Kristymackie's Blog

Personal Learning Networks…Are you in?

kristymackie — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 23:31:11 +0000

As someone who was very hesitant to join social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, my outlook and view on these type of sites has changed once I joined them. Before I joined Facebook, I thought I enjoyed my online anonymity. As far as I knew, I couldn’t be tracked or found, and I didn’t want to be. What good could come from posting information out into the world, and what do I need from acquaintances or even people I’ve never even met?
Well, shift to a couple years later and now I can’t imagine not having these constant updates. I’ve been able to keep in touch with long lost friends and been able to get in contact with colleagues around the world. I’m only starting to get more into twitter, and so far I enjoy the links and information that people are posting. I guess its like the real world, surround yourself with who you like to be around and your bound to have fun.

Are you a “Gamer”? Will gaming change education?

kristymackie — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 19:54:34 +0000

This article from this weeks Eschool News poses a question that I’ve been thinking about a lot lately, especially since starting this blog (and getting my own Nintendo Wii system). They report that “children can learn content and 21st-century skills, create media, and think of systems as a whole through successful digital games.” This reminds me a lot of what we’ve been discussing in my graduate courses and at our latest PD day on 21st Century skills. Could “gaming” be the face of change?

What I like about this article is that it not only talks about the engagement factor of gaming technology in education. Sure the students are going to be engaged, but what about the learning, the education? Interestingly, the article goes on to talk about the evidence for improved perception, attention, and cognition through gaming. Seems to me that the “edutainment” market does have some educational value.
The article goes on to discuss some of the barriers to gaming in the classroom. Some issue that arise are sustainability, innovation, and first and foremost implementation. There are a lot of barriers to overcome before this is seen in the commonplace classroom. But close your eyes and picture a classroom where interactive edu-gaming is occurring – now that’s a picture of 21st century classroom.

Funding, Initiatives, and Web 2.0

kristymackie — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 14:34:43 +0000

I feel like I’ve been reading a lot lately, and some of the most recent news is about funding initiatives for new products that would allow more student collaboration and creativity. Obama’s STEM initiative gears techonology funding towards Math and Science, but my hope is that this eventually transfers to other subject areas as well. Whose to say that humanities or “specials” classes can’t benefit from technology as well? A graphic arts class would be fantastically interesting for high school students. Physical Education with interactive systems might further engage students.

This has all gotten me thinking – where are we headed in education? How can we best utilize the fruits of these initiatives? Is one-to-one computers in the near future? The products will be there, but if the students don’t have access to computers and the internet, then all these developmental initiatives are wasted. Or maybe only used in districts that can afford to supply computers or students can afford to bring their own. More and more I think that getting the hardware needs to become a priority, and then the exploration of the software and applications can be put to use.

Web 2.0 Expo is in Town?

kristymackie — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 23:00:09 +0000

I just stumbled upon the information that a web 2.0 Expo is going to be in NY at the Javitz center this week. Too bad I have work and class, but it sounds like there’s going to be some great products to check out.

Wii and Physical Education

kristymackie — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 23:49:25 +0000

After my last post, I thought about researching even more into exergaming and its place (if any) in Physical Education. I found an article, “Playing Wii Can Earn Students Physical Education Credit” that summed up a lot of information out there. It is reported that some schools have a Wii system set-up in their fitness centers. Undoubtedly, students are lining up to use this technology, over the traditional weights and machines. A lot of times Wii usage is used as a reward for students, probably because the using the system is so popular. The U.K. government has also endorsed Wii in a pilot Physical Education program, utilizing is health monitoring software.
The article also discusses how many more calories users are burning by using the Wii system as opposed to a traditional video gaming system. On average it was calculated that they burned 284 calories per day, about 3 times more than they would normally. In my calculations, a child would burn about 240 calories walking briskly for an hour – if you gave any k-12 age student a choice of playing Wii, or traditional video game or walking for an hour, my guess is 9 times out of 10, they’d choose the Wii. It’s encouraging to know that that choice would burn the most calories. This is (once again) a great activity option for students who are not they typical athletes. In the fight against sedentary lives and obesity this is an encouraging first step.

