Designing Digital Age Learning Activities

Lesson Plan: Erosion

CSO:

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compare and explain the different rates of weathering, erosion and deposition on various materials.

Objective:
Identify and explain the process of erosion and it's impact on the environment.

Students will create a multimedia project in google that demonstrates their understanding and skills in science and information and communication technologies.

Prezi Presentation


ISTE-NETS T
Standard 2a:
Design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity.

Do you remember learning about Erosion in school? The dry textbook with worn, outdated pictures. While science is usually very interesting, once you get into erosion, there is really no fun projects to aid teachers in interesting discussions. Now there is a new way to teach young children the importance of this issue without boring them! With this lesson plan, the students will use a combination of digital media to outline the process of erosion. They will use an internet source or book source to research what erosion is, how it happens, and what could possibly be done to stop it. After completing their research, each student (or pair) will choose images that they feel best represent their research. They will use google forms as pre-writing to outline a presentation in either Prezi or Microsoft Powerpoint. Google forms is a great tool when students need to layout ideas beforehand. Google forms are also great for quizzes and other classroom aids. It has become a widely loved app for students and teachers in the 21st century.
As you can see, google applications are a fantastic way to get students involved in their work. They can be creative in their learning environment while gaining important 21st century media skills and apps they can use throughout their school career. They can even teach their instructors!

Scratch

Here is my first attempt! I could stay busy for hours! It is no wonder why students love it so much.

Scratch

"The Scratch website offers an alternate model for how children might use the Web as a platform for learning, enabling them to create and share personally meaningful projects, not simply access information."
 - MIT, creators of Scratch

ISTE_NETS-T Standard 1a:
promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness

Scratch is built to give kids an alternative way to learn and have fun. As an advocate for fun classrooms, I think it is a phenomenal tool for kids to use. It incorporates web use, game design, and learning to fit a twenty-first century education as well as prepare students for web skills needed in further classrooms. Technology is quickly becoming the future of education, as seen in the world around us. Many children just do not learn through lecture and reading textbooks anymore. This is where Scratch comes in. It allows teachers or students to make a project to go hand in hand with a lesson. It gives the students something they can enjoy working on at home and enjoy learning that feels like play.

One really important thing about Scratch is that it allows room for mistakes. Students can create their own game, in any which way they please. I think this is one of the top skills for a student to be introduced to. The ability to first invent and then design a game with the goal of learning and fun in mind is a difficult task for adults, let alone students. Scratch allows students to gain this skill of critical thinking to become an effective teacher and learner. It allows for them to see how learning takes place and use their imagination to put learning and play together.

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use scientific instruments, technology, and everyday materials to investigate the natural world.

For example, this gravity simulator is a great tool when explaining the effects of gravity on an object! In this case, the simulator takes modern technology and allows children to see what happens when gravity is inserted into an equation or the atmosphere. It is fun, it is engaging, and it is perfect for a first-glance understanding of what gravity is and does.

My View- Video Games

These videos caused me to have more faith in the learning capabilities of video games. I was that person that saw no use for games but violence and large amounts of wasted money.
The third video caused me to look at games from a new level. Salen claimed that children enjoy games because they know without a doubt that they can succeed. After hearing that, I contemplated on my own that that particular theory holds true. I am not a big gaming fan and to be honest, have hardly ever picked up a controller, but I do enjoy word games on my phone and such. I, too, feel comfortable knowing there is a solution that can be found.
I also believe in the claim in video two that games increase learning and problem-solving. Most people I know that are the best problem solvers, are also the biggest gamers. They also are fantastic multi-taskers as opposed to myself, that can barely walk and breathe. After watching the first video, that definitely became clear to me! I feel like I have a better view of how video games can work effectively in the student's favor.

Using Games in the Classroom
Santeri Koivisto and Joel Levin worked to produce MinecraftEdu, a play on the popular video game Minecraft. The new version allows for tailoring to curriculum for teachers. It is used for math, science, and computer science especially.

Effects of Video Games

Your Brain on Video Games

Argument:
In reasonable doses and at a reasonable age, action-packed games have positive effects on many aspects of behavior.

Claims:
1. vision - Gamers' vision ( 5-15 hours of gaming per week) are usually significantly better because they are better trained to see details in a cluttered view and more clearly see different shades of grey.

2. attention and distraction - Gamers have better attention spans and can more easily concentrate on a task. They can also more efficiently track multiple objects at one time, such as when driving.

3. multitasking - Gamers are better multi-taskers. Multimedia tasking shows poor multitasking ability.

Are Video Games Making Your Kid Smarter? 

Argument: Children involved in video games are actually smarter. The games encourage: seek novelty, challenge yourself, think creatively, do things the hard way, and network.

Claims:
1. Children that play games actually have to multi-task, usually with five or more items, which improves their ability to retain multiple bits of information.

2. Gaming promotes learning. Those that are involved in learning tasks, not just momentarily, are shown to have more grey matter in their brain linked to vision, senses, etc.

3. Games are wired to produce pleasure. Children are reinforced positively to keep learning and strive to finish the games' tasks.

