Conversation transforms learning in Google Docs and NON Google Docs, in Google Drive

Many educators have now discovered the phenomenal potential of Google Doc commenting to transform learning and teaching. If you don't know about Google Doc commenting, see some of the other posts on this, here, or here.

Used effectively Google Doc comments are another very effective illustration of what I believe are the 5 transformative elements of ICTs - SAMMS, they are:

Google Drive & Situated Learning

Situated - Comment anywhere, any space, any place that is suitable to you.

Access - link to references and resources anywhere on the wild wonderful web to support feedback, or to push/extend content further.

Multimodal - with Add-ons like Kaizena you can even add audio to your feedback, of course you can link to all sorts of rich web content, like online simulations to resolve a particular misconception, and students can easily create a screen recording to narrate their 'learning journey' through a beautifully busy comment thread. Revision history is great for this as well.

Mutable - Comments aren't locked they slip, slide and glide, anywhere they need to, but always tethered to the context that makes them meaningful, and of course comments can easily be edited/modified to clarify feedback, to better articulate reasoning, or maybe just to choose a more appropriate term.

Social - Commenting that is isolated is not much more than replacement tech, albeit without the need to squeeze your extended feedback into a scrawl that is so tightly packed into the margins of the page that it looks like a herd of spiders... No, to amplify or transform reflection and feedback, invite collaborators into the document, then stand back and watch in awe, as turning this document into a mini 'social network' radically redefines reflection, from 'me, me, me' to 'we, we, we'.

So what are you waiting for? You can view this album of screenshots for ways of how you can do this, or see an example below:

Image comments can refer to specific elements of the image, or be more holistic.

iPads, Video & Frustration

Not all video codecs are equal, and many of the most common formats that play fine on a desktop operating system like that on a Mac or a PC, often will not play on an iPad which is, shall we say, very fussy about what it will, or will not play.

So this means that just because that video you've inserted from Google Drive into a Google Site, may play beautifully on your Mac/PC, but that does not mean your iPad will play it.

Simple solution? Anything on YouTube is iPad friendly, so uploading your videos to YouTube (or Vimeo) and then inserting them into your Google Site will work, on any device; and as we're an educational domain, no dodgy mosaic or ads, unless you are using Blogger, in which case, you will see a 'video mosaic' at the end.

Like this one:

So you could have two videos, one inserted into a Google Site, and one from YouTube, and the first one will not play, even though it is the exact same video, before it was uploaded (and converted) it to YouTube.

To see this phenomenon demonstrated on a Google Site, click here.

The good news is that sharing a video straight to your YouTube account straight from QuickTime is very easy, and will do all the converting for you:

ICT Enhanced Backdrops & Tech Enthusiasts

We have a fantastic system in place for encouraging the authentic, effective integration of digital technologies in classrooms across the college with our Tech Mentors, but maybe what is less well known, is that increasingly (and this is a great problem to have), we have more and more teachers who are not 'Tech Mentors', who would be if they could be, but they can't, because there are no available spaces. Teachers in this category are teachers who are what I like to call 'Tech Enthusiasts', and this post is a case in point; som of our 'tech enthusiasts' in Grade 1, who put their enthusiasm for all things tech to great effect as multimedia backdrops for their class Arts Festival performance.

Keynote - Sonia Magnus & Susanne Khalek 

"Using ICT for the backdrop meant a great deal of pre-planning, but relieved the need for building, storing and cumbersome shifting of large pieces of scenery for a one-off performance, as there were several scenes where the story took place. It was also more environmentally responsible, avoiding the need to create and dispose of large props, like boats and trees.

The soundtracks for the presentation were worked on in music lessons with Susanne Khalek, and she ably interpreted Sonia's ideas so that the children selected appropriate instruments, composed short pieces and developed chants and rhythms for the movement on stage. The children were involved in listening to their recordings, evaluating the performances, suggesting improvements and re-recording. All recordings were made in Garageband so that the soundtrack could be edited, and additional sound effects could be easily included."

iMovie - Alice Whitehead 

Alice chose to use iMovie because she wanted a powerful way to visually represent the concept of the children's 'dreams' moving from thought to action. iMovie allowed her to do this by merging each child's drawing of a picture with an image they had chosen, then Alice filmed the children performing in front of a make shift green screen in the corner of her classroom, to create the 'special effect' of the children see themselves in their dreams for the future. The novelty of using a green screen definitely increased the students engagement and also helped them to understand the big idea behind their Arts Festival piece.

Take a peek at our new Learning Platform....

