Trying out new Web Tools! This is Animoto, creating videos in a snap
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
A new beginning... an exciting ending
It has been awhile since I reflected on here but yet I do have my reasons. I initially thought my summer would be relaxing. However, it turned out that I am more busy than ever. My quest of becoming a scholar has turned myself into a whirlwind of ideas that keep my mind so occupied I miss out on these vital reflective notes I wrote each night. IN fact, I know that writing on my blog is meditative for me, very relaxing, so I should be vigilant about it!
Anyway, during the summer, well let's say June/July, many things have happened. Here is the short version!
1. My thesis: writing writing writing! And when I was finished the writing and my advisor gave me the ok to send it out to my other committee members I felt totally excited. Wow, what an amazing experience it has been. I actually enjoyed the entire process even though there were many ups and down. I learned so much and will never forget my time at the University of Manitoba. My thesis titled: wikis and TGfU: a collaborative approach to understanding games education has brought me on a different path. Web 2.0 has been on my mind ever since and now, as I embark on my PhD, I somehow wish I could design a research plan to combine the wiki and PE once again, or if not, web 2.0... The problem is once again that I have too many ideas and interests so if anybody out there has any advice, feel free to twitter me. ok, twitter, a web 2.0. tool where you can let people know what you are doing at any point in time, kinda like instant messaging. My twitter name is helenabaert so find me and be my friend!
2. The big move! As I leave Manitoba, I decided to begin a PhD program at the University of Arkansas. So as I am about to write my thesis I had absolutely no time to think about moving. With conferences, thesis, traveling on my mind I decided a moving company would do it all. And so they did. I really did nothing except for pay too much money. But no stress! And that is great, as I had enough stress. So the moving company got my stuff around June 19th and brought it to Arkansas the second week of July. Meaning I was without any of my stuff for about a month. That was a different experience but I managed even if I had to sleep on the floor for a couple of days. I think the only big thing I was missing was my car. Not that I really needed it but it would have been handy. Now, going back for my thesis defense on July 24th, I picked up my car and drove 16 hours to Fayetteville. I did go two hours further to Little Rock, of course but I actually did not mind it at all. It stressed me out before but I did great I think. I drove from Winnipeg to Sioux City on Friday night, left at 4 pm to arrive at midnight. In the morning I left at 8 am to arrive in Little Rock at 6 pm. Long drive but worth it. Now I have my buggy to drive between Fayetteville and Little Rock. But I swore to myself that only for groceries or in extreme weather will I use my car here in Fayetteville! I rather walk or bike! And that is a deal I make to myself!
3. Thesis defense: July 24th, 10 am. An experience I will never forget. I was nervous for the 30 minutes before I started the presentation but once I started I was fine. I had presented parts of it before I think that helped enormously with my comfort level. I really loved every minute of it, especially the questioning afterwards. All good questions, some difficult, some easy, all challenged my mind, which is what I wanted. When it was all said and done, I can't believe that it is now all over. My thesis has been submitted. That is really a weird feeling. I think it is because I don't really feel it is complete. What I mean by that is the following. I know I have much to learn in that area and I am not ready to put that topic away. I became very passionate about using Web 2.0 as instructional tools and submitting that thesis just seemed so final, which I did not like. Even though I knew I had to in order to graduate! So that is why I am thinking, there must be something I can do to combine my love for teaching PE with wikis or Web 2.0. I am thinking, each day... it will come to me I am sure. The first thing that will spark some type of inquiry may be the fact that I will use wikis with the courses I will teach. I guess we will see. Right now, I am taking a summer camp on wikis and I am exploring different wikis to see which one to use in my courses. What I really want to experiment with is attempting to teach a paperless course. Except for the course outline and exam, I wanted to attempt to save a few trees. Can it be possible? Can learning occur without paper?
4. A new start: I began my program at the university of Arkansas. I thought I would start in August 25th but I was wrong. My GA position started on July 1st and in order to get paid, I had to take a summer course. I remember to have a meeting with my advisor on the Tuesday morning and not having a clue about all of this and by Tuesday afternoon I was sitting in my first class. So weird. The class I decided to take was called management in HKRD, a course on higher education, in particular in the area of health, kinesiology, recreation and dance. I think it was great for me to take that course as it could really inspire me to begin this program with confidence. The book we were required to read is called "New Faculty" and I have now finished it. It is a how to guide to becoming a professor. I really enjoyed the book. It was more the assignment that somehow excited me yet stressed me out. We are required to complete an entire study in 3 weeks, which is too short of a time frame. I think if I would have started with a different frame of mind, I would have relieved some stress but I went into the project with much excitement, thinking I would write a great paper. Soon I realized that with my limited experience in quantitative research and limited time to design and implement a survey I could, should and would not create quality work. Yet, perhaps I am creating quality for where I am right now so it just depends on how you look at it.
