Flipteaching

What is flip teaching? 

It's called "flip teaching" and  "reverse teaching" or a "backwards classroom" (who knew?), and "reverse instruction."  Here's how it's happening, for real:

• Kids watch lectures and videos at home 
• Class is for hands-on work and face-to-face interaction with teacher/peers

So why has this method become such a booming topic in education?

The days of the teacher as "sage on the stage" are numbered.  Instead, the teacher becomes the "guide on the side" where students are using the class/school experience as a fully interactive experience WITH the teacher -- instead of the teacher being the one-way traditional talking head. This way, students are asking questions and solving problems with the teacher or fellow students -  instead of just sitting compliantly and listening - where the teacher can spend more time addressing specific questions and personalized attention, rather than just the one-size-fits-all lecture. 

Gamification

Gamification def: The concept of applying game-design thinking to non-game applications to make them more fun and engaging.  

Without knowing much about gamification and reading this definition, you get a good concept of what the main idea behind gamification is. People are using gamification to make certain topics more interesting and engaging for them. When relating this to in the classroom, this can really work in our favor. It is difficult to get ALL of your students to understand concepts, if you run your lessons teacher centered. Have a variation of ways students can learn concepts through, the more they will actually take in.

In the video we watched in class it showed students creating and playing educational games in the classroom, things that I don't know know how to do. This video showcased how students are challenged to think deeper and more abstractly all while having fun. Some concerns are that these games create a competitive environment and only brings greed for rewards. These games only help kids want to excel and do better so their game can be the best therefore creating a richer educational environment.

Digital Immigrant or Digital Native?

What are you? 
Using technology in the classroom is something that teachers and students need to get used to.

In class we discussed what the difference was between a digital native and a digital immigrant. In my opinion, a digital native is someone that was taught how to use technology at a very young age. These type of people, grow up using technology on a daily bases and do not know what life is like without technology.




This is a great example of a digital native, it shows how involved technology is in children's life today.








A digital immigrant is a person who has to adapt to these devices as they are introduced to our society. My mother is definitely a digital immigrant, she has no idea how to run any piece of technology, I have to explain to her and show her step-by-step for almost everything. She realized how much of a digital immigrant she was when she went back and got her masters in nurse education, she got her first laptop at the beginning of this program. For her, learning how to put together a powerpoint was one of her biggest struggles. Teachers who are immigrants to technology may have difficulty keeping up with their students' abilities and this may be a problem because the teacher needs to monitor what his/her students are researching on the internet or doing with their phones while in class.

New blogger

Creating a blog is something very foreign to me, I have seen and watched other people create and get into blogs. I have always thought that blogs just weren't my thing...I still believe this. Creating my blog was quite difficult for me. How could I NOT figure this out if I consider myself a technology native?? How is this possible? Well, it definitely is, I eventually figured it out. I still don't know how to personalize my blog yet. Hopefully that comes with time. 

p.s blogging freaks me out :]