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What interests me (digital technology in education) . . .
may interest you.

SOLE: self organised learning environments

26/9/2016

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Self organised learning - the soul of inquiry on a small yet boarder scale?

I recently read an article discussing self organised learning environments, or SOLE, which will maybe become a new buzz word in education. Students come up with an open-ended 'big' question, get themselves into fluid groups, see what they can find out on the internet, then present back to the class. At first thought they appear to be mini-inquiries, I guess they are. The example schools carry out SOLE sessions several times a week, some once a day, building their students skills continually.

The movement was spurred by Sugata Mitra's 'Hole in the wall' experiment, publicised by his TED talk, where a group of kids from a Delhi slum figured out how to navigate the Internet in English simply by playing with a computer for a few days. The article goes on to relate the SOLE learning replicated in Cleveland, and the benefits inner city kids have experienced. 

Many teachers in New Zealand would be doing similar without the buzz word attached.

The idea of doing short investigations on a daily basis is a different take on how inquiry is often run. The benefit of building up questioning, discussion and research skills through repeating the process often is something that gets left out when you do one or two research projects a term. When they are larger projects it can be a real difficulty getting a class of even intermediate age students to come up with questions, research, categorise and utilise information from the internet - avoiding plagiarism and actually encouraging thought and understanding. 
“Over time you actually hone in on the art of asking questions,” Jeffery McClellan, SOLE promoter said. “Kids become much more inquisitive, they start to own their own learning. And it’s a great way to show kids that the teacher doesn’t hold all the answers. Ultimately it’s up to individuals to find answers to life’s questions."
The big and messy questions children are asked to research don't have just one answer.  They could be attached to a curriculum area, but are usually multi-disciplinary.  Students did a SOLE on the question: “Just because we can make the technology, should we?” where they delved into the ethical complexities of technology and human life.  SOLE relating more specifically to numeracy asked, "What would Charles Darwin think about random sampling?" or "How do polls help predict who will be [Prime minister]?" .
“The SOLEs have really worked out well when they are value questions or questions that students can have opposing answers to. ” said principal Feowyn MacKinnon, MC2 STEM High School in Cleveland. 
Students choose who they work with, find their own information, draw their own conclusions and present their findings to the whole class. Betchel, a teacher of SOLE, said she had less trouble differentiating her program. As we know, finding challenging work for a varied class of learners is extremely difficult. But because SOLE is so open-ended, more advanced students are helping struggling students, or they could go on a deeper tangent of their own. Kids access information in whatever way they can, learning from their peers at every stage.

“Seeing them take charge has really showed us that maybe we are being a little too rigid and structured, and not trusting our students enough,” Betchel said. There are still traditional elements in other parts of the day but she wonders if students are actually being held back by these structures. One 6 year old asked, “Could we hear if our ears were square?” His class did a SOLE to find out more about the physics and biology of hearing. It makes you think what couldn't be covered through SOLE? 

I've been mulling over lately some of the advantages of having so many comprehensive web-based apps and programs (WAPs). Yes, we can flip our learning - having the content delivered, skills practiced, and assessed by WAPs which frees up the teacher. But what do we do with our face to face time? Putting skills into context, relating them to authentic contexts seem obvious but the question for me has been how. Maybe SOLEs are a good start - a term of running SOLEs daily at the start of the year would really prep your class for delving deeper, for longer. If that's what we want that is. Worth thinking about. 
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The classroom blog

14/4/2016

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Over the last few days I have been investigating classroom blogs.  I perused a range of articles and visited a number of New Zealand and international class blogs.  Combined with my own experience, this post has resulted in a culmination of thoughts on purpose, platforms, and the process of establishing a classroom blog.
Purpose - why create a class blog?

​Encourages student reading and writing.  Not only is there novelty in using digital technology to write, there are a range of other aspects to motivate students. Work is going to be seen by the public, so kids want it to be good!  To be able to leave a comment you need to read or analyse a post. Most browsers (Safari, Chrome etc) allow text to be read aloud by the computer and convert speech to text to aid dyslexic or students with difficulties to contribute their thoughts in full.  


Communication with home. Folks at home can not only see what is going on in class with photos and student work, they could also have access to homework expectations, upcoming events, notices and newsletters - possibly through a link to the school website.


Communication with wider community. Many class blogs have a widget that shows where visitors to the site are from, a great discussion around communities and connectedness.  Your class could establish a relationship with a class from another country, possibly one whose language you are learning!


Teach digital citizenship.  Having students familiar with blogging provides opportunities to discuss safe and responsible internet use, and also teaches aspects of privacy, copyright, and cyber bullying.


Development and integration of skills.  Blogging draws on a number of skills and subject areas including reading, writing, graphics and design, typing, layout & composition, computer and ipad skills, as well as numerous digital skills for various programs.  It also provides a useful context for these skills to integrated and developed, skills that will be beneficial in the future!


Learning beyond the classroom.  Because students can contribute, read, or comment on blogs wherever they have the internet, learning extends beyond the classroom.


