Discussion Forum #4 - The Student as a Scribe

 

Some of the benefits I see using student scribes in the classroom is that the students intentionally work hard to record accurate class lessons.  Other benefits include learning how to create a blog and all the new apps that students can use to create a visually appealing and informative blog, providing all students the opportunity to join in on lesson discussions, notes are together in one easily obtained location, increased confidence and feedback from those in and outside the classroom.  All of these benefits can lead to an active class participation and better grades.

I don’t see many downsides to having student scribes in the classroom.  Perhaps, some students could become lazy as they may feel they don’t need to pay attention or participate, because the notes will be provided to them later. 

According to our reading this week, there is a huge benefit for students who publish to a global audience.  Publishing globally instills an interest in the material and a powerful motivation to “get it right”.  Students know that their work is going to be online forever and that it has a purpose.  I believe that students are more motivated and more apt to work harder on classwork that is going to be seen by their peers, than by their teachers, as students care more about what their peers think, so they want to do well.

Teachers can model global sharing by creating a website to show what the class is doing; they can join a forum or create a blog and they can even create Youtube videos.  I’ve even seen teachers on Facebook and Twitter sharing their classroom.  There are many options to go global. 

Digital Project #3 - Video Tutorial of Padlet

I've created a video tutorial for the collaboration tool called Padlet.  I wish it was better.  After more than 11 attempts (I eventually stopped counting), I eventually had to pick the best one.  My older computer is just too slow and I was having a very hard time with it freezing, crashing or lagging behind.  My new computer is a Microsoft Window s-mode (safety) and it won't allow me download Chrome or any Google apps or other apps that aren't through Windows, something I didn't realize until I tried to download the Zoom app for a virtual meeting.  

Click here to view the Padlet Tutorial.

Discussion Forum #3 - The Student as Tutorial Designer

I believe that when I become an educator, that student tutorials would be particularly well-suited for math and even science classes.  Both of these classes are abstract and harder to learn and I feel that students may benefit more from these types of tutorials.

Purpose is a key motivator of high-quality work for student tutorial designers because the students feel that the videos they are creating are beneficial and are helping other students.  Even Jasmine said “I have to get this right.  Everyone in class will be able to use this video to learn…”  This fits with Daniel Pink’s analysis because he stated that people have the desire to do things because they mattered or were part of something important.  On a school level, a tutorial would be considered something that mattered or was important.

In order to create a tutorial, students need to learn and know the information.  This means that they have
to do their homework and listen in class.  Students want to learn, so they can help others.  They become devoted to the whole project.  Creating tutorials can also nurture creativity and innovation when it comes to creating new, exciting and attention-grabbing videos.

All About Me

     Hi Everyone!  I'm Laura Jenkins and I live in Maryland, just outside Annapolis, and quite close to the Chesapeake Bay.  I'm attending SAU to receive my Bachelor's in Elementary Education.  I'm more of a hands-on or kinesthetic learner, so these online courses have sometimes been a struggle.  I intend to be successful in this by taking lots of notes, researching and practicing what we've learned.  It's hard to formulate what my professional goals are going to be.  Right now, I'm more concerned with graduating,  finding a teaching job, building a strong relationship with other teachers in the school (for support), and having control of my classroom.  Of course, to be an effective teacher, one must continually take professional development courses.  I believe down the road I would like to be certified as an ELL teacher.  

    I'm a single mom of a 5th grade student. I coached my son's soccer team for several seasons and I've taught PFY (Partnering for Youth) at the elementary school, which entailed drawing and sports classes.

Digital Project #2: Mind Mapping

 

The benefits of using mind mapping tools in the classroom are plentiful.  First of all, mind mapping tools allows students to organize their notes.  They also give students an overview of the topic. With mind maps, notes are all on one page, so students don’t have to search through several pages to find what they are looking for.  As I stated last week in the forum, research shows that 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual and that people tend to recall data better when visuals are involved. So, mind maps, especially when accompanied by symbols and pictures, can help students improve their ability to retain information. 

         Mind mapping tools can also benefit businesses.  Employees or management can use mind maps when giving a presentation, as mind maps can allow the staff to follow the speakers train of thought.  Mind maps can also be used as collaboration tools, where co-workers can brainstorm together.  As co-workers add ideas, it can spark an idea in another co-worker.  Plus, they can be used as a to-do list tool, pro or con list, or even a tool to list business ideas. 

                 

I had never heard of Mind Meister before this class.  Over the past year, I’ve had to create a few mind maps for classes and it had been a nightmare to say the least.  The first problem was trying to find a mind mapping tool for free.  I did eventually find one, however, for some reason it wouldn’t allow me to access some of the free tools.  I tried contacting the company, but they didn’t understand why either.  I eventually used Word, which was time consuming and stressful.  Mind Meister was very easy to use.  I think the most difficult part of the project was coming up with a topic.  Once I came up with the topic, I had to create headings and then subheadings.  After I had all that in place, I decided to add color to my mind map.  That was a little harder because I wanted to go with different shades of purple as we got further from the main topic.  I realized I had to use html color codes to ensure that the colors were the same.  I tried to use every tool available to me in the Mind Meister program, as to learn and to demonstrate that I understand how to use it. 

I believe mind mapping is helpful to students.  I recall a few of my teachers using them when I was in school, but I don’t recall a teacher ever recommending that the students use them.  I think they’re a brilliant idea.  When I pushed-in (as a tutor) to a high school government class, it was required that students take notes and then later, add pictures, graphs or any other type of visual aid to their notes.  They were graded on it.  It was during a test, that I learned that pictures, drawings, etc. really did help students retain information.  I was helping some EL students with their test and as I read each question to them, they were able to visualize the picture they drew and where they drew it on the page.  So, I believe that mind maps, with the different colors, symbols, pictures and text are definitely beneficial to students.  To quote from our reading “a mind map makes use of mental triggers (such as pictures, colors, and connections) to help your brain memorize things more easily.”