5. Research project: the study I decided to do was investigating the Multiple intelligences of college athletes and professors to compare the MI's with the teaching methods used. The data is inconclusive due to the sample size but I do think this topic is worth investigating further. I believe that differentiated instruction could be assessed through this examination so I hope to pursue it further. I now have also found a better, more scientifically based instrument to assess MI's. As a second project, I would like to explore the TPI's, or teaching perspectives of GA's and profs and compare these. I think it would be interested, especially in light of the realization that many GA's teach without prior teaching experience and I believe it may assist in the development of becoming a more reflective teacher. So that is an area I would like to explore as well. I also started to think about using the TPI with profs/GA's and with the students. Attempting to design an inventory based on the TPI for students to fill out so they can reflect upon the teaching style the teacher was using. I think that perhaps, the way teachers perceive their teaching may not be the way it is actually received by the students. And, wouldn't you want to know what your students think of your teaching?
Where am I now? 1 week away from finishing the summer course. 2 weeks away from starting 2 weeks of orientations. and 3 weeks away from starting teaching and learning!
To keep me sane: Exercise! ( I should really evaluate the activity level of grad students, I found it extremely difficult at times to find the time, but I do) My goal is to start with the 25 KM (which I ran in 2'43) and do my first 50 Km next spring. So I would like to create a training plan to do so, combining running with biking and strength exercises.
I can do it! Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.
You know, this is very exciting, I am loving every minute of it and my mind has not stopped. The more I think about whether academia is right for me, the more I think it probably is, so that is a good mind set to have at the start of a new program. I will keep you informed on my state of mind as I progress through this program! I promise!
Anyway, during the summer, well let's say June/July, many things have happened. Here is the short version!
1. My thesis: writing writing writing! And when I was finished the writing and my advisor gave me the ok to send it out to my other committee members I felt totally excited. Wow, what an amazing experience it has been. I actually enjoyed the entire process even though there were many ups and down. I learned so much and will never forget my time at the University of Manitoba. My thesis titled: wikis and TGfU: a collaborative approach to understanding games education has brought me on a different path. Web 2.0 has been on my mind ever since and now, as I embark on my PhD, I somehow wish I could design a research plan to combine the wiki and PE once again, or if not, web 2.0... The problem is once again that I have too many ideas and interests so if anybody out there has any advice, feel free to twitter me. ok, twitter, a web 2.0. tool where you can let people know what you are doing at any point in time, kinda like instant messaging. My twitter name is helenabaert so find me and be my friend!
2. The big move! As I leave Manitoba, I decided to begin a PhD program at the University of Arkansas. So as I am about to write my thesis I had absolutely no time to think about moving. With conferences, thesis, traveling on my mind I decided a moving company would do it all. And so they did. I really did nothing except for pay too much money. But no stress! And that is great, as I had enough stress. So the moving company got my stuff around June 19th and brought it to Arkansas the second week of July. Meaning I was without any of my stuff for about a month. That was a different experience but I managed even if I had to sleep on the floor for a couple of days. I think the only big thing I was missing was my car. Not that I really needed it but it would have been handy. Now, going back for my thesis defense on July 24th, I picked up my car and drove 16 hours to Fayetteville. I did go two hours further to Little Rock, of course but I actually did not mind it at all. It stressed me out before but I did great I think. I drove from Winnipeg to Sioux City on Friday night, left at 4 pm to arrive at midnight. In the morning I left at 8 am to arrive in Little Rock at 6 pm. Long drive but worth it. Now I have my buggy to drive between Fayetteville and Little Rock. But I swore to myself that only for groceries or in extreme weather will I use my car here in Fayetteville! I rather walk or bike! And that is a deal I make to myself!
3. Thesis defense: July 24th, 10 am. An experience I will never forget. I was nervous for the 30 minutes before I started the presentation but once I started I was fine. I had presented parts of it before I think that helped enormously with my comfort level. I really loved every minute of it, especially the questioning afterwards. All good questions, some difficult, some easy, all challenged my mind, which is what I wanted. When it was all said and done, I can't believe that it is now all over. My thesis has been submitted. That is really a weird feeling. I think it is because I don't really feel it is complete. What I mean by that is the following. I know I have much to learn in that area and I am not ready to put that topic away. I became very passionate about using Web 2.0 as instructional tools and submitting that thesis just seemed so final, which I did not like. Even though I knew I had to in order to graduate! So that is why I am thinking, there must be something I can do to combine my love for teaching PE with wikis or Web 2.0. I am thinking, each day... it will come to me I am sure. The first thing that will spark some type of inquiry may be the fact that I will use wikis with the courses I will teach. I guess we will see. Right now, I am taking a summer camp on wikis and I am exploring different wikis to see which one to use in my courses. What I really want to experiment with is attempting to teach a paperless course. Except for the course outline and exam, I wanted to attempt to save a few trees. Can it be possible? Can learning occur without paper?
