Little things can grab someone’s attention. I recently read an article by John Waters Engaging Students with Active Learning where he stated that you can increase student interest in your class just by adding the word EXTREME to the title. His example was “Weather and Climate” to “Extreme Weather.” Amazing. It really does grab your attention a bit more, doesn’t it?
I’ve been working on doing something similar to one of my courses – Technology for Teachers. I’m not adding Extreme to the title, but I have been “gamifying” it by changing some of the vocabulary and offering more choice. Sometimes the thought of technology in the classroom, especially to a new teacher, can be a bit scary.
So I’ve added a few elements to the course to peak curiosity. I am asking students to defeat the techno monster through Experience Points (XP – commonly known as points). I show them how to not only survive the course, but how to thrive in it through a set of choice quests (assignments). I believe by changing just a few terms in the class, it will heighten student interest. Alice Keeler has written a lot about how to gamify a classroom and although I am not going all out, I am trying to change a few elements, such as course vocabulary, to create interest.
Want to learn a little more? Check out some of these resources!
The Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) is a leading proponent of the Universal Design for Learning (UDL). “Universal design for learning (UDL) is a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn. Watch the video below to get an overview of UDL” (CAST).
We know that all students learn differently. As educators, it is important to understand that one-size does not fit all. I am my own example. My strength is visual learning. Even at my age, I have a hard time listening to someone speak longer than 20 minutes. I seriously get antsy. I need to move my legs. My mind wanders. I start to make-up jokes in my head to entertain myself. Sorry, I’m just being honest here! I need to be engaged with pictures and movement. UDL offers a framework for creating learning environments that are flexible and help accommodate various learning styles.
I recently stumbled upon UDL on Campus. It is a guide for Universal Design in Higher Education. It begins with assessment. “This resource describes how to apply the principles of UDL to postsecondary assessments to help identify and minimize construct-irrelevant barriers in order to increase the relevance and accuracy of assessment measures.” There are also guides for choosing media/technology, improving institutional policies, planning your course, and teaching approaches. Innovations and the increase in technology have helped increase accessibility of course content to students, an important factor of UDL. UDL on Campus provides a guide to blended learning and planning core content through synchronous and asynchronous examples.
UDL works through these 3 principles (UDL on Campus)
1. Representation: High quality learning environments must provide multiple means of representing concepts.
2. Action and Expression: High-quality learning environments must include multiple ways for acting upon material, as well as demonstrating knowledge and understanding.
3. Engagement: Students must be able to engage with the content and with each other in a variety of ways.
So please – don’t always lecture (representation). Do something other than chapter tests (action & expression). Allow students to engage with the instructor and with each other in a variety of ways (Poll Everywhere, Socrative, student-lead discussions, Twitter, hands-on projects, etc.)
Want to learn more? Check out some of these resources:
Infographics are graphics that provide information. There are three parts to infographics – visuals, content, and the knowledge. Statistics and facts usually form the content, although there are other forms of information that could be used. The information and graphic should somehow give insight into the topic and this is the knowledge. Faculty can easily create infographics to provide visuals to students for course content, and students in turn can create infographics to portray their understanding and research.
One tool that I have written about is a great web-based infographic creator – Piktochart.
Their easy-to-use-templates make it possible for anyone to create a visually stunning infographic! (Over 100 free templates available!)
AND…Piktochart turns 3 in March! Piktochart is committed to nurturing creativity in school and colleges. Through March they will be giving out free PRO Piktochart packages to teachers to use Piktochart in the classroom. The PRO package includes 1 year access to 30-40 students (a $300 value!). So…how do you get yours?
“If you are a school practitioner (teacher/lecturer at any educational institution at any age from anywhere in the world) and are interested in this giveaway, please submit a 1-minute video of you and your students on why you would like to receive a PRO subscription on Piktochart and how you will use it in your class. Tell us where you are from and the name of the school you are teaching at. Next, upload the video on YouTube, title it “Piktochart’s 3rd Anniversary” and email me atstanislava@piktochart.com to let us know that the video has been uploaded. We will get back to you soon after. Videos must be submitted between the 1st and 31st of March 2015.
