BIg Transitions and Changes

It has been four months since my last blog entry!  I've had gaps between entries before, but that's a pretty long one.  I thought it would be a good time to reflect on what has been going on as well as look ahead to the future.

In order to be transparent in my sharing, I need to first flash back to July 2018.

April, my beautiful wife of 16 years (we have actually been together since 1995, if you're keeping score at home), was trying to schedule a procedure when her doctor's office stopped her in her tracks. 

"It says here you are over 40?"

"Barely," she replied.

"Well, you've never had a mammogram."

And I don't want to start now, she thought.  "I don't have the slightest symptom and I'm very healthy. Can't we just put it off for a few months and do this other stuff instead?"

"Nope.  Insurance won't allow you.  Sorry."

With that, April had her very first mammogram -- which discovered an abnormality.  Surprise turned to concern and disbelief as a biopsy revealed Stage 3 breast cancer.  And for April, myself, and our two daughters, the long fight began.

I am pleased to say that we are at a happy crossroads.  My brave, persistent wife -- one of the grittiest people I've ever met -- has recently completed treatment of chemo and radiation, and although we have a few surgeries ahead, we feel the worst is behind us.  It has been an agonizing, exhausting year, and I suppose this is a very long winded way of saying that as the school year wound down, I rationed my energy and I took a step away from things that could go into suspended animation -- like this blog. 

However, if you're not willing to give up on me, I'm not ready to give up on Edtech Elixirs just yet!  I know there will definitely be major reasons to blog in 2019-2020 on new edtech tools and the occasional pedagogical discussion.   To take one example, I'm sure I'll talk a time or two about Empower Learning, a new learning management system we piloted last school year and as of July 1 has replaced Schoology in our district.  However, Empower is much more than just another LMS.  Its ability to reference standards and track mastery learning for students over time gives us a powerful tool to help Shelby County Public Schools reach our competency-based education goal in 2022.

While personal interests of mine have previously crept into this blog, I imagine I will surprise most readers with sharing our family's struggle in such a public way.  For those concerned I will make Edtech Elixirs into an online diary, I promise that I will return fully to the world of edtech in the entries to come.   That said, I do want to end this entry with a sharing of gratitude as well as a plea.   Firstly, there have been dozens of family and friends and co-workers that have given our family such unbelievable support over this past year.  We simply would not have survived without you -- thank you from the bottom of our hearts.  Secondly, as my wife's story illustrates, putting off a mammogram, or any regular cancer screening, can have tragic consequences.  In a real way, we got lucky.  Please make sure you and your loved ones don't rely on luck to keep healthy!

If you are looking for cancer organizations to support:

Norton's Healthcare (serving Louisville and Southern Indiana) has been an incredible healthcare partner and resource in our fight against cancer.  Here's ways you can give time or money.

April is passionate about P.ink, an organization where tattoo artists donate their time and material to breast cancer survivors, particularly in covering up or beautifying mastectomy scars and breasts both unreconstructed and reconstructed.  More about their organization is here.

Student Journals, Personalized Learning Plans and More: The Power of HyperDocs

Happy New Year 2019!

Are you needing students to make a journal, as well as see and possibly comment on each other’s blog?  Finding a tool with easy visibility and simple user interface inside of some kind of protected space can be difficult to find, in addition to doing all of it for free.  (While Blogger is an excellent free Google tool -- obviously I'm a fan! -- I know it is blocked by some districts due to monitoring and privacy concerns, or considered to be too complicated for their younger students.)

 

One way to have safe, free, and easy blogging, especially with younger students, would be to utilize and organize Google Docs in some kind of “HyperDoc” stylized fashion.*  How much you do, versus how much the students do, will determine the amount of heartache and labor involved to set it up.   The steps below assume a higher capability/age of student, perhaps upper elementary or older (which will make the least amount of work on you); adjust and scaffold the work flow for K-2 students as needed.

 

1.  Create a Google Doc that serves as a journaling “template.”  Be sure to make a space/field at top for them to type their name and a way to date each of their entries. Make it a sharable URL as "view only."  Copy the URL.
2. Do the “force copy trick” with the URL so that, when the URL is clicked, it forces the user to copy to their own Drive.
3. Provide this “force copy URL” inside of your learning management system (LMS). As students click the link and save the copy to their Drive, make sure they change the words “Copy of” inside the title of the Doc to “First and Last Name” (for example, “Copy of Journal Log” becomes “ADAM WATSON Journal Log”).
4. Have each student open the sharing link on their new Doc.  Make sure the permission is “[District Domain] Users Only, view and comment.”  The student should copy this URL.
5. Create a simple Google Form for students to submit responses; again, link the URL in a LMS.  Ask for their names, but make sure the Form automatically collects their email addresses.   The students should paste their journal’s sharable URL as an answer to one of the Form’s questions.  (Note: organizationally you may want to create a different Form for each class; the reasons why will become obvious in the next steps.)
6. Within the responses tab of your Form, make sure you create a Sheet to go with the Form’s responses.  You now have ONE spreadsheet that has links to ALL of the journals of the students.   Now, make the Sheet “view only” and provide that link inside a LMS for your students to access.
7. By clicking on the Sheet’s URL, you now have an easy way for students to access each other’s Journals and read them (without the students, or you, creating hundreds of sharing permissions).   Additionally, if they Comment, they will be identified (no anonymous comments allowed) and some privacy is maintained as students have it restricted to visibility only within your domain's users.   By having “view and comment” instead of edit rights will also prevent students from intentionally or unintentionally writing over each other or even nuking each other's journal with deletions.   Of course, multiple Sheets also make it easier for you to look at the various journals class by class.  Bonus #1:  collecting the journal URLs in this way avoids receiving all of those inbox-cluttering sharing email notifications.  Bonus #2: the Form and Sheet  automatically organizes the journal links without you spending time creating multiple Google Folders and organizing all of the student journal Docs inside them.
8. One last step/tip: if students are to respond to each other's journals, make sure students understand not only what a valuable “uptake” Comment is (beyond “that is great!”), but also make the expectations clear.  Should they Comment on someone else’s journal twice a week?  Two different journals, or two Comments on the same journal ok?  Should they eventually Comment on all student journals at least once? Do they need to reply to the Comments made by other students?  Will they be assessed qualitatively (do you have a rubric?), quantitatively, or both?

