Future of Education

A site like Khan academy really is helping teachers take a flipped approach to learning. While there is a lot of great content out there on the web, it is important that teachers don't just send their students to links. It must be relevant and tailored to the needs of the class. I find that teachers like myself are actually creating videos for the lessons that are specific for their students and posting them online on a class site. This becomes a resource site that students can then rely on throughout their entire unit/year and refer back to it when necessary. 

The idea of flipped learning is for students to watch the videos at home so they have an understanding of the content when they enter the classroom and then inside the class the knowledge is pushed further through application, experience and discussion. It also depends on your students though and their available technology at home. For a private school, this likely will be a system of learning that could be easily used. However, if students are from less fortunate public schools, they likely will not have access to the technology at home to do this pre-learning. 

Connectivism Creates Connections

Connectivism provides the connections and networks to broaden the type and amount of content available to us, thus also increasing the amount we can learn from this content. Learning is about making connections between our schema and new information to make sense of it. Our students are doing this constantly.

Connection is a key concept for everything that I do in my school. My role is to help teachers and students make meaningful connections between content and using technology. It is important to help students and teachers to understanding that learning and technology are not separate but rather one when done appropriately.

For me, connecting to social networks is the most rewarding way to grow as an educator. Through twitter and blogs, not only can I share content with my personal learning network but I can consume it as well. I have made connections to educators from all over the world that I never would have been able to meet in person. Thus, enriching my personal learning experience.

While it may be easier to make the connections as an adult, it is important that we help students make connections and create networks not just within our school but also globally. One way we did this last year was to use Mystery Skype to learn about other regions of the world and the children who lived there. From there, we were able to contact them should we need them as a resource for future projects. This helped our students become more globally aware and understand how using your connections can help you learn more about the world you live in.

Google Translate - Bridging Communication Barriers

When I first began at my current school about 2 and a bit years ago, I had a new student who had just arrived from Russia and had little to no English. She was too old for flash cards constantly and I didn't want to make her feel like I was treating her like a child. One day I was talking to my Director of Education Technology about it and he suggested Google translate - a simple solution that had astronomical impact. 

Within minutes, we were able to communicate by typing and setting the two languages as English and Russian. This also was great for a few of my Japanese students who had trouble 'finding the right words' in English. 

This year, Google Translate has evolved again to include a feature I am in love with - voice talk. Now you can use speak to text and it will translate to another language in text OR it will translate and speak the translated text. This helps to eliminate the time to actually type in the text when you use the voice option. 

Twitter in the Classroom

So many social media sites have that age restriction in place so it makes it hard for students to access it as a resource. I have seen teachers create the class account at the elementary level but students are still posting on it. We actually have Twitter blocked by our firewall for all students K-12 (and teachers). I agree with the younger students but could be a used as a valuable way to connect students for global projects or interact with celebrities/ experts on specific topics. 

I personally use Twitter all the time and it is the best source of professional development for me. I sometimes just throw out a question I'm thinking about and see the various perspectives or resources that I get sent back in return. It's actually been a great way to gather research articles for a few papers now! You have access to experts who can share their experience and research they've done too. 

We don't use Google Classroom even though we are a good school due to using Hapara Teacher Dashboard and ManageBac (in secondary) for submitting assignments. 

I also love using Google Docs in language classes. The ability to take editing and revising to the next level is fantastic. Plus there are add-ons for table of contents, referencing etc. One of my favourite features is the 'suggesting' mode instead of commenting where a friend can suggest edits and the owner can choose to accept or deny the suggestions. This really helps the digital revision process come alive. 

Social Media in the Classroom

Social media allows individuals to have a platform to communicate and connect around the globe. I agree that the bullying can continue away from the educational institute, causing the student to ever have an escape from the bullying.

