Posts Tagged ‘learning’

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NJ Students Collaborating

Saturday, November 14th, 2009

Kristen Alloway of the Star-Ledger has written a nice article, Students discovering online collaboration, on how students are using various web2.0 tools for their own learning. Shown the tools and given basic instruction by their teachers, students are now taking advantage of these instructional aids on their own, absent specific direction, because they realize how beneficial the organization and collaboration is to their learning. "Students are writing on wiki pages, blogging about their classroom activities, recording audio files for band practice, videoconferencing with people around the globe and chatting online about literature."

The article goes on to address how students are using wikis, blogs, video-conferencing and instant messaging, all within the context of their classes.

"All of those things add up to higher levels of achievement," said Chris Dede, a professor in learning technologies at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education. "It’s not so much the technology, it’s about how to make meaning out of the complex by using technology as a partner."

The article is an exciting glimpse into a practical, well-reasoned, and appropriate implemention of technology into students' learning.

 

[via @kloza]

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Getting It Wrong

Friday, October 23rd, 2009

Scientific American has an excellent article summarizing recent research on how the brain learns, and how the cognitive process of learning interacts with the physiology of it. Getting It Wrong: Surprising tips on how to learn by Henry L Roediger and Brigid Finn is well worth reading by anyone who works creates situations in which someone learns a new skill or new content knowledge.

The short version is this: "People remember things better, longer, if they are given very challenging tests on the material, tests at which they are bound to fail."

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OrganicPad & Clemson

Tuesday, October 13th, 2009

OrganicPad logoI am currently sitting in a presentation by Sam Bryfczynski, a Computer Science graduate student at Clemson, who is working closely with the Chemistry department at the university on developing a pen-computing based application, OrganicPad, that allows students to free-hand draw chemistry molecules. The teacher's program creates an ad-hoc network that the client-applications connect to. This allows the teacher to push assignments out to the student laptops, and students to submit their work to the teacher for display on the class screen. The program can also automatically correct simple errors, such as too many bonds between certain elements. As cool as the program is, I am also fascinated by how it is used in the classroom - and by how the issue of tablet PC availability is solved.

Even though almost every student at Clemson has a laptop, a small number have tablets - and this program's use in class requires a tablet pc. To overcome the obvious problem here, the University has a departmental set of tablets that students check-out upon entering the class. So even though the students have their own laptops, they use a school machine when using the application in class. This is perhaps a solution that many secondary schools can pursue as they go 1-to-1. The students do not necessarily need to have a tablet PC of their own to utilize pen-based applications in the Math and Science disciplines.

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The 7 Habits

Friday, September 25th, 2009

Educational Leadership, Oct 2009In the October issue of the ASCD's Educational Leadership is an article by Stephen R. Covey (of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People fame), examining a magnet elementary school in Raleigh, North Carolina, whose primary mission is teaching skills and habits of leadership to students. "Since adopting the leadership theme in 1999, the school has more than doubled its enrollment, raised test scores, and won numerous awards. But what parents speak of the most is the improvement in students' self-confidence."

Like our Expected Schoolwide Learning Results (ESLRs), A.B. Combs elementary school focuses attention of the skills of leadership by using a version of Covey's 7 Habits for Highly Effective People that have been modified for elementary school students:

  1. Be proactive.
    I am a responsible person. I take initiative. I choose my actions, attitudes, and moods. I do not blame others for my wrong actions. I do the right thing without being asked, even when no one is looking.
  2. Begin with the end in mind.
    I plan ahead and set goals. I do things that have meaning and make a difference. I am an important part of my classroom and contribute to my school's mission and vision.
  3. Put first things first.
    I spend my time on things that are most important. This means I say no to things I know I should not do. I set priorities, make a schedule, and achieve my goals. I am disciplined and organized.
  4. Think win-win.
    I balance courage for getting what I want with consideration for what others want. I make deposits in others' emotional bank accounts. When conflicts arise, I look for third alternatives. I look for ways to be a good citizen.
  5. Seek first to understand, then to be understood.
    I listen to other people's ideas and feelings. I try to see things from their viewpoints. I listen to others without interruption. I am confident in voicing my ideas. I look people in the eyes when talking.
  6. Synergize.
    I value other people's strengths and learn from them. I work well in groups, even with people who are different from me. I seek out other people's ideas to solve problems because I know that by teaming with others we can create better solutions than any one of us can alone. I am humble.
  7. Sharpen the saw.
    I take care of my body by eating right, exercising, and getting sleep. I spend time with family and friends. I learn in lots of ways and lots of places, not just at school. I take time to find meaningful ways to help others.

