This time, it's really it!

Well, I got those three reviews written.  They're not my best work but they're interesting research nonetheless.  I guess this means that I am through with this blog.  I don't know, I might have to put something on it this summer.  (I'm still working on that.)  However, I have liked this idea so much that I am considering starting another blog about my subject, Health Science.  I don't know for sure what I'll call it, but I'll probably look for articles about health care subjects or cool methods for teaching high school students about them.  I may not be an expert on the matter but I'm constantly on the lookout for more information.

Review #10 (finally!)

From the Student’s View: Laptops In (and Outside) the Classroom

Citation:   Bruff, D. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/library/articles-and-essays/the-teaching-forum/from-the-students-view-laptops-in-and-outside-the-classroom/.  Originally published in the Fall 2002 issue of Vanderbilt University's Center for Teaching's newsletter, Teaching Forum.

Review:  The writer interviewed several students at Vanderbilt University's Owen Graduate School of Management and School of Engineering.  At the time this was written, the schools had a new requirement that each incoming student must purchase a laptop computer, and the schools had accordingly equipped buildings that housed these schools with wireless Internet access.  Students were asked how the technologies affected student/faculty interaction, ways that the technology facilitated in-class group work, how laptops assist with out-of-class group work, whether having a laptop helped the students use their time better, and in what ways laptops were helpful in classes that focused on software applications.

Reflection:  If this article were written today, I am sure some of these questions would have had different answers, but although today's Vanderbilt freshmen were starting 3rd grade in the fall of 2002, many of them have not had mandatory laptops in the classroom prior to entering college.  Certainly, some have gone to schools in systems (or individually) that were progressive enough to allow students to use laptops in class, but many have not.  With that in mind, some of these answers might not be all that different now than in 2002.  I chose this particular article because I was on Vanderbilt's Center for Teaching website looking for possible professional development opportunities for myself or potential summer programs for my students.  Although we are at the end of the school year, I like to use this more laid-back time to think about potential enhancements for next year.

I wasn't in college in 2002, so I don't know how many courses were offered completely online at that time, but I would venture to guess that the number was much, much lower than what it is now.  My daughter, currently in her third year at Lipscomb University, has even taken online classes there while living on campus!  Obviously, delivery methods are changing from year to year and it's impossible to know exactly how that will affect education in the future.  I am excited to see that this means a college education is within reach for a lot more people who, for any number of reasons, can not drop everything and enroll in a college many miles from home.  On the other hand, I wonder how many universities will suffer negative impact from this shift.  Will more people lose their jobs?  I hope not - we have enough of that as it is in this country.  Will young people continue to move into dorms and have the "college experience"?  I believe some will.  My own children had the opportunity to live at home and attend a community college or even APSU because we do not live that far from campus, but both have chosen to live on campus because my daughter did not want to "miss out" and I didn't want her on the road all the time, and my son chose a college a little too far away for a daily commute.  However, if I'd been given a full scholarship from the community college nearest my home, I wouldn't have gone to APSU and lived on campus nearly rent free because I didn't really WANT to leave home.  If we'd had the online option back then, that's what I would have done.

Another reason I wanted to read this article was because when I opened it, I saw questions to which I honestly wanted to read student answers.  For example, "In what ways do these technologies facilitate in-class group work?"  I believe what I read was one of the earliest examples of today's "hot new idea" of the flipped classroom.  The professor made his PowerPoint presentations available online, expected the students to read the lectures before class, and assigned the students to develop marketing plans in class.  I believe out-of-class group work is much easier to do now than it was eleven years ago, and they thought it was pretty nice back then!  

I have to say that even though this was the oldest (and probably the shortest!) article I have read for this class and blog, it was actually quite informative and insightful.  I will definitely check out the Center for Teaching's resources more often.  I have curated it on Delicious to have it wherever I want to access it.

Review #9

Barcoding Life's Matrix: Translating Biodiversity Genomics into High School Settings to Enhance Life Science Education

Citation: Santschi, L., Hanner, R., Ratnasingham, S., Riconscente, M., Imondi, R. (2013). Barcoding life's matrix: translating biodiversity genomics into high school settings to enhance life science education. PLoS Biol,11(1): e1001471. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001471

Review:  The opening paragraph of the introduction to this study states that research suggests that most high school laboratory experiences do not meet guidelines for effective science instruction.  Because of the rapid growth of molecular life science and bioinformatics, this field holds an even bigger challenge than most areas of science.  This field is also so information-heavy that finding the correct level for student understanding is difficult.  Other challenges exist as well, such as integration of knowledge across allied scientific fields, emphasizing function over fact, modeling how the information works in real-world settings, and the more practical issues of teacher preparation, the current testing environment, overcrowded classrooms, lack of supplies and access to scientific literature.  The writers propose discovery-based science education as a possible solution to some of the existing challenges of secondary science education.  Their specific solution is the process of DNA barcoding.  This is a new system of eukaryotic species identification.  For those who aren't biology majors, a eukaryotic cell has a nucleus, chromosomes, and many other cell parts such as endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria.  Eukaryotes are commonly multicellular organisms such as animals and plants.  In contrast, a one-celled organism such as a bacterium has a prokaryotic cell, which commonly has no nucleus and only one chromosome, and that's not even really a true chromosome.  Prokaryotes can be multicellular, but most are not.