We do not use social media too often with our students, have an acceptable use policy and most social media sites (Twitter, Google+ , Snapchat, etc.) are blocked on the school network. Unfortunately, this does not eliminate what happens on cell phones and personal devices that are not connected through the school wifi. One of the ways I have worked with students in a closed and supportive social media network is through Edmodo. Edmodo mimics Facebook for students in a closed group that is created and monitored by their teacher. Students can communicate, share resources, etc. in small groups, through the discussion feed and learn how to navigate social media. When using Edmodo, we discuss a lot about digital citizenship, digital footprints or digital tattoos, online identity, creating profiles, how our 'brand' is seen by others, etc. It allows students exposure to social media without some of the challenges that are experienced through open social media tools.
I have personally not had to deal large scale issues of cyberbullying. However, social media also has the opportunity to take a turn for the worst allowing the 'trolls' to come out. I use Twitter to build my Personal Learning Network (PLN), gather ideas and resources, and share resources I have created. I find it to be a positive experience, though some of my colleagues have had very different experiences where people have 'trolled' them. Trolling is when someone posts negative or mean comments at another user. My colleague had others call him all kinds of things just because he had a different opinion to theirs. These are educators. If adults who are supposed to be role models for their students spend time trolling the internet, how can we expect our students not to? We as educators have to role model for our students safe and responsible use of social media.

It was nice to see when I read the article 'Why Twitter is Finally Taking a Stand Against Trolls' (Lapowsky, 2015) that the social media sites themselves understand the importance of not tolerating people who cyberbully others. Twitter is flagging inappropriate comments, indirect threats, violent threats, underage usage etc. This is essential for making the social media experience enjoyable for all users and it is positive to see resources put into identifying and eliminating those who do not wish to use social media in a positive manner.

References

Connect With Students and Parents in Your Paperless Classroom | Edmodo. Retrieved September 12, 2015, from http://www.edmodo.com/

Why Twitter Is Finally Taking a Stand Against Trolls. Retrieved September 20, 2015, from http://www.wired.com/2015/04/twitter-abuse/

Digital Divide

The digital divide is one that is very prevalent. However, as a teacher at a private international school, I don’t often experience it first hand. In fact almost the opposite. Most of my students have the latest technologies and I’m the one trying to catch up to them when I don’t have the latest versions. My students are often showing me new things out on the market and then I’m trying to figure out how to use them. We are very lucky to have 1-to-1 laptop programmes in Years 3 and above and iPads/iMacs in the lower grades.

However, back in Canada, it is a very different story. I would be forced to teach in a very different way. Most schools have a computer lab that students go to once a week, compared to my students who have their laptops sitting on their desks all day long whether we use them or not. It would require more thoughtful planning of when and how the technology would be used. There would be less seamless integration of technology when necessary and rather a ‘we’re using technology now’ type lesson.

When I worked in Canada, many students didn’t have access to technology at home in some areas as well, though this is becoming less the case as time goes on. I wouldn’t have been able to do many of the same projects I do with my kids now from research projects, to email home writing programmes, to flipped learning. The digital divide impacts not the subject material but the way students are given the information. The learning experience is completely different. While technology is only one tool in the classroom, it is one that engages students and connects them to an endless supplies of resources, tools and people from around the world.

Mobile Technologies

I believe that mobile technologies have a lot to offer our students. One thing I have been helping our teachers set up is blogs for our early years students (K- Year 2) using iPads and the EasyBlogger App. The students are creating work, writing, speaking, videoing, photographing... and above all, making their learning known. From there, they are able to share their learning through student friendly apps. Because the learning is shared on the web, this can be accessed from anywhere and shared with whoever the child wishes to learn with.

One challenge I have had as I have begun working with the early years teachers and the iPads more is that the iPads require teachers taking an active approach to make sure they are charged. There have been numerous lessons where I go into the classroom to support teachers but they haven't charged the iPads from the day before and thus, the students do not have the tools they need.

Another challenge I had at the beginning of the year was choosing apps to put on the iPads. In the past, there have been a lot of games on the iPads and not a lot of content creating applications. This year I wanted to ensure the teachers and students had access to applications that served more than one purpose. Apps like Explain Everything can be used in any subject at any grade. This will also help with continuity for the students throughout the early years at our school and will minimize the time students require 'learning' the app before they can use it.

While challenges exist, I believe that the benefits outweigh them. I witnessed a 3 year old girl hearing her own voice for the first time and the excitement she had when she was able to record herself talking about the purple flower she had shown. I just had a lesson with Year 2 students using Maps and then screenshots to document their travels and zoom in on certain locations. Then they used Explain Everything to expand and reveal their journeys. These types of experiences are just a few of so many that wouldn't be possible without the use of mobile technology.

