Just another Sites At Penn State site
Welcome to the Soccer Selector. In this exercise you will be given instruction about the Premier League with the goal of providing you significant knowledge to enable you to pick your NEW Premier League club.
If you experience difficulty in the navigation process feel free to download a copy of the instruction for use offline.
Upon completion please head here to provide feedback on your experience.
Over the last few months I have managed to explorer learning from a new perspective which has altered my views on learning as well as the importance of technology as a educational tool. Below is my revised learning philosophy 2.0.
For me my definition of learning is the understanding and acceptance of knowledge which is achieved via experience or guidance.
For me teaching is the art of providing the information/content to the learner and assisting them as they try to learn. Teachers range from in school person to person, to well informed knowledgeable students. For me I have been experienced to great knowledge from classmates in the past, people who had been employed in an industry then return to school seeking that illusive qualification. These people bring hard focused knowledge that often gets missed in the classroom. On occasion I have witnessed these experienced students guiding and informing the professional teachers who may have little to no knowledge of working within a given industry.
Prior to starting this course, I saw learning as purely teacher and student, however this course gave me the understanding that learning happens in different ways. Whether its learning from your own experiences, or sharing your knowledge with others or even learning from your
Learning for me can happen in a couple of different ways, one experiencing something for the first time. How many times do you have to run your hand over hot water? Once! Believe me! You can also learn from sharing, ask the good Samaritan Joe next door, he told me NEVER run your hand over hot water. I trust Joe, so I do not run my hand over hot water.
Traditionally the teacher should be the educator in learning environments, however with the introduction of technology to classrooms, lecture halls and corporate training facilities the teacher can easily fall into the role of learner. We are seeing the young students of today who are born into a technologically advanced world, and these children are heading to schools brought up using that technology, whereas their teacher maybe still adjusting to the capabilities which are now available at their fingertips. Also with technology slowly being introduced in training areas and homes students can converse with other learners in different parts of the world, and once reunited with their brick and mortar classrooms, they can share that information to their classmates and educators too, and perhaps teaching their teachers something new. Technology is bridging gaps and speeding up the learning process.
As for the student, they should be open to acceptance in the knowledge that is presented to them, whether they find that knowledge on the own, via colleagues or peers or being surrounded by a well-nourished educational environment. With these technological advancements being a student is a more exciting prospect as you have a worldwide encyclopedia of knowledge that is there to be explored, which opens a full spectrum of opportunities for those who take advantage of it.
For me I believe I may have mentioned this is my original learning philosophy and engagement is a huge indicator of learning. If your learner is not engaged in the subject matter the less likely they are to take anything away from it. Conversation plays its part as well, as if you can communicate with them on the topic you can judge whether they have gained anything from the related teachings.
For me technology makes learning a more fun and enjoyable process, compared to my brick and mortar days during my school years. I feel technology can provide me the content I want and give it to me when I want it. I find it easy to get lost down rabbit holes using technology to learn, and in exploring these rabbit holes I tend to learn more than I originally planned. Wikipedia is a prime example of that, with the way one wiki links to another and before you know it you originally explored Isaac Newton and ended up at the McDonald’s Chicken Sandwich. For me I am always trying to stay up to date on various topics, and technology is one of those trends. With the ability to use the social media platforms whether as news providers, or two way/group conversations platforms, I can remain abreast of the changes being made in technology.
I have included a link to my Learning Philosophy 2.0 video, the tools used to create this video are:
In a pre 2020 world digital learning may have a continued uphill struggle however whether our society wanted it or not we have been pushed into a more online environment in the classroom as well as in our personal lives. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced educational establishments into a “sink or swim” situation where they were pushed into moving their learning environments to be completed at home. Despite that movement we have seen classrooms returning to their physical structures however progress has been made. Those archaic philosophies and those who still practice them have been shown the possibilities of online learning, albeit on a limited level. With that intrusion I assume that we have seen a significant push towards a more accepted understanding that online learning has a place within our schools and learning establishments today and should not be disregarded.
One statement in this week’s reading “The Future of Thinking” The familiar is safe, easy, and reliable, which may be true in some aspects but also the familiar is limited and confines learning. Bringing the classroom online does open the possibilities to a vast number of benefits, but it does have its restrictions. With the content that is used in online environments the creator must ensure it not only adheres to local guidelines, however if it is to be accessed to internationally the creator must also understand and follow any country specific policies too such as Article 13 in the United Kingdom. Understanding those polices and restrictions would be a huge deterrent for educational institutions preferring the safe and familiar environments like brick-and-mortar establishments.
I love the internet and the world of opportunity it offers however we also must understand that not all we see or hear is true. Take the Deep Fake phenomenon (see video) which uses state of the art software which can be used by consumers at home and with a splash of creativity can create their own viral FAKE video using the appearance and sound of a recognizable personality. This is a major disadvantage to that of learning and/or being in a psychical situation, as the video you see may not be what you think it is.
