Final Reflection

As I reflect on the 2009-10 school year, technology has played a key part in my teaching. This was particularly true in the first semester when science 7 worked on Populations and Ecosystems, and at the start of the second semester with the Rice-Hunger unit. The obvious technology links for chemestry are not so evident, resultingly, with the exception of Panthernet (some genuine, some mandated), technology has recently taken a back-seat in my day-to-day classsroom practice. And the kids have never been more engaged - far from enraged!

Looking ahead to next year, I already forsee cutting some of the tech add-ons that seemed like great applications at the time. But is more than curious to realize that with the completion of the COETAIL classes, so too ended my embedding of tech learning tools.

The question that emerges from this reflection process is one that has surely been arrived at by many tech-savy educators in the past decade. Did I get carried away in the excitement of a new toy? Was I changing my lesson for them, or for me? Or my course requirements? Or my resume?

ISB is definitely on the cutting edge of technology in the classroom. As we charge forward to a one-to-one middle school, we must ensure a good starting point is established for our pilot group for next year. Students and teachers need to be realistic about expectations- making sure that technology is only used when it is in fact the best practice for learning.

And just to tie it all back together, technology, as it was employed in Mr. McGovern's January Rice Unit for Science 7, was best possible practice and truly raised the level of learning above that which would have otherwise been possible. Amongst those in the scrap pile, this unit will most definitly be retained and highlighted for next year's groups.

Rice Growth: Day 12

When the date was set to upload the images, the number of groups that arrived without their USB cables or had ran out of battery life on their camera grounded the day’s activity to a screeching halt. The class time was used instead to better develop the script and search the internet for appropriate photographs to include in the introduction and conclusion.
This turned out to be time well spent, as all groups were well busy developing a variety of aspects of their projects. By observing how engaged the class was on refining the story board and image selections, it became clear that this was a necessary step in process, and needed to be formalized with guidelines and a checklist.
The following check list was developed as a way to keep students on track.

Rice Growth Day 9

At this stage of the science lab, students have taken photographs of the first several days of rice germination, and they been able to witness which of the two samples of rice seeds has shown more growth: the test pot or the control pot. In most cases, and particularly at this early stage, the results were varied, and still inconclusive.


By now, each group had collected anywhere from 10-20 photographs of their lab, and were ready to start planning their digital story. The specifics of the rubric were outlined, and the groups began writing their script for photostory3. As a tech-focused international school, I was surprised by the level of confusion that developed amongst the students. As photostory3 was new to many of the students, some showed apprehension to using a new simple movie-making program, and wanted to stick to programs that they were familiar with. Others remained unclear that they were in fact making a simple movie at all. Exemplars were needed to help clear up the confusion, and demystify the new program.

Another ‘new technology’ pitfall was students not knowing how to transfer images from their various devices ( to computers. Or in some cases, students lost their cameras altogether.

This could be overcome by reserving the school’s supplies of digital camera for the duration of the four week unit, establishing a standard for the cameras, or by collecting and storing cameras for each group at the end of each class.

Start of the Digital Lab

The digital science lab
Seventh Grade Science has begun the second semester with a four week mini unit titled Soil and Rice: How to Feed a Hungry Planet. The focus of the unit is to explore the issues of global equity and access to food, and the role that science plays in developing ways to grow more food on a finite amount of land.
The students have been given the challenge to find a technique that will cause rice seeds to germinate and begin to grow at a faster rate. Each group independently indentified and tested different independent variables against a standardized control pot containing eight rice seeds planted in potting soil.
Some of the variables students researched and tested included: florescent lighting, loamy clay, concentrated levels of CO2, yeast, and competition with other plant species (bean plant).
With a previous class, the final product was a written report including data charts with results and a conclusion. This year, I wanted to students to make real world connections by giving them a more authentic role as a research scientist making a recommendation to a genuine audience of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).
By taking digital pictures of the materials, the lab set up, and the rice growth observations, students were able to document their lab. For the final production, the photographs were loaded onto Photostory3 and became the framework for their recommendation.
A story board was used to assist students as they developed strategies to report their findings and make their recommendation. When asked to reflect on how scientists communicate their findings, students effortlessly created outlines for their recommendation that very closely matched each step of the scientific method.

