Case 2

Ubiquitous access has many benefits to students in every age group, some of which being new mediums and platforms, problem solving, self exploration, and technology knowledge. By having ubiquitous access, students can use online platforms geared towards learning such as Kahoot, Khan Academy and Duolingo. They can also explore the internet and learn important modern skills to sort through the vast internet world to find sites with pertinent and credible information. Finding credible sources takes time to learn how to do especially on the internet. Lastly, by finding the information on their own by using ubiquitous access, they can find accurate information, or perhaps even more information than the teacher knew, because in the modern classroom things are constantly changing and new information is being spread more and more. Some of the challenges to ubiquitous access, as Ms.Tucker was concerned about, was that students would be finding inappropriate methods or inappropriate material on their explorations, as well as it taking up a long time in class. It is true that without proper proxy guards or without some teacher supervision, the students may find themselves getting lost in the internet's vast amounts of biased or misinformation sources. Having ubiquitous access may take up more time in class at first because students will be new to it, and things like staying on task, search methods, and credible source finding will need some time to develop. 

Ubiquitous access has opened the door for not only more effective teaching but also new styles and methods of teaching. By allowing students to almost guide their own search they are creating their own research methods, sources and are in charge of their own learning to some degree. Students being allowed more freedom, allows for more creativity through ubiquitous access because most times students will find more information than they were looking for, allowing them to learn more and then use that new information for themselves. 

I would advise Ms.Tucker to consider using simple and strictly education based sites for her classroom as she seems completely against the idea of students having ubiquitous access. I would suggest Kahoot.com which is a very creative site that allows students to participate in classroom question games proctored or set up by the teacher. The questions are all created by the teacher and it is set up in a multiple choice fashion, but as it is online they will be building technology skills, as well as being able to communicate more within the classroom as before it seemed that her classroom was lacking in this aspect, as the only information being given was if they raised their hand. The shy students of the class would greatly benefit from this game then because it allows them to share their answers and be wrong while still learning and being anonymous to the classroom around them, taking off the pressure of raising their hand. 

Case 1

Case 1

The 21st Century Skills are not only useful but necessary in modern classrooms for both student and teacher success. Another component of a successful classroom is utilization of the ISTE Standards which ensure that not only teachers have more modern standards and goals to be set upon, but also students. One of the most interesting of these is the 4th standard for students, The Innovative Designer. This standard not only correlates directly to the 21st Century Skills, but also allows more insight into how teachers can use technology and new methods to increase understanding and problem solving skills.

The fourth standard focuses primarily on using a variety of technologies to help students cultivate not only their problem solving skills, but also creativity, and manage both their ideas and methods. This most closely reminds me of 2 of the 4 C’s, Creativity and Critical Thinking. This standard helps guide teachers to fulfill these two C’s by not only giving students access to new platforms and technologies, but also encouraging them to be creative and imaginative through these processes. It also emphasizes the use of a deliberate method to manage a process as well as finding new ways to solve problems, which applies directly to Critical Thinking. 

A teacher will need certain attributes in order to successfully achieve this standard for their students in the classroom. Some of these characteristics are patience, creativity, and adaptation. In order to effectively guide a student through a new technology or process, patience is required, as in the standards it emphasizes that the student be able to develop and test new ideas or methods, meaning the teacher must be able to offer continuous good instruction through the trials and different ways. Creativity on the teachers part in order to not only operate and instruct upon these platforms, but also to influence the students creativity with new and engaging assignments and instruction. In order to instruct students on the new platforms and work to engage them through new personalized instruction if needed, a teacher must also be able to adapt. A teacher I had in high school, Ms. Nimmer, used several online platforms in order to help us journal effectively and be able to connect with other students in our classroom through our writing. It was very hard to learn how to use at first, but Ms. Nimmer realized this and guided us through more so after our initial instruction using smaller simpler assignments that built up the basic functions of the website with us. This demonstrated all three of those characteristics, she was patient with us and cared about our understanding and gave us the time we needed, she found a creative way to re-teach us how to use the site in a more personalized way to our needs, and through this she adapted her teaching style and changed her lesson plans to fit within what we needed as a class.

Wilde at Heart

Oscar Wilde

My theme is one I have always wanted to learn a little more about and become much more comfortable with. Although I love most poetry I read, the poetry of Oscar Wilde in particular I both adore and despise. Certain poems such as The Ballad of Reading Gaol (found here!) seemed so long and droning to me as a student reading them for class, however poems such as Apologia (found here!) we much more moving to me and understandable to me yet they follow nearly the same format and have the same style. 

Here I will be analyzing the poetry of Oscar Wilde, specifically the many factors that make his poetry and his style so endearing to so many people. What parts of his life brought about what poetry? what life events influenced his style or topics? Are there any specific styles associated with times in his life or topics? What styles and topics appeal to what type of reader or what generation of reader even? All of these things I hope to tackle in this short time here on this tiny blog, as well as learn more about a poet who I have very conflicting feelings about. 

This theme is meant to challenge me as well as inspire me. Although I do have strong dislike for certain poems of his, I also have a deep love for others, and this makes me very determined and curious into the reasons behind it, whether it is a specific difference in them, or even perhaps an audience issue ( am I not the intended audience?). Either way I am very interested to find out as much as I can about the endearing and perhaps very risque poet and playwright Oscar Wilde. 

-KT