#LangChat-ing It Up...Again!

A recap of my second educational chat on Twitter, told through Storify. (A follow up to my first #langchat experience)

iPad Implementation: Some Points to Consider

Effectively implementing technology is an attitude shift, 

not just buying and distributing electronic gadgets. 

Today we took a visit to Paul Ecke Central Elementary School in Encinitas to explore their use of technology in the classroom, specifically their use of iPads. The Encinitas school district has dedicated themselves to providing iPads to all students grade 3-6 and have provided a large amount of discretionary funding to individual schools for the principals to determine how to best support their students (providing more iPads for other grade levels, creating up-to-date Mac labs, etc.).
(For more information on their district-wide iPad program click here.)

Below are some things that stood out to me in their iPad implementation that are worth considering when discussing iPad implementation in other districts:

• Let students be the experts-- It will probably not shock you to hear that our students, even our youngest ones, are wonderfully adept at figuring out how technology works--especially when it comes to the iPad. Sometimes teachers are hesitant to try a new program or website because they think it will take too long to teach the class how to use it, but from talking to the PEC students and from my own experience I find that to be an overwhelmingly incorrect assumption. Yes, the teacher will still need to provide explanations for some apps/websites and model its use, but once you give the students time to explore on their own you will find that they will quickly learn more features than the teacher originally anticipated. One thing I really loved was seeing how proud the students were of their tech capabilities and accomplishments! During the visit they were excited to show us what project they were working on, what app the were using, and could easily explain how it worked. One of the teachers said it best when she stated, "The kids are the experts and often teach each other, which allows me to focus more on the content." Collaborative learning at its best.
•  Natural consequences encourage accountability-- The thought of elementary students using iPads immediately conjured up thoughts of sticky fingers, broken screens, and other horror stories in my mind. Again, this assumption is totally inaccurate and the worries hardly justified. The students treat their iPads well and handle them carefully. This is due to both excellent modeling and front loading by their teachers when they are first given the iPad to use as well as the consequence of losing their iPad privileges if they cannot treat them correctly. The 'horror' of having to use paper and pencil to do your work instead of Explain Everything or similar apps is consequence enough to keep students in line and on task. The same goes with making sure their iPads are charged and ready to go--if there's not an outlet available to charge it, tough luck, it's paper and pencil for you that day. What an quick, effective way to learn cause and effect! But the  PEC teachers are not leaving everything to chance. Students are highly encouraged to buy the iPad insurance to allow for repairs if they do happen to have accidentally break it, and if they don't the repair costs fall on the student. But again, most students do not damage the equipment so this money is put into a fund to buy new devices, repair others, and pay for additional resources.
• iPad and its apps as a medium, not the "be all, end all"-- There are so many wonderful apps and resources available when using the iPad in the classroom, but it's the content that should still be front and center at all times. With that said, one method I appreciated was the teacher who allowed their students to demonstrate their knowledge in whatever way they deemed best. She posed a central question to the students and instructed them to create a product to show their thoughts and responses. By not limiting the student to a particular app at all times the teacher allows for student choice and has differentiated the lesson at the same time for multiple intelligences. Students that feel more comfortable using iMovie can express themselves that way, while others may choose something more traditional like a poster layout. At the end of the day, if each student can successfully answer the topic question, why stress out about how they choose to do it? And that goes for all classes, not just those using iPads or other technology. If we can let go of the reins a little more as teachers and allow for student choice and creativity I think we'd be astonished by the outcomes.
• Support + Attitude shift = Success-- Teachers are busy people and learning how to implement new technology takes time, which we often don't have to spare. Encinitas has addressed this issue by building in team collaboration time dedicated specifically to technology implementation once a week. During this time the grade level teachers meet to discuss apps, sites, plan how to best use them to support their curriculum, and have specific professional development sessions on programs when needed. This time is separate and different from individual planning time, and sounds like it is non-negotiable (aka can't be taken away for another reason). Along with that, teachers are able to sign up for tech training from the district office on a regular basis or can access many training sessions/notes from the Encinitas' iTunes U account. The expectation is that both teachers and students will want to use the technology available once they see its benefits, and the support is there to make sure that happens. Another reality is that the students are savvy and have learned many of the iPad capabilities last year--if a teacher was not using the technology for some reason, they risk loosing the interest and attention of a lot of students who are accustomed to a different type a learning. For better or for worse, using the iPads to enhance student learning is simply expected and yet not scary because of the support from the training, their administration, and their fellow colleagues. 

Photo via wired.co.uk

No system is perfect and iPads are not necessarily the panacea that some people make them out to be, but Paul Ecke Central Elementary and the Encinitas school district are doing a wonderful job of using them to their fullest rather than being expensive devices that gather dust or simply word process. The attitude that the iPads are there to enhance student learning rather than be the 'answer to the problem' is evident, and with a school wide/district wide approach like that I can see them being successful well into the future. 

