ISV Showcase and Wrap-up

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Hello one and all!

It’s been along time since we’ve seen one another, but this is a great day when we get to do two main things:

  1. Share our experiments integrating ICTs and authentic learning
  2. Look toward 2014 and discuss strategies to support successful change.

Update

Because it’s been a while since our last session, please update everyone on some of the things you’ve been up to in the interim.  Use the Comments feature of this post to do this, so then later people can reply to you to leave their feedback when we get into “Sharing” next.

Sharing

Below are links to things workshop participants have used or developed this year.  Please take time to look through each and then Leave a comment for the author.

Concurrent Activity: 2014 and Beyond: Making Personal Learning a Reality

Andrew
Ben
Gjulsime
Ian
Jasmine
Jo
Narelle
Penny
Sadia
Sonia
Taya

2014

Schoolwide
Personal

Resources

Here are some other resources people have found useful that they wanted to share.

Web 2.0
Apps

Review & Farewell

  • Debrief 2014
  • Reviewing Next Era Ed

26 thoughts on “ISV Showcase and Wrap-up”

  1. Hello All!
    Well, looking back, this has been a very “eventful” time for me – considering that I have had two terms off to travel and reflect. Beginning in May, I started what I called my “sabbatical” or self-provided “long service leave” (since I run my ow consulting business). The first part was a month in Cambodia where I’ve been volunteering and getting to know the country and its people this past year. I then visited family & friends in the US (San Diego, Tucson and Asheville) before heading back to my home town of Milwaukee where I hadn’t been in about 35 years! It was a great time to reflect on my “next chapter” – see Tom 2.0 as my youngest has now “flown the coop.”
    Professionally, I’ve gotten 2/3 of the way through a book / PL approach and worked with a few schools (Northside Christian College!) and hit upon a good vision-setting routine that I’ll share with you. I think that’s enough…
    Cheers, Tom

    Reply

  2. This ICT journey for me started last year when I began full time teaching again after about 15 years of home schooling my family. I was warned that my ‘dislike’ and ‘avoidance’ of anything related to computers would come back to bite me. (my husbands words). Well I am happy to say that my brain is handling it well, I have not been ‘bitten’ other than by an ICT bug. So I am slowly putting together resources for my classes to use via wordpress, am dabbling in other APPS, and now have an iPad to help me with that one. I have attended a number of PDs on App use and our school does a Techie Brekki about once a fortnight to teach us ‘oldies’ how to use the apps in the classroom. I am big on using Edmodo and now that it has its own Apps am starting to use them too. In all of that…I am gonna be a grandma in about 6 weeks…the most technologically advanced thing to happen this year….!

    I am finding my practical sewing and cooking classes have become more engaging as I use more ICT and get them to use it by keeping track of their work via pictures put on edmodo and working towards getting them to present their work via apps that will suit this type of practical work. Presentation of their work/portfolios, via wordpress or other relevant apps is an area I am working towards….

    Reply

  3. How have I fostered student learning:

    I have used the ‘Look-to-Learn’ strategy to enable students to engage with rich media and build tools for processing the information. We have added one thinking tool each week (or sometimes more) displayed on laminated sheets at the front of the classroom. We have then used these tools to engage with short clips/images, episodes of Behind the News as well as written media through a reading journal. Students have given much richer responses than if no structure is offered. Students have also learned to compare – I have loved to see them engage with a YouTube clip and then an excerpt from a novel using the same tool – this gives them a forum for understanding digital media as text. In addition, building up a repository of tools has enabled students to latch on to the type of processing that works best for them (catering to different learning styles) as well as being stretched in ways of thinking with which they may feel less comfortable.

    I have also used a WordPress blog to conduct homework for my Year 7 students. Each week they watch an embedded YouTube clip and then answer an online quiz. I have used Google Forms to create and assess the quizzes. I have found this has aided consistency in terms of homework completion and has helped connect classwork and homework. Again – it allows students to engage with rich media and bring their responses back to the classroom.

    Reply

  4. Hi all,

    In my Learning Support, Year 7 context I’ve been doing the following;

    Student learning has been fostered by integrating ICT in such a way that I am both differentiating and modifying the work that my students attempt.
    I am using Elementary Maths Mastery (EMM) downloadable vodcasts, accessed via the school’s Moodle platform, which allows my students to work at their own level. They can skip ahead, redo lessons or just concentrate on selected questions. The program is well-scaffolded, which means
    The lesson are about 5 minutes long and, because students can pause, rewind and skip, students can take whatever time they need to complete work to the best of their ability.
    Differentiation is catered for by allowing students multiple entry points with the lessons. I can have one student on lesson 10 and another on lesson 10. They can go lesson by lesson, skip 5, 10 or even more once they demonstrate competency.
    Modifying work is catered for by having some students attempt only selected lessons or questions. Some students will skip 10 plus lessons until the y reach a level of challenge for them. Others start at lesson one, working one-on-one with an aide to have the questions and solutions scaffolded. Other only attempt only some targeted questions.
    Future focuses for me are;
    • Using Google Docs to have students develop class cheat sheets for Maths concepts
    • Investigate Mahara as an E-portfolio for students.