Terms and Conditions:
– Videos may be shared on our social media pages and/or featured on the blog
– Limited to the first 500 video applicants
– Piktochart is at sole discretion of deciding on the final recipients of the giveaway
– Terms and conditions may change without prior notice”
It’s a little early to submit a video yet – but start thinking about what you could do! It’s easy to tape yourself using a cell phone. Don’t stress over it! Just get it done. 🙂
When I taught K-12, I often gave students a choice of assignments. It enabled students to take a personal interest in the topic, engaged students, allowed for creativity, and helped differentiate to accommodate learning styles. As a university instructor, I started wondering why this wasn’t done more at the university level. As an instructor in the School of Education, I found myself teaching “this is what you should do” and yet I wasn’t really doing it. So – I made the decision. Why not? Why not offer teacher candidates a choice of assignment activities? This semester I created “menus” for assignments in one of my courses with “dinner” (must-do), the “selection” (choose one for your choice) and “dessert” (optional resources that reinforce the work for the week. CLICK HERE to see an example. I have found that the choice option has been well received. I know I certainly appreciate being offered a choice. Although we might not want to offer a choice all the time, and it wouldn’t work for all instances, with a bit of thought and creativity you can still achieve your objectives and offer a choice at the same time. Here are a couple ideas:
2. 2-5-8 List. Give the directions that students must choose only 2 activities that add up to a total of 10 points. (Or choose 3 activities that add up to 15 points, etc.)
2 point activities – Knowledge & Comprehension
5 point activities – Application & Analysis
8 point activities – Synthesis & Evaluation
Under the activities, come up with assignments that fit under the specific categories of Knowledge – Evaluation. Basically with this option, students would have to choose 2 application and analysis assignments or one knowledge/comprehension and one synthesis/evaluation.
3. Tic-Tac-Toe Extension Menu: Create a tic-tac-toe board with assignments in each box. Ask students to complete the items in order to form a tic-tac-toe. Strategically place leveled assignments in the boxes. I have even seen a board with a “free choice” in the middle with students submitting a proposal form to the instructor. You might end up with a very creative assignment!
4. Baseball Game (Or another sports related theme) Allow students to add up the assignments to made 100 points.
Singles – 10 pt
Doubles – 30 pt
Triples – 50 pt
Homerun – 100 pt
Again, strategically decide what would constitute assignments at each level.
How about you? Do any of you have another way that you offers students a choice when it comes to assignments?
As an instructor at the university level, I often need to use presentations to guide my own lecture as I share information with my students. A presentation can help keep me on a straight path. I have battled how to view my own notes. I can’t write notes into the PowerPoint section because our projector system mirrors our podium computers so if they show on the computer, they will show on the projector. Of course, I could bring my own laptop and choose the projector as a secondary source that I could use for the presentation view, but I don’t like to do that either. I can print off notes – but I feel like carrying around a stack of papers and trying to give a quick glance down at my notes is tacky.
I’ve tried using my iPad for notes and using a clicker to change slides because I like to walk around the room. That’s just too much to hold and I fumble around trying to figure out which one I’m clicking. Then, I talked to GLEN and he shared with me SlideShark. Thanks, Glen!
First, load your presentation, with notes, into the FREE SlideShark app. Next, click “broadcast” in the app and send the broadcast URL to your email. On the podium computer, pull up the email and open the link. The presentation will show to the class via the projector and you can control the slides from your iPad. The nicest thing? I can see my notes in the app while I control the presentation. It even has an annotation tool and laser pointer controlled through the app. I can easily walk around the room, talk, control the presentation, and see my notes without trying to hook up to the Apple TV. That’s right, Jessup instructors! It doesn’t matter which room you are in. You don’t need Apple TV!
Student view on the screen – They see the presentation!
Teacher can choose to just see and control the slides on the iPad.
Here it is on the teacher/iPad view with notes. Just tap the slides to advance to the next one.
