Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Readings #1-5 Reflection for EDCI 750 Emerging Technologies Spring 2016
1. November, A. & Mull, B. (2011). How Twitter Can Be Used as a Powerful Educational Tool,
http://novemberlearning.com/assets/how-twitter-can-be-used-as-a-powerful-educational-tool.pdf
As we will be using Twitter quite a bit in class I thought we could start off with a article on using
Twitter as an educational tool.
A. What are three important points that you took away from the article?
B. Explain three ways you could use Twitter to help you in teaching and learning.
Cong-Kai Jin
2. Moore, B. (2014). BYOD Considerations for K12 Schools,
http://www.k12blueprint.com/sites/default/files/k12-byod-considerations-analyst-report.pdf
A. What are three important points that you took away from the article?
B. Explain how you think schools in your grades (elementary, secondary or college)
should take advantage of BYOD in the classroom. Or explain why they should not take
advantage of BYOD.
C. Explain how your school is (or is not) doing in regard to BYOD at your school.
Cong-Kai Jin
they could not afford the device, access the content, or are experiencing problems
using the device due to low bandwidth in the first place? I think we need to
address the problem of underconnectibility before we could really achieve the
goal of utilizing technology to create equal learning opportunity for all.
I think the best scenario of implementing BYOD is that all students could afford, or
are provided with, their own devices and sufficient bandwidth to access the
information rich Internet. Most important of all, not only should instructors strive to
design the ideal lessons, such that all students could benefit from it by using
various and ever-evolving learning technology, but also to create and sustain the
user-friendly learning environment in which students would not encounter
frustrating experience such as lagging or even broken Internet connection.
3. November, A. (2015). Clearing the Confusion between Technology Rich and Innovative Poor: Six
Questions, http://novemberlearning.com/educational-resources-for-educators/teaching-andlearning-articles/clearing-confusion-technology-rich-innovative-poor-six-questions/
A. Provide a short response with your thoughts on the reading.
B. Think about one of your assignments that you have given to students. Is it Technology
Rich and Innovative Poor? Ask the six questions to yourself. Then provide a brief
explanation of the project and write some thoughts about how you will implement changes
(caused by the consideration of the 6 questions) to improve the assignment, next time you
offer it.
Please have your first response by Wednesday so others can respond to your initial
response. I hope this causes you to think deeper about one of your assignments.
Cong-Kai Jin
Critical-thinking
Inquiry skill
Making thinking visible
Broaden perspective and engage with conversations with authentic
audiences from around the world.
5. Create contribution
6. Showing the best in the world
I cant agree more that thoughtful and honest personal reflection is one of
the most useful things a teacher can do. It happened very often that, even
with the same curriculum, same lesson plans, same student age group with
similar knowledge background, each class will react differently to what they
were taught. It seems to me that at the end of the day, it is up to the
instructors themselves to fine tune the lesson, learning environment,
teaching materials, i.e., the entire teaching/learning context at that specific
timing, to achieve the desirable teaching goals and to maximize the learning
results. I think the only way we as instructors could adapt to this dynamics is
conducting thoughtful and honest reflection, such that the prudent and
deliberated instruction could be given after our own set of critical thinking.
Cong-Kai Jin
4. Rainie, L., Funk, C. & Anderson, M. (2015). There are four connected articles from Pew Research
A. How Scientists Engage the Public. http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/02/15/howscientists-engage-public/
B. Scientists Views: Most Approve of Active Role in Public Debates About Science and
Technology, http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/02/15/scientists-views-most-approve-ofactive-role-in-public-debates-about-science-and-technology/
C. How Scientists Engage, http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/02/15/how-scientists-engage/
D. Appendix: About the AAAS Scientists Survey,
http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/02/15/appendix-about-the-aaas-scientists-survey/
Questions:
a) What are your thoughts on how scientists are using social media & digital
communication tools?
b) What do you think about scientists becoming active in public debate on issues of
science and technology?
c) How does the idea of scientists using social media for engagement on subjects and for
professional development impact the way we teach students to use social media & digital
communication tools? What should we be doing in regard to instruction in social media?
Cong-Kai Jin
science at the same time. And scientists think the science is too hard for the
public to comprehend, and thus they believe the public tends to oversimplify
the scientific findings and this is a major problem for science in general.
Nonetheless, the fact is that American scientists, especially those of younger
age group, are using social media to engage the public and various content,
not only for communication, but also for self-development, on their specialty
or non-specialty areas.
Just as Marshall McLuhan described all mediaare extensions of man. Such
an extension is an intensification, an amplification of an organ, sense or
function, media do not necessarily cause learning, but media do influence
learning, especially with regard to the scale and mode of learning. I believe
media are enabler, amplifier, and multiplier of learning. By utilizing learning
technology, instructors should deliberate ideal approach to facilitate the
interaction between learners and modern media, such that media could
make learning happen faster, easier, deeper, more cost effective, and come
with more significant and deliverable results.
Therefore, it seems to me the bottom line is: we as educators should keep
asking how we could use technology and social media to promote learning,
not only of our students but also of ourselves.
I think most discussions, debates, and arguments on integrating technology
with instruction are focusing on why and how. In this regard, social
media definitely plays a major role in promoting communication and
collaboration not only in their personal business, but also in the instructional
setting. As far as I am concerned, I do not see that scientists are only using
social media to communicate/educate the general public, but that social
media is literally a media between scientists and the general public: social
media helps scientist and the general public to communicate with each
other, to learn from each other, to understand what each other really cares
about. So it is a two-way street. On the other hand, for the instructional
purpose, we as instructor should better deliberate more effective and
efficient methodology why and how we could use technology, including social
media, to assist our instruction from every possible aspect.
5. Seven Ways Games Reward the Brain, by Tom Chatfield
http://www.ted.com/talks/tom_chatfield_7_ways_games_reward_the_brain.html
We are going to TED to watch a presentation by Tom Chatfield. Watch the presentation and read
some of the comments.
A. Discuss three of the seven ways that games reward the brain. Discuss how you can use
these traits to improve learning in the classroom. Think of activities that you can do to
incorporate and how they will improve learning.
Cong-Kai Jin
B. Respond to your peers and try to improve their ideas.
Cong-Kai Jin
collaboration, and this is especially true in the setting of MMORPG. For that, I think
the aforementioned pick of gamification could pretty much fit in the merits of
maximizing 4Cs capabilities of our students.