    Cheers,

    Andrew

    Reply

  5. In my classroom we have been using our classroom blog to communicate and reflect on our units of inquiry. Groups during exhibition used the blog as a communication and sharing tool with their teams. Some of them shared their keynotes, thing link pictures etc. students love to use poppet to do their brainstorming and had the chance to use explain everything when looking into Maths inquiry questions.

    Reply

  6. My role and responsibilities at work have diversified and evolved throughout my career. Never more so than in the past few years with the excitement of ICT initiatives. Everyday is a challenge, a learning experience and I would have it no other way.
    This year having the opportunity to “up-skill” in ICT has broadened my experiences and outlook, opening up a whole new dimension to my teaching.
    I began with establishing a personal blog to record my thoughts and discoveries that I started during my long service leave holiday overseas. I quickly discovered that it was addictive.
    On my return, I set up a classroom blog. I am using this more and more,although not as much as I would like to as I try and juggle that and our school required platform called Schoology. I do think that I have a better understanding of Schoology because of my exploration of WordPress.
    Look to Learn prompts have become a tool that our whole school is now using. Through my own personal exploration of Look to learn, Thinking Routines and reading Visible Thinking, I found another avenue of Harvard’s Project Zero- Artful Thinking. These thinking routines are aimed specifically at the Arts.
    I have been able to use some of the skills to established a blog (Edublog) for a student that I supervise who has been withdrawn from several classes and is on a modified ILP. He is writing more than he ever has previously because it is HIS space and he is writing about things HE is interested in.
    Finally I begun exploring other potential uses for our school which lead me to set up for 2014 an online school art gallery. The Media, Music and Woodwork departments are equally as enthusiastic to contribute.

    Reply

    • Hi Jo,

      Sounds like you’ve come a long way and used the skills and tools in significant ways. Thanks for sharing and it will be good to explore.
      Tom —

      Reply

  7. After leaving our first session with Tom I was super keen to keep going with my WordPress blog. When I got back to school I realised that our secondary school uses Schoology and although it does very similar stuff to WordPress, it needs a username and password to access it. What I really like about WordPress is that it’s public. So I wasn’t sure where to go and busy teaching lead to not going ahead with either 🙁 I had an Ipad trial through ISV. We had Ipads for 10 weeks, which was great! The Grade 1s were so engaged and loved using different apps to enhance their learning. In our class we have an interactive whiteboard. The kids use this for whole class time and small group time. We have done a couple of ‘Look to Learn’ activities which has given the kids time to think deeply. We also have 5 desktops in our room. The kids use this to access different learning activities, to publish their work and use the internet to access information. At our school we have a time each fortnight called ‘Pedagogy Pals’. This is a time where the Teaching and Learning Committee facilitate teacher learning. Our topics this year have been, differentiation, Kagan Cooperative learning, Look to Learn activities and how to integrate ICT into our teaching. Tom also came to our school for 2 days. He got us to think about our school learning statement & helped us to think about our future direction.

    Reply

    • Hi Taya,

      Thanks for this. What are the plans for iPads in the future with the littlies? It’s been great working with NCC. Tom

      Reply

  8. My own learning:
    • How to create, use and manage a blog for classroom use.
    • New ways to integrate the blog into weekly planning- using QR codes which send students to a post on the blog for discussion and comments

    Student learning:
    I have been able to foster student learning by:
    • Using iPads in more ways than one- and not just using games and/or dictionary
    • Giving all students a chance to ‘think aloud’, using the ‘Look-to-Learn’ tools, which was guided, focused and purposeful.
    • Sharing ideas on class blog, whereby students were able to see different opinions and viewpoints and even comment on their peer’s responses.
    • Grabbing students’ attention by using a variety of apps for assessment, hence making lessons more interesting and insightful.

    Reply

    • How do you use the ‘think aloud’ strategy in a classroom – in discussion? Whole class? Small group? Writing things down?

      Reply

    • Hi Gjulsime,

      Welcome back! Nice use of the QR codes – thanks for sharing it. I’d like to hear what you think are some of the best ways to use the iPad for student learning.
      Thanks! Tom

      Reply

  9. Hello,
    Since the last session, I’ve used ICT in the classroom not as much as I initially wanted.
    I have made a wordpress blog for each of my classes where I post their weekly lessons and share links. The students can easily comment and ask questions.
    The students use educreations on their iPads to create short videos. Todaysmeet is also a handy tool for sharing ideas in class. Voice recording on the iPad is great as well.

    Reply

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