How lucky are we? We recently added 6 iPads to each G3-5 class, augmenting their existing 1:1 Macbook Air laptops.
Planning for valuable use of shared devices requires some creative thinking, particularly when you are used to 1:1 devices. That said, the small number of devices provides a great opportunity to differentiate for powerful learning, maximise small-group rotations and engage in collaborative activities.
Together with some of our wonderful Digital Literacy Mentors (Mike & Jocelyn), Dave and I developed some ideas about how to best manage shared devices and use them effectively to support learning.
We hope you find these tips for shared devices useful.
We have chosen to give our students in grade six upwards their own Macbook. This has obvious benefits to their learning allowing them to create, collaborate and communicate with digital tools that they always have at their disposal. However, as Spiderman said:
There's no question that digital tools can be tremendously distracting. Our students have told us that, typically, they will go through a period of "experimentation" when they first get a new tool, join a new network, or find a new game. This stage (hopefully quickly) reaches a peak followed by students discovering strategies to help themselves deal with the distractions. Interestingly, they told us that what they really need is a consequence, like a bad grade, to make them realize just how much this is impacting them before they take steps to regain control.
Here are five tools that you can use to help deal with the digital distractions:
1) iProcrastinate is one of the most popular applications for our students. It lets you create "subjects" that can match your school subjects and then create "tasks" for those subjects. You select the "due date" and can set them up for repeat if needed.
For example, you might create a subject like "Activities" and set up a repeating alert for "Paws for a Cause" that meets every Monday at lunch. iProcrastinate lives in your menu bar at the top of your Mac and you can easily pop it open to see what you've got coming up.
As a bonus, unlike simply using calendar notifications, you can create "steps" to complete each task and even associate files that are relevant to the task.
This is a great program to use if you find yourself forgetting assignments or meetings and to organize all the bits and pieces that go along with them.
2) SelfControl is an application that you can configure to block certain web domains to help you not be distracted by the Internet. You can configure the app to prevent incoming email, block Facebook, web-based games, or any web domain or IP address.
Once you start SelfControl, you move the slider to block your listed sites for a set amount of time. The best part is that you can't undo it once you've started, not even by restarting your machine!
This is good for those times when you have a couple of "culprit" sites that suck away your hours (I'm looking at you Facebook).
3) OMMWRITER is a funky text authoring tool that you can fire up when all you really want to do is write. It is a full screen app so blocks the view of everything else with a simple, zen-like background.
OMMWRITER would be a great addition for anybody who finds themselves distracted during the writing process by the temptation to try every font, color, style and layout found in full-featured word processing apps.
4) Pomodori puts a timer with a tomato (italian - Pomodoro) icon on your Mac. You can use it to set a specific amount of time for yourself to focus on one task. The idea is based on the Pomodoro Technique of setting the timer manually which gives you a physical cue that now is the time to focus on work for a 25 minute period. As a way to motivate yourself, and prove that you're actually on task to your parents, you can tally up the Pomodoros as you complete them.
5) Set up a "Study Buddy" account with Parental Controls if you find yourself unable to resist the urge to open Skype just for a little chat while you study. Note: students do quite often use Facebook, Skype, and Twitter for homework help. But, if you think the balance might need adjusting, one approach you could take is to create a restricted account on your Mac.
Basically, what this means is that you can still maintain your regular account with normal access to everything (and everything that could pull you off task) and you create one or more accounts that you manage with Parental Controls.
Then, when you want to work in an environment with less distraction, simply log in to the "Study Buddy" account and away you go. Check out the guide to 1) setting up the account and 2) configuring folder sharing so that you can access folders from the Study Buddy account.
What apps do you use to help you avoid distraction and stay on task?
Diigo is a great way to keep track of all of your bookmarks in the cloud so that they can be readily pulled up on any device connected to the Internet. Yes, and... there's a whole lot more that it can do.
Diigo works best when it's tools are integrated right in to your browser. You can install the tools for any modern browser and enjoy the convenience of bookmarking, highlighting and annotating without interrupting your work flow.
Try this:
Use the Highlight button to highlight text on a web page. Your highlights stay and are visible to you when you come back to the page.
Open a web page with an image and "right click" on that image... you can save the image directly to you diigo account.
Create a Smart Folder for a praticular tag.
Join a Group and explore the sharing aspects of the group. (UWC Teachers)
Using diigo with a class.
You can create a group for your class(es). Check with your Digital Literacy Coach to see if student accounts have already been made. The best way to get them into your group is to choose option 3 - invite by email.
Establishing a Tag Dictionary for your group allows you to better organize your information and eliminate similar words that mean the same thing (i.e. Math, Maths, Mathematics).
You and your students can save things you bookmark to your group along with your annotations. As an added bonus, you can embed a widget that displays the group's links in your website, course page or blog.