Look closely and you’ll see the choice to write on the presentation with annotation tools!
Last week I attended the Global Leadership Summit and it was, as usual, amazing. One speaker I thoroughly enjoyed was Susan Cain, author of Quiet, The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking. Yes, I am an introvert. I prefer to be alone and although I love collaborating, I do my best work when I am by myself. I get terrified talking in front of groups. Two days ago I spoke at our faculty retreat on the subject Inspiring Learning by Empowering Students and I spent the weekend dreading how I would get through it. Through the grace and power of God, I did~! I find that if I visualize what I want to do beforehand, that helps. Our faculty knows that I walk around each day, at some point, to connect with others around campus. Believe me, this is not in my nature. I have to force myself to go out and talk to new people. It is not my comfort level!
Many of our students are introverts. In fact, it may be as many as 50%.
(Sorry, Susan…I am not an artist! You are much prettier than this note!)
How can technology help introverts? I can think of many ways but I want to share just two:
Moodle Discussion Board! (or use of LMS discussion board posts)
I am specifying Moodle simply because our university uses Moodle. However, there are many other platforms that may be used such as Edmodo, Canvas, Blackboard, etc. Why use discussion board posts when students can have a discussion in class? (Did you read the title? smile) — to help reach our introverted students. Students may not be as apt to speak up in class and more apt to have a deeper discussion using a forum post. Allow for different discussion formats in your class and try out using a discussion/forum post at least a few times in the semester if you have the tools available to you!
Blogging
As a Google apps school, we have EASY access to Google sites. A site can be created with just a few clicks and students may use it to blog about any question or topic. Try having them research a topic of interest in your content area and teach the class about it through a blog post! Google sites allows for privacy control so the site may be shared with just the instructor, the school, or the world. We were discussing at our retreat the fact that many students do not read their text books. How about having them blog about each of their reading assignments? They can write about what stood out to them the most, state their opinion, or even ask questions of their peers.
Two weeks ago I offered a giveaway for a $10 Starbucks or Peet’s card to one random person. Congratulations goes out to Carol P. in Florida! I wanted to find out how others keep students engaged in their classrooms because it consistently is a hot topic among educators. Here are some of the ideas shared:
One thing I found successful for engaging students was using an app on the iPads where students would record their reports. I would give the assignment and have students research and write the necessary information. Then I would have them respond to a prompt regarding their research and record it on the iPad. (There are numerous apps for student recording, I like Face talk where you take a picture and the mouth moves while students talk, or Photospeak … Students would practice then record their responses. The iPads would be rotated to a new student that would listen to the report and have to write 2-3 questions about the topic reported. The recording their voice was exciting as well as coming up with questions about someone else s report. The students were excited that they did not have to stand in front of the entire class, yet they could record their report and quietly share with another student. This was an activity they asked to do over and over again! (Libby Jacobs)
Libby mentioned a tool called “Photospeak” which I decided to download and try. It is a free download on iTunes. It was easy to use…and I admit a little freaky! It turns any picture into 3D and then allows you to put a voice with it. The image will blink, speak, and move. I used an older photo of my son and tested it out. I showed it to him and his response was, “Ew! That’s freaky and I don’t like it!” Now, by “I don’t like it” he wasn’t talking about the program – he was talking about his own picture coming to life and talking. He didn’t like the picture! I think it would definitely be an interesting app to use in the classroom.
One of my favorite activities was with my 10-12 grade Introduction to Business students during the Marketing Unit. They needed to learn the 7 functions of marketing so I took them on a QR code scavenger hunt. At each stop (there were 7 of them) they used their phones or iPad to scan a QR code that took them to an article, short video, or slideshow providing them with information on the 7 functions. The stops were in 7 different locations around the school. I could have done the same thing in the classroom as whole group instruction but this method of getting them to get up and move around kept them engaged in the content. I must admit it was a lot more work to create but it was so worth it and will be easy to update with new & current information as the years move on. (Sara Bird)
I love Sara’s idea because getting students up and moving helps with engagement. I know students would enjoy bringing out their cell phones and scanning a code to watch a video clip around campus.
