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When I first read this article, I was skeptical as to how effective Virtual Realty would be in treating PTSD. I just don't understand how reliving a traumatizing experience over and over makes it less bearable. Well according to an article I found, it seems to work. According to the Journal Cybertherapy and Rehabilitation, virtual reality exposure therapy has shown a 66 to 90 success rate. That is impressive. My only question would be what are the side effects of exposure to this type of therapy. http://www.thedailybeast.com/the-hero-project/articles/2013/09/26/virtual-reality-video-games-may-be-the-best-treatment-for-ptsd.html

I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Of course, all these tools that we use for education are certainly out there and available to others who can use it in other ways.

One of many ways terrorists are using to plan attacks.

This video talks about technology at an early age. https://youtu.be/z2CveFF3npA

It is very important to focus on a toddler's developmental needs. For example, if we look at Maslow's Higherarchy of Needs, one stage can not be started until the one below it is achieved. Where does technology fit into all of this? If we are creating technology addicts, then these students' needs are not being fulfilled. We need to provide good models and teach good digital citizenship so that these 21 century learners have proper development as they grow. How can we do this? We need to monitor what they do on the devices that are accessible to them. Teachers need to select quality websites for students to search on. It is up to the experts to act like it, and parents to monitor and guide their children with electronic devices in the same way they do for other lessons.

I think that providing a "flat classroom" gives the learners of the 21st century a better outlook of what the internet and "connecting" looks like outside of social purposes. This helps set the students up for more success as the move into higher education and into their careers. Having these skills will be extremely beneficial for the students in the future. Skype for learn purposes has come a long way in the past years. Similar to virtual field trips, a presenter through Skype is bringing opportunities to students that is cost effective and influential for students. I think companies are more willing to allow their employee to visit through Skype than in person. It also allows the ability to meet with others that are not in the immediate area to connect.

Ana Suarez: You are totally right, safety is the most important. In fact, at the beginning of the year what I say to my new students' parents is, before learning, safety first. I thought that the best way to ensure that students stay on task is for them to record their Skype educational interactions. Skype doesn't have a tool to record, but there are software like SuperTintin Skype Recorder that is used by many people. Download.com is a rating website I have known for almost 20 years, and they rate it with 4 stars. http://download.cnet.com/SuperTintin-Skype-Recorder/3000-2150_4-10656468.html This is the direct link to it http://www.supertintin.com/ It is true that teachers fear not being the knowledge center, but I think this is because students value more a teacher when they see him/her as someone they can look for explanations, solutions, and knowledge. Still, we have to evolve and let the students interact and discover the world too.

Brandy Hanak: You are right, these tools will be very important for the students' to identify and learn that they can be used for professional purposes and not just for socializing. You mention a very important point. Skype allows students to connect with people that are far and could be impossible for them to come. The cost for a face to face presentation is so high that most companies do not invest in it. Being able to present at a distant opens doors to benefit everyone.

I was thinking about all the various uses of video web 2.0 technologies that is used for e-learning. While I recognize that Skype is an excellent way for students to "interact" and learn together- I am aware that Skype doesn't allow more than 10 students to meet at once. I recognize that this article was written in 2010 and I know that there is a great improvement and more video web 2.0 tech/apps out there that allows for virtual collaborative learning beyond a one-to-one interaction. We have Blackboard Collaborate, Fuze Meeting, appear.in, Google HangOut, and many more that does give more of a "classroom" feel. Incidental learning is also very important (students to get more than just one opinion, but comments, backgrounds, reactions from rest of their peers.) Hmm. just my thoughts :)

Skype would definitely be a great way to get professionals to "come" and talk to students. I don't see why employers would have a problem with this, they already allow employees to attend the in person career days. This would be a great idea for those employers that are not in the area. I can see this being a great tool for science and technology, to get professionals from the fields to give workshops to students. This is one of things I tell my students. They may know how to use their devices for socializing or gaming, but they have no idea how to use them for educational purposes. With how technologically advanced we are, you'd think students would know how to use their resources. The biggest downfall of students not knowing how to use their technology as an educational resource, tells me that they do now know how to use it to problem solve. I think this is where our focus needs to be with our students. Ensuring that the technology we use in our classroom is not something just for fun, but a tool that we are going to teach to them to use to problem solve. And problem solving can mean finding answers, collaborating, communicating, etc. I like what they talk about at the end of the article about digital citizenship. It is obvious that students are not aware of how to behave and the consequences of their posts on social media. I tell them once you post it on the net it is out there forever. Not only that but with the rise of Snapchat, teachers are becoming targets of video capture and without notice a video of them is up on social media. Students definitely need a course in high school relating to digital citizenship. Great article!

