StefanE

StefanE

**__ How technology can improve learner centered teaching __** Almost everything we do today is ruled by technology. Technology has become such a huge influence on our everyday lives, that we can almost not imagine what it would be like not to have instant access to email, Facebook, twitter etc. This shift to increased dependence on technology is evident in the classroom. Most students have their smartphones with them in class and cannot help but to look at them often. Although they can be a great resource, many times they become a distraction. Don’t get me wrong, I am not against technology, only against distracted learning. Moving toward learner centered teaching can greatly benefit the **motivated** student. My only concern would be with the less motivated or struggling student being too easily distracted and not stay on task. I believe in technology and use it in my classroom today. There are many useful resources that aid in learning. I currently use the college offered Learn site to provide a copy of my presentations for students to review. I also provide extra resources and links to helpful websites. I found the reading interesting, being able to incorporate wiki’s, online quizzes, blogs and discussion boards could be very helpful. One of the most interesting ideas was having low stakes grading opportunities, with multiple attempts at completing a quiz.  Responsibility for learning rests with the learner. I think this is a great concept in theory, however I struggle with it in reality.

__**The **__ ** Flipped Classroom **

I found the reading very interesting, regarding the flipped classroom. Having the students responsible for covering the assigned material at home and then being able to complete the homework in the classroom, seems like a good idea. I do however see the possible drawbacks to it as well. One of my biggest concerns is that the student has to be self motivated to complete the assigned readings and assignments. The article mentioned that if the delivery of the material does not engage the student, the student will lose interest. I can personally attest to this, having completed on-line courses in the past. My experience was that it did not work that well for my learning style. I do however believe that today's students are far more accustomed to using online resources, and that this may work well for their learning styles

Resources: The Flipped Approach to a Learner Centered class []

www.facultyfocus.com/.../teaching-with-technology-articles/understanding-the-flipped-classroom-part-1

www.facultyfocus.com/.../teaching-with-technology-articles/understanding-the-flipped-classroom-part-2

Donna April 20- You have a good point about the different learning styles. Possibly having different ways to present the material may help. Video is widely suggested in the articles and most people are used to watching those. If it is required to watch and take notes you are at least covering 2 of the senses. Then in the classroom you could talk about it or practice what you have learned to cover a few more senses. This way I think you may incorporate something for all learning styles.

**Barry** - I so agree with you Steph ! The student must be self motivated.
=**ASSIGNMENT 7 ROLE PLAYING **=

My initial thoughts, after reading this article was that there is probably no real good way of incorporating role playing into my lessons. In vocational education we deal in facts, numbers and being able to perform complicated tasks, and less in interpersonal relationships. So I did a little more research on the topic to see if maybe I was missing the point here. I came across a website entitled **Business Games and Role Playing in Vocational Education** by Dr. Steffen Kerstin. []

This website has a presentation and it states that "Role playing is a form of play, in which the participants spontaneous play in a fictional game with the intent to process behavior problems- both playfully presented as discuss afterwards. In this game, the social relations between the players as the real visible behavior should become criticized and changed."

I believe that a form of role playing could be incorporated. Perhaps a simulation of a real life problem which the students may encounter could be acted out. Trades people generally spend more of their time building and fixing things, but interpersonal relationships are also important. Being able to interact with fellow co-workers, supervisors and management are equally important. An example might be: You have just finished a service on vehicle which included an oil change and a 40 point inspection. The customer leaves and gets into an accident because the left front tire fell off. How do you respond?

Gil Stephan I think we could also use role playing to try and get students to explain to the customer a complicated and expensive repair that needs to be performed to avehicle. If we were to get the students to describe the repair and the reasons for it we would have a good idea if the student understood the repair just by listening to his explaination.