Acceptable Use Policy

I work at an international, PYP school in Singapore and we indeed have an Acceptable Use Policy. In fact, in my new role this year as EdTech Coach, I actually had to rewrite the Acceptable Use Policy in conjunction with our Director of Education Technology.

The AUP is for all students in our school. In the primary level, students use the school's technology whether that's iPads/iMacs in Kindergarten - Year 2 or the 1-to-1 laptop programme in Years 3-6 or the BYOD (MacBooks) from Middle School onwards. There is also a teacher's AUP as well as now a parent AUP as the Middle/High school parents have school emails to access ManageBac.

One of the major challenges is finding wording that is suitable for all students, especially the younger year groups. This year we rewrote it to make it more positive and student friendly. Thus, instead of saying "Don't do this", it now reads "We will...". This provides a more community approach that we all are responsible for abiding by the rules and frames it in a way of what students should be doing.

Our Acceptable Use Policy is broken down into different sections:

1. Be polite and respectful

2. Be responsible

3. Care for the devices

4. Keep your information private

5. Access appropriate information

6. Reference your work

7. Discipline

8. Social Media

Each section is expanded on with a few key bullet points. The social media section was added this year to fill a much needed gap. While we do not use social media often at our school, it is important to have the policy in place for if/when we use social media for specific needs.

The other challenge with developing an Acceptable Use Policy is that technology is always changing and the policy needs to be created in a way that will allow for new technologies to be fit in to the existing AUP. Thus, not always so specific to a certain tool but rather more the overarching ideals.

When going into each of the classrooms to talk about the AUP, I had to have very different approaches for the younger and older students. Some classes were more of a discussion while others were hands on practice of how to hold, carry, use, etc. the devices. I am interested to review the document after a year in the role and see what I would change after experiencing the role and the challenges within it.

Interactive Whiteboards

In our Primary School, our current situation is that there are Promeathean interactive whiteboards in every classroom. The boards are mounted on the wall and the projector is mounted from the ceiling. All teachers have a laptop with the ActivInspire software so they can create interactive lessons from home or school. The use of the IWBs varies from class to class and the teacher’s comfort with technology.

Interactive Whiteboards are seen from various perspectives. However, I believe they still can be a useful tool in the classroom just like every other piece of technology if used appropriately. Short small group whole class lessons and small group activities are great for IWBs and a fantastic way to illustrate expectations for students for activities.

Of course, there are some challenges as well. It is stationary so you have to plan your lesson around one spot, similarly to you reading a book and students sitting and listening. I find the ActiveInspire software to be older and can lag with newer MacBooks at times.

One of the biggest challenges is that teachers are often not trained in how to use them. Just like with any piece of technology or a new program at a school, without training we can’t expect our teachers to be successful to the extent we would like them to be.

Often the lessons can be a bit time consuming to make. However, I would argue that often when making your own content, you need to take the time to create quality instructional tools (whether technological or not). In addition, because resources are built using a computer, the teacher can save and reuse resources easily as well as share with others. In addition, using technology helps to engage students using 21st century tools. Thus, it is important to explore all options, including the IWB.

Nielsen (2010) states that the teacher’s back is to the audience most of the time when using the interactive whiteboard. My question is ‘Why is the teacher at the front of the room using the IWB?’ While I understand the need for teacher led sections of lessons, in my eyes, it should be the students who are at the front of the room interacting with the board. Thus, leaving the teacher to speak facing the students and move freely around the room. Typing is a skill that is learnt but it doesn’t replace writing (or writing on an IWB). Handwriting and printing will always still be needed in education.I also disagree with Nielsen’s thoughts about professional development. I believe professional development is useful for any tool. Many teachers don’t have the time to just ‘figure things out’ when they have a number of other responsibilities each day. With tailor professional development, teachers can learn the skills they need to be effective. Neilsen seems to have a very narrow view of the use of the interactive whiteboards.

Interactive whiteboards do not just have to be for whole-class lessons with the teacher at the front as Neilsen (2010) suggests. Rather, if used appropriately can be integrated into the classroom and used as needed just like any other resource. The benefit of IWBs is that the tool can be used by up to 4 people at the same time (which is not the case for an iPad or laptop computer).

