Category: Teacher Education

Looking for “The Best” Technology Integration Resources

I encourage you to checkout the discussion that’s underway at The Playground regarding exemplary technology integration resources. I think that you’ll find that it has some excellent suggestions. A few of my suggestions are below. Please add your favorites the list using the Comments section.

Pay Attention

As you gear up for a new school year I encourage you to watch this video clip, Pay Attention, at least once and reflect upon its message. You might find it beneficial to review Karl Fisch’s Shift Happens before you watch this video.


Games and Simulations in Education: A Resource List for Newbies

The following is in response to the requests several of you have made for more information about games and simulations in education.

The use of games and simulations in education is increasing. There is a lot being researched, written, blogged, and talked about on this topic. There are increasing numbers of presentations and discussions on the topic at conferences. The topic is also becoming part of the curriculum in more and more educational technology courses and programs. While I believe that the use of electronic games and simulations in teaching and learning is in its infancy, there are those that have had an interest in this for quite some time, and have acquired a respectable level of expertise in this area. I suggest the following resources to help you prepare to integrate games and simulations with teaching and learning in your classroom.

  • Mark Prensky – Prensky’s provocative nature has helped him become one of the biggest names in games in education. His book Digital Game-Based Learning is a must read for anyone looking to become knowledgeable of this topic. (Warning: He likes to be shocking for the sake of being shocking.)
  • Lloyd Rieber – Dr. Rieber’s understanding of rigorous research and development combined with his ability to easily communicate with classroom teachers has made him a well respected individual in the field of instructional technology around the world. His website, Nowhere Road, is full of useful resources.
  • WWILD Team – This is an “online community of teachers, parents, students, and software developers promoting experiential learning.” Be sure to especially look over the Homemade PowerPoint Games (think, “Webquest meets PowerPoint”) section.
  • Rick van Eck – He has become known for his research in instructional games and simulations.
  • Dennis Charsky – As an emerging researcher and practitioner in the area of instructional games, Dr. Charsky has the ability to communicate his knowledge of computer programming, game development, and graphic design to educators.
  • COTS – Integrating commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) games with teaching and learning
  • It’s All Fun and Games until… – This is a partial compilation of resources (podcasts, PowerPoint files, etc.) from guest presentations given in conjunction with a special topics class I helped co-teach.

What resources would you add to this list? Please leave your suggestions (provide URLs when possible) in the comments below.

13 Yr. Old CEO of Innovative Educational Gaming Company

Anshul Samar is the CEO of Elementeo, a startup company seeking to combine fun and learning. This article provides an overview of the company’s goals, video of Anshul’s CEO speech, and a description of the company’s first game which teaches chemistry through a role-playing board game.

This is interesting to me on many different levels. Watching the video of Anshul’s CEO speech gives me the impression that this may have actually been a class project. Regardless, couldn’t a student activity like this be the jumping-off point for effectively integrating technology with teaching and learning?

  1. How many content areas/topics/objectives/skills would this kind of activity include? I’ve noticed 1) math, business and economics, 2) science/chemistry, 3) art and graphic design, 4) language arts, 5) perhaps copyright and patents, 6) ……???
  2. If this was a class project, do you think that the teacher could have ever imagined that this would be the result?
  3. Elementeo is seeking to put the fun back into learning. Has education taken the fun out of learning? It seems that these students think so. What does that tell those of us that are teachers?
  4. If this is not a class project and Anshul and his friends did this of their own initiative then perhaps we, as teachers, should reconsider what it is that we have our students doing. I suggest that a traditional lesson/unit on entrepreneurship would likely not teach students nearly as much about the world of business (and the other aforementioned content areas) as this activity likely did.
  5. While students weren’t necessarily playing games but rather developing games, this could be an example of effectively bringing gaming into the classroom and integrating it with the curriculum.
    1. Let’s begin to consider all the elements of effective teaching and learning (according to today’s research) that might possibly be identified in a class project like this. Such an activity might include 1) problem solving, 2) discovery learning, 3) legitimate peripheral participation and/or authentic/situated/contextual teaching and learning, 4) communities of practice, 5) collaboration, 6) project management (for those instructional designers among us), 7) ……???

    I think this could be a rich discussion. Please, please chime in.

    iQuiz Maker for iPod

    Neil Hokanson has an interesting post about using iQuiz Maker to create your own quizzes to be used on iPods. The possibilities for use in the classroom are intriguing. What are some of the possible educational uses that you can envision?

    Draft of NETS-S

    I read the following on ISTE’s site today. “ISTE has held Town Hall Meetings at many venues across the nation and globally to provide opportunities for public input on refreshing the National Educational Technology Standards for Students (NETS•S).” You can view a PDF of a draft version of the next generation of NETS•S.

    So, what do you think of the revised standards? Let the conversation begin.

    What Will/Should “EdTech 101” Evolve Into?

    We have all taken it, taught it, criticized it, and pondered its effectiveness. We teach students a bunch of “tools”, gadgets, software, and/or hardware or a combination thereof. Currently the Microsoft Office Suite is the chosen product to teach in many EdTech 101 courses, maybe with a little Inspiration, Kid Pix, and Dreamweaver thrown in for “good measure” or “just in case a student wants to get into it.”

    However, many feel that teaching all these tools doesn’t translate into these preservice teachers integrating technology. Most feel that our preservice teachers use these tools to do their “teacher stuff” but don’t let the students use it or learn with or from the technology. Basically, preservice teachers leave the EdTech 101 course with a set of skills and knowledge that is disconnected from and separate from any instructional design and technology integration theory.

    We teach tools because there is always something new that comes out. Decades ago it was slide and filmstrip projectors, then televisions, video cassette recorders, computer based instruction, software tools, the Internet, DVDs, digital cameras, digital microscopes, scanners…. What’s next? Palm Pilots, iPods, and other handheld devices (some of you may already be using these)? Flash? TiVo? Final Cut? Adobe Atmosphere? Virtual reality? The evolution and progression of new technology seems to invade the EdTech 101 course so we can “keep our students up to date” or “prepare them for the [insert next century or decade here]’s” claims. The way many EdTech 101 courses are structured and the content is taught perpetuates the cycle of non-integration because we teach tools, but not integration. We show students how to use the technology tools, but don’t show them or teach them how to get the students to use them or why they should.

    How can we break this cycle? Do we even want to? What would an EdTech 101 course look like if we could change it? Would preservice teachers benefit from the changes?

    And So It Begins

    Welcome. This blog has been an idea of mine for quite a long time, but I’m finally getting around to making it happen (While watching Super Bowl XLI). This is intended to be a place where I can share information, ideas, etc. with others that also have an interest in education, technology and more…hence the blog’s title, Clif’s Notes on Education, Technology and More.

    Let the fun begin!

    Clif Mims