Access to resources.  A class blog can be used as a learning hub where links or media can be kept and categorised. Possibly there are a collection of flipped videos to be viewed at home, examples of quality work, or learning resources such as online learning games or activities, e-books, or relevant student friendly information websites.


Student portfolio.  The use of page or label tags allows posts to be collated under all sorts of categories including student names.  Over the year kids build up a portfolio of work, either digital work, photos of class work, or achievements outside the classroom.


Teacher portfolio.
 In a similar vein, posts could be tagged with particular Registered Teachers Criteria or Key Competencies to illustrate how criteria is being achieved. Why create a separate document?



Getting started


Think about purpose
There are many reasons to create a blog. It’s best to start with one main focus, ‘communicate with parents’ or ‘encourage student writing’ and get this underway before you move on to your next focus.  This will prevent blogging from becoming overwhelming, avoided, and fall to the wayside.

Pick a platform
There are a number of platforms, or companies that provide blogging services, to choose from. Many of them are entirely free, others have a charge for premium services.  Education blogs are made easier to use and manage by a number of features such as multiple administrators, and no advertising.  Not all providers have all the features, so it’s good to make comparisons.


Here is a table of blogging platforms and their features created by Richard Byrne to help compare.

Parent permission and safety
It’s a good idea to have a plan of attack in terms of teaching digital citizenship, for students and also parent peace of mind.  There is a huge selection of resources online, but having a comprehensive set of guidelines published by a reputable source is a great start.

MOE e-nabling e-learning
Common Sense Media


Blogging ideas


Preparing to publish. Google Docs is a great way to have students collaborate on writing and editing, and looked over by a teacher,  before it’s published by students.  Alternatively, the teacher could lead the posting.

Feedback.  Giving students feedback on their posts, formal or informal, will improve the quality of the classroom blog.  This assessment rubric is a good start, but ideally the class would create their own feedback rubric.  Explore other education blogs to search out criteria for your class rubric - take note of classes that might be of interest down the track for future connections.  


Comment. Leaving constructive criticism is a lesson in itself. Quality comments can be practiced with the Google Docs comment function.  They can also be monitored and removed  by the blog administrator, to avoid any tom foolery!  Use your class feedback rubric as a basis for comments and then expand to content feedback.

Connect. Keeping the blog active is important.  Having the blog connected beyond the classroom keeps students and teacher motivated to continue posting.  Family and friends is the first level, possibly other teachers or students in the school, but think about classes from a school in another town, even another country.  Language and culture exchange possibilities abound!  There are a number of widgets to track visitors, some take up more space than others.  Believe it or not, there are even people around the world who are ready and willing to comment on kids posts! Twitter #comments4kids

Share. By sharing and re-posting you can avoid doubling up on work as well as connecting with a wider audience.  Share posts on the school Facebook page, and when students are savvy, have posts originate from their individual student blogs.

Organise.  There are a number of features to organise your blog. Labeling posts can visually illustrate student contributions, and pages can categorise subject related information or home learning. It may be worthwhile blind tagging posts with key competencies or registered teaching criteria to have the blog become a teaching portfolio.

Personalise.  Having a background with a bit of personality makes a good first impression. Easy to read and consistent font with posts would be my preference yet others seem to prefer letting students take ownership of all design aspects.  One thing I would avoid is many small photos under one another as it drags out the post.

​Integrate. The best way to keep blogging is to make it part of the regular programme. There are numerous ways to do so.  Perhaps another post.

No reason to not have a classroom blog really!  Let me know if you need a hand, or visit these great sites to do it yourself.

Tuitive can help with the establishment of your blog.  I offer workshops for both staff and students so the finer points of blogging to bog you down.  The most important aspect is that you enjoy your classroom blog! 

References
https://globaldigitalcitizen.org/how-and-why-to-start-blogging-in-the-classroom (article)
https://globaldigitalcitizen.org/101-meaningful-steps-to-student-blogging (article)
https://www.theedublogger.com/check-out-these-class-blogs/ (list of class blogs)
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/educators/digital-citizenship (digital citizenship)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XEyLTbUfKusx5apVU1r_SJvu_wTeBfiBTr4tHtDLj3I/pub (platform comparison)
http://elearning.tki.org.nz/Professional-learning/Professional-development/Digital-citizenship-modules/Digital-citizenship-and-cybersafety (digital citizenship)
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1jyGHhbVuF9OMoSj5N1KpISweaF8q4-XuE1WC5D_qwRA (quality blog post rubric)

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Take the pressure off! Using peer tutoring in ICT

18/8/2015

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Peer tutoring is a great way to utilise resources right under your nose! Many kids have an intuition for using digital technology.  Not to say that some of us older generation don't!

Even if you just introduce the basics, most kids will be able to reteach this skill to their peers, and a select few in your class will be able to run with what you've given them and go beyond what you expect. 
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There are a number of benefits for using students as peer tutors - for them and for you! 
  • I find the main benefit is that it frees up my time. Whenever you're using ICT the unexpected arises and it is good to have more time up your sleeve to iron out hiccups and sus out your next move. 
  • It also give you more time to spend with particular students understanding the concepts they're learning, whether they be maths, literacy etc. 
  • More time also allows you to simply observe your class in action - something we often tend to overlook, but can be extremely satisfying when your class is humming independently!
  • You also only need to teach the skill once or twice as opposed to 30. This reduces your frustration and gives the them a happier teacher.
  • If you're working in a computer lab, it gets a few kids out of their seats and wandering around to help, yet also keeping an eye on what others are doing - hunting out the odd rebel who's jumped on YouTube.
  • It keeps your lil computer geniuses/geeks busy doing your job - double bonus.