Okay, I too wonder whether "synergize" is the best word to use with elementary school students, but, all the same, these are amazing lessons for students - and adults, alike - to learn. Aside from nit-picking the wording and wanting to add spiritual formation to #7, I cannot find anything wrong with these "ESLRs." I would be proud to teach these habits to my students, and I have to ask myself, Do I?

To what degree do we actively, purposefully, intentionally teach habits such as these to our students?

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Constructivism instead of a Movie Day

Sunday, September 20th, 2009

Back from Kairos and still barely treading water, I need a day to catch up. Years ago, I might have shown a documentary tomorrow in my World History 1 class, but I'll try something different this time: a constructivist lesson wherein the students become responsible for teaching themselves and each other.

In terms of outcomes, I want students to be able to:

  1. trace the impact of Indo-European migrations on language, literature, technology, and social classes,
  2. analyze how Hinduism and Buddhism changed over time, and
  3. explain how the Minoans and the Phoenicians spread trade and civilization in the Mediterranean.

In my absence, students read about the 1,500 years covered by these outcomes. Using CatLink's News Forum (which sends a post into each student's @siprep.org inbox), I asked students to bring their laptop to class if they have one.

World History 1,

I'm back from leading the Senior retreat - though I haven't caught up with your grades and such yet. For Monday's class, it would be helpful if you brought your laptop to school. If you don't have one, that's okay - we'll make do with what we have.

Those of you who do have a laptop to use in class, you'll need to bring it to the Tech Office before class, so you can access the school's internet connection. Just bring your laptop into the Tech Office and they'll set it up for your in no time.

- Castro

At the beginning of class, I'll see who has brought a laptop and who hasn't, and students will pair up, Haves and Have-nots. (This does introduce a certain element of classism that I am very uncomfortable with.)

Then, they will complete a digital worksheet, reviewing key concepts that they had read about in my absence. I made the worksheet with the Form function in Google Docs - it took no more than ten-minutes. The results get dumped into an easy-to-grade spreadsheet.

Second, the partners will work on creating a brief presentation on an assigned portion of the Chapter they read. They will present their topic area tomorrow (giving me a second day to catch up, while reviewing the key material with their classmates.) The directions, in the form of a Google Doc, took another ten-minutes to prepare, and the demo Presentation took just five-minutes.

All-in-all, I spent 25-minutes and was able to create two days worth of lessons. The resulting lessons are far better than simply showing a movie, I feel, but, at the same time, I'll get the breathing room that I need to catch back up after things being so hectic these last few weeks.

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New South Wales student laptop initiative

Sunday, September 6th, 2009

This video was produced as an infomercial for the New South Wales Digital Education Revolution, wherein every student in grades 9 through 12 will be provided with a new laptop. It does not highlight everything that I would choose to, but the audience is both parents and students alike, so the message gets mixed a little.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-T71zmupiA

For us, the important thing is that even in this economy, people across the world are realizing that an education preparing students for the 21st Century requires tools and opportunities beyond what many families can provide. It's not a 21st Century education for some students, but for all.