One method of acknowledging that the content your viewing is legitimate and not fake news is through the social medias verification process which showcases whether an account can be classed as the “Real deal”. All the major players (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok) have their own symbols which users can have applied to their accounts which increases the credibility of their content. We need more identify and authority within the unlimited realm of the internet as these verification symbols are just a small step in the right direction.
One of my major takeaways from this course and digital learning are the vulnerabilities that are visible for young students especially in open platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Instagram and more. Security should be at the forefront of all advancements in online learning, with restrictions limiting users to only the content they need. Perhaps a digital sandbox or customized web browsers which limit the users reach in the digital world should be implemented by online learning facilities.
With computer games typically there is not much social interaction if focusing on single player video game content. However most games these days are hosted online with digital interaction with other users a common feature. What I found with my experience with Pokémon Go is a feature that is hard to replicate with other standard video games and that is working together in a team setting to achieve a common goal. Within Pokémon Go (and I am no Pokémon buff far from it) there are your standard Pokémon (pocket critters) which you aim to catch on your own time, however within the realm of Pokémon Go there are your bigger more prized Pokémon that can only be achieved via Raids. The raids take place at designated times and you have a permitted time to catch them. The raids vary in strength from 1 to 5 stars. The raids that are ranged between one and two can usually be completed by a solo player, however when you start to compete for the higher more esteemed Pokémon raids (level 3 and beyond) you need help. If you know someone who plays the Augmented reality game already then that is half the battle, if not, you must enter the brave old physical world and make some ACTUAL connections.
Video gaming is a fantastic place sometimes, where connections can be made even without your knowledge, however I worry about people of today forgetting about the real world outside, and about the skills of social interaction. It’s an issue which is common today, people who spend TOO much time online, however when they are (on occasion) forced to go out in the REAL world, their confidence can often be lost. Communicating via a headset or text is easy, but when thrust into a world surrounded by people some people may find their anxiety levels unbearable. What I noticed with Pokémon specifically in my early days, if you really want to CATCH THEM ALL you need to be confident in your own being. You need to be personable, approachable and kind. In its infancy Pokémon Go was very community centric I recall the makers of the game releasing some UBER RARE Pokémon which could only be caught via Raids. These raids required at best over 5 or 6 users to get close to catching it. If you didn’t already have a small community of you own naturally, you could reach out and try to establish or join an existing one.
I recall a raid that took place over at a local Park (Shout out to all Tudek Park visitors… yeah you!) and my wife and I noticed a small gathering of people who were chatting amongst themselves, those people were congregating where our raid was supposed to be. My wife, who can be shy was unwilling to speak out and ask them if they were participating in the raid, so I plucked up my courage and bolding asked them, and low and behold they were. Our chances of now scoring a major Pokémon had now vastly improved as instead of two weakling Pokémon Trainers focused on catching the behemoth of a pocket critter we now had 8 Pokémon Trainers. After the success of that Pokémon raid, one of the fellow trainers (for this example we shall call them Monster Chew) asked if we were heading to the other raid further up the park? And thus we (the wife and I) became the latest members of Monster Chews Pokémon Gang, in which we were at her disposal should any relevant Pokémon Raid come up in the near future.
In place of those brief encounters which can blossom into established relationships, the tech savvy Pokémon Trainers also used other established technologies to gather interest in raids throughout the local area. Such tools as local Facebook Groups and area Discord Channel’s have been prevalent ways of communicating openly with fleeting members of the Pokémon Go community. My main experiences with Pokémon Go predominately reside in a pre COVID timeline, however I have since returned to the Poke World this year and have noticed some tweaks and changes which have also broadened the game play experience. With the social distancing rules in place, there has been a huge focus on adding in remote raids to help with the spread of Corona virus, this new function is similar to that of standard physical raids, however with the invite of one of you existing Pokémon go friends you can participate remotely in raids around the world. Of course these remote raids remove the skill of in person communication, but the principle of teamwork still remains.
I never grew up with Pokémon, I was just immersed in a workplace with people that did. Even my kids who were brought up with the Gameboy and Nintendo DS versions of the game they could not convince me into playing the game. I recall a time at the dinner table and my son and daughter were talking about “Ruby” version of the game (or diamond…. I don’t know) and once they got into full flux, it was like I was sat at dinning table in a foreign country, I had no idea what they were talking about. It reminded me of this short film:
Another feature you see with Pokémon especially Pre COVID 19 was Pokémon events. These events take place all over the world, Japan hosted one not too long ago, there was another in London a few years back, however the wife, a couple of in-laws and I took part in a Pokémon event that took place in Philadelphia. Before I get lost in the discussion, not the biggest fan of cities, and with this event the city was mobbed. Despite the setting of a hustle and tussle metropolis the community was a friendly relaxing one, what I found interesting about this event was not only the Pokémon infused networking possibilities but the information I and all the other Pokémon Go Trainers were getting about the history and the present of Philadelphia.