Summer, I think you right, there are other collaborative learning applications that have been developed but we also have to consider that we don't always need the capabilities of a BB and sometimes teams just need to talk. Skype is a technology that can be used in any electronic device with not to many computer resources. Students' home computers or phone does not always have the applications to run some programs or the internet connection. I have found Skype to be really easy and most people know it. It is just one more application to consider. Plus, we need media specialist that can show and teach the new resources.

Juan, as you say, we have to teach our students to use technology to find solutions, collaborate and have better communication. Students need to learn to use technology to become better at what they like to do.

When I read the through comments you posted Juan about this article I was reminded of this article from Dr. Corbeil's blog. http://edtc.blogspot.com/2015/06/does-not-compute-millennials-arent-tech.html. The article talks about how students use technology all the time, but lack problem solving skills and completing educational based task using technology. Skype is great tool and can be used to reach people that specialist in many different fields including writers, scientist, and business people. We have to embrace technology and learn how to help our students use the social networking to benefit their education and develop problem solving skills.

With today's technology this is a great instructional opportunity! Research shows and teachers know that students learn best from each other! Getting another perspective from a different area of the country/world provides extended learning opportunities that are boundless!

I find this tool similar to VoiceThread. See what you think.

I firmly believe visual timelines are a must in history classes. From my own experience, it was not until I taught my own children history using a timeline did I really understand history. For me, it was just events and a bunch of dates until I created one with my daughters. We built a timeline around our schoolroom of all the historical events that we were studying. Each time we studied and added another event, we were able to see it in the context of the world's history. I helped me see history in context for the first time. As Simon said, the "big picture." Dipity and other timelines like it, should be one of the pillar of tools used in today's history classes.

I recently had students do a project for President's Day but this would be a great way to incorporate this project even more. They would be able to understand the person they have chosen and the events that went on during their time and like you mentioned Stephen get the "big picture." Awesome.

Its easy to see how this technology could be used in the educational setting. It allows the instructor to set the background for a lesson on a particular event. It can be used to teach history but other topics as well. For example, in literature it can be used to list situations leading to a climax in play such as Romeo and Juliet. I was most surprised to see it being used in journalism. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvCyLrY9rDs http://www.dipity.com/alexvoa/Timeline-Chile-Miners-Ordeal/

I think that some sort of monitoring is needed, however, Proctortrack seems a bit excessive. I personally have never had to use a service like this. I do have colleagues that have been monitored during online testing through a webcam, they had to show the room was empty by moving the webcam, and their eyes couldn't stray from the screen. That was just over webcam, no monitoring software was used like Proctortrack. I also think it depends on the course and the professor. I definitely see the need to monitor what someone is looking at and accessing during an online exam, and feel that it is necessary to monitor. I don't know if their is another fair way to monitor online testing. Any one taking an online test without monitoring can easily have access to the internet to search for answers, notes, or even have someone else taking the exam for them. I think a software is needed to monitor otherwise how would you hold a person accountable? We can rely on the persons word, but not everyone is truthful. It is definitely justifiable. Online programs are trying to maintain the integrity of the course and program. By monitoring cheating they are discouraging it and catching any that are cheating. Just like in person testing, we are monitoring students taking the test to ensure they do not cheat. In person, we the teachers are the software monitoring student activity, online test also need a monitor.

bhanak> I agree. Some modifications are fine, but it is excessive. Showing the entire room before the test does not mean that someone can not walk it. Nothing is guaranteed 100% and overdoing it doesn't make it better. It would make me very nervous to not be able to move or I would get "flagged." Then, as the teacher of the course, I would worry that the results of the test would get negative effect! I get nervous during tests without all of that, so imagine what would happen with that camera on?

Juan> I agree with you! How did your colleague feel about being monitored?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQLdprp2P0Q The link above is a news report about these Anti-cheating software programs. How do you think our program at UT is avoiding this issue all together? What can your online program do to verify student learning and not have to worry about students cheating on a test?

It is very controversial, because universities want to ensure that their graduates do have what it is needed for the job market in order to have a better reputation. In the other hand, having someone view the inside of your home could be a security problem, especially if they have your address. In addition, some test take hours, and you need to go to the bathroom, scratch your foot, or stretch. All test centers are aware that the people taking test do this without cheating. My solutions would be to have test centers. A place where you can pay to go and use one of their computers to do the test. Of course, how many students want to pay extra fees or services? One way to ensure that the person taking the test doesn't cheat (at some degree) is by using the software they mentioned that it won't allow the person to open browsers or applications while during the test, but I would add that at any moment the person taking the test could receive a verification code in their phone. This way, you verify that the person is at the place they are saying they are. This would work because in online courses, usually you don't have classmates living close by.