I have encouraged students to create videos when doing a final project for our human body unit. I have encouraged them to create a commercial on either the effects of drugs and alcohol or a nutritional video. Last year I had a student use his lego people to accomplish this. So fun! I also had a couple of students create a radio ad instead of videos. Another project was having students video tape their Rube Goldberg project – this was fun as well! (Jennifer T)
Our faculty just finished another digital storytelling course. We used WeVideo to create our final videos. It is free and user friendly. If students have a tablet there are several apps that create videos such as Explain Everything. How about just using the video capabilities on a smartphone? They upload easily to YouTube. Podcasts (radio ads) can be created using Audacity, Podbean, and Podcast (available on the iPhone).
My very simple tech idea is useful for language teaching or any sort of vocabulary learning. The students actually told me about Study Blue, a phone app where they can enter information and review it. At the beginning of each chapter, I ask the most advanced students in the class, typically quickly done with class work, to open a page accessible to the whole class and type in the vocabulary list for that unit. That way everyone can memorize the words at their own pace using the app, and the kids who would be very challenged to even type in the words correctly do not have to deal with the data entry part, just the word recognition part. It is a great way to differentiate learning the same material. (Margaret H.)
I have written many times about StudyBlue because it is an amazing app. Read more about it HERE and HERE.
My favorite is to use videogames in Higher Ed English comp courses to engage students with ideas of learning, learning assessment and disciplinary knowledge. My favorite is Vampire Physics on addictinggames.com. With most students familiar with at least 2 different vampire mythologies, this helps open the discussion about disciplinary knowledge. I have a smart classroom, so I project the game and ask volunteers to play for us, while everyone adds help, questions, ideas about learning, etc. while we play. (ngrahampfannen)
In an upper division course, I taught with only two students. I had them take turns lecturing/giving presentations on the material instead of me lecturing the whole time. It allowed them to practice presenting mathematical content and also allowed them to exercise their board use technique. Finally, I could conduct informal tests of their understanding of the material they were presenting by asking them to clarify or expand statements or examples. (BWagner)
Giving students control of the content can be a great motivator. As stated in my original post, I know my son would love doing this! (I think he secretly wants to be a teacher and just won’t admit it yet!)
As an ELA middle school teacher, I used many techniques for both the content and context of our learning. One of the favorites of the students was Morphology Jeopardy, which was done first with teams using their notes they had written throughout the year in their Interactive Student Notebooks (fantastic tool!) The Powerpoint had images within each of the categories, and the students had to correctly identify them. They were especially challenged by the Greek vs. Latin section, but loved the format for review. With a few tweaks, the Powerpoint became the final quiz. (thouchard)
When I taught 4th grade, I often used PowerPoint Jeopardy. Students loved it! Yes, I believe it could be used in almost any grade level. Adults enjoy Jeopardy too, right? This site has some Jeopardy templates. Give it a try!
Finally, Jenice sent this in:
My kids enjoy teachers that use a mix of technology in class. Watch a video to hook them into a topic or have them do presentations in different formats. As a parent I appreciate when teachers use technology to reach out the parents, help us find the information to assist our kids with homework. We use quizlet a lot and thanks to wjuedtech PowToon has become a fun way for my kids to do presentations! Thank You (Jenice Sabra)
I’m happy to hear that your kids benefitted from PowToons! I hope they “wow-ed” their teachers.
Clicker systems are a great way to gather student responses. However, it requires either the school or the student to purchase a clicker. There are many free tools (or low cost tools) available today without having to purchase a clicker.
Ask your audience a question and allow them to respond using a web browser, Twitter, or mobile phone. This flexibility of choice is nice! Poll Everywhere is free and easy to use. There are advanced features, that have an additional fee, such as grading, attendance, and response moderation.
Socrative is another web-based student response system. Run quick questions, quizzes, and even games. Socrative Videos is a great source for learning more about all the features. Students may respond using laptops, smartphones, or tablets. Get instant feedback AND reports.