If you unfamiliar Pokémon Go in order to catch the stinkers, you need Pokémon Balls which you can get for free via PokéStops. PokéStops are located all over the place, mainly of local places of interest. What happens when you click on a PokéStop you can get small bits of information regarding the PokéStop (see video) and when your surrounded by history like we were in Philadelphia the number of informational nuggets we picked up was amazing.
Not only does Pokémon Go get you off your backside and out the house, it encourages to connect with people in the now and when working as a team with informational footnotes scattered around you can achieve the Goal amongst Goals in the Pokémon Go community, and that is CATCHING THEM ALL! Finally, small guilt free plug, if you are Pokémon Go Trainers or thinking about becoming one hit me up as a friend. My code is down below, and maybe just maybe we can catch that allusive Mewtoo in the future.
Pokémon Go Friend Code – 6033 4411 4969
My initial take on participatory culture in the workplace as well as in the classroom is mostly positive but as with a number of the high profile platforms there is always an opportunity to receive critical if not inappropriate feedback which can damage the creator especially if they are new to the environment. However, when conducted in small private groups which could be administered by an authoritative individual who could control negative/critical comments I envisage an opportunity to see learning take shape with instructive feedback amongst the users.
I enjoyed the readings within this weeks assignment and a few takeaways that got me thinking. One of the first elements that I noted was this statement mentioned in Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture (pp. 3–11, Jenkins).
The media landscape will be reshaped by the bottom-up energy of media created by amateurs and hobbyists as a matter of course.This bottom up energy will generate enormous creativity, but it will also tear apart some of the categories that organize the lives and work of media makers…A new generation of media-makers and viewers are emerging which could lead to a sea change in how media is made and consumed. (p. 3)
I was gob smacked at how accurate this point is, as a media student in my earlier years I did realize things where changing in regard to “making movies” but it was still out of reach to the vast majority of us. However now, with the evolution of online technologies ANYONE and EVERYONE is making content. It has become so affordable to make your own content, in fact most of us have enough tools in our pockets to get started. Before the dawn of video platforms such as YouTube, Daily Motion and Vimeo enabling others outside your social circle to view your creation was difficult, getting picked up by a distributor near on impossible. Now you do not need that, its free to post, share and experience life as a filmmaker. The lucky ones get paid in the process, and some may even make a career out of it.
Young creators such as the Paul brothers (Logan and whatever his name is) are redefining media as we speak, with their online content being gobbled up by the millions on Youtube, they are transitioning to main stream TV by taking their popularity with them by hosting sporting content that is broadcast stations such as DAZN and Sky Sports Box Office in the United Kingdom. TV companies will no longer exist if they do not evolve with the times, which is why we have seen a mass influx of cheaply produced reality taking over our screens in the place of more expensive studio/scripted content. TV companies need content they can churn out fast to keep pace with the viral machines on YouTube and Facebook. With YouTube personalities and highly produced content that is free to air it will cause a dramatic shift in what content is begin created, and TV companies are trying to fend off attacks from all angles as the dawn of streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Video are also competition for attention. These days as a consumer of TV time I do not have enough hours in the day to watch the shows I want to watch as we are swarmed with content. In fact, I have a backlog of shows from 10 years or more that I need to dedicate some time too.
Meanwhile, in the same text Jenkins mentions eleven skills that are core to the adoption of participatory culture and they are:
Each one of the aforementioned skills adds an element in the learning and creative process. One fascinating platform that is a prime example of implementing this skillset is Scratch. The idea of Scratch is fantastic immersing young people to the world of creation and coding at a basic level. The platform gives the user the spectrum to explore their imagination to create whatever they like, share it, and receive feedback from the fellow users. Another added feature is the possibility for others to REWORK your work, putting their own variation to it. As amazed as I was/am by the platform unfortunately I didn’t have enough time to construct my own creation, but its definitely an tool I will explore in the future.
What I liked about my quick impression with Scratch was the positive enforced feedback options, enabling the viewer a couple of options to showcase their feelings towards the project.
When you compare Scratch to other digital social media platforms the feedback options are more open, which enables the creator to receive feedback both positive and negative. I feel removing the ease for negative thumbs downs or angry emojis can maintain the positivity for Scratch creators which is vital when your core case is a younger more fragile generation. When you compare those options to other sites (see picture) you can see some of the bigger fish such as Facebook and YouTube still give the view/commenter the opportunity to use a negative emoji as part of their initial feedback, whereas all major social media platforms offer a comments section which could be a rats nests of opinions, good bad and ugly.
Before I leave I wanted to showcase an excellent community https://hitrecord.org/ which brings creative minds together to create online content whether its videos, short films, books etc. This community was setup by well know actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt and creates a cloud based community who can contribute to the creation of content. This platform offers aspiring content creators to band together digitally to create art via the cloud eliminating boundaries such as distance and time. Another prime example such as Scratch instead of focusing on coding and programming but more inline with digital content such as video, music and text.