Over the next couple of years, our school will be introducing a new online Learning Platform to support learning in the Middle and High School. It will provide an online space for communications and a platform for delivering learning resources, assessments and much more. This has been developed for us, by a Singapore based company Teamie. Click through the presentation below for a preview. For a detailed description of the process download the overview here.

A working group is currently developing a plan and timeline for implementation, but it will be available in some subjects and grades from August 2014, with a gradual progression to the rest of the school in the following two years.

Padlet - for collaboration and low stakes formative assessment

I strongly I encourage every teacher I work with, to develop a toolkit of digital tools that the use in the classroom. I see Padlet as one of these core tools, that can be repurposed in many different ways, to support both formative assessment and collaboration.

Padlet fits very nicely with ideas around both collaboration and formative assessment. Especially the idea of setting a quick task to elicit evidence of understanding. Because Padlet requires no-student log in it is an unobtrusive activity and a task that seldom breaks the rhythm of the class. Below is an example from my Economics class this week. I use the mini-whiteboards so much, but this was a chance to modify the task, so that I could look at the both an analysis paragraph and the whiteboard diagram later. The little snippet of understanding shown gives me a good clue to the student's progress and thinking.

Below is a presentation, and embedded example, I have shared with our Middle School teachers, please borrow and repurpose !

Created with Padlet

Gaming Education - Narrated

Gaming Education - Narrated

This narrated version of my presentation of Gaming: the Good, the Bad and the Glorious, is in 8 parts, so you can view the whole thing, bit by bit, or, most likely, skip to the specific parts that are of most interest to you.

You can find the episodes on YouTube here:

Gaming Narrated

The presentation in a nutshell:

10 Critical Considerations:

1. Avoid media bias - video games attract more criticism than they warrant, it’s understandable to be vigilant about content, but make sure that questions about what is deemed 'appropriate' or desirable are considered in relation to all forms of media, not just one.
2. While video games have many similarities to other forms of media in terms of subject and content, they are unique in their focus on interactivity, as opposed to the passive modes that are typical of other forms of media. like video and literature.
3. The dynamic/interactive nature of video games also makes them high engaging, this engagement can easily be misinterpreted as ‘addiction’ when it is actually more likely to be an indication of a ‘flow’ state.
4. In very rare instances, gamers can become compulsive, this is true of other recreational (and indeed professional) pursuits as well, compulsive sports fans, compulsive focus on social media streams etc. Compulsion is a more appropriate term than ‘addiction’, as it relates to the nature of the problem, it is behavioural, not chemical, and there are strategies for managing this in the very rare instances where it becomes a problem. Most often the cause of gaming compulsion is not the game itself, but the social network associated with it, the attraction is not the pixels and polygons, it is people, as any compulsive consumer of social network content can attest.
5. The highly interactive nature of video games means that they share many of the traits of sporting pursuits, in particular, frustration in the pursuit of challenging goals. Sometimes this can manifest as anger, but it is essential to remember that the cause of this is frustration, not the game itself.
6. It is important to remember that this generation is not familiar with the idea of not being able to ‘pause’ and 'resume' entertainment, but for all generations that preceded them, the understanding that sometimes you can’t pause something (eg TV in the 70s and 80s), sometimes you have to abandon it, you will have to forego that experience in order to experience something else. This is not something this digital generation are used to, so before you insist they prematurely terminate their joint online quest with friends across the globe, all playing in real time, in a multitude of time zones, you may need to explain this.
7. Many (arguably most) great games are ‘educational’, but instead of looking for content (though that is there), look for 'soft' skills and dispositions, such as problem solving, collaboration, analysis, perseverance and so on. The simulations provided by the greatest games provide a series of problem-solving experiences that are carefully designed, with clearly designed cues and feedback.  That's of particular value when initially learning a complex problem solving skill. Only, unlike real life, these experiences can represent systematically a wide range of problems that might take months or years to encounter in reality.  The simulated problems often take less time to solve than real ones, because they can accelerate the time lost to delays and waiting that are an inevitable part of reality.  And, they provide a safe environment for the learner to take risks and learn the consequences of particular actions – a powerful learning strategy.
8. Like all other forms of media, films, books, TV shows, conflict is a common theme, video games are no different in this regard. When considering the appropriateness of conflict as an element of entertainment, remember to maintain consistency in your tolerance of themes of conflict in other forms of media as well.
9. Games Ratings are there for a reason, don’t ignore them. That said there are reasons to have reasonable doubts about the ESRBs inconsistent and quite frankly often bewildering use of the M rating for many games that should have an Adult rating is a case in point. To be able to determine whether a game really is ‘mature’ or ‘adult’ you will need to either cross reference with the equivalent PEGI (European) rating which is more consistent (Adult games are clearly indicated as 18+) or consult informed opinions of gamer parents (like me) on sites like commonsense.org. parents are often under a lot of pressure to cave in and let their kids games with very adult themes—yes Call of Duty, I'm looking at you. A piece of advice l give parents in this position is to go to YouTube and look at some of the gameplay walkthrough video that is posted there. That will give you a really good idea of the kind of experiences your child would encounter in game. Why? Because the bottom line is you are the parent, and you know your child, so you are the best judge of what you think is, or is not acceptable for them, not a website review, as useful as those may be. Often it's the in game cut scenes that are more of a problem than the actual gameplay. If you do have to say NO (not yet) then maybe try watching some of the footage with your child so that you can explain what it is about what you're seeing that makes you uncomfortable.
10. Playing video games is no more a ‘waste of time’ that any other recreational pursuit, from fly-fishing to stamp collecting, cycling, reading and watching box-sets of DVDs. The key is balancing time spent in the pursuit of these worthwhile endeavours.

