McLuhan's+Tetrad

Week 2: Learning Community Collaboration Assignment:

=McLuhan's Tetrad= For this week’s Learning Community contribution, summarize the work you completed in the Application Assignment: McLuhan’s Tetrad. Select at least one technology contributed by a member of your Learning Community and add your thoughts and ideas about using that technology in an educational setting.

Assignment length: 2 paragraphs

 * Note to Candidates:**
 * //Your Instructor will be checking your regular participation in your Learning Community to ensure that you have met the requirements outlined in the assignment. Participation will be worth 4 points for every week in which there is a Learning Community Assignment.//
 * //APA format is not required in your wiki posts. The goal of the wiki element is to support your learning as a member of an online learning community. Keep in mind, however, that your contributions are part of your graded coursework and, as such, should represent professional work. Please proofread your entries carefully.//

=Bethany Rosenberg: iPad Tetrad:= The iPad has countless forms of educational technology available on it through both applications that are downloadable/loadable, and the access to the Internet to other information. These tools make the tool a real asset to learning for students giving them instant access to information that they may not have access to in the regular classroom. This would also give them the accessibility to up to date information that of date textbooks may offer.

The iPad would make obsolete the standard textbook. Students would be able to have their entire library of textbooks, as well as supplemental materials preloaded onto the iPad. These could also be individualized to include supplemental materials that would be included and written into an IEP or any other tools that would help a student achieve. With the individualization possibilities of setting up the tool, students goals can be individualized making learning more meaningful. With the popularity of e-readers and digital books, I think that as iPads are more prominent in the classroom, textbook publishers would be more apt to having digital copies of their textbooks customer accessible. This would also serve as a way for publishers to update their textbooks easily rather than waiting for newly printed versions, which school districts often cannot afford for over 10 years at a time. Also with the rigors of textbook adoption, having the instant updates as part of the purchase price it would make the situation better all-around for the students, faculty, and community.

The information that the iPad could rekindle could be a love of learning and reading. Often in school students, who are so quick to want to social media rather than pick up a book, this may give them a new added inspiration to continue reading. Bringing about this technology could bring a new level of thinking where parents could also get involved with the learning process and they be a part of the learning process, helping to select readings for their children and bringing about a sharing of education between the generations.I do not feel that the iPad is going anywhere, rather evolving, however similar tablets at a much lower price may come into play such as the Samsung Galaxy tablet, which is much lower cost. As the market gets flooded with the different tablets and methods of delivery it will be difficult to determine just which one will come out ahead, but between notebooks, thinner elite lap tops and further developments in this way the future of the iPad is unknown. As Thornburg states (2008), new technology will lead the way for future technologies to replace it down the road, and perhaps it will happen with the iPad as new things are invented, but for the present, this could be a way a school district and schools could make this technology an integral part of their teaching and learning repertoires.

//Nick Nohner to Bethany Rosenburg://

//I think that your points about the iPad are spot on. Digital texts contain many elements that make them more accessible for diverse students such as the speech to text features, searchable indexes, and variety of text sizes. While these are relatively simple features the effect can be profound for these at-risk learners. I believe that this is a fundamental role for technology, to level the playing field for all learners.//

//I also agree with your thoughts about iPads rekindling the love of reading. I believe that this technology makes reading more accessible and convient. I just received one for Christmas and my time spent reading has expanded four-fold.//

//Finally, think that your point about the market being flooded driving the price down is essential for the educational setting. In the current climate of budget cuts I doubt that iPads fit. However, as tablets become more common I think that school districts will be able to make a case for purchasing class sets. Finding the line between getting the newest (most expensive / but best) technologies compared to the older (cheaper, but less advanced) technologies is a tough choice that educators will have to determine.//

=Gina Moore: SMARTBoard Tetrad:= The SMARTBoard is something that many schools have already adopted. However, SMARTBoards are not yet in every classroom, just a select few. These boards have brought teaching to a whole new level. This interactive board gets students up and involved in the classroom activates which is good for our kinesthetic learners. The board allows both the teacher and the student to interact with the data on the screen without having to touch the computer. The students are simply able to walk up to the board and manipulate the data as needed.