Our school is about to embark on a new trial of comparing Promeathean boards to SMARTBoards and also how to best use the SMARTBoards in our classroom. We have replaced 1 Promeathean board with a SMARTBoard and will be working with that teacher to develop this trial. We are not sure what we will find out or the full details of this trial but it should be interesting to use what we know about IWBs to compare and contrast and find best practice for making them useful tools in our school.

References

Nielsen, L. (2010, December 8). Are interactive whiteboards a smart idea when they make even the most innovative of educators look dumb? – 10 reasons to ditch the board [web blog post]. Retrieved fromhttp://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com.au/2010/12/are-interactive-whiteboards-smart-idea.html

Google Docs & GAFE

We are a GAFE school as well. There are a ton of great resources on google.com/edu. You may want to consider doing some of their online modules or even becoming an Google for Education Certified Innovator or Trainer. Both of these opportunities completely extends your professional learning network and resources. I've learnt a ton by becoming these two things. 

While I agree with professional development as being important and necessary, I think the most important thing is for teachers to be willing to be risk takers in the classroom with technology. Our students will often figure it out way before the teachers do but we also need to give the students the opportunities to figure it out and be okay with knowing less than they do. 

Last year I had 2 techsperts as class jobs. These students were the go to people for my students, which also meant that I had more time to work with my students instead of solving problems. You may even want to have your students build some of the resources for the teachers. We can learn a lot from our students and it helps to develop a whole school learning community. 

Creating Presentations

Before you can even begin creating a presentation you need to know your audience and the purpose for your presentation. This can greatly impact the content of the presentation and how you present it. 

In terms of creating a presentation, I use the CARP design principles: 

C - contrast 

A - alignment 

R - repetition 

P - proximity 

These principles can be used in terms of colour, text, shapes, and any other content on the slides themselves. 

What I find is often not taught in conjunction with making presentations is how to actually give a presentation. Students need to be taught to build their presentation to complement their oral presentation rather than just being exactly what is going to be said on a slide. Students need to understand how an image can convey much more than text and how using different features of presentations can enhance or diminish their presentations. 

While I understand that bullet points are highly overused by students and teachers in their presentations, there is a time and a place for using them. I think it's important to teach students when it's appropriate to use different strategies rather than eliminating them completely. 

I do subscribe to the limited text on the page. I have seen so many times just slide after slide of text. I always try to go for 5-7 words maximum for presentations. Though again, at times you are using more to show certain things.

Word Processing & Keyboarding Skills

Keyboarding is a skill just like learning your multiplication tables, collaborating with others and learning to read. You can type if you understand how to read letters and spell, but you learning proper keyboarding skills can help you be more accurate, save time, present your work in a variety of ways and be able to share typed documents with others easily (Roblyer & Doering, 2014).Knowing how to use word processing documents effectively can enhance the learning experience.

I believe students should learn start using word processing when they are exposed to using laptops and computers. At this time it is also necessary to begin teaching keyboarding skills concurrently. In our school, our 1-1 laptop program begins in Year 3. At this point, students should begin to focus more of their final products as being published online. By teaching students how to keyboard at this age, it will also allow them the ability to type with more speed and confidence. As teachers teach word processing, they need to also explicitly teach different skills within the word processing programs. This is an excellent time for teachers to talk about design, visuals and digital literacy.

With anything, the more time you spend learning something, the better you will become at it. Thus, the more students are exposed to proper keyboarding techniques, the more proficient they will become. In addition, as students spend more time learning keyboarding, this also means they are spending less time on their handwriting skills. It is important that students know how to write and read letters before beginning keyboarding. I believe that there should not be a 100% transfer to keyboarding from handwriting as handwriting helps students develop their fine motor skills. Both of these skills are important and help students develop different needs.

Last year I previously taught Year 5 and almost all writing assignments were submitted via online tools (such as Google Docs, FlipSnack, e-portfolio etc.). This was easier for me to read as a teacher as I didn’t have to worry about decoding handwriting that was messy. I was able to take only my laptop home rather than a stack of books. My students were allowed to do their rough draft on Google Docs, thus allowing for corrections and feedback to be easily done using comments and suggestions by both peers and the teacher, saving valuable learning time as well.