DNA barcoding uses barcode data to link data from traditional, taxonomic information about genes to DNA information obtained from the genes themselves.  The reference records are contained within BOLD, the Barcode of Life Data Systems, which is online and accessible to the public.  The project included a seven-day residential research institute held at a marine biology laboratory, where students had the opportunity to actually conduct research with real scientists.  Students who participated in this institute created a presentation about their experience, which they performed publicly at a visitor center.  Teachers were provided with professional development opportunities designed to give them the tools they needed to engage students in the submission of their own barcode data in their own labs.  Because it is so intensive, enrollment requires a 12-month commitment and support from an administrator.  

The curriculum was then condensed into 16 units covering a wide span of biological sciences.  Barcoding Life's Matrix has a website with teacher resources of multimedia instructional materials.  (Once a teacher has created an account, he or she can view most of the resources publicly.)  Students collect targeted marine specimens and process the tissue, record the data and collection details, and upload the data to the BOLD database.  The students can acquire data and record it in the field using a smartphone app, even using a barcode such as a QR code.  

The Barcoding Life's Matrix project has engaged over 1,000 high school students since its inception in 60 California cities and seven states.  These students have submitted 716 professional quality reference DNA barcode records, creating a valuable reference for the Channel Islands National Park and Marine Sanctuary as well as adding to the Ocean Genome Resource of Ocean Genome Legacy in Ipswich, Massachusetts.  The researchres were pleased with these results, suggesting that this model could be replicated in secondary as well as post-secondary education.

Reflection:  After writing about a press release last time, I wanted to go a little more scientific with this review.  After all, my principal is always after us to increase the rigor in our lessons and the common core shift requires us to find more real-life connections for our students (which goes right along with the instructional design principles I've learned over the years), so, in preparation for next year when I'll be teaching anatomy again (Yay!  Seriously!!!  I'm actually excited!), I thought I'd challenge myself to find some information about ways to include really serious biotechnology into my high school classroom next year.  While this article didn't really sound like many of the instructional technology articles I've read in the past, it does involve student use of computers and mobile devices such as smartphones with apps for the project.

I had hoped when I started reading the article that this would be something I could start next year.  Since I have other plans during the two training sessions, I can't go this summer, but possibly in the future.  Still, I learned a lot reading this article (and I'm sure I would learn more every time I read it, because some of it is still over my head) and I hope I can utilize some of the lessons as they exist.

Review #8

Physio-Control Introduces TrueCPR Coaching Device to Optimize Manual CPR Performance

Citation:  Physio-control introduces truecpr coaching device to optimize manual cpr performance. (2013, May 14). The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20130514-910846.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Review: This press release in The Wall Street Journal sings the praises of the newly developed TrueCPR coaching device.  TrueCPR is produced by Physio-Control, a biomedical company that specializes in heart rhythm devices such as pacemakers and implanted defibrillators.  The device was developed to help new CPR learners learn how to deliver high-quality compressions.  It is difficult for new learners to understand exactly how much pressure to exert on the victim's chest.  TrueCPR utilizes Triaxial Field Induction (TFI) technology to measure the depth of compressions, which ideally should be at least 2 inches.  TFI measures changes in a very low-energy 3D magnetic field.  This is obtained by placing a sensor on the "patient's" chest and a reference pad underneath.  As the learner performs compressions, the TFI continuously measures the changes in distance between the two surfaces.  This same technology can actually be used in real-time with a real patient in cardiac arrest, so that a caregiver can see if he or she needs to push harder.  In addition to the depth calculation, learners/caregivers can see their rate of compressions (should be 100 a minute) and the device even has a metronome to help caregivers deliver compressions at the correct rate.

Reflection: I had already started reading and preparing this review when I realized this was a press release.  (I thought to myself, this is a darn commercial.)  However, as a CPR instructor not only in the school system but at the local hospital, I can definitely see a need for such a device.  In my classroom we have the flimsiest set of CPR manikins I've ever seen, and I have seen some real "cheap-o's" over the years.  They're made of thin plastic about the weight of a wet wipes container so that the average 150-pound human can perform compressions and push down the chest the proper 2 inches.  Little teenage girls (and women) who weigh 110 pounds or less often have a difficult time making the chest move at all.  The hospital has more realistic manikins that feel more like a person, but the fact is, most really small women (and a few small men) have difficulty compressing the chest enough on them too.  I don't know that the TrueCPR device is going to help them much, but it might.  I do think the TrueCPR could help people like me who get nervous in a situation like that, even though I've taught it for a long time, by giving people feedback on their progress.  I also think it would be very helpful with teaching because the students could see right away how to improve their skills.

