What is the most effective way to encourage/deliver/integrate edtech professional development? The layout of this infographic should come as no surprise to anyone.
Showing posts with label teaching and learning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label teaching and learning. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Blooms Wheel and Blooms words - plan your activities thoughtfully
Monday, November 26, 2012
GoAnimate - a quick way to teach (and re-teach) quick ideas
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Mobile Learning Series: Educreations - creating instructional resources on the fly!
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Running Low on Excuses - Discovering the Technology Integration Matrix
A new tool that really lays out a clear path is one I discovered last year, that I believe can become a really valuable resource to teachers, schools, and districts. It's called the Technology Integration Matrix. It was developed by the Florida Center for Instructional Technology, and the purpose of the matrix is to help teachers and schools of students in k-12 learn the stages of technology integration that seem to be most effective with student learning. I think that for teachers who struggle with technology - those who are tentative or fearful, a tool like this can be a real game changer. In a sense, it is a tool that holds your hand through the process, and calms reservations and fears like, "am I doing this right?"
Even better is the interactive format in which the matrix is constructed. Each cell in the matrix has at least one or more videos which illustrate the integration of technology in classrooms where only a few computers are available and/or classrooms where every student has access to a laptop computer. For schools or teachers who hesitate because of lack of access, this is a fantastic feature!
Besides just suggesting ideas, the matrix has built in models for teachers to explore specific ways technology can be integrated meaningfully into the classroom.
To date, this is one of the best resources I have found on the web for technology integration in education. Please help get the word out to teachers and schools about this great resource!
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Thursday, September 27, 2012
What I've Been Using Lately - Screen Casts
Usually at some point during the year, almost every student in one of my tech classes wants to share with me about a new tool they have found that they are very excited about. Enter - screen casting! This is really an ideal time to show them how to screen cast, and then have them create a screen cast showing off their new tool, and describe how they are using it. They share these with their class mates, post them on their blogs - fun all around.
I don't know why it's taken me so long, but last year it finally occurred to me that I was spending way too much time searching around YouTube and Vimeo for the perfect short instructional videos to post on my course sites. One day that bell went off in my head and I said, "Duh, make your own!" I have been a screen casting fool ever since. Here's an example of one of my Hollywood-worthy screen casts about adding a gadget in Blogger.
Why is screen casting better than making a regular instructional video?
One word - time.
I've made plenty of regular instructional videos over the years using my camera and iMovie, and I love them and reuse them at every opportunity. However, the main downside is, they are more time consuming to make.
It takes very little planning to make a good screen cast. Here are the stages for making a basic screen cast:
1. have a general outline of talking points - if you don't, a lot of your screen cast will be sounds of you going, "aaaaand, uuuummmmm, sooooo," and so forth.
2. Have the pages and tabs you are going to use already open. No sense wasting screen cast time waiting for your lethargic browser to load a page.
3. Keep it short - focus your screen cast on ONE thing. This is infinitely more useful for students, and far more flexible for you in terms of being able to use the screen cast over again.
What to use?
Nowadays I primarily use Screencast-o-Matic, because it's easy and free. However, there are other good tools out there. Two others I have used quite a bit are Jing and Screenr - both very easy to use.
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Want to increase reading comprehension and engagement? Try making a Book Trailer
However, just because a student has read a book doesn't guarantee a depth of understanding - that's why we do lots of comprehension activities and formative assessments as we go along. But when they are all done, how do we know what they got out of that?
One way to help teachers understand, and to help students engage more deeply with the reading and understand the importance of the elements of literature, is to have them create Book Trailers.
Book Trailers for Readers is actually a site I found awhile back that contains pre-made book trailers for kids to watch - they are like watching a movie trailer to get you excited about watching a movie. I used to show them in class once in awhile to build anticipation for a new novel we were about to read.
Book Trailers for Readers also features trailers created and submitted by students. They even have a slideshow (Prezi) that helps show kids how to do it.
Last year, my junior high students started making their own - here's what we did:
1. We reviewed many of the book trailers on the Book Trailers for Readers site, as well as their "How To" page and documentation. We looked for elements they had in common (narrator taking on the 1st person voice of the main character, asking leading questions or making leading statements, setting the scene, building anticipation to the "conflict" point in the story and not going beyond that, use of images, sound, etc.). We used these to develop a checklist of elements crucial to a good book trailer.
