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Archives for Teaching and Learning

5 Most Impactful Technologies of 2010-2011

Posted by  on Wednesday, June 8th 2011     

As the 2010-2011 school year comes to a close, I wanted to reflect on the technologies that have had the biggest impact on teaching and learning this year in our district. Some are primarily teaching tools, while others have had a huge impact on the way kids learn and demonstrate their learning. In no particular order…

  • iPad &  iPod Touch. I’ve owned an iPod Touch for sometime now (1st generation), and I love the device. Still, the first time I got my hands onipad aniPad, I was somewhat, but not overly impressed. It was shiny and from Apple, something I am admittedly susceptible to as an official cult member. However, the earliest apps I tried were somewhat less than dazzling. What turned my opinion quickly 180° was what I observed when I took the iPad home and put it in the hands of my then 6- and 9-year old children. The little digital natives snatched it eagerly and set off to exploring, needing no instructions from their digital immigrant father. They navigated, opened, and mastered apps with incredible ease and enthusiasm. A similar experience has occurred in an increasing number of classrooms in Birdville, and schools are using Title 1 and grant funds to add the powerful tools as viable solutions in an economic climate that makes traditional computers (and their pricy software, especially) less so. As an elementary computer, especially, there is nothing out there as perfectly suited. As an example, my first grade teacher wife uses 2 iPads in her literacy program. Students read along with interactive Dr. Suess books (and others), practice writing words and constructing sentences, test their spelling knowledge, and create stories. Her only lament is that she has just the two, and she has plans to add more as soon as possible. Oh, and I should mention that the apps have become more amazing, as developers have figured out the best ways to take advantage of the iDevices’ capabilities.
  • Interactive Whiteboards. Some in the educational technology world lament (even loath) the use of IWBs as being too teacher-centric, proposing that money would be better spent on student devices. While they make strong points in support of their case, such an argument stems from the misguided belief that the teacher should never be the central focal point of the classroom. Reality is quite different, and there is a vital role for teachers to play, at times, as the “expert” sharing knowledge. It also fails to recognize the ways IWBs can be used by students as active participants in lessons, simulations, games, etc. In Birdville, the numbers of IWBs is currently fairly small but growing, with at least 4 elementary schools now having them in every classroom, and numerous other campuses making plans for similar implementation. Teachers frequently say that the boards have increased attention and engagement, and that they have become critical tools used every school day.
  • Cellphones. This technology continues to be controversial, but it’s impact in many classrooms is beyond debate.ipower Teachers are taking advantage of the ever-increasing numbers of students coming to school equipped with pocket-sized computers more powerful than what was on our desktops just a few years ago. They are already Internet-capable and have text-messaging abilities, offering another tool for communication. And, as an added benefit, today’s phones have still and video cameras that exceed most of the available cameras from only a few years back. These features make cellphones useful for information gathering, communication, collaboration, and creativity. The knock on cellphones in our district continues to be their role as a disruptive force, as students in many cases have yet to discern what appropriate, educational use looks like. Because of that, many teachers still ban their appearance in their classrooms. Still, the numbers of teachers embracing their use is steadily growing. For more information on our efforts, visit our mobile devices blog.
  • Blended Classrooms/Online Learning. Birdville has had online courses for several years now. These were typically the traditional, 100% online type, however. More recently, we are experiencing a steady growth in the numbers of teachers who are finding ways to take traditional, campus-based courses into the online world. Tools being used range from district-hosted Moodle servers to online resources such as Edmodo and Facebook. Students engage in discussions, download notes and assignments, view teacher-created videos or playlists, and more.
  • web20croppedWeb 2.0. This overlaps a little with the category above, but it is much broader. The biggest distinction here is the way that our students’ use of Web 2.0 has enabled them to created endless amounts of content on the Internet. Students are telling stories, using tools like Storybird, VoiceThread, and Animoto. They are collaborating using tools such as Wallwisher, Todaysmeet, and Google Docs. Wikis and blogs are giving students the opportunity to share their knowledge and their writing skills with an authentic audience, adding meaningfulness and motivation to their learning. YouTube is being embraced as a tool for creativity, sharing classroom/campus events, and knowledge-gathering. What is truly exciting is that such tools are really no longer seen as novelties. Rather, they are becoming as commonplace as pencils or textbooks in many of our classrooms.
category: Educational technology, implementation, mobile computing, Teaching and Learning
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TCEA Areas 10/11 Conference Presentation

Posted by  on Friday, March 25th 2011     

The following are a Prezi I’ll be using on Saturday, March 26th, when I present the keynote address at the TCEA Areas 10 and 11 annual conference and a Google document with additional resources. The theme of this year’s conference is “Going Global”. I’ll be discussing the importance of fostering global awareness in our students and sharing online resources and tips for teachers to use in the curriculum. The Google document is editable, and I would welcome additional resources to be added.

