Text
May 17, 2012

Sharing and Collaborating

Once a student has created and shared a document, the sharing is of course not limited to a teacher.  The document can be shared with as many people as s/he likes, and they can all work on it simultaneously.  The particularly beautiful part of this is that there are never multiple versions of the same document floating around.  Sure, there is a revision history of the document that can be referenced at any time, but there is only one “live” version available.

This then provides some great opportunities for collaborative work in the classroom:

  • Students can work together on a presentation, spreadsheet, or piece of writing and see the changes and contributions of each member.
  • The class as a group can make a full class document, for example, a study guide for an exam or test; different students can be assigned different portions to prepare, or everyone can work on it simultaneously.  All participants, including the teacher, can work on the study guide which can be projected on a screen. (This is fun: everyone can see everyone else making changes to the document in real time.). Again, this reflects back to the notion of students taking ownership of their learning: instead of being fed information by a teacher, they work together in collecting information, identifying skill development, and producing a document.
  • A brainstorming session can be projected for all to see.   For example, in putting a student newspaper together, students can collaborate in assigning roles and assignments in an organized document that everyone has access to.

What is again apparent here is that there are few obstacles:

  • There is no confusion about which is the most current version of a document
  • Everyone involved has access all the time
  • Access is gained easily in Google Apps
  • It is easy to revert to a previous version of a document and to see clearly who has worked on what
  • The documents never can be left at home: as long as you have a computer that is online, you have access

Text
May 16, 2012

The Feedback Cycle

The feedback cycle in a classroom typically can take a variety of forms:
  • the teacher provides a grade for an assignment but nothing else; students grumble;
  • the teacher provides a grade and a longer comment (which students ignore) but no follow-up is required from the students and so no follow-up happens;
  • the teacher provides a grade and many specific comments, and students proceed as above;
  • the teacher provides a grade and comments, and then the incentive of extra credit for students who review and rework the assignment.  Only the high achievers re-submit the assignment to improve their grade from a 93 to a 96.

The end goal of any class hopefully is for students to develop a set of pre-determined skills, and perhaps nothing works as well as multiple attempts at mastering a skill or task particularly when there is a feedback and improvement cycle in place.  Perhaps then, the ideal framework is as follows:

  1. the teacher assigns a task to develop a particular skill and communicates how the students will be evaluated on the task (detailing all aspects of the skill development)
  2. the students attempt the task
  3. the teacher assigns a grade/ objective evaluation (perhaps using a rubric or other structure) as well as a general comment identifying 2-3 main areas for development AND specific comments that detail particular places where the development areas are apparent
  4. the students are given the assignment of reviewing and addressing all comments by re-working the first attempt
  5. the students submit the second attempt for a separate grade which is based upon the extent to which they have addressed the areas for development
  6. repeat steps 3-5 as necessary.

A teacher can act upon this framework in a traditional pen and paper environment, but what happens when that carefully marked up first attempt by the student is squashed down into the backpack black hole.  Twenty or so minutes of the teacher’s time and thought disappears forever!  In this case, online tools become essential in making this framework work.

Google Apps provide an basic but excellent tool for providing feedback to students.  Since Google Docs are in the ‘cloud’, students are unable to provide the following common excuses;

  • I left my notebook/ binder at home
  • I left my USB key at home
  • I don’t know how to log in to the school’s servers/ I don’t know how to access your assignment
  • It’s on my computer at home
  • The dog ate it

I haven’t yet met a student who doesn’t know how to use Gmail, and the Google Doc button is simply at the top of the Gmail page.  Click this button, ‘create’ a document, press the share button, type in the teacher’s email address, and Bob’s your uncle.

Now the teacher has access to the student’s work.  And the fun stuff can begin:

  • Using the comment feature, the teacher can highlight text and add specific comments/ grades/ suggestions
  • If the notification setting is on (and it is automatically), students will receive an email telling them that the teacher has commented on their work
  • Students can then address the individual comments.  They can even “resolve” the comments once they have addressed them.
  • Even if a student resolves a comment or deletes the text that was highlighted for the comment, the teacher can still view the history of the comments
  • The student or teacher also has the ability to look at the revision history of the document and track what has been changed.  It is even possible to revert to a previous version of the document.

Clearly, this is just one platform: there are a variety of other tools which will provide similar functionality: Turnitin.com, [research.]  What is important is that the student and teacher has access to the work from anywhere, there’s a record of all comments and changes made on the document, and that it integrates with email and calendar: obstacles are removed for everyone concerned.