Online learning is driving the need for project based learning rather than testing as an assessment. If it is important to assess skills such as math, perhaps thinking about using a tool such as collaborate to interact with students and having students produce work in session (like going up to the chalkboard and working out a problem) may provide a better solution than a boxed quiz requiring supervision!

I have taken courses online where I had to be "watched" by someone, and felt extremely nervous because someone I did not know was in a sense spying on me. I know that online programs are trying to ensure that their programs are remaining rigorous and that students are being held accountable for the material, but I also don't think that this has to be done with exams. In our program most of the course have a PBL model, like Mrs. Evans has discussed, and I find that to be much more realistic for how you will function in the workplace. I think this is a fundamental question of how educators assess students. Does a quiz/exam really assess a student's knowledge accurately?

Juan, it is my opinion that test centers defeat the purpose of online learning. I believe that the degree I am getting proves what I have learned more through the products! It is direct proof of my learning to show that I am capable to think critically and create a product that proves my knowledge. There is no way to cheat on that and it is reliable. I remember clearly in high school that students who had a great memory to retrieve information would do fantastic on tests but this did not mean that they learned, could analyze, and apply the material they learned. As teachers, it is this critical thinking that we want our learners to leave with and I think we need to start moving away from "teaching to the test." What do you think?

Personally I feel that this is a great idea even though it goes in to the privacy life of the test takers. As a fully integrated multi factor bio-metrics behavioral application, Proctor-track provides automated remote proctoring for distance learners taking tests online. This combined solution fulfills the Department of Education's federal mandated standards for identity verification and authentication requirements for distributing Title IV funds. Proctor-track replicates the security of traditional testing centers, while giving students the flexibility to take proctored tests online, anytime, anywhere on demand, with the ease of automation and complete scale ability.

Lauren, as you said, PBL and models like it take the learning and apply it. What could be better than that. Besides, isn't that what we want from our learners? I do not think that a quiz or test adequately proves that a student has learned. Here is a great article about "teaching to the test." It talks about test taking skills not being bad independently, however it talks about the importance of alignment. How do you think PBL aligns with the standards we teach and how can it be better than a test? http://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/teaching-to-the-test/

I believe now with so much digital technology around us, it has made it easier to retrieve answers for those tests or questions. If students rely on this technology, they essentially "cheat" themselves out of their own education. I do strongly believe that students need to understand the consequences of their actions. As educators, we are responsible to engage them in their learning to understand what they are learning and that cheating is never an alternative.

Google Glass could indeed transform education in time. I don't think it's quite there yet. Once more apps are added and concerns over privacy are addressed, I feel that it can change how we communicate and learn. For example, in math students could record how they solve a particular problem is solved and then share that with struggling peers. Students would then become co-teachers. Here are a couple of sites that I found interesting on the topic. https://plus.google.com/communities/110296377171353281556 http://www.edutopia.org/blog/future-education-through-google-glass-andrew-marcinek

I have to agree that privacy is the biggest issue with Google Glass but then again what really is private. Hackers are out there getting our personal information from credit cards. Everything can be recorded by cell phones at anytime. This is an issue that Google is aware of and no doubt working to improve this concern.

Wow! After reading all the links and information on Google Glass, I am impressed. The first-person perspective gives students the opportunity to live in the shoes of others. What a great way to build empathy among students within the classroom and across the globe.

This following link provides a graphic for 30 Ways Google Glass can Innovate the Classroom: http://mashable.com/2013/08/19/google-glass-education/ One that stood out to me was using Google Glass for facial recognition to help teachers identify students. Making connections with our audience and students is very important. At Scott Lane Elementary School in Santa Clara, California, a principal hung pictures with names of a group of kindergartners so teachers could greet them by name. After 1000 days, the reading level of 97% of these students increased. (Burmark, 2011) As a middle school teacher, I can have up to 140 students in a day. Google Glass could help me identify students thus making faster and better connections with the students and improving overall learning. Burmark, L. (2011). They snooze, you lose. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Brenda, The link you provided is great. It is very easy to follow and understand the many ways Google Glass can be used in the classroom. I like how it could provide access to students and teachers with visual, auditory, & other physical handicaps. On our campus we have a student who is a home-bound student due to her severe epilepsy. So her parents come to the school, get her work, and then she has to be tutored at home. Using this type of technology would give her the opportunity to be a more active participant in the classroom.

