Summary of Learning

Thank you for following me on my journey through my Educational Technology course at the University of Akron! I hoped you enjoyed my posts so far, so here is a recap for you to study up before you take the quiz below.

Blended Learning

So what is blended learning?

According to Stacy Hawthorne (@StacyHaw), in a blended learning model, students must have some control over time, place, path, or pace. My Educational Technology course at the University of Akron is really good at giving the students control over their learning. Because this course is mostly online, I have control over the time, place, path, and pace of our education. I am able to choose what time of day or night I want to engage with the course material. The only limitation on where I can engage with the course material is whether or not there is a wifi signal. And I have a choice of the path I want my learning to take. Do I want to work on week 3 during week 1? Or week 6 on week 1? I do get some of a choice over the pace of the course too. Do I want to work on week 1, 2, and 3 all during week 1? Unfortunately some of the pace of the course it predetermined because of the length of the instructional videos, so I really liked the weeks where there were many short videos instead of a few very long ones. One of these really long videos that I did not like was about blended learing in medina city schools. You can watch it in the link, but in my opinion this video was too long and hard to follow. I tried to pay attention because it was about schools in my area, but I just wasn't able to stay focused and had to restart the video numerous times because it would not allow me to fastforward or rewind.

Stacy describes the blended learning model as more than just integrating technology into the classroom. With my Ed Tech course our classroom was online. We met one day a week for the first three weeks, and those days acted as a tutorial for the course where we were able to ask questions face-to-face. The majority of the learning was done online and I really enjoyed that aspect. As this was an introductory course to technology in education my teacher, Jeremy Brueck (@brueckj23), had what he called an innovation lab that met once a week on the same day our class used to meet where his students could come in and ask questions they might have. Because this was my first online course, I found this to be a really good saftey net. I feel that this course was an excellent example of the enriched virtual model of blended learning. If you are curious about the different blended learning models, below is the blended learning model Stacy used in her presentation.

To have a class be truely blended, it must be on the continuiuum of direct instruction and online learning and incorporate at least one of the different learning models. 

• The Rotation model contains four different rotation models. The station rotation model is very similar to the stations you experianced in elementary school. It typically has three stations; small group teacher lead instruction; computer based work; and peer colaborative group work. 
• The lab rotation model is similar to going to the distance learing lab, however it occurs on a regular basis, possibly a few days a week. But the main idea is that students leave the tradional classroom to learn in a different environment. 
• The flipped classroom model works in such a way that the instructional video lecture is watched at home and the practice work that would be traditionally considered homework would be completed in school with the help of the teacher. 
• And in the individual rotation model each student decides based on their understanding of the material when they move on to the next station. 

The other three models move closer to online learning. 

• In the Flex model the student gets a choice in what courses they take and is essentially an online course in a structured environment. 
• The Self Blended model is when a student takes more control of their education by taking outside courses, usually in an area of interest, that are not required for graduation. 
• And the Enriched Virtual model is closely related to online schooling. 

Without district support, according to Stacy, the most common model you will see is the station rotation model. The next most likely model in this scenario would be the flipped classroom model, and it would be a teacher on their own trying to implement this blended learning model. And the last style you could possibly see is the self blend model because incorporating outside learning would be at the students discretion.

Blended learning doesn't have to be all or nothing, and doesn't have to fit into just one definition. How blended you make a course is based upon the strenght of the teacher, the culture of the community and the school, and the content area. But over all blende learning is personal to each teacher and class. What makes a blended learning environment different than a technology rich classroom is how you incorporate collected data from the online learning into your teaching and adjust your lesson plans accordingly. 

Blending can be broken down into the below levels and your class can be blended on a sliding scale for each level and changed from lesson to lesson. 

The International Association for K-12 Online Learning, iNACOL, has created a teacher compentency framework for blended learning which you can download here. This will give you the mindsets, qualities, adaptive skills, and technical skills they believe to be most important for teacher who want to make their classroom a blended learning environment. Below is a quick break down of this framework. 

• Mindsets- core values or beliefs that guide thinking, behaviors, and actions that align with goals of educational change and mission. 
• These mindsets are: new vision for teaching and learning; orientation towards change and improvement.
• Qualities- personal characteristics and patterns of behavior that help an educator make the transition to new ways of teaching and learning, through coaching, encouraging, and reinforcing. 
• These qualities are: grit; transparency; collaboration.
• Adaptive Skills- generalizable skills that apply across roles and content areas. These skills include things like collaboration and problem solving. Adaptive skills help individuals tackle new tasks or navigate unfamiliar situations. These skills are complex, but can be mastered through modeling, coaching, and reflective practice. 
• These adaptive skills are: reflection; continuous improvement and innovation; communication. 
• Technical Skills- include the ability to use data to inform and drive effective instructional strategies while creating an environment that meets the needs of learners in both the face-to-face and online environmnets. Teachers are also able to demonstrate the techincal troubleshooting competencies in order to support students in the blended encironment. 
• These technical skills are: data practices; instructional strategies; management of blended learning experience; instructional tools. 

