Creating Change in Education
Welcome to the blog! My goal is to support you in education. I have many different visitors with different educational needs, but whatever that need is for you I will support you in it. I am intrigued by making learning a lifelong venture for students by meeting them on their terms, and using their tools. I feel honoured to be able to do what I love with the flexibility to teach my way. We are living in amazing times!
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December 31st, 2009
5 Ways to Create Learning Experiences with Technology {edtech}
There are many people on forums, twitter and elsewhere discussing the importance of using technology in the classroom to enhance learning. I find there is generally two camps out there in regard to technology, not mutually exclusive; one belief is that technology should be used to transform teaching and learning to become ‘more than the sum of its parts,’ the other belief is that as technology is adopted effectively, it should become transparent and not the focus of the activity.
So what’s a teacher to do in the classroom that fits with these important perspectives on technology? Today I am going to stretch my brain and come up with five brand new tech-infused activities (to me at least) to share with all of you. I have mentioned some others before, but I want to be creative this morning, and perhaps come up with something I can use next week in my classes.
- Start an Action Group – Whatever your subject matter or level, there are many points of contact with the outside world that students can become involved in. In the past, these connections could be difficult to forge, a teacher had to have a great knowledge of the community or a particular subject area. Today, students can research electronically what is being done in the community, use social networking to gather support, and even put ideas into action without having to leave the classroom. I am all for leaving the classroom from time to time, but when we are able to effectively create community or worldwide connections with students from inside the classroom, it creates the ability to do more of the authentic work we need students to be involved in.
- Social or Scientific Experiments – Whether it is eye colour of parents, beliefs on government, or a myriad of other concepts, social networking offers students and teachers the ability to leverage their learning in ways we are just starting to utilize. I will admit that I have used this strategy minimally up to this year, but seeing some of the great ideas and feedback students and teachers are getting from Twitter and Facebook, it is an area I see many more teachers working with in the near future.
- Digital debates – I am nearing a point where I will allow students to see other perspectives on an issue by connecting them directly with others who are studying the same material, or living in the area being studied. Another way to utilize digital technology for debate is to let the students loose on the debate in a closed or open internet forum. The debate can occur over a weekend or holiday, and upon return to the classroom the results can be discussed and analyzed. Ultimately this would take some strong teaching beforehand about debate etiquette, but the realization that posts are a digital record generally keeps students appropriate in this kind of forum. Once the students have returned to class, the discussion then centers around the debate as an artifact, with key issues, faults in logic, and additional learning and refinement.
- Paying it Forward (Creating Learning for upcoming students) – This is a vision that I need to set up, as it has been bouncing around in my head for some time, and I have only started to use it. Having students create work for future students. I am thinking in particular as a course review for English, where students create a guide of the essential learning that students need to be successful in the class. While this could be done individually and on paper, I think a wiki form where students can add, change, adapt and put their own ’stamp’ on it year after year would be astounding. Each student could revise or write an entry, and the wiki could become a compendium of that course.
- Publishing (for real!) – I want to see classrooms publishing viable, sellable work that can be found on Amazon.com or any of the online stores. The process is easy, as there is a plethora of online publishers, I believe I have mentioned Lulu.com in the blog before. Here’s why we need to publish:
Thanks for reading, and have a great day!
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March 8th, 2010
Ethical Professional Learning: Implications for Mentors {Adult Learning, Professional Learning}
My Masters class yesterday was illuminating. It was focused on adult learning and androgogy, which is an area I have done little research in, even though I have spent this school year as a mentor. I suppose in our drive to improve student learning, we seldom think about the most effective, and ethical, ways to teach other adults.
One of the issues that came to the forefront for me was that of ethical adult learning, highlighting the importance of careful consideration of what we present to adult learners before a training or learning session. We read a chapter from Mezirow’s Transformative dimensions of adult learning (1991) that really made the case that we must be cautious to meet ethical criteria in our work with teachers. Part of this ethical work involves being aware of some of the changes in personal perspective that occur with transformative learning, and being willing to support the teacher through the transformation and afterward. This is essentially relevant to those who teach seminars and one day sessions. We must be willing to follow up with and continue to work with teachers we inspire or shift into new perspectives on learning, as we are the impetus for such learning.