Having this technology in the classroom will promote engagement for students. I’ve experienced first-hand the excitement in students when they get to go up to the SMART Board and simply write on it or manipulate it. To them it seems a lot “cooler” than just writing on a plain old dry erase or chalk board because they get to move things around on the board. There are so many different things that teachers can do with the SMART Board. They can take students on virtual field trips while being able to stand at the board instead of at the computer. They can also create and share lessons with other teachers that are interactive, fun, and engaging for students.

With the use of the SMART Board in the classroom the possibilities are endless. Students can play review games at the board with each other. Just on this one board a teacher is able to deliver instruction in an engaging way, let students interact with the board, and review and reinforce information. This brings teaching to a whole new level. Some teachers may be reluctant to use the board because they don’t feel comfortable. In reality it makes teaching almost easier than it was before. Teachers will no longer be fighting to get students up to the board; rather they will have to maintain student’s excitement when asking “who wants to come up to the board.”

I believe that one day SMARTBoards will become an obsolete technology. I think that students will each have thier own iPad (or share one with another student) to interact with. When this will happen is unknown. I might not be within the next five years but this technology will become obsolete. There is no telling about the different technology that will emerge next, but as teachers it is best to keep up with it and how we can use it in our classrooms.

//Dequency to Gina//

//It is true that many classrooms still do not have a SmartBoard. It is sad. I received one four years ago and I am still discovering the many uses for it. I do not use a white board for much of anything anymore. The SmartBoard takes care of everything.//

//There are many websites that have interactive games such as PBS.org. You can also get resources from the Notebook website. My entire classroom calendar is in the SmartBoard. I can't imagine going back to having a calendar on the wall. I am looking forward to putting all of my curriculum on the SmartBoard.//

Milinda to Gina: I love your graphic! It does a wonderful job of summarizing your points. I agree with Dequency that many classrooms still do not have SmartBoards which is a sad state of affairs, yet if teachers do not know how to use it, it is worthless. If you have a Promethean SmartBoard, check out Promethean Planet for flipcharts, but I have the best luck with adapting PowerPoints and adding in pages where students can do sorting activities, answer questions, or drawing graphic organizers to review the lesson. I love my SmartBoard and am always doing the online tutoring programs to try and bring more to using it.

Bethany to Dequency: I think one of the important things to remember about putting Smartboards in classrooms is making sure that the teachers have the training to utilize them to their full potential. In my last classroom I had one but was only learning the basics and I am sure there were endless possibilities that I could have used with it that I did not know about. Many teachers in my school had little or no education in using this tool and they sat collecting dust. Such a shame when technology is available but nothing is said to learn about it. I too love your picture you added, summed it up nicely.

=**Cheri Reinke: McLuhan’s Tetrad - iPad**=

====The iPad is new and innovative in that it is an information and communication device. It is extremely portable and it has a long battery life. The user is able to face to face chat with people from around the world as well as access the internet, email, watch movies and play games and read books. It is also an electronic organizer.====

====The iPad replaces home computers, palm pilots, calendars, televisions and potentially a laptop computer. I don’t see it completely replacing the laptop yet, because the storage capacity it not where it needs to be, but I think this will be changing as we move to virtual storage in applications such as the Cloud or Dropbox.====

====I would say that this technology rekindles the need to communicate, especially face to face. The iPad helps to keep people connected and to find out information to solve problems quickly and efficiently. I think that it also reflects the need to have a personal library and access to many books. The difference is that this library is completely portable.====

====In the future, I am sure there will be something even smaller and more portable with the ability to do even more than the iPad can do. Our society is always moving forward towards more portable and smarter technology. Dr. Thornburg mentions in his article that each new technology carries with it a “seed of destruction” to set the stage for new technologies that will replace it in the future (Thornburg, 2008). This is one thing that has made Apple so successful is the ability to be very secretive in what they are producing and to have only the best forward thinking technology experts working for their company.====

====The iPad would make a huge difference in our school by providing accessibility to all students to the internet, research, communication and literature. In a perfect world, where money is not an issue, I could see a huge benefit to our educational system. Students would not need to carry around six textbooks, a laptop and writing material. They could carry around one iPad.====

=**Dequency Ragler McLuhan's Tetrad iPad**=

The iPad has become a game changing technology in many classrooms. There are countless apps that teachers can download for their students. It serves as a differentiation tool for students who are below and on grade level, as well as an enrichment tool for students who are above level.

