Twitter

Hi folks-
Sorry I missed our last PLC time, I was so sick!
I have been working with Dan to get my students using Twitter this semester. Why? I am teaching a class called Issues and Theories in Art Education and we discuss a great deal about social justice art education and the inequities of the world we live in and how art can be a social agent of change through things like service learning and and community based art projects. This semester my students seem to be pretty clueless in what is happening in our world (current events, educational reforms, etc...)
I was talking to Dan about ways to get them more connected with what is happening and he suggested I have them use Twitter to follow news. I had them all sign up for it and Dan helped me make a list of good folks to follow and my students quietly complied and did it all.
We started following Iowa education news, national news, art educators, and local art teachers, to name a few. It seemed like a great plan. I was enjoying the news and resources I was finding, but I found that my students were not moving any further. They were not sharing resources, or tweeting or even re-tweeting what they were reading. This led me to have a conversation a week later asking where had I gone wrong?  I told students they did not have to go out and tweet a bunch of times right away but that they should take time to explore, read, and learn to navigate Twitter. They were pretty honest and most said they had forgotten about it.
I gave the assignment for that weekend to tweet or re-tweet at least 3 interesting finds that connect our class. Dan suggested a rubric that scores them on the quality of their tweeting (not the quantity) but I felt that it was not in my original syllabus and that adding it at mid-term was tricky.  Most did the 3 assigned tweets last week so I now my goal is to start talking more about things on Twitter that I am sharing with them. I am still not sure what I want to go with this or what I am exactly trying to  achieve with this addition of Twitter to my class, so I am working through it slowly.  My class is short and only 2 credits so it seems already packed.  I worry I am overloading them with another thing and want more quality and to make less busy work for myself and students. How do I get to that?
 I am asking for any feedback. Thanks!

Using technology as an assignment vs using technology to support classroom activities

After reading Chad's response to the previous post, I thought it made more sense to enter my response as a  new post.


I think there are two ways you can look at technology in education.  The first, and most often way people look at it, is through the assignments students complete using technology.  This could include basically any assignment students are required to do through the use of technology.  I'm thinking digital storytelling projects that require students to use cameras, software, and the like.  But there's also another aspect that is overlooked, which I'm going to term lesson-based technology use.

Technology use doesn't need to be an assignment to be used effectively.  Rather, technology can be leveraged in the classroom to enhance the teaching that is already taking place, not to mention the opportunity for something new to happen.  In this regard, I'm thinking of lesson-based things you could do with technology such as: setting up a back channel during a lecture, bringing in an expert through a video conference, or something as easy as having access to the Internet to bring in outside resources and opinions.

But it isn't always as easy as...which is why many teachers resist. Often teachers don't have faith in the technology working or that they won't get the intended outcomes they wanted from the technology.  The locus of control is beyond their grasp and when it comes down to it, we don't have the required trust in other people, the system, or simply that the technology will work.  Usually this is due to past experience.

That doesn't mean we have to like it, and I often don't, which is why I try to eliminate barriers that prevent teachers from doing something really amazing with technology in their classrooms.  Will things go right the first time you try it in the classroom, probably not.  But that doesn't mean we need to stop trying to make it work.  Innovation doesn't happen overnight and it often takes a considerable amount of time.  I understand that teaching time is sacred, but only to the extent that we fail to be relevant.

So my question to you is, are there ways you want to use technology in your classrooms?  If so, are there any barriers that I can help remove or reduce to make this happen?

Professional Development Needs

As we head into the middle of February, I wanted to check in with everyone to see if there were professional development needs you might have.  We've been talking about some of the possible things you could do with technology, but I was wondering if there was anything you needed to make the process go a little easier?  This could be helping you design the lesson, helping you learn how to use an app, or even just having me come to your class on the first day that you implement a new technology.  Whatever it might be, just let me know and I can help.

It also helps if you let us know how things are going in your classroom by posting to the blog.  This way the rest of the group can give you their insight into what you're doing.  If you have any questions, please let me know.

Dan

Infographic: Social Media in Education

Here is an infographic about how schools and colleges are using social media in education.  I thought it was interesting enough to share.  Thoughts?  You'll want to click on the picture to be able to read it.

Source: http://www.buzzom.com/2012/02/infographic-how-schools-and-colleges-are-using-social-media-in-education/

Waverly-Shell Rock Open House

I went to the Waverly-Shell Rock open house on Tuesday and I thought I'd share some of my thoughts from the experience.  Overall, I really liked what I saw and the way it was presented.  It was refreshing to have the good, the bad, and the ugly (even though there really wasn't any) presented just as they are.  The faculty, staff, and students were very open about what they liked and what they didn't like.  It was also very clear as I walked around which classrooms have embraced being transformative and which haven't.