What interesting uses of diigo will you try with your class?
Laptops in the hands of our student present an enormous array of opportunities for learning. They also present several significant challenges that we must work to overcome, especially for those of us who are relatively new to a one-to-one learning environment. There are several things that a teacher can do to maximize the potential for learning and minimize the challenges.
Why?
Always begin with the why. Why are students going to be using technology in this lesson? What is the learning?
These questions are the critical first step in defining what you use and how you use it. As you plan your instruction, consider how you're using the technology. The SAMR model by Dr. Puentedura can help elucidate the different ways we can use technology in learning.
Spacing and Timing
The deployment of technology in time and space in a lesson can eliminate a lot of distraction and maximize the learning.
Time the technology so that it doesn't "compete" with other activities. Maybe that means starting with large group discussion and then breaking out into small group work with the laptops. The leave the laptops in the bag until they actually need them.
It's also important consider the spatial arrangement of the room. When students are working in groups, do the all need to be on their laptops or can you do three or four students to one computer. As Sugata Mitra points out, it can be really effective way to learn with a group of people around asking questions and giving encouragement to the person driving the computer.
A great post was written by Bianca Hewes on Edmodo about matching the physical arrangement to the learning goal in both online and offline learning activities. She advocates for three spaces, though I think you could easily come up with more: The Campfire - a place to learn from experts or storytellers. A place for whole-group discussions, The Watering Hole - a space for small group discourse and collaboration, The Cave - a space for individual study, reflection, quiet reading and creative flow.
Take care to arrange the physical space in your room and choose the right online environments depending on the type of interaction you're looking for.
This is a tool that you can use to accomplish a variety of tools in your class.
Including:
Instant Polling
Testing
Share your screen
Share student screen
Blank screens
Control Web access
Control App access
Send/Receive files
Take over student computer
and more.
There are great tutorials that show you all the features of LanSchool.
A really important thing to keep in mind however is that there are significant issue with student privacy. When they join your class, you potentially have access to their entire file structure and could take over control of their machine. It pays to have a conversation with the students in advance of using LanSchool and to establish with them the "rules of engagement" for using this tool in the class.
How will you use LanSchool in your class? How are you finding it? Please share by commenting on this post.
The Digital Literacy Team at East is pleased to welcome parents to our first Coffee Morning - this time focusing on: Social Networks: Why they matter, and how you can help your child develop a positive online presence.
We looked first at what was worrying you about Social Networks. Here is a wordle which shows your concerns:
The Digital Literacy Team has looked carefully at these. We have examined recent research, talked with students and other parents and teachers to put together some information regarding these issues. We hope you can see your concerns as opportunities to open the doors of communication with your child.
1. Time
How much time with technology is too much? What's appropriate for a child at a particular age? The answers to these questions will be different for every family, and depend on a variety of factors - making it a difficult one to answer!
The DLT team recommends having a discussion with your child about what is reasonable. Homework, outdoor play, relaxation etc are some of the considerations to think about. Obviously the age of the child makes a difference too.
We advocate a balanced approach, where screen time is only part of a set of varied after school activities.
Common Sense Media has some great articles on managing screen time:
One concern we hear often from parents is the worry that students will be contacted by strangers, who may try to track them down and possibly attempt to meet them. The statistical probability of this actually happening is very low.
"Our research, actually looking at what puts kids at risk for receiving the most serious kinds of sexual solicitation online, suggests that it’s not giving out personal information that puts kid at risk. It’s not having a blog or a personal website that does that either. What puts kids in danger is being willing to talk about sex online with strangers or having a pattern of multiple risky activities on the web like going to sex sites and chat rooms, meeting lots of people there, kind of behaving in what we call like an internet daredevil."
For more information, you might like to read the following articles:
A digital footprint is not necessarily something to fear! Will Richardson, writing for the journal Educational Leadership states:
As the geeky father of a 9-year-old son and an 11-year-old daughter, one of my worst fears as they grow older is that they won't be Googled well. Not that they won't be able touse Google well, mind you, but that when a certain someone (read: admissions officer, employer, potential mate) enters "Tess Richardson" into the search line of the browser, what comes up will be less than impressive. That a quick surf through the top five hits will fail to astound with examples of her creativity, collaborative skills, and change-the-world work. Or, even worse, that no links about her will come up at all. I mean, what might "Your search did not match any documents" imply?
We want to help students develop a positive online presence, ensuring they understand the 'stickiness' of online information, and how to make good decisions about what is shared publicly.
4. Distractions
Part of learning to work effectively in the 21st Century involves managing distractions. Recognizing that homework may take longer if you are distracted, and taking steps to reduce that distraction is an important part of growing up for today's students.