4. A new start: I began my program at the university of Arkansas. I thought I would start in August 25th but I was wrong. My GA position started on July 1st and in order to get paid, I had to take a summer course. I remember to have a meeting with my advisor on the Tuesday morning and not having a clue about all of this and by Tuesday afternoon I was sitting in my first class. So weird. The class I decided to take was called management in HKRD, a course on higher education, in particular in the area of health, kinesiology, recreation and dance. I think it was great for me to take that course as it could really inspire me to begin this program with confidence. The book we were required to read is called "New Faculty" and I have now finished it. It is a how to guide to becoming a professor. I really enjoyed the book. It was more the assignment that somehow excited me yet stressed me out. We are required to complete an entire study in 3 weeks, which is too short of a time frame. I think if I would have started with a different frame of mind, I would have relieved some stress but I went into the project with much excitement, thinking I would write a great paper. Soon I realized that with my limited experience in quantitative research and limited time to design and implement a survey I could, should and would not create quality work. Yet, perhaps I am creating quality for where I am right now so it just depends on how you look at it.
5. Research project: the study I decided to do was investigating the Multiple intelligences of college athletes and professors to compare the MI's with the teaching methods used. The data is inconclusive due to the sample size but I do think this topic is worth investigating further. I believe that differentiated instruction could be assessed through this examination so I hope to pursue it further. I now have also found a better, more scientifically based instrument to assess MI's. As a second project, I would like to explore the TPI's, or teaching perspectives of GA's and profs and compare these. I think it would be interested, especially in light of the realization that many GA's teach without prior teaching experience and I believe it may assist in the development of becoming a more reflective teacher. So that is an area I would like to explore as well. I also started to think about using the TPI with profs/GA's and with the students. Attempting to design an inventory based on the TPI for students to fill out so they can reflect upon the teaching style the teacher was using. I think that perhaps, the way teachers perceive their teaching may not be the way it is actually received by the students. And, wouldn't you want to know what your students think of your teaching?
Where am I now? 1 week away from finishing the summer course. 2 weeks away from starting 2 weeks of orientations. and 3 weeks away from starting teaching and learning!
To keep me sane: Exercise! ( I should really evaluate the activity level of grad students, I found it extremely difficult at times to find the time, but I do) My goal is to start with the 25 KM (which I ran in 2'43) and do my first 50 Km next spring. So I would like to create a training plan to do so, combining running with biking and strength exercises.
I can do it! Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.
You know, this is very exciting, I am loving every minute of it and my mind has not stopped. The more I think about whether academia is right for me, the more I think it probably is, so that is a good mind set to have at the start of a new program. I will keep you informed on my state of mind as I progress through this program! I promise!
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Defense Date set!
After hours and hours of writing frustration, it is finally over. My thesis is completed and now I must present it in an oral defense. I hope all goes well. Coordinating schedules with the committee members was not easy but a July 24th date has been set and I am happy I will be able to graduate this year. As a grad student, it seems crucial to be in contact with your committee members throughout the process and especially around the summer so you can organize your defense around their holidays. Not an easy task, especially when they all take holidays at a different time. Completing my 2 year degree in 1.5 years has caused some issues but I am glad these will all resolve itself. One lesson I have learned is to read all the guidelines of grad school and map out the important deadlines prior to beginning the program. No one is going to guide you through it as in high school or undergrad. It is really up to you to know what your program entails, what your rights are and what you must do to complete it. If you don't know! Ask! Don't expect someone to come up to you and do it for you or pointing you in the right direction. Ofcourse it does help to have a good relationship with your advisor. I had a wonderful relationship with my advisor and I am a bit worried about finding a new one for my PhD program. This relationship can be crucial to the success of your program and your choice of mentor must be carefully thought through.
Happy Canada day to all Canadians! I am suppose to start my GA position at the U of A but I am not sure what to do or where to go so I am just waiting it out. I also am waiting for my furniture to come. I can't believe that my Masters is coming to an end and my PhD is going to begin soon. I am very excited.
Happy Canada day to all Canadians! I am suppose to start my GA position at the U of A but I am not sure what to do or where to go so I am just waiting it out. I also am waiting for my furniture to come. I can't believe that my Masters is coming to an end and my PhD is going to begin soon. I am very excited.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...
I guess that is what I am trying to do while writing my thesis. Keep going without losing it completely! AH, thesis writing is a time of pressure but it is also a time of closure as the end of a program is near. As this accumulation activity evolves before my eyes, I often reflect on when this process began. Why back in 2004 I wanted to start a Masters but did not just because I wanted to teach for a couple of years in a public school. I thought I would be a hypocrite if I taught teacher candidates how to teach without actually having the experience teaching in public schools. Now I must say that teaching PE, whether I was in a public school, private school, summer camp or after school programming, it is the same. Really, my teaching did not really change just because I taught in a public school. What did change was my experience with administration and politics and all that jazz. Stuff you rather not know anything about but I guess it is part of the deal. Anyway, makes you think that if teaching is teaching no matter where you teach, than that assumption may create more options for student teaching practicum in PETE programs.
