Verso

At the beginning of March, I had the fortunate opportunity to attend and present at the KySTE conference in Louisville -- the first time the conference was back in person since the pandemic started.  (I was literally at KySTE in 2020 when the world shut down, a story I shared here.)  As if fate wanted to re-affirm for me the value of KySTE, I learned of a new tool in the very first hour of the very first session of the conference that got me so excited, I knew I'd be doing a blog entry about it!  The presenter was Roslyn Manning -- more with her in a moment! --- and the tool was Verso.

Verso is a platform for virtually managing discourse in your classroom.   At its most basic, a teacher can create a question or pose an issue, and students can not only respond to the prompt, but to each other.  But Verso has an extensive set of tools that make it much more than just a place for an online conversation thread.

How does it work?

Firstly, you need to create a teacher or student account, either via email or through Google or Microsoft.  (I would recommend students use Google, to minimize remembering yet another username/password as well as to expedite Google integration.)

When a teacher first creates an account, Verso helps walk you through the creation of your first Class; you can create as many Classes as you like.  Each Class has a unique code that can be given to students, making it easy for them to join.  Once a Class is made, you have two basic kinds of discussions you can push to students: an Activity, or a Check-In With Students.

An Activity is the much more robust and customizable option.  You can attach files, links (to websites but also to videos), or something from your Google Drive to build schema before they address the prompt.  Next, you provide instructions in a Rich Text Format editor box.   You can give conversation starters, as well as suggest contextual and academic vocabulary to use.  There are several toggle settings where you can allow students to provide video or audio responses, upload files or images, or even limit them to 500 characters or less.  Lastly, you can indicate a specific start and end date for the Activity, turn on moderation if you want to approve responses before they appear, and determine whether students can comment on each other's responses.   After an Activity is launched, you have some other editing options, such as hiding student names from each other for anonymous responses and comments (although the teacher can still see who said what).

There are several features here worth mentioning that elevate these Activities.  Firstly, while you may not want or need to include every single aspect for every discussion, the formatting suggestions Verso provides is excellent scaffolding to ensure students engage in high quality discourse.    For example, your directions can provide sentence stems to model what a response or comment should sound like, and vocabulary suggestions are a reminder of both academic jargon that is appropriate to the content topic as well as discussion phrases that strengthen argumentation.   This leads us to a second useful feature: from the teacher's dashboard, you can even view responses that highlight when this vocabulary is used!

Check-In With Students is the other task option, which is much more template driven.  Its purpose is not so much open ended discourse as to have students reflect on their recent learning and/or how they are feeling.  While a Check-In may be limited in its customizations, the advantage here is that it can be quickly pushed out -- perhaps as an exit ticket at the close of a lesson, or a social-emotional learning (SEL) pulse check at the start of the day. 

Creating a Check-In can be done in just a few steps.  Note the potential categories in Step 2 which help shape the objective.

Once student responses come in from a Check-In, it's easy to see what category the students have self-assessed themselves so you can plan your next lesson accordingly.

How could you use it?

Verso clearly can make student online discussions more engaging and rigorous, as well as make SEL and learning reflections easy to push out and analyze.   Don't forget to utilize audio and/or video responses to increase equity for EL and ECE students; that way, the focus is on the quality of their responses' content as opposed to the medium of the reply.

Here's an excellent Activity tip from Roslyn: if you want students to comment on each other's responses, turn on moderation.  Once all students have responded, turn off moderation and "publish" all the responses, then remind students to now comment.   This will give all students the best chance to receive comments since all the responses are available at once.  (Without such management, the late responders will be the least likely to receive a comment.)  

Downsides?

With the free version, you are limited to only three active Activities (and can't edit them once created and saved) unless you pay for the premium version; as of the publication of this entry, this upgrade costs $59 a year.  It would be nice to see integrations such as Google Classroom which could pre-load a Class's roster.

As I explored Verso, I was definitely curious to hear more about how it's being used in the classroom, so reaching out to Mrs. Manning seemed a natural next step.  I've gotten to know Roslyn a bit through our Kentucky Digital Learning Coach state network, and I share her passion for student discourse.   So I was thankful she accepted my invitation to be interviewed for Edtech Elixirs!

Roslyn, welcome to Edtech Elixirs!  Share with us your educator story.  