It is a great idea to use this framework as a self assessment tool. But blended learning is also a disruptive innovation, it takes the old comfortable system and turns it on its head. Below is an interesting inforgraphic that really provokes some thought, and if you can't read it here you can try this link.

Created by Knewton

Blended learing is about more than simply using technology in the classroom, its about using that technology to gather information, apply it, and radically improve students' learning environments. 

Incorporating Technology in Productivity

There are many ways technology can help you become a more productive teacher, from help with keeping track of time, to prioritizing tasks, that are countless programs and apps available with the click of a button.

The article 5 TOOLS FOR INCREASING TEACHER PRODUCTIVITY  talks about a few programs that help teachers increase productivity not only inside of the classroom, but outside the classroom as well. A few of my favorites are:

• "RescueTime is an online time tracking and management program for any busy person who wants to get more done with their time."
• "The International Virtual Assistants Association can help you find a professional to complete tasks for you remotely."
• Wunderlist is an easy-to-use and free task manager that can help teachers and other professionals make and organize lists.

There are also many productivity tools that can help students as well as teachers. Google is actually an innovator when it comes to technology that can be easily integrated into the classroom Please check out the short video below about Google for Education. 

I definately see myself using the programs created by google in my classroom because they are compatible with so many platforms and it is a program the majorit of kids are familiar with. But there are other productivity tools outside of Google that teachers may choose to use in their classrooms. This article from LifeHack goes over 10 of them, and below I have showcased a few that looked interesting.

• Socrative is a great way for students to use their personal devices to engage course material by interacting with games and activities set up by the instructor. 
• Remind101 is a great tool to use to send out text reminders to students and parents so they get a quick instantanious update. 
• Google Forms. This one really stood out to me, and of course, its a Google program so it would be compatible with Google for Education. Its called Google Forms and looks like a great way to take formative assessments with your students. Google Forms can also be used for students to self grad and group grade.The below video is a quick tutorial on how this program works.

After viewing this presentation made with Google Slides, I realized how using Google for Education in the classroom can make teaching so much easier. When I am in the classroom I hope to use the programs provided by Google to stay organized and be more flexible with how I teach and accept student work. I would love to use Google to help my student build their own porfolios. What productivity tools do you find most interesting? And how will you incorporate technology into your classroom?

Digital Citizenship and Student Legacy

If you are curious what digital citizenship is, how it improves digital literacy, and the importance of digital ethics please watch the video below.



Digital citizenship is everything about you that people can see online. Teachers' digital resume is very important for their future career. Creating and maintaining a digital resume is how you leave a legacy online. Garth Holman teaches a 7th grade social studies class and is very good at incorporating TPACK in his classroom and stresses the importance of digital citizenship to his students. You can check out his student made text book for the class here.

Garth said the first most important thing is to build is a trusting relationship with your students when trying to foster digital citizenship. How will you inspire your students to become an involved digital citizen and what digital foot prints will they leave and follow?

In the terms and conditions of Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, it stipulates that by agreeing to use their program you forfeit ownership to what you post. This is one of the first things Garth teaches his class. Just like this, students might not realize that they have already started to leave digital foot prints throughout their life, even before they were even born. The below video shows the never ending, ever growing cycle of the digital dossier.


When something is posted on the Internet, it never really leaves. The Way Back Machine is a website that archives information on the web. It is important for students to know that everything on the web lasts forever, and will always be there if you know how to find it. Everything you leave behind is traceable and findable. Because of this it is vitally important to stress to our students that they need to think before they post. I found this video really stresses the importance of being cautious of what you share, especially when it concerns personal information. I feel that there should be less emphasis on sharing your personal life online and more emphasis on sharing your professional life online. By being professional online you are putting your best foot forward for the world to see, and sometimes we can over share from our personal lives, but if we share professionally we always have in the back of our heads who our audience will be. Some people can get swept up in the false sense of security in of supposed anonymity that posting online provides, and this can lead to issues when potential employers or colleges trace your digital foot prints. So it is important to stress to your students that they should always be thinking of who their audience will be.