Big Thinkers: Learning with Games 
According to Salen, video games support the following learning experiences and skills needed in the 21st century:

• collaboration

• team building

• problem solving in a complex space

• exploring identities

• forgiving environments to fail in or take risks       

Games and good teachers have similar characteristics of challenge and instruction. When designing games, students have often put the other side first, contemplating who will be on the other end playing their game and how he or she could make it most effective. Most children that play games have a sense of empowerment because they know that the games were created for them to succeed and beat. Many children feel as though classroom curriculum is to trick them and make them fail. 

Learning Styles and MI Theory

Learning Styles Don't Exist

The Three Claims That They Do Not Exist:
1. We are provoked to learn through meaning, not strictly visually, auditory, or kinesthetic.
While remembering words, we remember the meaning we attach to the word, not the word itself.

2. They predict that a visual learner will ALWAYS learn better visually and do better.
While learning a map, everyone needs to learn the shapes of those countries, not just the visual learners.

3. It is not always more than a coincidence that a student learns a certain piece of information better through any style. Sometimes it is good analogy and sometimes they just needed something to make it click in their minds.

The Reason They Seem To Be Correct:
1. The theory is widely accepted.

2. Some people do seem to learn better through image, sound, or motion.

3. If you already believe the theory, then you are most likely to interpret all ambiguous coincidences to go along with the theory.

The Multiple Intelligence Theory

Three Ways Schools Fail To Meet Learning Needs Of Children:
1.  Many teachers only teach logically, but there are multiple other ways children can learn and be taught that would cause the information to stick into the child's mind. 

2. Children get a superficial knowledge of multiple subjects that cover an array of information that they usually forget before they leave high school.

3. Assessment is very difficult and not student-centered. The students have no idea what they are supposed to be learning  and when they aren't learning it correctly. After assessments, nobody allows room for correction or overlooking, they simply just to the next important topic. 

Similarities and Differences:
Both theories assert that children learn through a variety of different means. The learning styles assert children learn either visually, auditory, or kinesthetically. The multiple intelligence theories assert children can learn through a variety of means: social, spatial, logically, socially, and much more. Both theories agree in that children are not being taught correctly in school. They also agree that children with specific learning habits need more attention in their own style, but neither realize the struggle that would cause a daily classroom. 



 

Multiple Intelligences and Learning Styles - Picasso Head

I have social, or interpersonal, intelligence. Here I have portrayed the middle female speaking and listening to a group.

Interpersonal intelligence is also known as "people smart;" we are the social butterflies, so to speak. Blogs, chats, social networks, video conferencing, and interactive websites work very well when teaching those with interpersonal intelligence. Technology can be used to help me learn through video. I enjoy learning through documentaries. Hands-on interactive websites are also very useful tools. They provide games and instruction to teach. You can find an example of how I would prefer to use technology in the classroom at the end of this blog.



Learning Styles
Learning styles are often described as the way in which someone learns. There are three forms: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. I agree that not all children learn in the same way. I do not agree, however, that one must plan an entire lesson around learning styles. It is crucial, as an instructor, to get information across to students, but when an instructor must plan to accommodate one lesson to three different types of learners with three different activities, it becomes less productive and somewhat confusing. One of the leading arguments against learning styles claim that most students are unaware of the way in which they learn. (Clark,  2012) I wholeheartedly do no agree. One of the glorious things about learning styles is that they stem from student preferences; every student that has ever sat through a boring lecture, knows how they would rather be learning at that moment. Knowing how you would rather learn is important, but it does not stop you from learning in other ways. (Glenn, 2009) It may be that you just have not gotten a firm grip on the subject matter and need a little more help, but it is possible to understand.
Instead of trying to plan one lesson plan around three different learners, I believe it is more effective to allow the students to have a voice in how they will learn major lessons. I think learning styles also depend on subject matter. English is a subject that is usually understood through auditory learning. Science, on the other hand, is a much better candidate for visual or kinesthetic learning. By allowing the students to have a say in how they will learn their lessons, I believe it would make learning more effective.
Technology is a great tool for kinesthetic learners, especially in science- related concepts.

Worldwide Telescope
WWT is an interactive website that allows students to look into the Earth or anywhere out in space, create constellations, and have a great time. It is great for science lessons. It takes a small amount of work to get up and running and works great with a smart board!

Virtual Zoo
Websites such as the San Diego Zoo provide live video feed of some animal enclosures. It makes for the perfect in-class field trip while studying animals or even just a fun activity for a free day. Many other zoos are beginning to adopt live feed cameras as well.

Using Chat Resources:

Some educators have been using social media/chat applications to bring classrooms together. This is also a great way for interpersonal students to learn, by learning together hundreds of miles away!


References:
Clark, D. (2012, March 06). Learning styles and preferences. Retrieved from http://nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/styles.html

Glenn, D. (2009, December 15). Matching teaching style to learning style may not help students. The Chronicle. Retrieved from http://chronicle.com/article/Matching-Teaching-Style-to-/49497/