In summary participatory culture can be the breeding ground for knowledge and success when initiated in the right environment, however when let loose publicly there is far more room for critical and harsh criticism which the original creators may not adjust too. As behind each comment, like, thumbs up, thumbs down are users/viewers who feel empowered to say WHATEVER they choose which can in the positive sense lead to further creation, but also those keyboard warriors can also spread hurt and harm which can knock the creativity out of our fragile young users. As with all technology especially when exposed to the world, we need to tread carefully.
Wikipedia has been a forever constant in my web search history whether I am wiki-ING a potential holiday destination, the latest TV trend or curious to know when the Buffalo Bills last won the super bowl (never in case your curious). It never really dawned upon me as to who was behind the wikis until only a few years ago. I did understand that ANYONE could edit a wiki but who was behind the scenes working to approve the content.
I am so fond of wiki and the knowledge it brings to me I have even download a rather quirky yet niche app. Check out a small soundbite from the app in action.
It creates noise tones for every single edit made on Wikipedia, small blips for minor changes, bigger clangs for major edits. Quite relaxing on occasions. For anyone interested in downloading the app here are some links below:
As I explored Wikipedia further, I noticed on average around 1.9 changes were made per second to the in excess of 6.1 million (English) articles. I was fascinated to realize that in its entirety Wikipedia included over 5.6 terabytes of data, and I once recalled an offline device that gave you access to Wikipedia dubbed the WikiReader.
A quick google shows that Steven Pruitt who is one of the 120,000 active Wiki Editors and is a key member of the Wiki gatekeeping police with his contribution to over 3 million edits and 35,000 articles created to the online encyclopedia.
Small wikis such as RISC OS and Scholarpedia would be easy to administer as the changes would be minimal and possibly only have one administrator delegated to approve any said changes.
When you start to explore larger wikis such as Wookieepedia and WoWWiki I think the changes will be much slower due to the content being altered and the possibility of many administrators who oversee the content.
As a small experiment I decided to try and edit a Wikipedia article to see if:
1. What is the editing process?
2. Will it get approved?
3. How long does the process take?
So I decided to try and edit a profile page for a soccer/football player Barry Douglas as he was about to switch teams to my team. I wanted to be the person who made that reflective change on his profile. I started the editing process around 2:39pm on Thursday 15th October, however I wanted to await the official confirmed news that the move from one club to the other had taken place so my change would be valid.
One major difficulty I experienced was the formatting process as traditional Wikipedia does have a quite difficult (especially for me) style guide to adhere too in order to get your article accepted.
One of the major caveats of Wikipedia is the freedom it offers to readers and prospering writers and editors. But this freedom can also be a negative. If you are working on an educational project in all honesty, I feel Wikipedia with all best intentions should be a resource that you can rely upon, however the ease to edit any/if not all articles are far too easy. Even in my small experiment where I edited an article with all good intentions the information, I provided was not 100% accurate and there were some minor errors, whether it was grammatical or style related. Regardless of these errors, my changes were visible for the viewing public for at least 5 hours. So, let’s say in those 5 hours my changes were read by someone looking to verify some data, Wikipedia would have listed false information. Ultimately my changes were revised by senior editors and altered to reflect correct styles, grammar and dates.
Meanwhile when you explore some of the branches of Wikipedia such as the example listed in the LDT 467 syllabus Minecraft Wiki the editing process is much more difficult, with added levels of security and protection.
With this added protection the level of reliability increases as it appears that you must have some level of authority in order to add/edit pages within this Wiki. I would be more willing to use a resource such as this due to the strict procedures in place removing the vulnerability seen in Wikipedia as a whole where any man, woman and child can edit to the hearts content.
The collaborative workings that go behind the scenes at Wikipedia is a key reason to its success, as it brings together a collection of similar enthusiastic minds who are passionate about the project. I feel that the easy process to get involved adds to that success also, as there are limited hurdles required for ANYONE to edit which would make the new editors feel welcome, which in turn will add more brains to the party. Whether those new editors stick around for the long haul that’s another situation to explore.
Earlier this week I caught up with Librarian Melissa Lanigan who gave me her insight into Web 2.0 tools and social media in the classroom. She discussed her role as a librarian and how she uses technology on a daily basis as well as how she and her fellow educators adapted to the drastic abrupt change of the classroom in the midst of a global pandemic.
Perhaps if I would revisit this podcast I would like to have a second guest who could offer an different perhaps global point of view of life in the classroom as well as access to digital tools. As for me as I have visited various corners of the globe, you do stumble across different strategies and techniques that may have been overlooked.
Melissa highlighted a variety of key points which I valued due to her professional point of view. Seeing as I am looking at digital tools outside of the classroom, Melissa is fully invested in this topic so her input can be treated with added respect as she has invested time in her chosen tools.
