Education technology and game-based learning resources, tool tips, innovative pedagogical musings, and general "thinkalouds" of a Digital Learning Consultant. Follow my educational journey on Instagram, X , Threads and Bluesky @watsonedtech, my Facebook Page (facebook.com/edtechelixirs), and the blog hashtag #edtechelixirs. Note that opinions are mine alone, and reviews/mentions of edtech products do not qualify as an endorsement. Subscribe to the blog at bit.ly/signupedtechelixirs.
Showing posts with label distance learning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label distance learning. Show all posts
Education during COVID-19 -- and COVID's lingering impact on learning post-pandemic -- will likely be researched and studied for years to come. One such study was conducted recently by Next Generation Learning Challenges, which surveyed 70 schools and districts in 2020 and 2021 who, despite genuine challenges, were having some successes. The key question was: how and why were these schools and districts succeeding despite distance learning issues and other pandemic obstacles? This is reflected in the final report's title, "What Made Them So Prepared?"
The full report was released today and it's a fascinating study. From NGLC's press release, I'll quote three big themes that emerged from their findings:
The common-sense assertion: To help students become capable, caring, self-directed learners and creative problem-solvers, our schools should model those same attributes for them – in their design of learning, but also in our adult working culture and operating habits.
The research finding: Schools and districts that had made this commitment pre-COVID strongly benefited from it during the pandemic, enabling our communities (including students) to respond adaptively and creatively. Agentic learning and operating approaches, efforts to create a healthy culture supported by strong relationships, and resilient, flexible systems made districts feel prepared to face the pandemic’s many challenges.
The value to ALL schools and districts: Ed leaders seeking positive ways to move past Omicron and rebuild forward momentum can use this project’s findings and resources to build on their own school or district’s examples of resilient, adaptive innovation during the pandemic. This research offers a productive way forward at a time of urgent need.
One of these 70 schools and districts that NGLC picked to interview was Shelby County Public Schools, and we are highlighted in their report! SCPS is mentioned briefly on page 9 (PDF page 5) as one of several districts that have a Profile of a Graduate, but more prominently, we are featured on page 7 (PDF page 4) for our two "Shelby Speaks" vodcast series that we uploaded to our YouTube channel in May 2020 and January 2021. I was proud to co-create and facilitate these interviews with our fantastic SCPS educators from many different role groups -- general education, ECE, English Language, librarians and more -- who shared their reflections on tips, tricks, strategies, successes and challenges of distance and hybrid learning. (For more on these vodcasts, please read my blog entries here and here.)
We are thankful to NGLC for the chance to contribute to such a historical project, and I encourage you to read their full report.
Like nearly all districts in the world right now, our instructional classroom model has to remain, to put it mildly, flexible. We began the school year with non-traditional instruction (NTI) with students at home. We then gave students the option of "@Home" or "@School." In some schools, the numbers of these two categories allowed a teacher to teach only virtual students while another teacher taught only the students in person. However, the reality is that the proportionality of student numbers often made such binary choices impossible, combined with the fact that a temporary quarantining of an entire classroom or athletic team made such numbers at best a moving target. More often than not, our staff have had to adapt to a new concurrent model of blended learning, teaching a roster of both @Home and @School students synchronously and asynchronously. And as of this posting, our state governor has mandated NTI to begin for all secondary Kentucky schools next week and will last until at least the end of the year (and elementary schools until at least December 7).
As educators, we are all leaning on each other to thrive and progress forward in such challenging times.
School leaders have been generous to share their thoughts, advice and expertise about teaching during a pandemic in nearly real time. The humble purpose of this entry is to throw my own hat into that ring, and to share some of our district resources as well.
Firstly, here are my top 5 tips to consider when planning for edtech in concurrent and NTI classrooms:
1. Reflect on your "learning hub" (Google Classroom, Bitmoji Classroom, learning management system [Edmodo, Schoology, Empower, etc.], website page) through the lens of your student and your parents. Get feedback from a non-educator spouse, relative, friend. Is it:
easy to find?
consistently used?
simple to navigate?
2. When using a digital tool, evaluate it through an appropriate lens. For example:
Consider your mission, vision, core values. How does the digital tool integrate with what you believe is important for student learning? For example, we have recently drafted SCPS CBE Core Design Principles, and our district page with highlighted/recommended edtech now makes concrete linkage to how these tools connect to such principles.