Back again!

Just a quick addendum to the last post... I have until this Friday, May 17.  Look for 3 more reviews right here on this blog (one coming up momentarily!)

mb

Well, this is it, I guess.

Today is graduation day at APSU so I guess I just farted around too long and didn't get those last three reviews done.  I would do it tonight... but it's too late, I'm sure.  I have had a rough semester.  I know, everyone says that, but I mean it.  With one glaring exception, no one event in and of itself made it a terrible semester, and overall, in many ways, I was blessed.  That glaring exception affected me in every way.  Physically, I am recovering from the stress.  Emotionally, I am currently going through an easy-cry stage.  Is it because it's Mother's Day weekend?  Because today's the last day for our seniors?  Because my son is graduating?  Because my cat is old?  Or am I just glad to get the semester over finally?  Could be any or all the above.  Spiritually, I can't even think about how I really feel, and I sure don't want to talk about it.

Mentally, I am not quite as dazed and confused as I was for a month or so, but I'm still trying to get adjusted to the new reality.  Who am I now?  I am still a daughter, but my relationship with my dad is different than the one I had with my mom.  I no longer have that feeling that Mom will say, "Don't do that" or "Don't wear that" or "You don't need to eat that" or "They're looking at you..." like she did most of my life.  I never outgrew that until now, at age... let's just say pushing 50.  Now I have the voice saying, "Do what makes you happy," or "Just be yourself" - also messages she gave me, but for some reason now they make sense - and I think, is this what makes me happy?

Maybe most troubling of all is the new voice I hear... my own, I guess... saying, "Life is short.  You've got to make a difference.  You haven't done what you set out to do.  What are you going to do about THAT?"  The answer is, I still don't know.  I know I don't want to be a tech coach anymore, but I have enjoyed and definitely benefited from working on my MAEd.  I enjoy the design part and the web design part and I'm sure I'll use those skills.  Now I only have one class to go, this summer, and then what will I do with myself?  I guess I'll try to do all those things I've been hearing my own voice suggest.

Review #7

Introducing students to bio-inspiration and biomimetic design: a workshop experience

Citation:  Santulli, C., & Langella, C. (2011). Introducing students to bio-inspiration and biomimetic design: a workshop experience. International Journal Of Technology & Design Education, 21(4), 471-485. doi:10.1007/s10798-010-9132-6

Review: The researchers wanted to determine how best to use a bio-inspired approach to designing products.  They used data collected from second-year students at Seconda Universita' de Napoli.  The theme of the students' work was "Bio-inspired design of sport."  The students had been asked to find examples from nature and apply these examples to the design of sporting equipment.  Some examples of this were helmets designed to protect the head almost like having a second skull, ski boots modeled after penguin feathers, and surf boots with grips and materials like the skin of Remora fishes.  The researchers concluded that the project-based exercise was useful to introduce the students to the myriad possibilities of bio-inspiration.  One issue the researchers found was that the university did not offer as much of a multidisciplinary approach as they had hoped, so the result was that students either did not consider all the functions of a biological model or they tried too hard to create an exact replica of the biological counterpart by using too many complicated design features.

Reflection: If you ask me how I feel about teaching on two consecutive days you'll probably get two different answers.  From time to time I miss my old job as a nuclear medicine technologist.  I miss working in fairly quiet environments, having an easier workspace to keep clean and organized, working with high-tech equipment, meeting and caring for the patients, and (of course) the money.  There are things I like better about teaching, like only having to be exposed to artificial blood and body fluids (and that's only artificial urine), getting to show students really cool things we can do to learn more about the function of the body, and (of course) summers off.  Both careers have ample opportunities for learning.  Both fields have requirements that change from year to year, and both have state-mandated unannounced observations, though education has them a lot more frequently.  However, in nuclear medicine, those inspections were brutal!!!

I said all that to say I'm warming up to teaching, even though I still have rotten days.  This could be because it's May 5th, so school will be out in three weeks and I'll have nine weeks off (give or take a day).  On the other hand, maybe it's just a change of attitude.  I hope it's the latter, though I'm sure the former has something to do with it.