Text
May 15, 2012

Feedback, Organization, and Motivation

It’s a basic human need to want to know how you are doing when you are performing a task, whether it be work, a class, or even a game.  Sometimes the feedback on your performance can be obvious and blunt: you score a goal; you lose a game; you get a contract.  But often enough, the feedback is more subtle; it is a seemingly subjective evaluation by a boss, coach, or teacher.  Perhaps worse, though, is the absence of this feedback; everyone wants to know how they’re doing, especially when they’re being directed by someone else:  ”Am I doing what was asked? Is this what they meant? How is what I’m doing measuring up against others?
This is perhaps even more the case with students than other members of society.  Students are asked to perform the same tasks as many other students and are then compared to each other. They are constantly competing with each other for college acceptances, recognition on the honor roll/ dean’s list, and on athletic teams.  They have a constant need to measure themselves against others, and hopefully are willing to accept feedback to help them to improve.
This is why feedback is so important to students, whether it be in the form of grades, or better still in specific comments and written feedback.
What are the objectives in providing feedback to students?
  • Let the students know if they are on target; if they are doing what is asked and are meeting learning standards;
  • help them to see where they need to improve and work
  • guide them to make specific improvements to their work
Some students may only be motivated extrinsically: by grades, by class standing, from the pressure of others to perform.  However, it is more often the case that students are intrinsically motivated some of the time/ in some subject areas/ for some teachers, and in other areas are only extrinsically motivated: it depends on the classroom environment, the engagement with the teacher, and the design of the assignments.
But can well-communicated feedback - that is easily accessible - actually increase a student’s motivation to learn for learning’s sake?  Perhaps.  And it is perhaps also apparent that some tools can help the students with their organization at the same time.
Next, we’ll take a look at some feedback techniques and resources that might accomplish this:

Text
May 14, 2012

Email Triage and Productivity

For both students and teachers, an email client like Gmail can be much more than just a portal to send a receive emails.  There are a number of very useful features to manage a class as well as help to keep both you and your students organized: 

  • Use the ‘priority inbox’ to sort emails into two inboxes: emails that have been sent directly to you or have been identified as important to you (Gmail can learn this by tracking which emails you reply to) are sorted into the priority inbox, and all other emails (where you are merely one person on a distribution list, for example) are sent to a general inbox.  These settings are easily customizable, and what’s even better is that the inboxes appear on the same page.
  • ‘Star’ emails that require action from you, and then use the multiple inboxes feature to collect these emails so that they become a rich and detailed to do list.  Again, multiple inboxes appear on the same page as your priority inbox and general inbox.
Using these two features, your mail is now sorted into three categories: a list of emails that require action, unread email that may be important, and unread email that probably doesn’t require your immediate attention.

Once an email has been read and acted upon if necessary, it can be organized into a folder by dragging or labeling.  And all inboxes and folders are fully searchable.
Finally, there is a very useful free internet service called “If this then that” (ifttt.com)  that can automate the web and email for you.  Basically, you create triggers whereby if one thing happens, then another automatically follows. For example, when you star an email, an event is posted on your calendar to remind you to complete it.  Or when an item is added to a calendar, a text is sent to your phone.  Or, when you star a post on Twitter, the post is sent to a folder in your Evernote account.  ”If this then that works” for a wide range of web services including organizational tools like Evernote, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instapaper.
Text
May 13, 2012