 

Note that using this same workflow could be applied in other ways you want students to make a copy of a template, share it with you to review, and possibly have others give feedback.  One example could be a Personalized Learning Plan (PLP) that students initiate, periodically reflect and edit, and share with you (and their advisors).  And speaking of personalized learning, if you want to really create an intricate, HyperDoc work flow that could track mastery per standard and per student as well as link to archival evidence, I recommend taking a look at my “SCANMoST” directions.   While SCANMoST was originally created to optimize the 2017 integration of Google Drive into Schoology, it could easily be adapted for Google Classroom or any LMS by utilizing the same “force copy”/template work flow. 

* "Stylized" is an important qualifier here.  I should definitely point out that HyperDocs are a larger construction than merely a heavily hyperlinked online document; as this article by Jennifer Gonzalez defines very well, a HyperDoc is a "digital document . . . where all components of a learning cycle have been pulled together into one central hub."  The potential impact on pedagogy and personalized learning go way beyond just providing a helpful organization structure for a teacher.  Nevertheless, the further you read into my entry, the closer you get to the student-centered "hubs" that would meet Gonzalez's definition of a HyperDoc.

New Assessments Coming to Schoology

Schoology recently announced another major improvement coming this fall 2017.  What is currently called "Test/Quizzes" will now become "Assessments" (which better aligns with the way the tool can be fully used, in my opinion).  Yesterday, I watched a webinar on the new assessment tool.   While the existing question types will get improved for all users, only Enterprise users will have free access to the new "enhanced question" types, such as highlight hotspot, math short answer, number line, and "fill in the blank" (FITB) options.

The student will have more accessibility options, such as choosing a Spanish keyboard and changing the font size.

Other improvements include:

• The student will see the elapsed time as they take the assessment. The total time will be part of the data a teacher will see once submitted.
• You can now tie a specific rubric to a specific short answer question, and use it to grade and give feedback.  (Different questions can have different rubrics!)
• For some questions, you can build in a partial credit option when automatically grading.
• A survey can be created for the end of the assessment -- a great reflection tool for the student and a way the teacher can get direct feedback.
• An improved user interface for both a teacher making the assessment and the student taking it.

The new teacher interface when adding and editing questions.

I should add that older Test/Quizzes and question banks will still work in Schoology with the updated assessment tool.

I highly recommend watching their archived webinar (39:06), especially to see the new enhanced questions in action!

Note: the images above are all captured from the webinar.

Improved Google Integration with Schoology!

Back in 2015, our district purchased the Enterprise edition of Schoology.  It has grown to be a popular tool (as of a few months ago, our data analysis determined that three-fourths of our K-12 students and teachers are using it).  However, it is not the only learning management system in Shelby.  Google Classroom is popular among some of our instructors, who either use it instead of Schoology, or right alongside it (and Google Drive, of course).  The preference for Classroom usually is for one or both of the following reasons:

• The Google Classroom interface is simpler, especially when dealing with Google files.
• Google Classroom can "pass out" unique digital copies to students as well as organizing the editing rights (incorporating the name of the student in the name of the file, automatically creating folder structures for the files to be housed, and automatically changes the student's editing rights to "view only" once something is submitted).

The first reason comes down to what you prioritize: Classroom is one of the simplest LMS's to use, but at the sacrifice of the depth of options and tools that Schoology can do (especially the Enterprise edition). As for reason #2, that's about to be challenged!  While it has always been possible to use or incorporate Google files in Schoology Assignments, they were not as easy or seamless to distribute as the Google Classroom experience.  However, starting at the beginning of the 2017-2018 school year, this will change.  (It is worth noting that this update affects all users, both Basic [free] and Enterprise.)  I can say without hyperbole it's the most important update I've seen for Schoology since our district began using it two years ago, and I have a feeling it may convert some of our Google Classroom teachers to switch completely over to Schoology.

So, what might you expect this fall?  I participated in an informational webinar today, and here are some highlights.  Before we review the update, it's important to note that students AND teachers need to add the Google Drive app to Schoology if they haven't already (under Resources>Apps), and the user's school G Suite account is the credentials to use.


This graphic gives a good overview of what will change with the new integration:

From the 4/13/17 Schoology webinar.

Now when you create/edit an Assignment, you will see in the box an option to “Assign from App” (Google Drive).   Next, choose the file. You can now search or browse your Google files (previously you could only browse your files).  This creates a unique copy of the file for each individual student, just like Google Classroom does.   Also, just like Google Classroom, the teacher is the "owner" of the file, and a folder is created on both sides (student and teacher) where the new files will live.  Up to the due date, student can edit these files; after the due date, they will only be able to view unless the instructor chooses to unsubmit the assignment.

