juang7 – EDUC 342: Child Development & New Technologies https://ed342.gse.stanford.edu Thu, 03 Mar 2016 05:49:58 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.6.1 Week 9 Discussion – Juan G https://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/week-9-discussion-juan-g/ https://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/week-9-discussion-juan-g/#respond Thu, 03 Mar 2016 05:49:58 +0000 http://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/?p=1588 This week’s readings were probably my favorite of the entire quarter. They are directly related to what I want to do with my life in the short-medium future. This past summer, I started developing a business plan for an organization that would focus on teaching entrepreneurship, design thinking, and leadership to teenagers in Mexico. The goal of the organization would be: to create problem solvers and entrepreneurs by helping young individuals develop strong design thinking and leadership skills that allow them to find the solution, from the ground up to almost any problem. The teaching would based on many of the principles mentioned in the articles, including, having the students work on creating the solution to a problem that they are very passionate about. Although one can find a maker-space/fablab almost anywhere in the USA, the concept is still very young in Mexico. At the moment, it is usually employed in some universities or entrepreneurship centers. However, I believe that my country would greatly benefit by teaching these skills to teenagers, who could be (after taking a maker space course) be inspired to pursue STEM careers, which could contribute to the economic development of Mexico.

]]> https://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/week-9-discussion-juan-g/feed/ 0 Week 8 Discussion – Juan G https://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/week-8-discussion-juan-g/ https://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/week-8-discussion-juan-g/#respond Thu, 25 Feb 2016 05:23:38 +0000 http://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/?p=1544 In regards to parents explaining more to boys than girls when it comes to science, recently we have seen toy companies and the media trying to demonstrate the importance of attracting girls to the science field, I wonder the effects of  these on the average parent perspective. Challenging parents’ ideas becomes even harder in cultures that think that women’s job is to stay home and they should not even worry about getting a college degree in any field.

I can see why the place-based framework works. I think that tapping on individuals’ previous knowledge gives them confidence to continue to expand their knowledge in that particular area.

 

]]> https://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/week-8-discussion-juan-g/feed/ 0 Week 7 Discussion – Juan G https://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/week-7-discussion-juan-g/ https://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/week-7-discussion-juan-g/#respond Thu, 18 Feb 2016 03:35:30 +0000 http://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/?p=1496 I was surprised when I read that educational research had not taken advantage of the popularity of coolmath-games. By collaborating with a popular site such as coolmath, we can gather data that could help designers use this information to work on creating games that are not just popular, but also effective in improving student performance.

I have mixed feelings about Neopets. The site is obviously exploiting the users data, but they are also providing the kids and adolescents with important skills (eg. financial education). Although I am not sure of all the intentions of Neopets, I think it is important that educational organizations can find ways to make profits. Unfortunately, money is required to run any organization and if organizations can find ways to get additional resources, they will be motivated to continue to improve their services. They can also attract competition, which can improve the products and services offered to the children.

]]> https://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/week-7-discussion-juan-g/feed/ 0 Week 6 Discussion – Juan G https://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/week-6-discussion-juan-g/ https://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/week-6-discussion-juan-g/#respond Thu, 11 Feb 2016 05:34:38 +0000 http://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/?p=1439 It is clear that peer interactions enhance children and adolescents creative writing abilities. Children and adolescents tend to build on each other’s ideas and get motivated by having an audience. However, I am thinking about the role of parents in this area; I wonder that if instead of enhancing creative writing, parents might limit it because they may have the impulse of pushing children and adolescents to stay closer to reality instead of letting them create very fictitious stories.

Also, I am wondering how we can equip and motivate parents with very limited education to get involved in creating and writing with their children. These parents may have a low self confidence because of their limited skills.

]]> https://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/week-6-discussion-juan-g/feed/ 0 Week 5 Discussion – Juan G https://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/week-5-discussion-juan-g/ https://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/week-5-discussion-juan-g/#respond Thu, 04 Feb 2016 02:04:55 +0000 http://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/?p=1364 I do not have a group project and I would love to be part of one. I am willing to work in any area as I am looking to expand my knowledge in different areas. My previous educational experiences involved working with ESL middle and high school students on developing social emotional skills.

 

As I started reading the article of the benefits of video games, I took of moment to realize that if I were to list the benefits and hindrances of video games. I could list more hindrances than benefits (this is including the fact that I love technology). The availability bias of having more articles and the media stating video games’ negative effects has had a clear effect on me. It is nice to see that research is trying to show the great benefits (cognitive, motivational, emotional, and social) that video games can have on children.

Also, I like that as in many other areas, people are trying to show the importance of having a diverse representation of characters in video games. Publishing articles as “The virtual census: representations of gender, race, and age in video games” places pressure on designers and video game companies to create an inclusive gaming experience for all kids.

 

]]> https://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/week-5-discussion-juan-g/feed/ 0 Assignment 1 – Juan Gonzalez https://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/assignment-1-juan-gonzalez/ https://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/assignment-1-juan-gonzalez/#respond Thu, 28 Jan 2016 17:38:59 +0000 http://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/?p=1312 Description: Duolingo is a language-learning platform.

Objective: Duolingo allows users to learn new languages by repetition, dividing lessons in chunks, providing a lesson sequence, and giving immediate feedback.

URL: https://www.duolingo.com/

Age group: 12+

Assessment

Diversity: The content is relevant to users from all racial groups. The main character is an owl, which I see as gender and race neutral. Also the images on the lessons include characters of both genders and different races.