Think of the tool via functions of engagement, a phrase I learned from the very useful and recently published The Digital Learning Playbook (Fisher, Frey, and Hattie, pages 104-111). For example, does the tool involve finding, using, creating or sharing information? Will it enable opportunities for self-directed inquiry or for robust peer-to-peer discussions?
3. Avoid digital tool fatigue not only for yourself, but especially your students and parents.
Always remember your academic objective. If a student must spend more time learning how to navigate and use the tool rather than learning and applying content, reconsider your choice.
Start simple and slow. Better to use three tools deeply all year long than three dozen superficially in a month.
Vet every tool beforehand as much as possible from a student's perspective before implementing it in a lesson plan. A third grader may use it differently (or have different challenges) than a sophomore in high school. From the hardware perspective, will it work on the student's device? Is the site unblocked on the district's network?
4. Always make a backup plan. At some point, things will inevitably not work for some, if not all, of your students. How will they ask for help? What should they do instead if there is an issue or delay?
5. Concurrent doesn't always have to be digital work. Analog work is not only okay, but recommended occasionally for a change of pace. If you can plan a weekly system for students and parents to pick up physical math manipulatives, photocopied work kits, etc. at your school location, do so and communicate accordingly.
Secondly, with the generous help of our Staff Developer Tracy Huelsman, our Instructional Coaches, our technicians, and our teacher leaders, we have created a Shelby County Public Schools "Concurrent Classroom and @Home Dashboard Doc." This is not only a curation of various outside resources but a collection of internal ones as well, including videos/screencasts made by our staff that highlight their innovation and solutions to make concurrent classrooms effective. (Note that while most of the hyperlinked resources are open and helpful to all, some doc access may be limited to our SCPS domain or specifically apply to SCPS needs.)
Here is a video I made to briefly highlight the Dashboard Doc (7:05):
Last but not least, here are some other resources I've created.
This is a screencast video about the opportunity for students to take Virtual Field Trips that I made during last spring's NTI (38:16):
Here are some blog entries from the past year that may help:
"Nearpod, SAMR, and Transitional Pedagogy" (9/3/19; may be helpful to put NTI and Concurrent Classrooms in the context of transformational teaching and deeper learning edtech integration)
In today's challenging blended learning environment (which may consist of students learning from home, students learning in person, or a concurrent hybrid of the two), you want to maintain the basic building blocks of an effective classroom. Such a learning space should have opportunities for varied feedback, structured discussions, and scaffolded classroom management. Mote and ClassroomQ can help with one or more of these aspects!
How do they work?
Mote is primarily a feedback tool that allows users to make a voice recording up to 30 seconds long inside of a Google Docs Comment. (Mote also works inside the Comments of Slides, Sheets, and even Google Classroom.) It requires installation of a Chrome Extension to make a Mote, and accounts can be created via a Google sign-in, although neither the extension nor an account is required to listen to a Mote. In the free version, you can both create and listen to an unlimited amount of Motes. For more on Mote, please see the following Google Slide presentation I have created, along with an example Mote on Slide 3.
ClassroomQ is essentially a "hand raising" digital web-based tool; students who request help are queued up in the order they hit the button. Teachers create a free account via Google or email. When a teacher logs in, a session is begun, and a "class code" is given. (Tip: this class code is unique to the teacher account and stays the same code for every session you begin, in case you want to permanently post it.)
Students who want to join a session do not need to create an account. By choosing "student" when they visit the site, they will be prompted to type their name and enter the session's class code. Once they have joined the session, they can hit their button when necessary along with the option of adding a comment in a text box; a student will be told their place in line, and can also cancel their request. (From their session perspective, students cannot see which other students have requested help or what comments they may have made.)
Teachers will see up to 5 student names queued up in the order they hit their buttons, along with any comments. (Note the teacher interface allows you to toggle off student comments so they are not visible, if you only want names to appear.) When a teacher has resolved a student's question, the student can be removed from the queue.
One of the advantages of ClassroomQ is its extremely easy interface -- there is no way to get lost, and in fact, a teacher could easily manage a session from a small screen device like a phone.
