Happy Friday
Everyone!
Earlier this week I
saw an article defining ‘20 Essential Technology Terms for Teachers’ and I
thought that this was a great idea.
Technology and teaching is changing so quickly and new concepts are
being developed every day, so a note explaining some of the recent and more
confusing technology terms may be beneficial.
1:1
Read as ‘one to
one’ this means a school or class has one computer or device for every
pupil. Although this is a dream for many
of us currently in the elementary setting, it is occurring in other educational
areas (Laurier Bed. Program for example).
AUP
Acceptable Use
Policy – Policy #318 at the UGDSB. An acceptable use policy outlines safe and
secure use of digital technology in the school and throughout the school
board. It clearly defines what students
and staff may or may not do on the school’s network. Students and parents are often required to
sign one at the beginning of each school year.
BYOD or BYOT
‘Bring Your Own
Device’ or ‘Bring Your Own Technology’ is a policy which some classrooms and
schools are beginning to implement where students are encouraged to bring in
their own tablet, netbook or laptops for use within the school. While this allows for more students to have
devices for hands on learning, it also illustrates more clearly the divide
between students and families which can afford these items and those that
cannot. This can provide a greater
challenge for instructors who need to be aware of how a variety of devices work
in order to assist students and facilitate learning. Additionally, some feel that this increases
student’s responsibility with the technology and as a result lessens the amount
of vandalism occurring on the school technological devices.
Cloud or ‘Cloud
Computing’
The cloud is a
metaphor for the internet, however when you combine it with ’computing’ it
becomes an on-demand storage space for documents, photos, information,
etc. The cloud is not one single device
or location, instead it is where files are copied to servers and are then
accessible from a variety of locations and devices. The UGCloud for example can be accessed from
the school resource center to create a document then saved and retrieved on a
tablet, or Chromebook, etc. for further editing and composition at home, or in
a location with internet capabilities.
Digital
Citizenship
Digital citizenship
means understanding and making the choice to use the internet and technology
appropriately and safely. This can
include e-mail etiquette, proper citing and use of internet resources, as well
as security and safety. With children as
young as 3 clicking on webpages and playing online games, we need to teach
children how to use the online community safely and respectfully.
Digital Literacy
Similar to Digital
Citizenship, Digital Literacy is the ability to navigate, assess and generate
information using technology and the internet.
It includes the ability to interpret data and information and to apply
new knowledge from digital environments.
Flipped Classroom
or Flip Teaching
This is a form of
blended learning (combination of face-to-face and technology facilitated) which
frequently involves students viewing teacher created videos (or read a section
of the textbook) at home so that the teacher is free to interact with students
during class time. Students learn the
concepts on their own at home and practice or apply the knowledge in class with
the assistance of the teacher. One
example of this is the collaboration between the Khan Academy and the Los Altos
School District, where they are piloting a district wide flipping of the
classrooms.
Gamification
Most parents will
tell you that if you make chores into a game children are more likely to get on
board and they become a fun activity - this is the premise for
gamification. By integrating game
thinking and methods into learning and non-game applications students become
more engaged and often remember concepts and knowledge and have a greater
understanding.
MOOC
MOOC stands for
Massively Open Online Course and these are becoming more popular throughout the
world. They offer online education to an
immense number of participants at low cost (often free) in a variety of
topics. Udacity and Coursera are two of the more popular MOOC
websites.
QR Code
These QR or Quick
Response codes are popping up all over the grocery and retail stores and now
they are making their way into education as well. They are a type of bar code which allows a
‘reader’ to link to related information in the form of a website. By installing an app with a QR scanner/generator
(such as ‘QR Reader for iPhone’), students can create their own codes or
teachers can place them up around the room and have them link to resources and
videos for students use. Give this one a try…
Wiki
A wiki is a website
which allows one or more users to add delete and modify the content. Many teachers use wikis for their classroom
to keep students and families up to date on events and assignments. Mary Kay Goindi has created her wiki to
assist teachers in intermediate math and 3 part problem solving. http://intermediatemathugdsb.wikispaces.com/
TPCK
Technical
Pedagogical Content Knowledge is the framework to understand the kind of
information needed by a teacher for effectively teaching with technology. This extension of Shulman’s idea of
Pedagogical Content Knowledge illustrates the veritable ‘sweet spot’ where
technology meets pedagogy, content and knowledge which is where students will
learn best.
I hope this
provides some clarity as to the current ‘alphabet soup’ of acronyms and new language
surrounding technology in education. If
there are additional questions or suggestions for future ‘Tech Tidbits’ please
feel free to message me.
Have a great break!
Stacey
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