As a health science teacher, and for that matter, as a teacher in the US today, I'm frequently told that my students need more rigorous assignments and more real-life type scenarios to help them.  There's a big push for project-based learning, and with that in mind, and also the fact that I just ordered some STEM medals for our health science students who will soon be the first to graduate in the "Biotechnology" pathway, I tried to find an article to give me ideas for ways I could get my students involved in real-life type project assignments.  This article wasn't exactly what I was looking to find, but, I learned something from it.  I learned a new term, bio-inspiration.  It makes perfect sense, though, and I think my mechanical engineering major son would find this a natural fit.  (Hee hee, I'm actually using it myself!)  It also gave me some ideas for how to create, administer, and assign projects for my classes, specifically, the types of questions that the instructors asked of the students.  

Honestly, I believe that more projects should be done this way in design courses because this is what we expect real design engineers to do.  We, as an entire system, have spent a lot of time teaching students how to take tests and memorize facts but we need to teach these students to use their brains.  Evidently, the universities in Italy have not been teaching their design students using a multidisciplinary approach either.  As a former student myself I totally remember and understand why students think, "Why do I have to read and analyze One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest?  I'm going to be a _______________ (insert non-literature-related occupation here)."  On the other hand, now that I'm a teacher, I can help students visualize yellow fever and smallpox and those dread diseases in the novels they're reading downstairs.  It's still important that our future clothing designers have a little bit of background in science, just as our future nurses need a little bit of knowledge of literature and our future mathematicians need an appreciation for the arts.

April 24 - Review #6 - for real this time!

Yes, I am way late on this one but I haven't been slacking on my reading.  I've read SO much, usually articles I've been led to from Twitter, but maybe not all of it has been scholarly enough, so tonight I went back to Google Scholar to do some REAL reading.

Utilization of Virtual Learning Environments in the Allied Health Professions

Citation: Butina, M., Brooks, D., Dominguez, P., & Mahon, G. (2013). Utilization of virtual learning environments in the allied health professions, Journal of Allied Health, 42 (1), Spring 2013 , pp. 7E-10E(4). Retrieved from http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/asahp/jah/2013/00000042/00000001/art00012

Summary:  This study was performed to explore how the latest developments in instructional technology are being used in allied health education.  Most allied health students are accustomed to the Internet, YouTube videos, PowerPoints, and similar technology.  In health education, the next wave appears to be virtual reality.  This article uses SecondLife as an example of desktop virtual reality and a flight simulator as immersive virtual reality.  In the past decade, more specialties of health professional training are using simulators, such as DentSim and PerioSim for dental students.  Nursing students are using their own virtual reality simulators.  The researchers have compiled a list of pros and cons of using simulations.  For example, two advantages of using simulators are that students can practice skills without hurting patients and students build confidence by practicing their skills.  Two disadvantages are that students do not actually practice motor skills, such as lifting large patients, and that students do not get adequate face-to-face practice if they only use simulators.  The researchers designed a survey with SurveyMonkey and invited members of the Association of Schools of Allied Health Professions by email.  Of the 126 invitations sent, 44 responses were received.  Of these 44 respondents, only 17 stated that they use interactive virtual learning environments.  Only three of the 17 use models that were defined as virtual learning by the researchers.  Interestingly, only four respondents stated that they had no interest at all in using virtual technology in the classroom.  The researchers were disappointed in these findings because they believe that the use of virtual learning environments is an excellent way of teaching students skills prior to their working with real patients.  They also feel that students who have grown up playing video games will do well with virtual training methods.

Reflection:  As for disappointment, I was only really disappointed that the respondents did not provide a great deal of followup information.  There was not a lot of focus on cost effectiveness.  I think cost effectiveness is a huge contributing factor to the low numbers of allied health educators using virtual reality.  From the aspect of a public high school teacher, I know it is a huge factor for me and other teachers in our school.  I think a lot of health science teachers would like - no, love - to use more virtual learning opportunities but we just have so many dollars to spend and that number is nowhere near enough to purchase even one station.  Additionally, as a teacher I feel that students could possibly benefit more from using such technology as interactive, life-like manikins rather than video game-style simulations.  These are used in such esteemed medical education institutions as Johns Hopkins and the nursing school at Lipscomb University.  In my opinion, students not only get better practice on their motor skills and physical care skills, but they get the benefits mentioned by the researchers such as increased confidence and practice without the risk of injury to patients.  Meanwhile, I will continue putting these manikins on my "wish list" every year!

Review (of sorts) #6

I am not finished with this review yet.  It's nearly 1:00 AM and I have to get up and go to work in less than 6 hours.  So... I just read this blog post and though it's a blog post, I really like what it's making me think about.  It's really more of a navel-gazing ramble, so I'll write a real review of something else.  But just for fun, here's the link to the blog.

Design Your Dream Teaching Job

I actually wrote a long rambling... you can read it over on Cheatham County Rock Star's Wife (my personal blog).

