The difference in focus in terms of the broader and community-centeredness is probably due to the nature of the institutions and their founding/charter. Some institutions choose to make their statements direct and concise, while other statements are lengthy. What is your perspective in terms of length and terms?
Day: February 3, 2019
Comment on VR learning for Generation Z by adbhut
Hey Drew. Thanks for your comment. I think VR could find a place in every classroom. Building construction is one field where it is already being used at a large scale at industry level, so finding it’s utility in classroom should not be difficult. I have often thought myself of working on Physics VR modules because there are many concepts in Physics which involve a lot of imagination and VR is just the right tool to visualize such complex concepts. Infact I think VR experience can be helpful to students at all levels from school to college to grad school.
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Comment on Networked Learning – transcending physical contact by damochi7
Thank you, Andrew! The idea of being in the spotlight could be scary sometimes, but I think setting one’s rules for posting may be a good place to start.
Comment on Am I in the Right Room? by adbhut
Thanks for sharing your story, Ben. It feels really great when your parents have got your back. You have posed some really intriguing questions here. I don’t think at any point changing one’s path is wrong, if it gets too rough. And as you said, we should understand that it is okay. I am hopeful too that the learning experiences and avenues that students are getting are only going to get better. Technologies like VR/AR are opening up many more exciting possibilities for enhancing the process of learning, as never imagined before. Thanks again for the post.
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Ten years challenge: How did my learning process changed?
If you are a social media user, you have noticed that in the last weeks many people are posting then-and-now profile pictures: the ten years challenge. Even though many might believe that this is a movement created by Facebook to train their facial recognition algorithm, I think it is a nice opportunity for me to reflect what changed in my learning process in the last ten years.
Before College...
I got my first computer in 2011 in my first semester in college. Up to that time, learning for me was basically an offline process. In my high school, we did not have PowerPoint classes. If we were lucky, maybe in one of our classes the professor could show some pictures in this old projector. It was the closest thing from PowerPoint that we had:
Because we did not have PowerPoint classes, some professors did an effort to give us some handouts so that we did not have to copy too much from the black board. However, the handouts were not photocopied. Who does remember this machine?
We did not have books for every class. Even the classes we had books, most of them were borrowed from our school. Therefore, we needed to copy in our notebooks most of the subject taught in class.
Some part of our grade was based in our notebook. We did not have smartphones to take pictures from the board that we would never look back. In fact, we had to practice handwriting a lot. At some extend I believe that this process made me a better writer and I could learn a lot of the subject because I needed to read it while writing. Last semester at Virginia Tech I remember one of my classmates complaining to the professor that we should have extra time in the exams, because handwriting was a slow process, and everybody was used to write using their computers.
Do not get me wrong! We had internet on 2011. However, not everybody had easy access to the internet and the school did not have computers in the classroom. I remember we had to be really creative for presenting projects. Nowadays, I am used to do a nice PowerPoint presentation for any type of project presentation. Not too long ago, we used to create songs, dance, perform or find new creative ways to present something.
Before College...
I got my first computer in 2011 in my first semester in college. Up to that time, learning for me was basically an offline process. In my high school, we did not have PowerPoint classes. If we were lucky, maybe in one of our classes the professor could show some pictures in this old projector. It was the closest thing from PowerPoint that we had:
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| Old Projector |
Because we did not have PowerPoint classes, some professors did an effort to give us some handouts so that we did not have to copy too much from the black board. However, the handouts were not photocopied. Who does remember this machine?
 |
| What is the name of this machine? |
We did not have books for every class. Even the classes we had books, most of them were borrowed from our school. Therefore, we needed to copy in our notebooks most of the subject taught in class.
Some part of our grade was based in our notebook. We did not have smartphones to take pictures from the board that we would never look back. In fact, we had to practice handwriting a lot. At some extend I believe that this process made me a better writer and I could learn a lot of the subject because I needed to read it while writing. Last semester at Virginia Tech I remember one of my classmates complaining to the professor that we should have extra time in the exams, because handwriting was a slow process, and everybody was used to write using their computers.
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| Schools did not have electronic resources |
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| Project Cover: written by hand |
I had more opportunities for "hands- on" learning. This is an example of a biology homework we used to do at school.