Here are my main notes from the day, in no particular order:

• They wanted to create a stimulating yet flexible learning environment.
• There wasn't a technology initiative when they began thinking about the design of the new school.  The technology came into play when they looked at how many computers they were going to be buying and they were only a few shy of 1:1.
• Personalization was important, which is why they went with the iPad.  
• Their focus was on Iowa Core outcomes 4 and 6.
• They were not looking at how they could increase student achievement as a result of the environment.  Instead, they were looking at how they could make a qualitative change in the classrooms. (This seems to make sense, at least to me, since we know the kind of teaching that leads to increased student achievement so take the focus off of measuring achievement since that's done anyway, and focus efforts on the changes you can see taking place in the classrooms. Other's thoughts?)
• Each grade level has a shared resource area that anyone can use for larger group tasks or even individual work.
• Teachers take the approach when designing homework that the students don't have Internet at home. This way they don't create something students can't access.
• The community was not consulted in the project and the group making the decisions was relatively small by design.
• Classroom management was huge on day one.  Challenged much of what everyone knew and there was a bit of confusion the first few days.  
• Parents are stepping up to enforce their own rules at home.
• Students can get two days on a single charge.
• In classrooms, they leverage communications as much as possible.
• Students take advantage of the tools when they can (example was given from Math teacher how his students created videos of him working out a problem during class so they'd have access at home).
• The iPads allow students to differentiate on their own.
• Students liked the convenience of the iPad outside of school since everything they need is available.
• If teachers had technical problem with app, they contacted the developer directly and often an update would be released in a timely manner.
• They are working on creating a culture of responsibility: leaving iPads out, unlocked lockers, etc.
• Students do more collaborative problem solving with other students and with the teacher.
• Only about 40 iPads have broken, which is on par with their predictions.
• They filter content on campus to a minimal extent and don't off campus.
• They don't use an LMS yet, but are looking at options to maybe use next year when the high school comes onboard with 1:1.
• Flash hasn't been an issue and it won't be moving forward (Adobe isn't supporting it any longer).
• Student teachers from Wartburg will be issued an iPad by the college to use during experience.
• Used Naiku as an assessment system they all seemed to be using (I'll be honest, I didn't really ask much about this since it wasn't my purpose for the day, but it sounded interesting.  Google it if you want to know more).

Here are some pictures I took and you'll have to excuse the poor quality as it was on my phone and there were people everywhere making it tough to take pictures.




This is a large TV in the commons area when you first walk into the school.  I assume announcements and other items are on display when students are eating lunch, before/after school, etc.  There is another one on the other end of the room.




In each of the grade level wings there are medium sized gathering areas for students and teachers to use.  In these areas are a number and variety of chairs and tables, a projector, printer, storage areas, whiteboards, and whiteboard tables.  In this picture you can see two of the three types of seats they have.  The small stools are a light weight chair that fits about anywhere in a room and allows you to rock back and forth.  I tested one out and they were surprisingly comfortable.  I wouldn't replace my desk chair with one, but I would certainly replace the chair I sit in on Tuesdays and Thursdays in my night class.  You also see a number of comfortable chairs you would expect to see in a lounge.  These were nice, but not easy to move or small.




Another view of the same room.  Here you can see the projector behind the people in the picture, as well as more seating and the storage cabinets.




This is the back of the same room where you can see there is space to show student work, and really just general space to hang things on the wall.




Again, the back of the same room.  Here you can see the whiteboards students can use for group projects as well as some more seating.




Here is the last picture from the common grade level room.  This picture shows the whiteboard top tables.  These tables were throughout the different classrooms.  I personally like these tables since they can provide the medium for collaborating on a project, perhaps the development of a deliverable.  The teachers said the students will typically work on something on the table and then will take a picture with their iPad.  This way they have that content where ever they go, even though the tables could be considered "low" tech.




This is one of the science classrooms.  Here you can see they have tables with wheels as well as a more traditional chair.  The chairs were comfortable enough, more so than the typical chair you would think of students sitting in.  I was a bit disappointed with this classrooms layout, mainly because of the rows of desks pointing to the front.  I'm sure amazing things can happen in this classroom, but given the type of environment potential available for this classroom, I would have liked to see more indications of collaboration.




This was a language arts classroom.  In this classroom the furniture is about the same as the last room, only the tables were configured a little different, even though this picture doesn't show it.  The tables and chairs all have wheels to allow for easy moving.  There is also a small table at the front of the room that controls all the equipment in the room (projector, document camera, etc.).  Also interesting in this classroom was the use of Apple TV to connect all the student iPads to the projector.  So instead of hooking the projector up physically, the students were able to do so wirelessly, adding another level of collaboration that can take place.




In each of the classrooms, the teachers started the year with a mix of the different furniture.  They each had thirds of everything from tables to the different types of chairs.  This is the most common type of comfortable seating we saw in the rooms, but overwhelmingly the most popular were the more traditional type chairs that had wheels.  The tables were about a mix in terms of popularity.




Not sure what classroom this was, but it had the best mix of furniture.  There was one teacher I remember who had a room like this that said he changed the furniture arrangement everyday based on the type of activity they were doing.  He later in the tour said that he rarely uses textbooks, supports everything they do through his website, and everything he gives to and receives from students is done electronically through email or other electronic transmission.  He was probably the most innovative that we saw that day.  He even played music during group work time to help "insulate" the students and their voices from the other groups.

Action shot of me in one of the stool chair things.  Really they weren't that bad, and they were super light!  I liked them enough I'd consider getting one for my desk at home.

My general impression is that they have a great foundation for creating a truly transformational physical learning environment.  I think there is a need to develop an online learning environment to complement and complete their physical one.  My impression is that they are actively looking at options to fill this void.  So overall, I really liked what I saw.  Finally I visited a school that didn't feel like the kinds of classrooms from the early 1900s.  

Your thoughts?  If you went, what did you see that I missed?