You know you have an impact on your students when they take the material out into the world and apply it to real life. To encourage this Garth has his students make blogs about the course so that others can interact with them about what they are learning. Even though nearly 43% of kids have been bullied online, and 1 in 4 have been bullied more than once, Garth hasn't run into any issues with his students, and his students are able to maintain a professional atmosphere on their blogs. Anything positive you can leave on social media is a positive digital footprint. For students to leave legacy teachers should encourage students to leave behind positive beneficial work. Your digital foot print is your legacy. Although it can be hard sometimes to leave positive digital foot prints when the statistics are so high when it comes to online harassment. Below are the findings from one online harassment report by Pew Research Center.





The article Nine Themes of Digital Citizenship talks about how not everyone has access to current technology, how the digital economy is growing because of buying and selling online, the ability to instantly communicate with anyone, how digitally literate the current generation is, and a lot about using technology and the internet in a safe and respectful way. The digial divide and cyber bullying, in my opinion, will be the main issues that hold us back from growing as a society that is increasingly useing technology. For more on digital ettiquett, appropriate behaviour online, and use of technology in schools, check out the article Addressing Appropriate Technology Behavior.

So how will you encourage your students or children to be responsible digital citizens, leave a legacy of positive digital foot prints, and remind them that other people outside of their intended auidence will be able to see what they post? I hope the materials I referenced will help you decide and formulate a plan to stress the importance of being a digital citizen to your kids.

Flash Suit Progress 4

One of the last steps in making the pattern was to trace the pieces. To do this I took all the pieces apart on only the right side, leaving the left side sewn together for orientation purposes. I used white tissue paper that you would use in a gift bag to trace my pattern on.

As I was progressing towards this step, I was curious to see if anyone else had done similar steps. Here is an excerpt from this article that I found helpful:

• Cut your fitting pattern from muslin or another light weight, light colored even-weave fabric.  You don’t want to use anything stiff or heavy because it won’t fit snugly and smoothly over your body.  You also don’t want to use a knit fabric, because the stretch will distort the final pattern. The natural muslin or light color allows you to see your corrections – you WILL be marking on this muslin, so don’t use a “nice” fabric!
• Note the wide seam allowances and all markings on the fitting pattern – these must be transferred to your muslin. Tracing paper and a tracing wheel work well for this, but you can also lay the pattern UNDER the fabric and use a fine-tip marker and a ruler to transfer the markings.  The muslin will not be used for anything other than fitting so don’t worry about making permanent markings on the fabric.  Mark the grainlines, too so you will be able to see if the garment hangs properly when it’s being fit. 

I'm not sure if the fabric I used was muslin or not, but it was a fairly light weight woven fabric that did not stretch. With the second bullet point, since I wasn't following a pattern, I applied it to transferring the seam allowances and markings from my fabric pieces to the tissue paper. I ironed all the pieces flat and ironed the tissue paper flat as well. I first traced everything in pencil in case I needed to adjust anything, and then went back with a straight edge and traced my lines with a thick size 08 Micron pen. 

To create the grain lines I looked at the orientation of each piece that was still sewn together on the left side and created the grain lines based on the vertical orientation of each piece. I made sure to mark the grain lines in such a way that the hexagon pattern on the final fabric are, for the most part, orientated vertically up the body of the suit. 

When the final version of the suit is sewn together all seams will have bias tape cording sewn between them. Bias tape cording is this:

And when is is sewn into the seams it looks like the light blue trim in this picture:

The bias tape cording would be used to create the embellishment of the yellow/gold roping seen following the seams of the suit in the model. It would take considerably more time, but for those wanting to have the roping light up, you could make your own bias tape out of yellow tool (mesh fabric) and use EL Wire as the cording that runs through the tape. As I have not gotten to this step yet I am unsure how much bias tape cording you would need to cover all of the seams of the suit.







Now that the pattern is complete, I will be able to shop for fabric. However looking into fabrics previously, I haven't been able to find one that both Adam and I agree with, so I will probably end up making my own design and having it printed by either Fabric On Demand or SpoonFlower.

If I am ever able to, I would like to try and grade my pattern, or make it available in different sizes. I found this article that talks a little bit about pattern grading and sizing, but I fear that my pattern is far too complex to try that with because as the article says,

"Pattern grading is fairly complex. It's best to avoid it unless it's necessary. "

But, here is the link to the article for those who might be interested.

For those of you who might need help understanding a pattern, I found this article to be very helpful.

