The first month of the iLearn project at UWCSEA

Working towards a Digital Classroom

This workshop covers a variety of tools that teachers at UWCSEA have available to use in the classroom. Some of the tools are based on the internet and others are part of the software available on the student and staff laptops.

We can classify digital tools according to which aspect of learning they best support. These main groupings of tools are...

• Research and Information Fluency
• Collaboration and Communication
• Critical Thinking and Problem Solving and Decision Making
• Creativity and Innovation

These ideas are part of the NETS (National Education Technology Standards) framework which provides articulation of how we could use technology in the classroom from grades K-12. The other two aspects of the NETS framework are Digital Citizenship and Technology Operations and concepts.

Below is an evolving list of what we could use at UWCSEA Dover:

Blogger

A classroom blog can be an important part of your classroom practise and can be used in lots of different ways. Generally a blog is good if your are showing unique pieces of information over a period of time. The material can be sorted using tags, which highlight the key ideas in each post.

Blogs can be a weekly class summary completed by students, an immersion language site, a record of what is happening in class to communicate with parents, or a way to differentiate and extend more able students. Individual student reflective blogs will eventually be on a similar, but different school based system called Mahara.

Basic instructions:

1. Visit the website http://blogger.com
2. Sign in with your Google Apps username and password eg. abc@gapps.uwcsea.edu.sg
3. Create your profile, which describes who you are, perhaps Mr Smith.
4. Then click to create a blog
5. Choose the name of your blog and you can choose the specific URL address.
6. Then choose the theme. This can be changed later
7. Once this is complete you can write your first post. Think about adding pictures, videos.
8. Then go click on the B icon at top and back to settings, permissions to invite people to your website. 
9. When viewing your website you can type view after the URL at see a very nice interface of your posts. eg http://doverdlc.blogspot.com/view/

Babelwith.me

This is a simple chatroom website, which allows you to create a private room for your students to discuss a topic or issue. You create a conversation in Babelwith.me and then share this link with students. When a student navigates to the link, they will have to enter a name to participate. There is also some simple language translation aspects of this site, which students might like to experiment with.

Try this link to see an example of how it works. http://www.babelwith.me/WuHrf

Skitch

Click here to download the program to your laptops. You can also give students this link if you would like to use this in class. This is a relatively new piece of software.

This application allows you to take screen shots and then annotate, add text and export the image or very quickly to your desktop. It would be really good in Science, Humanities, Geography where students could find a picture or diagram from the internet then add some ideas and export the finished image back to their notes or desktop.

Using Google Docs for Collaboration

In this workshop we are going to be looking at the functions of Google Docs for use in the classroom. We will look mainly at the Documents functionality and less at Presentations and Spreadsheets, but the same general rules apply to each application.

This workshop is highly differentiated and you are encouraged to work at a level you feel comfortable with but to also discover something new. Hopefully you come away with some new ideas, but hopefully this reinforces what you already do.

Link for Workshop Resources  - Google Docs

Digital Notetaking in a Laptop Classroom

The presentation below is some ideas about using digital notes in the classroom. The three main options that the students have available are.

1. Microsoft Office - Word - Student Guide
2. Apple iWorks - Pages - Student Guide
3. Evernote - Student Guide
4. Google Docs - Guide

 

Hints for a Laptop Classroom

The following presentation is a set of hints about the Laptop Classroom. The discussion focused on refining your toolkit of teaching strategies to now think about the tools available on the students laptops. In my opinion it is important to focus on the learning and think about either traditional tools or digital tools that can help students develop any of the skills listed in blooms taxonomy including understanding, analysis or evaluation.

Digital Renaissance - Lose Ctrl, Take ⌘

Does the picture above look familiar? I like to think of the 2 armed guards standing behind Socrates to be the BC version of network administrators.

Education hasn't changed much since those days. This is a classroom that you probably remember:

And this was the classroom of tomorrow, circa yesterday:

The one thing that our progress between ancient greek methods and the classroom of today have in common is simply: Teachers who inspire. The difference are the tools that you use, and these are tools that are meant to empower you to be the champions of our Digital Renaissance.

A tagline of our current tools is "Think Different".

As educators, I believe that our core philosophy is "Make a Difference". (See what I did there? With Socrates and the reference to philosophy?)

My students are always off task !

One of my aims as eLearning Coordinator, is to develop systems that support teachers using laptops in their classroom. One of the frequent questions I get asked is about how teachers can stop students from being off task whilst on their laptops. Being off task, generally means that students are using their computers for something other than the educational purposes outlined by the teacher. As a school we want to force more accountability back to the students.

Here are some of my personal thoughts, and a reflection at the end.

• Good Lesson Planning – a good lesson that keeps students involved, contains examples and is interactive will obviously increase student engagement. Lesson plans should also spell out how students will use laptops in the classroom. Not every lesson will be action packed and full of excitement, but structure and purposeful activities will improve engagement.
• Circulating around the Classroom – try teaching from different points in the class. I use a laser pointer and clicker to teach from different parts of the room. This will let you see what the students are doing more easily. Be prepared to sit within and among the students when they are doing independent work. Sitting beside students in a casual fashion allows them to ask questions when they feel ready. Also think about the arrangement of the desks and the relative position of your desk. Manage the class by walking around.
• Consistency of Expectations – setting expectations within a 1 to 1 classroom is very important. I don’t think a school should mandate such rules, but teachers can establish these within their classes. I prefer that students have laptops turned on and sitting on the desk, but not open to begin a lesson. When I am speaking or discussing I ask them to lower their lids with a stupid crocodile hand gesture. After a while students understand what is a appropriate in your class if you consistently reinforce these expectations. Posters around the room are a good idea or stickers and hints on the desks.
• Pick your Battles – obviously some indiscretions are worse than others. When a student is checking out website and other students become distracted then most teachers would step in. Small warnings, and system of yellow and red cards could be appropriate. Laptops are a privilege so be prepared to remove the laptop for a period of time, from a student who has ignored warnings
• Use timers: students work better when they are under a slight amount of pressure. Set guidelines for some activities such as short quizzes or group jigsaw activities and less guidelines for independent work.

How do you know that students are off task?

• Body Language – head position, eyes tracking quickly over the screen and rapid clicking are all signs of off task behaviour.
• Flicking screen – in a mac system, students use the spaces functions to quickly switch between screens and hide functions. It is also difficult to see what activities students have running in the background. It could appear that they are working on a project, whilst also arranging youTube playlists in the background.