My Own “Hole in the Wall”

 

Sugata Mitra is one of my favorite educational researchers and presenters.  I was intrigued by this thought:

There will always be places in the world where good schools don't exist and good teachers don't want to go, not just in the developing world but in places of socioeconomic hardship.

His 2010 TED talk does a pretty good job of explaining his “Hole in the Wall” experiment on children self-organizing and learning, with the aid of a computer, and no adult intervention.  I strongly recommend his thought provoking and highly entertaining TED talk.

Pretty cool stuff.

Some members of CUEBC, the Computer Using Educators of BC, a provincial specialist association here in my home province, would like to revive the “hour of code” or other approaches  to get the average student interested, or at least aware of, computer programming.  This gave me an idea. 

One of my learnings having played with this Surface Pro 3 is with Kodu.  Kodu is a free program that introduces kids to the idea of computer programming by creating a video game with simple instructions and a Minecraft like environment. 

What if I combined the two ideas? 

I propose to put a Microsoft Surface tablet (probably a Surface Pro 3) on the wall of an elementary school hallway, about three and a half feet off the ground.  It would be encased around the perimeter in Plexiglas, secured to the wall, and powered.  I further propose that it be set to wake up when you hit the windows button on the tablet, and then it would be configured as to show Kodu.  Perhaps it would also have a few other apps too, but they would be quite limited in selection. Other than explaining that there is a tablet in the hallway, and that it is very nice, and can be used to make video games, I would then offer no adult intervention or help.   I wonder if kids when they go by the tablet would:

a) play with it

b) figure out how to edit Kodu

c) gather in numbers around the screen

d) talk about what they are learning

e) create something new

What could go wrong.  Someone could damage the tablet.  Someone could attempt to steal the tablet.  But, if reasonable precautions are taken, I bet the kids would find it an interesting experience, and would treat the tablet well.   Perhaps the tablet would be behind Plexiglas, but a Surface Touch keyboard would be open to the kids (touchable, but not removable).  They are quite durable! 

This would further mitigate risk to the tablet.

I believe we need teachers, but I also believe that kids are able to self-organize and learn in the right situations, and think that Kodu would be perfect for this.  Imagine getting elementary aged children interested in computer programming because they like challenge, and enables them to make a world how THEY envision it.  One where they are in the driver seat. 

Isn’t that why people code in the first place?

Survival Skills for Digital Natives in the Analog Jungle

Part 1

Students in my class come with their own set of needs.  In this series of blog posts, I will be sharing some of the skills I am teaching them to help themselves in class.  I teach the whole class these skills because although they are targeted to some, they are beneficial to all.

Lost in Translation

Some of my students are newly-arrived from other countries, and they are paying a lot of money to attend our schools as International Education Students.  But, due to government cutbacks there is less support for these students, in class or in the form of pull out classes. 
I have a borrowed Surface Pro 3 tablet for my classroom, a 1st generation Surface RT and my own personal Windows phone.  All have the Bing Translator app.  This app allows someone to speak into the device, or hold the camera over some text, and the app will use the power of the cloud to translate.  There are offline translation packs available.  My most commonly used one now is Chinese (simplified)
When you use the translate app on the tablet, it allows you to easily toggle between translation direction.  I can ask a question, hit the switch arrow, and my Mandarin speaking student can answer back in his own language.  Below is a transcript of our conversation:

Sometimes I needed to translate part of a sentence, sometimes we used it for the whole sentence in our conversation.  At the bottom is the two way arrows that we use to switch back and forth between languages. 
And on my Windows phone:


Wherever it is supported I use the speaker icon so that my students can hear the words spoken to them from the device.  This is because early in my career I read a book by Jim Trelease (the Read Aloud Handbook) which said that listening comprehension is higher than reading comprehension for children up to age 13.
I am told the translation is pretty accurate, and that the pronunciation is understandable. 
This is incredibly empowering for my students.  One student has now gotten his own tablet, and is writing Mandarin characters which are being translated into English.  He feels very proud to be able to communicate on his own while he is learning English as fast as he can.
It isn’t perfect, but it is one more way to equip kids with skills to advocate for themselves, and to be more independent in school.

Surface Pro 3 Part 1

 

Removing Barriers

My inquiry this year is around using technology in ways that improve student – teachers rapport and communication.  There is a natural tendency to focus on the new and shiny, but this year I am looking at using technology only where it makes a positive impact on student learning. 

But choosing the right tool can make all the difference.  Today I want to talk about meetings and technology.

