virtual hands-on
experience. The thin semi-elastic polymer glass surface fills up with this clear
micro fluid to produce real buttons to
enhance the gaming and typing experience. The fluid within the raised keypad adjusts to
the amount of pressure applied to the touchscreen buttons. So, the keys could
feel extremely soft or hard depending on the applied pressure. Notably, the
enhanced screen can morph down flat once the screen is no longer needed. Tactus
Technology hopes in the next few years to have this morph technology embedded
within the smartphones and tablets. Tactus Technology created the raised
surface to offer better control and feel to the surface of the mobile devices.
The cost of the Phorm keyboard with a screen
protector is $149.99 on Amazon.
Reference:
http://www.businessinsider.com/tactus-technology-tactile-touchscreen-2014-1
Friday, February 10, 2017
Top Mobile Apps
Top
Mobile Apps
Haiku Deck is an app that
students/teachers can use to create impressive,
engaging professional presentations to share on any smart device. The app is
easy to use and has over millions of professional looking templates to choose
from to enhance the learning experience. For example, teachers can use the app
to create lesson plans that have graphics behind the learning material to make
it eye appealing to their students. Students can use Haiku Deck to create short, meaningful presentations that showcase a
student’s comprehension of the material in a visual manner. Some of the
features of Haiku Deck are being able to store presentation in the cloud
database for easy retrieval. The price for Haiku Deck depends on the
subscription selected. The Pro package is $9.99/month, Premium support is
$29.99/month, and the Bulk subscription is $499.00/year. However, there is a
free version that can be used but limited to 1 publicly shared presentation.
Another helpful educational app is Knowji to help build
vocabulary words in a visual manner through animated flashcards with audio.
Teachers can have the students play this interactive app to gain knowledge of
new words and sharpen their skills on previously learned words for memorization
purposes. Teachers have the option to
use the pre-recorded pronunciation of the
vocabulary words or add a personal touch to the program by recording their
voice within the game. Students can benefit from actively learning new words
and watching entertaining stories of how to pronounce and use the terminology. The
cost for the app on iTunes is $9.99 and can be used with a smart board to
engage students in learning their vocabulary words in a fun, interactive manner.
Students struggling with math
can benefit from the Photomath app that uses the
phone's camera to capture a written math problem and provides a
step-by-step tutorial on how to solve the equation. Teachers can have students
use their mobile devices to understand difficult equations and learn how to
break down the math problem by using the app as a tutor. The Photomath app is great tool for teachers
to consider when students are stuck on a particular math problem and need additional
guidance. The price to download this program is free on google play and
Appstore.
A teacher
wanting to turn their quizzes or lessons plans into an interactive game can use
Kahoot to make this a reality. Teachers can input their questions into the
Kahoot database and choose an interactive game to display their material in a stylish manner. There are options to add
videos, images, and diagrams to add an engaging presentation for students to be
excited to learn and answer educational questions. This app is recommended to
have students work in groups to collaborate and critically think about the
questions presented. Students will want to engage in the lesson plan because
they get to solve the problems in game form. Also, students can discuss their
Kahoots or create their own to showcase their mastery of the curriculum. The
price to download this program is free and easy to use.
Lastly, open
communication within and outside the classroom is beneficial in the learning
process and the app Remind makes this
easier. Remind helps the teacher
communicate with students and parents with their smart device to make the line
of communications convenient. This app has real-time messaging and reminders on
important meetings to keep teachers ahead of schedule. Another benefit to
Remind is that it has a language translator that can translate over 70
languages. The translator is beneficial
when teachers have students that do not speak the English language and need to
communicate with the student in their language. Teachers can also communicate
with parents and students in email style as another means of communication. The
price of this app is free and a great social tool to keep the lines of
communication open in and out of the classroom.
References
Tuesday, February 7, 2017
The Future of Cell Phone Connectivity
The
Future of Cell Phone Connectivity
This article revealed an
innovative discovery of using the smartphone’s wireless technology LTE radio to
connect directly to other smart devices without a cell phone tower connection. The LTE Direct can outdo Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
connectivity ranges because of its 500-meter
range. Also, because LTE can operate on minimum power,
the smartphone's battery is not being overused. To make this transition
a reality, the manufacturer Qualcomm has partnered with Facebook and Yahoo to
find intelligent ways to utilize this
wireless technology. The primary intended
goal is to have smartphones connect instantly with people and businesses to
receive vital information. For example, smartphone
users could receive flight delays instantly by
connecting their phone to the airlines database at check-in. Alerts like
this allow the user to make an informed
decision on how to handle the situation promptly.