2. We built a book trailer as a class using a novel we had recently read. We used a story board to plan the video and plugged in some of the elements we wanted to use. Students took on the jobs of script writing, gathering images, narration, filming, finding sounds, etc.We put it all together in iMovie and that was it. As a class we were able to complete this in about 2 class periods.
3. Students selected a favorite book from class from the past year (it's ok if some selected the same), and went through the same process to build their own book trailers - they had to peer review at points along the way.
4. Once everyone had the idea, they looked forward to making book trailers about much of the literature we were studying in class.
Book trailers are a great way to encourage students' creativity and enthusiasm for reading, and also help them to spread the word about great reads!
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Some help for teaching with your iPad
On the main page of the wiki are four short sections, from the simple (#1. What is an iPad?), to the more useful for those of us who have fully implemented them (#4. How do I teach with it?). The number 4 section has one link, which opens to a list of 14 sample projects, links included, that could be easily implemented into any classroom.
The bottom of the main wiki page includes a link to a full "Teach With Your iPad" online newspaper, which seems to be regularly updated, and is a wealth of ideas, articles, and app lists for all grade levels and subject areas.
I really like that none of the options or projects presented are complicated. The iPads are a pretty straightforward device, and both the wiki and this online newspaper seem to be in keeping with the idea of keeping the mystery OUT of them.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Why can't kids search?
Getting kids to really focus on what exactly they are searching for, and then be able to further distill idea into a few key specific search terms is a skill that we must teach students, and we have to do it over and over again. We never question the vital importance of teaching literacy, but we have to be mindful that there are many kinds of "literacies". An ever more important one that ALL teachers need to be aware of is digital literacy. I could go off in many directions on this, but for the purpose of this post I'm focusing strictly on the digital literacy of searching.
In the past, we spent a lot of time in schools teaching kids how to do library research, and how to use a variety reference materials like dictionaries, encyclopedias, microfiche, card catalogs, public records, anthologies, and other sources too numerous to recall. Many of these forms of reference are no longer used, as they (or incarnations much like them) are all now available to us on the internet.
However, when we made this switch to internet-based resources, we somehow left a gap in education and made no real focus on teaching kids how to find valid, credible, useful resources online. The result is our frequent frustration with a generation of kids who will still type in the word "Egypt" and grab the first search result that pops up on Google when studying anything remotely related to the topic.
As they get older, kids often employ the tactic of typing a question into the search bar - "How do I find out about mummies in Egypt?" This actually gives Google a little more to work with - namely the word "mummies", but this additional boost is thwarted because the search is in the form of a question. Top results yield links to Answers.com, YahooAnswers, and other equally useless (academically speaking) results. Anyone - you, me, a 2nd grader, or a Kardashian, can post an answer on these sites. True the internet is becoming more semantic all the time, but we are far from there yet, and these kinds of searches are almost always a waste of time.
The real answer? SPEND TIME teaching your kids the digital literacy skill of proper searching. It's never too early for them to learn. Are they old enough to learn to use a dictionary or an encyclopedia? That's the time! Here are the levels that need to be taught:
1. It begins as a critical thinking and language skill - narrowing their focus to a specific idea, and then selecting the few key terms and some alternatives that will help them.
2. Utilizing the various "search help" tools that many search engines offer - Google offers the ability for kids to narrow the search by time, type (images, news, dictionary, reading level), and also offers a nice advanced search tool. Some simple Boolean tools, such as +, "and", and - are still extremely useful to know.
3. Critically sorting through the results - is the top result always the best? Often the answer is no. Google sorts its results based on the amount of hits a URL gets and sorts that way. It's not so much academic as it is a popularity contest. Remember, Google can't think (yet), so it's still up to us to make the determination about what will be useful. Taking some time to teach kids about credible resources, scholastic research-based resources, and most importantly valid resources, is a worthwhile and necessary exercise. As an example, my students blog, usually about academic topics they are studying in school. If one of my students posts a movie of their re-enactment of Lincoln delivering the Gettysburg Address, their post will likely pop up in any given search about Lincoln and the Gettysburg Address. Are they a valid scholastic resource? Are they experts? 'nuff said.