Another ethical issue we must consider with Professional Learning is the concept of balanced or honest representation of ideas. As with the students we teach in class, we have to be willing to offer multiple perspectives in our teaching, and let the adult learners choose the option that is best suited to them, even if it is not the option we would choose. If we don’t provide this balanced perspective, the perspective we believe is best is not an authentic choice, and Professional Learning merely becomes indoctrination. I’m glad I came to this learning in the week I begin to plan my first half-day Professional Learning session with another school. It will change the way I engage the teachers in learning, and certainly in how I follow up afterward with them. I mean, how often do we think about providing alternative perspectives to concepts like technology integration and infusion? Even if the alternatives are highly deficient (in our eyes) our ethical responsibility is to ‘put it out there’ so the learner can choose the most effective perspective for their practice and belief system.
Let me know what you think!
Have a great day, and thanks for reading!
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March 6th, 2010
Guest Post – How Technology Is Changing Today’s Instructors
The following is a guest post from Mary McCaffrey from SchoolCenter. Comment below and let me know what you think!
Schooling the Teacher: How Technology Is Changing Today’s Instructors
In recent years, technology has opened new doors to student achievement at an ever increasing pace. From distance learning classes enabling learners to take advantage of new opportunities, to search engines supporting students daily in classroom research- technology is accelerating a major paradigm shift from the classrooms of yesterday.
This shift offers a huge opportunity to engage the iGeneration students in a format familiar to these “digital natives”. Today, students belong to multiple social networks, produce content online, interact and engage in special interest groups and utilize digital tools such as smart phones, digital books, and touch screen devices to further enhance their connected experience. How do we stay connected with this generation in the context of education?
Plugging In
Staying on top of technology trends for educators is no easy task. Yet, now is a critical time for us to leverage the advances in the technology space to enhance education delivery with our students. Collaborative environments connect teachers and students in new and positive ways. Harnessing technology to enable real-time assignment, creation, review, feedback and delivery powers student involvement and engagement. The ideal is to interact with students using methods similar to those they experience in their personal lives for communicating and engaging—those methods our students have so clearly embraced.
From Desk to Desktop
Think about the simple application of enabling dissemination of coursework, materials and information. Homework is assigned and collected and sent through email and other digital means. School closings or delays are messaged to students and parents. Class lectures are converted to videos and placed on school websites or YouTube to help spark online conversations or prepare students for course exams. The extension beyond school walls is invaluable. Using technology to distribute and collaborate on course work teaches students how to quickly, learn and use technology to achieve an end goal; an imperative skill for higher education and the digitalized workforce.
Students today spend more time in front of a computer than a television. Teachers use the internet to reach students in multiple environments and engage students in a way that was not even imaginable by their predecessors. The global business environment today calls for tech savvy employees; the tech savvy educator will greatly influence the student’s skill development throughout their education years.
Making the Grade… Faster
What I’ve seen across the board in education is an increasing desire amongst teachers and administrators to be more efficient and effective in delivering a solid educational experience; and I believe technology is changing the way we do our work. Online tests make grading nearly instant and often more accurate, creating teaching guides and class handouts are easier and more effective using today’s content creation tools and instant and frequent live feedback fosters a positive learning culture.
Educators can be the leaders towards using media that will affect and change how students and teachers approach course work each day. I believe we have entered a new era where Web 2.0 technologies are increasing both student and teacher efficiency, as well as promoting a more collaborative learning environment. That is how we will successfully engage our students to ensure achievement of their potential.
About Mary McCaffrey
Mary has more than 25 years of experience in technology and education through her various leadership roles at SchoolCenter, Pearson, Apple, Carnegie Learning, Duquesne University and Carnegie Mellon University. At SchoolCenter, McCaffrey is committed to providing environments engaging all members of the education community. As President of Pearson’s School Systems group, McCaffrey transitioned the business to its current technology leadership position. Prior to her position at Pearson, McCaffrey lead PowerSchool, a division of Apple, as President, where she spearheaded the development and sale of its flagship student information system and played an instrumental role in the business unit’s eventual acquisition by Pearson.