Meetings are mostly about listening.  Meetings are sometimes about recording, and about making conscientious contributions when the moment presents itself.  Sometimes the meeting is in a room full of people, and sometimes it is with one parent.  Regardless, if you have your screen up, and keyboard clicking with eyes on the screen, some people will be wondering if you are distracted.
With the Surface Pro 3, I can use OneNote with my stylus in the lying-flat position.


This means that people can see what I am writing, and for some reason people associate writing with being on-task whereas typing may or may not be on-task behaviour.
By being transparent in my technology use, I won’t risk being distracted, and more importantly I will not risk others thinking I am distracted. 

Photo from Microsoft.com
I believe the Surface does this better than the iPad because of the finer tipped stylus, built in palm block, and great handwriting recognition native to the OneNote app.  While it is possible to accomplish much of this on an iPad, I have to use different add-ins, and I can’t save it to my server or my classroom website.  I could also save it to a flash drive, or an SD card as well if I so chose.Device or someone else’s cloud are my only choices with the iPad, which means I may not be compliant with FIPPA regulations keeping sensitive information in some sort of cloud application.
Now, let’s see what else I can make this thing do.

ISTE 2013 Part 1

 

The first few days of ISTE were a whirlwind.  I got a quick start to the conference with a 7:30 – 11 am workshop with Dell on Sunday.  While they were showcasing some of their new technology such as the new Windows 8 Pro tablet, the Latitude 10, the session facilitator tried to keep the focus on teaching practices.  I thought he did a good job of getting us to talk to each other, sharing teaching ideas and experiences, and some of the apps he showed were as good as iOS apps.  However one thing remains a challenge for the latitude 10, and other tablets, and that is projection. I don’t have a really good solution for wireless projection of a windows tablet yet, but perhaps if anyone out there has a good solution, please let me know. 

The ignite speakers that preceded the keynote were excellent.  Michelle Cordy taught me how to “hack my classroom” for some out of the box ideas that bring more authenticity to the classroom. I also listened to a video game designer talk about how kids don’t want to be spoon fed instructions in games as learning the game is part of the fun. Also, you can’t just “bolt” fun onto the side of an educational game, and vice versa.  People who play games want to learn “through” them, not from them.

The opening keynote featured Jane McGonigal.  She spoke about how there are millions and millions of people playing games today, and that game playing is a good thing.  What really hit home was what people got out of playing games, such as challenge, feedback, and the joy of an authetic “win”.  I wonder how I can make my classroom teaching more game-like?  What can I do to inspire kids to try over and over again, and feel that learning is “levelling up?”  I was impressed with some of the large scale events Jane facilitated, like getting 500 kids into the NY Public library to write a book in one night as part of a game called “find the future”.

There is something to be said for banner events – and it makes me think I need to create a banner event in my class. 

More on ISTE 2013 coming in future posts, including what George Couros taught me about facilitating change in my school, as well as what I could do if I had one iPad in my classroom.

Support Your Local Co-Op

 

Due to budget cutbacks, our Staff Development department is going to be much smaller.  As a result, schools are going to have to look to themselves for professional development.  I had the pleasure of working with the staff of Coquitlam River Elementary once or twice a month for this year on integrating technology into the classroom. 

 

One of my last suggestions was to have people put up their hands and give a 30 minute session on some sort of technology in the classroom idea.  Two teachers said yes, with the first teacher volunteering to present on using MS Word’s “Book Fold” feature .

The format was to create a lunch hour “Lunch and Learn” 30 minute workshop, complete with a student sample, written instructions, a digital template so you don’t have to make it yourself, and of course a demonstration of how to create a book using the book fold feature. 

This lunch hour workshop adds no time onto the teacher’s day, makes for “easily digestible” concepts, and provides support so teachers can use the idea right away. 

But how many teachers are interested in integrating technology into their classroom?  I found that about half the teachers would be interested in attending this particular workshop.  But I also thought that a number of teachers at three other schools within a five to seven minute drive of Coquitlam River Elementary would be interested in creating books with their students using MS Word. 

I asked principals to inquire with their staff to see if one teacher was interested in attending.   The principal would go into the teacher’s class on the Friday, 15 minutes before lunch.  This would allow the teacher to get to the host school, sandwich and laptop / notepad in hand.

Four teachers attended from the three other schools, as well as four members from the host school’s staff. 

If you count the principal, we then had 9 people attending this workshop.  And when I asked teachers from each of the schools that attended, they all:

 

1. Enjoyed the topic
2. Appreciated the strict adherence to the timeline
3. Made a commitment to using the idea, sharing it with a colleague, or sharing it at a staff meeting 
4. Would be willing to share a 30 minute idea of their own on using technology in the classroom at their school, and invite teachers from the other 3 schools to attend.