However, I must say that I taught sports to large groups before teaching smaller classes. I also did my practicum in many different schools over 3 years. So maybe that assumption was not correct. What the heck am I talking about?
I have no clue, really, I am out of it and should not even be writing anything on this blog as I am writing my thesis. AAAAAAAHHH A couple more days. Finish Chapter 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, now I am writing chapter 6 which is half way done. Really, I have one more day of writing and than editing. Not that bad considering so I should be happy! Right? AH, well, I will be happy once my advisor tells me it's a go! Yes! That is when I will be satisfied! Next, defense, cruel it is, and than holiday? HA! Fat chance! I start work on July 1st. Ohh well, my choice I know... I know...
Just keep swimming....
Just keep swimming...
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
PHETE Night
On a Monday evening, in Banana Leaf Restaurant in Vancouver, on the last evening of the Congress, a team of scholars ( and me), shared a wonderful meal spiced with tales of the past. Being in the midst of these scholars, I felt honored and privileged. As they had many experiences, both in life and academia, I knew they would be a great resource for me as a graduate student. Even though I will read many texts starting September 08, I thought the summer would be a great time to read books that would not appear on my course list but maybe a valuable inspiration to me as a learner, a teacher or a friend. The opportunity to ask experienced writers, scholars and academics to compile my summer reading was the beginning of this quest.
The books above were kindly and purposely listed by the other PHETE members.
I asked the following question:
As a graduate student, I wish for you to each think of a book that would be worthwhile reading within my journey through graduate school. As I embark on doctoral studies, a summer reading list to inspire and ignite questions and perhaps answers which may challenge or sooth my quest for knowledge acquisition at a different level.
For myself, I pose the questions:
- What do these books tell me about myself, life and education?
- How can these books assist me within my graduate work?
- As inspired by scholars in the area of education, why did they provide me with these books What can these books tell me about the scholars who chose them?
- How will these books shape me and how did these books shape them?
The Congress 2008, a worthwhile trip for learning and listening and creating community. Even though I spent most of my visit to Vancouver in my room writing my thesis, I am thankful for the opportunity to meet some amazing scholars.
This summer, as soon as my master thesis is completed, I will read these books and will record my reflections in this blog as I go along. I will also invite the PHETE Committee to join and respond to my reflections.
Sincerely,
PHETE Graduate REP
Friday, May 30, 2008
Finding balance
I am attending the 2008 Congress here in Vancouver and have just completed a pre-conference workshop for new scholars. It was somewhat interesting. There was a panel of 4 scholars talking about finding balance. I don't think the workshop was for me really, I think it was more geared towards new profs. So that makes me believe that the words "new scholar" should be defined. When do you become a scholar? When you publish? Am I a new scholar? when you have obtained your PhD? Anyway, I thought it was for grad students and although many of the attendees were grad students, the questions posed were mainly about beginning profs and the advice given by senior profs. The big point of advice was creating that sense of community amongst profs and finding a place for you, seeking out people who can support and work with and for you. One thing, from all 4 panels that I did not get is: balance. Yeah yeah, good advice, but how do you balance it all. Is saying "no" really the answer? Or you giving up opportunities? Which opportunities should you say no too? It seems to me, from listening to these panels that it all depends on you. So if it is all personal, shouldn't we just go for it and perhaps we get burnt perhaps we have success? It was all a bit confusing. It seems to me that all 4 brought very different experiences to the table and that there is no right or wrong answer to live and work successfully in academia. Now, that is a statement: live and work successfully!
I want to know how you can do that. In fact, live and work successfully may be defined very differently from one person to the next, so how can we even decide on that course before we embark? I should therefore just look inside myself and figure out what I want in life and what living and working successfully is to me.
Yet, it is not that simple as rules and regulation and the hierarchy in universities may encourage or hinder that success. That is what is new to me. I think by explaining what I want in life and work personally and than find a program/university to fit that life style will be a vital choice in my future. I don't believe it should be the other way: that you must change depending on the university you decide to teach in. I don't know if I am completely crazy thinking this way but that is what I think I would like to do.
I want to live and work in a smaller community that has a small or medium size university or teachers' college. I also need to be close to nature and I must be able to explore nature in person, meaning I need to be able to go outside and be active outdoors. I would want to live in a safe community that values activity and health and it would be great to have a community where I can ride my bike safely, just as I did in Europe. I want to be able to raise children in that community and want them to go to good schools that instill the same values that I will at home.
As for my work, I want to be able to teach teachers and do action research within teacher education. I also would like strong partnerships with the schools as I want to focus in on the transition into the teaching profession and how to smooth that transition through closer collaboration between universities and schools. Oh and I would like a few lakes and mountains. haha
I know I can find that, I have yet to look for it as it is a ways off but one day I will. Most importantly is that for me, it is not important to become a "big" (whatever that means) "scholar", but I want to be a "valued" "teacher" for teachers.