About SchoolCenter
SchoolCenter is the leading strategic web solutions company in the education market. Headquartered in Carbondale, IL, SchoolCenter provides districts and schools with a proven approach to growing interactive K-12 environments that engage the lifelong learner. With more than 13 years experience, 6,000 schools and over a half a million users, SchoolCenter applies proven best practices, providing strategic web solutions that meet specific education goals. SchoolCenter offers customized design services, scalable and flexible technology solutions, comprehensive training, ongoing support and a long-term commitment to customer success.
Visit SchoolCenter at www.schoolcenter.com
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March 3rd, 2010
Teaching an EdTech PL Workshop {Professional Learning, Technology in Education}
You may remember a few weeks ago when I discussed how I take advantage of the government marking system in the province I work to provide me with great professional learning? (here’s the post) It seems I am not the only one. During the downtime from marking, I connected with the other teachers at the same marking table, and one was quite interested in my iPod program and general beliefs I have on technology in the classroom. Before the marking session was over, we had exchanged contact information, and I had left it at that. I have had enough experience with teachers to know I am not likely to hear from these people until June when they (and I) had an opportunity to slow down and reflect on the year. However, I was wrong. This teacher saw some value in what I had discussed with her, and has subsequently booked me to teach my first PL workshop with the staff of her school.
I am excited about the prospect of this, and really want to dig in and make the learning useful. The school is supposed to send me some general areas of focus, but I wanted to highlight just a few messages I would like to get across to teachers in a session like this:
- The importance of “Good Teaching” to “Good Technology Use” – I’ve mentioned this in several ways before, but good use of tech is not to simply change the medium of the assignment. The ultimate goals is like groupwork, by joining forces you create something better than the sum of its parts. Web 2.0 tools have the ability to do this IF we use them well, and choose our uses carefully. It is up to the teacher to design effective and authentic tasks that will inspire students to use the web effectively.
- It’s not about a ‘Silver Bullet’ – One of the things I think about a great deal lately is how tunneled our vision can become as teachers, and how often we think of one tool as the ‘right one’ for a task. I am trying so hard right now to find ways to allow students to choose, to make even the presentation form open to them. This semester my 30-2’s have the option of producing any media text that fits the task they were given. I hope against hope that they ALL create very different assignments and use different tools (some of which I will have shown them in class) to create them! When I give presentations and talks, I try to use a different web tool each time to show teachers that any of these tools can be effective. It is the message that is important. I also ‘cheat’ when I want to use a new web 2.0 resource. The unit before I want to present it to the class, I ‘leak’ it to one of the high-fliers. That student uses the tool before everyone else in a similar way to how the class may use it. I then have the student report back on the process, difficulties and strengths of the tool, so I know from a student’s perspective how effective it is.
- You must think about what will happen when technology fails, and enlist student support - I don’t want to scare teachers who are just starting out with using technology in their classrooms, but the truth is it does fail. Often. Even to the best of us. If I didn’t really believe in this point, I wouldn’t have the iPods I do in my class. I knew there were going to be network issues with the iPods, and I knew that as well as my own iPod worked, managing 37 of them would change the game. Likewise, any technology you will use with a large group (even if it is to present to them) will have bumps, glitches and moments where you just have to wonder why you even tried. However, if we can get over our teacher pride, we find most classrooms (at least in middle/high school) will have a student or two who not only is able to help, but wants to. Use these free supports to help you and their peers to work with technology to get the class rolling again.
I’m enjoying the process of putting together resources for teachers, and I am very much looking forward to teaching this session. Rest assured I will have plenty to say about the experience afterward. By the way, I still have openings for this semester if anyone from warmer southern climates wants to fly me in for workshops! 
As always, thanks for reading and have a great day!
VPPPY9QESVS6
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March 1st, 2010
Learning With iPods in the Classroom {iPods in Education}
I had some feedback this morning on my previous post here that I hadn’t mentioned effective learning in the clasroom in the post. I suppose there is a specific reason for this. I don’t see the learning that students do with the iPods as different learning than they would do with computers or a pen and paper. This may sound odd to those who see me as a very ‘plugged in’ or technology focused teacher, but I truly believe that good learning (and by association teaching) is independent of technology. Students in my class still learn effectively if the internet is down, power is off, computer dies or pencil breaks. We are engaged in learning and not playing with technology.