Her segment about the pandemic was also interesting, as some schools such as State College may be more prepared for the transition to the digital world, whereas her school had some difficulty in switching to the online demands.
In conclusion I enjoyed my chat with Melissa she showcased the demands of keeping up with change in Web 2.0 tools and social media in the classroom, and found her experiences enlightening and I would not hesitate to reach out to her again for further input.
Back in the day my parents were predominately skeptical about how much TV I watched with specific attention as to what I was watching. Parents and responsible adults these days have a bigger issue on their hands as MEDIA is accessible everywhere. On your TV, laptop, desktop, tablet and even in your pocket. Media is distributed in short form TV segments, long form movies, computer games, social media posts, its everywhere with no place to hide. Another huge factor in the times we live in, is the fact that anyone can be heard as it is so cheap to produce your own content. Whether its semi professional setup sat in front of a green screen, or a simple vlog post walking down the street recording on your cell phone, if you have a phone and connection to the world wide web, you a giant step closer to broadcasting to the world.
Having read through Critical Media Literacy: Research, Theory, and Practice – Alverman & Hagood (2000) one element that resonated with me was using “pleasure” in the classroom. If we can connect contexts from pop culture, movies, music and video games and spin them into teaching aids for the classroom I believe the students of today can relate to the content being taught. However, finding popular culture references in teaching tolls that pleases all within the classroom could prove to be a difficult task, take such a simple selection as Pepsi vs Coca-Cola half the students prefer red coke, with the others opting for blue. You can never please them all. So in saying that “pleasure” in the classroom would be an ideal solution as an onlooker such as myself, but as an educator if you kept popular culture outside the learning environment and stuck with traditional teaching content everyone starts with the same interest level. I too find that the mode of address is vital in order to connect with students. If the text is delivered in a vibrant and positive manner it is more generously received by the viewer/student. Combining a positive and vibrant projection of some pop culture themed instructional materials in my eyes would have a lasting impression that a dull and depressed projection of a chalkboard or formulas.
As I was reading some of the articles listed for this week I stumbled on Students have dismaying inability to tell “fake” news from real and was actually stunned at how easily swayed the younger generation can be. In all honesty we can all be hoodwinked with the methods and practices some people go in spreading “fake news”. This article in conjunction with Google frames how we see the world about hackers hacking the Google algorithm got me thinking about a digital internet license. Similar to that of a driving license, an internet passport perhaps which all users must obtain in order to post content online. I understand that this is something that is near on impossible to achieve but it would irradiate some much of the issues in the world. On UK social media for example, week in and week out Twitter users are being banned, arrested and even jailed for homophobic and racial slurs that they make on their platform. But those guilty parties are just a small minority of the offenders that get caught, the number that get away with their hatred is mind boggling. When you add into submitting content that is considered “fake news” into the World Wide Web that is another area that has been abused and it all has a terrible domino effect into society. A license or a way to officiate content that’s being submitted needs to be introduced. YouTube does have its own auto computer generated content supervisor which digitally scans content for offensive words, overuse of curse words etc., and it also relies on the honesty of the uploader (see video below) to verify the contents of any video that is uploaded.
Due to the freedom the internet brings us, an army of digital video police still could not monitor the content that is being uploaded daily. And I am sure a digital passport and an internet license would some how go against free speech or some ethical laws, but it will at least provide some restrictions which can prohibit the upload and posting of hateful and uncredited content. The internet and its wicked ways is one battle, but even mainstream over the air content is just as twisted. As a recently anointed US citizen having moved from the UK to the snowcapped wonder that is Pennsylvania back in 2010 it was not long until I realized that the news was broadcast differently on alternate TV stations. I even dabbled working in a news station in Altoona and saw the inner workings firsthand. Certain TV stations favor certain political agendas, and this has been happening for years. Certain news articles are spun in different ways in order to strengthen their own agenda, I found this crazy, and even a little deceitful. With the news companies supported by bigger entertainment industries behind the scenes I am sure this sort of swing politically goes beyond the news desk and into the movie theaters and living rooms. Its not until you start looking at things from a different unbiased perspective you realize how corrupt the media can be.
In the video clip How the news distorts our worldview it also showcases how much ACTUAL news we are being informed about. The global image of the amount of news from around the world that was shown to US residents was shocking. As a self-proclaimed man of the world, I have not been brought up in this environment, and maybe due to the itchy pants syndrome I have had all my life relocating every 2 to 3 years, I still like to know what’s happening elsewhere and not just on my doorstop. I too as an ex news producer can relate to what news is being broadcast. Fundamentally it’s a ratings war. Tragedy and drama sell, it gets bums on seats and If the news is not local it had to be groundbreaking. Over in the United Kingdom, we had a more diverse spread of news, traditionally the BBC lead with British based news branching out to major European affairs if it affected them in some regard. As for other areas of the world, if they were not covered in the prime time news slots, they major global topics were covered on BBC world news which predominately ran in the early hours of the morning or via its own independent station on satellite/cable television. But at its core the news has the same vibe, ratings are top priority, and what does the viewer want the most? To be kept up to date with stories that affect them, major entertainment news or outright disaster stories.
