Robots - Blog #5

I had the great pleasure of attending the Southeast Texas B.E.S.T. Robotics competition at Sam Houston State University this weekend. B.E.S.T. stands for "Boosting Engineering Science and Technology". I didn't just get to attend. In addition to witnessing the robots in action, I was scheduled to judge the Marketing Presentation portion of the day.


This year's theme was BUGS! The robots had to retrieve genetically altered insects that had escaped from their laboratory. The 'bot pictured to the right came from a MIDDLE school. 11-year-olds worked on this! They dominated the competition.

What impressed me the most was how well-rounded the competition requirements were. Students are presented with a challenge and a box of materials. Then they are given 6 weeks to design and build a robot that will complete the assigned challenge. Teams must keep a project notebook, develop a marketing presentation, construct a display booth, and last but not least, create a functioning robot to compete head-to-head with other teams.





The requirements of the marketing presentation included brainstorming, professionalism, creativity, publicity efforts in their school and community, team-building, and diversity. I was so impressed by even what first-year competitors had accomplished. Small schools with little support advanced to the final rounds through sheer determination to learn, grow, and compete.


Robotics programs teach problem-solving, teamwork, determination, sportsmanship, professionalism, and so much more. It's not just for the advanced G/T students. Everyone can get involved. The most successful teams had broken their members into departments such as Research, Design, Construction, and Publicity, playing to each of their members' strengths and challenging them to push themselves.


The National BEST website (2011) lists their vision and mission statements:

Our Vision

To excite our nation's students about engineering, science and technology to unlock their imagination and discover their potential

Our Mission

To inspire students to pursue careers in engineering, science, technology, and math through participation in a sports-like science- and engineering-based robotics competition


Below is a video produced by BEST. I think it does a great job showing what a program like this can do for our students today.



Find more information about getting your students involved on the BEST website above.
If you happen to be in Southeast Texas, you can find regional information here.

---

BESTRobotics, Inc. (2011, October 30). Best robotics, inc. boosting engineering science and technology. Retrieved from http://www.bestinc.org/

Faq - set best. (2011, October 30). Retrieved from http://www.shsu.edu/set_best/faq.html

Sticky Keys

Have you ever absentmindedly tapped on your shift key, only to get a message saying that you have activated "Sticky Keys"? The first time it happened to me, I was sure I'd done some irreparable damage to my parents' Gateway desktop. What ever happened to Gateway? It feels like forever since I've seen one of those cow-spotted boxes...



Most personal computers today come equipped with accessibility features that most of us know little about. Sticky Keys are meant for individuals who have difficulty pressing more than one key at a time. It treats a sequence of modifier keys as a key combination. Shift, Control, Alt, Fn, and Command are just a few examples of modifier keys.


Last year, there was an 8th grade student in my classroom who was paralyzed from the waist down and had limited mobility between his waist and shoulders. He used an electric wheelchair and could not hold a pen or pencil. In class, he used a laptop and typed with his knuckle, one key at a time.


Don't be fooled. This kid was sharp. Originally from Spain, he spent most of his time at home on the internet or watching the news...in Spanish. He knew more about current events than I did, for sure. He loved technology, and how the world was open to him in spite of his disability. He had the highest scores in the entire eighth grade on the state assessment, while still classified as Special Ed and LEP (Limited English Proficient).


But he hated being different.


His disability was caused by a mistake in a surgery only a few years ago, so he was still adjusting to his new situation. Anytime the teacher's aide brought out his laptop, he wanted nothing to do with it, unless all the other students were working on computers.


On the days we could convince him to use his assistive technologies (especially when the whole class was typing or doing research), he was a pro. I got to see Sticky Keys used to their full potential.


What kind of assistive technologies have you seen utilized? Can more technology intergration across the board increase student engagement and achievement? Years and years of research report mixed results. It seems to be more about HOW you use the tool rather than WHICH tools you use. Daniel Light researches how technology impacts classroom culture and teacher-student interaction. Check out his article on how to Do Web 2.0 Right.

---

Light, D. (2011). Do web 2.0 right . Learning & Leading with Technology, 38(5), 10-12, 14-15. Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/contentdelivery/servlet/ERICServlet?accno=EJ914323

Wikipedia. (2011, October 21). Modifier key. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modifier_key

Xtranormal

If you haven't been introduced to Xtranormal, let me be the one to introduce you to the greatness the way I first experienced it at the Meeting the Needs of All Learners Annual Conference.



All teachers can probably relate. I appreciate that an educator is using technology to educate AND express his/her feelings. Technology integration is not just a chore, it can be an outlet, as well.

Another one of my favorites:


Joe Huber offers a comparison of a few different animation creators for the classroom, Xtranormal included. The completely web-based applications do not require extra software download and step-by-step instructions and helpful templates are included.

Many teachers fear that integrating new technologies will add too much to their already limited preparation time. With professional development, hopefully more teachers can see areas where technology can alleviate time constraints, instead of aggravating them.

These animation creator applications can be utilized by students for projects. An autism center in the Houston area is using Xtranormal to allow students to create presentations on social norms such as "Making New Friends" (Mallory, 2011).

What do you think about all the possible uses for these animation creators in education?

• Presenting new lesson content
  
• Student project presentations
• Professional development
• Staff communication

What other uses do you see for these kinds of web2.0 applications?

---

Huber, J. (2011, September 27). Animation creators for the classroom. Retrieved from http://educatorstudio.com/articles/animation-creators-classroom

Mallory, B. (2011, October 8). Interview by R.M. [Personal Interview]. Xtranormal and autism.