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10 Ways to Increase Engagement

Monday, August 24th, 2009
The Aug/ Sept issue of Edutopia has a very nice article by Tristan de Frondeville, Your Attention, Please!, that lists ten simple ways to increase engagement in class. Students cannot learn material or skills that they do not attend to; consciousness is serial - it shifts from one single item to another. In a handy book sitting on the shelves behind me, Jeff Davidson writes in The Complete Guide to Public Speaking, that the average audience member can sustain focus for only seven-minutes. Thus, it is not good enough to simply gain students' attention once; we must constantly gain and re-gain their attention. De Frondville suggests that teachers:
  1. Start class with a mind warm-up
  2. Use movement to get kids focused
  3. Teach students how to collaborate before expecting success
  4. Use quickwrites when you want quiet time and student reflection
  5. Run a tight ship when giving instructions
  6. Use a fairness cup to keep students thinking
  7. Use signaling to allow everyone to answer your question
  8. Use minimal supervision tasks to squeeze dead time out of regular routines
  9. Mix up your teaching styles
  10. Create teamwork tactics that emphasize accountability
As we head into the new year with new students, now is a good time to try out some new instructional strategies. Maybe pick one from the article, and incorporate it into your routine in the First Quarter. Me? I'm going to try using more quickwrites in the middle of class instead of just using them as possible warm-ups.

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Duke University

Saturday, July 25th, 2009

Here is Professor Cathy N. Davidson, of Duke University's English Department, describing teaching and learning in a digital age.

I like how she required students to create knowledge that was published to the world with the intention of fostering the common good. This is using Bloom's Taxonomy is a meaningful and purposeful way.

After watching the video, what strikes you most as being predictive of 21st Century teaching and learning?

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Educational games from Alfred Nobel?

Sunday, July 12th, 2009

I have posted before about educational games and the rise of simulations in education. I have even scoffed at Marc Prensky's approach. But here, here are are some educational games and simulations that I can get behind. Why? Because each is based on the work that earned someone a Nobel Prize.

  • Maybe you teach Psychology and can use a game that teaches the in's and out's of Pavlov's dog.
  • Maybe you teach English and can use a game based on Lord of the Flies.
  • Or perhaps you teach Bio and are interested in a simulation based on 2001 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine concerning the governance of the cell cycle.
  • Or maybe students in your Social Science or Religious Studies course could use a game about nuclear proliferation.
  • Economics? Students can "play" a game that walks them through the Heckscher-Ohlin Theory.
  • Chem? Surely conductive polymers will grab the attention of students. Heck, even I'm intrigued.
  • Other disciplines and courses, check out the full listing to see if there is something that your students can use.

Certainly, you could lecture at students about each of these topics, letting them take notes; maybe you could even put together a PowerPoint so they could watch slides as you talk about the topic. The advantage to quality educational games like these is that students are engaged in the learning; they are active participants in the learning, and co-discoverers of knowledge. That is what 21st Century teaching and learning is about; it is not the technology, but the engagement, the student-centered learning, and the construction of understanding, guided by a knowledgeable and caring teacher.

Nobelprize.org/educational_games

[via @russeltarr]


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NECC Opening Night

Monday, June 29th, 2009

I am in Washington DC attending the International Society for Technology in Education's 30th annual National Educational Computing Conference. In the conference-opening address by ISTE president Helen Padgett, she made a poignant observation about the 21st Century, "Excellence in teaching and learning will only be achieved when our students feel that stepping into their school is a step forward and not a step back in time." And then the keynote speaker, Malcolm Gladwell, spoke about three necessary components for meaningful learning:

  • time, mastery takes time-on-task;
  • failure, learning builds on previous failures; and
  • effort, motivation and an attitude of dedication and diligence are greater predictors of success than so-called natural talent.
This is shaping up to be a great conference, full of leading-edge thinking that aligns quite nicely with the beliefs about teaching and learning prevalent in Jesuit education.

PS
To get a better idea of what Malcolm Gladwell's keynote address was like, you can check out his TED Talk, wherein he ostensibly spoke about spaghetti sauce. In a similar vein, he spoke last night about Fleetwood Mac.


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