Editor's Note: Below is an excerpt from a post written for the International Society for Technology Educator's "ISTE Connects." This post was published at the ISTE Connects site which targets educators engaged in improving teaching and learning by advancing the effective use of technology education.
Recently I attended Alan November’s Building Learning Communities Conferencewhere I participated in a session for educators exploring how to become transformational leaders. A participant at my table said, “This is all nice, but kids need to learn that school isn’t always interesting. Sometimes school is just boring.” “Not true!" I responded. "School shouldn’t and doesn’t have to be boring.” When I shared this with Alan he recommended I ask this participant, “Which teachers should teach students that they have to learn that school is boring?“ This certainly would not be me. While I’ve witnessed teachers who accept that students are disengaged, sometimes even falling asleep in their class, I do not believe a teacher passionate about his/her career would embrace the idea that it is okay for their students to be bored. In fact, I contend that if every teacher prioritized just one thing, we could eradicate boredom in our classrooms, deeply engage students, and dramatically decrease the dropout rate. That one thing is...
Supporting students in finding their passion.
To find out how, read the whole story by clicking here. Be sure to check out (and leave) comments too.
Many innovative educators are familiar with student response systems (SRS) a.k.a. clickers. Common brands are eInstruction, Sentio, TurningPoint, Activote. The systems run about $2500 - $4000 (depending on various options selected) for a class set and allow educators to track student learning, engage an entire class as they collect real-time responses from students, and enables them to quickly assess understanding and achievement. While I believe these are valuable instructional tools, I’m not convinced they are the best tool to accomplish these goals in all situations.
Here’s why. As an active participant using such devices I have witnessed that the distribution, collection, and maintenance of devices is a bit cumbersome. I have also observed that even tech-savvy, innovative educators have enlisted others to support their use. They've needed help from a specialist to engage in using the software to upload questions, maneuvering from one question to the next and sharing the answers.
I have also found when answering questions, typing on a phone-like keypad without a letter on each button makes submitting a response rather cumbersome. Most recently I was disappointed that my slowness in doing so resulted in my answer being omitted. Additionally, the clickers just don’t look like the technology I am used to using in my real life. They seem like artificial or manufactured constructs that I can’t imagine incorporating into everyday instruction. While I have been interested in this technology it has just seemed like an add on rather than a practice I would incorporate into my daily routine. There is also new software that has to be installed and requires a bit of a learning curve. While I am guessing there may be some innovative educators that have seamlessly incorporated these devices into the classroom, I have yet to see this for myself. In fact, sadly, I think I know of about a half dozen schools where a tech savvy teacher or coach has ordered these devices and they remain in an unopened or once opened box in a locked closet (shhh-don’t tell).
For mobile computing professional like me who want to present and operate mobiley the idea of traveling with 32 clickers is unappealing. So, while I love the functionality, the practicality of passing out clickers, configuring voting software, and lugging around bags full of difficult to use keypads has not seemed feasible. Fortunately, I have discovered ways to use everyday tools for free while still being able to harness the power these systems offer without needing either the equipment, software, or funding.
Here’s what they are. I have found three tools that provide a similar function as student response systems and do so for free and with technologies many of us already have access to inside and/or outside of school. Furthermore they do not require downloading or learning how to use software. They are Google Spreadsheets and Forms, Twitter, and Poll Everywhere. All can be used with no cost, no software, and without the purchase of equipment for those with access to either cell phones or laptops.
Here is how to use them.
Twitter
Twitter is perfect if you want to know what your audience is thinking, feeling, or seeing. No software to download and all your audience needs is a cell phone or laptop to contribute. Simply go to www.twitter.com and set up an
account. You can Tweet from your phone by entering your number at http://twitter.com/devices. When exploring a particular topic, you need to select a short tag (an approximately 6 letters or less searchable word or acronym) and then have your audience’s tweets include that tag (i.e. Marta Valle High School might be MVHS). They can contribute using a laptop or through text on their phone. You can capture the Tweets in any number of forms. The easiest is to do a simple Twitter search for the tag. You can click here to see what the Tweets from a recent conference look like. Of course one of the more famous tags that made Twitter popular was IranElection.
Google Spreadsheets
Do you want to poll your audience? Do you want to do a pre and post assessment? Google spreadsheets is your answer. Recently I used Google Spreadsheets to poll school leaders about what name we should select for our learning network. After they Tweeted their nominations from their laptops or cells, I placed their nominations on the Google spreadsheet and then placed their names across the top of the spreadsheet. They each had 5 votes to use to select their top choices. I set up the spreadsheet to record their choices and had their results captured in a chart on a separate tab so they could instantly see the results which I projected. You can see what it looked like here. This was done without any equipment beyond their laptops.