When I was younger, I consoled myself with the belief that even though much of life and what was going on in it was beyond me and my control, at least there's someone out there, someone in power and control. As I grew up I came to question the idea that somebody somewhere knew what was going on and had the big picture and all our best interests in mind...I came to realize that society itself was moving faster and faster. But to where? Who's providing direction to this unstoppable (a human idea in and of itself) freight train we call life? This article reminds me that in the area of technology especially, we're in a big hurry to see if we can do something or control something or create something...without taking the time to ask, why should we? Why are we creating this? For what purpose? How will this further our species or quality of life? Take this article I read yesterday. They've created a drone quad copter and quipped it with a 80,000 volt stun gun (1). Brilliant! Have they not seen Terminator? Do they not know we already have military drones flying over US airspace (2)? Do we really want to outfit quad copters with stun guns? Just because we can doesn't mean we should, and that's what scares me about the increasing pervasiveness of technology in our personal lives. It's not just that Google or Apple knows my every move; it's that they sell that information (BIG DATA, BIG DATA!) and supply that information to businesses and governments I don't necessarily trust. Things are getting bigger and faster, and generally speaking from a historical perspective, that's not always a good thing. The more concentrated the power (in this case the data or tech knowhow), the more likely it's applications are to be counter to improving the human condition overall. I'm glad McCray points out the environmental impact all our neat devices have...the superfund sites and rare minerals involved in their production. We need to source our technology like we need to source

Full report here http://cct.edc.org/sites/cct.edc.org/files/publications/Integrating%20Web2.0.PDF

Great articles! Increased parent involvement and web 2.0 tools to increase communication! Everyone take note that "ease of use" was a major factor in wether or not teachers would use a new tool! We have to make this easy for our teachers...

Elizabeth, I am guilty of being one of those teachers that is all about the "ease of use". If it is something that takes too much time, I will just find another tool that is quicker. Thankfully through this class ,I have learned so many tools that not only I, but my students can use in the classroom and at home. One of the problems that I had encounter in the past is having sites blocked by our school district. The Web 2.0 tools that I have recently used in my class have not been blocked so it is great to be able to share them with my students. Having the technology to communicate with parents and students is another plus. There can be many ways to communicate with parents even if it is a simple email. I have many parents who ask me to email them instead of calling because that is just a better way of communication for them. Merrill had mentioned a website last week called Kidblog. Having students participate in this is a perfect example of how technology is being used outside the classroom.

To date, my kids' teachers have not used any type of Web 2.0 tools to allow for us (parents) to get involved. That's not to say that they don't involve us in other ways but I can definitely see some potential there. Outside of school, I have found it interesting that the stage manager of a play my son is in uses Shutterfly as a way to communicate with the cast and parents. We get reminders, participate in discussion boards, sign up for things, get a calendar - all within this site she has set up. It's pretty cool and definitely helps me as a parent to know what is going on. I'd always thought Shutterfly was just for photos so it was very enlightening to learn about this whole new functionality.

Our campus supports the use of Twitter and Facebook for parent communication. In fact, our PTO has their own Facebook page in which they communicate all activities and upcoming events and encourage parent questions. In addition, each grade level has their own closed Facebook page where they communicate to parents about field trips, special occasions and post pictures of students hard at work. This is not the only form of communication. The teachers continue to send out flyers and documents home with their students. Personally, I maintain a Twitter account for our Library. I tweet (still so weird to use the word "tweet") information such as new book arrivals, facts/history about the library, and advertise book fairs/club etc. http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/06/ultimate-guide-to-use-of-facebook-in.html

Yes Elizabeth, ease of use is a must but with so many web 2.0 tools out there, finding one shouldn't be an issue. I also believe that fear of change is another factor that should be considered. So many professionals are not happy about change. They need to be shown the benefits of these new technologies and provided a support system to help them adapt. Besides teachers, parents may also have reservations about technology. I believe that if parents are exposed to technology when their children first start school (pre-k), they will be less resistant as the years go by. Jeff, my son's school doesn't use any tools either. I still get notices by paper. I can contact the teacher by email but that is about as high tech as it gets. I never thought about Shutterfly as a communication tools. I'd like to see the same type of initiative at our local school district. I believe that it will enhance parent participation. Merrill, I like that your campus supports Twitter and Facebook for parent communication. That's great that you maintain a twitter account at your library to let students know about new arrivals. If you tweet them, they will come.

Interesting! Last year, I introduced Edmodo to the middle school students. I used it mainly to post assignments and interesting links and videos. However, it seemed that students only used it about 50% of the time and the parents were unaware of the parent accounts (even though I had sent a paper home). So this year, at a mandatory technology parent meeting, I presented a PowerPoint to parents about Edmodo and how to register for an account. I really wanted the parents involved. Especially since late homework is an issue in our school. I can say that for the parents that use Edmodo, their children rarely miss handing in homework. Those parents are also greatly appreciative of my efforts in keeping them in the loop. I agree that parent involvement has a positive effect on academic performance, and informing parents is a good thing.