Another LTE direct invention is Facebook’s experiment with using their mobile
app to connect with local businesses and nearby friends. Facebook’s mobile app
would allow for people to set-up impromptu chats and find out about local
events all from their smartphone. Notably, retailers
like Macy want to be able to track and connect with their shoppers via their
smartphone as a marketing strategy. Even Yahoo is creating a tour guide app
that will download information from the internet to the user’s smartphone to
guide them in the best direction to meet all their points of interest.
Surprisingly, networks are finding LTE Direct beneficial in solving network
glitches that occur when there are too many people trying to connect to one
cell phone tower. LTE Direct would provide the necessary wireless data needed to
keep smart devices streaming online even
when the network is down. Overall, LTE Direct can provide the appropriate wireless technology required to keep users connected and informed.
Businesses can capitalize on how to sync
promotions and emergency information to smartphone users in an inexpensive way.
Reference:
Monday, February 6, 2017
Realsense Technology
Realsense Technology
What Realsense technology
does for images is heightened one’s perception
on how to create authentic video chats rooms
and presentations in an interactive 3D manner. Users can create chat rooms and
presentations that explore innovative
ways to interact with others through touch
and sight. The user can create 3D images that can represent the user in a chat room or virtual
presentation as a creative way to engage the audience. Next, gesture
control in Realsense technology enables a gamer to use their natural body
movements as the controls to manipulate the screen. Realsense technology gives the gamer an
interactive connection with the computer screen to play various games that utilize body gestures. The interactive
connection gives the gamer an opportunity to be creative in how they humanly
connect to the game. Thirdly, with Realsense technology videos, users can create a variety of human-like avatars to bring a unique visual and collaboration to a chat room setting. Users have
an opportunity to create a virtual setting that is not only informative but
interactive. Furthermore, users have the
ability to scan their faces into the computer and create a digital body of
themselves to print off as a figurine. The 3D image prints created can even be embedded
into decorative crystal paperweights that give
the visual of a miniature human being in hologram form. Lastly, with Realsense
technology users can change the background settings within their video chat rooms. The Realsense technology has a feature that can remove unwanted
objects from the background and replace them with other background gallery pictures to enhance the video chat
experience. Users can create a meaningful
podcast that can be eye appealing through creating various backdrops that
relate to the podcast. Overall, Realsense technology promotes users to interact
with the virtual world as they would in the real-world.
Realsense technology uses the human senses like
touch and sight to make the virtual experience a more human interaction.
Reference
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/architecture-and-technology/realsense-overview.html
Socrative
Socrative
Socrative is an
interactive classroom app that allows real-time active learning among
students. This app allows the teacher to create instant questions or activities
to assess the students understanding of the course material. Teachers can get
instant reports of students graded assignments and use that data to determine
the best instructional approach to ensuring students truly understand the material. By students providing instant
feedback on short answer assignments and multiple choice questions, the teacher
can determine what specific parts of the material are unclear to the student. This process keeps the teacher and
students collaborating on ways to understand the material presented.
Some features that make
Socrative a great learning app is the fact that teachers can easily create
virtual rooms that students can join by using their special login code. Students can post questions that
are related to the course and collaborate with classmates
that can assist in understanding the course material. Another interactive
feature is creating space race games that have questions from the course
material that students can answer correctly to gain token points. Students will
be engaged in the learning while having fun being competitive in finishing the
race. Overall, the student and teacher will have an open line of communication
to understand what is needed to master the
curriculum with real-time feedback successfully.
Reference:
https://www.socrative.com/
Reference:
https://www.socrative.com/
Sunday, February 5, 2017
Horizon Report 2
Horizon Report 2
Five Blogs to Follow
http://www.coolcatteacher.com
Gamingspace
Gamingspace is an open digital forum where students, teachers, and parents can explore new ideas for learning in the 21st century. The adults and students explore various games that are beneficial in the curriculum. The games presented provide authentic and exact assessments of how the learner is progressing in the classroom. Overall, provides an open line of communication to understand how games can be incorporated into the classroom to help students succeed in their lesson plans. Allows the students to have a voice in how they would like to learn in the classroom.
What should be your
point of emphasis when designing discussion forums?
My point of emphasis when
designing a discussion forum is presenting topics that students can relate too.