Of note is the fact that not every person voting needed their own polling device. Participants had 24 hours to vote. They could have voted any time they had access to a computer and accommodations were set up for those who could not vote in advance because they didn’t have access to the internet. We spent 10 minutes the next day where I projected results. A few participants were recorders who captured responses for those who had yet to vote or for those who wanted to change their vote.
Google forms is another free and effective option to capture responses from your audience. Not only does Google forms look nice, it also easily allows you to capture participant results without participants being able to see what other respondents have answered. Here is a sample of a form I used at the same conference to capture conference reflections. It can also be used effectively for assessment with students.
Poll Everywhere
Poll Everywhere is a great tool that can be used by anyone who knows someone with a laptop or a cell phone they can send a text message from. For educators in schools without laptops and where phones are banned, this can still be a powerful tool that students can use outside of school by students who have their own phone or laptop or have family, friends or a public facility with a phone or laptop they can use. Futhermore Poll Everywhere is free for people who need to collect 30 or fewer responses per poll, and for schools who have not made Adequate Yearly Progress.
To use poll everywhere the teacher sets up an account at which they’ll be assigned a number or url for participants to send their answers. Within the message students enter the code corresponding to their response. This looks similar to what you see on popular shows such as American Idol. Without any additional equipment or need to download software within seconds educators will have student responses. Another nice feature is that it doesn't matter what device your students are using as text message, web, and smartphone responses can be instantly combined.
If knowing what your students are thinking is important to you and you are not able to invest in student response systems Twitter, Google Spreadsheets and Forms, and Poll Everywhere are few alternatives well worth investigating.
Editor's Note: Below is an excerpt from a terrific post written my personal learning network colleague Juliette LaMontagne who, among other things, is working with schools to expore ways to harness the power of the mobile devices students use (i.e. iPods, phones, cameras) for instruction. This post was published at The Design Observer Group which features news about design and social innovation.
Mobile devices aren't distractions in schools; they're machines for learning. By Juliette LaMontagne
It might surprise you to learn that students from New York City’s most impoverished neighborhoods arrive at school each day with personal computers. The problem is that they deposit these powerful learning tools at the nearby bodega — where they’re held like a coat check service for a dollar a day — because their personal computers are cell phones, and they are banned by New York City’s school chancellor, Joel Klein. Many students will circumvent the ban by blind-texting from their backpacks or from the bathroom. But it’s not that simple for those who have to pass through metal detectors and scanners to gain entry into the school building each day.
The rationale for the cell phone ban will not surprise you: critics claim the phones are distracting, can be used to cheat and add no educational value. In a speech to the National Urban League, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said, “You come to school to learn, not to play games or send text messages.” Apparently, his words were aimed at students and administrators alike; last month, text-messaging service on all Department of Education issued devices was disabled. Only weeks earlier, the U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, came out in support of cell phone use saying, “Finding ways to use cell phones to deliver lesson plans to students would improve education and meet federal guidelines.”
To read the whole story click here. Be sure to check out (and leave) comments too such as this one.
Will Richardson 08.13.09 at 08:12 There is no question that schools in general are not taking advantage of the potential learning power of phones, but as with most technology integration, that's because of a fear of change and a lack of pedagogical understanding on the part of educators. I ask teachers all the time, "how do you use technology (read: the Web, your phone, etc") to learn?" and it's difficult for many to answer. Like many students, they've never had models for effective learning with technology (as opposed to information retrieval, which admittedly, hasn't been great either.) I'm not blaming them, but I am suggesting that if we want to take advantage of the undeniable potential for learning with technology, we have to help educators be learners in those contexts first. I want my children to be taught how to use their mobile devices to create and publish and connect, but I also want that done by adults who know how to do that for themselves.
One of the most liberating characteristics of the Internet and Web 2.0 technology -- the ability for an infinite number of individuals, communities, and networks to broadcast and exchange ideas instantly -- is also perhaps the most maddening.
All of this is say that I really appreciate a good editor, or perhaps a more aptly stated would be that of curator. That's why I'm excited that Steve Hargadon has established a wiki to explore the uses of Educational Networks (social networks devoted to education). The site even includes a listing of current educational networks. It's nice to have a place to start my web wanderings that is vetted by a reputable curator.
Who are your favorite web curators? Where do you go for the digest? Suggestions welcomed.
--------------------------------------------------------- *I don't want to imply that I think that web content should be filtered or edited by one individual, or organization. Wikipedia's model of an active editing community is an incredible example of group think. What's missing from so many blogs is an exchange between writer and editor.