That being said, I must get back to my thesis or else that dream above will never become a reality!
I want to know how you can do that. In fact, live and work successfully may be defined very differently from one person to the next, so how can we even decide on that course before we embark? I should therefore just look inside myself and figure out what I want in life and what living and working successfully is to me.
Yet, it is not that simple as rules and regulation and the hierarchy in universities may encourage or hinder that success. That is what is new to me. I think by explaining what I want in life and work personally and than find a program/university to fit that life style will be a vital choice in my future. I don't believe it should be the other way: that you must change depending on the university you decide to teach in. I don't know if I am completely crazy thinking this way but that is what I think I would like to do.
I want to live and work in a smaller community that has a small or medium size university or teachers' college. I also need to be close to nature and I must be able to explore nature in person, meaning I need to be able to go outside and be active outdoors. I would want to live in a safe community that values activity and health and it would be great to have a community where I can ride my bike safely, just as I did in Europe. I want to be able to raise children in that community and want them to go to good schools that instill the same values that I will at home.
As for my work, I want to be able to teach teachers and do action research within teacher education. I also would like strong partnerships with the schools as I want to focus in on the transition into the teaching profession and how to smooth that transition through closer collaboration between universities and schools. Oh and I would like a few lakes and mountains. haha
I know I can find that, I have yet to look for it as it is a ways off but one day I will. Most importantly is that for me, it is not important to become a "big" (whatever that means) "scholar", but I want to be a "valued" "teacher" for teachers.
That being said, I must get back to my thesis or else that dream above will never become a reality!
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Thesis Time!
A journey it is and active, yes, I have yet to relax this week. It has been hectic as I am between two conference, dealing with finishing a paper for publication, my thesis and moving to Arkansas. Trying to minimize the cost is a challenge but I will do it.
My thesis writing is going OK. I will know more next week.
My goal, and I must have these short time goals or I go nuts, are:
- Get the structure of the findings done
- Get the free writing done
This by the end of the Congress, which is June 3rd, the day I fly to LR. So I have less than a week, spending most of today on running errands for the move in the hope tomorrow will be a writing day. Thursday I will arrive in Vancouver at 8 am so I hope that I can take most of that day as writing as well.
Friday: New Scholars workshop (am), writing (pm).
Sat/Sun: depending on the writing I will be either writing or doing a few sessions at the conference (which I would prefer but we can not always have what we want, priorities priorities!)
Mon: J. presents so I want to go see that and after that me and C. present as well.
Than I have the rest of the day to discuss the thesis or to write.
Tuesday, I have to travel to LR so not a lot will get done.
And than Starting next Wed it will be writing until it is done!
Is it a roller coaster? yes, up and down, or more like 5 steps forward, 6 steps back, slow process!
Hope I get to express how I am feeling during these trying times, but I may not have time.
Wonder why?
My thesis writing is going OK. I will know more next week.
My goal, and I must have these short time goals or I go nuts, are:
- Get the structure of the findings done
- Get the free writing done
This by the end of the Congress, which is June 3rd, the day I fly to LR. So I have less than a week, spending most of today on running errands for the move in the hope tomorrow will be a writing day. Thursday I will arrive in Vancouver at 8 am so I hope that I can take most of that day as writing as well.
Friday: New Scholars workshop (am), writing (pm).
Sat/Sun: depending on the writing I will be either writing or doing a few sessions at the conference (which I would prefer but we can not always have what we want, priorities priorities!)
Mon: J. presents so I want to go see that and after that me and C. present as well.
Than I have the rest of the day to discuss the thesis or to write.
Tuesday, I have to travel to LR so not a lot will get done.
And than Starting next Wed it will be writing until it is done!
Is it a roller coaster? yes, up and down, or more like 5 steps forward, 6 steps back, slow process!
Hope I get to express how I am feeling during these trying times, but I may not have time.
Wonder why?
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Emotional Scaffolding
Talking about an emotional roller coaster! I was doing just fine this morning, yet I fell apart completely by 10 pm. Why? Maybe it is the fact that I at time, as many grad students seem to experience, can't see the trees in the forest. My tasks are simple:
1) Write paper by this weekend (due June 1 but allowing time for edits) on my TGfU poster.
2) Write thesis.
In fact, I should not even be worrying about the thesis, see doing it again! Right now, I am focused, or at least should be on my paper, which talks about a small part of my thesis and may in fact be a chapter in my thesis, which is always a good thing. However, realizing that this paper will be 4500 words, I starting thinking that my thesis should include a various amount of chapters all about 4500 words each, which is just stupid to think that but alas.