4. Sometimes, supply your kids with the internet resources you want them to use. If your focus is on finding the information within a given resource, maybe it's not necessary to always pile on the extra step of searching for the resource - especially if this is still a skill they struggle with. You can go old school and write the links on the board, or the easier route of pasting or embedding the links into your class webpage. Either way, this practice actually sets a bar for students - they become more accustomed to the type, format, and quality of resource that is valid for academic research. Obviously, they need to learn and use search skills, but this "calibration" every once in awhile is actually a good thing for setting expectations.
Here are some links that offer some resources for teachers trying to teach students the digital literacies involved with searching.
How to Spot a Fake Website
Great Tech Expectations: What Should Elementary Students be Able to do and When?
Boolify Project: An Educational Boolean Web Search Tool (very visual)
Boolean Searching on the Internet
Rockwell Schrock's Boolean Machine
Web Search Strategies in Plain English
KidRex - a Kid Safe Search Engine
Saturday, November 19, 2011
No Excuses for not learning something new!
I am always leary of sites that include things like "The Top 100" of anything - it's just too much to look through all at once! I like this list because it is not too long, and has done a pretty good job of selecting some of the top credible sites that are out there right now.
Want to learn more? There's No Excuse now!
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Quick Check-in with the Iditarod
I'm sure it has not escaped anyone's notice in Alaska that the Iditarod has begun. As of my last check, most of the leading racers were out of Nicolai, while the leader, Martin Buser is out of McGrath. I know there are many teachers who do big, involved units of study and projects on the Iditarod, while others do some parallel activities like keeping maps, or doing some readings.
Those teachers doing the big stuff are already well aware of the Official Site of the Iditarod. For those of you who'd like to give your students some peeks into the race and treat it more along the lines of current events, the Official Site of the Iditarod is great. Simple to navigate, with a list of short, relevant videos right on the front page, as well as current race standings - this page can give your classes some quick but exciting insight into the most famous sled dog race in the world!
Just plug your projector or SmartBoard in and bring your class instantly to all the excitement!
Want more depth? If students get interested, there are plenty of great links within the site for even more information about the race and the racers!
Saturday, March 5, 2011
The Technology is Not the Thing
I recently entered a competition in which I submitted some lesson plans that use technology. The idea was that a certain number of the "best" lessons would earn a significant sum of money for their school to spend on technology. I don't usually get into these things, but the prize was grand enough that it definitely seemed worth the hour or two it would take to sort through some old lessons and upload them to the contest site. I obviously use technology a lot in my classes, and have a ton of lessons to draw from - so there was nothing new I would have to create. My thinking was, I'd submit 10 of what I considered my most successful lessons. Not my flashiest lessons, just my most successful. I wasn't sure if I'd win - I knew that was a crap shoot.
I didn't win.
The winners submitted lessons that ultimately involved big video productions of what can only be described as technology orgies. The winning entries had a mammoth project theme. There was a teacher at the front of the room doing amazing magic on an interactive white board, students were doing things on the whiteboard, students were doing things on their computers, they were videoing each other, they were working together on the laptops, they were interviewing each other with podcasting mics, and it was all put together in a beautifully edited iMovie production complete with music and transitions so that the contest judges could see all this exciting classroom action. It was definitely awesome stuff.
It did not escape my notice that the winning lessons were videos typical of the kind of lessons that are often presented to teachers as the "ideal" or model of what technology in the classroom should look like. No wonder some are afraid - those videos made me afraid!
I wasn't surprised that I didn't win - I just had my fingers crossed anyway. The real surprise to me was the feedback I got on the lessons I submitted. Here is the gist of those comments;
"The students are not learning about the technology." "You do not say how the use of technology in this lesson creates learning." "This lesson could have been taught without technology."
...and so on -ish.
The first thing I realized was that I guess I could have explained some things more carefully in the plans I submitted - I just submitted the plans as I had originally written them for myself.
But the more important thing I realized was that we are entering a phase with technology in instruction where many teachers who have been using it for awhile have integrated it into their teaching style - it's part of our methodology.