Only parents, advisors and the student can see the submission (as before with any Schoology Assignments).

From the instructor view, you can then see and easily toggle between different student submissions. 

Instructor view. From 4/13/17 Schoology webinar.

All file types can be assigned in this way (Slides, Sheets, etc.), and their appropriate add-ons, etc. will work in the new Google viewer environment.

In this new viewer, the instructor will see the Google Docs in real time, just as you would if you were looking at the file in a separate browser tab outside of Schoology.

Students can “unsubmit” before the due date if they like.  But once the doc is submitted and the due date occurs, student will no longer be able to edit!  (Again, say it with me: just like Google Classroom.)

In this new Google viewer, "standard" Schoology tools like audio/video feedback won’t work.

Within the same browser window, an instructor can grade with a rubric (using the same Schoology rubric tools as before).  Graded rubrics will connect to the student work.

Instructor view. From 4/13/17 Schoology webinar.

Here is Schoology's one minute "teaser trailer" of the upcoming Google integration:

The webinar that discusses the integration is archived here (approximately 22 minutes).

How will this make life better for teachers and students?   Here are some quick thoughts:

• Using Google files as templates that students complete and customize can be done in seconds. By making the form easy to share and manipulate, students can concentrate on the crucial work of demonstrating their understanding.
• There's really no equivalent tools in Schoology to make content like Docs, Slides, Sheets and Drawings.  Google is excellent at this, so it's a perfect partnership. By keeping Google work inside of Schoology, you can expedite creativity since it will remain "in house" (same tab, same platform).
• No lost time hunting down generically named Google document titles.  Since you name the template, combined with the automatic insertion of the student name in the title, files will be unique and easy to find (and that's setting aside how they are saved in certain folders!).
• For a typical Schoology Assignment, a student is permitted to turn in a submission late, although it will be flagged as such.  However, under this new option, these Google files turn to "view only" after the due date. It is the first time that due dates prevent late submissions in Schoology! Some teachers may use this to improve student behavior for adhering to deadlines.
• Google files submitted via Schoology Assignments means that students don't have to waste time sharing the files directly with the teacher -- and teachers won't have their email inboxes and "Shared With Me" section of their Drive cluttered and bombarded with requests.
• In short, easier and faster work flow means students can concentrate on the thinking and creating, and teachers on assessing and giving feedback.

I can't wait until the fall!  Let me know your thoughts in the Comments below.

Update 4/18/17: I now have added the link to the webinar.

Update 7/27/17: It's here!  Below is a video I made where I demo how it works. I also provided a link to the instructions on Schoology's help center.   Note that you must install the Google Drive Assignments app in Schoology before this will work.  (Shelby staff, I have already installed this for our domain; any teacher with admin rights to a Course can use this.)

Google Drive Assignments app instructions (Schoology Help Center)

Post-KySTE 2017 Reflection and Upcoming PD Opportunities

Last week was the biggest edtech annual conference in our region, KySTE 2017.  I presented on the SAMR model as well as game-based learning, and participated in the demo slam.  But I wasn't the only Shelby County staff member to attend and present!

• Sloan Burroughs presented on how her students videotape and share their ukelele performances through a Schoology Group.
• James Wampler discussed various strategies for using tech to engage with students.
• Caytie Burgin talked about being an instructor via Shelby County's Virtual Learning Academy.

While my own presentations created scheduling conflicts and I couldn't see everyone, I know from others and from Twitter that they did great:  

Proud of the great representation Shelby County showed at the @kystetech conference. pic.twitter.com/jNwCmRsFSN

— Shelby Co Schools Ky (@shelbycountysch) March 10, 2017

Here with Sloan Burroughs learning about Ukelele (Super) Heroes, utilizing @Schoology and YouTube! #kyste17 pic.twitter.com/u3wbERTBwe

— Adam Watson (@watsonedtech) March 9, 2017

Best 🏆 #KySTE17 presentation with Mr Wampler

— P.Forbes (@PForbes81) March 10, 2017

One example of an attendee coming back and being a leader in her building is Amy Frederick-Cooper, a science teacher at East Middle School.  During yesterday's faculty's learning time, Amy used a tool she just discovered, Classkick, to share some edtech tools she discovered at KySTE.  It was a wonderful "meta" and inquiry-based way for her fellow teachers to explore edtech and gain from her experience.

Here learning w/@EastMSMissiles faculty. @amyfredcoop is sharing what she learned from #KySTE17. In love now with @Classkick! #shelbyedchat

— Adam Watson (@watsonedtech) March 14, 2017

It was, as always, great to talk at KySTE with my non-Shelby colleagues that I unfortunately see much more often in Twitter chats and Google Hangout rather than in person.  And . . . as always . . . I brought home intriguing and useful tidbits, tools, strategies and information.

*****

The Edtech Share Fair is rapidly approaching next week on Wednesday, March 22!  If you haven't gotten your FREE tickets, be sure to visit our Eventbrite site to get yours.   More information on the Share Fair and its presenters below.  Remember, the event is open to Shelby parents and community members, as well as educators outside our district.

*****

Last, but not least, I have previously tweeted about Innovations for Learning, another great local learning conference in Lexington I have attended and presented at for the last few years.  It's free and open to all.  The conference itself is on June 1, and registration will begin next month for those who want to attend; however, the window is currently open for presentation proposals.   I highly encourage both my Shelby peeps and other readers of my blog to consider submitting your presentation ideas.   The deadline is April 18.