Some of the suggestions we gathered from students, parents and teachers may help:
- Put your Skype on invisible so others think you are offline.
- Turn off Chat in Facebook/Google Chat
- Turn off Twitter notifications (or turn it off entirely)
- Work in a public place (e.g. Kitchen table), so other people can keep you on task
- Take regular breaks
- Set targets and reward with social networking check-ins
- Make homework a family time, where everyone works at the same time
- Work in Fullscreen view, to eliminate 'visual noise'
- Download Self Control, an OSX app that allows users to block certain websites for predetermined time periods.
Common Sense Media's article on Managing Multitasking provides suggestions at different age levels, which you may find a helpful starting place.
5. Access to Inappropriate Content
At UWCSEA we are of the opinion that educating students about what to do when coming across inappropriate content is the most effective long-term strategy. We can't control what people put on the Internet, but we can control our reaction to it.
As part of our school-wide focus on Digital Citizenship, teachers discuss strategies students can use if/when they come across inappropriate content. Some suggestions include:
- Closing the window
- Covering it with your hand
- Changing your search terms
- Letting a teacher know
- Scrolling down the page
- Hitting the 'back button'
We encourage students to be responsible, and not make a big fuss - the worst thing they can do is to draw attention to it.
6. Kids Knowing More Than You
The short answer is, they probably do! That doesn't mean they don't require teacher/parental support in using technology.
You can help by staying interested in what your kids are doing. If they are interested in a particular game, ask them to teach you how to play. Talk to them about what they like to do. Share your favourite YouTube videos. Just keep the conversations going!
Over the past few days, UWCSEA has been lucky enough to have Apple Guru Kathleen Ferenz visit our school. She has been a fabulous resource for me personallyas a Digital Literacy Coach, but also for the groups of teachers she has worked with.
One of Kathleen's many strengths is in Literacy, and she has given us lots of handy hints to do with helping students make sense of online texts, research techniques and some strategies for developing effective research skills.
Many of her ideas come from this great article 'Making Sense of Online Text' which is extremely relevant today, even though it was written in 2004!
Please know that the following Fab Ideas for Effective Online Research are Kathleen's - I am merely sharing them around.
1. Start with images
The right search words are the keys to unlocking the information you are searching for. Kathleen recommended showing students a photo of the sort of thing they would be searching for online to elicit keywords. By way of example, she showed an image of a volcano, and then asked students to think of the keywords that might describe the image. She then used the words the students gave as a starting point for a search.
2. Narrow search by Reading Level
A neat little addition to the 'more tools' section of the Google search results is the ability to search by reading level. I'm not sure how, but I had missed this gem.
3. Scaffold
Our Grade 6 students have been researching about the UWC movement and the other UWC schools around the world. They worked collaboratively on Google Docs to find information under various categories, with the view to making a Keynote presentation later on.
Although the teachers took care to direct students to retain the URL of their sources etc, the Google Docs quickly became a receptacle for work that had been copied and pasted.
Kathleen got the students to set up a table in Pages to help summarize and organise their data. This helped bridge the gap between the 'research' and the Keynote.
Too often, students are not provided with enough scaffolding, and as a result, the finished product lacks a depth of understanding. This scaffold will help our students be more successful in their presentation.
4. Summarize & Transform
As part of the scaffolding process, students were asked to summarize their findings into bullet points, which was a great start of course. Where I think Kathleen really raised the bar was when she asked the kids to transform their notes into audio form. The process of transforming written text into a different form (in this case, audio) really made them think about what they had learned, and what was important. It helped put the notes into their own words and moved them away from copying.
Throughout her time at UWCSEA, Kathleen used the technique of transforming text. Occasionally it was creating/finding an image that represented a particular word, sometimes it was a movie recording, sometimes audio. I will definitely be adding this technique to my research toolbox.
5. Search Stories
How do you assess a student's search skills? When Kathleen asked this question to a group of teachers, it certainly made them stop and think. Typically, the skills of searching and synthesizing are seldom assessed, and instead, the quality of a summative task/presentation becomes the assessment.
Using screen capture tools (e.g. Quicktime player) or a specially created video tool to help with the process, students can record their screen and show the process they use to search for relevant information. Google calls these 'Search Stories' (see amusing example here).
[Although this post is primarily about researching, it would be remiss of me not to mention that Search Stories could be used as a basis for literacy - developing storylines, uncovering the plot with each new search category, character development...]
I would like to thank Kathleen for all her support, ideas and above all, her warmth! I hope you find these ideas as useful as we have.
Image credits:
Kathleen Coaching by Keri-Lee Beasley Volcano Erupting ( BY NC SD ) by kahunapulej
UWCSEA by Keri-Lee Beasley
Singapore map via Google Maps
