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:
My last post was on do’s and don’ts for creating presentations. As I wrote the post, I came across a new tool that I love! It is SlideIdea. It is currently an iPad app and enables users to easily create beautiful slides or import from existing slides.
“SlideIdea offers an in-app widget store where users can seamlessly browse and download the widgets they’re looking for. Additionally, SlideIdea offers free and professionally designed templates to help you cut design-time in half.” (SlideIdea)
The transition templates are unique and engaging. “Say goodbye to complicated audio-slide recording software. SlideIdea makes it easy to record, publish, and share your very own SlideCasts. Simply record your speech while you present, then with the touch of a button, publish your SlideCast directly to your SlideCast webpage. To top it all off – SlideIdea provides every user a free personal SlideCast webpage for easy sharing and hosting.”
I admit – I enjoyed the new templates and transitions…but that’s not what caught my eye. It wasn’t until I used 3 fingers to swipe to bring up the whiteboard integration tool. This is what made SlideIdea stand out from some of the other presentation tools!
Simply click the word “whiteboard” and the screen transforms to an interactive whiteboard:
It is simple! Just project your presentation through the projection system/Apple TV, use 3 fingers to swipe to the interactive whiteboard, and when you are done writing, drawing, or whatever else you want to do, simply click the back arrow and it will bring you back to the last page of your presentation! Now that is sweet!
Although SlideIdea is currently only available for an iPad or Windows 8, they will be coming out with Android and smartphone apps in the near future:
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.
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:
How would you plan your commute to work? May is bike month and so I have been considering how I would ride my bike to work in order to fulfill my “mileage” pledge.
I ride a bike for several reasons: I enjoy the quiet time. I enjoy the exercise. I enjoy beautiful routes over rolling hills. I enjoy being outside. I enjoy technology for several reasons: It helps me be more productive. It helps me better engage my students. It helps me be creative and collaborative.
I consider riding to work often but there are thoughts that always flood my mind…What if I get a flat?…It’s dark in the morning…It’s too cold…I can’t carry my computer on my bike. The thoughts go on and on. If I listened to them, I would never ride to work. So this month, I decided to put the thoughts away and step out and just do it! I started a week early just to get myself in gear (lol). Technology is like this. As a classroom teacher, there are many reasons not to give technology a try…It’s the way I’ve always done things…It’s too much planning…What if it doesn’t work? It takes making a decision to step out and do it.
I have to be prepared. I get in my cycling gear, get water bottles ready, load up my backpack with work clothes, and test the air in my tires. Technology is like this. It does take preparation! Do a test run (or try out a sample assignment) before trying it out in class or assigning as a project. This may not always be possible, but prepare as much as you can. How about giving out the grading rubric to students along with the sample assignment?
I have been working on figuring out the perfect route – one that gives me enough ride time, but doesn’t cause me to leave when it is too dark or cold! I started May is Bike Month in April just so I could figure out routes! As a classroom teacher, I have to have a plan for my classroom. I have to decide the route to take to help the students meet the intended learning goals.
Beginning cyclists usually like riding somewhere easy…around the block or the American River Trail. They want to ride where it is flat and away from traffic. They begin with short distances and many times will choose to ride with someone who has experience or knows the route.
Technology is like this. If you are just starting out – start easy! Don’t take on something too big that you can’t handle. Choose one thing and begin there. Just as I had to test out many routes, find something that suites you and your students. Seek out a colleague or staff member with experience (your PLN!).
But – don’t stay there! Imagine taking the same road…every day… for years and years and never venturing off the trail. Augh. Undoubtedly it would get monotonous. Technology is like this. Some teachers teach the same as when they started their profession. We need to engage our students and help them be creative, innovative, and collaborative. Do your research (map out the route) and once you find the tool that will best suite your students’ needs, give it a try. Reflect. Did they meet the intended learning goal? Did the technology add to the experience or detract? Do you need to try another route?