BryanL - Stefan, I agree sometimes for the students to learn they may have to be in someone else's shoes. the old what if? Wrenching on a car day in and day out can start to become like driving to work day in and day out. You do it so much you don't realize your there till you pull into your parking spot. But what if there is that one distraction while changing over those winter tires to summer and you go for coffee and come back to tighten the last two wheels on but just before coffee you tightened one and only finger tightened the other, you could have sworn you tightened it before coffee. What if that happened to you what would you say to the mechanic, the damage it may have caused, the possibility of creating an accident or worse, the accident occurred and someone was hurt. Put yourself in others shoes sometimes can be an eye opener and a lesson you would never think you would need.

=**Assignment 10 Webquest**= A web quest that I would like to develop to foster higher level learning will be to analyze: What effect do the different wheel alignment angles have on vehicle handling and tire wear. This assignment will require compiling an in-depth list and summary of all of the effects. Before this can be completed however, the students will first have to identify and understand what the primary and secondary angles are. Websites that will be required to complete this task are: [] [] [] [] []

Other information required to complete this task are a series of Youtube videos. [] (Toe) [] (camber) [] (caster) [] (SAI included angle) These videos will explain what the primary and secondary angles are. Once these angles are understood the student will have to read through the above websites and analyze what effects changes in the wheel alignment angles will have on a car

I will also have to create an outline for the students and give them the specific angles that I am looking for. The outline will describe what type of suspension system they will be using for this webquest. I will have to create a rubrics to determine how well the information was researched, analyzed and presented to me.

Assignment 8

Elaine- Great use of graphics and a little humor. Great presentation. i like the idea of splitting the time between lecture and the three learner centered approaches Michele- I like her use of case study, the presentation had too many words and its a little hard to follow Marnie- Very clear presentation and well presented. I can see the role playing with the auction styles being more interesting than lecture Melodie- Prezi- looks very interesting I have not seen one before. Michael- I think role play would work very well in the health care education. Roxanne- I like the use of cooperative learning, I think the digital storytelling is very similar to a presentation Donna- good use of role play for customer interaction Barry-good presentation, good use of humor, I like the role play to teach idea embed presentation in wiki, file publish look for embed code Gil-Great presentation good humor, i like the idea that students evaluate themselves. embedded video with car sounds, fantastic Bryan- good presenter, I think you could have left out some of the safety details David- well done, Benchmark?(final exam), Learning outcomes could be more precise. jumping scaffolding oh my. Debbie-kwl I like this approach and I agree that you need an ice breaker. Good clear presentation. Very focused and to the point, my kind of presentation Tom- Great presentation, I am warming up to the idea of using prezi's. clear concise and precise Brenda-Wonderful popplet and great presentation, Excellent recovery of technical gitch Wade-Good use of role play, probably one of the more realistic ways role play can be used. media type="custom" key="23035472"

Peer Critique PBL Assignment 5

Elaine- Very thorough and complete research on the paddle refinishing along with a great background subject ( canoe trip to York factory).

Michele-Good amount of detail Marnie-Great presentation, I think you really nailed the concept of the PBL project. Good questions and problem solving Melodie-I really liked your presentation, the use of the ice berg theme in the prezi is great. Once again good explanation of how you are going to learn to do something Tom- Good prezi, good use of humor. The firepit design is cool, too bad about the roughriders logo. Michael- Your prezi was well laid out plenty of information, well presented

Gill-Very informative, lots of detail. Good presenter and good audience involvement Brian- Great topic- good attention to detail and very well presented David- excellent and very well presented I never lost interest in the topic Debbie- good point about medical information on the internet, You researched your topic very thoroughly before you decided to take the plunge to have the surgery. Hope the bionic vision lasts. Wade- Well presented, The video footage playing drums was good, and suited the remote student aspect. Roxy-Excellent presentation, very well presented, Unfortunately the tire plug was not the best choice to repair this tire, a patch from the inside would have been better, however great presentation and very good and accurate information and it seems like you really learned your topic well. Brenda-great presenter, really well researched and good detail. Barry- Great job Barry, Good luck on your technology challenge