​Thank you so much for having me! I come from a long line of educators--my grandmother was an elementary teacher in Alabama, and my mom was an ECS teacher in North Carolina where I grew up. She taught in a variety of different types of schools, but for most of her career she taught in the state juvenile prison system. Talk about an interesting childhood--I grew up roaming around the local prison! I knew that I would eventually become a teacher. I think it's a part of my DNA. I've always loved reading and writing, so I decided that I wanted to be an English teacher. I attended the University of Alabama (Roll Tide!) and graduated with a B.S. in Secondary Education Language Arts. I taught Advanced Junior English in Tuscaloosa right after graduating, and at the end of that school year, I moved to Kentucky to be closer to my now-husband. In 2013, I started teaching freshman and sophomore English at Oldham County High School while completing KTIP and getting my Master's in Teacher Leadership, focusing on Instructional Technology. In addition to growing in my technology use, I also worked to earn my National Board Certification. I often participated in school and district technology initiatives--Digital Leader Network, iTeam, etc., and in May 2020, I became our district's second Digital Learning Coach. 

Why do you feel that student discourse in general – especially peer to peer – is important?

​It's no secret these days that students struggle with communication. This is a skill that ALL people learn eventually, but I think the increase in technology has the general population complaining that "kids these days" only know how to communicate in text messages. As an educator, I think it's vital that we meet students where they are, and change our instruction to better prepare our students for the digital world that they communicate in. The variety of ways students can communicate just elevates the need to teach peer-to-peer communication more intentionally in MULTIPLE ways: verbally and digitally. 

What does digital discourse achieve differently, or perhaps even sometimes better, than face-to-face discussions?

​Digital discourse, in my experience, is a gateway to deeper face-to-face discussions. So many of our students need time to process their thoughts before sharing with an audience, whether that be a digital audience or an in-person audience. And, as I mentioned previously, students are communicating in writing much more frequently than they are verbally in person or over the phone, so why would we not intentionally give them learning opportunities to practice, make mistakes, and grow in this area? I wouldn't say digital discourse is inherently better than face-to-face discussions, but in the same way that we teach our children dinner table etiquette, we also have a shared responsibility to teach our students digital citizenship through netiquette. 

As an English teacher, I used to emphasize "code switching" with my students. I never wanted to shame them into thinking that their colloquial language  is "bad" or "wrong," but I did want them to learn the appropriate settings for the language that they choose to use. The same holds true for digital discourse, and there's a lot to be learned from digital communication. Students have to analyze tone and word choice to be effective communicators through writing. For most, verbal communication is much easier to deliver and decipher because of verbal and nonverbal cues, but written communication requires far more refined skills. It's important to provide a safe space for students to practice and refine these skills.   [Editor's Note: for more on the value of digital discourse, read this previous blog entry.]

I’m highlighting Verso in Edtech Elixirs, a tool I’m pretty excited to share!  Can you share any stories of how you or other Oldham teachers have used Verso effectively?

​A good friend of mine at Oldham County High School introduced me to Verso several years ago. She will tell anyone who asks that she's not "techy," but she discovered this tool when it was in Beta and started using it with her A.P. English Literature course. I quickly jumped on board and used it to set up a Socratic Seminar with my English II course. My students struggled with verbal discussion, especially if it was whole-class, so this was an easy way to get students talking to each other anonymously and to provide tons of support for them in the way of sentence stems and stimulus material for discussion. There are so many features available to teachers that we can use to help support our students' discussions, such as the ability to comment and "star" student feedback and even hide responses if they're inappropriate or irrelevant. 

Verso  is an excellent tool to give peer feedback on their work as well. I love the collaboration that comes from using Verso in so many different ways! 

Any other digital discourse tools that you’re a fan of?  

​There are so many ways for students to engage in digital discourse such as Padlet, Google Workspace tools, and more. However, I love using Parlay Ideas as well. Be aware that it is a freemium, so you don't get unlimited Roundtables. It's very similar to Verso in that you can have students communicate anonymously with their peers, but Parlay also has a "live Roundtable" option that helps you facilitate live discussions (similar to Socratic Seminars) where students can "tap in" to the conversation and teachers can "nudge" students to share their ideas with the class. 

Roslyn, thank you so much for agreeing to our interview today!  One final question: what’s your advice to teachers just starting to integrate technology into their classroom?

​Always be transparent with your students! As a young teacher, I thought I needed to "know it all" and felt embarrassed if I didn't know an answer or made a mistake. However, students appreciate hearing, "I've never used this before. If it totally flops, we'll figure it out." I experienced MUCH more success with technology when I was totally honest with my kids about the tools we were using. And most of the time, they were much more patient in the process if they knew we were all learning together!