Another point to note about using online tools is the accessibility options that are built into many of the word processing programs. Whether it is speech to text or text to speech, highlighting of words or increased font size, many programs allow the accommodations needed for students to succeed. Autocorrect was of great importance to one student in my class with dyslexia as it allowed him to gain more confidence with spelling and also get the instant feedback about incorrect/correct spelling and how to fix it. The downside to spellcheck is that sometimes it changes a word to another word than the one you want. Thus, students must still read and review before submitting.

With any technology tool, it is important to remember that it is still just one of many tools for teaching. No technology can replace bad teaching. If students don’t understand the writing process, then using a word processing software will not make their writing better. It is still up to the teacher to teach students using best practice and the best tool to support their learning intentions.

References

Roblyer, M. D., & Doering, A. H. (2014). Integrating educational technology into teaching [Sixth Edition].

Word Processing - Early Years of School

We use iPads in our K1 - Year 2 classes so like you, I don't think it's really appropriate to teach students keyboarding at that age. I believe it makes the most sense when students begin using laptops/computers regularly. We wouldn't expect our students to be able to multiply without ever teaching them adding before and I feel it's a bit of the same with keyboarding. Keyboarding should be taught when it will be meaningful and useful to students and their learning. 

Games Based Learning and Gamification

It is no secret that video games captures the attention of young and old for hours upon hours. They are engaging, motivating and above all fun. When an activity or task is turned into a game, there seems to be this instant motivation to want to play. Judy Willis argues the importance of using the principles of video games in the classroom as a way to increase motivation of students as well as resiliency when they receive feedback. 

Games are always goal oriented whether it is to complete a level or end up with the most money at the end of the game. There is always something you are aiming to achieve. This idea of achievement motivates the player to continue until they are successful. Games provide a low rate of failure as they allow the player to try repeatedly until sucessful. Games are always providing feedback to the player. Sometimes the feedback is not being able to make it past a certain point in the game until the player figures out a new strategy. 

This past year, our Year 5 classes created a gamified unit of mathematics called the Battle 4 Chatz. Our goal was to make the entire geometry unit one big game where each class ('gang' or 'team') had to battle the other 2 classes in order to win over the various sections of the school. This unit was played as a mixed learning enviornment with both online and in person components. It had a narrative of a MR. ME character taunting the students to get better at math so they could capture each other and defeat the other teams only to have things change drastically in the final boss level. Along the way, there were also many sidequests for the students to participate in. Motivation and participation in mathematics was at an all time high as students were completing work at home and in class with enthusiasm to work towards badges and help their team achieve their goals. 

Breaking it down by Willis' main ideas, you will see that we took the principles of video games to create a positive experience for our students: 

- Motivation: Gain more points than the other two teams through completing individual activities, which would then allow students to capture different areas of the school. 

- Incremental Goal Progress: Students rewarded when a number of activities completed. A class could capture a portion of the school at the end of each level if they had the most points. 

- Individual Achievable Challenge: There were 2-3 activities per level that were mandatory based on the grade expectations with tutorials for support. Students had to complete tasks individually in order to help their team. If they completed the mandatory tasks (main storyline), they could challenge themselves by doing sidequests for bonus points to add to their teams total. 

-Feedback: Students received immediate feedback every time they completed an individual activity on their progress. As a class, their point totals were seen on the game site and updated in real time. 

If you are interested in learning about the theory and reasoning behind the game, feel free to check out the link here: https://sites.google.com/a/chatsworth.com.sg/battle4chatzsite/ 

You can also access the game site itself here: https://sites.google.com/a/chatsworth.com.sg/math-turf-wars/

References
Willis, J. (2011) A Neurologist Makes the Case for the Video Game Model as a Learning Tool. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/neurologist-makes-case-video-game-model-learning-tool

Video Game Model

To be honest, I actually had a Grade 1 teacher who let us play video games when we finished our mental math early. Some may not agree with it but the motivation of the students in that class was always high and we worked really hard to learn our math facts. 

In addition, video games provide a huge opportunity for our students  to develop problem solving skills. While you may argue that the classroom has no place for video games, games like MineCraft are sweeping through education and becoming a new way to engage our students in a safe learning environment where they can expand their ideas and learn in a way that best fits there needs while still being a lot of fun at the same time. 