Looking for inspiring sessions for the IFL Conference. Apply now! https://t.co/MhvAAUYzQm. #KySTE17 @ItsAboutKidsFC pic.twitter.com/NFd5qsb565

— FCPS Inst Tech (@fcpsoit) March 10, 2017

First SnoGo Days, and Eminence's EdHub

Welcome back from the holidays!  We had our first significant snow last week, so Thursday and Friday (January 5 and 6) became our first official and inaugural SnoGo days!

For the uninitiated, "SnoGo Days" are non-traditional instructional days, where students work at home on material prepared in advance by teachers.  It's the enactment of our philosophy that learning never stops and continues beyond the boundaries of a brick and mortar building. The teachers also remain in contact with students via email, phone, messages via Schoology, and more.  Speaking of Schoology, our LMS was a crucial tool to organize work and accept submissions during SnoGo . . . and students definitely used it.  Here's a way to compare just how much: during the week before winter break, our most active Schoology usage day inside our buildings was December 13 with 45,591 Schoology page views.  On January 5 and 6, we had 79,046 and 75,929 views, respectively.  I should point out that teachers certainly could give students a menu of optional offline work, and just as they would for an excused absence, students have a small window to make up work upon their return.  We don't want lack of Internet access at home to limit their SnoGo learning!

Our SnoGo caught the attention of two local newstations.  WHAS 11 discussed the non-traditional nature of the learning.   WAVE 3 talked to the Leonberger family, and got this great quote from eighth grader Jake: "I think it's really cool they gave us these Chromebooks and made SnoGo a thing. It makes it so kids can pace themselves at home."  (Add a path of learning and factor in the choice of when to do the work, and you have our 3PT program.)  Both stories include video with some helpful visuals of Schoology at work.

And learning didn't stop with students.  Lora Shields (our Shelby Staff Developer) and I created modules in -- what else? -- Schoology, in order for classified staff to have professional development online during SnoGo.

Several teachers, principals and students tweeted throughout our SnoGo, but this is probably my favorite:

East middle students using technology to collaborate on SnoGo assignments. @JenniferHCox @shelbycountysch pic.twitter.com/S4tB2DHmlE

— Shelby GOLD science (@charlalei) January 5, 2017

*******************************************************************
On Day Two of SnoGo, I took an already scheduled trip over to a nearby neighboring school: Eminence.  I've been wanting to see their library expansion, named the EdHub, since it opened at the beginning of the school year.  Along with SCHS's librarian Julie Webb, we got the grand tour.   Here are some of my social media posts:

Visiting the EdHub of Eminence Schools for the first time. Beautiful space. Thanks to Julie Webb for letting me tag along! #schoolonfire

A photo posted by Adam Watson (@watsonedtech) on Jan 6, 2017 at 9:22am PST

Thanks to @RocketLibrary for letting me tag along today on a visit to @EminenceSchools and their @EminenceEdhub! Here come the pics. pic.twitter.com/njvINRn6qw

— Adam Watson (@watsonedtech) January 6, 2017

View of the @EminenceEdhub from the top floor.
Thanks to @TLJamesA and @thomcoffee for being our tour guides! #schoolonfire pic.twitter.com/gwwKMpVpjW

— Adam Watson (@watsonedtech) January 6, 2017

Last round of pics from @EminenceEdhub. @EminenceSchools #schoolonfire pic.twitter.com/DVStRLT9nV

— Adam Watson (@watsonedtech) January 6, 2017

I particularly like the picture in the last tweet of the Scantron sheet and pencil, an archaic artifact of the past, enshrined in a museum case for future students to puzzle its ancient purpose and use.

We left with some great inspiration on how to better utilize our own libraries and increase our makerspace opportunities.  Thanks to the EdHub Director and secondary librarian James Allen for being a gracious host!

PPBBL: Personalized Project-Based Blended Learning

Greetings, readers!  I never meant to take two months off, but we've been a busy county.  Our elementary rollout is complete, and we are now a 1:1 device district (iPads for Kindergarteners, Chromebooks for the rest).    I am spending a goodly amount of embedded time at our elementary schools to support our staff as they continue the transformation into digital classrooms.  Lately, as part of that work, I've been reflecting quite a bit on three educational strands that are strong on the radar of Shelby County and are current hot topics across the world: blended learning, project-based learning, and personalized learning.  This musing has lead to some questions of how and when these models are applied in classrooms.   (Note that these questions are not meant to imply critiques of Shelby classrooms specifically.  Instead, they are "thinkalouds" of how and when blended, PBL and personalized learning are generally utilized.)

BLENDED LEARNING:  As I discussed in a previous post, I'm a fan of Michael B. Horn and Heather Straker's definition as given in their book Blended: "Blended learning is any formal education program in which a student learns at least in part through online learning, with some element of student control over time, place, path and/or pace.”  One of the reasons I like this definition is that the end of it dovetails nicely into personalized learning itself (which if done in the absence of technology would be very difficult).  But it's important to not forget what is actually being blended: online digital tools with human interaction and instruction, usually in a brick and mortar school.  Both components, in a good balance, is necessary.  Content may be delivered digitally in an innovative way, but it is the teachers' roles in nurturing, nudging, and knowing where their students academically stand that make them an integral face-to-face resource.