Principals were also really supportive of this idea going forward, especially as there will be fewer professional development options next year.  They have committed to encouraging a teacher, (or perhaps more than one) to share a 30 minute lunch time workshop, to communicate this workshop with the other members of their pro-d Co-Op, and to cover a teacher’s class 15 minutes before lunch to allow a teacher to get to their neighbouring school to attend the 30 minute workshop.

What I wonder about next would be the importance of providing handouts online and perhaps screencasting to support teachers sharing a lesson they learned at a staff meeting.  That would be like bringing the teacher who taught the lesson to 3 different staff meetings at the same time! 

But regardless of what technology is used, local schools banding together to provide pro-d for each other sounds like a sustainable model, and I am looking forward to see what September will bring.

Incidentally, the next 30 minute workshop will be in September, and the topic is “Pinterest for the K-5 Classroom.”  Stay tuned!

We’ll Know We’ve Changed Because….

 

The title of the blog post is the last part of the inquiry process that I use when working with teachers on technology learning teams.  It’s about gathering evidence that the changes you made in your classroom has made a difference compared to  the method you were using before.

At the beginning of a Technology Learning Team journey, a lot of participants become concerned with learning about how all the features of software and hardware work.  This is normal, but I don’t think we should stop our thinking there.  Usually having a focus from the outset on what kind of data we can gather that will tell us if the technology has made a difference with our students’ learning. 

One of the things people could look at is how their teaching impacts one student.  This is a perfectly valid inquiry – do teachers not spend a lot of time on a small percentage of the population?

Here are some things people could measure when it comes to technology making a measureable difference:

Problem	Strategy	Outcome
A student has trouble with losing their work, or does not hand it in on time.	Teacher has student use their SharePoint virtual classroom to launch, edit, and save their work right in a document library on the website. With the right settings on the folder, only the student and the teacher see that student’s assignment	The student doesn’t lose work, and is able to work on it anywhere they can access the internet.  The teacher can give feedback while the assignment is still in progress. The work is always in the folder, and is therefore “handed in” to the teacher on time. It may not be quite done, but at least the teacher can do a timely assessment and see what the student is capable of doing within a given time
Student has a lot of trouble with written work	The teacher gets the student to use some form of technology like SMART notebook or Explain Everything (iPad app) to show their work.  Teachers may need to help students get started with the software, and rehearse their narrations before recording.	Students can use images, some text, and their voices to narrate and show what they know.  This results in teachers’ getting a better picture of what their students truly know (and what they don’t know).  This leads to more accurate assessments, and better follow up strategies.
Teachers wish to improve communication between school and home about homework and special events	Teacher uses an  online homework calendar that supports RSS.  At the next parent night, parents put their email address on a list to subscribe to the teacher's calendar on their computer or smartphone.  Using MailChimp or a program like it, RSS feeds can be turned into email messages (fine if your parents don’t mind their email address being used by MailChimp).	Parents check their, reader app, their inbox, or their phone and get the latest homework and updates on events in class.  This could mean that more kids could show up with homework completed, or better prepared for field trips.  There might be more parents participating as volunteers and drivers at events as the calendar updates serve as reminders of coming events.

 

I think that technology does not offer a blanket solution that revolutionizes every child’s learning in the same way, and every day.   I do think that thoughtful use of technology can make a difference in different learners’ lives, which add up to saving the teacher time and effort and improves that student’s learning. 

That sounds like good data to me.

A Little Knowledge is a Dangerous Thing–Perfect!

Teachers who are masters of instruction in an area have a feeling of comfort in the classroom.  I have learned that these types of teachers may be more likely to teach in different ways, and more likely to accept work in different ways.  Mastery of an area of instruction isn’t everything, but it sure helps.  I am reminded of the saying “a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.”  The thinking is that knowing a little about something and then doing something with it could mean you don’t know enough to get yourself out of trouble.

Except in the area of educational technology.  In some cases I think it might be enough that teachers are aware of what software can do, model a little bit of how it works, and then let students get at it.  
In recent visits to classrooms, I have been modelling the use of OneNote for students to create projects.  After I have helped the students get started with the software, if I taught one person one thing (right click vs. left click) that person answered the question when it came up again.  The teacher in the room focused on creating groups that worked, brainstorming topics, providing starter questions, and modeling thinking like a researcher.  If we had a technology question after the first 30 minutes, we dragged other kids in to solve it. 
It’s true a little bit of knowledge can be a dangerous thing, but when it comes to educational technology, it could be a “disruptive” thing.  And sometimes that’s a good thing.