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| Example of a biology homework |
Do not get me wrong! We had internet on 2011. However, not everybody had easy access to the internet and the school did not have computers in the classroom. I remember we had to be really creative for presenting projects. Nowadays, I am used to do a nice PowerPoint presentation for any type of project presentation. Not too long ago, we used to create songs, dance, perform or find new creative ways to present something.
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| The most common way of presenting projects besides PowerPoints |
I have made so many cardboard TV's to present project's and homework:
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| Cardboard TV example |
This book collection was my google up to year 2010 or so:
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| Barsa Collection |
In college ...
When I went to college, everything drastically changed. I went to a good private school and so, they had many resources that I was not used to. It took me a while to get used to the "PowerPoint class idea". Even though my whole life I was exposed to the traditional lecture-oriented classroom, the lack of technologies made us to find creative ways to engage students. In college, learning became quite boring. The creative ways were always based on "showing videos" or "PowerPoint presentations". I had to learn basic rules to write academic documents. I did not even know what a citation was. It was a difficult change and I had to start taking computer classes and start learning more about the idea behind computer programming. However, not everything was more difficult. Doing homework and projects became an easier process. Google came to save my time looking for references. However, I feel that I learnt more how to Ctrl+c and Ctrl+V. Because I did not have to handwrite anything, I could only scan read most of my references. In fact, with less time, I had more information (But, do students really read the references? ).
Exchange Program ...
Comment on Networked Learning – transcending physical contact by Andrew
Thanks for the post. I feel that I have many shared thoughts regarding my online presence as you do. I have shared some of these in other recent blog posts, but my opinion is becoming more clear with more thoughts and writing on the issue. Like you, I am reluctant to post ANYTHING online. This is becuase I understand the permanence and public access of anything that i post. I know that I should begin to create an online presence, but I haven’t yet created a set of “rules for posting”. I believe that I can first, establish these rules, and then make it a conscious point to start and maintain an active online presence. Thanks for the post and good luck
Comment on VR learning for Generation Z by abarnes87
I’m with you Abdhut. With technology, and any experimental investment, start small and grow IF it is worth continuing with the investment. I can relate to your experience. My brother is quite the gadget guy and purchased a nice set of VR recently. He gave me a try and I was instantly impressed with the technology. Since then I have often thought of how to use this technology, and others, in the classroom. My PhD is in building construction. VR definitely could find a place in the classrooms of this applied setting. I just finished reading an article about how traditional lecturing is (and always) has been less than adequate for content retention. Students need to have learning experiences. VR can be a great step in this transition. Thanks again for the post.
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Comment on VR learning for Generation Z by Am I in the Right Room? – Ben Kirkland’s Edu-Blog
[…] technology are going to shift what we can do, and make accessible the inaccessible. Adbhut wrote a good blog with plenty of questions we still need to examine and answer. Using VR?AR, can we experiment with […]
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Comment on VR learning for Generation Z by adbhut
Hi Ben. Thanks for your comment. I really believe VR could be a big game changer. Wow, this scenario sounds so cool, sitting in your room and roaming anywhere in the world with a VR guide. It’s really exciting that you are actually doing research on VR. Looking forward to your blog !
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Comment on VR learning for Generation Z by Ben Kirkland
(You and I might have the same cheapo VR headset!) I think also think creating immersive experiences that are grounded in proper contexts will be a game-changer in education (and more). I also see it like this: Want to learn another language? Personally, I’d like to step up my Spanish game. What if I could walk around the streets of Buenos Aries with a VR guide and have actual conversations within an actual location, all from my classroom, living room, or clinical setting? If I mess up, my guide/teacher can make corrections on the fly and keep the conversation going. I can only imagine it will create a more meaningful learning experience than with flash cards. These ideas are along some lines of research I’m doing with VR/AR. I also believe these technologies will be very powerful tools with a broad range of uses. Whether it’s learn-at-your-own-pace pre-recorded/programmed material or a live-cast socially-interactive feed as mentioned above. It’s probably worth blogging about, maybe to get some feedback from you and others… Thanks for the inspiration!
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