Do we sometimes concentrate too much on the digital tool and not on the analog teacher or desired outcomes?

PERSONALIZED LEARNING:  This school year, one of Shelby's grass-roots and teacher-led efforts of innovation (encouraged and supported by John Leeper) is happening at several of our elementary and both high schools: 3PT classroom cadres.  Pilot groups of students in each building are exerting control over the path, place, pace and/or time of their personalized learning.  Ideally, your passions and your post-school plans should affect your educational journey and give you options.  Digital tools certainly make it easier to access content, assess mastery, and track progress; with a laptop and wifi, you can do your reading in a school's bean bag chair just as easily as your kitchen table at night.  To that end, I have been heavily involved in supporting tool integration to help the program hum along, such as Edgenuity (which contains coursework monitored and customized by teachers to deliver content) and Schoology (a learning management system that contains teacher and district curriculum, folders of links and resources, and assessment tools).  In 3PT, bell schedules and even chronological age differences fade away from the real focus: learning that is flexibly paced and about mastery, not compliance or seat-time.   (To see pictures and follow tweets about our district's 3PT stories, see #3PTSC; there is some awesome work going on out there.)   It should be noted that unlike differentiation or individualization, only personalization is student-centered.   However, we again must be vigilant for balance.  We risk impersonalized learning if this model leads to teenage cubicle drones, pecking in isolation at their laptops. Students should have a chance for discourse with their peers; teacher conferences and whole/small group instruction still needs to be a vital part of student learning.

How often do we concentrate on content delivery over student dialogue and groupwork?  Does technology enable an increase in both the quantity and the quality of teachers conferring face-to-face with students?

PROJECT-BASED LEARNING:  Since participating in PD on PBL in the summer of 2015, I have been excited about the ways it can combine personal student interest with relevant work that seeks to elevate or solve real-world problems, publishing or presenting to authentic audiences.   It is often collaborative and done by groups of students. The danger is that PBL could be seen as "one more thing" instead of a model that can integrate seamlessly with both personalized and blended learning.

How can PBL be brought more systematically into a personalized, blended learning environment?

Why I won't claim to have solutions to all of these questions, a few resources on the internet might point us in the right direction.

This resource and graphic from The Learning Accelerator is perhaps my favorite visual on blended learning.   What I appreciate is how it goes beyond a definition and concentrates on what blended learning can help you enable and accomplish.  Most importantly, blended learning should empower educators to make sure every graduate "attains the skills and mindset needed to succeed in college and life (academics + habits/character)."

Note: this graphic is part of a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Lately, educators are buzzing about Summit Learning, who recently has released a free digital learning platform, which includes a core content curriculum for personalized learning.   While the tool itself is fascinating, I am more intrigued by their school philosophy: content delivery should be only as important as the application of cognitive skills in the form of PBL work.  In a recent introductory webinar (visit their site for upcoming events), they shared the following example of a Summit school week:

Screen captured from an archived webinar, linked here.

Look how many slots are appropriated to PBL, in comparison to content acquisition time!  In addition, mentor time is scheduled and guaranteed at least every Friday.   While this may not be the perfect model, it does reveal how important authentic application of knowledge is to the Summit vision of learning, and shows how blended, personalized and PBL can weave together like a well-made rope.

Like any well-woven rope in education (he says with a tongue placed firmly in his cheek), an acronym is necessary for naming.  The significance of calling this balanced system PPBBL is even built into the order of the letters.  Personalization is the first priority and therefore the first letter; leading by student needs and interests quite naturally segues into project-based work; blended is the way to make it all work effectively and engagingly.  And learning should be the last word -- the point, purpose and result of these transformative models of education.

So we will keep pushing ourselves with our questions -- reflecting, refining, reinventing what it means to be in a classroom, or to be a student, or to be a teacher.   

[Note:  part of the inspiration for this entry came from my work with one of our district Instructional Coaches, Melba Bradley.  As we recently planned a PD session on blended learning for a teacher personalized learning day, we discussed how PBL needed to be a stronger component of a blended learning classroom, and the first version of this entry's mashup acronym was born.]

Organizing your Class: Schoology versus Google Drive

As our school year began, Glenda Price from East Middle School asked me a question.  Which is better to organize and distribute materials to students: Schoology or Google Drive?

I don't want to create a false dilemma here.  You can and should likely use both tools in your classroom.  It's really more of a question of determining your purpose and being intentional in your instructional choices.

That said, there are advantages and disadvantages for both tools.  This blog entry will break down how each tool could be used and the pros/cons.

(Note that although Google Classroom is a tool available for Google Apps for Education users, I am simplifying the discussion by omitting it here, mainly because the use of the enterprise edition of Schoology is what our district supports and encourages.)


THE GOOGLE OPTION:

If all students create Google folders and then share with all of their teachers, they will be likely have a very full email inbox with “shared with me” requests.  That said, there are several advantages: the students are the actual owners of their own class folders, teachers can organize these student folders as they like (by dragging and dropping them from "Shared with Me" to a preferred space in their Drive), and the teacher can save time from actually creating individual student folders.

Another option would be for students to create shared links with editing rights to their folders, and give teachers those links through a Google Form.  (Ask for their name, collect email addresses, and have a short answer question where they could paste in the URL.)  That way, a teacher has a Google Sheet with all the hyperlinks one click away. They could have a Form and Sheet for each class.  Bonus:  no “shared with me” notifications AND no dragging and dropping of folders.

