Reflection #5

I think there are many games that have taught me little things here and there. It may not be advanced literary or mathematics, but as the article talks about, it sometimes is a skill or concept that can be brought into the classroom. One game in particular would be the board game (now also a video game) “Risk”. This game definitely teaches players about management of resources and forces them to think strategically using what they are given.  I think these principles are things that can be carried into learning at school, whether it’s learning history or maybe even mathematics. It gives those who have played some sort of experience to relate to various educational topics.

I think gaming is so popular now in learning and teaching because it is such a popular thing in daily life today. It is easy to bring things from society and culture into the classroom, and is much more relate-able for the students. I think through using gaming, educational topics can be better understood through connections to gaming experiences. Students can engage in games and collaborate with each other through games, then apply their experiences to learning concepts. 

20% Post #4

I have not talked with any experts in my potential audience of teachers or students. However, I have talked with fellow students about my project and received valuable feedback on my topic. One friend of mine, who is also a college student, told me about his personal learning experience with technology, and how using his own technology was an overall benefit to his learning process. Looking at the primary education level, however, is different than looking at the college level when considering the bring your own technology policy. Most students in college will have the ability to afford some type of personal technology for school, considering how much college itself costs. While many primary education students may or may not have that ability. Considering that many schools are public and free, they will contain families of various income levels. So while the policy may be beneficial in college (or private schools) where most students have the means to purchase technology, it may not be in public schools where the financial means of students varies greatly. I think this will be an interesting topic to integrate into my final recommendation on the policy. It really shows that the policy and its effectiveness depend on the school to which it is being applied. The policy cannot have a definite answer or results when applied since school systems across the nation are so diverse in their student population, financial abilities, and methods of learning. This means that when considering BYOT, it really does depend on the individual school or school systems situation. 

20% post #3

I have yet to use any sort of social media to find resources related to my project; however I do think it could be a useful tool to find new ideas and opinions to incorporate into my research. I think that through interaction with others via social media I could potentially obtain a lot of new information and new opinions on my subject that I may not have considered before. Also, seeing other student’s research could be useful to my own research if the topics overlap or relate in some sort of way. I think it will be interesting to use social media and interactions with others to further my research and project development.

                Mainly I have been doing standard research of my topic using online resources. I am still trying to get a good solid foundation of information on the topic and my approach towards presenting the information that I find. I think that reaching out to other sources though such as social media and seeking feedback on my work would definitely be beneficial. Outside advice and views are always good because sometimes you will be notified of flaws or opportunities for your plan that might not have been clear before. I think going forward I will do some research using social media to broaden my scope of information that I am finding and to hopefully gain some useful feedback on my project idea that can help me refine it to best present my findings on bring your own technology. 

Reflection #4: Visual Literacy

In my past learning experience, I would say that visual literacy has played a very limited part. I remember some use of visuals throughout my education, but for the most part I remember traditional learning styles. I wish that my education had made more use of visual learning because I think it would have made for a much more enjoyable and engaging school experience.

I think that visual literacy is something that is important to 21^st century teaching and learning because visuals allow individuals to communicate and receive information in different ways that often, depending on the student, can be more effective and simply more fun for the student and teacher.

It is also important because visuals are a large part of daily life today, from television to the internet, to our smart phones. A huge part of how we experience life is visual. Current education does provide that in certain ways, but I feel that it could be done in a much larger scale with a much larger effect. With modern technology, schools could be equipped with much more than just books with colored pictures, or even projectors and smart boards. Implementing technology that would visually surround students with knowledge would be a very exciting way to engage them in visual literacy.