I think that there is definitely a need for an instructor and many of them. With the amazing collaborative tools we have, the ability to bring experts and amazing examples into the classroom (even virtual classes) is endless. The trick here is to teach the students how to use what they Google and how to use it safely. Application is the key. Googling something does not mean you get quality information. We still need the experts to create and curate the information. Many of the students would not push themselves to learn what they are taught in a classroom. Who would conjugate the verbs and use them appropriately in a story? Although the methods of teaching have changed, the material is vast and still needs to reach the students. Google does not do that!

We might not be better than google as instructors that know it all and students can just ask any question and we can immediately provide it, but we are better instructors than google because we can teach the students how to use google in different ways of teaching. All students learn differently and some students need an actual person to guide them step by step and repeat if needed. As instructors we can use hands on teaching something that google can not do. A high quality feedback is and will always be best provided by an actual person rather than a machine or web tool.

I love digital storytelling! I think that it is a creative way to have students collaborate and have students and teachers diversify their learning/teaching styles. My students are completely engaged when they create. It becomes a personal task that is a part of them. When students own their learning, they internalize it. Digital storytelling is a great way to accomplish this!

I think digital storytelling is great and it gets kids highly motivated to develop a voice and promote writing and reading skills. One of my favorite digital storytelling tools is to have the kids create comics. Here is an example of a website you can use for comics. http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/comic/.

What a powerful experience. Those students will always remember, their sharing and learning with others around the world. It makes me feel so guilty focusing so much on standardized testing, especially as it the time gets closer to test. Obviously there is so much more to a student's learning than just testing. http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/effects-standardized-tests-teachers-students-10379.html

That must have been an amazing experience for all those involved. Collaboration on a global scale offers so many opportunities for students and educators. Teachers collaborating with students as peers. Voices and opinions are shared across continents. Instructors learning from each other through sharing ideas on what it takes to become better partners in education. That sounds like exciting stuff. Araceli, I also agree that there needs to more to education that a high score on a standardized test.

I couldn't agree more about standardized testing. I saw a quote one time that stated, "teachers are required to differentiate instruction to students who need to pass a standardized test." Makes one think. Our campus is currently preparing for the Writing STAAR next week. Our 4th grade teachers are doing an awesome job at trying to keep it fun. For instance, they are calling this week Writing Boot Camp and keeping all things military. Wearing camo all week, moving up a rank each time they complete a mission (homework) and then holding a boot camp graduation (party) at the end of the week are just a few of the fun activities planned. My favorite is when they march up and down the halls chanting..... momma, momma can't you see, what 4th grade has done for me.....

Last year, I discovered epals.com. Epals.com is a safe pen pal program via the internet for classrooms around the world. Students can email and/or Skype. The best part is that classes around the world can actually work on projects together like the one in the video. http://www.epals.com/#!/main

Merrill, the Writing Boot Camp sounds fun. I would like to find fun ways to review math. We are at the end of our review week for the ITBS exams, and I can tell my students are burning out.

Brenda - I like the idea of students connecting with other students around the world. That in it self, is an education. I hope learning about other cultures, traditions as well as completing projects together will one day be more common for students as more technology advancements fill up our schools. There are always obstacles though like the lack of money, etc. On another note, we will be preparing for our STAAR Math in a few weeks. I've been tutoring Math and have found Pinterest.com a handy site for math games. http://www.pinterest.com/tlsafran/math-review-games/

Talk about thinking outside the box for this teacher. I can imagine the enthusiasm those students felt everyday they interacted with each other.

I enjoyed the video and particularly the teacher' purpose...connecting lessons to real world applications!

Merrill, thank you for the link.

Merrill, I love that idea of Writing Boot Camp. This gives the students a nice break from the same routine of passing the STAAR and only focusing on the test. I will definitely share this idea with my grade level and with 4th grade so maybe they can incorporate something fun like this for next year. Your students are very lucky that they have teachers who care enough to keep them motivated. Thanks for sharing.

This project will definitely keep the students interested and involved. Experiences like this enhance the learning process by expanding the classroom across continents. Students learn to solve real world problems by working together. Instructors can also share teaching strategies.

We too use Writing Boot Camps...we've noticed a huge correlation bt student's ability to write and their performance on other subject-area assessments, not to mention general weaknesses in writing TEKS. Each summer we do a Writing Boot Camp to help address those, and it seems to be paying off. Our scores have shown improvement!