Teachers should use mind maps in the classroom when they feel that the topic is extensive and needs to be broken down or when they want to grab the student’s attention. Teachers can also use mind maps as a collaboration tool among students, as a brainstorming tool, or as a tool to collect information on certain topics or characters of books.  Actually, I think the uses of mind maps can be quite extensive, especially if you want to grab the student’s attention and keep them engaged.

Standing on Our Shoulders

 According to the author of Who Owns the Learning, Alan November, discusses in chapter one of how students initially reacted to the Digital Learning Farm model.  He stated that students, at first, can be uncomfortable when they are asked to take on more responsibility when it comes to their learning “after years of having their learning managed for them,” (page 23).

While I can see this being a problem for older students, most elementary school students love to participate, help their classmates and use the computer at school.  So, since I’m not an educator, I can only assume that when I do become an elementary school educator, I will see little resistance from students when I ask them to contribute to the class.  Young students love to help one another and if the computer is part of the equation and they get to record themselves, even better.  Actually, I believe young students would be excited to make a difference and not just in the classroom.  My son loves to help out every Thanksgiving at the Feed-a-Family Community Food Program and when they collect canned goods for school, he constantly begs me for more cans.  And, my son is not the exception, many children when offered the chance to help would jump at it.  If you watch the news, every so often you hear of children who do amazing things, such as Miles Umschied, who collected over 2,200 cans of food to donate to a local food bank.  Or the young boys in Texas who collected money for Habitat for Humanity by running a lemonade stand.

I believe that parents would have a positive outlook on this shift, especially when they can see how their child is contributing to the school or community and that they are learning along the way.  The child is proud of his/her work and the parent is proud of what their child accomplished.  Plus, the parent is part of the equation.  The parent can discuss the child’s work and keep the child excited about their project or work.

I think my first steps in building a learning community in the classroom would be start with the tutorials, where students can create videos to help other classmates and students.  Once they see how rewarding and fun it can be, we could discuss others in our community that need help and how we can help them.  Unlike older students, I believe the elementary aged students could come up with many ideas.  The roles in our projects will have to rotate, just as in the Digital Learning Farm, as to give everyone an opportunity to learn and experience something new.  If this is approached the right way, students won’t even realize that they are taking more control of their learning.

Review of the App Padlet

 Padlet is a online whiteboard where students can collaborate in class.  They can share ideas, pictures, videos, links, text, etc. in real time. Students can comment on each other’s work or reply to another student.  

Padlet is great for group projects.  In each group, students have the ability to add their own ideas, as well as contribute to another student’s work/ideas. As one student adds an image or text, it may prompt another student to add to that idea or create another - almost like the domino effect.  Also, working together, students can bounce ideas off one another.

Since padlet is not limited to text, images and videos can be added.  It’s proven that people tend to have better recall when images are used.  Students can learn from one another, become engaged in learning, and learn to work together.

In the classroom, the teacher can add a topic in a whiteboard and students can collaborate.  For example, before a new lesson on Rainforests, the teacher can have students create a whiteboard of everything they know about rainforests.  Or students can work on a group project about the water cycle or animal habitats.

What is Digital Learning?

 

From our reading, I’ve discovered that digital learning is learning that uses technology to assist in the educational process.  Digital learning is very important in the learning process for many

reasons.  Digital learning allows teachers to use a medium that enables them to be more creative in their lesson plans, which in essence captures the attention of their students. Some applications actually motivate students to learn because they resemble video games from home or for the younger students,  as they earn badges and points during play.  Some applications allow teachers to capture a wealth of information and data about how their students are progressing in real-time so they can make adjustments to lesson plans to meet the needs of all of their students.

With digital learning, students can learn anyplace and anytime.  Learning becomes a 24/7 opportunity.   And, students seem to like the fact that they can even access their teachers in the evening if they have questions, rather than stay after school (which can be a problem with some students who lack transportation or who have after school jobs). 

Digital learning enhances teacher’s working conditions.  Instead of recreating the wheel, teachers can work collaboratively on lesson plans.  They can share, download, and manipulate or modify each other’s plans.  Plus, as I mentioned above, teachers now have access to student performance in real-time, so they no longer have to wait on results from standardized tests for student performance.

The one take-away from the readings was that laptops do not deter student-teacher relationships, it’s actually the opposite.  Laptops and digital learning help build the student-teacher relationship, in part because students have access to their teachers 24/7 when they are in need of help.

What I really like about digital learning is the adaptive tests. Adaptive classwork/tests empowers students to work at their own pace.  With schools now virtual, students in our county are using Exact Path once a week so teachers can track student’s progress.  At the beginning of the school year, students were given a test.  This test gave students a different set of questions based on their answers to the previous question.  This test determined what level students would start on in the Exact Path online program.  These types of adaptive applications allow a student who is progressing faster than others to move ahead with them, which will, hopefully, keep a student from getting bored with the material. The same holds true for someone who is learning at a slower pace. Students no longer have to feel as if they are holding the class back and therefore feel the need to give up. 

I do agree that the one thing that is needed is continuing professional development in the area of technology.  While working at a local elementary school as a tutor, one of the teachers had retired because she felt lost with the digital technology and didn’t feel she could keep up.  She obviously loved working in the school, because after she retired, she immediately became a part-time tutor.  For the younger teachers coming in, they are extremely comfortable using technology, however, for the older teachers, professional development should be a priority in order to hold on to teachers.