Innovate Learning with Students as Teachers

Having students partner with, or teach teachers how innovative tools can enrich learning can prove to be an effective strategy in teacher professional development. Who better to support this learning than the students using the technology in their classrooms? Not only is this model meaningful and relevant to teachers, but it also provides students with an authentic audience to share their learning and ideas, and empowers them to become leaders in their schools.

In these two videos (followed by their respective PowerPoints) we'll see students from the United Network of Student Leaders in New York City present ideas for teachers using Smart Pens, Google, Moodle, and iTouches. You'll also see me Tweeting in the background about these fantastic students.


Kwame Ocran Presents Google, Moodle + iTouch from Ted 21C on Vimeo.



Shamim Ahmed Presents Livescribe Pens from Ted 21C on Vimeo.


If you're not incorporating students into your teacher professional development, the only question to ask yourself is why not and when do you plan to change this?

Inspiring Ways to Use Social Media In the Classroom

Educators interested in using social media to enrich learning will enjoy these ideas for using social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and Skype in the classroom from Online Universities. The post includes real examples of educators using social media in their classrooms. Here are some ideas for K-12 classrooms.

1. Make literature real. Have students create a Facebook page for a character from literature you are studying like this class did.
2. Follow famous people. Many famous people are on Twitter. Have students follow someone related to what you are studying, such as following President Obama when looking at government.
3. Twitter treasure hunt. Use GPS treasure hunting to send students in search of educational clues as one teacher did. (Skip to number 22 in the slide show.)
4. Learn probability. This elementary teacher uses Twitter to teach the concept of probability.
5. Study geography. Use a combination of Twitter and Google Earth to help teach geography-based lessons. This teacher used his network of Twitter followers to create an interactive lesson for his young students. Use her idea to spark your creativity for ways to use these two resources.
6. Connect with other classrooms. Collaborate with another classroom, no matter where they are in the world, to expand learning opportunities.
7. Recent public updates. The recent public updates on Twitter shows the most recent posts from all users and is a great tool to use when studying current events.
8. Field trips. Use Skype to bring the field trip into the classroom when it is difficult or impossible for students to go to the source.
9. Conference with parents. Stay connected with parents through social media to communicate their child’s progress.

Visit the original post for more ideas.

IWB, I Loathe You!

by Jacob Gutnicki

Michael Lotta was in a foul mood… again. Why did the school have to buy those stupid Clever Boards? Quite frankly it robbed him of blackboard space and a place to hang his coat. If that wasn’t enough, a school wide memo required all High School Math teachers to attend a Clever Board Nuts and Bolts workshop. Michael thought, “I bet this is Perkinson’s fault.” How he detested the new AP. “The nerve of him! He thinks because he went to the Harvard Leadership Program that he is ready to be an AP. How long did he teach in the classroom? 2 months? What a disgrace!”

The Clever Board instructor started by showing the participants how to use the interactive markers and having them sign their name on the Clever Board. The instructor then showed them how to align the board using the Clever Board Tools. For the next hour the instructor showed them how to integrate the Clever Board clip art into their documents. Bill Perkinson the AP was attending the session and thought it was going rather well.

Suddenly, Michael blurted, “What does this have to do with teaching math?” The Clever Board instructor said, “Let me show this really fun shape game we can play. On one side of the screen are the shapes and on the other side of the screen are the names of the objects. The objective of this activity is to drag the correct word on to the shape.”

Michael yelled, “What am I five years old? High School Math! We want High School Math!” The Clever Board instructor started to stammer. Clearly, he was not prepared for this turn of events. The Clever Board instructor attempted to find Math Activities only to be shot down again. Michael said, “Multiplication? You’re kidding me, right?” The Clever Board instructor then said that he would install the Clever Board Geometry Pack and asked the participants to take a 15-minute break.

About 15 minutes later, the installation was completed. The Clever Board instructor rebooted the machine and noticed the display on the Clever Board mutated into the shape of a diamond. Michael blurted, “Hey that looks like a parallelogram.” The instructor attempted to adjust the screen. “Now it looks like a rhombus. What’s next? A quadrilateral?” After another 15 minutes of tinkering, the instructor proceeded to launch the Clever Board Geometry pack. Unfortunately this caused the machine to show the following message;

WARNING- YOUR SYSTEM HAS A FATAL ERROR DUE TO THE INSTALLATION OF CORRUPT SOFTWARE. PLEASE CONTACT YOUR SYSTEMS ADMINISTRATOR IMMEDIATELY.

Michael Lotta could not be happier and said, “I give this instructor an Unsatisfactory.” The other High School teachers started grumbling as well and joined in the festivities.

Bill Perkinson was beside himself. He understood that this Clever Board workshop really stunk and would reinforce Michael’s biases. It would also probably sour the other Math teachers to this kind of technology.

The Digital Divide - A Tale of Two School Districts

{see my other cartoons at branzburg.blogspot.com}

15 Additional Practices for Bad Professional Development in Technology

Last month's article The 15 Essential Practices for Bad Professional Development in Technology received some attention from readers here and those with whom I work. Having said that, I originally had no intention of creating a follow up article. However, I recently attended a few "Bad Professional Development Workshops" and started jotting notes. So... without further due, here are 15 additional best practices for bad professional development.

1. There is no need to start your workshop on time.

2. Workshops are an ideal time for a presenter to catch up with their e-mails and phone calls.

3. Start out your presentation slowly and then speed it up to mess with their heads.

4. Make sure your PowerPoint handouts do not match what they see on the screen because it is really funny to watch participants scratch their head and struggle.

5. Three-hour workshops do not require breaks.

6. If a participant cannot log on to the computer, ignore them.

7. Tonight I’m going to teach technology like its 1999!

8. Do not provide laptops or computers for the participants to work with.

9. Reading from a PowerPoint is the essence of good Professional Development.

10. Malware!! Schmalware!!

11. Manuals do not need directions. Screenshots without explanations are sufficient.

12. If the user's application is not working; its all good. Just tell them to look at what you are doing on the screen or look at their neighbor’s screen.

13. Speaking of screens, use the smallest font possible because its fun to watch participants squint.

14. If the application fails while are you presenting; blame the programmer who made the application. Never accept responsibility for your actions!

15. If a user insists on asking for help. Give them a blow-off answer like, "You should really ask your IT person for help."

Editors Note: I am attending another workshop later this week. Here's hoping it is a good workshop.

Innovation

by Jeff Branzburg

Here is my latest educationally-related comic strip. Topic is innovation - what is it? When is a change innovative, and when is it not? Click this link to a survey to add your opinion!