A screen capture to demonstrate what ClassroomQ looks like from the perspective of a teacher on a phone. Note that the class code is marked out in the image, and if you turned the phone horizontally, the student name and commentary would perhaps format better.
How could you use them? Mote provides an alternative feedback method for students that appreciate a kind of commentary beyond just text (and hearing their own teacher's voice feels more personal!). Students that struggle to understand "tone" linguistically will have auditory support. If your students are challenged by reading (pre-literate, EL, and/or ECE) they will also appreciate a voice recording that you can play and pause and repeat as needed. Students that have their own Mote accounts could make voice commentary that would enhance peer-to-peer feedback as well as potentially create a "voice discourse" without the possible distractions and anxiety associated with a video commenting tool like Flipgrid. (Although in fairness to the wonderful video-centric Flipgrid, they recently have added the ability to make text comment responses to videos.)
As the video below discusses, ClassroomQ can be more than a way to digitally raise hands for help (whether your students are in person or at home, or a mixture of both); for example, the video mentions using it as a game buzzer to answer review questions. You could also gather instant feedback for how your lesson facilitation is going, determine the order of when volunteers will present, or initiate classroom discussion managed by the teacher if students utilize its comment feature. (This last idea may especially come in handy if you have blocked chat and muted student mics in a virtual meeting.)
You can also imagine some interesting possibilities for app smashing. Perhaps a student lets you know via ClassroomQ when they are ready for you to read over the opening paragraph on a Google Doc, so you then can make a Mote voice comment for next steps. With ClassroomQ, you may also selectively choose to share your screen in a teleconference meeting and let all students see student comments, as another way of facilitating discussion.
Downsides? While both tools have a free initial tier, you have to pay for upgraded features:
Mote pricing for premium features start at $19/year for an "Essential" individual plan which extends your Mote time from 30 to 90 seconds; the $39/year "Unlimited" individual plan allows for voice-to-text transcriptions of your voice comments, in-app translation of those transcripts to one of multiple language options (a potentially powerful ELL feature!), and more.
ClassroomQ pricing for premium features start at $19.99/year for individuals (school or district licensing also available) to lift the limit from 5 students in queue to an unlimited number, the ability to see who joined your session, and exportable session data.
However, the free versions of both tools offer significant usefulness and may be more than enough for your classroom needs. If nothing else, the free versions give you an opportunity for a robust try-out of the tools before you shell out dinero. Most importantly, cost is only at the teacher level -- ClassroomQ doesn't require a student to ever make an account, much less pay, and Mote voice notes can be played by students without them ever creating an account (although they need to make at least a free account to create a Mote).
Are you using Mote or ClassroomQ? How do you integrate them into your classroom? Leave Comments below!
As our district has returned to school under non-traditional instruction (NTI), I have been visiting the teachers who are in our buildings -- planning, assessing, synchronously teaching, meeting online with students in small groups and one-on-one -- as the students are unfortunately at home. As always, I am impressed with not only the teachers' innovation but their positive attitude in less than ideal circumstances. The current growth and transformation in their teaching will have long reaching effects. As our new superintendent Dr. Sugg often quotes, we are creating a foundation for "better than normal" learning when students are once again in our buildings.
Often in my classroom visits, I end up sharing an aspect of Google. I realize that I have amassed, in various one-sheets and blog entries, several helpful tips and tricks....enough to put together this blog entry as a "greatest hits" collection. Some of these are not well known, others could be considered hacks, but the common theme is that all of them are pragmatic and could be easily applied tomorrow in a digital classroom.
Calling OUT by phone in Google Meet. Helpful when your student needs to participate or be contacted but does not have Internet. (Note: this may end for the "free" educational version of Google Meet on September 30.)
Translate captions and chat in Meet. A potential game changer for EL students. All of the Google Translate languages can potentially be used!
Google Classroom and Guardian Emails. Parents can receive a weekly email "report" on what is going on in your Classroom, although it takes a few steps of setting up.
"Google Jamboard." A relatively new Google app that will soon be integrated into Google Meet. Think of it as a collaborative "digital corkboard" for brainstorming, an entrance/exit slip to assess student thinking, or a place to capture opinions.
"Google Keep." An underutilized and underappreciated part of the Google Suite, especially if you couple it with its mobile app! Make short notes, create artifacts, track and document your conferring.
