“A Tale of Two Sessions” (Make that three sessions) [My “Post-MACUL” Blog]

Perhaps it is apropos that I start this way: “IT WAS the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way—in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.”

Okay.  Well.  Maybe when Dickens used the word “superlative” in A Tale of Two Cities it was fitting, but the sessions I attended were more part of a continuum and not set apart in two extremes.  Perhaps I should view my own teaching-with-technology experience (that is, my experience at my placement, not in our EDUC 504 class) on such a continuum. But, recently, I have felt, at times, as if I am operating in a world of superlatives, of extremes, when using technology in the placement.  Technology, and those who are your “IT” people, may not always be at a superlative level when you need—well, want it (them), I guess—the most to be.  The use of technology at my placement this past week, following the MACUL conference, has been hit and miss, so to speak.  So, in that case, writing about a juxtaposition of extremes seems relevant.   

There was a session at the MACUL conference, which shall remain nameless, that was just not for me, and so I left after a few minutes, and am glad I did so.  For, at another, specifically one entitled “Create a Student-Centered Learning Environment,” I felt as if I was exposed to some rather interesting and useful sites and apps, such as blendspace.com and educanon.com.  The first allows you, or the student, to work through a series of steps and stay in the blendspace site while accessing documents, videos, and even provide or take a quiz (formative comprehension check or summative assessment) in the last step—perhaps even at different steps.  But, I haven’t tried it yet, and the exposure to its full potential was not revealed in the session.  It did pop up in a second session that I attended, “The Group Smackdown,” where MACUL audience members were the ones introducing websites, apps, gadgets, and widgets.  And, in a classroom where I am presently grappling with providing explicit instructions that are not too verbose (hence an apparent decrease in likelihood that directions for different steps in a lesson would be read, as has been my experience at my placement), blendspace (see the video below) appears to offer a possible solution.  And, in the second session that I attended (well, technically third, since I left the first after a few minutes), I learned that privacy settings are possible for blendspace.   

 Click this link in case the video doesn't work.

But, as much as there are a number of other things that I could share with you about both of those sessions, I really want to key my fellow MACers, at least those who use videos or want to use videos in the class, to eduCanon.  This web app allows educators to take videos and pause them at intervals to insert questions that students can answer, for which you can then provide feedback, with the capability of tracking student participation and item analysis for questions.  How cool is that!  But, in the session I attended about creating a student-centered learning environment, there was not a lot of time spent explaining eduCanon's full potential.  Therefore, I invite you to read the following excerpt from eduCanon’s site and check out the video that helps to explain it.  For, as much consternation that technology seems to cause me at times, it has great potential to engage students, enhance learning, and extend the physical space of the classroom into a virtual realm.  Can you imagine the potential of combining blendspace and eduCanon?!

Excerpt:

What is eduCanon?

eduCanon is an online learning environment to build and share interactive video lessons. Teachers begin with any YouTube, Vimeo, or TeacherTube video content (screencasts, Khan Academy, Minute Physics, TED, NOVA, etc.) and transform what is traditionally passive content into an active experience for students. By time-linking activities that students engage with as the video progresses the content is segmented into digestible components - increasing student engagement and, through our real-time monitoring, informing the next day’s lesson planning.

How is eduCanon used?

eduCanon is used in a 1:1 student learning environment. Teachers have used our interface in class as a blended tool, assigned students an eduCanon lesson as homework in a flipped setting, and even asked students to create their own eduCanon lesson as a higher-Bloom's project! eduCanon is flexible to suit the resources and teaching style of your classroom.

What browsers and devices do you support?

eduCanon is a webapp. While eduCanon works on all major browsers, the best experience comes from Google Chrome and Safari. It works on Macs, PCs, and is even responsive to iPads. You can even embed it into your website or blog!

Video: 

 

 Click this link in case the video doesn't work.