What I believe iPods and handheld devices offer students is the opportunity to complete the learning that we are engaged in on devices and in ways that they are comfortable with and interested in, and that the ‘new ways’ technology offers to complete the activities enhance the work. Is this important to me? Yes! Absolutely! It can create opportunities to collaborate, to create products that other methods don’t offer, to publish and revise their work with ease. This may make the learning shift in that they experience different processes, but I am always cognizant that learning is the goal. My teaching focus hasn’t changed since the days before our school had MacBooks, and before I had iPods to use everyday. I still avoid ‘make work’ projects, I still have students create ‘whole class’ projects, I still ensure that attention to detail and presentation are key elements of their writing. Students in my classes are learning an appreciation of literature and expression, it is only the conduit to that learning that changes.
So, if I am so focused on the learning, what has changed in the classroom process since the iPods were added to our environment? Let’s use one of my infamous examples. My students in Grade 11 complete a visual analysis essay of a film scene as part of our media studies unit. When I started this project several years ago, I would show the clip several times over, allowing students to write down notes and pausing for discussion between each showing. Some students took all of the showings to get everything they needed, and some asked to see it more at my desk afterward. Then students had to recall and describe as best they could what they were seeing, and what they thought the director’s purpose was in using the shot/lighting/angle, etc. This was a long process for students, and the need to ‘recall’ was a tough one, but I was somewhat limited in my ability to ‘hand over’ the media to them. Some of the more keen students would rent the movie on the weekend before the paper was due to watch the scene over a few more times.
With the iPods in my classroom, I now clip out the small scene and load it on the iPods. I still show the scene to the entire class, and we have a discussion about it, but students also have the ability to watch the scene over and over as many times as they need to on the iPods. I have an app on the iPods similar to Comic Life (see this post for my list of apps) that allows a student to add images into a ‘framed’ page, and then annotate over the images to highlight ideas and show interpretation. Students now create a visual essay, taking still images out of the scene and then describing the techniques used with the visual present to offer support for their ideas. This creates a great opportunity to blend the visual and text to create a project that really highlights the student understanding and connection to the director’s purpose.
I work hard to make the technology students use add up to more than just the sum of its parts, but it all starts with effective learning. With or without technology, students get little out of projects that aren’t focused on developing essential understandings and showing value to what the students are doing. One of the greatest points in the semester for me is when my media students come into class complaining that they can’t watch TV or movies the same way anymore because they know how the director is manipulating them. They spout off to me about the techniques the director used and how the message was either effective or not, and usually one of their classmates will join in. I sit back and smile, because iPods or not, they have engaged with their learning, and that’s what I want for our students.
Thanks for reading, and have a great day!
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February 27th, 2010
Effective Management of iPods in Class {iPods in Education}
This post is probably overdue. Teachers ask me all the time how I keep students from ‘fooling around’ on the iPods. These little handhelds have a reputation (as furthered by Apple no less) that they are gaming devices. Yes, they have an ‘app for everything,’ but much of the press on iPods is about game developers, and the iPod’s abilities as a gaming system. So, what’s a teacher to do?
Management of the ‘distraction’ of iPods is much easier with school-owned devices, as I simply don’t install games on them. However, this doesn’t deal with all of the distraction, as students still have access to the internet and can find plenty of ways to ‘do their own thing’ with the apps I provide. I have found that management of any technology comes down more to the teacher than the students.
My strategy with iPods (and cell phones, and other music players) has always been appropriate use at appropriate times. But, appropriate use doesn’t transfer into student cooperation unless we are ‘present’ in working with the class. Working closely with students on their projects has the greatest impact on proper use and effective learning with individualized devices (including computers.) I have learned this one the hard way. There have been times when I have ’set the students loose’ to work on classwork that might not have been the most engaging, only to find them disengaged later upon review of the results.
I have also found that one key policy alleviates 90% of student issues with iPods and cell phones. I am lucky enough to work in a school where teachers are able to ’set their own standard’ in the classroom for mobile devices. As such, I let students use their cell phones and iPods during worktime, as long as it doesn’t interfere with the classroom. My policy during instruction and direct activities however, is that students will have their devices off and in the corner of their desks. This includes the class iPods. As long as I hold to this rule, students appreciate the difference in time usage and use the devices far more appropriately, even in the times when they are allowed to. It’s about setting a climate for technology use in the classroom. At some point in the near future, I am going to formalize some tech in the classroom presentations for students and educators, as this is becoming an area in which I see more and more need for good resources. (if you’re interested, let me know; it’ll get me working on it faster!)