GoSoapBox is another free web-based clicker tool. One nice feature that GoSoapBox offers is the confusion barometer:
Students simply indicate whether they “get it” or not. Create real-time polls and quizzes and like the other tools, download the reports.
There are many more tools out there. I haven’t tried them all – but feel free to explore them until you find one that works for you! I’d love to hear your thoughts on student response systems and web-based clickers!
One strategy teachers can use to engage students is to offer them a sense of choice. I learned this early on with parenting and teaching K-12. For example, as a parent I could offer a choice, “Would you rather vacuum or take out the garbage?” When I taught 4th grade, I would often teach units such as “Oceanography” and offer choices for how they would present their work…group poster, act out a news report, create a mini video, etc. Offering choices to our students offers them a sense of control. Students who believe they have control tend to be more motivated. By offering choice, students choose what they believe they can achieve. This will increase motivation.
Kevin Perks’ article Crafting Effective Choices to Motivate Students discusses the kinds of choices we should offer students such as choosing groups and how they will complete a given task. He also suggests to offer a minimal amount of choices. The list should be short, meet with your approval, and meet the intended learning goal.
Here is a screenshot from one of the courses I teach in the education department. Notice there is an assignment, then a menu of choices and an optional dessert. I realize not all students will “want” dessert – but dessert is usually really good, right? The “dinner menu” offers 3 choices for the assignment…one that involves sketchnoting , one that adds to their resource binder (a required project), and one that adds to their own professional development plus it will go in the resource binder. All three choices will help them explore reading and writing workshops. I am allowing them a choice how to complete the exploration. The student who likes to take notes on reading assignments and is a strong visual learner will enjoy the sketchnoting. The student that wants to get ahead on the final project will appreciate adding to the resource binder. These printouts can be used later on in the teaching career. The student that is tech-savvy and enjoys social media will enjoy the Pinterest assignment. It also helps them complete the final project and add to ideas for their future teaching career – thus adding validity of future value to the assignment.
As the instructor, have I added to my own work load by having to grade 3 different types of assignments? Perhaps. But to me it really doesn’t matter. What matters most is what will benefit the student and I believe that choice is an important aspect.
As an elementary teacher, I often used the “Tic-Tac-Toe” board assignment. I fill in the spots with choices, and students have to choose 3 to complete – in a row or diagonal.
Here are a few more resources you may enjoy regarding student choice:
“Imagine if YOUR students always came to class prepared.” ~ClassOwl
I recently ran across a new tool called ClassOwl. It was created by a group of Stanford sophomores desiring to improve the challenge of organizing class deadlines and assignments. “Our vision is that students will come to school knowing exactly what they need to do for class, and as a result come engaged, prepared, and ready to learn. By becoming better learners, we envision that every student will make the most of their education!” Isn’t that what we want for our students? Yes! I was able to get on the “early bird list” as an instructor and am excited to test it out in my courses. As an instructor, I signed up and input my class deadlines and due dates. It was a bit of prep work, but if students enjoy it, it will be worth my time. The interface is clean and easy to use.
One nice feature of ClassOwl is the ability to update assignments easily and instantly inform students of the change or update. “Whether your students are looking at their phone, online, or any other device — you’ll be able to reach them instantly. You can update assignments or due dates, and students will immediately receive a push notification letting them know of the change right then and there. A great reminder for students who missed the announcement in class or for last minute changes, ClassOwl keeps your students up-to-date.” There is a comment functionality for students so that they may easily ask questions regarding the assignment. Best of all – it is free!
I will be interested to see how many of my students will utilize this tool. I will offer it – but not as a requirement. We do use Moodle and all of our deadlines are on Moodle. Some students may not want to view the assignments on another tool or app. However, others may like the ability to have push notifications for due dates. They may also enjoy the comment/question feature. So, I’ll test it out! I see the REAL advantage with entire schools using the tool because students can see all the due dates for ALL classes in one calendar. That would be nice for many students!
WJU EdTech 