What are your thoughts on Verso?  Have another favorite digital discourse tool?  Share in the Comments below!

Update 3/18/24:  With the free version of Verso, you now are limited to only three active Activities and cannot edit them once created and saved.  I'm not sure if you can delete one of these three Activities in order to "free" a slot, OR if the first three you create are free and you are then forced to upgrade the account (and deleting one wouldn't help).  I've updated the entry to reflect this change. 

Google Jamboard

In the same way that it took a while for me to get around to Google Keep, I am a little late to the Google Jamboard party! Better late than never, I suppose.  This new-ish tool is a welcome and free addition to the Google Suite of tools.

How does it work?    Think of Google Jamboard as a digital corkboard, where you can add "sticky notes," images, and doodles.   Like most Google tools, you have the ability to collaborate with others on the same "Jam" in real time, and export the results as a PDF or image file.

You can add viewers/editors or create links to Jams -- here's a sample one I created shown in the pictures above -- which works like in most Google files.  

For a walkthrough of how to make a Jam, watch my screencast video (10:39):

How could you use it?  Students could use Jamboard as an informal discussion tool (much like a simpler form of Padlet), as a way to graphically organize notes, or to keep track of the planning and completion of a project.  It should be noted that the mobile app version of Jamboard allows for more features, such as the integration of Google Drive files, as well as making drawing easier with your finger rather than with a trackpad and cursor; there are also some options to integrate Jamboard with remote presentations. 

Downsides?  I have only a few quibbles.   The select tool does not allow you to choose an entire doodle for easy removal, which means you have to manually erase them if you are several edits down the line.  I'd also like to be able to upload images from my hard drive instead of only from Google searches, your Drive or Photos. [Editor's note 4/6/21: you can now upload image files from your computer into Jamboard!]  But for a free tool that is so easy to use, it's hard to complain!

What are some creative ways you could use, or are using, Jamboard?  Share in the Comments below!

Note 9/29/23:  Google has announced a sunset date for Jamboard.  After September 30, 2024, you will no longer be able to make a new Jamboard or edit old ones; you will only be able to view previously made Jamboards.  After December 31, 2024, Jamboard will be shut down completely.  For a similar whiteboard-like product that is available free for educators, check out my blog entry on Figjam. 

Note 4/15/20:  As with many tools, several updates have occurred to Google Jamboard since this entry was published; you can find these updates under the "snowman" three dots in the upper right once inside of a Jamboard.  One of the major ones was the removal of the "jam code" function.   I therefore removed the text describing this along with some screenshots of what that looked like.

Note 4/6/21:  Jamboard has gone under some major improvements in the two years since this post was originally published, including integration into Google Meet, the ability to see Revision History, and more.   I highly recommend watching this friEDTech video presentation on Jamboard below (30 minutes); here is the link to the Slides that went along with their session.

TUIT: Connie Putnam and Dan Edelen (Clear Creek Elementary)

Last Friday, a principal had asked if I could arrange a tour of teachers who were doing some innovative things with technology in the classroom.  As it turned out based on test scheduling and other conflicts, the best place to visit multiple teachers was Clear Creek, so away we went.  One of the teachers we saw was Janice Bullard. I had given Ms. Bullard a #ShelbyTUITshoutout back in October, so the fact that she became CCE's Teacher of the Year for 2014-2015 was not surprising.  However, after this visit, I have to make sure Connie Putnam and Dan Edelen also have their moments in the sun for their own well-deserved shoutout.

First, we saw Janice's fourth grade classroom.  I already knew she integrated tools such as Padlet and Voicethread, but her students impressed us with their ability to do so many different digital learning experiences in the same space.  Some worked individually, some had a partner or worked collaboratively in a small group, but ALL were engaged.  We even saw some use Google Docs, which makes me have hope of how it can be integrated into the learning of younger students.

Next, we visited Ms. Putnam, a second grade teacher.  After the students worked together on a learning objective ("Today we are....so that we can.....I'll know I have it when..."), they quickly moved into learning centers to apply and practice their math knowledge. Some students had iPads, others used pencil and paper.  At the end of the lesson, Ms. Putnam used Plickers as a way to check for understanding as well as pre-assess what students may need her help on Monday.   However, I learned two ways to use Plickers that I didn't know before (and to think I considered myself an expert after this blog entry!); both involved the Smart Board.  The first is that a student who wanted to change their answer could go up and uncheckmark their box, which would enable his/her card to be scanned fresh.   Not only was that a helpful tip I didn't know, but I like how Connie had students take responsibility to make a do-over.  Second, after student answers were recorded and while still in Plicker's "Live View," Ms. Putnam asked for a volunteer to come up to the board and demonstrate their work.  Using the Smart Board pens, he did just that, writing in the empty space between the question and the student names. It was a clever way of integrating the Smart Board into the learning of the whole class.