It takes effort to grow. But it is worth it! If I only rode on nice, flat, short rides I wouldn’t be able to enjoy the beauty of climbing up a hill. Technology is like this. Step out of your comfort zone a little to try something new. You may not want to try it right away with a class, but do the research and test it out. You may find that you like it! Remember – some of the prettiest (and most fulfilling) roads are off the freeway. Technology is like this.
Finally, I cannot ride my bike to work all the time. Sometimes it is simply not the best choice. I need to carry my computer. I have to leave early for a meeting at another location. It’s pouring out. Technology is like this. You do not have to use it all the time. Sometimes it simply is not the best choice. BUT – sometimes it is. Consider the goals, the students, and the routes.
Google has been doing a great job offering new “add-ons” to Google Docs and Drive. VideoNot.es is one such tool that can benefit instructors and students! Use VideoNot.es to sync notes with videos. “All the notes you type are automatically synchronized with the video. Later, just click on a line for the video to jump to the relevant part” (VideoNot.es). The notes are then saved to Google drive where they can be accessed using any device at any time. Since the notes are stored in Google drive, they can be shared with the same viewing permissions. What a great collaboration tool!
For the teacher with the flipped classroom, this can be a wonderful, free tool! Want to make sure your students are taking adequate notes? Ask them to share the notes with you! (I just wish that it worked with Panopto recordings!) Currently, VideoNot.es works with YouTube, Khan, Vimeo, EdX, Udacity, and Coursera.
We had a Jessup “family meeting” yesterday and during the meeting I let staff and faculty know the results of the training requests so far – Google, Google, Google. Google Drive. Google Docs. Google Presentation. Google Hangout. People want to know more about Google and desire to know how to use the many (many) resources available.
Amazing news today.
Google has released ADD-ONS.
These add-ons will amaze you.
In Google Docs, click the word “Add-Ons”…
Click “Get Add-Ons”…
Now browse the list and add them! Here are a few to get you started. There are more – so go take a look for yourself!
Do you have email addresses stored in a Google spreadsheet? If so, this add-on will send an e-mail merge directly from your Google Doc.
Review AND approve changes made to your document!
Add a thesaurus to your Google document.
Easily merge Google spreasheet data into Avery address labels and name badges.
One place to discuss and see changes to your document.
Need to gather approvals or feedback? Use Letter Feed Workflows to automatically send out emails and gather the approvals you need quickly. You’ll be notified immediately when it’s approved.
“The easiest automatic bibliography and citation generator is now on Google Docs. Format in MLA, APA, and Chicago style.”
“The Bibliography Creator by EasyBib allows you to easily create a bibliography for your research paper. Automatically cite books, journal articles, and websites just by entering in the titles or URLs. Format citations in MLA, APA, and Chicago style. When you’re finished creating your bibliography, click Generate Bibliography and we’ll alphabetize your citations and add them to the end of your paper.”
Add a legally binding electronic signature.
Make sure all abbreviations in your document have been defined. This will also make an abbreviation list for you!
I love this one and have used it! Give feedback to students by highlighting and verbally leaving a message.
Want to improve your writing? Let Pro Writing Aid help you. It will check for consistency, plagiarism, cliches, redundancies, and grammar mistakes!
Do you know Sophia? I have actually known Sophia for years but only recently decided to visit her again for my current course. I am teaching Technology for Teachers in a flipped classroom format and have tried sharing my videos in several formats including Zaption and Educanon. I do enjoy both – but wanted to continue looking at options. It was then that a co-worker mentioned Sophia and I decided to visit again!
Sophia offers free tools for teachers to create multi-media tutorials OR choose from a library of over 37,000 lessons. Teachers can provide the videos along with discussion material and quizzes. Track student progress every step of the way with analytics.
Teachers can set up groups and share the content with their students only – or the world. Here is a picture of a tutorial I created:
Students can read the content, watch the video, take a quiz, and ask questions.
Another great thing about Sophia? They offer FREE Professional Development courses. You can get certification for the Flipped Classroom, iPad Prepared, or Chrome. Hey – you even get a cute t-shirt for completing the certification!
WJU EdTech 