Gaming Education Part 1- Who Cares?

Part 1 of 8:
Who cares?
What is gaming anyway?

Where do I go to learn more about this?
How do I know when to say NO?
Why do people like gaming?
When is it good, when is it not good?

Gaming Education Part 2 - Video Games vs Books

Part 2 of 8:
Are most Books Boring? Most Video is Vacuous? Most Games are Gory?
Media & Medium Bias
Passive entertainment vs (Inter)Active entertainment.
Games as problem solving, collaborative, creative educational experiences.

Gaming Education Part 3 - Addiction, flow & Compulsion

Part 3 of 8:
Video games are NOT addictive, they can be compulsive.
gaming and 'flow'.
Managing compulsive gaming.
How much is too much?

Gaming Education Part 4 - Gaming RAGE! YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS!

Part 4 of 8:
Video Games & Violence
Games don't make people angry FRUSTRATION does.
Dealing with frustration caused by playing Video Games

Gaming Education Part 5 - Which console? Which Games? Which Kind of game?

Part 5 of 8:
Which console for kids? Which gaming platform?
Games for kids on the main console platforms - XBox, PS & Nintendo
Game Genres - There is more to gaming than shooting/killing. It's true.
'Educational' Games vs Educational 'Games' vs (Educational) Games.

Gaming Education Part 6 - No Violence? Or KNOW (what kinds of) Violence? 

Part 6 of 8:
How do I KNOW went to say NO?
Can you play games with NO violence? Yes. But, should you?
From Tom & Jerry to Grand Theft Auto.
Violence is everywhere: Literature, Video, and Games - criticise it, but consistently.

Gaming Education Part 7 - Games Ratings, Reasons & Reasonable Doubts... 

Part 7 of 8:
Ratings and Games across the main console platforms.
Considering ratings classifications and why these are o ften unreliable…
ESRB vs PEGI vs COMMON SENSE
When is a game an 'Adult' game and when is it an ADULT GAME?
Cartoon Killing vs Anarchic Carnage

Gaming Education Part 8 - Games - A Waste of Time? Whose time?

Part 8 of 8:
Screen time vs Gaming Time
Active Activity vs Passive Activity
A 'balanced' playing/gaming/reading/viewing regimen for recreation
A summary of the 8 chapters.

Free Audio Library on your Mac

When you find yourself in a situation where you need your kids to have easy access to a collection of useful audio samples, it's worth knowing that every Mac has a built in collection of audio files for use with GarageBand.

But you don't necessarily want to teach your kids a whole new application just so they can grab one guitar loop, fortunately for all of us you don't have to, they are accessible from the Finder.

Unfortunately these are a bit… buried...

Here's where to find them (click to enlarge):

Macintosh HD > Library > Audio > Apple Loops > Apple > Apple Loops GarageBand

Or choose Go in the finder, Go to folder, and type or paste this in:

/Library/Audio/Apple Loops/Apple

If you can't find Macintosh HD, just use the Go menu in the Finder, and choose Computer

It's best to leave these files in that folder, otherwise you won't be able to use them in Garageband, by all means copy them, but don't move them.

To isolate the loops from the sound effects, just view them with the largest files at the top, as these will be the longest tracks...

If you're using iMovie, there are lots of sound effects available within the app, just click on the tab, next to My Media.

Not enough? There are more available free from this website, no sign in required ...

http://freemusicarchive.org/


NB

You may find on a teacher Mac, that not all of the files have been downloaded, if so just open garage Bank, open the loops, and you'll see lops that are 'ghost' files, if you click on one you will be prompted to download the rest for FREE!