Removing the obstacles to organization

As a runner, one of the most difficult things to do is get out of bed for that morning run on a cold day.  Clearly, there needs to be a certain amount of intrinsic motivation to do this, but some extrinsic motivation can be added by promising to meet a friend for the run: you don’t want to leave your friend hanging.  
Often as not, though, these early morning runs are solo.  So, one way I’ve learned to make this a little less difficult is to remove as many obstacles to the run happening: I lay out my shirt, jacket, shorts, hat, gloves, shoes, watch, iPod, headphones, water and nutrition the night before.  In the morning, all I need to do is pull back the covers, pull on everything laid out on the floor, and get out the door before I even realize what is happening!
So, what are some of the obstacles to teenage boys completing assignments or even remembering them?  Aside, perhaps from mild laziness or a lack of understanding of consequences of not doing their work, there are two main issues.  Firstly, that they often just don’t care about homework assignments unless the stakes are high enough.  And secondly, that they feel it is too much trouble to take notes (particularly at the end of the class when they are focussed on getting out the door), find the assignment in the backpack, or login to a system to look up the calendar: they’d rather wing it by trying to use their memory for everything.
This isn’t the place for a discussion of intrinsic motivation, authentic assessment, or choice and ownership in the learning process - all matters that address the first obstacle to student motivation and organization.  
However, there are many opportunities opening up to educators to address the second obstacle which are perhaps analogous to laying out the running clothes the night before.  Again smartphones offer many of these opportunities, but also more traditional interfaces do so too:
  • Students can ‘follow’ a teacher’s Twitter feed to stay current on assignments, timelines, and homework;
  • Students can add a course calendar to their own calendar through such clients as Gmail: all assignments posted on the calendar will automatically appear on their on calendars;
  • Teachers can use a course management system to automatically email assignments updates to everyone enrolled in the class - even parents (enlisting parents to add some extrinsic motivation may be similar to making a running date with a friend);
  • Even Facebook offers many opportunities for communication - students add a course’s Facebook page as a friend, and then receive class updates on their homepage.

Of course, these course management systems can be used to post information about assignments where students can sign in and look them up, but often students do not make the effort to do so.  However, with little effort on the teacher’s part, this information can be available at the students’ fingertips.

Clearly, I’m not advocating that we pander to students’ laziness (“if they can’t be bothered to look up or just write down the homework, why should they pass my class?”), but rather that most classes have objectives that are of a higher priority than organization, and that if we can remove obstacles to students actually completing assignments for our class, then students are more likely to meet our learning objectives for a course.

That’s not to say, however, that these organizational skills are not important for teenagers with their developing executive functioning abilities and developing frontal lobes, just that it shouldn’t take a disproportionate amount of time or effort for teachers or students to communicate.  Time can be usefully spent at the beginning of a course helping students to set up a Twitter feed, adding a Google calendar, making sure emails show up on the notifications center on their phones, or adding the course Facebook as a friend.  

When assignments are popping up on their phones, students are more likely to remember and complete the assignment just as the runner who has laid out the clothes is more likely to get out of bed.

Text
May 12, 2012

Smartphones in the Classroom

Michael is in class, and he’s not supposed to look at his phone or even have it on.  He’s bored; he wants to know the time, but he doesn’t wear a watch.  He sneaks a peak at his phone under the table, the teacher sees him and stops her presentation to reprimand him.  


Later, she asks the students about the geography and history of Denmark (they are studying Hamlet). No one knows the answers, so she ends up telling them.  She writes some notes on the board, and tells the students that they should take notes because these facts will be on the test.  Michael knows that he can get the answers to all of her questions really quickly on his phone, so he doesn’t bother taking notes. 


Later, she notices that he isn’t taking notes, and asks him to do so. With a sign, he rips a single loose leaf out of his notebook, and copies whatever she writes on the board.  At the end of class, this single piece of paper is stuffed into the bulging backpack, never to emerge, and certainly not to see the light of day before the Hamlet test.  Michael doesn’t do well on the test.


In what other situations in life does someone give us a ream of information, ask us to remember it, then repeat it at a later date?  


What if students were not only allowed to use their Smartphones in class, but were given assignments that encouraged them to use their phones to find, collect, and analyze content to produce a documentary, presentation, or article?  Students might use their phones in some of the following ways:

  • Use the cameras as scanners to document primary sources in a history class and then integrate these documents in a paper or presentation
  • Watch clips from documentaries, movies, for example, scenes from Macbeth as they simultaneously read the play
  • Access their notes from using a note organizer such as Evernote or Springpad
  • Clip, or bookmark articles from the Internet and sent them to their note organizer
  • Video record labs in their science classroom to demonstrate their results and submit for assessment
  • Use the microphone to record interviews for English and history projects
  • Take pictures of everyday objects and label (sending them as texts) as they build vocabulary in a foreign language
  • Use simple or complex calculator apps
  • Wirelessly project (to an Apple TV connected to a projector) content from their Smartphone to share with the whole class
  • Access online calendars detailing assignments and homework
  • Write blogs, post comments to forums
  • Read articles
  • Research/ map
  • Listen to music
Some of these applications may sound obvious, but they require careful design of assignments in providing the structure for students to collect data and material, evaluate and analyze it, then integrate it into something they produce. Old models of the teacher feeding content for the students to later merely regurgitate will not only limit the usefulness of Smartphones, but are not in keeping with 21st century best practices of student-centered learning. 
Text
May 11, 2012

