There's a Tool for That!

Classroom teachers are constantly looking for ways to unlock content for students.  Making real world connections have proven to be a powerful way for content mastery.  Many times, however, finding resources easily can become problematic.  Mostly teachers just Google it.  Here is a list of three web resources that have rich content, are easily searchable, and have been sustainable resources for your classroom, and you won't get so frustrated as performing a random web search.

Cool Tools for Schools - http://cooltoolsforschools.wikispaces.com/Home
This site boasts a huge list of tools ranging from collaboration to creativity tools.  Check this site out if you are looking for tools that will assist your students in creating projects.

Web 2.0 Guru - http://web20guru.wikispaces.com/Web+2.0+Resources

This site purports they have the list of "must-haves" for the 21st century.  This wiki has one of the most expansive list of tools out there on the web.

EdTech Tool List - https://goo.gl/q5XXH

This Tool List is a constantly evolving Google Sheet.  Simply click Ctrl + F to perform a search for the concept or tool you need.

Although these three tools aren't the only vetted curated list of resources on the web, they provide a definite starting place.  If you can think of an idea, there is a tool that can bring that idea to fruition.

Even if a Device Dails, Google Classroom is Adaptable!

One of the concerns I hear from teachers is this, "I want to use the technology in my classroom, but several devices are broken, not charged, or missing."  Sound familiar?  Most teachers WANT to use technology to engage their students at a higher level, but when you have pockets of students without devices it becomes difficult to accomplish this feat.  Google Classroom is your answer!

One great feature of Google Classroom is the opportunity to ask questions of the class which could lead to some lively discussions.  Students can respond to a question stem, but also go further by responding to other students, or even starting their own posts.  Teachers can maintain this discussion in a safe online forum.  But what about those students without devices . . . this is where Google Classroom is so easily adaptable.  Students can pull out, get ready for it, a sheet of paper and write a response.

When I am teaching, I don't have time to print out a page for students, instead the alternative is participating via handwritten comments.  The same could be said for any Google Doc, Form, or other file you wish to have students complete.  Obviously, if you can anticipate missing devices soon enough, you can prepare paper copies ahead of time, but for spur of the moment inconveniences, handwritten responses on paper will do.

Easy to say though, but what will you do when you have most of the class turning in digital copies and you have a few, scattered notebook pages?  The simple solution is scanning the student's work. By scanning a few notebook pages, teachers can drop the PDF in the Google Classroom folder later. This way, there is a digital copy for the student to archive.

There isn't a perfect answer when devices fail, but we as teachers know at some point they will.  The key is to plan for when the devices do go ca put?  My answer -  "Get out a sheet of paper!"

InFORMing Your Practice

In a few weeks, I will be presenting two sessions on Google Forms at the Indiana Google Summit in Franklin, IN. As I pause to contemplate the tool I will be introducing, I also consider how it will be received by my audience - teachers, but ultimately students.

I truly wonder if students prefer online assessments as compared to physical paper copies.  Even though I don't feel that old, I am reminded that I am a generation behind these current students.  The only technology I used in schools as a kid centered around "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego" or "The Oregon Trail" via six to twelve floppy disks.  Assessments were never digital - the technology wasn't available then.  Now gaming has improved exponentially, but so have assessment options that are available to teachers.

The first session I will present at the Summit will be utilizing Google Forms as a formative assessment tool.  Google Forms are incredibly easy to make, distribute, and even grade (if you are using an add-on called Flubaroo).  It appears to me that society has changed to information immediacy.  In other words, we want answers, and we want them now.  For learning and feedback to have a maximum impact, students need to receive that feedback as close to the submission of the assessment and with Google Forms this can happen.

So I guess in the age of information immediacy, technology integration, and refinement practices, Google Forms will be an effective tool for teachers and students alike.  It astonishing to see how assessment options have changed from twenty years ago.  I wonder how students will be assessed in another twenty years?

Google Classroom as a Professional Development Tool

Have you ever hosted Professional Development for teachers and wondered how you might get all of the digital resources to those teachers easily?  Google Classroom (GC) is your answer!

I think when teachers hear Google Classroom they think of it with their own students in mind and not as a PD treasure trove of resources.  By using GC as the medium for PD, you immerse teachers in another tool that they might find to be applicable with their own students or to use it in new ways.

Here's how you do it.  Assuming you are a GAFE school, login and access your Google Classroom Account.  From here, create a class that you can rename to function as the PD Class.  

