Games in Education

Describe the Instructional Technology Trend.

Games are an effective way to develop students' problem-solving and critical-thinking skills. They present several attributes in their favor, including: They provide an environment in which students can try new things without fear of getting a bad grade; a well-designed game that's fun can keep students engaged for longer than a traditional lesson; games are designed to force players to master a skill, then have them call upon that skill later in order to progress and learn additional skills players will need later.  

How do you think this trend is going to impact learning/education?

Today's generation of teachers grew up playing video games. It's only natural they would want to find ways to incorporate gaming into their teaching. The ubiquity of technology has made game-based learning more feasible than at any other time in history. I think there's a lot of overlap between game-based learning and mobile learning, taking advantage of phones and touchscreens. If there's one thing that Angry Birds has shown us, it's that a game doesn't need to have an enormous budget, or be overly complicated, to be fun to play. A game can be simple and still exercise students' problem-solving capabilities.

As an instructional technologist, what do you need to do to keep up with this trend?

First and foremost, I think I would need to play as many games as I can, both educational and noneducational. I'd play the educational games to see how other educators are incorporating content into the game environment, and I'd play noneducational games to see what games are the most fun, then try to see if there would be any ways to create something similar in an educational context.

Provide two resources for reading that provide more information on this trend and explain why these readings stood out to you.

• Digital game-based learning: This article is produced by LEARN NC, a K-12 educational outreach group I used to work for. This is actually one of the first articles I ever read on game-based learning (note that the sources it cites are fairly old). That said, I think it mostly still holds up, and it covers areas such as using games for special-needs students. I found it a very good starting point for further research.
• The GameIT Handbook: Pretty much what it sounds like, this is a handbook for using games in the classroom. It covers everything from a basic introduction to game-based learning, to what the future holds for educational games.

A Video from the web about the trend

http://www.ted.com/talks/gabe_zichermann_how_games_make_kids_smarter

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Social Media in Education

Describe the Instructional Technology Trend.

Social media in education uses tools like Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, chat rooms, and other manner of interactive, social tools to facilitate instruction and collaboration. By giving students an environment that lets them communicate with a minimum of friction, they are able to ask questions of themselves and the instructor, and to increase each other's understanding. By getting them more engaged, they are able to take more ownership of their own learning.

How do you think this trend is going to impact learning/education?

Social media has been one of the fastest-growing sectors of the internet in the last ten years. Millions of people are on sites such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Given that so many students (and teachers) are already using social media, I think a lot of its uses will be relatively seamless--by which I mean, social media is becoming so ingrained in daily routines of teachers and learners, they will begin to use it for regular communication, class discussions, study groups, collaboration, and several other uses. The use of social media nomenclature like hashtags is becoming more and more universal, which helps students and teachers classify ideas and content in real time.

Furthermore, companies are now adding social functionality such as synchronous chat to their applications to help facilitate group collaboration. I've done several projects in the EIST program that required the use of platforms like Google Docs, which features a chat window that enabled conversation between me and my group members.

Another use that bears mention is social media's use for disseminating information. This can include sharing photos, posting opinions, or creating videos. You can interact with students or other professionals via comments sections that keep the discussion going.

As an instructional technologist, what do you need to do to keep up with this trend?

I need to not only continue to use larger networks like Facebook and Twitter, but to also monitor emerging networks. For example, Ello purports itself to be a social network that puts a premium on protecting personal data. This would be very important for educators, as student privacy is a hot-button issue for many administrators and parents.

Provide two resources for reading that provide more information on this trend and explain why these readings stood out to you.

• Speaking Up in Class, Silently, Using Social Media: This New York Times article covers the benefits of using social media. Among them, the idea that some shy students may open up and contribute more online than they would face-to-face, even when it's for a face-to-face class.
• Emory University Social Media Professional Certificate: This is a real thing that exists, and it costs $2,500. I'm generally pro-social media in class, but I’m not sure how I feel about a professional certificate for social media. While the program is geared toward social media managers in the corporate world, the fact that a prestigious university is expending so many resources to teach about using social media gives me pause. I find myself questioning whether someone couldn't learn the same things just by experimenting with social media rather than spending $2,500.

A Video from the web about the trend

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJiKT2cRLCc

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Learning Analytics

Describe the Instructional Technology Trend.

Learning analytics is the practice of making institutional and instructional decisions based on collected data. The data can involve things like student performance on certain subject areas, but can also include things like teacher performance, survey results, and so on.

How do you think this trend is going to impact learning/education?

Educators can create custom learning experiences for individual learners by carefully analyzing data and implementing the conclusions they make. For example, if students are struggling with a content area, educators can look at data on that particular area to find out exactly what instructional strategies are working and which ones aren't. If most of the class is missing the same question, the teacher can spend extra time on that area, revamp his or her instruction, and even analyze how relevant that area is in the first place.

Further, I think schools are going to make more and more staffing decisions with analytics in mind. If they're not doing so already, schools will begin setting up units of people who do nothing but analyze educational data. Strong data-analysis skills will be as valued on a principal's resume as his or her management skills.

As an instructional technologist, what do you need to do to keep up with this trend?

Obviously, a good way to keep tabs on this trend is to see how other schools are using data. Looking to peers is always a good way to make sure I'm staying current. However, if I wanted to innovate, I think it would be just as important to examine how other industries are using data. For example, there's a subculture in baseball revolving around something called sabermetrics, which uses advanced statistical analysis to decide which players to acquire and which to trade away. Baseball has used statistics for more than one hundred years. Sabermetrics changed baseball because it made a science of discerning which statistics to pay attention to; on-base percentage is more valuable than batting average, for instance. I think educators could follow that example and try to figure out which metrics are more important than others.

Provide two resources for reading that provide more information on this trend and explain why these readings stood out to you.

• Can Education Be ‘Moneyball’-ed?: If I'm going to invoke Moneyball, I should probably look at some of the hazards of implementing that philosophy in education. This piece from Time magazine looks some of the roadblocks to relying on statistical data. Among them, the lack of quality data on things like teacher performance.
• How Learning Analytics Are Being Used In Education: This article on Edudemic shows several examples of how different institutions use analytics. If schools are going to improve their use of analytics, they'll need to stay on the lookout for how others are making data work for them.

A Video from the web about the trend

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