Google glass

      I choose this topic because it’s the technology I know best and I think it’s convenient to use in education. Google glass is good in some ways.
      Students can record easily during the class without holding a smartphone. Their hands will be free. Google glass can connect with google account and upload the videos to google drive. They can review the videos whenever they want. If a student is absent for sick, other classmates can record the class for him/her with google glass. They don’t need to do anything special, just be like normal time. It is also helpful to search something during the class with google glass. When the teacher is doing some experiments out of school, he/she can use google glass to show the students what happened right now. Google glass has any other advantage; these are some more important parts I think. So many people are excited to see google glass be used in education.
      But still, there are some cons. One thing is the battery. The low battery life couldn’t stay for a whole day. Another thing is that some people feel uncomfortable when they wear a google glass. The words fly in front of their eyes may make them feel dizzy. The other important thing is privacy. People wear google glass can record anything and others will never know. So many people feel uncomfortable and be bothered with someone wear google glass. And also, google glass is not deserved this price.
      For me, I think google glass is really good for international students. We can record the class easily and translate anytime. But the price is too high. It’s better for the teacher to do some experiments and show students. There is a video about it: Google Glass overview - education.
      What do you think google glass can be used in education?

Other resources:
1. Google Glass in our Education
2. 14 Google Glass Innovative Uses In Education
3. HOW GOOGLE GLASS MIGHT BE USED IN EDUCATION
4. The Teacher’s Guide To Google Glass
5. The Pros and Cons of Google Glass

Drones

A drone is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), or flying robot, that can remotely controlled through preprogrammed flight plans in their embedded systems that work in conjunction with GPS. The aircraft can either fly in straight lines, or circles until the engine runs low on fuel and then the drone can land.

Drones are often used in the military because as an unpiloted aircraft, drones don't put a soldier's life at risk in combat zones.  Drones are also used as search and rescue, surveillance, traffic and weather monitoring, and firefighting. Because their technology allows them to don't require rest, this enables them to fly as long as there is fuel and that the aircraft doesn't experience any mechanical difficulties.

In recent years though, personal drones have become increasingly more popular. Drones are often used for many purposes, these include search and rescue, surveillance, traffic and weather monitoring, geographical mapping, agriculture and for personal or professional photography and video. 

I chose this topic because I find it fascinating that you can just fly technology that weights 60 pounds using a remote control and discover things that you might not be able to see while you are on the ground. One of the educational purposes that I can see with this technology is monitoring the weather, its patterns and changes, and capturing video and photographs throughout the school year to monitor the seasons and the different changes that our earth goes through.  

One of the cons that I can see while using a drone is maybe seeing things that are not meant to be seeing, for example invading someone's privacy while flying the drone above their property or even spying on someone. 

I do believe that the pros outweigh the cons, and as long as students understand that it is unethical to spy on someone, drones could be used to learn and discover new things.

What do you think about using drones in school? What are some activities that can be done in school with drones?

The Flipped Classroom

The flipped classroom is an instructional method that offers a blended type of learning. It takes the traditional way of instruction in the classroom and flips it to where instruction and lecture is done at home, and activities regarding the lecture can be done in class, instead of for homework. This method consists of blended instruction from online lectures, videos, and discussion boards with other classmates. I chose this topic on a whim, but it has made me understand more about the direction our teachers at Texas Wesleyan are gearing us towards. I've noticed that in a lot of my classes now, it is the expectation that you come prepared having already read the chapter or subject that will be discussed in class. This sort of instruction makes the student accountable and take ownership of their own learning. I see this as a good skill to instill in your students; but the con to this is that your students may not do what is instructed of them outside of the class, therefore they may miss out on critical information. Although it is their job to do this, you still want to make sure your students are learning the material. Some students may prefer a traditional face-to-face classroom setting. I would be one of those students. With a flipped classroom, the teacher is allotted more time directed towards higher cognitive activities and learning models. This is great in perspective, but also you have to think that not all students may have access to technology outside of school. This makes it difficult to know if the students will benefit from this method of instruction, or if it will cause more grief than good. I believe this method and use of technology is great, but for the right person. What are some ideas that could be offered to help a student who does not benefit from this type of learning? What are your own personal thoughts on your experience in the flipped classroom?