Note: I still offer choice so participants have the flexibility to choose their preferred learning path.

Then teachers can be engaged in the session as opposed to being at the traditional "Sit-and-get" PD Session.  See how I have the stream set up with the Bell Ringer and Backchannel below?  I place the Presentation and Exit Ticket on the About tab.

If you are someone that provides Job Embedded Professional Development, consider using Google Classroom for your PD needs.  The staff will appreciate navigating to one location for shared resources.

Coaching and the SAMR Model

As an eLearning Coach with the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation in Evansville, IN, I am asked a lot of daily questions ranging from tools and strategies, to troubleshooting tech problems, but I rarely consider the SAMR Model when conveying my advice.  The reason for this is that I haven't made it a consistent practice yet.  So if I were to utilize the SAMR Model in guiding my decisions where should I begin?  Time to plan!

First, I have to acknowledge the skill level of the staff member(s) I am attempting to support.  Taking traditional content, jumping past the SAM or SMAR just would be too overwhelming for staff - baby steps! Instead, building relationships with teachers to truly their tech abilities, openness to new ideas, and agreeable to change is paramount before rolling out a new tool and discarding a previous strategy.

Second, as awesome as technology is, and can be, the lesson structure shouldn't START with technology.  Instead, after determining the assessment, then backwards mapping, looking at the content through the lens of "How can this content be more engaging, more rigorous, and promote higher student achievement?" is the next essential piece of this process.

Then, once a tool is identified as an option to really unlock student understanding and mastery of the content, a discussion of its implementation is warranted.  Only when a teacher feels empowered and confident with the technology, will the desired outcomes of the lesson be realized.  How I build confidence with the teacher(s) is by offering the following levels of support:

1. I model the tool in a lesson with students.
2. I co-teach the lesson with the teacher.
3. I offer tech support, i.e. in the classroom to support the students with tech troubleshooting.
4. I discreetly sit as a passive observer for a debrief afterwards.
5. I follow up with the teacher at a later date.
6. Some combination of the preceding.

When teachers feel that this endeavor can be shared with someone that won't judge or evaluate them, they are much more likely to try the technology.

In conclusion, to tie all of this back to the SAMR Model, determining a tool and its use in each classroom is as an individually different process each time.  There isn't a one size fits all approach, so when using the SAMR Model in helping to make decisions, my advice to myself, and anyone else reading, differentiate for each teacher based on the information suggested above.

Go to http://elearningcoach.weebly.com/pd-strategies.html to search for PD resources you might consider for your next PD Session with teachers.

A Moveable Mindset?

As an eLearning Coach for the Bosse Attendance District in the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation in Evansville, IN, I get the opportunity to conduct job embedded professional development.  Making sure this PD is relevant is key, but I often wonder, "Are the teachers I am working with learning and implementing the content I am bringing to them?"  It is my hope that I can enable them to work smarter, not harder with the use of technology.  It's easy for me to present a tool/strategy and 45 minutes later, send the teachers on their way, but don't I want them ponder the information, contemplate its potential, and follow through with an action plan?  Of course, but how do I get them to consider moving their mindset?  With that, how do I move my own mindset?  Ah, the fun begins!

I have to be willing to engage teachers in conversation that is ongoing on reciprocal.  If the information flows only one direction, from me, they won't make as great of an investment in the tool/strategy.  Getting teachers to collaborate orally isn't always as productive as having an online digital discussion.  Using a Google Classroom Question, an ongoing Google Doc, or Padlet are all great options for digital discussions.  Here are a few ways you might consider when encouraging peer-to-peer collaboration:

Directions: Respond to at least one classmate/peer in one of the following four ways, and label your response type at the beginning of your post. 1.) Be aware of the appropriate ways to respond in online discussions and 2.) Facilitate deeper-level discussion. This strategy is based on Fei Gao’s 2014 research “Exploring the Use of Discussion Strategies and Labels in Asynchronous Online Discussion“

1. Elaborate or Clarify (support your argument with evidence or details)
2. Make connections or build on someone’s response (connect with other arguments/resources or further develop perspectives)
3. Ask a question (Raise a question that moves the discussion forward)
4. Challenge what someone else said (suggest a different perspective

By stimulating conversation, and moving mindsets, a true paradigm shift might occur.  If this happens, student achievement is sure to be impacted too!

Daniel Watson, eLearning Coach

daniel.watson@evsck12.com

http://elearningcoach.weebly.com/

@eLearningWatson