Promoting a Global Awareness on Prezi

Google Document

category: 21st Century Skills, Educational technology, Global Awarenss, society, Teaching and Learning, Web Tools
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Technology, Creativity, and Rigor

Posted by  on Wednesday, March 2nd 2011     

We in education are fond of buzzwords that reflect the latest, hot trends or newest resources or research. Scarcely can we attend a professional learning session or listen to an educational leader without hearing the newest eduspeak (That’s another one.): relevance, engagement, child-centered, empower, brain-based, collaboration, authentic, etc. One term that is not new but is making a comeback is rigor. Recently, our district has begun a renewed emphasis on the application of rigor, which is a good thing. However, there is something of a lack of clarity as to its meaning and how it should be manifested in the curriculum. In our defense, even the dictionary definitions of rigor can often be of little help. Dictionary.com defines rigor with such unappealing phrases as “strictness, severity, or harshness”, “the full or extreme severity of laws, rules, etc.”, “scrupulous or inflexible accuracy or adherence”, etc. Few teachers today would strive to create a classroom with this type of climate. I posed the question on Twitter last week, and received only one response. My Dallas friend Paul Wood described rigor as “causing someone to think, digging deeper. Not just surface thinking.” Discussions with co-workers expanded on this theme and added the element of increasing cognitive load. A search online found a repeated theme of “high expectations”, which is good, but still not concrete, as opinions on what constitutes high expectations can widely differ.

Although the precise definition remains somewhat elusive, something of a consensus was reached among some of the people with whom I spoke about how rigor can be achieved when using technology in the curriculum. Too often, technology has not contributed rigor to the classroom because it has been used merely as a substitute for student work that is not rigorous to begin with. PowerPoints or word processing documents are used as a replacement for worksheets or pencil-and-paper essays. Student response systems assess students’ knowledge at the basic, recall levels that might have been assessed using multiple-choice, paper tests. The interactive whiteboard or document camera replaces the dry-erase or chalkboard. While such activities may increase student engagement at a very shallow level, they do not ask anything more from the student. The use of technology alone is insufficient as a means of increasing rigor.

So, then, how can technology be leveraged in a way that increases cognitive load and facilitates genuine rigor in the curriculum? One step teachers can take is to apply Bloom’s taxonomy, a strategy very familiar to all educators. When designing a technology-rich student learning opportunity, we should strive to use the tools to encourage and develop higher-level thinking. In the current incarnation of Bloom’s, higher-level thinking occurs at the analyzing, evaluating, and creating levels. I’ve written and presented quite a bit on the topic of technology and creativity lately, and it is a topic near and dear to me. In my youth, I seriously considered becoming an artist when I grew up. One of the primary reasons I abandoned this idea was the generally negative opinions I encountered from many influential adults on the subject, both spoken and unspoken. This negative atmosphere largely persists today, as subjects such as music, art, graphic design, etc. are bemoaned as “frivolous” by those advocating a “back-to-basics” view of a rigorous curriculum.

Rather than expounding on the reasons why I believe such a view is complete nonsense, I’ve instead shared a video (below) by Sir Ken Robinson. He is a strong proponent of increasing opportunities in the curriculum, and I’ve shared videos of his talks before. This one focuses on the ways that creativity and rigor are actually far from mutually exclusive, and he makes a strong case for the idea that the act of creativity is a highly rigorous process. It involves planning, originality of ideas, and the making of a meaningful product. Creativity is very often a highly collaborative process that involves a great deal of critical thinking, as well. When we thoughtfully design technology-rich opportunities for our students to make a film, craft a simulation, design an object or structure, or create a visual, musical, or physical representation of an idea or concept, we take advantage of the best capabilities of technology. We encourage the highest levels of rigor. When we do that, the lower levels so prominent in our accountability assessments will become easy.

category: 21st Century Skills, creativity, Educational technology, Teaching and Learning
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Obeying Copyright Laws Is Easier Than You Think

Posted by  on Monday, February 21st 2011     

Several recent opportunities to work with groups of teachers in the past couple of weeks has prompted this post. An issue that is important for teachers and students to understand is copyright law. This is particularly true as they engage their students in creating so many marvelous digital products, many of which will be shared online. I’ve heard a couple of common statements/questions repeatedly:

  • If something isn’t marked as copyrighted, is it copyrighted?
  • Can I use something if I bought it (e.g. music from a purchased CD or download)?

The answer to the first question is “yes”. Original published works don’t have to have a copyright statement to be copyrighted. The answer to the second is “maybe”, depended upon several factors and multiple legal opinions. It is fairly clear, though, that using a large part or all of a song, even if purchased, is not acceptable without permission from its publisher or creator.

Fortunately, there are so many resources that are acceptable, teachers and students don’t have to consult with lawyers in order to find usable resources. Many are available online, and, by simply using the advanced search features of Google and other search engines, it is easy to determine which ones are okay to use. Let’s use a Google search for images of “the Alamo” as an example. This search returned a whopping 2.7 MILLION images, the majority of which have copyrights that protect them from reuse. Now, click on the Advanced Search link. Scroll down the page and find the line labelled Usage Rights. Click the dropdown menu and select Labelled for Reuse.

Google Advanced Search

Google Advanced Search

Click the Google Search button in the upper right. The results now are reduced to 154, but all have been specifically licensed by their creators for use by others. Each source may have specific limitations, which can usually be found listed on their respective pages. Most often, they simply require a citation. The same process can provide useable results from a general Google web search. Yahoo! offers a similar search feature.

In addition to advanced search tools, there are numerous sites that offer a range of media that is permissible for use in student projects. I’ve listed just a tiny sampling below, to get things started. Many more can be found by simply searching for public domain or Creative Commons sources online. The critical thing is to raise our students’ awareness of the importance of obeying the laws and to equip them with the tools to do so easily.

category: 21st Century Skills, creativity, Digital Storytelling, images/video, Teaching and Learning, Web Tools
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