Summary:

The article that I read was written by Jennifer Carey and it discuss that the use of media in the classroom is hear and instead of attempting to stop it, we rather should change our classroom and embrace it.  The main point of this article was discussing how to properly manage a classroom with the use of multimedia.  Since it is not a typical style of learning, it should not be a typical classroom.  "Teachers need to set the expectation of the classroom right away with using devices"  (Carey, 2014)  "Devices should be face-down and in front of the students" (Carey).  The article discussed how teachers need to be constantly moving around the classroom and keeping a lookout while teaching to make sure that students don't get the "Ipad Eye", where you can tell that kids are staring off into space and not engaged  in the lesson.  The biggest difficulty that teachers will have is to change their views about technology as a whole in the classroom.  Don't view them as just a word processor or extension for a lesson.  View them instead as creation devices to allow students to show a whole new level of what they have learned.

Opinion:

While searching for an article about "student engagement with media"  I stumbled across this one and gave it a read.  I found it very enjoyable as classroom management is one of the things that teachers will be encountering as school districts continue the push of 1 to 1 devices.  Since my key assessment had to deal with the use of Socrative, this article was very beneficial to me. One of the biggest things that I took from this article was having students put their phones down and in front of them. This I actually did myself in the classroom and it is a great way to keep and eye on students and what exactly they are doing.  If we embrace the change with technology and actually change the way a typical classroom looks, feels, and operates it usher in a great time in education.

 Carey, J. (2014, December 16). Classroom Management in Connected Classrooms. Retrieved December 15, 2015, from http://edtechteacher.org/classroom-management-mobile-classrooms/ 

Virtual Reality in the classrom.

Summary:

This article was written by Frank Smith.  It goes briefly into how VR in the classroom is going to have one of its biggest years in education with Google Cardboard and Samsung Gear leading the way. Bringing VR into the classroom opens up a world of possibilities from field trips (a lot of districts do not allow classes to go on field trips anymore), skypeing with other classes, to witnessing a certain career through the eyes of that person.  The article briefly touches on how the actual virtual reality works with a smart phone.  It focus more on how company plan on using this technology. 

Opinion:

The one thing that I found very intriguing with this article is the STEM component and the career component.  With a lot of school districts pushing 1 to 1.  It is only a matter of time until VR is mainstream in the classroom.  Frank asked Joe Catlin ( edtech,2015) what he viewed as the most positive impact of VR in the classroom.  Joe mention "I think it'd be a great for students to develop content for the platform.  Having VR in the classroom can help drive STEM and programming classes."  (Edtech,2015).  I found this intriguing that it could be used as an actual class, rather than just a form of teaching.  My favorite part of this article was the VR being used to explore the career of jobs that kids did not even know existed.  Imagine people from all career fields wearing some type of recording device that allows kids to see through their eyes what skills are required for their profession.  This would give kids a great opportunity to view a career before they even start the required coursework for it.

Smith, F. (2015, July 1). ISTE 2015: VR Is Facing Its Biggest Year in Education Ever. Edtech Magazine.