Just a College Kid Thinking and Writing

Everyone said shrinking a 2300+ word synthesis paper into a 500-800 word blog post would be really hard.  I was mostly worried about having to delete many of the sentences I had already written and revised and become attached to.  I was also aware that many of my sources and quotes which I worked so hard to find would most likely be unusable or ineffective which now meant I would have to find new credible sources to backup my claims.  And finally, I was worried that by shrinking my essay I would lose my well-thought out argument or I would not be able to convince a reader in the short amount of space I had.  

Source: ABC

Now, I could sit here all day coming up with different challenges and never actually writing my blog post but that would be a waste of time.  Instead, I tried to push most of those doubts aside and focus on getting it done.

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I started out by researching online articles about technology and education to see if there have been any cases where technology was incorporated into the classroom.  I immediately learned that not only has technology had been incorporated but there were different levels of incorporation and common terms for the different levels.  I viewed different sites to get a comprehensive idea of the different types of education and their respective level of technology involvement.  I also found a lot of research projects providing positive evidence about adding technology into the classroom.  I felt like I hit the jackpot.

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I immediately jumped into writing my blog post about the different types of teaching styles and their own different amounts of incorporation of technology.  As I continued to write my blog post, I found myself getting increasingly interested in the topic.  As a future teacher, I am always looking for the best way to teach my future students.  I genuinely believe that blended learning is the best way to teach students and prepare them for the future.  Because I was so passionate about the topic, I found the blog post relatively easy to write.  As I was finishing my blog post, I honestly felt super lucky that I had discovered such great information and that I became so passionate and interested in my topic because that right there made it so easy to shrink my essay.

Source: NBC

After I had finished my blog post, I was rereading it and was discovering that after the first two paragraphs my writing became very formal, similar to essay or academic writing.   I found it incredibly difficult to incorporate more casual language into my explanations and arguments.  I always struggle with revisions especially final revisions because I often get attached to my work and have a hard time letting it go or changing it even though often it is for the better.  

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This was especially difficult to revise this blog post because as I was writing it I was so confident in my work that I didn’t want to change something I was already very happy with.  However, I did revise my blog post to create a better balance of casual and academic language which is for the best because now my blog post is better than ever.  I got rid of those useless sentences and formal language just as the ghostbusters got rid of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.  Then, I reread it and was happy with my final result.

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I am proud of my final completed blog post.

I am also proud that I pushed through my original fears and charged the mountain with faith in myself and my writing ability.  

I feel very happy that I was able to become so passionate about my arguments and claims.  

I am proud that I did not post an ok version of my draft and instead I pulled myself together and revised it to make it great.  

And finally, I am proud that I did not wait until the last minute to start this blog post.

Well its goodbye for now…

Source: Disney

But I promise there is always tomorrow.

Education is the future.  Technology is the future.  So why not blend the two to produce the best future possible?  I believe that education systems should incorporate technology into the curriculum as much as possible so that they can prepare students in the best possible way for the future.  However, I also value the traditional learning methods.  I am not suggesting we only use an eLearning method for everyone.  I am simply saying why not a blend of the two?

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For those of you who were like me an hour ago and didn’t know what eLearning is, I will help you out.  eLearning is electronic learning which includes online courses and other activities all of which are online.  This is an extreme adaptation of technology into school systems.  eLearning is typically for homeschool students but can be used in any school.

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OR

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Many of us have personal experiences with traditional learning since it is how most of us were taught.  Imagine sitting in your desk with your big textbook and notebook and the teacher lecturing in the front of the room.  Can you see it?  Well, right now you are imagining traditional learning.  This is a more common way of teaching and is often referred to as “old-school”.

Source:http://click4it.org/images/f/f5/Traditional_Learning_vs_eLearning.pdf

Above is a chart explaining the major differences between eLearning and traditional learning.  As you can see, there are pros and cons to both.  For example, students are more involved and engaged in class discussions during eLearning, but also during eLearning, students are mostly working alone and rarely are working in groups which stops them from learning important social skills.  This shows that a combo of the two is the best of both worlds.

Source: Disney

Would you rather have ice cream, a cookie, or both?  I’m assuming that everyone would say both, so if we can/want both desserts, why can’t we have both teaching styles?  Well, we can and it is called blended learning.  Blended learning basically combines eLearning and traditional learning.  In blended learning, students learn from both a teacher and technology based activities.  Blended learning allows students to get the important ideas and explanations taught by a teacher while also learning important skills from technology.  Blended learning allows students to build social skills for the real world as well as technology skills.  If you are interested in learning about the benefits for each person in the school system, you can read more here.

Not only does blended learning sound like it would be more effective, but it also has a lot of research showing that it is the best learning style.  The graphs below both show the successes of blended learning.  

Graph A Source:https://blended.online.ucf.edu/about/benefits-of-blended-learning/

Graph A shows students’ success rates.  This graph means that students’ who are being taught with a blended learning style get better grades than students’ who are being taught with either traditional learning or eLearning.  A rule of thumb for teachers should be to do everything in their power to help students succeed even if that means changing their teaching style.

Graph B Source:https://blended.online.ucf.edu/about/benefits-of-blended-learning/

Graph B shows students’ withdrawal rates.  So basically, this graph shows that students really like blended learning classes and are less likely to drop out of a blended learning class.  Students from traditional learning and eLearning classes do not enjoy their classes as much as blended learning classes. Students really enjoy learning with a blend of “old-school” learning and technology which shows the success of blended learning teaching.

Students’ grades have increased and students enjoy their classes more when they are taught with a blended learning teaching style.  Both of these positive effects give even more reasons for why schools should use a blended learning teaching style.  A blended learning education will give students an opportunity to become comfortable with textbooks and lecturers as well as different forms of technology.  By adding technology into the classrooms while still keeping traditional learning, students will be more prepared for a technology infused future.  So instead of either traditional learning or eLearning, let’s promote the combination of the two with blended learning.

Source: DreamWorks

Well its goodbye for now…

Source: Disney

But I promise there is always tomorrow.