From the ‘ICT in my Classroom’ blog (Web Link).

Another example of early school use of technology to enhance their learning. In this examples it’s science – specifically looking at how day length varies across the UK and the differences around the world.

Google Earth was used to illustrate the movement of the Earth’s shadow.

Google Docs added a collaborative element in which the students worked in pairs on the same document. Google Docs saves changes instantly and can be shared. In this case it was shared with the rest of the class through the tutor’s laptop being linked to the SMARTBoard and each students laptop.

Twitter, and this is very interesting, was to get real data from real people. Without going into detail Twitter is a microblogging tool through which people send small updates (called tweets). Tom asked his network of peers to send in their locations for the class to work out the day length for and allow contrasts with their onw. And this was the highlight of the session – real data, from real people in real locations, “Purposeful challenges from real people. It provided the whole class an opportunity to think, if only for a few minutes, as global citizens.”

Tom states “it was an great hour or so and I believe the tools we chose to use to support our learning were the correct ones. I was of course pleased to see the children engaging with Google Docs so effortlessly, it is just part of what we do now.”, (and remember these are primary school aged kids).

Can anyone think as to how these technologies might be used within the HE environment?

It’s Wii Golf – a game!

From the ‘ICT in my Classroom’ blog. Tom Barrett has installed and setup a Nintendo Wii in his classroom for Year 5 and 6 students (that’s primary school folks). He intends, naturally, to use the games for learning particularly the Wii Sports game for teaching math (see this post here)

I think the digital divide may be getting bigger…

Download Video: Posted by cshively at TeacherTube.com.

First off we have courtesy of TED a talk by Alan Kay. In this talk he reminds us that “the world is not what it seems,” (there a great slide about table sizes – you’ll know it when you see it). He then continues to show how “good programming can sharpen our picture”. The emphasis is on letting students (in this case children) learn by doing and by creating lessons themselves.

View talk

Taken from a school site (Mr. Armstrong’s U.S. History Wiki, click here) the link below is to a Class Scribe Prompt which is a series of questions which guides the scribe as they record the day’s activity. As ever although meant for Primary education the context could be transferred to HE.

Class Scribe Prompt

Here’s an example of scribe posting on the class blog: click here

So over the next few days I’ll be posting some examples here.

First off is a set of wiki rules which I found at this school wiki (Mr. Armstrong’s U.S. History Wiki, click here).

The rules can be found here.

Initially the rules relate to blogging but can be adapted to include wikis. They are also meant for school use but again could easily be used in a HE context particularly those which cover copyright, appropriate use and contentious topics. The latter is interesting as there is also an addendum set of rules which cover the process by which a student can post blog/wiki entries on controversial topics through prior permission of the tutor.

One set of instructions consisted of a single paragraph with no numbers of bullets. The second was more user friendly while the third was in the form of a video (see below). Regarding the latter you get an glimpse as to how they use technology in the classroom: “I then told the children to open the laptops they had on their tables and look at the video. I showed it on the SMARTBoard too. I suggested to pause the video as it played so the children could keep up.”.

I wont reveal which set of instructions won but it’s worth reading the blog post simply for the description of a ‘Fold Off’ match between Tom’s class and a rival tutors class.

How To Fold A T-Shirt In 2 Seconds – Explained

Interestingly he also share his (and the class) experiences with the Create a Graph (click here). Basically a nice tool to demonstrate the creation of graphs with a whole class. What appeals to me is however is again the use of technology. In this case the children measured their pulses after a variety of exercises and entered the data on their laptops and finally “once the line graphs were created we exported them as PDF files and talked about them in the plenary of the session using the SMARTBoard”.

A final exercise centered around the development and application of basic word processing skills. This was achieved through creating sets of instructions for a game.

What I like about this post is that it demonstrated seamless integration of technology with class room activity while at the same time providing students with valuable and necessary skills to help them cope with an age in which technology is ever changing.

View full post

He divides the presentation into 4 learning journeys involving blogging, e-portfolios and unprojects.

