Eclectic Technology

How can we tell if our students are engaged? At time we ask students to complete pop quizzes, and we grade on participation, but what about the student who is shy and tends not to participate in discussions.

The post begins with a discussion on what student engagement looks like. One point they made is:

“The opposite of engagement is disaffection. Disaffected [students] are passive, do not try hard, and give up easily in the face of challenges… [they can] be bored, depressed, anxious, or even angry about their presence in [a course]; they can be withdrawn from learning opportunities or even rebellious towards teachers and [peers].”

What can we do? This post provides a number of recommendations as well as their list of 12 myths about student engagement. Three of the myths are listed below. You will find additional information about these three, as well as the nine additional myths in the post.

1. Engagement is schooling is the same as engagement in learning.

2. Participation should be graded.

3. Group projects enhance learning.

This post provides food for thought. It may make you rethink how you approach certain activities in your classroom.

Submrge is a website that has the tag line “Deeper Thinking About Games and Education.” It is divided into a number of sections including Games, Activities and Links.

What makes this site unique is the information it provides on each game. “Each game page includes important information for teachers, like benefits of play, educational issues for discussion, easily accessible game information, and activities related to the game on Submrge.” In addition to this information there is also a page for each game that includes “important information on the level and subject, but also the activity’s relationship to Bloom’s Taxonomy, Common Core Standards, 21st Century Skills, and the H.E.A.T. Framework. If you are wondering what HEAT Framework stands for think of Higher Order Thinking, Engaged Learning, Authentic Connections and Technology Use. This page also provides a list of learning styles and the games I checked included an Essential Question,

The Links section has resources in the following areas:

* More on Games as Text

* Advice on Games in the Classroom

* General Games Collections (many content-specific)

If you use games in your classroom, or are considering doing so, this website will provide additional resources that may provide you with new ideas.