The iPad serves as an excellent tool for communication. The handheld email capabilities and Internet connection provide excellent opportunities for teachers and students to communicate with each other throughout the day. FaceTime is an excellent way for classrooms to communicate, as well.

The iPad obsoletes desktop and laptop computers, specialized computer software due to the app store, calendars, and paper/pencil note taking methods. It can also obsolete music CD’s due to the app store, as well. Textbooks and pleasure books can be downloaded not only from the iPad Bookstore, but from Nook and Kindle apps as well. If every student had an iPad with textbooks schools textbook budgets would become much smaller. The textbooks would be delivered wirelessly which saves money on shipping.

The iPad is basically an all in one tool. It can be used for games, reading, music, productivity, and more. I have never seen anything like it. As for right now the only technology that tops the iPad is the iPad itself. Newer and better versions of the iPad are released on a yearly basis. I am unable to foresee what could possibly obsolete the iPad. I feel that it has carried the seed of destruction, as mentioned by Dr. Thornburg. (2008) The iPad, though, only destroys older versions of itself.

I experience the versatility and innovation of the iPad on a daily basis. Students love the portability and ease of its use. They also love the numerous education apps it has to offer. Students barely know they are learning when they are using it! This technology will only get better in the future.

Cheri's response to Dequency:

We chose the same thing to write on for our tetrad. I remember from past posts that you already have access to the iPad in your classroom. What have you noticed with your students and the ability for the to use the iPad. Do they fight over who gets to use it? What apps have you found most beneficial in your classroom? Do you see your school expanding and purchasing more iPads? What is the schools response to the classroom use?

I also see this being the future of computing. There needs to be some improvements in the ability to use a keyboard and the expansion of memory. I can also see some of those things changing with ideas like the "cloud" and other virtual memory options.

**Nicholas Nohner: McLuhran's Tetrad Applied to Online Surveys**
McLuhan’s Tetrad is a very effective tool in predicting and evaluating technologies and in this week’s application I am applying it to online surveys teachers can use for both formative assessment and to discover more about their student’s learning profiles.

First, any emerging technology enhances the teacher’s ability to achieve a task that they could not have previously done (Laureate Education, Inc, 2009). Online surveying allows teachers to poll students and gain instantaneous results. For example, the teacher could quickly create a quiz related to content such as math facts, procedures, or vocabulary and receive a PDF citing the percentage of student correctly answering each question. Furthermore, online surveys can allow teachers to ask questions to discover how students learn. Through this inquiry we allow students to self-direct aspects of the classroom by giving them a choice of learning opportunities. In a differentiated classroom this is key to providing outlets for all learning preferences within our classroom. To do this previously we would have to collect all of the data through pen and paper surveys and work hard to form meaning from the results. However, electronic surveys grade themselves, create the results, and allow us to implement changes to our classrooms immediately after seeing the formative assessment from our students.

Emerging technologies, according to McLuhan’s Tetrad, take the place of existing ones; in this case, online surveys obsolete Scantron tests (Laureate Education, Inc, 2009). These tests are very good at quickly assessing students, but they are limited in the type of questions you can ask. The sheer variety and interactive nature of the questions not only allow a more precise understanding of student knowledge, but also grant access to a greater cross section of students who might need text to speech software, vocabulary help or assistance around a physical disability. The simple click nature of this medium alongside its ability to be paired with any number of assistive technologies makes it a clear choice for diverse classrooms.

Thirdly, any emerging technology is rooted in a past idea (Laureate Education, Inc, 2009). Digital surveys rekindle paper and pencil versions teachers use at the beginning of the year. The point of these traditionally are to gather information about the history of our students, their learning preferences, and their interests. The issue is that this requires an enormous amount of time for high school teachers who need to cram the data for 150 students. Furthermore, the data is tough to archive and access throughout the year. Online surveys hit the same pedagogical ideas, but in a technologically streamlined fashion. Finally, I believe that this technology can be improved upon and ultimately replaced because of its limitations. I think that online surveys are great, but they do not track student data across time to chart growth. The technology that replaces this will allow students to store answers and map their comfort level across content goals to create lists of areas to improve upon.