Last but not least, we visited Dan Edelen, another second grade teacher who just passed his KTIP.  Dan and his students moved seamlessly through several tools: they started with a Kahoot (more about this tool in a previous entry), wrote reflectively in their KidBlog, and finished by sharing their work to Mr. Edelen's MacBook Air (which was hooked up to his Smart Board) via the downloadable program AirServer.  Like a virtual cloud-based AppleTV but without any need for special hardware, AirServer allows students to simultaneously share their screen with a main display computer.  There is a PC and Mac version, and the program has an one-time cost of $7.99 to $11.99.

Mr. Edelen showing his AirServer in action. Note the multiple shared student screens.

As the year draws quickly to a close, I was excited to see so many teachers in one building embracing a digital conversion of learning.  I should add that while all these CCE teachers check out school devices as often as possible, none have a class set full time.   Despite not having a daily 1:1 experience, they are still facilitating fantastic learning with their students.  Kudos to Ms. Putnam and Mr. Edelen (and a nod again for Ms. Bullard) for their #ShelbyTUITshoutout!

Rose/Bud/Thorn and Design Thinking

Ever feel like Acronym Based Education (ABE) is taking over?   It can lead you to trouble.  Especially when they can mean two different things, like saying LMS.  Do you mean a Learning Management System or a Library Media Specialist? Oy vey.

ABE aside, be patient in today's entry, as we'll end with a great feedback technique called Rose/Bud/Thorn.  But first, some context.

Project Based Learning (PBL) is something I've always wanted to explore and learn more about, so I was excited when our district announced some PD opportunities through the Buck Institute this summer.   Like many things in education, PBL often blends and overlaps with other strategies and modes of learning.  For example, personalization pairs nicely with PBL, as does another: Design Thinking (DT).

I won't presume to lay out the intricacies of Design Thinking in a short blog entry; I'm very much an early novice in learning it myself.  (This Design Thinking toolkit might be a good place to start.)  A few months ago, our Curriculum Assessment Coordinator Susan Dugle and the Southside Elementary Instructional Coach Robyn Marcum went to a PD on Design Thinking, based on a framework created by Stanford University's d.school. Here's a basic overview they learned from the PD and shared on how DT approaches a problem that needs a solution:

1. Gaining Empathy.  Research the topic, and if possible, interview the person who has a need.  Dig deeper by asking clarifying questions to gain a deeper understanding.
2. Reframe the problem.  Determine the true needs of the person/problematical situation, and develop insights from what you've experienced in your research, interview, or brainstorming. Define a problem statement: "______ (Name) needs a way to ______ (user's need).  Unexpectedly, __________ (insight)."
3. Ideate.  Create solutions to test.  Don't be afraid to think outside the box. Go wild. Reflect.
4. Iterate Based on Feedback. After reflecting, try to determine the most viable solution to prototype.
5. Build and Test.  Make the "final" product and apply it. At the end of the process, reflect what worked and what could be improved, based on the user feedback.

It is the necessary context of DT that leads to the heart of today's entry: the Rose/Bud/Thorn strategy. (RBT), attributed to Dr. Lisa Palmieri. Although it pairs nicely with DT and PBL, it is a great way to get/give feedback that would be helpful in any context.  Here's a video from the Consortium for Public Education that gives an excellent overview (6:44):

As Dr. Palmieri has said elsewhere, RBT can take about 10 minutes of class time and is more about "gut reactions" to how things went; it is NOT meant to be a time for finding solutions. (In the Design Thinking overview above, RBT might fit best either in step 4 (as you are trying to determine which ideas might end up being prototyped) or in step 5 (as you gather the user feedback as either roses, thorns, or buds).

The great thing about Rose/Bud/Thorn is that it is just fine in an analog environment.  All you need is three different colored Post-Its and a surface to stick them to.  However, if you want to consider digital alternatives that might be more permanent, interactive, and/or engaging, here are some ideas:

• Use three different PollEverywhere polls (one Rose, one Bud, one Thorn) where students can respond via texting or the web. As an added bonus, create a word cloud with each poll (for example, a Wordle) to see if there are any commonly occurring words or phrases.  You can easily do a word cloud within PollEverywhere; here are some directions how.
• Use Padlet to post responses.  This is probably the closest digital equivalent to the analog version of Post-Its on a wall. You may make three clear sections on the "board" and make sure to follow a consistent color scheme for each post.  The URLs to Padlets can easily be shared to others, and can stay put to look at later.
• Do Post-Its the old fashioned way, but you or a student can capture the data with an iPad or iPhone with the Post-It Plus app.  You can take a picture of up to 50 Post-Its (works best if they are square), digitally group them in "boards" as you see fit, and share.  You can even export the finished boards in several formats, such as PPT or PDF. 