However, taking a different look at this video, you also need to understand how BIG a county the United States of America is. It may not have the population sizes of China or India but its situation in the global market is at the forefront. Again, as a newbie to the USA, I always felt that England and Europe combined had the same span as to that of the United States of America. The local news here stateside would be compared to the national news in England, whereas I foresee the national news in USA as like that of European news coverage back in Great Britain. Even this lighthearted video about some Americans trying to name a county on a map has its underlying concerns (except of course the showoff at the end).
I started to read and explore the other articles for this week’s blog post, and when reading Languages are dying, but is the internet to blame? It did get me thinking about the amount of badly written posts (mine included) from a decent sized portion of the users on Twitter and Facebook. I am not talking about the legitimacy of their posts that is of course a deeper rabbit hole to explore, but the grammar and punctuation of their written texts. I must goggle some words and abbreviations to see what they mean, and I consider myself “down with the kids”, but to honest, the grammar and wordings used in tweets, Facebook and Instagram posts have already bypassed me. It goes to show how quickly a language can alter, and at this rate with the amount of abbreviated gibberish I see online I wonder how frequent that gibberish enters the classroom.
Of the videos that were assigned this week, the one that hit home the most was Games and Education Scholar James Paul Gee on Video Games, Learning, and Literacy. I have been brought up in the gaming generation without really embracing it. My life is far too hectic to have any time to explore the wonderous worlds, communities and challenges in some of the epic games available today. In gaming I never truly witnessed the full learning possibilities available even on the basic level until last week. Don’t get me wrong I love gaming, however I was of the ilk that it had more negatives to positives especially in regards to education.
One game I have been brought up on, was first released in 1992 and it was called Championship Manager. This was a football (soccer) management simulator. Putting the user in the hotseat to make all the big decisions required in a football team, from team selection, tactics, training, disciple etc. Boring right? Not for me. I love it. Still do. Since the early 1990’s that game has evolved so much, as it has continued to be released annually with updated databases and new in depth features. For context the game was rebranded during the early 00’s to Football Manager. This game has evolved so much even the professional footballing world has taken notice. Due to the size the game has reached with an ever increasing database of players and clubs that get added each season. The makers of the game have a huge community of volunteers who “scout” their local team and submit the data in order to maintain a current and updated database.
The professional footballing teams have often been sited as using the data within the game as a starting point for their actual professional scouts. This game as an example not only teaches you about football management, but incorporates other skills such as geography, basic mathematics not to mention the whole puzzle that is tactics. In conjunction with the game itself there is also an online community of forums, websites, Facebook groups and more to surround the player with a niche network that can offer insight, tips and tricks and also to showcase your own personal story of how you lead your club to the top. This is just a short example of what skills that are available to the user in regards to learning. However if you are like me and took a hiatus of 10 years between editions, when you do decide to return to a franchise such as this you have to endure a huge learning curve to regain any regularity you may have had with the game as so many features, tweaks and changes will have happened over that decade.
Gaming as an educational tool has endless possibilities, from simple puzzle scenarios to the more in depth epic challenges games such as the real time strategy Civilization series has to offer. For me it has the possibilities to provide an entertaining option for the learner as long as we can police it to ensure students stay on track whilst showing progression and development without getting sidetracked down a rabbit hole.
Also as I read through Connected Learning (pp. 4–12) (Ito et al., 2011) I could relate to the example of Clarissa the 17 years old aspiring writer. I had mentioned in a response to a blog post earlier in the semester about my struggles with Mathematics during my school days. It was not until we were given the option to find the subject matter for our own mathematics project, I for obvious reasons chose football (soccer). Instantly the math problems seem exciting. I was working out average goals per games, how many assists each team got in the month of March compared to the warmer month of September. Everything seemed interesting to me and I was excited to find out. Deep down I was doing bog standard calculations, working out averages, but with the subject matter of soccer giving it a new lease of life.
With all, it must be a difficult quest proposing the idea of connected learning as we are all so different. We all have different tastes. If I was to be thrust into Clarissa’s world of writing in among Faraway Lands, I would have given up a long time ago. With the roles reversed dumping Clarissa into a world of soccer, goals and world cups she would have hit the highroad too. As an outsider to education I am not sure how we can you generate an environment that suits everyone.