That being said, your little darlings are picking up some skills too, especially if you establish in a few guidelines.  In my class there is the expectation that if you're helping someone, your hands are off the technology! Benefits include...
  • Student explanation and communication skills 
  • Interacting with kids outside their friend group, a bit of class culture building
  • reinforcement of skills tutors have learnt, ICT or otherwise
  • the benefits of having a bit of responsibility and self-esteem as a tutor
  • not always having your teacher looking over your shoulder

Peer tutoring can be used for all curriculum areas, in a number of ways.  If you want an easy to read slide show, download the document below.  

Teaching Strategies for Inclusive Classrooms, Part 2: Peer Tutoring Accessed from Te Kete Ipurangi – Special Education – The Three Rs of Diversity – http://www.tki.org.nz/r/specialed/diversity/develop/stage2-profdev_e.php

teaching-strategies2.pdf
File Size: 6528 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

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Sal Khan - where is the academy heading?

15/5/2015

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This BBC interview with Sal Khan goes beyond how Khan Academy evolved and touches on where its heading.

Sal talks about why Khan Academy has become so popular - your own pace, time, location etc. It's informal, bite-sized videos which do have mistakes, and can students relate to. It also discusses how the Khan Academy platform and teacher Dashboard helps students and teachers recognise the gaps in learning. It giving students a comprehensive base to learn further, and it gives teachers understanding of student decision making processes. 

You hear about what its like working at the Khan Academy. It attracts not only the biggest brains, but the biggest hearts - they want to be a part of the mission for education.

In terms of what next for Khan Academy, Sal discusses his reponsibility for making sure its for anyone anywhere. This means working with other organisations to help developing countries to have access to the internet. 

Sal admits that Khan Academy has been made the 'poster child' for the flipped classroom, but that 'flipped' learning is only the beginning. What he intends to aspire to is mastery based, self-paced, peer to peer learning - the term 'flipped' however is catchier!

The interview asks Sal to address critics of his non-profit venture, saying it is just like having a text book via video. His response is to ask the users, who disagree.


A new and exciting venture of Sal's is the Khan Lab School. It comprises of one class with 30 students ages 5-12yrs.  Students work together, but also independently,  and their is a culture of learning, self-direction. It promotes full-day and full-year learning, where school becomes more like the rich 'life' learning of summer break.

The school is a lab - just like the classroom, failure is not a bad thing. The school will keep evolving, take calculated risks, and explore opportunities. 


BBC Educators series: Salman Khan
Khan Lab School (blog)
Tinkering School (Khan Lab School's day at...)

Khan Academy website (get started!)
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Flipped for Fluency

12/5/2015

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This article looks at how flipped learning incorporates the learning fluencies. Learning fluencies are similar to the NZCs key competencies, ways of thinking and approaching learning - a concept perhaps created but definitely promoted by Global Digital Citizen Foundation. 

The article contains highlights the skills students use whilst participating in a flipped classroom (analyse, interpret, interpolate, assess, apply etc) - this is a practice I liked to do in my unit planning so I knew what skills/competencies/actions my students would be taking.

Three over-arching affects mentioned are:
  • True differentiation can occur. Lessons can be tailored for students in regards to time, speed, location.
  • It promotes the critical thinking. In-class time is spent more effectively.
  • It challenges you, the educator, as much as the student. Makes teachers think about the effectiveness of their delivery, and deeper content knowledge.

Flipped Learning, Fluency Style
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Flipping the classroom: how is it done?

12/5/2015

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PictureOne of many visual representations explaining the essence of the flipped classroom.
This article/video gives a great insight into how you might go about creating your own videos for students - an element of the revered 'flipped classroom'.  It also introduced me to Socratic, well worth the look!

Jeremy LeCornu  is an Australian Biology teacher who began posting videos on YouTube for his students. He contacted another science teacher who was 'flipping', Tyler DeWitt, who was part of a team of educators beginning Socratic. Socratic has developed quickly. It not only contains a comprehensive collection of Science videos, but also mathematics, and macro/micro economics (and they're taking votes for the next subject). The site also uses a question/answer forum where its thousands of members can answer questions. This allows answers to be given almost immediately. A profile is set up for contributors so you can have a nosey at backgrounds. 

After his visit to the USA, he became a Socratic contributor, and refined his process of flipping, creating a studio set-up with dual cameras (one on top for the workspace and one in front for the presenter). This is something schools could set up for the use of multiple teachers!

It's not often you see the inner workings of the flipped classroom - it's an interesting insight. A lot of work it seems, but apparently worth it. Just from watching the video I can think of a few things I would try to reduce the workload... 
 
A Flipped Learning Journey: Meet Jeremy LeCornu

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