Peripheral Blog

This litterally is a peripheral blog -I almost missed this last assignment!
I am very excited to use some of the extra tech toys in next year's newly designed Rice Unit. Particularly the Flip Cam. It is really so easy to use, and so simple to incorporate into some many types of files and applications.
I've been using several differnt cameras and tools to tell stories in my I.T. class thus far, and have met with limited success. In part because of the nature of the sixth grade brain, but also in the defining of the parameters of the assignment.
In making a story with digital media, the story board needs to be used as an integral part of the process. I am sure that many of the mishaps with the peripheral devices could have been avoided if the students went in with a greater sense of purpose with them.
I will definintely take my own advice on this when building the documents and lessons for my final assessment. Thanks, Matt.

Teachers ensuring Good Learning

I see this as the course's BIG question. How can teachers in today's schools ensure that good learning is happening in the classroom.

Lots of answers surface with this question, and certainly the picture would not be complete without the inclusion - if not the center-piece of, yes, technology. A productive learning community, has many facets and never before have teachers needed to be practicing what they preach about life long learning and intellectual risk-taking.

However, while technology tightens its grip on the keys to learning, it in-and-of itself is not the answer.

Now while I cannot claim even double digit tenyer in the profession, there are some old addages that work in the classroom just as well as they do in the lunch room, or the family room, or the bar.

One such example is the idea that I always try to hold on to of "meeting people where they are". When applied to learning at ISB, it can direct assignments, interventions, and open new possibilities.

Not all students are going to be great at reading. Not all students are going to be great at math. And not all students are going to be challenged by even some of the more demanding computer assignments. But if we can meet them where they are, at least we will know what they can do, and what they are capable of.

Lap Top Management (AKA Effective use of the 'MicroComputer' in the Classroom)

I just saw four groups of seventh graders back to back (to back to back). The purpose of each class was to be a work period where all students could work toward their final semester's end project and ask clarifying questions.
In each class, the computer was used for word processing, and for graphic design features.
Some of the recommendations from the class discussions most definitely surfaced in the course of these 45 minute blocks of time. In the wiki artcle "Classroom Management" the idea of gaining and refocusing attention is brought up. Lowering the laptop screan to me is as close to an industry standard as there is. Students can do it, and they are accustomed to the request.
What I find to be the challenge, and having shared my classroom with other teachers, I know I am not alone in this; is the management of the carts. Too often the studnets do not put the computer in the right place or in the right cart or the carts end up not gettign plugged in when they reach the next class room or storage room. What ends up happening is the next group of students ends up not being able to work through the period without running out of battery power.
Assigning moniters ahead of time works well, but ultimately the responsibility ends up back with the teacher.
Hardware or software? Which one do we spend our time worrying about more? Which should we spend our teaching time focusing on?
Without the hardware, there is no software...

The Medium is the Message

These are the immortal words of Marshall McLuhan (recently quoted by Jim Fitzgerald)that just seem to surface over and over and over again through the course.
This is of course McLuhan's most famous and enduring quote, but another idea put forward by the famed 1960's media analyst also has profound relevance these 50-some-odd-years later.
McLuhan put forward the theory of the extension of man. He sees the human desire to extend itself in bigger, faster, better ways. In that, he proposes, the hammer is an extension of the fist, and the car is an extension of the feet, humans are able to promote their autonomy over the world - a basic human desire. He continues to describe the idea of the over-extension. The car in its overuse has brought about massive social problems in North America. From what was intended to be a device of increased mobility has resulted in record instances of obesity.
How does this play out when paired off against the idea that computers are an extension of the brain? When used effectivley, they undoubtedly extend human intellectual capabilities. What then is the result of computer overuse? I think the answer for the next generation of computer natives is akin to the obesity result in the car example.

From 'Who's Job?' to 'A Healthy Tech Community'

When I first considered the question of ensuring that all outcomes and benchmarks of technology were covered at ISB, my immediate instinct was that the Curriculum Office needs to oversee the process.

After all, they are the ones who have the perspective on what is and is not happening at all grade levels in all subject areas throughout the school. And surely, there are plenty of other PK-12 skills that we value highly as a school but still do not appear on Rubicon; notetaking skills, reading for content skills, listening skills, character attributes, etc...


It is clear that ISB values these skills and characteristics- faculty meetings, in-service specialists, Maggie Moon, Synergy in the middle school; measures are taken to ensure that all of our kids get the right kind of exposure.

So why would technology be any different?

There are many factors that make technology standards very different from any other kind of standard: the speed of changing technology, the readiness of the students, the readiness of the teacher, and the availability of the tools to name a few.