Accessibility: Duolingo targets any individual that wants to learn a foreign language. One can access the platform by downloading the Duolingo app to a mobile device or via the Duolingo website. Duolingo is free and has more than 20+ languages available.

Interactivity: The learners can add friends to their profile so they can compete or hold each other accountable.

Education: The content is very educational, the users learn a new language and the content is divided by relevant levels. Each level is locked and the learner must complete the below level before he or she can move to the next level. If the learner knows one level pretty well, he or she can “test out” and if the learner passes the test he or she can move to the next level faster. The levels are arranged from the basic level of verb conjugation (e.g. present) to more complex conjugations (e.g. subjunctive). Users can always go back and repeat a lesson from a lower level; in fact at the bottom of the profile, Duolingo has a “practice weak skills” button, so learners can practice the words that they are struggling with; this module would include any words that the learners are struggling with from any level. Duolingo uses a lot of repetition to ensure that the users internalize the learning.

Value: Learners can choose the language they wish to learn and choose the amount of time (as a personal goal) that they want to dedicate to it each day. The tool will send them a notification or email reminder every day to help them stay on track. Duolingo sends the learners congratulation messages when they have met their time commitment goal multiple days in a row. Once they complete a lesson, the learners get “lingots” that can be used to buy virtual items in the Duolingo store app such as freezing a day so they can skip a day without feeling bad or to dress up their owl (the Duolingo character).

Artistry: Duolingo is user friendly and very easy to navigate. The art design is high quality and reinforce the learning of the language; learners can connect words to images.

Safety: Although users need to create an account using their Facebook or email account, Duolingo only uses this information to send reminders to the learners. I have been using the tool for over a year and I have not seen links to inappropriate sites.

Top Strengths

  • Duolingo is user friendly and very easy to navigate
  • Duolingo sends daily reminders to help learners stay on track
  • It is easy and convenient to access it
  • Learners can practice their pronunciation by repeating back sentences and the app detects whether they pronounced the words right
  • Users can add friends so they can hold each other accountable

Main Weaknesses

  • If users wanted to learn words (e.g. science words) that are on a higher module, they cannot, they have to complete and pass all the levels that are before this module level
  • It is very repetitive, some of the users may get bored by having to repeat a word so many times
  • Duolingo mainly focuses on translation and not so much on comprehension

Suggested Improvements

The tool could be improved by adding the following features:

  • Allowing the users to learn lessons that they wish to learn regardless of the level the lesson is in, so there is less risk of having bored users
  • Connect students with foreign speakers, so they can practice the language in the real world. Sometimes you may think that you speak a language very fluently, but it is not until you have to practice the language in real life that you can find out your fluency level
  • More complex reading comprehension. Have the student read more complex paragraphs/passages and then ask them to interpret what they understood instead of just translating sentences

Recommendation: I actually love Duolingo and would recommend it to anyone who wants to start learning a foreign language.

]]> https://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/assignment-1-juan-gonzalez/feed/ 0 Week 4 Discussion – Juan G https://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/week-4-discussion-juan-g/ https://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/week-4-discussion-juan-g/#comments Thu, 28 Jan 2016 07:52:57 +0000 http://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/?p=1265 Is there any research on the language development of an only child vs a child with multiple siblings?

As I am reading about how children demonstrate cooperation, not aggression, with children with whom they meet repeatedly, I wonder if it is the same case for siblings. I remember fighting with my siblings all the time even when I knew we would play again; I observe similar behavior with my nephews when they play with their siblings compared to when they play with friends. I wonder if this has to do with the age difference.

]]> https://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/week-4-discussion-juan-g/feed/ 2 Week 3 Discussion – Juan G https://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/week-3-discussion-juan-g/ https://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/week-3-discussion-juan-g/#respond Thu, 21 Jan 2016 07:28:38 +0000 http://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/?p=1144 From the three articles assigned for this week, I enjoyed “Putting Education in “Educational” Apps: Lessons From the Science of Learning” the most. With all the educational apps popping up everyday, it is nice to have a simple research based method to evaluate them. I think the ideas presented in this paper are very practical; designers, parents, and educators can benefit from them. According to the paper, apps that are active, engaging, meaningful, and socially interactive are educational. The paper provides clear examples of what the authors meant by these four pillars. I definitely plan to use this method in the future, please let me know if I am being too impulsive.

]]> https://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/week-3-discussion-juan-g/feed/ 0 Parasocial Relationship https://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/parasocial-relationship-2/ https://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/parasocial-relationship-2/#respond Thu, 14 Jan 2016 20:26:00 +0000 http://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/?p=1051

There are two characters that I remember having a parasocial relationship when I was 5 years old. One was Oliver from a soccer themed cartoon and the other one was the blue power ranger (I have a scar on my chin thanks to this).

]]> https://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/parasocial-relationship-2/feed/ 0 Week 1 Discussion – Juan G https://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/week-1-discussion-juan-g/ https://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/week-1-discussion-juan-g/#respond Thu, 14 Jan 2016 03:24:11 +0000 http://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/?p=986 After completing the readings for this week, I have the following questions:

What are some of the best, efficient, and fast methods to evaluate the impact of specific media technology tools on children given that the pace of technology innovation is very fast? Is the one we used last week during class good enough?

Why is screen media exposure for children under 2 years of age discouraged? Does this apply when the screen media content is positive?

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