In my classroom, the technology is not the thing. Make no mistake, my students use technology every single day - I teach in a 1:1 school. They use Web 2.0 tools to create content about what they are learning in class. The make short videos of what they have learned and post them to teach their classmates a quick lesson. They routinely share Google Docs online with classmates to work collaboratively. They email and chat online with me outside of school about assignments. They blog. They write with embedded links to enhance and deepen their work. They keep their school work organized by using digital portfolios. They have an expectation that I will bring experts into the room through video and Skype. And so on.
However, my students don't come into my classroom every day saying, "Yay - we get to work on a big project!" I like projects, and sometimes we do projects. But in my classroom, the content - the learning is the thing. The technology just helps us to do that a lot better for every student.
I like the analogy of classroom technology and cell phones. Our cell phones are not some golden toy (unless we are using them to kill time in an airport playing games on them). We need them. We keep calendars on them, we keep notes on them, and - by the way - we communicate with them. Many of us have incorporated them into our lives to the point that we cannot imagine going without them. Of course we could, but our life would be missing some connections, some organization, and some powerful and useful tools that we had become accustomed to having at our fingertips, in our purses and pockets.
Remember your first cellphone? Some people are still viewing technology in the classroom with the same kind of awe and wonder. The reality is, cell phones are now ubiquitous. But much of the perception of classroom technology is still in the "first cell phone" phase.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
60 Sites
I recently did a fun presentation at the ASTE Conference (Alaska Society of Technology in Education). Usually when I do these it is more of a "how to". Those are fine and I like to share share share, but this year I decided to do something fun. Teachers, including myself, like good resources. At any kind of conference, we love those little sessions where someone is just giving us some straight up good resources - it's like free candy. That's what I tried to do this year in my section called "60 Sites in 60 minutes" - it was the free candy session. Here is the link to the wiki I put up for the sites - all links are embedded. Enjoy!
60 Sites in 60 Minutes
Monday, October 25, 2010
Simple, virtual, booklets for your students to create
Simplebooklets is a great site in which you can create any type of virtual booklet. It's easy to insert text, pictures (maps, graphs,etc), sound, and video. Although the booklets are simple to make, they have a very sophisticated look to them.
Simplebooklets reminds me of Glogster - a virtual poster app, but it's much, well...simpler! Also, it loads and runs much much faster than Glogster.
The booklets are easily embedded into a blog or a wiki, and have the little tab in the upper corners for easy page turning by the users.
For those of you looking for students to make great visual presentations using posters, slideshows, or books, Simplebooklets is an easy way to go. Students will love the ease, and also love how creative they can be!
Take a look at this book I embedded from the Simplebooklets site.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
The Classroom Camera
Although your classroom may be tech-poor, chances are you can gain access to at least 1 digital camera - even if it is your own - even if it's just a cell phone camera! Although more would make certain things a little easier, one is really all you need to do a lots of great things! There are some activities that can be done as a class and the teacher takes the pictures, and some where you could group the students and then easily stagger their picture taking time. What kinds of great things can you do? The things that make learning more personal, engaging, and visual for your students. So for the purposes of this blog (the need to get tech ideas in a sec), we'll keep our list short.
1. Visualize the spelling/vocabulary list for the week. For elementary students, this can be a fast but fun activity. Put the list of words up and talk about them a little. You can ask the students to show what a word means through some kind of pose, use of props or other creative means. Take a picture! Do that for all of the words on the list. This picture activity not only visually documents the students' interpretation of the words, but the act of "acting out" or visualizing the meaning of the words is an activity that will help the students to better learn the words. You can print out the pictures and post them by the list, or load them into a simple PowerPoint that your run on your overhead projector whenever you do a review of the words. Students can see the pictures and then use their own paper or mini dry erase boards to guess and spell the words. Lots of fun - especially when the students themselves are in the pictures!
2. For older students, split up a word list - and give a pair or threesome of students their word group. Let them take the camera and get a shot of their own interpretation of the words (they will have to discover the definitions on their own). Either print the pictures or project them. Have other students guess what the word is - or have the students who took the picture give clues or describe the meanings. This often becomes a contest about creativity among the students - figuring out the most interesting way to interpret a word visually.
