EDU 776 Blog: Andy Dunning

“ Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go So make the best of this test, and don't ask why It's not a question, but a lesson learned in time It's something unpredictable But in the end is right I hope you had the time of your life” ⸺Green Day (Image source: giphy.com) Looking Back; Moving Forward As our journey through EDU 776 comes to a close, I thought I'd take a look back and reflect upon this very busy time. This class has been somewhat of an eye-opener: when I was in school, technology was a Speak and Spell and Apple II. Technology was not a part of our curriculum. However, today's students live in a different world. Generation Z'rs have grown up as digital natives. They use technology everyday to manage their lives. Generation Alpha will experience a full immersion in technology. They will expect, and only be able to learn, with a technology-rich classroom. (Image source: amazon.com) Some of th...

(Image source #25)   Show Me Yours, I’ll Show You Mine: Digital Tattoos It’s a new world. We spend so much of our time online. However, we don’t always think about how life online and how it differs from our unplugged life. What we post is instantly transmitted and can be viewed around the world. Just think about all the “viral” videos you see on your YouTube splash page. And the exposure isn’t always good. It’s enough for us to want to close all our accounts and live digital free. Yet, for teachers online life can be a huge resource, both for themselves and the families they serve. Building a professional online presence is almost a must, according to Sue Scheff, author of Shame Nation: The Global Epidemic of Online Hate . So don’t try scrubbing your digital tattoo. She “encourages you to think twice about erasing yourself from the Internet, as human-resource departments and college-admissions offices often use social media to review candidates,”according to journalist Joe McKinle...

(Image source 23) Using Social Media for Personal Growth My Twitter Experience  @andrewdunning19 I must admit: I was very leery of creating and using a Twitter account to build my Personal Learning Network (PLN). It’s not the network that gave me pause; it was Twitter. I’m not social-media savvy. I don’t like using Facebook. I worry that social media is the downfall of western civilization. Okay, that last one was a bit of an exaggeration! However, I pushed ahead and began connecting with some other educators and organizations that I found interesting -- or at least useful -- and this led to finding even more. And it grew exponentially from there. Soon, I found myself with so many hints and tips that I couldn’t keep them organized. So, what is a PLN? It is “a personal learning network (PLN) is a group of colleagues, mentors, and professionals that you connect with to enhance your learning and take charge of your own professional development” (Trach, 2017). It’s an opportunity to bu...

  “Freedom that’s only alloted to a few is really not freedom.” Accessibility for a Digital World Think accessibility is only about wheelchairs and ramps? Think again. In this new virtual world we spend so much of our time online. From the apps we use on our cell phones to the World Wide Web, our daily lives need to be plugged in. Yet, how we plug in has its limits: we view web pages stocked full of images organized in a fashion that requires the use of a mouse.  But not everyone is capable of seeing the screen or manipulating a mouse. So, we need to rethink accessibility. As Katie Novak of Cult of Pedagogy says, “When we design the same learning pathways for all learners, we might tell ourselves we are being fair, but in fact, single pathways are exclusionary.” (Novak, 2021). The need for accessibility is substantial: 61 million Americans have a disability that impacts major life activities (Zumprano, n.d.).  Marie Raney says "The web is about information accessibility. ...

(Image source 21) “Gen Z-ers were shaped by the economic pressures their families and communities faced ... Thus, they value the stability that comes with conservative spending, stable jobs and smart investments.” Values of Generations Z, Alpha Shaped By Technology People of earlier generations see technology, such as cell phones and internet capabilities, as a tool they can use to help improve their lives. Members of Generation Z, as well as the emerging Generation Alpha, see technology as an extension of their lives. And they are a large and growing group: the youth population grew from 72.4 million to just under 73.4 million kids (Casey, 2020). This affinity for technology plays a role in so many facets of their lives. It’s how they view their world, and this includes the values that they hold. Among the values of Generation Z is the need for financial stability, according to researchers. “Gen Z-ers were shaped by the economic pressures their families and communities faced, from the...

(Image source 20) “for the rest of your life, you won’t be judged by test scores. You’ll be judged by the kind of human being you are, and the kind of work that you do.” Putting Students in Charge: Active Learning for Student-Centered Classrooms Some traditions are best left in the trash bin. For instance, the age old model of teaching, where the teacher lectures and the students take notes, isn’t a useful tradition. It’s time to throw that model on its head and begin to implement a student-focused classroom where kids learn by doing.  As an example, former sixth-grade teacher Ron Berger threw out the class curriculum in order to give kids an opportunity to take control of their own education. The students came up with projects that contributed to society in a meaningful way. His students learned by doing, and they were learning skills that they would use outside of school. “For the rest of your life, you won’t be judged by test scores. You’ll be judged by the kind of human being y...