You could have teachers create Folders (one per student), then share them with students.  That would be easier to MANAGE from the teacher side (teachers are obviously organizing as they create them), but it’s very time consuming….that’s a lot of folders to make!

THE SCHOOLOGY OPTION:

Don’t forget how aspects of Schoology can make sharing and submission of work easier.  Do I really need shared Google folders I have to constantly check, or do I only need their Google Doc (or Slides or whatever) one assignment at a time?  If so, use Schoology Assignments.  Again, have students create a share link to the file, paste it in the “Create” tab when submitting the assignment, and voila — you can access each of them easily, and again, without all of the “Shared with Me’ notifications.

Distribute any Google documents using Schoology.  Paste the link in an Update, Assignment, or as part of a Schoology folder. If you need to distribute a “template” for them to edit and make their own, create a shared URL and use the copy trick…change the end of the link (everything after the last forward slash) to “copy.”  When they click the link, they automatically have to make their own copy.

Last but not least, don't forget that as part of your Materials in Schoology, you can "Add Media Album."   This is the only way to create a place in your Course where -- if enabled in the advanced settings -- you can have both students and teachers contribute media to a shared space.  For more directions and information, visit this Schoology support page.

Do you have other ways to electronically share or distribute material?  Post your thoughts in the Comments below.

Quizalize

The last month of this school year has been a blur of busy-ness. As we prepare to complete our 1:1 initiative in August for our K-5 students, our first school year of Chromebooks for middle and high school students has just completed. It has changed what learning means for Shelby County.  Also in the busy-ness mix: in the last few weeks I have presented at Fayette County's Innovations for Learning and KDE's Persistence to Graduation Summit.  This was my second year at IFL (what a great regional and FREE annual conference!) and my first for PtG; I hope to return to both next year.

For my last blog entry of the 2015-2016 school year, I want to highlight a new formative assessment tool -- Quizalize.  To me, it is the next natural evolution of the gamified online tools such as Kahoot and Quizizz, which builds on their strengths and finds new ways of being useful for educators.

How does it work?  First, register your free teacher account.  (There are some premium features available; more on that below.)    You will land on a page with several options at the top:

Note the URL public link (on the right), making it easy to share your Quizalize profile online.

"Start Here" is definitely recommended as your first stop.  Here you can access a printable guide, watch a short overview video, and play a demo quiz; you can also make a quiz as well as search Quizalize's "marketplace" for quizzes shared publicly by others.  (Some of these public quizzes are free, and some cost.)

The other top buttons on your landing page are fairly straightforward.  Under "Your Quizzes" you can see quizzes you have already made or create new ones.  One helpful aspect is that you can organize quizzes into "collections," making it easier to navigate through them.  You can view or create classes under "Your Classes."  This is also where you can assign a quiz to a class, or see data from quizzes your students have taken.  "Marketplace" takes you to the same searchable database mentioned above.  By clicking your name, you can edit your profile and settings.

Creating a quiz is easy; simply create your questions and then assign the quiz to a class.  One of the more powerful aspects of Quizalize is the ability to tag questions with objectives or topics, which will greatly enhance its reporting features.  Also, Quizalize quizzes can easily be taken asynchronously.   You can assign them as homework with a start/end date of completion.  (Of course, you could ask students to take it simultaneously during class as well.)  Unlike Kahoot, students can take the quiz without a projector displaying questions and answer choices; all of the necessary information is right on their own screen.  When assigning a quiz, you have several options such as scrambling the order of questions so students side by side will have a different experience.   The teacher is given a unique access code to the quiz; this code and the site quiz.al are all the information a student needs to take it.

Creating a class is also easy.  You give it a name, and decide whether you will make students have to create an email/password to sign in.  Unfortunately, for those that want to upload a roster, you do not have that as an option.  However, the tradeoff is an easy interface for students to access and take your quizzes (similar to Kahoot and Quizizz, a student can take a quiz without registration). With the code and quiz.al site, a student can jump into a quiz within seconds.   One of the interesting features of Quizalize is that a list of student names from previous takers will show up; students should look for their name first and click on it, but they can type it if their name is not shown.   I recommend making this clear in your instructions to students, in order to make data for the same student consistent over time.

One of my favorite aspects of Quizalize is the visually clear way student answer data is presented, both as whole class and on an individual basis.  Student performance is broken down as "strong," "almost there," and "needs help." If you use the subtopics tagging feature, you can also quickly see overall areas of struggle and proficiency.  Here is where the premium aspect of Quizalize adds value; if a teacher wants to pay $69 a year, he/she would have access to a spreadsheet view of performance as well as the ability to export the data.

Here is a video I made that shows an overview of Quizalize's assessment analysis features:

One last thing to mention is that Quizalize has partnered with Zzish, which allows the ability to assign multiple activities from other online platforms.   When you log in as a teacher, you can "Add Activity" from sites such as Kahoot and Socrative.  However, although a student can see these outside assignments once they log in to Quizalize, it is not a direct link or embedded activity.   For example, you could copy the Kahoot game PIN and put that in the activity description for the student to see for their "assignment," but the student would still have to log into Kahoot from a new tab to play the Kahoot game.

How could you use it?  As bellringers or exit slips, Quizalize can give you quick, vital information on student performance. With the quiz.al link and a code, quizzes could easily be imbedded in Schoology Updates or non-submission Assignments.  Coupled with a content-related video or text reading, Quizalize could be used for more engaging homework or as part of a flipped activity.  Last but not least, Quizalize could be another digital tool for gamifying your classroom.