3. Picture scavenger hunts - especially useful when teaching an abstract concept, like "democracy". Students can use the camera to set up a scene that is meant to capture a key concept like equality, majority rule with minority rights, etc. This is a great way to teach students to think metaphorically as well, and modeling for them ways that a simple visual image can convey many ideas without being literal.
4. Story board planning - really fun for group stories! Set up a story board for students to work with (individuals or groups could easily do this). Have students plan their plot, characters, and scenes by using photographs. The story boards can be digital - in Comic Life (installed on all teacher Macs), or even on a simple slide show like PowerPoint, or Google Presentations. The story boards could also just be a large chart of paper - pictures could be printed in black and white and tacked up onto the story board. Students can visualize points of plot, characters, and order. There are also tons of great online digital storytelling tools if you want to go that route, like Storybird, Picture Book Maker, or Kerpoof, just to name a few.
5. Summarizing - learning to summarize the key points of a story or piece of information is an important skill for students. Summarizing using a picture or two can help more visual students hone this skill. After reading a chapter in a book or a section or scene in a story, ask the students to come up with an idea for a scene that would capture the essence of the message.
The great thing about using photos this way in the classroom is that you can have a lot of fun discussions modeling how pictures can tell many stories. Put together a simple PowerPoint for the projector and fill it just with images that you can discuss with the students. Google Images, Flickr, and Picasa are fantastic sources of crowd-sourced pictures that you can easily narrow down by category. Select a set that you think would make for a great discussion (depending on what you are teaching - i.e. summarizing, metaphorical representations) and just drag those photos to your slide show - no need to type any text. Or, you can even snap your own photos of people and places the kids know around town or the school for the same effect. This makes even a modeling lesson engaging and lively!
Saturday, September 25, 2010
The Google Classroom
Whew - it's been awhile since I've posted 'round these here parts, but I'm back with more EdTechSec info! As always, I'd like to remind you to just scroll through old entries and the archives - you'll surely find something useful!
So - Google! Yes, Google is "The Man" and Google is taking over the world, but this is a case where world domination is actually working for some of us. Google has become like our favorite superstore - everything under one roof. That's pretty handy - having a Gmail address gives you access to everything they've got!
Google Classroom is a nice little wiki set up to give you a quick rundown of Google's apps that work great in the classroom.
Of course we all know about Google Earth, but there are lots of other useful classroom goodies as well. The Google Classroom wiki gives a simple rundown of only the apps that have really proven useful in classrooms - not the whole Google bag of tricks. It's descriptions are pretty simple. When you click on one, for example Google Earth, it will take you to another wiki page where it explains some suggestions for ways to use the tool in class. You are given just a couple of links that will help you get it, and some nice short video tutorials telling how to get started with it.
So rather than having to navigate all of Google's vastness, Google Classroom keeps things nice and tidy - a great time saver for teachers wanting to know more about using Google in the classroom, but have felt like they just don't have the time to tackle it all.
Of the 18 tools listed on Google Classroom, I personally use 8 of them pretty regularly with my students - and there 3 more that I've used for myself.
Google is "the Man" for a reason! I'm a lifelong fan (until they start charging!)
So - Google! Yes, Google is "The Man" and Google is taking over the world, but this is a case where world domination is actually working for some of us. Google has become like our favorite superstore - everything under one roof. That's pretty handy - having a Gmail address gives you access to everything they've got!
Google Classroom is a nice little wiki set up to give you a quick rundown of Google's apps that work great in the classroom.
Of course we all know about Google Earth, but there are lots of other useful classroom goodies as well. The Google Classroom wiki gives a simple rundown of only the apps that have really proven useful in classrooms - not the whole Google bag of tricks. It's descriptions are pretty simple. When you click on one, for example Google Earth, it will take you to another wiki page where it explains some suggestions for ways to use the tool in class. You are given just a couple of links that will help you get it, and some nice short video tutorials telling how to get started with it.
So rather than having to navigate all of Google's vastness, Google Classroom keeps things nice and tidy - a great time saver for teachers wanting to know more about using Google in the classroom, but have felt like they just don't have the time to tackle it all.
Of the 18 tools listed on Google Classroom, I personally use 8 of them pretty regularly with my students - and there 3 more that I've used for myself.
Google is "the Man" for a reason! I'm a lifelong fan (until they start charging!)
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