We arrived at the idea that the role of teaching technology is that of the community. Like the different habits of automobile traffic in different cities (a Bangkok traffic jam looks and feels different than a Toronto traffic jam), technology permeates the culture of communities in a similar way, and individuals internalize culture in different ways.

The question that I extend from this point is, how can we ensure a healthy tech community at ISB?

Final Project

This master's I.T. project of digital storytelling came along at just the right time! The directions provided by FOSS were weak and needed to be far better presented. Digital stroytelling was the prefect way to enhance these lessons.

The science unit of Finding Energy in Ecosystems required studnets to learn and understand that food is the only source of energy for consumers. Like other forms of energy, food can be burned and its energy can be measured (in kilocalories).

Through formative assessment with my first class, I noticed two major areas that required attention.

The first: the direction provided by FOSSin the student hand book were incomplete. Here is a silent movie (captured on Flip Cam by one of my students)that shows how to set up a stable platform for a burning squid-ball snack.


The second: these students have no idea how to use a match! We went through boxes and boxes before I decided that I needed to formally intervien. Here is a short movie (created on PhotoStory 3) that shows 7th graders how to light matches. There is an emphasis on science and of safety, however, I think that if this 'how to' video is successful, many students will go on to light other things on fire.

Digital Story Telling

Digital story telling - let me count the ways: voice threads, photostory, audacity, podcasts, movie maker, imovie, slide share, flip cameras, the list goes on and on.
Kim and Jeff did a great job of putting it all together yesterday. Or was it that I was finally ready to hear what they've been saying all along?
Reflective messages keep surfacing for me. If I don't buy in, am I resister? Why am I not on the class blog band wagon? I see no point in podcasts for middle school science. Does this make me a digital stick in the mud?
Some things I warmly embrase: panthernet, google docs, technology that fits the work. So not a resister- I teach the I.T. class for crying out loud! Maybe I'm a late adapter? Not sure...
In fact don't think resiter or late adaprer are branding that are accurate for my place on the spectrum of technology in education.
I also no longer see that distinction as the point of what we are doing in our class- and that's the revelation for me. As educators we must be tech savy and tech aware. The multitude of plaforms with which to tell a digital story are oportunities for our kids to share their thinking in a way that works for them.
I see it now. Thanks Jeff. Thanks Kim.

Nut Job

Here is the link to the digital story. Massively updated by Jon Breedlove. Thanks Jon!

Slide Share

Last week, seventh grade science had two presentations about Lake Nichada: the first presentation was an introduction that I made using newly acquired "Presentation Zen" techniques, the second was done by the Chief Engeneer from Nichada Thani using a more traditional powerpoint presentation.
Since loading my Zen presentation onto Slide Share and posting it here on my Blog, it is obvious that with no words, there is not much learning to be gleaned from viewing my Zen powerpoint. The traditional powerpoint, on the otherhand could be viewed by a distance learner who could actually gain information from it.

Intro Lake Nichada

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Intro Lake Nichada

View more presentations from guest969f41.

Next!

Last week I organised an assembly for the entire seventh grade class about what we are doing in science. We gathered in the Chevron Theatre to listen to a guest speaker talk to us about how Lake Nichada works.

The students were expected to make connections between the aquariums and terrariums that they assembled and monitored in class to a real life example of an artificially created ecosystem: Lake Nichada.

Knowing how difficult it can be for seventh graders to draw parallel relationships, I decided to help them bridge the gap between concrete and abstract. I did this using powerpoint techniques that I’ve picked up through this course (see my slide share) and used photographs taken from CC.

COETAIL pays off

Aspects of COETAIL are definitely creeping in to my day to day pedagogy, as well as into my reflective work after each class. Technology, like any new influencial force in education is subject to the ebb and flow of the pendulum of critical analysis. Much has been written on both its value and limitations. Lately, I'm hearing the voices of the sceptics more clearly than those of the proponents of technolgy in education.


Some studies report that tech gadgets and relentless multi-tasking behaviours are destroying youngsters' ability to concentrate on anything at all. Other articles describe how teachers are relying too heavily on power point presentations and should be teaching "naked" (a movement in some university levels that has professors lecturing without leaning quite so heavily on the crutches of technology).


In addition to McG's Connect-Ed, I've opened up a new blog site for parents of my science class who want to stay current with what's happening in seventh grade. Having tried classroom blogs before, and dismissing them as "time that is not being spent to help students", and having tried multiple other tools to communicate with parents, I have now reinstated a blog format for an audeince of what I precieve to be overly-concerned parents for four of my classes, albiet in a very couched manner.


