Technological Applications That Enhance Student Learning

           This Friday I attended my last BRINC professional development session on blended learning. As part of the third cohort of teachers in Delaware receiving the training, I have been exposed to a lot of great ideas, technological tools, and ways of utilizing Schoology to establish elements of blended learning within my classroom. A big part of our discussion throughout this morning's session was whether or not New Castle County Vocational School District would transition to integrating 1:1 use of laptops at Delcastle, Hodgson, and St. Georges Technical High Schools next year. I remain hopeful that this transition will occur so I can integrate laptops daily rather than every few days as I share them with other teachers. My biggest takeaways of the session were the variety of tools presented and demonstrated to enhance student learning within the classroom. The majority revolved around the latest apps that enable teachers to modify, integrate, and enhance videos during the instructional process. The following were my favorites during the session and the ones I am most looking forward to using within my classroom as soon as possible!

• Playposit 
• This earned my MVP award for best new tool from my professional development session. Playposit allows teachers and students to create a free account (linked to Gmail) to upload and edit any video from Youtube to Vimeo. They call the edited videos "bulbs," and the site keeps track of all user created bulbs. A bulb enables teachers to splice the video and choose only the sections they need and are relevant to the content or skill being taught in class. Teachers can choose to stop the video at any moment and integrate a variety of questions that students can answer and receive feedback from. My favorite part about Playposit is that it can be embedded and integrated within Schoology. Teachers can receive real time data and completion results from students as they watch the video and complete the questions. I really look forward to using this tool!

• Edpuzzle
• My runner up for best tool went to Edpuzzle, which functions in the very same way as Playposit but cannot be integrated within Schoology. Like Playposit, teachers can upload and edit videos from a host of sources by trimming, adding questions, and even recording ones voice. In order for students to participate, teachers can create an online classroom environment to store each of their Edpuzzle created videos. Students can join these online classrooms with their Google Drive accounts. By joining, teachers can keep track of student progress through their generated interactive video lessons. 

• Adobe Voice
• Adobe Voice was introduced to the cohort during the opening monologue by our District's Director of Instruction, Terri Villa. She created a short video using this free application that provided an overview of our District and its transition to blended learning. The best part was that she made the entire video using her smart phone and it looked very professional! What is super cool about Adobe Voice is that it takes your recording and uses like an autotune to make it sound amazing. You can pick and choose from a vast assortment of graphics/images and Adobe throws together an animated package to go a long with your recording. To be honest, the best part of this is how attractive and high end your videos will look compared to a typical lecture screencast. 

• Pear Deck
• One of the most interesting applications discussed at our meeting was Pear Deck. Pear Deck enables teachers to create interactive presentations from scratch or from already created PowerPoints. It allows teachers to embed a variety of interactive questions and videos into the actual presentation. Students follow along with the Pear Deck presentation from their devices and can interact with visuals, maps, and graphs to choose the best answers that the teacher incorporates in the presentation. The teacher is provided immediate feedback and can use their device to determine which students have answered incorrectly. This functions like a combination of Kahoot and your typical classroom presentation wrapped into one great package. 

References:

(2014). Pear deck. Pear Deck Inc. Retrieved from https://www.peardeck.com/.

(2014). EDpuzzle. EDpuzzle Inc. Retrieved from https://edpuzzle.com/.
(2015). Adobe voice. Adobe Systems Incorporated. Retrieved from https://standout.adobe.com/voice/.
(2014). EduCanon. Retrieved from https://www.educanon.com/

Blended Learning Spaces

Welcome to Mr. Erdosy's Social Studies Blog! This blog is designed for Wilmington University's Masters Degree in Educational Technology and I will be posting on the emerging trends within that realm of study.

Recently, I researched and completed an infographic on the emerging trend of redesigned learning spaces for blended learning classrooms. The inspiration behind this emerging trend came from my participation in BRINC professional development. BRINC is a consortium of school districts in Delaware that have banded together to strengthen technology integration within their schools and create blended learning environments for their students. At our first meeting, our superintendent Dr. Victoria Gehrt gave us an introduction about her expectations for not only technology integration but for also redesigning our learning spaces. Immediately, several teachers asked her to define what these learning spaces would look like and she admitted that there wasn't a lot of information out there on the best way to created a blended learning space. That piqued my interest as I began my research. I discovered that redesigned learning spaces were an emerging trend as identified by a 2015 NMC Horizon Report on Australian Tertiary Education. This information led me to choose redesigned learning spaces as my emerging technological trend in education.

Like my superintendent, I struggled to find information on what a fully functioning 21st century blended learning classroom actually looks like. However, I was able to find a lot of information on characteristics of these new and unique classrooms. One of the better sources I found also happened to be an infographic by Knewton titled: Blended Learning: A Disruptive Innovation. Below is my own infographic that details some of the information I found about the topic:

Bill Toley's quote about the classroom resembling a moldable piece of clay really stood out to me over the course of this infographic's creation (2014). In order to make this possible, a blended learning classroom must have a multitude of options and potential directions the students can take within their learning. Since each student has varying needs and ability levels, teachers must create different pathways towards success that challenge the highest achievers and meet the needs of the lower performing students. In order to make that possible, there has to be an online element to the course that can be accessed and used outside of school. In school, there must be a diversified workplace that breaks the classroom into functioning sections. Students who are on the same pathway can collaborate on activities and/or projects while others may work individually completing learning modules. Teachers and learning support coaches are free to help students who need remediation and one on one help (2015). 

Other characteristics include the use and full integration of technology. This includes computers, smart boards, and televisions that can be used in conjunction with the assigned activities and projects. Bring your own device (BYOD), was also seen as a vital element in enhancing the student learning process, especially in schools that may lack full technology integration or a 1:1 setting. Any technology integration should be intertwined with problem based learning and real world projects to prepare students for college and career areas (2015). In conclusion, a blended learning environment creates a fluid classroom that is constantly evolving and meeting the needs of every student, no matter their stage of learning. 

References:

(2015). Blended learning: A disruptive innovation. Knewton. Retrieved from                  https://www.knewton.com/infographics/blended-learning/.

(2015). NMC technology outlook: Australian tertiary education. Retrieved from                  http://cdn.nmc.org/media/2015-nmc-technology-outlook-australian-tertiary-education.pdf.

(2015). NMC technology outlook: higher education in Ireland. Retrieved from                  http://cdn.nmc.org/media/2015-nmc-technology-outlook-ireland-higher-ed.pdf.

Tolley, B. (2014). Creating successful blended learning classrooms. Education Week. Retrieved from http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2014/10/08/ctq_tolley_blended_learning.html.