After communicating my plans for the paper with one of my committee members, I heard what in fact I knew, that I should focus on my paper on one aspect of the thesis. While I created my poster in a more general sense, writing a paper like that would mean submitting an entire thesis. So, when I thought of wikis and TGfU: a collaborative approach to games education, I decided to take a closer look at collaboration in wikis, and how collaboration affects learning. In fact, through the study, I found out that in order for students to learn more about games education, not just superficial learning but really learning or "deep learning", the students expressed that they must do 3 things: collaborate, equally contribute and communicate. The word collaboration in a wiki means creating interactions with the content, yet because the content is created by the students, it means to have interactions with the various levels of text, created, edited and enhanced by students. Learning seems to happen by building on their own previous knowledge and on each other's ideas. This notion of scaffolding comes from Vygotsky who looks at teaching from a student centered approach. Scaffolding means creating knowledge from the ground up. You start with the student, who brings with him/her experiences and knowledge, which is different from anyone. In order to enhance that knowledge, teaching new knowledge is in order. A variety of ways exist to teach concepts that are new, but from a student centered approach, direct teaching would not be one of them. If you teach in a direct fashion you would tell the student the knowledge you think it needs to know, without considering whether or not that student has the necessary prior knowledge to understand the new concepts. The way that I learn, and I truly believe it is the only way I learn, is by building onto my prior knowledge. I still remember times where something very simple was taught to me, but unless I memorized for the sake of memorizing, i would not understand the concept because I could not relate to it. If there was nothing in my repertoire that would somehow relate to the concept I was suppose to understand, there was no way I would remember it, let alone understand it. So, the only way I learnt was by teaching me something that would build on something that I already knew. Now, I am sure I am not the only one that learns this way and in fact, I think most students learn this way. If this is the case, than the only way to teach is student centered from the bottom up. First, getting to know you students and what they know, and second, build on their learning. This, with a class of 30 may not always be possible, even though I could come up with some projects that would proceed in that way. Technology, more specifically wikis can actually facilitate this process. In fact, let's say you begin with a certain heading, for example: history of TGfU. Through research, students will find the answers, because history is written somewhere and you pretty much have to find accurate sources so you can validate that what you are writing down is in fact the history behind TGfU. To do so, you should check different sources, a form of triangulation. teaching applications, skills and concepts, are all things that could easily be found through research as well. This shows me that when students did not provide the wiki with the correct content, the students did not triangulate or check a variety of sources. They also did not read and try to understand the parts because if they would have read the content, they may have noticed it was not correct. Also a factor may be that the model was not in their prior knowledge. This would be unlikely as they were taught these concept in class before hand and as they are working in groups of 7, I am sure one student understood. Than again, if one student creates text, did other read it? So there could be many causes for failing to provide the content under the scaffold the teacher provided. If the students, in the pilot, did not get the scaffold, it must be more clearly defined. The third section of the wiki requested that the students apply their knowledge in developing games according to the TGfU approach. This section is where most students struggled. IN fact, the findings show that starting in week 4, most students explained they were lost. They just did not understand was they needed to go, so students just added something. Because we wanted to see if a wiki and scaffolds could hold on its own, the teacher refrained from interfering. The study shows that the students reflected on their frustrations in the journals but did not ask the teacher any questions on how to do it. This shows me that either they thought that the teacher would respond to the journals and because the teacher did not, they must have been doing something right or, it may also be that they thought they could solve the problem as a group and once one student added text, the rest went with it. Even if a student really knew it was not the right way, they still went with it. This also may have to do with the length of the project as it was a pilot, 5 weeks. So, in order for a student to meet the weekly requirements, they just complied with the rest of the group, even though some may knew that it was not correct.
Scaffolding, as I mentioned starts from the bottom up. First the teacher provides scaffolds, meaning headings or titles. These should create a reaction from the students so they would interact with the content in form of doing research and submit their findings below. This process does not require a lot of thought so it should be easy if the scaffold provided is in fact a specific concept, such as history for example. The teacher provided history and philosophy scaffolds for the students in order for them to understand the foundation of this approach. Later on, as the students were to design their own games according to the approach, they had to know and understand the approach to do so. But in fact, the third section seemed extremely difficult for the students. Only one group actually managed to complete the task, however, the games were not in progression as was requested. The two games belonged to the same category but did not show a connection between them. You could not flow from one progression to the next.
This shows me that the third step was too big of a step. I assume that because of the massive response of the students, who just did not get it, but also from my own experience teaching the approach. When teaching how to build a progression according to the TGfU model, I started with an initial warm-up game (modified), than practice tasks within game forms connected to the modified game and the tactical objective and later flowing into another game, which would focus in on practice and assessment. I still recall that it took some time for students to understand that progression and I made it as simple as possible. I say simple, because I focused mainly on tactics and also I explained mainly creating open space. I also did not mention the pedagogical principles of exaggeration and simplification and so on. The reason why in fact,in theory I did cover all of the 6 steps in the TGfU model, but not in practice is because I only had one class and needed to keep it simple. I also followed lessons where the students needed to create lesson plans on BMS with those 3 parts in mind (warm-up, acquiring, closing activity). IN order to show consistency, the only thing I changed was adding the tactical focus and teaching using questioning.