Gaming and Gamification

      This blog is all about gaming and gamification. I chose this topic because I believe it is very important because a lot of our population spend most of their time playing games. It is even becoming a big part in our education systems because it motivates the students and allows them to have fun while they learn and it gives them a sense of optimism and responsibility.
     Gaming allows people to feel like they are being productive and saving the world within their virtual world and also gives an escape from real world suffering. Games teach people how to solve big problems with the optimism that they can in fact solve them. The thought behind gamification is to merge the feelings and urgency of a video game into the real world. People do amazing things on a global scale in their games and yet never think that they can change the world in reality. Jane Mcgonigal does this inspiring TED talk where she talks about the games that she has made that immerses the player into a real world type problem (The human race will go extinct or the world is running out of oil) and requires you, in real life, to change and document your habits in order to fix it. If we can somehow convince people that they can change the world, just like they do in a game setting, there won't be any type of problem that we won't be able to solve.
     I do also believe that there are some cons to this, as there is with everything. But, I do believe that this is an incredible idea and has the potential to create a better world. One of the cons might include not having appropriate games for the problems at hand. This entire operation is counting on people creating games for the issues we have and creating an environment that fosters productivity in that field.
     What do you think this technology could be used for in your classroom?

BYOT - Bring Your Own Technology

Bring your own technology (BYOT) is a policy that allows students to use their own personal electronic devices at school.  Students have the option to use their own devices to complete classroom projects or access learning resources while at school.  I chose this topic because of the numerous learning opportunities it has brought to the world of education and I would love to be able to have this option in my classroom.  Even though many schools are allowing students the use of technology to enhance their learning, there are still challenges.

I believe that allowing students to bring their own technology into the classroom promotes greater participation.  Students are all about technology and when we allows them to use incorporate it into everyday learning, they will become more invested in the in the material and their own learning, and will be more likely to succeed. 

There is a concern that implementing BYOT will increase the already significant divide between students from high- and lower-income families. There are people who feel that allowing students to bring their own technology it will make it easier to distinguish between students who have their own devices and low income students that will be forced to borrow devices from the school.

I think that by giving students a chance to prove they can be digitally responsible citizens make the classroom environment more trusting.  How do you feel about allowing students to bring their own technology into your classroom?

Below are links to a couple of Blogs that I enjoyed reading.  
Giving Students' a Chance

BYOT Network

3D Printing

3D printing is a way of making products in layers. It has been around since the 80’s. Today, 3D printing is being used to make organs, objects, and other things. The printer can use human cells, plastic or other materials instead of ink. I believe this technology would be great to use in the classroom. Instead of having a discussion on insects, the teacher may be able to print a 3d model of an insect. Furthermore, I believe a 3d printer will provide concrete objects for ELL learners. I chose this technology because I saw a 3D printer at UNT and I wanted to learn more about it. My reaction to this technology is that this technology is very exciting! The pros to this technology is that it is very precise, can use many materials to build something, and it is accessible for at home use. The cons are that you may not be able to build something huge, you may have to learn advanced software, and you may not be able to build something that uses different types of materials on the inside of a particular product. Do you think Asia has a more sophisticated version of a 3D printer?

Holograms (Blog Topic)

I choose Holograms because it is a fascinating type of technology, which can be incorporated in a classroom. Holograms can create an illusion of a tri-dimensional images, with this kind of technology education could benefit in different ways. The use of holograms could bring unimagined levels of engagement and excitement to the learning process. Since, it gives the student the opportunity to interact in real life scenarios that may be either is too dangerous, expensive or difficult to perform in the classroom. Also, with holograms students can be taught by a "virtual teacher" who could be many kilometers away. However, there are some problems with this type of technology, first of all, the price. It is a very expensive technology the price is around 215,000 US dollar. Secondly, with the use of this technology would be easier for people to spy and hack people. Do you think is a good idea to use Holograms in the classrooms?