Schools and Smartphones

Many schools have a conservative approach to cellphones: students are not allowed to use them during the academic day.  But if you stand outside the front door of a school as students leave in the afternoon, you will see that the first thing the students do is check their cellphones.  
Of course, this is not the only time they look at their smartphones. Even though teachers are constantly asking them to put their phones away, students surreptiously sneak glances from their pockets, under the desk, in the hallways, and in the dining room.
And who can blame them: the phone is not only their watch to track how slowly the class is proceeding, but there are also texts to be seen, Facebook to be checked and so on; many students now spend more time looking at their cellphones than a TV.
And consider the possibilities for these phones: calculator, calendar, email, internet, camera, voice recording, video, ebook reader, news source, social media portal, note-taking device, note organizer, to-do list, texting, video calling, music player, TV, map/ GPS device, photo editor.
Students have this power in their pockets, and we as educators are not leveraging it!?  This may be the biggest missed opportunity currently in the world of education.

Text
May 11, 2012

The Paperless Classroom; Boys and their Backpacks

Michael is in the tenth grade. He is an affable young man, is pretty good at sports, and gets mostly low Bs in his classes. He does stay reasonably focused in class and shows an understanding of the material and concepts that belies his mediocre grade.  He gets most of his work in on time, but it often appears either rushed or written without reference to the texts.  He doesn’t do so well on quizzes, tests, and especially exams. He’s getting by just fine, but it is abundantly clear that he could be doing much much better. 
Michael’s backpack is busting at the seams. One of the three zippers is broken, and the other two are partly open at all times. There are books, folders, notebooks, and loose leaves of paper visible. The visible papers are in a variety of states of dishevelment; when he is handed an assignment sheet, it gets stuffed into this black hole of disarray. 
         
*****

Many teachers deal on a daily basis with the organizational difficulties of our students.  Whether students just don’t have the tools to stay organized, whether they don’t appreciate the importance of organization, or whether the long term consequences of being disorganized are not apparent to them, a lack of organization often manifests itself in a variety of ways:  On any given day, Michael has,

  • Left his textbook at home
  • Didn’t bring his book home to complete the reading assignment
  • Forgot that he had a quiz/ test
  • Saved his paper on his home computer and can’t access it
  • Lost the assignment sheet / rubric
  • Lost the paper that had the teacher’s feedback/ comments / grade on it
How can these opportunities for disorganization be taken away from Michael, and what resources can we provide that will motivate him and bring essential materials closer to his fingertips?
Text
May 10, 2012

Don’t Break the Chain

Inspired by the link to Chris Strom’s blog on Lifehacker (http://tiny.cc/4sv3dw) and frequent references to Jerry Seinfeld’s productivity solution, this is a contract with myself  to write everyday for the next 30 days.  At that point, I will evaluate whether the contract has produced any worthwhile results and/or progress towards my goals.

Goals:

  • write a book (since childhood, this is something I’ve always thought I would do)
  • post something of substance once a week to Twitter (linking back to this blog)
  • create material for my AIMS presentation in October
  • create material for my Boston Qualifying marathon training group

Topics:

  • Education - The Paperless Classroom - Engaging and Organizing Students
  • Running and training
  • Fiction
  • TBD - the hope is that as I write, clarity will come!

Chris Strom describes how, with the “Don’t Break the Chain” productivity technique, he was able to write three books during one year in addition to his day job.  He made a contract with himself to ask himself a question every day, and then to find out the answer to this question during the day and post his findings.  Eventually, he was able to combine these posts into three books - ‘how to’ books for new programming languages.

Clearly, “Don’t Break the Chain” relies upon the ever-building self pressure to keep doing something on a daily basis, a little like a ‘streak’ runner who must get his two miles in every day even if he has a broken leg.  

So, this is day one - the pressure is very low right now, but 30 days will be a decent streak and a good time to evaluate whether this contract is moving me any closer to my goals.

Photo
February 02, 2012
341 notes
nprfreshair: derekeads: 38 Days of Groundhog Day: Every day that was shown in the film illustrated by Derek Eads Pre-gaming for tomorrow.

nprfreshair:

derekeads:

38 Days of Groundhog Day: Every day that was shown in the film illustrated by Derek Eads

Pre-gaming for tomorrow.