Over all, tracing the pattern was the easy part, it was just time consuming because of the precision it required. By the end of this project I have probably spent right around 50 hours total, give or take a few hours. I found it best to try and devote multiple hours a day to different parts to see the most progress by the end of each day.

The pattern for this suit was perfected on Adam. Adam is a size 29x31 pant size, he is about 130 pounds, and is 5 feet 5 inches tall.

The next step for me will be making and testing helmet designs and figuring out how to extend the collar of the suit to the jaw line. The most helpful video I have found is embedded below. The video is from my Youtube Playlist: Flash Costume, so you can also see the other videos on ideas I have.

Thanks for following my progress, and I hope to share more with you soon!

Flash Suit Progress 3

After finishing the bottom half of the suit, I began working on the top half. I started by darting the shoulder, and then sewing all the pieces together that connected to the shoulder, alternating right and left side for each piece, and worked my way down each arm.

There really wasn't any difficult curves to try and sew like in the pants because the majority of the top was cut with straight or gently curved lines.

Originally I had made elbow caps, but I ran into the same issue as with the knee, and they did not fit right, so I omitted them. Until I find a better solution I will be making the elbow patches out of a super stretchy fabric, possibly spandex or Lycra.

There is a seam that runs down the chest of the suit that was pinned closed for the pictures, but will close in the final version with a zipper.

Now the biggest issue was during the stretch test. I had Adam stretch his legs, bend down, lift his arms, and push his arms forward. On the forward push the seam that ran up the back burst, and so I marked where I needed to add more fabric.

I was at a stand still though until I figured out how to do that without letting the back bunch up and wrinkle. I had first though about adding a cat's eye of stretch fabric, but I soon realized that it would add too much length to the edges and I would be left with a lot of over hang. Adam then suggested to try and make a hidden pleat, like in the back of some suit jackets.

I pondered on how to do this for a while, and tried to sketch out my ideas.

In the 6 inch tall hole that runs between the shoulder blades, I added 7 1/4 inches tall by 1 5/8 inches wide to the right half of the pattern perfectly centered in that hole. The seam that runs vertical will be sewn to leave a 6 inch hole, and the excess fabric will be sewn with a 5/8 inch seam allowance. The two vertical seams will overlap on either end by 5/8 of an inch, and there would be a small hole you could stick your finger through at each end. The excess fabric would be folded inward and ironed flat, the creases running straight and even. After ironing the bubble of material on the inside would lay 1 inch wide.

The last adjustment I made was to add some small darts near the elbow hole to bring the edges in.

To finish I labeled all of the major junctions with capitol letters of the alphabet to make sure I knew what went where when it came time to rip the seams.

Flash Suit Progress 2

My first step on this part of the project was to lay out the right side duck tape pieces on the floor to see how the pieces fit together. This step could of been omitted if I would of labeled where all of the corners met. But by doing this it gave me a visual as to how the puzzle fit together.

My next step was to sew all the darts I had made. The darts were slits I cut into the domed areas of the duck taped pieces to make them lay flat, such as the knee cap, back of calf, and shoulder.

I then began sewing the right side together, starting with the two pieces that arch over the hip seam, and then did the same thing mirrored on the left side. From there I worked my way down each leg, alternating right to left.

The hardest part was sewing the sharp curves that, in the picture, look like they fit together, but when the outsides are pressed together, the curves fit opposite of each other. Like laying this edge ( with this edge ) and forcing the opposite direction curves to be sewn together at the edge. The best example I could find is this image:

Where you would take the polka dot sides and press them together, having the white on the back facing outwards, and having to pin the curved edges, that are now going in opposite directions, together and sew them so the two sides fit together like puzzle pieces when it is opened and only polka dots are on top and only white is on the bottom.

This can be seen the best in the image of the right leg, the S that curves from mid calf to over the top of the knee. I had to pin the pieces together with no more than 1/4 inch of space between each pin. Sewing this particular spot took extra time because the fabric kept wanting to fold over its self under the sewing machine foot and make a small pleat that showed up as a permanent wrinkle on the right side, or outside, of the fabric. Because of this it took many attempts of pinning and sewing to get rid of these mini pleats.

After both the legs were sewn, I sewed the pieces that look like a bikini bottom together, and then pinned the legs to the leg holes, matching the hip seams on either side. I pinned one leg at a time, starting at the hip seams, and alternated pins on either side until they met in the middle at the the inside of the thigh. I did the same thing to the other side.

I was so excited to have the bottom done that I had Adam try the 'pants' on so that I could take a few pictures. The next step will be sewing the 'jacket' and sewing the top and bottom together at the waist.