I also had my first instance of a student installing an app on a classroom iPod in this last week. I had gone almost a year without even turning on the parental controls on the units, which in hindsight I probably should have done. However, I always err on the side of trust, and students had never shown any desire to try and install apps or download music. As I synced the devices to install a new app, I had a warning through iTunes about the app, and easily identified the student who had done the installation. He was sorry he had done it, and I’m sure he would never do it again. However, in the interest of not having students be put in the position of being tempted again, I finally disabled iTunes and the App Store.
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February 27th, 2010
The Importance of 24/7 Resource Availability {Student Learning}
Our final marks just came back from our English grade 12 students this week, and there were some interesting developments in student results. My marks to this point with grade 12 classes has been fairly consistent, which has never been a positive for me. My students need to be doing better, and learning better. Now let me say at the outset that I am not a believer that marks are the only measure; many of my activities are formative in nature, and many more allow students to rewrite and revise the work they have already submitted. However, if I know I am teaching the course effectively, students will achieve in spite of the manner by which they are assessed.
There came a point last semester where I decided to move from print-based (handouts) to web based (blog) deployment of my resources, assignments and feedback. It was a bit of a bumpy road, but ultimately students figured it out and we were able to get on with the learning. I’ve discussed this before, but the shift was significant. Students now respond to and interact with their classwork 24/7, and the students who might normally ‘fall through the cracks’ due to a lack of paper-based organization can manage so much better in this digital environment. Students who are ‘high achievers’ have expressed that they find it more challenging to move to a delivery and production system (digital) that is different than what they are traditionally successful with. However, this group tends to be far more versatile in their skill set and is able to adapt quickly, so they tend to appreciate working in this ‘new way.’
The result? In the final two months that I moved to a paper-based model last semester, individual assignments and projects showed a 15% jump in achievement. Some of this was due to completion, where a student would usually take a zero (called an ‘NHI’ at our school.) Some of the gains were due to more effective completion of work. I saw both happening. By the end of the semester, my overall grades for the course had moved 5% higher; this in a course in which my overall grades had not moved in a significant way in three prior teaching semesters. All things being equal, I am feeling that this new method of presenting course material and offering students the ability to submit day or night is working. It is changing perceptions about school work, and making it more like the ‘real’ work we as teachers, and other professionals complete outside of our scheduled hours. I think of how much my students would suffer if I were only able to work on my planning and preparation when I had a sheet in front of me, instead of working at home after the kids have gone to bed, or in the early morning. We now have a multitude of tools to allow us to get students the information and support they require at any point. Let’s use them!
Thanks for reading, have a great day!
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February 25th, 2010
21st Century Tools in the Real World {Technology in Education}
I attended a Professional Learning session today on Digital Storytelling, and for the first time I was tremendously impressed by a tech solution presentation. It was the first time I have seen a presentation like this one that was focused on how to accomplish the task instead of how a specific tool performs a task. That is a significant difference.
Too often we look at 21st Century Learning tools ( or web 2.0 tools, if you prefer) as very specific means to achieve and end. We use Prezi to create a presentation or Comic Life to create a comic. While this is one way to look at these tools, and it offers us teachers some comfort with tools we are trained in using, it can be quite limiting to students. For this reason, I try to remain ’software independent’ and keep my assignments open enough that students may choose he tool that works best for them. It reminds me of last semester I which my Grade 11 students were to create a presentation. I had always offered PowerPoint as the obvious solution. However, after using the many tools we had over the course of the semester, students this year began asking me if they could use different tools for the presentation. My obvious answer was yes, but it was the choice of tool that was intriguing. Students chose to use static image tools like Comic Life to create a digital poster for the presentation, his eliminated the need to ‘click through’ the PowerPoint, and the class could see an overall picture of the topic. Brilliant.
My overall point is this; with the abundance of web 2.0 tools out there, (I once saw a chart with over 100) we don’t have time to use, teach, or even showcase them all. We must let the students decide what is right for them to complete the task, and get out of their way. Be the support, and learn where you can, but remember it’s their learning not ours.
