Reflection on EME5050

When I first started with the course, “Technology for Educators”, I had an idea of what to expect, but not really. I thought that the course was just going to be about media literacy and not to use technology in a classroom unless it furthers a student’s education. Yes, these points were mentioned in the course, but I did not expect to be using a plethora of technological tools that half of educators know about. I am a first year teacher and it was great taking the course at the time I am jumping into my education career because every strategy I use in the classroom is new, so it allowed me to test what I was learning in this course easily. I actually have started a web page for my students where they can access homework assignments and information on the current topic. Also, on this page I include links to age appropriate sites where they can expand their knowledge on the topic. I really enjoyed the class, especially being forced to create a Blog because one, I have never written a Blog before and two, because a Blog is a helpful tool to help you reflect on your teaching strategies and what is important to you as an educator. My other favorite aspect of the course was the final project on the curriculum page because it helped me realize that I can include video games in the classroom and it is not as difficult as it seems. When I reflect on the material and the knowledge the professor wanted me to gain, I would have to say that I am certain that I have met all of the expectations of the course and I am grateful for it. I would definitely recommend this course to any one of my colleagues because technology in the classroom needs to happen more often and this is a great gateway to achieving that.

Final Project- Week 13 Blog

https://mrepifano.wikispaces.com/


check out my final page! My idea of incorporating a video game into my classroom. Let me know what you think!

Curriculum Page Feedback

Hello All!

I am excited to post the link to my curriculum page. The grade level that I teach is 6th grade and the subject is World History. On my page, you will be able to find links to my syllabus as well as links for my students to help them with their research. Please give me your feedback!!!

Here is the link to my page: https://mrepifano.wikispaces.com

The Education Arcade

Once again, I was browsing the web to find more articles to support my belief in using Video Games in the classroom, and I came across an article about the University of Wisconsin's education program. Apparently, the University has started a Video Games in education awareness team called the Education Arcade. The main goal of the group is to encourage teachers to use video games in the classroom and also to encourage software developers to develop more games geared to the classroom. I believe that this program is a great idea and UCF should adopt it as well. Not to repeat myself, but video games can be very beneficial in the classroom and it is refreshing that there are a lot of other people that believe this same thing.

Article: http://wtnnews.com/articles/513/

Digital Short Story

Here is the digital short story prezi!

http://prezi.com/wtatocswqsyl/digital-story-telling/

Incorporating Video Games into the Classroom

      So I was searching the internet for more articles about using Video Games in the classroom and I stumbled across an article about using games that are based on sound pedagogy in the classroom. The article was very interesting because it brought up a lot of great points. For example, 3-D images and realms found in video games  can offer a huge extension to the classroom. Also, video games help keep children engaged in the lesson at hand.
    I really want to talk about the extension of the classroom through video games because I recently used a video game in my classroom to help students understand the content knowledge about Greece. I used a game called Rome: Total War "Alexander the Great Expansion" to help a discussion on Greek battle tactics during the era of Alexander the Great. Through the game, I was able to recreate famous battles of Alexander the Great and have the kids help me create the battles too! Needless to say, the kids went wild over the lesson and were engaged in content. The game helped me recreate a battle from a few thousand years ago and display it on my SMART board like a move. Not only could the children learn about the famous battle tactics of ancient Greece, but they could see the landscape and geography of Greece and the Persian battle fronts. Also, the children were able to taste the culture of ancient Greece by seeing what the soldiers looked like compared to the Persian Army.
     Video games are important for the classroom and I believe should be used more. It brings students from the classroom into the content that you are trying to teach.
The html for the article is http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+Quarterly/EDUCAUSEQuarterlyMagazineVolum/SeriousGamesIncorporatingVideo/157412

Video Games and Ratings

I was searching for more interesting sites to see provide me with back up that video games should be used in the classroom and I stumbled across a web site called. http://www.artificialwisdom.com/ that claims to rate games by how much your student can learn from them. The reason I liked this web site so much is because they were not your ordinary games that you would only see on a classroom computer like "Math Blaster" or something along those lines, rather, the games you find on the site are actually main stream games!  For example, a popular title "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" has a rating of  a C+ because although the game is fictional, it takes place in a fictional reenactment of our current world and can be used for geography. Also, another game such as "Assassin's Creed 2"  received a B because it takes place in Italy during the Renaissance and can be used to show students culture in these certain parts of Italy during that time.
     Now, I do believe that some mainstream games can be used in the classroom like "Assassin's Creed 2", but a lot of mainstream games are just made for entertainment and nothing more. It is important that if you are using video games in the classroom, use them for the right reason and not just to mesmerize your kids.

Video games in the classroom

Here is a project I have been working on to include video games into the classroom. check out my blog http://shlappy12.blogspot.com/2011/09/learning-by-playing-video-games.html

Learning by playing video games

I read an interesting article about a year ago in the New York Times online about a teacher who designed a video game with his middle school students to teach about enemy formations. After I read the article, my eyes opened up to new possibilities. For one, I love video games and I would proudly consider myself a gamer. Two, I love education and helping students grow. Before this article, I never thought to put the two together to form a fun classroom experience for the students.
     I currently teach 6th grade world history and I am working on a project to use a video game in the classroom. My students will be covering ancient Rome in a few weeks, so I started working with the game "Rome:Total War" in order to create reenactments of famous battles. I pitched the idea to my students and they are excited. The article that changed my perception can be found at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/19/magazine/19video-t.html.

"Did You Know" response

    First, let me start this post by saying that the "Did You Know" video was pretty eye opening! Even though the video was more of a glance of Iowa public schools, I believe Florida public schools can learn a thing or two from the video. It is true that in this day and age of technology, it seems that education has taken a step back. Personally, I try to incorporate technology into my classroom as much as I possibly can, but without enough funding and  one tech guy with what seems to be a million tech requests, it is hard to keep up with the students idea of technology.
    In regards to the discussion, "Are we doing what is best for our students, or are we doing what is most convenient for us?",  I have two things to say. One, I am in my first year teaching, which means I am bright eyed and my youthful idealism is still intact. With that said, however, it sometimes feels that administration is trying to snuff out that flame of excitement by dumping more and more nonsense on a newbie trying to stay afloat. I am not "administration bashing" because we all know what rolls down hill and they have to do what they have to do, I just wish there was more of a fight then everyone worrying about the guy on top saying "your services are no longer needed". With the amount of work that administration has to do and the amount that educators have to do , I can see how doing what is most convenient seems like the logical choice in regards to our sanity. As fellow educators and administrators, I believe that we need to reshape our focus and do what is best for the students and step away from what is best for the "State".
      Number two, tying this back into our course on technology, sometimes technology can be used as the more convenient way out of a lesson. For example, for those of you who have a smart board, it has a lot of bells and whistles and sometimes for the kids, that is all it takes to keep them behaved. It is important to use technology in education for the sole purpose of helping students become critical thinkers and successful individuals.

I blog and hootcourse therefore I am!

Hey everyone,

    I believe I figured this thing out!

 

Kevin Epifano

My first blog

This is my first blog ever and I hope I did this correctly!