Review #5 - March 14

Coughing Mannequins Shed Light On Flu Transmission

Citation:   Lipson, P. (2013). Coughing mannequins shed light on flu transmission. Forbes, 2013 (March 2). Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterlipson/2013/03/02/coughing-manequins-shed-light-on-flu-transmission/.

Review:  This article actually references another article, High Humidity Leads to Loss of Infectious Influenza Virus from Simulated Coughs, from the online journal Plos One.  The referenced article describes the data used in the study itself; the writer of the Forbes article gives the impression that he wishes to inform the public about some interesting findings that the reader can connect to their own lives and those around them.  The article(s) focus on the finding that viruses change throughout the winter (generally, the prime of flu season).  They found that the spread of influenza was related to the humidity of the room.  As the humidity increased, the rate of spread dropped rapidly.  This finding could become acceptable practice within the last few weeks of this year's flu season.

    

Reflection:  I chose this article because I am very interested in mannequins (or manikins, which is the way it is spelled in most health care uses) that are programmable.  It is rare enough to have examples of persons with abnormalities they can hear on a stethoscope and rarer still to find a high school student with a medical condition who is willing to be used as a "demo."  Programmable manikins are ideal for teaching high school students who cannot get to a healthcare facility to job shadow.  Teenagers are often expected to behave like heathens (when 90 percent of them do not) and the hospitals don't want to take chances on them bringing in a lot of germs anyway.  I put the programmable manikin on my "wish list" every year.  So far, I'm still wishing.  I do have a humidistat in my room.  Yes, such a thing exists!  It's like a thermostat, only it adjusts the humidity.  Reading this article also makes me think I'll set the humidity a little higher in my classroom.  That was certainly an unexpected use of classroom technology that this article illuminated for me.

March 11 - Article Review #4

The Doctor’s New Black Bag:Instructional Technology and the Tools of the 21st Century Physician

 

Citation: Mostaghimi, A., Levison, J., Leffert, R., Ham, W., Nathoo, A., Halamka, J., Prout, C., Arky, R., Tosteson, D., & Quattrochi, J. (2006). The doctor’s new black bag: instructional technology and the tools of the 21st century physician. Medical Education Online, 11. Retrieved from http://www.med-ed-online.org/pdf/L0000012.pdf

 

Review: Physicians will have to work and communicate with colleagues from various disciplines. Future physicians can expect even more collaboration than in the past. Currently there is more of a focus on collaboration because of developments in academic medicine and biomedical research. However, this has not transferred over to medical education. The writers of this paper have taken this opportunity as a challenge, to change medical school curricula to include leadership and collaboration skills as well as professional and ethical education. Even the focus on problem-based learning has not led to the forging of interdisciplinary relationships. What does this have to do with technology? New technologies are being used to simulate situations that enable students to develop interdisciplinary thought processes. The researchers developed a user-defined, interactive case-based online network with the hope of improving the teamwork skills of medical students. Cases in this network progress in real-time just as real patients' cases would. This facilitates discussion and links it with content so that students must work together in an interdisciplinary group to "treat" the patient. Students and faculty interact through online modules and instant messaging. Faculty have roles much like actors in a murder mystery. Students must guide the patient's care, coordinating the physicians' activities, requesting consulting physician visits and determining the course of action. This use of instructional technology increased the urgency of learning with real-time case progression, much like real-life patient situations, increased each student's accountability to the team, and establishing relationships between students, faculty. and specialists. This study revealed that using the technology is conducive to equal contribution among participants and led to a patient-centered, interdisciplinary learning environment integrating case discussion with content. The researchers found that integrating this technology early in medical school lays a foundation for interdisciplinary professional collaboration.

 

Reflection: As a health science teacher with a love of technology, I am always looking for ways I can use technology to teach my students. Unlike students of my generation, current high school students have been playing with cell phones, laptops, and Gameboys since they were toddlers. I'm thinking that well-placed technology lessons will engage my students, thereby making teaching, and my life, easier. This article interested me because I have a lot of students who are considering becoming physicians, and I wanted to see how medical schools are using technology. I like the idea of using real-time case progression, because cases don't solve themselves in an hour a la "House M.D." In a medical school environment, this sort of training would work. It would be hard to implement in a high school, but the online case bank would be a good resource for teaching teenagers, even if they come in for an hour a day to see what's changed with their patient since the day before. (That's actually way more time than most patients in the hospital SEE a doctor.) I was really hoping the article would have information about case-simulating manikins - yes, that's the medical spelling of the word - but that's all right, because this article was from 2006 and also, because I found a lot of good articles on medical education and technology on this journal's website.

