Vicki's Tech Hub

  I learned something new this week – what the term learning object means. Hartel and Foegeding (2004) define a learning object as a reusable digital instructional component. Components can be reused in several different contexts to assist learners. When I first thought about what a learning object was, I imagined videos, text, presentations, and infographics as learning objects. But then I read that learning objects should be interoperable (Herman & Mustea, 2016). Learning objects are usually just the content. However, elementary students need easy access to the learning object and space to create an artifact in the same document. For elementary students, it is about reducing the cognitive load and increasing productivity. Combining the learning object with the assignment is one way to accomplish both goals. You can watch this video by Lincoln Learning Solutions to learn more about what learning objects are. (Lincoln Learning Solutions, n.d.) (Lightbulb, n.d.) Reducing cogniti...

My journey with augmented reality (AR) began around seven years ago when I started investigating various software and hardware available. I was looking for AR technologies for first-grade students because I was a first-grade teacher. I wanted something to help my young mathematicians better understand the size, scale, and depth of 3D shapes. I was also looking for something that engaged my budding scientists to extend their experiences beyond what I could provide them in the classroom. Then, I ran across an article about how augmented and virtual reality would soon change classrooms.  Fast forward to a few weeks ago when I saw Merge Cubes (no affiliation on my part) in action at a tech conference, and my thirst for this technology grew. AR lets users hold and manipulate digital 3D objects to explore STEM environments (Merge, n.d.). I like the engagement, motivation, and safety aspects of Merge Cubes for elementary students. With a Merge Cube and a mobile device, students can explor...

What a week! I spent my week learning about microblogging. When I heard the term microblogging, I did not understand what it was or that I was already doing it!  You might be asking yourself, what is microblogging? It is a form of blogging using short posts. Think of social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TicToc, and Pinterest as microblogging sites. Microblogging is important because it allows you to quickly communicate with audiences through a conversational tone where messages are sent in various contexts, including text, images, video, and audio. (Zhao et al., 2022).  Cleveland et al. (2016) and Froytlog et al. (2022) stated microblogging has many benefits for education:  Users can use hashtags to curate information Connect with experts for deeper learning Professional development and networking Class updates Question and answer forum Peer and community instruction Sharing and learning knowledge I have accounts at all the social media sites mentioned...

Podcasting and vodcasting make people scratch their heads in confusion because they do not understand what they are or how they can be used for educational purposes. Podcasting is simply making a digital audio recording for people to hear your topic (Briand et al., 2021). Users can listen to podcasts on their phones, mobile devices, or computers. Podcasts are downloadable, so users can listen anytime, anywhere. Vodcasting is adding a script to video content (Kalludi et al., 2015). Vodcasts can be seen on any device that has internet access. Anyone can create a vodcast and upload it to their social media, website, or YouTube channel.  Digital casting – both pod and vod – is an innovative learning method (Briand et al., 2021; Kalludi et al., 2015) that motivate and engage students in learning. Pod- and vodcasting level the educational playing field by providing access to content in and outside of school and are already at students' fingertips. Students enjoy learning through audio an...