“Exergaming” and PE

kristymackie — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:24:40 +0000

So after I read this article about technology and Physical Education, I have many ruminations. There is a glaring need for technological advances in PE in order to reach today’s students. It has to be the last of the major subjects to fully embrace technology. Even the art curriculums, which are also very hands on, now includes the graphic arts and computer based design.

Old timers would say that Physical Education by nature does not require technology. A person running only needs sneakers and an open road. But I am interested in exploring the following questions: Can physical education be enhanced by technology? Can students acquire more healthy knowledge and skills by utilizing technological tools? Can technology be a way engage and interest students who are not “jocks”? Or, on the other hand is technology the “anti-PE” and leading us down the road to more sedentary lives?

21st century students

kristymackie — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:25:02 +0000

Our new initiative is teaching and learning in the 21st century, and our new educational goals will focus on that. As we discussed in class, isn’t it already the 21st century? What have we been doing for the past 9 years?
Ok, all sarcasm aside, I think the goals of the initiative are on point. In general, we as teachers, do a lot of “telling” the students the information rather than enabling them as critical thinkers, using their own analysis and decision-making skills to come up with information and a point of view.   The main theme our administration is trying to stress is skills literacy, creativity and innovation.
As a PE and Health Educator, I think we deal with these “intangibles” more than many other subjects. I think Art also is strong in this area.   We allow students a lot more freedom of free thought, ability to make choices and to analyze/reflect on those choices. We have opportunities for students to step into leadership roles and problem solve.
The one arena that PE lags behind is in technology. In fact, the progresses in technology have led to the decrease in the activity levels of many of our students, and their creativity. Before the boom of PSP, Xbox 360, and Wii students used to go out to “play” and create games, teams, rules, etc. Now their lives are much more structured with rules, organization, time limits, and spent mostly inside behind a computer or flat-screen.
Our department goals are three-pronged:
1. Keep up the technological advances that can be applied to our subject area. In Health we utilized the SMART-board in our classes as well as various online tools and video tutorials. In PE we utilize Pedometers and HR monitors to track fitness progress. In the future we hope to get the DDR pads, or Wii and a SMART board. We cannot ignore the fact that “Gaming” is a part of their culture, but we can show them ways that they can use it as a positive influence on their health.
2.Enable students to function in a global world by exposing them to international sports and activities, which will allow them to be life-long participants.
3. Utilize project adventure type activities that focus on leadership, creativity, critical thinking and decision-making. The high school once had a whole unit dedicated to this but the space was taken away for more “academic” classrooms.  There are many activities that we can do without using the climbing walls and ropes courses, so until we get the space back we can use that.
More to come on Technology & PE….my main focus in my graduate program is to find ways to integrate the two.

It’s called Standards, sir…

kristymackie — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:25:46 +0000

This week is very busy for me, with 4 volleyball games this week, as we’ve reached the home-stretch of the season. We have back-to-back games thursday with our end of year dinner afterwards since its our last home game. Therefore, I have to work independantly this week.

According to our class wiki, we are going to work in groups to summarize and overview one set of ISTE standards. I’ve been working on my project independantly. The teacher standards seem to be common sense to me. Basically, they incorporate the principles of modelling and teaching digital knowledge, teaching responsible behavior, and emphasize collaborative learning. I’ve been working on my presentation using SMARTnotebook, and its turning out a lot longer than I had originally planned, but the standards can be wordy and dry so I’ve been trying to associate a real-life application and photo for many of the concepts. I hope my project meets the expectations. I’m finding myself questioning a lot, since I don’t have the hands on guidance that we get when we are in class. When I’m finished, I’ll probably attach the project to this blog.
I hope that not physically being in class this week doesn’t set me back!

I blogged on my birthday…

kristymackie — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 23:07:03 +0000

I can honestly say this is a first for birthday fun. Started my 2nd master’s and setup an account today. At least no one can claim I was unproductive! This blogging, wiki, and RSS stuff is new to me, but I think I’m ready for this challenge.