March 9 - Article Review #3

The Teenage Brain and Technology

Citation:  Feinstein, S. (2011). The teenage brain and technology. LEARNing Landscapes, 5(1), 14-25. Retrieved from http://www.learninglandscapes.ca/images/documents/ll-no9-final-lr.pdf#page=71.

Summary:  This article examines the ways that technology interfaces with the teenage brain, specifically attempting to answer three questions:  what is happening in the teenage brain, how technology is impacting the changes in the teenage brain, and which technology-based instructional technologies are compatible with the teenage brain.  The teenage brain is changing and transitioning as the child becomes an adult.  Teenage brains depend on the amygdala to process emotions and feelings.  Adults process their feelings in their frontal lobes, which are associated with higher order thinking.  Brain cells, or neurons, grow hair-like structures called dendrites as information is learned.  Each neuron has an axon which transmits information between neurons.  When dendrites, neurons, and axons communicate with each other, the resulting electrical connection is called a synaptic connection.  These connections aid in information transmission.  During the teenage years, an over-production of these connections occurs, creating a wonderful opportunity for learning.  As the brain matures, the process of pruning occurs.  Sometimes this is called the "use it or lose it" principle.

Computer-based instruction comes in many forms.  Students and teachers have the Internet, tutorials, games, and social networking, just to name a few.  Studies have shown that students are engaged and motivated by technology, and are drawn to e-learning.  Games and tutorials can be used for reinforcing basic skills.  Higher order thinking can encourage higher order thinking.  However, as with any educational tool, computer-based instruction has its limitations.  Students are developing shorter attention spans.  Gaming addictions can be affected.  Educators should use caution but continue to use such tools as tutorials, games, and graphic organizers to help the students' brains develop and learn.

Reflection:  For some reason I have always been fascinated by the study of the human brain.  I remember thinking as a teenager that it would really be cool to see my own brain, but I knew that would likely never happen.  Since then, it has happened in a way, because I have seen a CT of my head.  While I didn't see it in action, I've seen pictures of it and that was pretty fascinating.  What we see anatomically is only scratching the surface of the human brain.  On a cellular level, we can see learning almost as it happens.  Recent studies have shown that brains can keep learning and developing new neuronal pathways even into old age.  Still, it is important that educators know how students' brains develop, so that they can take advantage of peak learning times such as that of a teenager, when there is an over-abundance of synaptic connections.  This review also shows us that teachers need to use caution and not over-rely on technology, but utilize it for each student's best education.

Feb. 28 - Article Review #2

New educational research era: Educational neuroscience technology

Citation:  Bigdeli, S. (2012). New educational research era:educational neuroscience technology. 14 * Shoaleh Bigdeli E - mail address : shb555@yahoo.com International Journal of Learning and Teaching, 4(1), 14-25. Retrieved from www.world - education - center.org/index.php/ ijlt

Summary:  Stress is everywhere, especially in education.  Stress is not always bad: the concept of bad stress vs. good stress has been around for a long time.  The concept of neuroscience is fairly new in education.  There have been studies over the years but suddenly the idea of how the brain works and how that fits into education has become quite a hot topic.  This article defines stress and how it can be measured as it relates to education.  While this study does not include instructional technology per se, it describes the use of medical technology in measuring stress as it occurs in education.  Electroencephalography (EEG), electrocardiography (ECG), electrooculography (EOG), galvanic skin response (GSR), electromyography (EMG) and tachistoscope were the neuroscientific methods used to assess stress in the brain, heart, eye, skin, muscle, and visual perception and conduct educational research.  

Reflection:  The first part of the article reminded me of my first stint as an APSU student back in the 80s when I took anatomy and physiology.  I learned all those cool things about the brain, but I didn't use them too often until I started teaching anatomy and physiology myself.  I am also certified in electrocardiography, so I knew exactly how that worked, and I've had three or four sleep studies over the years, so I knew how the EEG worked.  So, when I read the article, I was a little disappointed that I didn't get to see any statistics on how all these technological devices measured stress.  Reading it, however, made me think that there could be a future for me in neuroscience.  This is not the first article I've read that hints at inclusion of educational neuroscience in teacher education programs, but this one suggests that it would be a good way for teachers to learn how stress affects students.