While I do appreciate the blogging aspect in this course and for this audience, other ideas from COETAIL have been more meaningful to me. I think that through the learning in this course, my students are benefiting from the power of web 2.0 and shared info delivered directly to them on a daily basis in my classes.



Through google docs, the four different science classes I work with throughout the day are able to collaborate not only with each other, but with other students, in other classes, share ideas, communicate events, and blend their tallents to write 360 degree observations. The process involves significant modern life survival skills including reading for content, critical analysis, writing for a purpose, writing for an authentic audience.

As the critics battle over the vertue vs. the drawbacks, I like to hope that with a close enough eye on the debate, we can seek out and hang on to the enduring elements in this movement.

AUP project reflections

Last night I completed my final project for Course 2 of the coetail certificate (insert favorite David Lee Roth quote here).

The project was intended to share the AUP with middle school students. This was not at all an easy task. From the point of view of a middle school kid, the AUP reads like a 10 minute nag from your mother. Hence the challenge- how to make this document accessible to 13 year olds?

One question that occurs to me: who is the document written for?

I think the presentation is a good way to deliver some of the basic elements of the AUP, however, if the document itself is intended to speak to students, a rew format is required.

Mass Collaboration and The Stanley Cup

Mass Collaboration
Living overseas, we sometimes can feel like we are removed from not only our home land, but our mainstream homeland culture. As a Canadian, the start of the NHL playoffs is one of the times when homeland nostalgia is hard felt.
Reading Jude Fiorillo’s article on Wikinomics about Mass Collaboration, Social Networking and the NFL reminded of something I could do to alleviate that longing for a piece of 2009 hockey heritage. Where did I turn? NHL torrents!
I’ve used torrents before to download music, videos and generally clog up the bandwidth at Samakee Gardens, but have only had a loose understanding of how a torrent actually worked. As I went through the steps to create my account, NHL torrents FORCED me to actually READ the policy that I was agreeing to! (The nerve!)
Their policy was actually an interesting read. It was not drawn up by a team of lawyers, but by people who understood the there were people out there who really want to watch hockey. It was an instant bonding moment. I felt like I was part of a community of people perhaps skattered around the world who feel the same gravitational pull of the Stanley Cup.
The policy went on to specify the ratio of seeding vs. leaching that users need to balance in order to keep their account in good standing. Basically - sharing makes the torrents work better. The greater the mass collaboration, the healthier the community.

Axis of Copyright Evil

Obama doesn't like the way copyright law is being upheld in Thailand. He's put Thailand in with some unflattering company including China, Pakistan and Canada, reminiscent of the Axis of Evil; now to live in I.P. infamy under the cloak of "The Dirty Dozen"!

Evidently Barak doesn't spend much time watching tv. Or if he does, he must still get a kick out of watching re-runs of Full House.

For those of us who have cut cable and have enjoyed the wealth of "free" media that's circulating out there, you may be doing your county a disservice. According to the Bangkok Post article, countries on Obama's priority watch list may be economically penalized through trade barriers and embargos.

Think again next time you go shopping at Panthip Plaza...

Multi Tasking at School

There was much debate about the class with the guest speaker, Silvia Tolisano who introduced the Tiny Chat to our group. The discussion was again brought up in the lunchroom in the high school with several Eng/Hum/Sci teachers.

The teachers at the table had a variety of comfort levels with using tech. Most of them I would say were avid tech users and most qualified as early adapters.

Some of the teachers could see how Tiny chat "could" be used in the class, but not one could say whether Tiny chat "should" be used in their class.

The bigger discussion about distractions and multi-tasking came up. Some good points were made on both sides of the argument:

Pro Tiny Chat:
Kids are wired differently than we are.
Kids have shorter attention spans anyway, so why not allow productive “back room” chat/note taking.

Con Tiny Chat:
Multi-taking is a high order skill that can only be preformed successfully by mature thinkers and experienced people.
Adult learners at ISB were not allowed to take their laptops into the Thai Teaching Certification course because it inevitably leads to off topic behavior.

Further investigation into this compelling debate revealed a body of research done on multi-tasking and learning. The study showed MRI evidence that memory, performance and comprehension are all negatively impacted by dividing attention.

Teachers have always scorned students for passing notes in class. Why should the digital note be treated any differently?

Surely there are enough opportunities for chat rooms, pop ups, and other distractions after the bell rings.