Social Media

 Personal learning environments (PLEs) are defined as systems that enable self-directed and group based learning. With the advantage of having great flexibility and customization, PLEs are designed around individual's skills and goals, in order to enhance learning to it's fullest potential. "It involves sociological and philosophical considerations and cannot be packaged, passed out, and handed around as a cell phone or tablet computer could. Widespread adoption of PLEs, once the tools and approaches are clearer, will almost certainly also require a shift in attitudes toward technology, teaching, and learning," (Johnson, L., Adams, S., and Haywood, K., 2011, p. 30). In a sense, PLEs are giving students control over their education. Rather than a traditional, passive education in which the teacher is the center of the classroom, personal learning environments encourage students to actively learn by developing their learning plans and tools, with the teacher as a mentor. "In concept, personal learning environments would encourage students to approach learning in ways best suited to their individual needs. Visual learners, for example, might be able to obtain material from a different source than auditory learners. Students using PLEs may further benefit from the practice of keeping track of, and curating, their own resource collections. Personal learning environments are seen as a way to shift the control over learning - particularly it's pace, style, and direction - to the learner," (Johnson, L., Adams, S., and Haywood, K., 2011, p. 31). Some authors have contemplated whether social networking tools should be included in a PLE. Research has shown promising results, such as a high school in Georgia using a tool to create customized dashboards that resemble the curriculum in appealing ways toward each student. The use of this media, such as tagging, blogging, iTunes, wikis, etc. can be used by teachers in all domains, including math, science, and English. 

Personal learning environments are of advantage to both the teachers and students. Technology is helping teachers create online spaces for their classes that include solely the resources and materials they want their students to have access too. In addition, students are able to create and collaborate through these online classrooms, personalizing the spaces towards their individual interests and studies. However, as the Internet becomes more prominent in the classroom, schools are beginning to face a dilemma with access and filtering policies. The Internet contains a vast variety of information and websites, some in which students should not come into contact with. Therefore it is crucial that teachers tame and organize the web used in schools.

I joined several groups on Diigo, all having the underlying theme of education. Web Tools for Educators, for example, contains multiple links posted by other members with useful tools for teaching. One of the most recent posts included resources on Black History Month; another offered a link to create quick online quizzes, for free! I think Diigo is a great way to network with people in similar fields as me.  

Gaming

Game-based learning does have various benefits when used in an educational setting. There are several types of games, ranging from traditional pen and paper word searches to virtual multiplayer games on the computer. Educational games can be categorized into three groups: digital games, non-digital games, and collaborative digital games. "Open-ended, challenge-based, truly collaborative games have tremendous potential to transform higher education. Games like these, which occur in both massively multiplayer online (MMO) and non-digital forms, can draw on skills for research, writing, collaboration, problem-solving, public speaking, leadership, digital literacy, and media-making. When embedded in the curriculum, they offer a path into the material that allows the student to learn how to learn along with mastering, and truly owning, the subject matter. These games lend themselves to curricular content, requiring students to discover and construct knowledge in order to solve problems. They are challenging to design well, but the results can be transformative," (Johnson, L., Smith, R., Willis, H., Levine A., and Haywood, K., 2011, p. 22). In other words, research has shown that game-based learning is integrating curriculum content in a fun, new way that challenges students to use a more complex and creative thinking process. 

The first website I visited was PBS. Their games were intended for the preschool age, and included various different links for fun games to improve memory retention and fine motor skills. For example, one of the games was "Paint by Letters." The student was expected to use a virtual paintbrush to paint different portions of the picture with the paint corresponding to a specific letter. The second website I visited was UpToTen Games Galore! This website offered age appropriate games for children ranging from the toddler years to ten years old. The games require students to use various skills in order to master levels. Examples are puzzles, coordination games, puzzles, coloring/painting and racing. There was even special features that took virtual tours "around the world." The last website I visited was Cool Math, which included free, online math lessons and games. Pre-calculus, calculus, algebra, and geometry were all featured on the site. Personally, I though this website was very cool, and a great way to creatively stimulate students' minds. "Early studies of consumer games helped to identify the aspects of games that make them especially engaging and appealing to players of various ages and of both genders: the feeling of working toward a goal; the possibility of attaining spectacular successes; the ability to problem-solve, collaborate with others, and socialize; an interesting story line; and other characteristics," (Johnson, L., Smith, R., Willis, H., Levine A., and Haywood, K., 2011, p. 20). I feel that all three websites I visited did a good job of integrating these different aspects of gaming into their sites.