Module Two Reflection Post
Ok, so there were a lot of new concepts and ideas that I had to quickly get familiar with in this module. The first of which was the concept of pedagogy. I had heard of this before, but I needed a deeper understanding of what that the term meant before I could wrap my brain around the TPACK model. The standard definition from merriam-webster.com is “the art, science, or profession of teaching”. A decent enough description. Citejournal.org described the pedagogical knowledge as “teachers’ deep knowledge about the processes and practices or methods of teaching and learning. They encompass, among other things, overall educational purposes, values, and aims.” I see the TPACK model as a really nice visualization of the physical actions that must be employed in the classroom. It strikes me as a hands on guideline of how to successfully integrate technology into your classroom. I really enjoyed this silly metaphoric video by Lanka. She equates the TPACK to a recipe and the interaction between the student and teacher as a nice dinner- where the teacher acts as the chef and the student as the consumer. If the food is well prepared (the chef knows what they are working with (CONTENT), the chef knows the recipes and guidelines (PEDAGOGY), and the chef knows which tools to use in order to prepare a successful meal (TECHNOLOGY) the environment is nice and the people are hungry, a fine dining experience can be something you remember for a long time (LEARNING). All of these moving and flexible pieces of a learning environment require that teachers really make an effort to try new things and not just rely on the same old, same old.
“Reproduced by permission of the publisher, © 2012 by tpack.org”
Teaching really is an art, and the more that I learn about it I realize that everyone has very different ways of doing things. This is were connected learning comes in. It's not just something beneficial for students. As educators, I believe that we would be doing ourselves a disservice to not immerse ourselves into connected learning. (This is a big deal for me considering I do not tend to participate in social media of any kind- I don't have facebook, twitter or anything else, but being connected with other educators is undeniably necessary for progression. I am however really enjoying this blogging and documentation of my journey) Because teaching can be so artistic and personalized, there is an endless amount of great ideas and practices out there that, as a future teacher, I WANT TO GET MY HANDS ON! In regards to student connected learning, it just makes sense. I agree with the Connected Learning Alliance that “ young people learn best when actively engaged, creating, and solving problems they care about, and supported by peers who appreciate and recognize their accomplishments”
A brief personal story about connected learning- My son plays the viola and really doesn't love to practice on a daily basis. As I read the articles and watched the videos provided, in addition to others, it hit me. I suggested that he maybe start a blog of his own. He and other students in the CCSD orchestra could post videos of themselves, give tips and feedback or even potentially play live together via skype or facetime. At the very least he would be able to document his progress and have time, on a daily basis to type and journal. He seemed excited about it so we will see how this plays out. He is my own personal experimentation for all of the concepts that we are learning! See him play HERE
SAMR was created by Dr. Ruben Puentedura. His concept of integrating technology into teaching is a unique take that allows teachers to gradually, if necessary, ease their way into using more technology in their classroom and leading students to a place of “excitement”. I like this representation of the model. He explains his idea of SAMR with some realistic examples in this video. He points out that students have a sense of ownership and joy once they get to the point of redefinition, when they are able to come up with new ideas of how to do things differently or better on their own. Also in the video, Dr. Puentedura, linked his example of redefinition with connected learning.
So, as I understand it thus far, Connected Learning, the SAMR model and the TPACK can be linked to work together in the classroom. All of the models are interested in moving technology integration up the scale and making connections between all platforms and participants (students, teachers, admin, extracurricular activities, libraries, etc) This is how I see all of these concepts working together in or out of the classroom