Downsides? Fans of Quizizz will miss the lack of funny memes for wrong answers in Quizalize.  Both Quizizz and Kahoot have a rich reporting structure available for free, whereas you need a premium account in Quizalize to export similar Excel spreadsheets.  Lastly, although Quizalize has a leaderboard of sorts when running live games, Quizizz and Kahoot may be more effective in feeding the competitive nature of students.   However, its ease of use, coupled with the power of "subtopics" and quick visual representation of results, make Quizalize a compelling alternative.

Are you a user of Quizalize?  Talk about it in the Comments below.

TweenTribune

Note 7/13/24:  TweenTribune is no longer an active platform (you cannot assign articles to students or differentiate text), but the Smithsonian still archives the old TweenTribune articles here.

In my high school English classroom teachers years, true differentiation was always an elusive goal.  I never disagreed with its need, but always found it difficult to do with consistency, depth, and fidelity.  This was especially true with reading materials.  Like most, I faced students who ranged a huge range of low to high reading levels.   However, I highly valued having students be able to have discourse over the same text.  Often, especially with non-fiction text, I would be lucky to find a "on grade," "above grade," and "high grade" version of the same topic without making it obvious the disparity between the "kiddie version" and the others.

But now we have tech tools that can narrow the gap.  What if students could all read the exact same article, yet the Lexile level be automatically shifted up or down?   Newsela was the first and only site I knew that did this well, but another online resource has recently surfaced: TweenTribune, backed by the Smithsonian.

How does it work?   You can browse and search non-fiction articles in various subjects, or click on a band of reading levels determined by grade level (K-4, 5-6, etc.; this is one advantage over Newsela, which doesn't have grade level bands of articles).  Once you click on an article of interest, you can quickly adjust the Lexile reading level of the article by clicking on a higher or lower number.  Each Lexile version of an article has an unique URL, which makes copying and sharing the URL at a certain reading level very easy.

Note under the title that the current Lexile reading level number is in gold. Some options, such as taking a quiz or leaving a comment, are available if you are logged into your account.  Registration is free, and student usernames and passwords must be generated by a teacher who creates a class.

Another positive compared to Newsela:  while Newsela only lets you see five articles before making you register (for free), you can access all the articles of TweenTribune and share their multi-level URLs without teachers or students ever creating an account.

One thing that is interesting as you click across the grade levels is that the name of the site actually changes even as the URL still starts "TweenTribune.com."   K-4 is TT Junior, and 9-12 is TeenTribune.

There are a collection of separate Spanish articles under its own category, but the Lexile level cannot be adjusted, nor do the English articles have a "Spanish button" to convert them.

If you are interested in taking a comprehension quiz or leaving a comment on the article, you have to be logged in.  Teachers can register for free, create classes and student usernames/passwords, and assign certain articles to their classes.  (Note that a student cannot create their own sign in -- they have to get that from a teacher.)  If students take a quiz, teachers can access those results.

The teacher interface to create classrooms and student accounts is straight forward and simple.

How could you use it?   You can create authentic and engaging pair, group, or whole class discussions by having students read the same article differentiated to their needs.   In discussion, it would be nearly impossible for one student to know what Lexile level the other student read, making the equity seamless and invisible.  With an LMS, sharing URLs to specific reading levels of an article would be easy; for example, in Schoology, you could even create differentiated Assignments to different student groups, each with a different TweenTribune Lexile reading level of the same text.

Downsides?  I would like a way that you could have the various Lexile levels of a specific article be translated to Spanish with one button push.  That would make differentiation extend easily to ELL student needs.

I'm thankful that the Smithsonian is helping educators differentiate with ease...and for free!

Do you use Newsela or TweenTribune?  Discuss it in the Comments below.

Avoiding the distractors of YouTube

YouTube is full of incredible videos for education.  In its native page, however, it is also full of distractions: ads before the video starts, suggested videos along the right side, and comments below.  Potentially, all of these may have inappropriate material, especially when considering elementary students.

Here are two main ways to get around this: using embedded codes, or using an alternative site that shows a "clean" version of the video.

Embedded Codes

When you go to a video on YouTube, go below and click on the Share tab.  By default, the first tab (also labelled Share) is shown first, which has a URL.   For most instances, copying and pasting this is fine, but the URL will bring you to the "official" YouTube page in all its glory...and distractions.

Instead, click Share and then click Embed:

Copy and paste this code.  If you use Schoology, the same place you would paste the URL for the video will also accept this embed code.  The difference for the student is that the video will play inside of Schoology and not launch to a new page or tab outside of it.  Also, no ad will play at the beginning, and since you are only seeing the video, you will not see the comments or the videos alongside yours.

*If you want another level of control, you can also turn off the suggested videos at the end of playing the video.  (This means the only thing a students will see at the end is a chance to replay the video.)

In your "Embed" tab as shown above, click on "Show More":

Next, uncheckmark the first box for "Show suggested videos after the video finishes":

The embed code will now be altered to reflect this change.  Copy the embed code as before and paste it into Schoology.

Alternative Sites for Viewing

Another option for a "cleaner" interface is to copy the YouTube video's URL and paste it in another site.  There are multiple options on the Web where you can watch the YouTube video in the same way as above: no ads, no comments, no suggested videos.  Two that I would recommend is View Pure (and thanks to Donnie Piercey for his blog entry about it!) and Safeshare.TV.   Once you paste the original YouTube URL in these sites, a new URL is generated.  This View Pure or Safeshare link is the one you want to copy and paste into Schoology, your email, etc.  When a student clicks it, they will be taken to this clean interface version.