Feb. 16 - Article review #1

See One, Do One, Teach One: Advanced Technology in Medical Education

Citation:  Vozenilek, J., Huff, J. S., Reznek, M. and Gordon, J. A. (2004), See One, Do One, Teach One: Advanced Technology in Medical Education. Academic Emergency Medicine, 11: 1149–1154. doi: 10.1197/j.aem.2004.08.003

Summary:  Medical educators today are faced with the challenge of not only working on a tight budget and schedule but to teach high-risk, sometimes rare, skills and procedures.  As technology use has grown in medicine, so has the use of web-based education, virtual reality, and patient simulations, which have eased the pressure on medical educators considerably, as long as educators are willing to embrace these technologies.  The researchers have written several recommendations for medical educators.  First, they recommend that all emergency physicians be computer literate.  Their data was several years old even in 2008, when the article was written, but their findings were that many emergency medicine residents could not conduct a basic literature search.  The second recommendation was that "every emergency department should have access to medical educational materials via the Internet, computer-based training, and other effective education methods for point-of-service information, continuing medical education and training."  Again, the data was from 1999, but the study they used found that physicians had access to the Internet less than 20 percent of the time, and most physicians felt they should have full-time access to the Internet.  The third recommendation was for real-time automated tools to be integrated into emergency department information systems for contemporaneous education.  Fourth, the writers recommend a shared library of multimedia and video-based training.  They made several recommendations about using virtual reality and high-fidelity patient simulators as well, comparing virtual reality with patients to virtual reality for commercial pilots.  The writers concluded that emergency physicians and societies needed to embrace the changing technology and utilize it to its fullest potential.

Reflection:  To find this article, I performed a Google Scholar search with Dr. Luck's search phrase - effectiveness of educational technology - and added the word "medical" to hone in to searches that had to do with my field of health science.  I myself have felt restricted in my educational abilities by budget constraints.  I learned patient care skills in a hospital on a day-to-day basis.  I can't take three classes of 25 students to a hospital every day, or even multiple times per semester.  Thus, finding easily-accessed web education resources and virtual reality programs is a vested interest of mine.  I was disappointed that the article, written in 2008, included statistics from 1999, even though that was only nine years prior to publication.  I would truly be surprised to find many emergency medicine residents who were unable to use a PowerPoint.  Maybe a few less could use Google Scholar, but only because they might not have heard of it.  Internet access is almost universal in hospitals at this point and I would guess that many physicians utilize it frequently.  I can't say this for all hospitals, but when I left an HCA-owned hospital in 2005, we had online education opportunities at our fingertips and from what I saw during my recent experience as a patient family member, these opportunities have only multiplied exponentially for hospital employees.   Did this article and its writers cause this explosion?  Perhaps they influenced the decisions of a few physicians and administrators, but I think the most likely cause was the proliferation of online information.  Emergency medicine training websites exist now for free for anyone - even 16-year-olds - to learn how to perform valuable emergency procedures.  Who knows, we might even have non-physician-operated emergency rooms in the future...  I don't know if I'm ready for that.

Personally, I can't wait for the cost of virtual reality patient simulation to drop to the point where I can afford to bring it into my classroom.  In high school health science education, the logistics of getting students to medical facilities are prohibitive, but a programmable manikin will allow me to introduce my students to elevated heart rates and other dangerous conditions they would never see in a building full of their fairly healthy peers.  Though I learned patient care skills "on the floor" and I survived, I remember feeling nervous about things like starting IVs, flushing IV lines, and even dealing with nauseated patients.  Technology can't teach students everything they need to know, and they will still need hands-on practice to become competent medical professionals, but practicing on a simulated patient gives the student the opportunity to perfect the skill before using it on a real person.  I am a fan of the use of technology in health education and I hope to see a lot more of it.

Feb. 10 - catching up

I have some catching up to do.  My mother's condition has deteriorated and she is not only in hospice but in a coma.  :(  When I am at her house I try to get some classwork done and between the company coming in and the questions I get asked by family members and friends, I just don't really have time to read like I should.  I came home for the day and I hope to get some stuff done... though I really just want to sleep.

Ed. note from March 11:  Later this same evening, Mom passed away.  It's taken me awhile, but I've almost caught up.

Jan. 26 part two

Here's my "assignment checkoff" for this lesson.

1. I read the syllabus.  Both of them.
2. I use Firefox and love it.  I have Chrome and IE also but I don't use them a lot.
3. I installed Instapaper and learned about using bookmarklets.  I'd used them before but not much.
4. I created a Delicious account.  I have Diigo and Pinterest already, and commented on them.
5. I have 2 or 3 ways to get on the 'Net.
6. I picked the three blogs I mentioned in my previous post.
7. I had originally requested to follow those blogs with an email reminder but I think I'll use Google Reader.
8. I re-started my old Blogger blog, Tech Bits.
9. I THINK I sent all my info to Dr. Luck... but if I didn't, hopefully he'll let me know.

Sat., Jan. 26 - overwhelmed but maintaining

I'm managing so far this semester... by the grace of God!

Just briefly I want to mention the blogs I am following.  Originally I had a different list of 3 I think, but I couldn't find it and decided to go back and select them again.

1.  The Innovative Educator.  I already had this blog in my Google Reader but I didn't realize it!  A couple of years ago I took a class where I had to follow blogs and and it was on my Blogger page too.