Some questions to ponder:

What are some of the fears/issues you see in implementing a school wide/district wide program like this that I did not address? How could you see these methods working or not working in your school?

Finding the Magic in the Classroom

This week has been awesome--Thanksgiving break, Thanksgiving dinner, spending time with friends, and getting to see my hubby for more than two hours at a time. But one of the best things that happened that combined three of the four things listed above was going to Disneyland for the first time. It was AWESOME! I felt like 28 going on 8, practically skipping around the park in my Minnie Mouse ears, and I loved it! It was fun, magical, special, and something I definitely want to do again.... which got me thinking: Why can't school be like this? How can we bring the Magic of Disney into our classrooms to replicate even the smallest amount of the joy that people have when they visit a Disney park?

Here are a couple of things I've come up with:

1. Positive energy and a smile will go a long way-- Everyone that works at Disney is so nice and genuinely seem happy! That happiness is infectious, and even though it seems silly at first when a cast member in Frontierland says, "Welcome partners!" with their slight southern drawl, you can't help but smile as you climb on the ride. The same is true in education. If a teacher genuinely enjoys what they do and the content they teach, the students will notice and often their attitudes will adjust accordingly. But you can't just love what you do on the inside, you have to find a way to convey that passion through your teaching. It's ok to show some emotion, get excited, and even get the class riled up a little--it's all positive energy going into the students' memory bank that can help create an authentic love of learning.
    
2. Magic happens when you let your creativity explode--Disney is an explosion of creativity and of imagination gone wild! The designers take huge risks when developing new themes and rides, but this is why Disneyland is unlike any other amusement park you've ever been to (Disney World aside). Too often we allow others to dictate what our lessons should look like or play it safe because we're unsure how it will turn out, but if we allow our creative juices to flow we could transform an otherwise routine lesson into sometime memorable for our students. This can be difficult for people like me who feel naturally uncreative, but the magic in teaching doesn't happen in the safety of the norm--it happens when we step outside our comfort zone and let the imagination & creativity flow. So when a moment of inspiration hits, don't just wave it off--embrace it, write it down, use it, and see what happens. Chances are it will be awesome!
    
3. The difference is in the details--I was absolutely amazed at the amount of detail given to each aspect of the park. The rides, the landscaping, the decorations and the costumes all were designed to create the overall impression, but if you stop to look closely you will see the extent to which the intricate details are done. For example, when you burst through a fireplace in Mr. Toad's Wild Ride you don't just go through some doors with a fireplace painted on them--you see glimmers of 'embers' scatter on the floor and the colors in the fire shifting as if it were real. These details are not necessary, but they are the true backbone behind the experience--without them the ride seems two-dimensional and dry but with them it comes alive. Teaching is full of these types of details: going out of your way to talk to each student that day, putting extra touches on the bulletin board, adding the smiley face sticker on a job well done, using current students' names in your example problems or their favorite musical group's picture in an activity--all of these are time consuming and are technically unnecessary, but they make a huge difference when put together with the positive energy and creativity pieces. They are the little extras that students remember and that personalize the educational experience for them in a unique way. Little things often make the biggest difference.

None of these are an instant classroom fix, but rather small ways to revive the magic when we're feeling low. Educators are more like the Disney cast members than we'd like to think--it's our job to put on a show and create a special learning experience for each child we have the privilege of meeting... let's embrace it & make it a good one!

OMG Disney!!! :D
I mean, I'm not excited at all....

Loved being a big kid again with my hubby & friends!

More on Students vs. Learners

I just got done talking to one of my favorite former students (are we allowed to say we have favorites?) whose comments made me revisit the idea of Students vs. Learners again. She is a taking an honors level English class where the teacher has given her a prompt, some general guidelines, and instructed them to create a research paper and project around the topic--all while documenting their learning in a journal each class period (sound familiar?).

And she is struggling... big time. She feels lost, wants more guidance, and even told me, "I just want to be told what to do! I'm scared I'm doing it wrong."

I feel her pain. She is the epitome of a 'student'--hard working, always studying, completing the task requirements to a "T"-- and she has never really had to learn in this way before. Had she told me this even a month ago I might have told her how unfair her assignment was and how the teacher should be giving her more guidance. But today I gave her a very different answer:

"Your teacher is trying to make you be a 'learner' instead of a 'student.' It's uncomfortable, isn't it? But you'll learn so much more by exploring on your own, solving your own problems, and discovering new information than you would if you were being told what to do. I promise! Have faith. You're a brillant girl and you will do awesome on this if you just let yourself be comfortable with the unknown."