Interactive Whiteboards

Since I attended high school, one of the most significant differences I find in schools today is the implementation of interactive whiteboards.



Over a decade ago, a forward-thinking World Geography teacher of mine integrated "clicker quizzes" into our classroom. Each day, we copied outlines of notes from the chalkboard into our notebooks. We were assigned lists of dates to memorize from Charlemagne to the Cold War. Our class was the perfect non-example of student-centered instruction. But then, on quiz day, we had remote controls in our hands pointed at the large analog TV on a cart at the front of the room. We received immediate feedback and were provided with class data by the end of the assessment. As students, we knew we were on the cutting edge of a shift in education.



Check out Jeffrey Branzburg's article for Tech & Learning. He outlines a few different ideas for using interactive whiteboards in the classroom (2007):

• Recording
• Graphic Organizers
• Presentations
• Interactive Software
• Google Earth
• Interactive Mathematics
• Quizzes and Games

Today, I teach ESL Reading/Language Arts in a small middle school with very little funding in the heart of the fourth largest city in America. I consider myself abundantly blessed to have access to a document camera, projector, and a Mimio Interactive Whiteboard. As teachers, we guard this technology with our lives. If a screw comes loose on the stand, I'm tempted to put up caution tape to protect the board from any further damage. Technology is not easy to come by when the budget is tight.

At the very least, the Mimio board is a very expensive projector screen. Add in the interactive pen and notebook software, and you start getting somewhere. At the board, you can do anything you would otherwise do on a computer. Mimio has a wonderful community for collaboration where teachers can search for educator-created, student-centered lessons by subject, age, or keyword. At the end of his article, Branzburg (2007) offers links to lessons created for other interactive whiteboard brands, such as:

• Dukane
• Interwrite Learning
• Luidia
• Numonics
• PolyVision
• Promethean
• Smart Technologies

Another one of my favorites is Prezi - taking your PowerPoint presentations to the next level. Combining the power of Prezi and Mimio, my first day of school presentation this year was a great success. The same presentation could be modified for Open House, as well.




When the budget allows, classroom technology can open up a world of possibilities for educators and their pupils.

What we cannot do is allow the interactive whiteboard to take over. The Mathematics Education Research Journal reported, "There is little doubt that IWBs [Interactive WhiteBoards] have the potential to enhance learners’ opportunities...However, by themselves tools will not transform pedagogy, no matter what their potential" (Zevenbergen & Lerman, 2008). Teachers may be enticed by the prepackaged lessons and abandon any attempt to adjust instruction based on student need.

The bottom line is: Educate yourself. Take the extra time to discover the possibilities of the interactive whiteboard, but don't let it run the classroom. Instead, let it guide your students into a greater level of engagement and, ultimately, a deeper understanding of the knowledge they are trying to gain.

---

Branzburg, J. (2007, September 15). Whiteboards at your service. Tech and Learning, 28(2), 38. Retrieved from http://www.techlearning.com/article/Whiteboards-at-Your-Service/44575

Zevenbergen, R., & Lerman, S. (2008). Learning environments using interactive whiteboards: new learning spaces or reproduction of old technologies? . Mathematics Education Research Journal, 20(1), 108-126. Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/contentdelivery/servlet/ERICServlet?accno=EJ798610

Rosetta Stone in the Classroom

As a middle school ESL teacher, I am constantly searching for the best ways to reach all of my students, each coming from a diverse background. In the Houston Independent School District alone, there are approximately 66,000 Limited English Proficient students. That number is larger than the total enrollment of most school districts in the U.S. In our very diverse part of Houston, Texas, the LEP population at my school is about two-thirds Hispanic and one-third African refugee students.



In the face of budget cuts, campus LEP Coordinators are tasked with individually deciding how to spend their Title III funds to best serve their English Language Learners. One suggestion I received from the district was to invest in the Rosetta Stone American English Levels 1-5 software.


Check out how much Rosetta Stone loves teachers.


Did any other teachers jump up and down like I did?


Rosetta Stone advertises that their educational solutions are:

• intuitive
• interactive
• visually engaging

Isn't that what we all want as educators when it comes to integrating technology for our ELLs?

What we DON'T want is to waste time.

An article examining the value of "edutainment" software suggests the following list of questions and rubric to help teachers, administrators, and curriculum specialists select educational software (Kanzanci & Okan, 2009):

• What is the point of having this subject/activity/exercise on computer?
• Is the content of the software complying with what is intended to be taught?
• Do the activities in the software really provide gains to the learner? Or they are just robotic?
• Do the activities support learners to ask questions or create new insight?
• Does the software fit the level of the learner?
• Do the activities include so much fun elements which cover the learning?
• Are the activities drowning in flashy animations and effects with noises?
• Do the learners waste time with the program?

(click image to enlarge)


















Rosetta Stone has some case studies from the classroom available on the website. In the coming months, I will be putting Rosetta Stone to the test. I'll be sure to keep readers informed of my progress. In the meantime, do any educators out there have experience incorporating Rosetta Stone or a similar software into the language development of their ELLs?

---

Bentzman, J. (2008, November 18). Texas - english - k-12. Retrieved from http://www.rosettastone.com/schools/solutions/standards

Kazanci, Z. & Okan, Z. (2009). Evaluating english language teaching software for kids: education or entertainment or both?. The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, 8(3), 30-38. Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/contentdelivery/servlet/ERICServlet?accno=EJ859490