There is an important caveat for both of these options, however.  When either embedding or filtering, YouTube will not allow a site or system to block the YouTube logo in the lower right of the video frame.  If a student clicks on it, a new tab/page will open that is the video's original page on YouTube.

For a more detailed video on both of these options, please view below.

*Update 2/25/16: I added the directions for going to "Show More" and turning off the suggested videos at the end.  Thank you Yasmine Fleming for the tip!

Middle School Chromebooks, and the Surprise of Schoology

As our area is enfolded into the first major snow event of winter 2016 and we have officially crossed into the second half of the school year, it's giving me a chance to take a breath and reflect on where our district is headed.

When the timetable was moved up on our initiative and we decided to get Chromebooks into the hands of our middle schoolers now instead of in August, there was definite joy in the air!  Last week, our deployment went even more smoothly than our high school deployment a few months prior.  Although we did it in two nights instead of three, there were few hiccups and we have grown into an efficient edtech delivery system.  (One of several lessons learned from the high school deployment: have an info sheet with a bar code prepped for every student to make checkout happen at laser zapping speed.)

It's true that I spent time last year prepping teachers for the 1:1 initiative, and our Digital Learning Team has worked with the middle school staffs in the weeks leading up to the deployment....but still, I was concerned.  Would the sped up deployment schedule rattle and dampen the middle school teachers' enthusiasm and tech integration?  In short, were they ready?

The short answer is: yes, they are ready...very much so!

The long answer is, teachers all over are jumping in with both feet.  Naturally, Google Apps are a popular tool and a powerful partner with Chromebooks.  But a pleasant surprise was how many teachers are already wading into Schoology -- learning as they go, learning from their students, and learning from each other.  At both East and West Middle Schools, educators are putting their feet on the accelerator and not looking back, whether it's in setting their norms, organizing their class, or applying physics knowledge with online simulations.  And this was barely 24 hours after deployment!

Setting class norms around Chromebooks! #studentled #WMS pic.twitter.com/Dz3ccxWArf

— Lindsay Ricke (@LindsayRicke) January 14, 2016

In @MChesterfield2's class, Ss doing PhET simulations and Schoology submissions on their Chromebooks! pic.twitter.com/TjvFONRI2x

— Adam Watson (@watsonedtech) January 14, 2016

But Schoology extends beyond 6-12.  Our K-5 educators are also embracing it, even when they struggle with less than ideal 1:1 device penetration or tech consistency.  Third Grade teacher Nick Cottrell shares his story in the video below.  I love how his student surprised him with a feature he hadn't used himself yet!

Technology integration and digital classroom conversion is not for the timid.  Failing is likely, fumbling is typical.  But failing forward among the safety net of other enthusiastic practitioners of the teacher arts is the key.  I am so glad to be inspired by my colleagues and am invigorated to keep up with them.

Putting in a Work Ticket for Schoology

Last school day of 2015!  As we prepare for our winter break, I wanted to share instructions for Shelby County staff who encounter problems with Schoology.   We now have a system in place for Schoology issues to be addressed in the same way as other edtech problems: via the work ticket system.

The troubleshooting tips and work ticket directions below were created by Yasmine Fleming, one of our Digital Learning Coaches.  It's also available here as a PDF.

Please note that TEACHERS should be putting in work tickets on behalf of their students.

Before completing a work ticket, the main thing to remember for logging in issues (especially for students) is this:

1)  Do you know your email address and password?  Your local IT can quickly get you the student's email address.  If they don't know their password, get the IT to reset it.

2)  Can you log into your GAFE account or email?  Since it's a single sign-in system that ties Schoology info to your other accounts, if you can log into one, you should be able to log into all.  (If you can't log into GAFE or email, chances are you have the wrong email address or password.  See #1.)

However, if you know the email and password is correct and you still can't get in, or you have another problem (for example, you are a teacher and can log in, but there are no rosters of students) it's time for a work ticket.

Special thanks to Yasmine for the graphic!

Important Privacy Setting: Disabling Roster View in Schoology

Tomorrow morning, I fly to Orlando for iNACOL 2015 as part of a team of Shelby County & KDE presenters about our district's technology integration plan.  Tweets and blogging will surely follow.

Meanwhile, Shelby County is finally ready to roll out the enterprise version of Schoology.  I am definitely becoming a fan of the LMS and eager to see how teachers use it to facilitate learning for their students.  It's a critical piece not only for digital conversion, but to enable other pedagogy to succeed, such as PBL and personalized learning.

However, we have just discovered a critical privacy setting that needs to be changed.  Otherwise, students can see teacher rosters for each of their classes, including profile information on each student.

The steps are easy.  Teachers, please do this as soon as possible.  (Thanks to Gretchen Schell at Schoology for the directions and screenshots!)  Check to make sure you do this for each course you have attached to your account.

Step 1: Select the drop-down of Course Options (see screenshot below) and select “Edit Privacy/Course Settings”

Step 2: In the Permissions area select “No One” for Roster. This will only allow the Teacher (Course Admin) to view the members enrolled in a course. You must SAVE CHANGES to enable this setting.

On the far right side of "Privacy," in the "Roster" row, checkmark "No One."

If you have any questions, please reach out to your school's Instructional Coach or Digital Learning Coach.