Creating topics that are engaging will keep the lines of communication open to
allow the students to speak freely and keep the discussions going. I would
want the students to feel free to incorporate real world news that can tie into
what is being discussed to showcase their true understanding of the topic
presented. Overall, I want to design a
discussion forum that is going to promote collaboration and be engaging enough to
keep the students interested in speaking further on the topic of choice.
Thursday, February 2, 2017
VGo
VGo
VGo
is a stand-alone rotating robot that enables a person to be present in
real-time from a distant location to interact with colleagues. This virtual
robotic hologram has auditory and speech capabilities to interact with the
people in real-time. This device is controlled 100% indoors by remote control
and relies on Wi-Fi signaling to be interactive. VGo can be used in a group or
individual environment to interact with the people around them. The motorized
unit stands 4 feet tall but can be extended up to five feet. Other features include a camera, microphones,
and video display. The battery life for VGo ranges between 6 to 12 hours once
charged on its charge dock station which comes with
the purchase of the unit. The VGo app allows up to twenty people to download
the application needed for communication purposes. The person signing in from
their mobile or PC device will have access to control the movement of the robot
by dragging their mouse. The only stipulation is that one person can operate VGo at a time. Overall, the
product is very simple to use and requires no training session.
The
price of VGo is around $2,499.00 and comes with all the necessary tools needed to
setup the product. Included with the purchase is a subscription package that
includes various warranties like full hardware, software, VGONet Connectivity,
and unlimited helpdesk support. Other
optional purchases are the height extension and additional charging docks.
Additionally, customers can have their VGo customized to include Verizon 4G LTE
but will be responsible for renewing the subscription to Verizon.
With
this in mind, school systems can use VGo for home bound students that are
terminally ill or teenage mothers. VGo would
allow these students to have a chance to interact
with their peers from home actively. Because these students are not
physically able to go to school, they can at least feel like they are still a
part of the class. Due to the mobility of VGo, students can participate in
library projects or recess as normal in a virtual sense. Students would not
lose valuable memories or fall behind on coursework
because they can access in remotely to complete assignments. Also, can use the robot to interact with an international student overseas to learn
about their culture and schooling. Students
could have the opportunity to have a foreign exchange student in their class to
interact with in exchanging valuable learning experiences. VGo is a great tool to incorporate active learning in
the classroom.
Lastly,
to maintain this type of technology in the classroom would require a
subscription plan that included a lifetime maintenance plan. Since VGo offers unlimited help desk support; maybe the company would be willing to
add-in a lifetime maintenance plan to educational facilities. School administrators may have to
research grants that would take care of the subscription packages that relate
to the hardware and software programs. Keeping the units safe and secure would
need to be a collaborative effort by all facility members to ensure all units are in their appropriate docking stations.
Overall, VGo offers a pretty reasonable package deal to ensure consumers can
maintain their robots.
Reference
VGo.com
Reference
VGo.com
Plicker
Plicker
Plicker
is a tool where teachers collect real-time formative assessment data by using
their mobile devices to download the results. The tool enables teachers to
measure what the students have learned and how much they have mastered. Plicker allows for instant feedback on class
quizzes and poll questionnaires.
Students will think the critical thinking assessments are a game and
become heavily involved in mastering the coursework.
The great part about Plicker is there is no need for the student to
be connected to a computer to input their answers. Students just simply hold up
their white Plicker cards to provide
their answers. From that point, teachers simply record each student answers by using the Plicker app on their smart device to have an
instant poll on how the class excelled on
the quizzes.
One way to use Plicker in a classroom is by creating a racing game using the smart board. Each team will select a group name that in turn will be their race car name on the race
track. The groups will have to collaborate
to answers random questions presented on the smart board. Each group will have
one Plicker card to provide their answers to the questions presented. As each group correctly answers a question,
their race car will move around the race track. The group that crosses the
finish line first will win the game. This game
format would be a great way for students to critically think through the
questions to come up with the correct answers. Students will be engaged in the
learning process and learn how to work collaboratively in a team.
Another way to implement
Plicker into the classroom is during field trips
to record student’s attendance. For example, students can be assigned a
personalized Plicker when entering the bus and then the teacher can simply scan everyone on the bus with their smart
device. After the field trip is over and
the students have loaded the bus, the teacher can scan each student again to
ensure all students have returned to the bus. If there is a student missing,
the teacher will be alerted on their
smart device of who is missing and search for that student. Plicker is a resourceful app to keep an accurate account
of students.
Reference
Plicker.com
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