I believe that a school should adopt this technology for two primary reasons. First, it is currently an inexpensive way to gather an extraordinary amount of data from students. As a teacher this allows me the information I need to determine the path of my classroom both in content and instructional style. I know that my peers and I seek to match our content to our students. This means gathering precise data about how they are progressing with the material to maintain a proper pace, to include activities that engage learners according to their preferences, and to incorporate elements from the real world that align with their interests. Furthermore, the collection and analysis of data is simultaneous instead of taking weeks to mull over. This means that classroom teachers can make data driven decisions in real time in their classrooms. For all of these reasons we need to understand as much as possible from our students and this is possible through online data collection.

Second, these online surveys allow a wide variety of students to participate. I, like most teachers, have a vast variety of students in my classroom. I can see online surveys greatly benefiting my English language learners, those that struggle with below grade level reading, and my learners with physical disabilities that affect their writing. Simple clicks responses and text to speech software allows these students to participate by not forcing them to communicate through a medium that serves as an obstacle. Online surveys could be instrumental in creating a socially just classroom that address the needs of all learners.

Cheri's response to Nicholas: The use of online surveys is a great example of how the present is connected to the past. Surveying students gives the teacher a grasp on where the students are and where they need to go. You can also assess large groups of students relatively quickly. I use online surveys with my students and parents before I start each school year and also as a wrap up each year for feedback.

Another use of surveys would be to give the students a chance at giving their opinion on something. Sometimes I think that students do not feel like they have a voice and this would be a way to give them a way to give input.

Cheri Reinke

David Vickery: McLuhan’s Tetrad - Apple TV


Apple TV 2012 was just released March 2012 along with the latest iPad 3 device. Gizmag.com featured the Apple TV and touted its new HDMI cable connection supporting true 1080p HD resolution. It enables streaming of internet media, data from iCloud, and mirrors your Apple devices such as ipads, ipods, and iphones.

Apple products are growing more and more in popularity in the education system. Our school has purchased an iPad cart to share among classrooms. The Apple TV hardware allows teachers to expand the use of their Apple devices to meet the needs of their students. The advancements in wireless technology are benefiting the classroom teacher and presenters alike. They free the teacher from a tethered laptop and touch dependent screen in front of the class. This will allow them to move about the room to better manage the classroom and monitor student work.

I have located a YouTube video that shows how to attach the Apple TV to your promethean board. More information on the device can be located on the Apple website. Eventually, I believe a super-sized iPad will replace the promethean board and projection systems within the classroom.

= Milinda Montgomery - Auto Tutor Tetrad =


 * ===== Works with the students with assessing them to adapt to their level and gauges student involvement to adapt the lesson to increase engagement =====

(Enhancement)
|| Traditional computer “ drill and kill” tutoring programs where students are dragged through a standardized program.

(Obsoletes) ||
 * Auto Tutor ||
 * ===== Ties into the idea of computerized tutoring =====

(Retrieval)
|| ===== Could misread student’s posture or facial expression. Can use up large amounts of computer storage or bandwidth =====

(Reverses) ||

I found out about Auto Tutor on Gizmag and found it very intriguing. I am used to the tutorial program Plato in my building with is non adaptive and drags the

student through the entire program, even if they don't need all of it. Also, the history lessons are very long and confusing. This program adapts to the student and

meets them at the level they need.

To me, I see the need for tutoring programs to help students get to the level they need to be successful in the classroom. Using technology makes it easy to

assign tutoring lessons and also makes it possible for the tutoring to take place with teachers who are not content teachers. If the program is web based, then

students could use it at home.

The Auto Tutor program makes current computerized programs obsolete in that the tutoring programs I am familiar with are not adaptive to fit the students' needs

and level. This program does that, carrying to a new level the old tried and true computer tutoring programs that many teachers use since it does not require any

effort from the teacher to set up the lesson or come up with a whole new lesson.

Overall, I would be interested in seeing this program and what content areas it covers before recommending it to my district.

[] []

Milinda.