OER Commons

Article: Before I talk about OER, I need to tell everyone what it is. It is simply just any resource used for teaching or whatever you need it for that costs little to nothing. They were started to help people find good resources that people can share to  help them achieve whatever they need to. For example, if you need a course materials, you can go onto a website and find all the course materials you would need from a ton of universities. This is always a plus because as well as having endless resources, you know they are valuable because people who have higher education on the subjects are the ones who are sharing a vetting for the information. But of course you will always have to watch out because the fact of the matter is that anyone can share a resource and it's your job to make sure it is a reliable source. The fact of the matter is that OER is constantly growing with new resources and soon there will be resources for no matter what you need. All they need to do now is find a way to cancel out all the unreliable resources. As the resources grow, it can have a huge impact on teaching and learning. People  will be able to find all the resources they need to basically teach themselves all the necessary components of education. Plus, people can use these resources to better help their understanding of a subject so that they can teach others what they have learned.

Websource: One resource that I have found very helpful in OER is that you can find out how to make things and put them into your classroom. For example, I found an article about how to make a hovercraft. It is a fun activity to do with young kids and it shows you exactly how it works. This means that either the teacher can teach themselves first so they can explain it to the class or they can have the students teach themselves. Another good resource I found for teachers is they give you fun games and activities to do with your class. Not only do they give you ideas, but also they link you to other reliable sites to show you an example or give you more ideas. This is helpful if you find a subject to teach, but don't really have an idea of an activity. Then finally what I think is the most important resource is they have a whole section devoted to primary sources on anything you can think. This is helpful for the students of your classroom because say they are having trouble understanding a concept you can direct them to the site and they can find a resource to help them better understand it.

Other sources- OER is doing so much for everyone. I give us resources for everything we need. It is transforming education as we know it. Teachers and college professors are getting together to collaborate to make education better. They are changing curriculum. All of this is due to the endless resources shared on OER. OER is bringing all teachers together through peer-led collaboration. They have already trained 1500 teachers in 25 countries. So not only are teachers working with other teachers in the US, but all around the world. They are gaining new perspectives on teaching. And most importantly is that it gives the power to the teachers. It gives them the leadership opportunity to make the right educational reforms. They are able to talk to other teachers to find the best way to teach and learn.

-Ben Cox

Flipped Learning

It was started by Bergmann and Sams. It was seen by Jon and Aaron who were teachers at Woodland Park High School. They were noticing how students were missing classes due to sports and events. Then, they found the software that allowed them to put voice into their ppt which would allow them to send the ppt to students. And these are not the only teachers who have seen satisfaction with this program. Research found that teachers had 88% improved job satisfaction. And the teachers were even impressed with what it did for students. Studies showed that 67% of teachers saw improvement in student grades. This most likely happens because  even if students miss a class the teacher can send them the lectures and notes showing students what they missed. Also, it allows teachers to get more 1:1 attention with the students because they are moving the lectures outside the classroom. And since the lessons are made into videos the students are able to look over information as much as they want to better understand the concepts. There are 5 major points to this classroom that are described in more detail in the article Flipped Learning: A Response to Five Common Criticisms.

                                          

One benefit to Flipped Learning is that it individualizes learning. Students are giving the lectures by the teacher which allows students to work at their own pace. Also, it allows students to get the one on one attention they want. Another benefit is that it eliminates students falling behind when they miss. In the Flipped classroom the students are sent videos and podcast of the lesson so even though a student might miss class they can look at the videos and see what they miss. Another pro is that it has shown to reduce behavioral problems in students. Since students can work at their own pace the students don't start acting up because they are behind or gifted. The people falling behind can have more time while gifted students can work ahead.

A con to the flipped classroom and the biggest one is that some schools simply don't have the technology to fulfill the needs for this style of teaching. Some schools just can't afford the money to supply the technology. Another disadvantage of a flipped classroom is that all the students' homework time would be spent in front of a computer screen. It is already hard to get students up away from the computer and TV, and now they are being put in front of it to do homework too. Not to mention that students learn in different ways and not every student can learn in front of a computer. The next con is that the students are going to fall even more behind if the students don't watch the videos. The whole system is based on the videos and if the students aren't watching them they will fall behind.

I believe that flipped learning could have huge implications on teaching in the future. The classrooms are going to be purely based on technology. Students will be taught responsibility a lot earlier because they will be working at their own pace, but it is up to them to get their work done. There eventually might be no need for classrooms anymore. Teachers will make universal lessons that students can few from home to teach themselves. Desks might be replaced by computer stations. There might never be a need for paper and pencil in a classroom ever again.

