Hi,
This blog post might be a little all over the place but I have so many different things going through my head today that I can’t really focus on one so will be rambling through a couple of different topics.
Firstly a quick reflection on my previous blog post. on A couple of comments mentioned how the need to integrate technology can be a daunting for teachers who are not comfortable with technology. This reminded me of an article I read a couple of weeks ago on Mindshift. Although this article was focused on moving to the next level I felt the goals of what is was asking were very high and so difficult to attain that it may put people off. It set out 6 questions that if any are answered no the use of technology should be questioned.
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Did the assignment create capacity for critical thinking on the Web?
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Did the assignment reach new areas of teaching students to develop new lines of inquiry?
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Are there opportunities to broaden the perspective of the conversation with authentic audiences from around the world?
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Is there an opportunity for students to publish (across various media) with an opportunity for continuous feedback?
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Is there an option for students to create a contribution (purposeful work)?
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Were students introduced to the best example in the world of the content or skill?
This is a an excellent list of questions for reflecting on planning but it is a daunting set of goals even for someone who is using technology in the classroom frequently. We still live in a world were there are teachers who are barely comfortable with adding transtitions to Powerpoints (this maybe an exagerration but you get my point) and I sometimes worry has the general tone of the technology in education discussion moved on to quickly from “dabbling” being acceptable. I think a lot of articles I have read are targeted for teachers who are comfortable with technology but we are the ones who will get there (eventually!) and I feel we need to continue to focus and encourage those other teacher to dabble and mess around more freely and be proud of any additions they make.
Secondly Rebekah encouraged my to check out Jeff’s talk from Learning2 and it was great!
Click here to view the embedded video.
It really made me thing about how I can use technology to foster critical thinking, communication and collaboration in my classroom. I have begun to expand the Edmodo network my kids are connected to to create a better network for them to collaborate across and communicate in. I liked the idea of this generation learning through “chaos and discovery” and had an experience of that this week in the classroom when using Mathletics for the first time to prepare for the World Education Games. I had never used Mathletics before but I trusted that my kids would figure it out and they didn’t disappoint. They were encouraged by my response of “I don’t know, so work together to figure it out” and pretty quickly the class was running itself. Only problem is, I still don’t know how to use so i might need to book in for some lessons with my class next week! .
Moving onto global collaborative projects this is not something I have really considered before but having done some reading this week I felt that little knot of excitement when you find something that makes you go, This is cool!!” I loved the “Dots around the world” project because of its simplicity and ease of use for everyone involved.
Retrieved from: http://teachingsagittarian.com/blog/2012/09/03/dots-around-the-world-collaborative-project/
And what a way to make children engaged in whatever they are doing! Looking at the project has helped me think that I can do this, now it is just a matter of finding an idea that will work! Kim’s Step-by-Step was also very good for showing how something that can seem quite difficult to begin with (like a Global project…where do you start!!) be more manageable when you break it down!
FInally the Tedx talk by Dan Meyer “must watch” from this week has shown me a way forward with my math teaching. I like the idea of switching it up to let the children create the problem and I will be using the term “Patient problem solvers” to encourage my children to continue to work on a problem and figure it out rather than relying on the putting your hand up get out clause!
Looking forward to seeing everybody’s course one final projects next week!
Cheers,
Paul