Written by I have still been too shy with my posts here on the blog and elsewhere as is obvious to the few people who may have been reading along. I am finding that posting – the act of putting your ideas out there into the world requires two things, a want for an audience and a desire for your message to be seen in the printed word – is not at all natural for me. Like any other person I want my message to come across clearly and in order to make that happen I must know what my message is. I have jumped in my posts from being excited to start in an extended professional development session to asking questions of technology and its role in our classrooms and along the way have tried many new things that have hopefully helped students get more out of their education.
I have also had the action plan that we need, not just for Cohort21 but for our everyday approaches to teaching, rolling around in my head without extreme articulation of it. I like to be explicit and have yet to post in any uncertain terms what my action plan is here on this blog. I have settled on one but before I write it below I must say I have grown again a great appreciation for students that are told to express themselves when they aren’t sure who they are yet. Self-discovery takes a bit of time and I never figured on working on it this long!
My action plan has become and still is trying to assess what types of technology help students both access and remember the skills, concepts and content that are driving their lessons in classrooms. I started with using sharing platforms so that students could see what the other students are doing and draw from it towards their own learning. We have used Google docs and Padlet so far in our class. A visual idea of my action plan can be seen here.
I know this is just scratching the surface of shareware and types of platforms students can interact with but it is a start nonetheless. I have seen greater cooperation and teamwork in class but the critical question still remains; did they learn something they can retain more by using the technology we used?
. . . I am still working on that one.
Hi Brad – great use of Powtoon for your Action Plan reflection. Really enjoyed this.
Hi Brad,
Nice to see you using PowToons – yours is well done, and I’d be interested in feedback on why you chose, and how you found it as a tool to create your presentation. I like that you’re asking the big questions – the X and Y axis and “how do these relate?” It’s a big question, and I think that one step you could take is to examine your data. Something like this:
1) When I use technology to assess AS they learn, I find…
2) When I use technology to assess FOR their learning I find…
3) When I use technology to make an assessment OF their learning I find…
For example, I use a lot of technology in assessment as and for learning: polleverywhere, kahoots, socrative. I also offer it up for students to use to help them demonstrate their learning in these areas. I rarely offer technology as a tool in assessment of learning, but when I do, I try to steer it into the “R” of SAMR. So, when I look at my data, I can see that technology helps them to acquire content and apply thinking skills, and helps them to think about their learning. However, I’ve had a few students who have not met expectations because they have misappropriated technology. I use this data to help steer these students to more traditional assessments on offer.
Don’t get me wrong, I think that using traditional methods are integral to student success. I was just on a twitter chat (#sundayeducationchat) extolling the virtues of post-it notes! However, I also just posted an article to our Google+ community and Diigo that does a really nice job of using Rousseau (I’m a big fan!) to analyse the current state of Edtech and its uses.
http://www.digitalcounterrevolution.co.uk/2014/sugata-mitra-rousseau-educational-romanticism/
It’s REALLY worth a read for your action plan.
Thanks, and I look forward to seeing you on Friday!
Hi Garth,
Thanks for taking the time to leave such an enriched comment. You have given me some good things to think about and even some new places to look for what I might be able to use in class. I have been slow to pick up and really get fluent in a lot of what’s out there but I am very excited to keep the conversation going.
About Powtoon . . . I saw it in one of the Cohort21 presentations from last year and have encouraged students to try it and I have also used it in my classes for presentations. To be honest, I have been quite behind most everyone else on the tech curve and although I am comfortable with my current place I am continually trying to keep myself just uncomfortable enough to keep learning. So Powtoon (and Canva, and Prezi, and Google presentations) is around the Substitution level on SAMR but it has let me and my students take an initial step away from PowerPoint and into trying to get the most versatile experience from our use of technology in class. Powtoon is fairly easy to use and I like the multiple perspectives offered by it (sound, visuals and timed events).
See you on Friday!
Hey Brad,
Thanks for your honesty and humility when sharing your findings and thoughts on your journey. I think you will be surprised to hear how many others also struggled with the “putting your voice out there” aspect of this experience…and the great news is that this Cohort thing isn’t over after the final F2F…there is still room to grow and play and experiment with dipping your toes outside of your comfort zone.
It would be cool for you to connect with Catherine on her blog, which is touching on some similar explorations of technology out there. I’m sure your wisdom and expertise would add to her understanding of the role of technology or possibilities available to her.
http://cohort21.com/catherinemccauley/2014/04/22/final-reflection-and-plan-of-action/
See you in a few days!