-Ben Cox

Powerpoint(less)

 We did a PowerPoint presentation in class on Thursday September 27. The point of the PowerPoint was to create a lesson plan to teach to an age group of our choice. So first I had to find my objectives and standard for my lesson. I decided to chose mathematics for 4th graders. My objectives had to deal with decimals, fractions, and how to write numbers in different forms. We learned how to write them so that we would know how to create a lesson plan.

I had to write a narrative to find out who are audience was, what are objectives are, and the purpose of the PowerPoint  Then, I had to use that narrative to put a presentation together to help the kids achieve the objectives in the most efficient way. I had been taught mostly everything about PowerPoint in middle school and high school so I didn't learn much about PowerPoint besides how to embedded a video. I did however learn about  how to make a lesson and more importantly write an objective based on standards. So after I learned how to write my objectives and got all my information straight, I was able to start my presentation. In school, I always loved having a review day, and it was even better when the review was made into a game. So I decided to make my lesson into a review game. I would make 4 teams and I would have a student from each team come up where I would have four buzzers. I would give them a math problem to solve and when they got it they would buzz in. If the player got the answer correct their team would receive a point, but if they missed it the other players would have a chance to steal. The only problem I had with this project was the fact that it was a PowerPoint which I will try to avoid using in the classroom. So I don't think this was very helpful, especially since most of us probably had to learn PowerPoint already in high school.




As for presenting, I felt confident presenting my PowerPoint to my peers. I thought I made my objectives clear and I created a good lesson for my age group. I knew I had everything I needed to have. And I knew that I made it fun for everyone. And in the case of everyone else's PowerPoint's. I thought they were all very creative in how they set them up. No one's was the same as the next one because everyone put their own style into their PowerPoint's. It was very educational to see others and see how they would teach children. It helped give yourself as a future teacher ideas on how to make a lesson.



-Ben

Two More for the Roll

The first blog I added was Topics in Early Childhood Education by John Funk. He has worked in Early Childhood for 33 years now, so I know he is a reliable blog. Also, he is a manager at Excellence Learning Corporation. In his blog, he talks about different topics about how children work and why we need to teach them. For example, in one of  his posts he talks about how children are watching our every move and learning from us. I chose this blog because I am going into Early Childhood Education and he had good insight on how children work that could help me in the classroom. I also found it interesting because he talks about so many different topics and taught me stuff I didn't know. It will help me with my PLN because he has a lot of experience to help through his posts.

The second blog is chose was Males in Early Childhood. This blog talks about males in early childhood education and you get to see teaching and taking care of kids from a males point of view. I know this is a reliable blog because it uses teachers and parents to talk about the subjects. I chose this blog because I am a male going into early childhood education and it would give me that experience from a guys point of view. I find it interesting because I get a different perspective from a guy. Early childhood education is made mostly of women teachers and it is interesting getting a point of view from a man. It will help my PLN because it is giving me great insight from a man in the field that I am going into.

-Ben

My Beliefs about Technology and Learning

Pros: In some ways technology is great in the classroom. One way is that is it getting them ready for their future career. Now a days it doesn't matter what your career is you will most likely be using technology. Also, it can be more user friendly for the children. Instead of having them flip through the pages of a book they are able to just look something up. Finally, it can help with kids with disabilities. My mom teaches special needs students and I know that the technology truly helps because it works well with different learning styles. Technology can work with audio learners and visual learners.

Cons: But in other ways it is bad. One way is that it is expensive to buy the supplies. It is hard for schools to buy enough computers for all the students. Another way is it can break down easily. If the computers break down it throws off the whole lesson plan. Finally, it is less social. If everything is on the computer it causes no  interaction between the students.

Important to Me

Throughout my years in school I have spent my time taking notes all day. It made me hate going to school, but also inspired me as a future teacher to make my classroom fun. Some ways to make it fun would be:

• Group projects
• Games
• Hands on activities
• Pictures and videos

It is important for kids to do hands on activites. Not only because it makes learning fun, but it allows students to physical see how something works. Also, it allows for the students to interact with one another.

By making fun actitivities for your students, it creates a fun environment to learn in. In turn, the students will be excited to come to school. And if they are excited to learn, the more they will learn.

-Ben Cox