Knowing that that is the only two aspects I changed and still students had some difficulty, the scaffolds provided on the wiki could have been too complex. I believe that with a simple template, where each section is clearly defined, the students could have been more successful.
When going back to scaffolding again, the first two sections initiated and facilitated scaffolding, meaning, students were able to feed of each other and build on each others' knowledge. The good thing about wikis and working as a class or group is that you combine strengths. So, some students who have prior knowledge on the subject can start and others can build on as they begin to understand the concepts themselves. In the final section, scaffolding did not seem to occur much. The only time students were scaffolding is directly related to the games, meaning the explanation of the games, which were new and possible modification to the games. Students have long been introduced to adaptation of games and how to do that. So many of the students reflected in their journals that from reading the game, they were able to add something to it, to make to game more or less challenging. The students did not however see the need to produce the progression of games. Only one student reflected upon his frustrations that the games are not in a progressive form, they are simple independent games and he felt it was wrong. That the games should be connected in some way from simple to more complex, just as he was taught in class. From the researcher's perspective, if only one student realizes the intent of the scaffold, than that shows that the scaffold did not initiate the process of scaffolding. It shows that scaffolds need to be produced in small steps, one at a time and they should be clearly defined so students know what is asked of them.
I am suddenly realizing that I just wrote the outline of my paper, even though this is much of a reflective piece and the voice of the students must still be integrated, I feel much better now, realizing that I can take this and organize my thoughts better.
I wrote my title as emotional scaffolding because I think I build on my own feelings. If I feel down, I usually think of good things in order to alter the course of my emotions. This time however, it is not as easy to get out of this mood and if you begin to think about one stressful thing that leads to another and yet another, soon, you lose control and break down. That is pretty much what happened. I was doing well today but seeing how much work I had to do made me focus on things I had to do next week and deadlines that are creeping up, instead of thinking of one concept after another just as I had outlined: scaffolding, scaffolding in wikis, wikis and TGfU,...
Next time I should get to my blog sooner so I would avoid the hassle of the emotional roller coaster, as I know, for me, that reflecting upon my experiences clears things up in my head. Suddenly I can see trees!
1) Write paper by this weekend (due June 1 but allowing time for edits) on my TGfU poster.
2) Write thesis.
In fact, I should not even be worrying about the thesis, see doing it again! Right now, I am focused, or at least should be on my paper, which talks about a small part of my thesis and may in fact be a chapter in my thesis, which is always a good thing. However, realizing that this paper will be 4500 words, I starting thinking that my thesis should include a various amount of chapters all about 4500 words each, which is just stupid to think that but alas.
After communicating my plans for the paper with one of my committee members, I heard what in fact I knew, that I should focus on my paper on one aspect of the thesis. While I created my poster in a more general sense, writing a paper like that would mean submitting an entire thesis. So, when I thought of wikis and TGfU: a collaborative approach to games education, I decided to take a closer look at collaboration in wikis, and how collaboration affects learning. In fact, through the study, I found out that in order for students to learn more about games education, not just superficial learning but really learning or "deep learning", the students expressed that they must do 3 things: collaborate, equally contribute and communicate. The word collaboration in a wiki means creating interactions with the content, yet because the content is created by the students, it means to have interactions with the various levels of text, created, edited and enhanced by students. Learning seems to happen by building on their own previous knowledge and on each other's ideas. This notion of scaffolding comes from Vygotsky who looks at teaching from a student centered approach. Scaffolding means creating knowledge from the ground up. You start with the student, who brings with him/her experiences and knowledge, which is different from anyone. In order to enhance that knowledge, teaching new knowledge is in order. A variety of ways exist to teach concepts that are new, but from a student centered approach, direct teaching would not be one of them. If you teach in a direct fashion you would tell the student the knowledge you think it needs to know, without considering whether or not that student has the necessary prior knowledge to understand the new concepts. The way that I learn, and I truly believe it is the only way I learn, is by building onto my prior knowledge. I still remember times where something very simple was taught to me, but unless I memorized for the sake of memorizing, i would not understand the concept because I could not relate to it. If there was nothing in my repertoire that would somehow relate to the concept I was suppose to understand, there was no way I would remember it, let alone understand it. So, the only way I learnt was by teaching me something that would build on something that I already knew. Now, I am sure I am not the only one that learns this way and in fact, I think most students learn this way. If this is the case, than the only way to teach is student centered from the bottom up. First, getting to know you students and what they know, and second, build on their learning. This, with a class of 30 may not always be possible, even though I could come up with some projects that would proceed in that way. Technology, more specifically wikis can actually facilitate this process. In fact, let's say you begin with a certain heading, for example: history of TGfU. Through research, students will find the answers, because history is written somewhere and you pretty much have to find accurate sources so you can validate that what you are writing down is in fact the history behind TGfU. To do so, you should check different sources, a form of triangulation. teaching applications, skills and concepts, are all things that could easily be found through research as well. This shows me that when students did not provide the wiki with the correct content, the students did not triangulate or check a variety of sources. They also did not read and try to understand the parts because if they would have read the content, they may have noticed it was not correct. Also a factor may be that the model was not in their prior knowledge. This would be unlikely as they were taught these concept in class before hand and as they are working in groups of 7, I am sure one student understood. Than again, if one student creates text, did other read it? So there could be many causes for failing to provide the content under the scaffold the teacher provided. If the students, in the pilot, did not get the scaffold, it must be more clearly defined. The third section of the wiki requested that the students apply their knowledge in developing games according to the TGfU approach. This section is where most students struggled. IN fact, the findings show that starting in week 4, most students explained they were lost. They just did not understand was they needed to go, so students just added something. Because we wanted to see if a wiki and scaffolds could hold on its own, the teacher refrained from interfering. The study shows that the students reflected on their frustrations in the journals but did not ask the teacher any questions on how to do it. This shows me that either they thought that the teacher would respond to the journals and because the teacher did not, they must have been doing something right or, it may also be that they thought they could solve the problem as a group and once one student added text, the rest went with it. Even if a student really knew it was not the right way, they still went with it. This also may have to do with the length of the project as it was a pilot, 5 weeks. So, in order for a student to meet the weekly requirements, they just complied with the rest of the group, even though some may knew that it was not correct.