As we wade through the digital age teachers can often get left behind. As connected devices and the services that come with them become more affordable, children are getting connected at a younger age. If we take the past 10 years of digital change into account, a 15-year-old student would more likely be comfortable in and around technology when compared to a 50 year old teacher who has reluctantly adopted digital technologies into their classroom. However fast forward 30 years and the new evolved role of a teacher if prepared to accept technology as a teaching tool from the offset would be more likely to be on par with that of a student who too was brought up on a world of technology. The teacher must not only accept the digital trends of today as tools, but also keep ahead of change, which in turn makes them a learner too. Even the technology showcased in the videos assigned has already been superseded by new groundbreaking advances today. Fortunately for us the consumer as well as schools and organizations, as the technology hubs such as Microsoft, Google and Tesla kick forward with breathtaking technology change, we can slowly consume the affordable scraps they were playing around with 10 years ago. Look at the slow introduction to 3D printers in the school system, some regions see this as a huge step forward (and for some it is), whereas other school have had access to that technology for a few years.
After reading the two texts A New Culture of Learning (Thomas & Seely Brown, 2011) and Connectivism (Siemens, 2004) and watching the video Rethinking Learning: The 21st Century Learner by MacArthur Foundation 5 major themes resonated with me regarding the requirements of new learning environments.
Those themes are:
Environment: One of the basic requirements for new learning is the environment its conducted in. That environment must allow for creative freedom yet provide a safe structured surrounding such as the classroom. With a combination of digital learning and the rules and regulations provided by schools, learning establishments and corporate environments, the learner can explore using the unlimited resources whilst being instructed by the teacher.
As a non-teaching professional, my interpretation of the modern classroom in a typical westernized school has a teacher leading its students at the head of the class. However with the video Rethinking Learning: The 21st Century Learner by MacArthur Foundation you realize that those classrooms are changing not only creating new digitally focused schools which incorporates digital media at its core, but also our current brick and mortar schools adapting to the change by providing new age technologies in the classroom on a reoccurring basis whilst still providing the traditional learning techniques we are accustomed too.
These environments may give the foundations for the student to kick start their education adventure, but this environment can only do so much, which leads to the movement to incorporate similar traits when the student returns home. Fortunately for most, we can still be connected to those unlimited resources at home, whilst including the additional fun elements such as the educational side of gaming. As an occasional “gamer” myself I never thought about the learning potential encompassed within the digital games today.
Perhaps I have approached the subject more as an adult and not experienced it as a child. The lessons children learned from today’s games are impressive, even when just scratching the surface. Games such as the Civilization series teach the user a vast variety of different skills such as resource management, economics, geography and more. PC and console games come in all types of flavors and despite some of their adult content, they all can help the user learn. The Call of Duty franchise for example can provide the player a brief history of World War 2 but still be to offensive for a child, but on its own merit still have educational values.
On the other end of the spectrum we have Minecraft, a game I have yet to explore, but one with unlimited learning potential. User can build anything and everything within the gaming sandbox. I have seen via YouTube videos some amazing creations created by some young individuals that have me perplexed as to how they made it. Some of these games, even on mobile devices, the only way to succeed or to move on to the next level is via collaboration. One game I am fumbling around with today is Pokémon Go. The game itself is a revolution using augmented reality at its core and has continued to evolve since its initial release but its main goal as with all Pokémon related content… you gotta catch them all! However, some Pokémon you can only catch via raids, with some of these raids require a team of 3 or more to successfully defeat. Its not possible to catch them all unless you work together. Trying to do that in a big city might be an easier, but what about the Pokémon Go players in smaller communities like me in State College. How can I find a small group or team of people to help catch that level 5 Pokémon that I need to complete the set? For me the answer was a combination of network and interaction. I initially joined a local Facebook group that discussed all things Pokémon Go. It would mention sittings, spawn spots, raid locations etc. This was a stroke of genius, but it could also be outdated by the time I read the post. Pokémon Go is all about the now. The critters could only be on location for a short moment in time. The next step was to join a local Discord group. This group would provide news, sittings, raid spots etc all in the now. You can see who was heading to XYZ raid on campus and if it was worth the trip. This had made the game more enjoyable as not only were we making progress in the game, but we were also creating a community that we spoke with online and in person on a subject matter we were all passionate about.
Network: Being connected to the vast information hub such as the internet provides us with an unlimited resource network which continues to grow. According to the latest statistics in January 2020 there were in excess of 4,4 billion internet users globally with the average user being connected to the web for over 6 hours and 43 minutes per day. Meanwhile as the amount of time we spend connected the internet continues to grow, more and more information is being placed online with over 500,000 websites created every 24 hours. One amazing facet of the web is navigating issues, problems and situations that we are unfamiliar with. I have stumbled across countless technical issues, problems with my household pets, travel related dilemmas that I cannot figure out, but fortunately for ALL of us the web is littered with answers. Most of any questions which have you stumped can be answered via community driven forums, however there are also question and answer related websites such as Quora.com, StackExchange.com and Answers.com. These websites pop up regularly when I try to “google” (see included search bar below) something that has me perplexed. I merely see the internet as an endless information resource but its much more than that. In its basic form the internet is a vast network of computers that are connected enabling the transmission of information. However, on this vast network you are also connected with additional information resources such as you and I. The internet enables users not only to access stored data, but to connect and communicate with people all over the world. With access to this endless resource of knowledge it opens infinite possibilities for learning in the classroom as well as continuation of learning at the home.
