One need only do a Google search, or go on to Twitter or YouTube or explore the different Google + Communities to gain this knowledge. One can get so caught up in the “web” in the acquisition of knowledge, that when they resurface they think time has stood still, but really it was that they were lost in the “flow”. Evidence of this is found in the comments posted on my Google + post that shared the Gamification in Education Google + Community. Jay L stated, “I made the mistake of checking out this link and surfaced an hour later!” Avi shared, ”I come in to hang out for 20 - 30 minutes and get into the flow of people's ideas... and two hours later I "wake up" to discover my tea has gone frigid.” Last week I had a similar experience, as I immersed myself in the study of emerging technology while on a mobile device. To find out about this experience read my blog post “Emerging Technology”.
With the myriad of information out there how does one go about making the right choices? This week in preparation for my seminar on Gamification I spent hours… online viewing videos and images, reading articles, blog posts, infographics, going in to Twitter to scroll through related hashtags and exploring different sites that host online games. It was all consuming. But I was able to narrow my topic and then focus on what I felt was important. During my many hours of exploration I came to wonder, if it is taking me this long to plan one week, how long must it take each of our instructors to plan a course. This made me come to the realization of just how much I am looking forward to the time when I can direct my enthusiasm and energy, whole heartedly, to the application of my learning to my own teaching and course development.
We were asked as part of this course to “Look back over your various OLTD assignments and reflections and pull the overarching or core principles which can guide your teaching.” As I learn about emerging technologies and their application in education and look to the application of my learning to my own teaching practice, the following again resonates with me,
“Effective technology integration for pedagogy around specific subject matter requires developing sensitivity to the dynamic, transactional relationship between these components of knowledge situated in unique contexts. Individual teachers, grade-level, school-specific factors, demographics, culture, and other factors ensure that every situation is unique, and no single combination of content, technology, and pedagogy will apply for every teacher, every course, or every view of teaching.” Matt Koehler (2009)
As we move forward in this course I look forward to being caught in a web as I participate in the seminars on tablet computing and eBooks/eTextbooks.
Resource:
Matt Koehler (2009). TPACK Explained, The Seven Components of TPACK. Retrieved from: http://www.matt-koehler.com/tpack/tpack-explained/