Scribe posting - a ‘scribe’ in blogging terms is where a student volunteer records and summarises the class activity. The summary is placed on the class blog or wiki with the intention that a new student takes on the scribing duties every class day. The intention is to produce a class textbook by students for students. One of the key aspects is that each summary includes images, colour, even audio and video elements to describe the content. They also include what Chris refers to as 21st Century learning tools i.e. bubbleshare, voicethread to make the scribe more understandable. Key to this that the students must understand that the scribe posts are being read by their teacher, classmates, and people from around the world.

The teachers role, apart from having the courage to let the students scribe in the first place, is to allow students to know who can be the next scribe and to comment on scribe posts to show that the scribes have an audience. The latter is very important – it lets the blogger knew they have an audience and in doing so pushes them further but also provides them with feedback.

[slideshare id=119097&doc=scribepost2512&w=425]

View examples

Growing posts - instead of creating many blog posts as they would say for a journal the students instead create and maintain only one post and adds to it until it is completed. Essentially the student just keeps editing the post content. Additionally each student is asked to read each others growing post and leave comments (again automatically in doing so you provide each blogger with an audience). The growing post therefore is added to through feedback.

As an example he highlights a particular students’ (Ingrid) growing post which uses, in addition to text, animation and images to explain the topic.

The time period for growing posts is discussed. Essentially there are two types: one, where the student answers a different question everyday with a separate growing post or second, as an assignment over a period of days/week (thus allowing for home work).

In terms of assessment Chris first asks the student to do a self evaluation and then leave it as a comment on their growing post. He then asks the student to evaluate 2 other students in the class, again leaving comments. And finally he adds his own evaluation to each growing post (as a comment).

[slideshare id=120903&doc=growing2981&w=425]

View examples

E-portfolios – Some great examples. For instance his students have created portfolios with the intention of teaching their parents specific math topics. The portfolio contains key information and questions for the parents to answer. As per the blogs the portfolio content uses highly visual elements to explain the topic. This is good example of learning and reaching understanding about a subject through the act of teaching it.

[slideshare id=125996&doc=eportfolios4190&w=425]

View examples

Unprojects: I like the concept of this. Basically the students having undergone the preceding learning journeys are equipped with the necessary technology and storytelling skills to create a an online project. The choice of project topic and where they will locate it (wiki, blog0 is left to them. Basically Chris provide them with a lot of freedom here and he is very truthful about the outcomes: some students will do the minimal work while others will exceed all expectations.

For success he identifies several key elements the students must sign up to:

* They are in the drivers seat. Not the teacher. This is the students chance to showcase their learning. Amplify their knowledge not mirror content.
* Choose a project they like.
* Be prepared to live by a deadline.
* Show creativity but still show an understanding of the subject content.
* Teach other students how to use new tools and applications.

And as for the teachers part:
* Give students a deadline to achieve this part of the assignment.
* Once this part is done the teacher needs to step back and let the students be creative. Do not step in their way. Let the students be as creative as they can.
* The teacher is a resource to sound ideas off of not the creative force in these projects.

[slideshare id=125206&doc=unprojects4274&w=425]

View examples here and here

Full presentation here

For more detail and further examples visit the presentation wiki here.

Also his blog which he uses to teach students is worth a look (here).

View list

Basically, in terms of teaching students how to tell stories she asks if text is enough.

“So, I ask, is text enough? I believe we should encourage students to select the best mode of communicating their topic. And that students should be familiar with as many modes as possible. Sure, someone has to put these in their “toolbox” but once the tools are there, they should be using them in all classes. I think we’re too hung up on the technology and not realizing that we are experiencing an evolution in how humans communicate.”

She illustrates her point by asking the reader to consider 7 examples in which a story is told first by short text and second by another method, (including photo, view, slideshow etc.). You should note that item 2 will make you jump (particularly if you have headphones on).

View post

The comments attached to the post take the issue further and are also worth reading.