Scaffolding, as I mentioned starts from the bottom up. First the teacher provides scaffolds, meaning headings or titles. These should create a reaction from the students so they would interact with the content in form of doing research and submit their findings below. This process does not require a lot of thought so it should be easy if the scaffold provided is in fact a specific concept, such as history for example. The teacher provided history and philosophy scaffolds for the students in order for them to understand the foundation of this approach. Later on, as the students were to design their own games according to the approach, they had to know and understand the approach to do so. But in fact, the third section seemed extremely difficult for the students. Only one group actually managed to complete the task, however, the games were not in progression as was requested. The two games belonged to the same category but did not show a connection between them. You could not flow from one progression to the next.
This shows me that the third step was too big of a step. I assume that because of the massive response of the students, who just did not get it, but also from my own experience teaching the approach. When teaching how to build a progression according to the TGfU model, I started with an initial warm-up game (modified), than practice tasks within game forms connected to the modified game and the tactical objective and later flowing into another game, which would focus in on practice and assessment. I still recall that it took some time for students to understand that progression and I made it as simple as possible. I say simple, because I focused mainly on tactics and also I explained mainly creating open space. I also did not mention the pedagogical principles of exaggeration and simplification and so on. The reason why in fact,in theory I did cover all of the 6 steps in the TGfU model, but not in practice is because I only had one class and needed to keep it simple. I also followed lessons where the students needed to create lesson plans on BMS with those 3 parts in mind (warm-up, acquiring, closing activity). IN order to show consistency, the only thing I changed was adding the tactical focus and teaching using questioning.
Knowing that that is the only two aspects I changed and still students had some difficulty, the scaffolds provided on the wiki could have been too complex. I believe that with a simple template, where each section is clearly defined, the students could have been more successful.
When going back to scaffolding again, the first two sections initiated and facilitated scaffolding, meaning, students were able to feed of each other and build on each others' knowledge. The good thing about wikis and working as a class or group is that you combine strengths. So, some students who have prior knowledge on the subject can start and others can build on as they begin to understand the concepts themselves. In the final section, scaffolding did not seem to occur much. The only time students were scaffolding is directly related to the games, meaning the explanation of the games, which were new and possible modification to the games. Students have long been introduced to adaptation of games and how to do that. So many of the students reflected in their journals that from reading the game, they were able to add something to it, to make to game more or less challenging. The students did not however see the need to produce the progression of games. Only one student reflected upon his frustrations that the games are not in a progressive form, they are simple independent games and he felt it was wrong. That the games should be connected in some way from simple to more complex, just as he was taught in class. From the researcher's perspective, if only one student realizes the intent of the scaffold, than that shows that the scaffold did not initiate the process of scaffolding. It shows that scaffolds need to be produced in small steps, one at a time and they should be clearly defined so students know what is asked of them.
I am suddenly realizing that I just wrote the outline of my paper, even though this is much of a reflective piece and the voice of the students must still be integrated, I feel much better now, realizing that I can take this and organize my thoughts better.
I wrote my title as emotional scaffolding because I think I build on my own feelings. If I feel down, I usually think of good things in order to alter the course of my emotions. This time however, it is not as easy to get out of this mood and if you begin to think about one stressful thing that leads to another and yet another, soon, you lose control and break down. That is pretty much what happened. I was doing well today but seeing how much work I had to do made me focus on things I had to do next week and deadlines that are creeping up, instead of thinking of one concept after another just as I had outlined: scaffolding, scaffolding in wikis, wikis and TGfU,...
Next time I should get to my blog sooner so I would avoid the hassle of the emotional roller coaster, as I know, for me, that reflecting upon my experiences clears things up in my head. Suddenly I can see trees!
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