NMC Horizon Report: 2013 K-12 Edition

The NMC Horizon Report: 2013 K-12 Edition was created by the New Media Consortium, a recognized worldwide community of technology experts in charge of researching the emerging technology to be used in the classroom and their impact on teaching. According to the 2013 report there will be six technologies divided into adoption horizons or timeframes that it will take them to create a change on teaching, learning, creativity and become mainstream. The first horizon assumes a time to adoption of 1 year or less. The second horizon assumes a time of adoption of 2 to 3 years and the last horizon assumes a time of adoption of 4 to 5 years.

Horizon 1 technologies include: cloud computing and mobile learning. Cloud computing is a solution to store information without using any memory space in your devices. It promotes and allows having conferences and collaboration. Mobile learning is done by the use of BYOD and the use of apps to support students learning inside and outside the class. It is common to see that the publishing houses have included sites to interactive learning online. Most schools are in this horizon and they are the basic steps to innovate education.

Horizon 2 includes: Learning Analytics and Open Content. During this horizon there will be an analysis of the behavior of users online to observe the repetitive patterns in order to make predictions on how students spend their time online. With this, we will be able to determine the way to better approach students. Open Content provides open sources to enrich lesson plans and teaching. This allows us to also work collaboratively with people from all around the world. Always seeking for best practices. One of the options that are already online are by having a flipped classroom using the videos posted by other teachers and also creating your own to share.

Horizon 3 includes: 3D Printers and Virtual Remote Laboratories. The first allows students to create and design. It will be very useful for programming, engineering and science models. Currently it is being used in the revolution of prosthetics in medicine. Remote laboratories will give access to make scientific experiments that are not normally done in class because it could be dangerous to students or because of time, lab resources or space restrictions. It also promotes inquiry learning and allows students to work at their own pace.

With these tools, every student will have the opportunity to collaborate, create, and share. As teachers we need to be in constant evolution, embrace the change.

Meeting the needs of the 21st Century Learners

The past century has undergone through many changes, being technology one of the most important. Today, our students are saturated with media, they normally listen to music, record it, take pictures, create internet content, play video games, talk by mobile phone and instant message through out the day. The information comes to them easily, and the amount they receive is overwhelming. According to Dr. William Ranking of the Abilene Christian University, the information you just look up before class may be outdated by the time you take the class. Therefore, if students are capable of getting information at the moment and that it is the latest in any area, why do we continue trying to tech them information that they are supposed to retain?

Throughout history changes in the way students learn have been made and they have been shaped according to the technology to access information. During ancient times, before books were available, students used to learn from their teachers, having a relationship with them. It was common to live together and learn the trait by repetition of the skills being taught by the master. When the book became available, then the information could be read and learned from there. Despite this, it was extremely difficult and time consuming to get the information. Hence, teachers would “feed” the information to students because they were the easiest, fast and reliable source of information. Students would have to memorize what the teacher said, because having the facts and information made you competitive. However, students now have loads of information and do not need teachers to give it to them. Students take seconds to double check what their teacher is saying in class, they will come forward and say things like: “Have you seen this video/ app that shows you what you are talking about and see you can do this… and this…and this”. Clearly they are ready to share, discuss, and learn how to apply what they read. These changes and the new needs of students make us reflect on the role we have as teachers. It is necessary to shift from lecturing in class, to working together with students, collaborate, being a mentor and focus on them practicing.

Some of the options to start changing is by flipping the classroom. Students get the information at home, at their own pace, they research, watch video and read online with the use of apps, Khan Academy,TedEdTalks, ebooks, open content, among others. At school there are personalized discussions, application of the knowledge gained at home, solving problems, discovering, creating and sharing ideas and information. As educators we have a great responsibility on motivating the creativity  and imagination, creation and sharing of our students. So allow students to take control and to really shape their learning experience.

The Puzzle of Motivation

According to the video “The Puzzle of Motivation” by Dan Pink there is a mismatch between what science knows and what education does. Our model of education and business centers on rewards, these however, have not worked in real life because they kill creativity. Therefore, the outcome is poor or it takes too long. People gets used to only doing what they are expected to do, or even less. However, if they are allowed a little more freedom to be engaged on something that is interesting to them, then the productivity grows and new ideas get developed. There are several companies who have already taken the idea and they have found themselves having new ideas and being more productive. This also happens with students. They are used to follow and do what they are expected. But, what if we as teachers allow them to work on something they are interested on, let them research, discover problems and specially find ways out and solutions to them. This would necessarily help students not only be more creative but also more productive, with a higher understanding of something they were interested in to start with. We should move from the grading system we have, because getting a good grade is a reward. We should have students focusing in achieving a goal and learning. It will also likely have to do with something connected to their real life. Teachers should always be concerned about creativity, learning and connections to real issues.

Introduction to Project Based learning PBL

Project Based Learning was not new to me because while teaching at another school in Mexico we had to work through the Project Based Learning and although I only taught science as a special class, it helped me provide the students with a more meaningful and interesting way to learn and apply scientific contents. I like working this way because students are very engaged and see how what we are learning can be applied to everyday life, students learn all throughout the process and from experience, therefore, I like it being hands-on. It also helps bring out students’ strengths when working collaboratively. It is also a very rewarding way for students to learn, since they work on it from beginning to end and are very proud of their work and research when it is finished. Specially because they have to present their work to real audiences. My idea of PBL did not change after watching the video but it was interesting to see how students in that school were focused on aviation. Currently at ASF we are working with PBL in different grade levels, from the Operas and Exhibitions in Elementary to the Green House Project in Middle School and currently in my class we are working with the Energy Project. This project has to do with an island that is going to be researched and the students are hired to make a plan on how to create energy using the islands resources and environment.

Differences between projects and PBL

The differences between PBL and “just doing projects “are numerous. The most significant in my opinion are those that are core to projects. PBL is a student led inquiry where students use open-ended questions to guide their research and apply what they learn in every step. The teacher is a facilitator and a guide but is not who decides what is learned. In PBL assessment is done throughout the process and not only grading the end product commonly assessed through rubrics, which are usually created by the students themselves. The development of diverse skills when doing PBL is great and collaboration along with critical thinking are top of the list contrary to memorizing which happens with regular projects. PBL also allows students to work at their own rhythm and interest contrary to projects where the teachers decides the content and how students will learn. 

NAIS 20/20 Challenge

The National Association of Independent Schools 20/20 Challenge (NAIS 20/20) is an internet  program based on the 20 most important challenges the world faces currently. This program links classes from different parts of the world who are able to link the study and possible solutions of one of the 20 global problems.

I currently teach 8th grade Science which includes Chemistry and Physics. Thinking of the collaboration opportunities with people around the world that face the same problem in different ways I have signed to the program linking the problem of Global Warming with the Energy Unit.

Students will be shown

AQUA advertisment

I decided on using these pictures because it is an easy way to convince people to buy this. During this time of year the temperature has been increasing and everyone is really hot and thirsty. It just seemed an easy article to sell right now.

My target audience is anyone who is thirsty during these hot days, particularly my classmates who have been working under really hot temperatures.

My ad's message is to drink water cooled by aqua during sunny, hot summer days.

My visuals enhance my message's impact showing a dry, hot sunny desert and a cold water jug from where you can quench your thirst. The colors for the letter have a similar impact having yellow for the hot and blue for the cool water.