As educators, we make daily decisions in order to meet the needs of our students. We do not live in a static environment and our students are changing just as quickly as the technology that keeps them engaged. We need to accept the challenge in order to prepare our students for a life in a 21st century world.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
iPods in the Classroom: Differentiation (Part 6 of 7)
Differentiation is a huge buzz word in education - as it ought to be. We don't have cookie cutter students, so we can't have cookie cutter activities. If we're in the habit of differentiation, we need as many tools and resources as possible to help students succeed. We need to provide opportunities to students to work to their strengths, but also balance it with activities and assignments that make them think. The apps below give students a chance to use tools they may feel more comfortable with. These apps are supported with the iPod Touch and students have access to them at home as well as in school.
The voice memo app provides an alternative way for students to communicate. Writing requires good fine motor skills. When a student's fine motor skills prevent them from communicating through writing, it can be difficult to assess the student's work. Voice memo allows students to respond to literature in a way that is more comfortable for them. Voice memo is simple to use and can be a personal communication tool between the student and the teacher. Below shows you how voice memo can help a student achieve. On the right side is a written sample of the student's work. In this case, a written reading response. On the left, is the same student recording their response.
Example of DG's written reading response:
DG's oral reading response the same day in response to the same pages read:
Much more meaning and reflection was noted in the oral response than the written response. When I asked the student why the responses were so different, she indicated that it took too long to write her thoughts, and she was fine with getting a "1" (on a 4-point scale) on the assignment because she "just didn't want to write it." Now, this could be a case of the student being a bit defiant to the assignment, but I would address that with behavior characteristics rather than giving her a 1 for her thinking. She clearly demonstrated better thinking when given the option to talk about it.
From the personal technology survey results, 87% of the students indicated they would like to see eReaders used in the classroom more. The Overdrive app allows students to check out books from the public library for 14 days at a time. Students can choose from eBooks or Audiobooks, which adds to differentiating learning. Overdrive allows students to highlight important passages, type notes about the book, and is in a preferred format for students. Students can use Evernote in tandem with Overdrive as they get comfortable with switching between apps. When they are done reading the book, they can rate it and include a book review.
iPods in the Classroom: Collaboration (Part 5 of 7)
The collaborative classroom can be more motivating for a student. Our students are social beings that value the efforts of group work (Schlechty, 2011, p. 54). There are two apps that could meet the needs of my students. Both of these apps rely and encourage collaboration in a way that students already feel comfortable doing. Both apps can be supported on their iPods. In addition, the content placed on both apps can be accessed at home on their personal computers, or at school on an iPad or in the Computer Lab.
Evernote is an online tool for keeping notes, saving research, working on projects, capturing images and recording audio. Everything added is synced and available on any other device used. Evernote is going to allow students to experience working in a group in a more sophisticated and fluid way. For instance, students work together in 3rd quarter by designing their own projects that meet with 3rd quarter skill statements. In a group, students would write "I can" statements, determine an essential question of study and usually go their separate ways to research their topic. Towards the end of the unit, the group would come back together to tie up loose ends and make decisions about their presentations. With Evernote, groups can be communicating with one another about the articles they're reading, the websites they're finding information at, taking pictures of their visuals, and providing feedback throughout the whole process. Evernote provides a different kind of platform for communicating and working collaboratively.
Here is an example of a school that uses Evernote to engage students and promote collaboration.
Schlechty, P. (2011). Engaging Students: The Next Level of Working on the Work. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
iPods in the Classroom: Room 405 (Part 4 of 7)
I have been encouraged by what other educators have done in the classroom with the iPod Touch, so I want to use the iPod touch in my 5th grade classroom, too. Furthermore, the most convenient and cost effective way to make this happen is to adopt a "bring your own device" policy. Beth P. (LRC Director), Sarah B. (Instructional Support Coach) and I are developing a contract for students and parents to sign. I've included our contract draft below.
iPods in the Classroom: Effective Models of Practice (Part 3 of 7)
Educators all over the country are using mobile devices in their classroom for timers, calculators, quizzes, finding facts and articles, and instant messaging to their teacher and group members. Here are two specific examples on how and why mobile devices are used in the classroom:
- Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT) initiative rolling out in August 2012
- Administrators recognize that more students own personal digital devices and are using them at home in their free time
- They will provide professional development so that teachers are using the technology in the classroom effectively; no "type a word document" as homework
Orange County
- Use music, quickly, to introduce a topic
- Navigate through an audio book
- Load video, audio and images to the iPod
- Create flash cards using various apps in order to study vocabulary
- Interview community members, create oral history reports, weekly podcasts highlighting what they learned that week
Helms, A.D. (2012). Internet access in CMS to change academics. Charlotte Observer. Retrieved from http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/01/29/2967987/internet-access-in-cms-to-change.html
Koebler, J. (2011). Teachers use cell phones in the classroom. U.S. News. Retrieved from http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/high-school-notes/2011/10/26/teachers-use-cell-phones-in-the-classroom
Meserve, S. (2007). iPods in the classroom. School CIO. Retrieved from http://www.schoolcio.com/article/ipods-in-the-classroom/51713
iPods in the Classroom: Our Digital Outlook (Part 2 of 7)
I recently gave a survey to all of the 5th grade students in order to determine the types of technology they use at home. I decided to call it their "personal" technology. I formed the questions to focus on what types of technology they use and the frequency in which they use it. I also had them think about those types of technology and comment on which one(s) they would like to see used in the classroom more.
Here are the results:
- Almost all of the 5th graders have an mp3 player - the majority of those with mp3 players use it not just to listen to music, but also to play apps.
- Also, almost all of the students have a video game console. In addition, 14% of those with a video game console, are gaming for more than 2 hours a day.
- I was most surprised by the YouTube data. I threw it in there because of some observations I had in my own class. Not only are students viewing videos on YouTube, 15% of those students watch more than 10 videos in one sitting.
- One more statistic to add is that 20% of the 66% of texters, send more than 10 texts a day.
The students at Norton Creek spend a lot of time at home gaming, playing apps, watching videos and listening to music. These are their after school and preferred activities and we need to use this information to engage them in class.
To meet their needs, we need to design our instruction keeping their interests in mind. We need to meet them where they are with the tools they use in their free time. Let's look ways we can integrate the technology they want to use, they know how to use, and show them how to use it for their learning journey.
iPods in the Classroom: The 21st Century Learner (Part 1 of 7)
As an educator, I want to meet the needs of my students. I want them to be engaged and motivated. I want them to love the learning process. As I think about the type of 5th grader I was, I realize that my students are very different from students 20 years ago. Our students have a world of information at their fingertips. Our students can navigate through technology better than many of their parents. Our students want to create things and work together. It's my responsibility to help them get there. There are so many days in the week that the LRC is bustling with students using iPads at the tables, or a classroom using the SMART board in the Eagles' Nest, or students typing their papers in the computer lab. There are times that I would like to use the resources, but we just don't have enough to go around in a day. I want to take a risk and try something new. I want to see my students connected all of the time and see what they create. I want to integrate iPods into my classroom to further differentiation and encourage collaboration. I'm going to have you take a look at how some schools and classroom have integrated iPods into the classroom and have changed how education looks. I want to show you four apps that will promote differentiation and support collaboration.
First, let's take a look at a profile of today's learner:
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