Class Website

In my classroom, I have a class website where I have all my resources posted online. This is a great way for parents and student to utilize the resources at home. The students always know where they can find the information so I don't receive emails saying 'I forgot how to access that site we were using today'. In addition, there is transparency with parents about what is happening in the classroom, which is important as I work at an international school and they want to know what their children's education looks likes. It also allows them to log on at any time and have resources available to help support their child. 

A Simulation Resource

We used MineCraft in Year 6 this past year as a simulation. There were 3 tribes that had 3 separate pieces of land within a given world. Ultimately the game was to survive. The teams started by fighting each other and stealing things from the different places of the world. Eventually some started to form government and systems to have a more civil environment where it was easier for all to thrive. It was interesting to hear about the different types of government that came out of the experience as well from dictatorship to democracy. 

The unit was about types of governments. The best part was the teachers had to do little input but rather let the students explore and learn through inquiry. As they needed information, the teachers would support them or the students would research information. These types of experiential learning opportunities are very important for students and allows them to engage with the learning in a meaningful and memorable way... plus it is fun!

BrainPop

BrainPop is great for so many reasons. Whether it's a quick tutorial video for students, quizzes, games or lesson ideas. BrainPop has a lot of content that is beneficial for both teachers and students. 

There is also BrainPop Educator that takes it even further. It includes lesson ideas with all the required resources to be successful. It has online training including webinars and professional development for teachers. As well, it has a section dedicated to games - teaching with games, educational research about teaching using games, student game design. It definitely allows for creativity while also hitting content.

One of the other things I like about it is that you can search by the standards you use (ie Ontario, CommonCore, etc.) , grade subject and grade. This helps teachers quickly find the content they need that will be relevant to their students.

http://educators.brainpop.com/

Starfall

This has been a great resource for students from learning letters, to sounds and words. There are opportunities to learn about holidays and they continue to expand Starfall to have more teacher supported materials as well. I used this with my ESL students in Grade 1 while in Beijing and KG students while in Canada. 

As I was reading the Marc Prensky articles, I felt like the labels are less relevant if we think more about a balanced approach to technology as well as a willingness to be a risk taker and learn/use technology. 

My students have a 1-to-1 laptop programme at our school and regularly use them as a resource for their studies. For major projects, I tell my students they can choose how they show their knowledge as long as I can see what they know. Many projects have them making presentations, videos, animations and more. However, I still remember the first time I had students approach me and ask if they could make a brochure by hand instead of doing it digitally. Of course I said it was but it also became a more frequent conversation. I also had students going to the library looking for books rather than looking online at sites. It is important to know what resources are available and how to access them. It amazed me at first that students wouldn't want to incorporate technology but rather have a variety of options. There are sometimes days when our laptops go untouched from our desk and then others where we are on them a good chunk of the day. Even I still prefer a notebook and pen for my to do lists but find taking notes for my studies online easier. It is important that students understand that technology is just one of the many resources available for them to draw upon. Thus, even our digital natives don't always want technology but rather it is necessary to find the balance and appropriate times to use technology effectively. 

I also thought about it is more important to have a willingness to use and explore technology rather than whether or not you grew up using technology as a 'digital native'. I would argue I am more on the digital native spectrum. But still have a lot of digital immigrant tendencies. I grew up using technology from elementary school but the last 2 years is when I really have skyrocketed in my learning. There are others of all ages at my school who are very proficient with their technology usage and others who aren't. A few of our new teachers who would definitely be considered digital natives are not comfortable using technology in the classroom. So is it more important you grew up in it? Or are more willing to explore teaching through technology? Labels can sometimes be too confining to fully explain the situation in reality. 

I also wonder if we are needing to rethink our teaching as digital immigrants for the digital natives, what will this impact be 10, 20 , 50 years from now? How will it effect the new generation beyond our current digital natives. What implications will there be when digital natives are teaching digital natives? (Or even teaching the next label we come up with?)

Gamification and games based learning has been a real interest of mine in the last year. We have created some full units that are games and I'm excited we will be exploring this more in the next few weeks. Games are so engaging, rewarded, and have a low failure rate. Students have the opportunity to learn from their mistakes and try a variety of tasks. There are awards, leader boards, levels, main quests, side quests, avatars and storylines to really help the students have fun while learning. Hope to have some great discussions about this in the coming weeks.