Innovative educators know that web search can serve as a remarkable research tool for students. Google knows too and they have been working to help educators teach search skills in the classroom. Working with Google Certified Teachers, Google produced an initial set of nine search education lessons that cover everything from developing criteria to clicking on the right results to succeeding with the most challenging searches. The lessons will help students and educators alike to get the most of Google search in the classroom. You can see for yourself at: http://www.google.com/educators/searchlessons
To introduce the lessons, Dan Russell, along with Google Certified Teachers Kathleen Ferenz, Cheryl Davis and Lucy Gray will discuss how to teach search in the classroom in a Google Webinar next week. Having developed Google's Search Education Lessons, they will discuss how you can customize the contents to the needs of your class and how guide your in-class discussions. The webinar will take place on Wednesday, August 19 at 5PM. You can register online here and invite fellow educators to join.
Last week I was talking to a friend on the beach who told me she couldn’t read an email I sent her because she didn’t have her BlackBerry with her.Instead she explained that she only had her personal phone.She said sometimes she just carries her work phone.Sometimes just her personal phone, sometimes both.I asked her how she manages all this phone swapping and inquired as to why she would even want two phones to carry around and switch off.She answered by saying that she couldn’t just use her work phone in case she changed jobs, so she needed a personal phone so that everyone would know how to reach her should she switch jobs.
Well! All the phone swapping is exhausting and hard to keep up with.So much so, that during a recent swap attempt a phone went a flying and splattered causing her to miss a good portion of our next day on the beach dealing with its replacement.Now, if my friend had Google Voice, this would not be an issue.
Google Voice gives you one phone number that is tied to you.Not a particular phone or location.Additionally, you can chose to have that phone number ring any phone you’d like.As a result, you can pick just one phone to take with you and all your phones will ring into it.Users never again need to carry multiple phones or swap phones.While that alone is a reason to use Google Voice, there are many other reasons.The biggest impetus for my getting Google Voice was that I learned that it converts all your voicemails to text and sends your phone a message with the converted voicemail to text.How fabulous is that?!?!!!Never again do you need to transcribe a message, or sort through 4 voicemails to get to the one you were trying to listen to.But wait, there’s more!Google voice allows you to let a call go to voicemail and allows you to ListenInTM on your voicemail messages while they are being left.If you decide to take the call, you can connect to the call by pressing “*.”You can also record your conversation and listen to it later. A simple and easy way to capture audio for podcasts or conversations with experts that students can listen to at any time. Google Voice also provides conference calling.
This video provides a nice overview of what you’ll get with Google Voice.
If this sounds good to you, here’s how you get started:
Be on the lookout for an invitation from Google Voice to your email.You’ll accept your invite there.
GET SET
Choosing Your Number
Next you will be able to select a phone number that will be yours forever.Choose wisely.What number do you want?You’ll need to select an area code.Many of the most popular area codes aren’t available (for instance 212 and 646 are unavailable), but there seems to be codes for every city (for instance, I was able to get 347 for New York City).
Your number can also spell out a word.After a lot of experimenting, I found it’s best to figure out a four letter word.My number is 635-LISA.You’ll want to have a word in mind when you set up your account.
Selecting Which Phones Ring
You can determine which phones ring when this number is called.Think in advance if you want your cell, work, home phone to ring when calls come in.
Get your significant other, kid, or friend to try it out with you.Have them call you and leave a voicemail.You’ll see how it comes in as a text.Have then call you again and listen in as they leave a voicemail.Have them call you again and record your conversation.
Share Your Number
Once you’ve tested the service and are comfortable, it’s time to share your number.I updated my number on all our communication systems at work.I also updated my email signature in my BlackBerry and in Outlook.You’ll also want to update your business cards.
I really love my Google Voice and am thrilled to be able to share with other innovative educators what you can do to get started with your very own Google Voice number too!When you do, drop a comment here and let me know how it’s going. I'd also love to capture any cool ways innovative educators are using this in education. For inspiration check out how high school teacher Chris Fritz is Managing Student Calls with Google Voice.
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Question from my Facebook Friend:
Renuka so i have one basic question...what is the cost?
Recently I attended Alan November’s Building Learning Communities Conference where I participated in a session for educators exploring how to become transformational leaders. A participant at my table said, “This is all nice, but kids need to learn that school isn’t always interesting. Sometimes school is just boring.” “Not true!" I responded. "School shouldn’t and doesn’t have to be boring.” When I shared this with Alan he recommended I ask this participant, “Which teachers should teach students that they have to learn that school is boring?“ This certainly would not be me. While I’ve witnessed teachers who accept that students are disengaged, sometimes even falling asleep in their class, I do not believe a teacher passionate about his/her career would embrace the idea that it is okay for their students to be bored. In fact, I contend that if every teacher prioritized just one thing, we could eradicate boredom in our classrooms, deeply engage students, and dramatically decrease the dropout rate. That one thing is... 
Renuka so i have one basic question...what is the cost?