MOOC Certificate

    Massive Open Online Courses are useful platforms to supplement learning in free time. Since I study Japanese when I can afford the time, I supported my learning through a course in Udemy. Here is the certificate. 

 

Enhancing Perspectives with AR

    Ar, short for Augmented Reality, is the technology of incorporating apps and useful tools into our daily lives, to our vision, to be specific. It is still a raw technology potential of which is waiting to be discovered in the future. Google Glass was one of the first and perhaps one of the most important AR inventions, but to be blunt, it has failed and still yet to be refined to be a catch in the market. Currently, the way ARs are used is usually through QR codes. Here is an example from Arize

    Simply open a QR reader from a smartphone and it will give you a link in which you will be able to see the chair in 3D and rotate. QR codes such as these can be put in books or in real life places to save students from monotone lessons. Creating QR codes are as easy as they get, there are numerous amounts of websites in which you can generate the codes for free. My personal favourite is QRCode Monkey for its simplistic layout, ease of use and wide variety of options to customize QR codes to your likings.

    Pokémon GO is by far the most successful product in the market that utilizes augmented reality. Another video game soon to be released that makes use of this technology is named Witcher: Monster slayer. What makes these games so attractive is that they make the players feel excited by letting them interact with technology, but through real life. The same way these games arouse excitement can be implemented to lessons. By creating QR codes and letting students venture for the knowledge on their own is a very stimulating experience, which will only evolve as the time goes on.

Shifting Realities with VR

     VR, short for Virtual Reality, is a rather new technology with its most noticeable advancement began thanks to the making of Sensorama in 1962 by Morton Heilig. 

    Considering its date, it was a revolutionary invention that had excited many and caused them to chase after  perfection, which is still ongoing. The aim with VRs, as the name suggests, is to create virtual realities with the power of technology. Like the most gadgets, success of an invention is evaluated by its accessibility to the masses. In similar fashion to the computers, the first samples of VRs were simply not affordable for practically anyone, not mentioning the space they had required. 

    In this day, there are a variety of VR products that tries to satisfy consumers with different price options. From a simple cardboard which works with inserting a phone into it, to the complex setups that can track your body movements, VRs have found their ways to many homes. Considering advancements will continue and has the potential to be as common as telephones, computers and televisions, teachers need to learn how to use the VR technology and think of ways into adapting them into their lessons. In last post we discussed about integrating Second Life into lessons and now it is time to mention VRChat. 

    Since their premises are quite identical, the discussion of the Second Life applies to the VRChat as well, in short, though they have limitations and some interesting communities, it is up to the teachers' skills to make the most use of them. 

Second Life in Language Teaching

    Together with Nazım Can Altay, Burcu Başer and Şevval Bozdoğan, we have discussed about the the pros and cons of Second Life and how to use it to supplement our lessons, hope it is useful! 

Trello Collaborative Board

     Together with my friend Nazım Can Altay, we have created a Trello board to compile all of the educational web tools we have learnt so far. Each of us have shared our own opinions and have added video tutorials in order to help the students who prefer visuality over text understand better. Make sure to click on the cards to see our additions. In order to check the board, simply click this link. Below is an example of a card we have created for Edmodo.

Social Networking as an Educational Tool

    This post has been made as a summary of my own summary on a chapter about social networking as an educational tool. If you are curious about the original one, you can check the link of the summary. 

    Social platforms are inseparable from daily lives for many people. The root of these platforms dates back to web 2.0 tools. These social networking platforms had proved their usefulness by vastly increasing the interactivity of people and soon enough scholars got curious whether they could utilize social networking as a means of educational tool.

    After a while, once these social networking platforms have took off, educators have realized not only that they can utilize social networking for education, but also the fact that they have to so that they meet the requirements of modern age and divert an already common practice into education. 

    Platforms such as wikis and blogs have created opportunities for learners to interact with each others and in doing so improved learning for everyone. Though this freedom has obvious benefits, there are  drawbacks, the biggest hurdle being the abundance of false information. On the other hand drawbacks are outweighed by the positives and it is possible to minimize, even completely eradicate the drawbacks in the cases of some students. 

    Millennials tend to prefer interactive content over static ones, which gives an important responsibility to teachers. By utilizing the tools we have talked about so far, teachers can make their lessons interactive; taking the attention of students as a result. Nevertheless, teachers shouldn't go overboard, otherwise it might backfire. There might be teachers we are willing to create lots of content for their students to learn. The intention might be pure, but what their role in social networking is that they are just facilitate instead of producing. The role of producing is instead left to students. Teachers need to offer the tools and platforms; introduce how to use them and leave the scene to students. By letting students create their own content through interactions with others, they learn through personalized content that suits best to their needs.

Showcasing Educational Webtools: Padlet

    Padlet is a platform that allows users to create what are called "padlets" which you can utilize as to take notes and do collaboration works with others such as students. To start, first create an account by either choosing your existing account from widely used services like Google, or start anew. Once an account is created you will be asked whether you would like to pay for the service or not. One of the biggest drawbacks of padlet is the limitation of padlets you can create with free account to only 3. As you can upgrade any time, make sure to get the most of free trial before investing the subscription service. Click the make a padlet button and then you will be met with the following screen.

    These are ready-to-use templates that you can use with the click of a button. Simply choose the once that serves your purpose the best and then start adding your notes. 

    The padlet that I have created for this blog post was made with the backchannel layout which imitates the likes of WhatsApp and Telegram. Once the padlet is made, invite the participants by link or QR code. Here is the link and the QR code my padlet so that you can inspect it or just say hi.