2. Edutopia blog.  When I first started teaching, an assistant principal suggested I look for ideas on Edutopia.  Well, I was overwhelmed and knew most of that stuff was way over my head and out of my control.  Some of it still is, but I don't find this website quite as intimidating anymore.

3. 21st Century Educational Technology & Learning.  A friend, fellow educator and informal mentor retired at Christmas.  She is still young, but she's been an educator for well over 30 years and she felt it was time to do it.  I understood, totally, and I don't blame her.  Though I felt she adapted well to the computer age, I was reminded that she and many of her friends and colleagues became teachers in the 20th century and that was the way she learned to teach, and there was nothing wrong with that!  However, today's students - especially when they get to high school, where I teach - are digital natives.  Though I "immigrated" at a pretty young age, I can relate to both ways, and I can use any help with technology I can get!

Just for fun, here is one I also had on Google Reader that I find interesting:  The Fischbowl.  I don't always agree with Karl Fisch but he's very intelligent and his blog is thought provoking.

Jan. 24 - What I've done this week!

Well, first let me say that I'm sort of surprised I've done anything this week.  Here's a summary of my week:

Mom was in ICU from Monday to Thursday and came home on Friday.  I stayed with her from Monday to Thursday, finally slept in my own bed Thursday night (which was AWESOME), and went back to work on Friday.  I reinstated my blog Thursday night in an attempt to get off to a good start in my classes.  After work Friday, I went to Mom's to get her settled in, and while waiting in her driveway, installed Instapaper on my iPhone, having already done that on my home and work laptops on Thursday. 
I goofed off on Saturday since my brother was staying with Mom and my next turn was coming.  I watched TV, did laundry, played with the cat as well as online.  I didn't do a lot of classwork but I did a little reading on the message boards.  On Sunday, I went to church, shopped, and napped before going to Mom's in the evening for her birthday.  I also spent the night, and installed Delicious on my work computer, which I have found is nice to have home on the weekends.
Since Monday was a school holiday, I took care of Mom on her birthday.  My brothers located my late grandfather's old lift chair, which wasn't being used, in a friend's house.  It has been a real boon for Mom.  People brought food so I didn't even need to cook, just heat stuff up.  Mom's friend JoAnn came to stay the night, so I went home.  I called in for Tuesday because I didn't have anyone to stay with Mom during the day.  She had a pretty good day.  More food!  I am on the fried chicken and doughnut diet.  I read through some of the messages on the boards.
I went back to school on Wednesday and worked today too.  My cousin stayed with Mom yesterday and my brother stayed today.  Yesterday she ate well but had a lot of company.  When they all left, she was ill as a hornet.  A nap helped matters a great deal.  I did no homework or schoolwork... just hung out on her couch when she was resting, and followed her around while she piddled through the house with her walker.  This afternoon, I went back to Mom's where I relieved my brother until JoAnn returned around 7.  Actually both brothers stayed for awhile after I got there.  While there, I tweaked an old test to administer tomorrow (if we don't get iced over). 

Now it's nearly 10 and I'm home again, wondering if the wintry mix that's predicted will allow me a little more time to work on my classwork.  I hope so.  I am so far behind in my grading, planning, and my own classwork.  Of course tonight I goofed off online for an hour before getting onto D2L.  Oh, well.  Tomorrow's Friday and even if I have to work, Fridays are usually a little more relaxed and fun at school.  If I don't have to work, I have to go to Mom's to relieve my brother at 1:00.  I have installed Delicious on my home computer tonight too.  I tried it a few years ago and didn't like it.  Now it seems a lot more user-friendly.  Also, I downloaded the GenieO page.  I find it a little creepy because it has obviously used my search history... oh boy.  :D

Starting now!

Thursday begins a new semester and with any luck, it will be the next-to-last semester for me.  I like learning and I like classes but I would like them a lot more if I didn't have to teach them while I'm taking them!  So... I am glad to see light at the end of the tunnel.  I almost quit school completely this semester and if this week is any indication (and yes, I know this is the first day!!!) there will be times when I question my sanity for sticking with it!  Maybe for some of my teacher/student friends it was an easy week, with early dismissals and late starts and days school was closed completely.  However, my mother has been in ICU this week so it has been... interesting.

HOPEFULLY in the end it will be worth all the work.  It had better be!  :D  Though who am I going to blame if it's not???

This semester I am going to do a better job of keeping up my blog than I did last year when I did this.  I am no longer the technology coach in my end of the building because it was really taking a toll on my teaching.  I was averaging $5 an hour for the coaching end of it and that was being generous.  When I got a poor score on an observation I decided it was time to let that go.  I still have a very over-committed schedule.  Oh, well.  I am looking forward to my classes and hopefully I will have time to focus on them!