Interaction: In Sam’s Story we got to meet Sam a young eager coder in the making. The youngster was introduced to Scratch a free programming language which comes with its own online community. Sam throws everything he’s got into the platform and creates his first program. After completing the program Sam submits it for revision to the wide-open voice of Scratch’s online presence. That voice can provide insight, advice, tips and tricks whereas also providing praise and complements. The way in which people can interact with online platforms such as Scratch, Instagram, YouTube and more fascinates me. Learning from people “in the know”. As I try to relate to Sam’s situation, I recall a time towards the end of 2019 when our garbage disposal broke. My initial response was “lets get someone in to fix it”, however as a penny pinching (also known as TIGHT) individual, once I realized the cost of “getting someone in to fix it” I decided, “perhaps we can do fix it”. I am not the savviest when it comes to home improvements, but after “googling my error” I found a through yet easy to understand guide to changing your garbage disposal. This video not only provided a step-by-step process as to how to change a garbage disposal, but it shown how to change MY MODEL of garbage disposal. Adding to that, any comments, advice or pointers I requested via the videos comment section were fortunately answered promptly. It was like having my very own handyman on call. Not all situations present themselves like this, as I have had many questions to other issues go unanswered. The two-way interaction available today for all communities is amazing, we may not all be masters of any given subject, but we have the ability to connect with them. One additional web 2.0 technology I have noticed rearing its head recently is interactive TV shows (see video). I noticed a couple of shows on Netflix, one was the interactive movie called Bandersnatch which gives the viewer multiple options throughout the story using the remote control at home. I also noticed a more suitable and enjoyable TV show with my old mucker (I wish) Bear Grylls. Again, like that of Bandersnatch, we are given a “choose your own adventure” style option throughout the show with each outcome giving different results. One outcome leads to safety, the other could lead to tragedy. Despite both examples mentioned here were prerecorded years ago, it still gives the viewer the chance to decide their own outcome.
Imagination: Another key requirement in creating new learning environments is the imagination of the student, the teacher and all that are involved in the learning process. Keeping an all options on the table approach to teaching provides unlimited learning experiences. I know firsthand doing similar mundane tasks on a weekly if not daily basis. Life becomes dull fast especially when stuck in a repetitive cycle. Same must be felt in the classroom, not just for the student but also for the teacher. If every day was different to the last, surely that would breed excitement for all of those involved. The teacher needs to provide their own imagination to the learning environment they are the ones leading the children through their educational adventure. Fortunately, teachers are exploring their imaginative side, introducing new methods such as gaming (for your leisure purposes I have embedded a fun game below), flipping the classroom and holding class outside of the classroom. Field trips themselves open a world of questions to students, introducing them to an environment they are unfamiliar with, but yet curious to know more. I recall as a student who was lucky to go on a couple of field trips the pure excitement you got for doing something different and the joys of not being in the classroom. Imagine a school that everyday was different, nothing is regular or normal, each day would feel like a new experience. Of course, schools have deeper issues such as bullying and personal matters that can intertwine with a student’s education, however making the learning environment a joy to be in would create a positive platform for us all to build on.
Play free games at Kongregate
Community: As we traversed through the stories represented in A New Culture of Learning (Thomas & Seely Brown, 2011) we are introduced to Tom who at 41 was diagnosed with diabetes. Tom made regular visits to his doctor to try and learn about his new condition, with the medical practitioner providing adequate information but not filling the questions Tom desired most. Fortunately for Tom he found the answers and more to his questions via an online community focused on living with diabetes. Communities such as this exist in all shapes and sizes and throughout the lockdown, I too have found a community which has helped with dealing with a personal problem here at home. Weight loss! Throughout the COVID19 pandemic I and my wife, began a quest to shed unwanted weight via a low carb approach. However, we soon found the meals and methods we were familiar with very restricted. However, we were pleasantly surprised about the online community we stumbled upon via multiple Facebook groups. These groups provided us recipes, hacks, cooking techniques the works. Fast forward 4 months and the weight has dropped off. The communities available to us these days are endless. If you are trying to find the next best method to give your dog dreadlocks… guess what? There is a community for that. Well, in all honesty there might not be a dread locking dog community, but if there is a subject matter that is missing its community you could be the one to start it. I have learned so much about carbohydrates, weight loss and cooking these past 6 months that I have my previous 40 years.
These 5 core components of a new learning environment are often intertwined with each other, and may not even exist without each other. Of course there are other elements that can make up a new learning environment such as culture, positivity and flexibility, however these basic foundations resonate with me in order for providing the core structure for learning to blossom.