Good luck on improving feedback!

Special thanks to Mary Cantwell for writing the article on RBT that inspired this blog entry,  and the 1/7/15 tweet by Wicked Decent Learning (Dan Ryder, Jeff Bailey) that brought my attention to Ms. Cantwell's text.

Note 4/29/15:  After publishing this entry, I got the name of the people behind Susan and Robyn's Design Thinking PD discussed above: d.school at Stanford University.  The link is now inserted above.

Note 10/17/22:  I am thankful and surprised that this still shows up consistently in the weekly top ten of most popular viewed entries for my blog.  (As of this edit, it has well over 1700 views total!)  I noticed that the original video with Dr. Palmieri was no longer working and a few other links needed fixing, so I have shared a new video that I think is at least as useful as the original and did some minor updates, including some text clarity.  

  

TUIT: Janice Bullard, CCE

Ms. Bullard facilitates while students take turns posing questions to their "mystery class."

Janice Bullard of Clear Creek Elementary is, relatively speaking, a new teacher.  This has not hampered her ability to be a teacher who uses integrated technology in her classroom.  I was very impressed to see her class in a Google+ Hangout video chat with students in New York.   When I learned this wasn't even the first time she's had a video chat, I knew I had to interview her for Edtech Elixirs.

In a side note, Janice's son was a student of mine just a few years ago.  Small world!


Share your story!  Where did your learning of edtech begin?

This is my fourth year teaching, and I’ve been at Clear Creek for 3 of those years. I guess my learning of edtech began the summer before my KTIP year. I volunteered at a science and math camp for 4^th and 5^th grade students at U of L. We introduced kids to digital storytelling, which also meant I was introduced to it. I used some of those tools the following year, which was my first year teaching. I also used Voicethread for the first time that year; my students loved it and I found it added layers of learning to what was a fairly typical classroom activity. Students wrote a short piece titled “What I am most afraid of” and then recorded it on Voicethread. This required them to practice reading it many times, which they didn’t mind because they got to record their voice and share with the class. I realized how kids could be motivated by the technology. So that is what seals the deal for me - extra layers of learning plus motivation.

Tell us about using Skype and Google+ Hangouts in the classroom.  How did it begin?  How did you find teachers to telecommunicate? How have integrating these tools impacted the learning of your students?

I read a book by Pernille Ripp this summer- Passionate Learners- Giving our Classrooms Back to Students. Through her book and blog I learned about the Global Read Aloud project, in which students from around the world read the same books and connect with each other over them. My class is participating, and through the teachers and classrooms we have connected with I learned about using Skype and Google Hangouts. I first connected with the teachers over Edmodo; we have since set up class blogs so that our students can talk about the books. We did a "mystery Skype" which was great fun. We have also shared via Padlet.

Pictures taken by the Student Photographer, one of the roles in the project.

My kids have completely embraced every part of the project. They loved the Skype and Google Hangout. It was planned so that the kids took ownership as much as possible. They had roles as questioners, answerers, greeters, map experts, etc. They propose discussion questions and decide which ones are strong enough to put on Edmodo, and are working at writing thoughtful responses. Reading, writing, speaking, listening, thinking - it’s all there!


What other edtech tools are some of your favorites?

Right now, Edmodo is one of my favorites. I also continue to use Voicethread. Animoto is great for producing short videos. Padlet is very cool for sharing thoughts about pretty much anything.

What tools have you heard about recently that you are looking forward to trying out?

My teacher friend in Canada shared https://100wc.net, where people respond to prompts and share creative writing. I’d like to introduce that to my kids.

Any advice for teachers wanting to integrate edtech?

Just jump in, pick something, and try it. Most of the time there is a fairly short learning curve; sometimes you can even let the kids just figure it out for you! I would also say be prepared to love it and learn as much as your kids!

Ms. Bullard, thanks for taking the time, and you certainly deserve your #ShelbyTUITshoutout.

For those interested in connecting with other Skype teachers, check out Skype in the Classroom.