But along with this advice I pray that the teacher is fulfilling her role in this learning process as well. I pray that she is guiding them, supporting them, and giving just enough assistance so that students like mine can be successful and not give up because it's too challenging or too big of a change. It's difficult to go from a student mindset to a learner's, especially if you've never done it before, and the worst thing her teacher could do is to drop her into this ocean of learning and turn away, trusting that the student will figure out how to swim--some may but others risk drowning from the shock.

The role of the teacher is so much more important in this type of learning environment and requires a vast amount of awareness on the educator's part--knowing when to step in and when to back off, what kinds of questions to ask to promote deeper thinking without leading them too much, and modeling the type of behaviors that should be used throughout the process. This kind of knowledge is developed over time through experience, but I also wonder what we can do to better prepare educators to think in this way. Is this something that we can try to foster in the teacher education programs? Or do we just learn it on the job?

Either way, I know that my former student may not be happy right now with this shift in the classroom, but I'm excited to see how she feels and what she's learned when it's all said and done--if she's intelligent as a 'student' now, I can't wait to see how much she can do as a 'learner.'

Stories through Design

Check out this really interesting interview of Christoph Neimann, graphic designer and artist featured in The New Yorker and The New York Times.  From http://www.gestalten.com/motion/christoph-niemann I love how he uses images, both tangibly drawn and computer generated, to explain complex concepts in a way that many people can understand. He employs humor, intelligence, and social commentary in his work that is accessible and extremely creative--an example of Pink's Design and Story senses at their finest.  As an educator I would love to ask him:

• What school was like for you? 
• Were you successful in all of your classes/subject areas? 
• Did your teachers know about your amazing ability to create meaning through visuals? 
• What would you tell students today who want to do what you do? 
• What advice would you give to help them in school now and be successful later on?

To see more of his work visit his New York Times blog called Abstract Sunday here: http://niemann.blogs.nytimes.com/.  And for an awesome lesson plan surrounding him, his work, and how to create & interpret graphic language see The Learning Network's post here: http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/03/graphic-language-reviewing-and-creating-from-the-work-of-christoph-niemann/

My Twenty-Percent Project: Part 1

After much thinking and considering the input from my peers, I decided to focus my Twenty-Percent Project around becoming a Google Apps for Education (GAFE) qualified individual. I was really excited to try it out but also scared of what it would look like and what the test would ask me to do to prove that I am qualified. 

So ready or not I started Module 1 today: Google Apps for Education (Admin). The training module was straight forward and fairly easy to follow--four chapters with different focus points to read/review. My former district had just begun using Google Apps my last year there so I had experience with what it offers and entails. There was general overview information, FAQs, and a fair amount of site administrator specific information. I wish that my GAFE account had admin privileges so I could click around & see what they were talking about, but even without it I was able to learn some pretty cool things that would have been helpful in my old district and will be helpful in the future. For example, my former district was not using the groups function to be best of their ability. Not only are groups able to be used for specific email lists, but even more useful is that you can share sites, docs, videos, and calendars and their permissions to those groups as well! And that these permissions self-update as you add or remove people from that group, without any extra steps. That by itself would have made our lives a lot easier last year!

After completing the training module it was time to take the test. Once you purchase the test and start it, you have 90 minutes to complete 60 multiple choice questions about the module you just completed. I was freaking out a little at first until I realized that you can go back into the training readings to find the answer if you're not sure (*phew!). After figuring that out and relaxing a bit, the test went smoothly and I was done with plenty of time (even with looking up a few answers). Anxiously clicking the "End Test" button I found the results below:

Yay! Go me! :) You have to get 80% or higher to pass, so I was in the clear. The only thing I wish they would change is allow you to see what questions you missed--it drives me crazy when I get something wrong and I don't know why! But all in all, a good first Twenty-Percent Project day. 

One part down, five more to go....

Creating Learners

  The Essence of Connected Learning from DML Research Hub on Vimeo.

"How do you create a need to know in a kid?" Or rather, how do you create a learner instead of a student? This video is timely in its relation to our learner vs student discussions and blog posts, and I feel like it touches on some of the same issues. How do we teach the next generation to learn and be learners? The video above, "The Essence of Connected Learning,"  highlighted few key points for me in trying to reach this goal of creating learners in our schools.

The first is that we are currently taking learning out of context and focusing on facts rather than learning. I think this is so true! Facts alone do not lead to understanding--but if you place the information in context and allow a student to construct their own meaning around the topic we will create a deeper understanding that will last way past the test date. And the more authentic the context the better!