Inserting audio in Google Slides. While the insertion of audio is simple, this Doc details ideas for how to create the audio in the first place, pedagogical examples why audio in Slides could help, and options for formatting the audio's appearance/playability.
Take a picture inside your Doc (or Slides, Sheets, Drawing). Did you know that you can Insert>Image and directly utilize your webcam? This Doc shows how, but also gives pedagogical examples of when this could be helpful.
And here are some of my favorite Chrome Extensions:
Mote (audio comments on Google Docs and in Classroom)
We are on the verge of history! In my last blog entry, I discussed our upcoming 1:1 Chromebook deployment to high school students. Now, we have announced dates (Sept. 22-24, 26), which is just around the corner. Expect some tweets on our device deployment nights.
Meanwhile, I want to discuss a new web-based tool called FieldTripZoom. After they followed me on Twitter, I visited their site and was intrigued. When I reached out with some questions, I was fortunate enough to speak with FieldTripZoom's founder and CEO, Michael Pfannenstiel. The more I heard, the more excited I get about the possibility of how FieldTripZoom could impact student learning.
What is it? It would be easy to call FieldTripZoom simply a "virtual field trip," but this is more than just another Skype session or Google Hangout. It is more accurate to call these programs "live interactive experiences." Most of the programs are not simply lectures, but have several planned activities that involve students learning on their feet and with their hands. Some of the program's fees even include shipping a kit of materials to be used by students. (One memorable program with the Alaska Sea Life Center involves "The Scoop on Poop," where you are shipped a collection of sea lion scat in order to analyze their feeding ecosystem.) This short video trailer shows a class not just listening to a presenter but also applying their knowledge and skills.
The list of programs in their catalog (available for viewing once you sign up for a free account) is remarkably deep and diverse for a company that has only been around for half a year. You can filter the options by category or just browse them A-Z. I saw everything from the Baseball Hall of Fame to the Columbus Zoo to the Denver Art Museum to the International Spy Museum to the Royal Botanical Gardens. The offerings are also targeted for a range of K-12 classrooms.
It should be noted that for an increasing number of programs, FieldTripZoom also are creating online interactives, which is perfect for our soon to be 1:1 district. (Of course, teachers may want to develop their own digital pre- and post-formative assessments around the program as well.)
FieldTripZoom does have a screening process to make sure the programs are Core Content-aligned interactive experiences with educational value, from a presenter who is an expert in their field and can interact well with young people.
The technical requirements are easy: after creating an account on the site, you just need a computer, projector, and a webcam, and the teleconferencing software is simple to install. Next, you choose a program, take care of the purchase price, make arrangements with the presenter on the day and time, and be ready to blow the minds of kids.
While these programs are often paid by individual teachers, Michael noted that if districts wanted to deposit a minimum amount in a fund, they could set up a "bank" where teachers could check out programs either freely (first come first served) or with administrative oversight.
How could you use it? In a time when actual field trips are difficult to pay for or schedule, FieldTripZoom provides a viable and valuable alternative.
However, FieldTripZoom also could create a much deeper learning experience. For example, it could be a part of a PBL where students can get authentic, real world interaction with experts in the field to drive their data collection (have students uncover content rather than a teacher "covering" it). It may even be a model where the student product of a PBL is to create their own "programs" for other students. Think of the authentic payoff of high school seniors and juniors teaching a concept via Skype or Google Hangout to elementary students, which would include creating an interactive kit that involves their targeted audience.
Downsides? There is obviously the cost of a program, which at first blush may sound prohibitive. However, consider that if a class of 30 students each paid $5, you would cover the cost of an average program, and there are grants and other financial opportunities (including a handful of programs that are free). Compare that to the cost of an actual field trip, not to mention the logistics of permission forms, student medical and allergic concerns, etc. The other issue is not to forget the spatial and kinesthetic value of actually walking the halls and meadows on actual field trips. Sometimes you have to just put down the technology and breathe life in. It may be more Core Content-aligned to always quantify and spell the flowers, but we shouldn't forget to smell them too.
Shelby teachers, are you interested in FieldTripZoom? Have any teachers out there already used one of their programs? How did that impact student learning? Let me know in the Comments below.
(Full disclosure: FieldTripZoom is a proud supporter of EdCamps around the nation, and will be one of our EdCampKy sponsors in October.)