The second is the idea of bringing people together who want to learn together. Not only can we strive to do this in our classrooms by grouping students of similar interests, but in our connected technological world we can also reach out to others to foster this community of learning. We need to use our resources, both in and outside the classroom, to tap into students' interests and encourage their thirst for knowledge regardless of whether it coincides with what we find interesting or not. 

And lastly is that the attitude of, "We're all going to learn the same things in the same way," is completely unnecessary in today's education world. Why can't we provides projects/assessments with choices? If a student wants to create a video showing off their knowledge of Hispanic cultures or would rather draw a visual representation or write me an essay, why can't I allow all of them to be representative of their learning? I think this is definitely easier said than done because as teachers we need to reprogram our brains (and assessment guidelines) to allow for these different "proof of learning" forms. They don't fit into our current molds, but are worth the time and exploration to allow students choice in how they learn.

These are just my personal takeaways and reflections on the video--what do you think? Agree/disagree? Have another key idea I should have included? Let me know! :)

Are we learners or students?

Our Learning and Technology class has a very different set up than I am used to--there is no concrete syllabus, very few specific assignments and guidelines, and (perhaps the most foreign concept of all) the expectation that we will be learners.

Yes, I just said that being a learner is a foreign concept to many of us, myself included. "But isn't that the goal of education?" you ask and, "I've always been a learner; I don't know what you're talking about," you scoff. But is it really and are you sure? After thinking deeply about it and reflecting on our professor's post on learners vs. students I would have to boldly say that we as a society are hardly learners at all.

We have been trained by our education system to be students--to follow the norm, the syllabus, the guidelines--and have been sucked dry of the inclinations to be a learner instead. And I will be the first to admit that I fall into this student category. I've been well trained to cater my work to the teacher's desires, I know when to be quiet and when to chime in, and I have felt pride at times that I can test well, generally know how to succeed and get good grades--that I can be a good student.

And there it is: I am a good student. I've never heard anyone say "I'm a good learner," and maybe that says something in and of itself.

So yes, it makes me uncomfortable to not have a rubric to guide me, a checklist to complete, a number or quantity assigned to produce--it's unfamiliar territory with a technically "unmeasurable" expectation. We know through educational research that these traditional methods often stifle creativity and limit learning, yet we do them anyway. And graduate school, where I'm often reminded of the fallacy of these methods, is a regular perpetrator itself. I'm given page limits, word limits, specific expectations--and the scary part is, they make me comfortable. Familiar is comfortable.

But learning is not always comfortable. So now here I am, constantly battling with wanting to learn, to create, to test out and to try, and yet struggling with it--struggling because my other classes require very little of this (and quite frankly, because I haven't really been allowed this kind of chance to learn before).

So what does it mean to be a learner? This goal that is so uncomfortable to reach? And what can we do to encourage it? For me being a learner is having the intrinsic motivation to seek out information, to acquire knowledge with the intent of using it to do something in the world. As educators we have the awesome responsibility of creating these types of learners that will hopefully change the world. Are we allowing them the opportunities to explore? To learn on their own? Or are we prescribing an agenda and teaching to the test?

What can we do to start changing this in our classrooms while still jumping through all of the hoops that our broken systems requires from us? I'd love to hear your opinions of how this can be done, as I'm honestly searching for the balance myself. But for now, I will do my best to model by example and try to be a learner rather than just a student. Wish me luck!

Photo: GETTY via http://www.telegraph.co.uk

A Culture of Generosity

What is a culture of generosity and how can it be used to improve education?
A culture of generosity is one in which people rely on their intrinsic motivations to do things that benefit society, rather than being told what they should do by bosses or financial motivations. It is one of spontaneous versus enforced action, empowering people with choice.

I feel like the world of education may be a little stuck like the parent pick-up experiment was in the video below once they released the fine--our education system in the minds of many is already broken and that mentality is perpetuating itself in the minds of others . But we cannot allow ourselves to get hung up there. As Clay Shirky said, people like to create and to share with others, and we need to tap into that venue to cultivate and improve education. Encouraging teachers to give assignments that allow for student choice, or offering extra credit/acknowledge/recognition for students who use their cognitive surplus for the benefit of others could be some ways to to do this. Also, allowing students the time to be creative (like the 20% project theory) could do wonders in helping inspire students without an external motivation (like grades) hanging over their heads. The important thing is to encourage all acts of creation and cognitive, "stupid" or not, because it in turn will help foster the creation of amazing things both immediately and in the future.

What does it mean to say, "Free cultures get what they celebrate?"
I think it means that if we celebrate creativity and generosity, then we will see more of it in our students in return. But if we celebrate consumerism and acquisition then people will just acquire and consume, perpetuating our current culture rather than forging a new one.

How do you think this could work in education today?