Elementary Ed. Tech Review
with contributions by Nick Bullock and Rachel Forgotch
As I said over on my Secondary Conference breakdown, EdTech conferences, like fruitcake, can be hit or miss. I don’t really know how to finish that analogy, since some of you probably hate all fruitcake, but just rest assured you won’t hate the tech tools we’re about to share with you. So let’s get right to it, here’s the best of what the IU13 Elementary EdTech Conference had to offer this year.
No One Ever Said, “That Worksheet Changed My Life”
Keynote speaker and author Tom C. Murray began the day by asking attendees to think about why we do what we do. At an Edtech conference, that question basically boiled down to, “Why do you use technology in your classroom?” Now, if you’ve been in urban ed. for any amount of time, you’ve undoubtedly heard about the “Great Digital Divide.” It’s the term used to describe the difference in tech access for students in impoverished and more affluent districts. It should come as no surprise that a lack of access to technology in today’s world is tantamount to lack of access to books in days past. (Yes, I know, books are still important. Get off me, I used to teach English!) The point is, without access to technology, our students are at a huge disadvantage in their ability to enter a 21st C. work world well-prepared. Is this our why for using tech?
Well, luckily, this divide in basic access is not as stark as it once was as more and more districts find ways to fund tech access for all students. However, what can still be just as stark is the digital use divide. In short, just digitizing is not transformative. If students are using their devices to passively receive information or “skill drill” only, and they are not being pushed to create, build, explore and collaborate, their devices are stripped of any transformative power they might have had. Tech integration must also involve a shift in teaching and learning practices to be effective. As you’re thinking about incorporating more tech tools, stay focused on the needs of your students, on the quality of the tools, and on how they can transform the learning taking place in your classroom. That is truly why we use tech. Because, well, no one ever said, “That digital worksheet changed my life,” either.
S.O.L.E. — “Let Learning Happen”
SOLEs, or Self Organized Learning Environments,” (app.startsole.org) are one way to begin transforming learning in your classroom. What would happen to an Elephant if it lived alone? In what ways is cave dwelling better than modern life? Is the truth real? Has a poem ever changed history? Is war ever “just war?” Google these questions and you’ll likely get some answers, but you likely won’t get the answer or a single answer the satisfies you in every way. Questions like these that potentially connect together a number of different disciplines do not have a “right” answer, and that ask students to think a bit outside the box, are at the crux of the S.O.L.E. process. The idea is simple, yet powerful. Start with a big question that might appeal to your kids’ natural curiosities, put kids in a small collaborative group with one internet-connected device to facilitate research into the question, and after a set amount of time (before the end of the period) have students present their findings. The idea is to set the stage, and then “get out of the way of the learning.” Think about the potential for a unit launch activity or to culminate a series of lessons. If you’re at all interested, the video below is worth the three-minute watch time. You can find a slew of resources — example videos, lesson building tools, downloadable resources, all 100% free over on the SOLE site. I would LOVE to explore this concept with any of you in more depth or lead a PD session in your building, so hit me up!
Google Jamboard
I gave a brief overview of this tool over on my Secondary EdTech Conference breakdown, but allow me to take a bit of a deeper dive into some great elementary-focused features here. This virtual whiteboard tool (in addition to allowing you and your students to write, type, draw, add and manipulate images, and work with anything from your Google Drive on an endless number of slides and share out in real time) features handwriting recognition, auto-draw and shape recognition technology.
This means that you and your kids can write on the screen and have your writing instantly turn into text. It’s actually quite good at recognizing letters that are in any way close to being formed correctly. It could allow for students to practice letter formation skills while still being able to write something that looks nice and legible in the end. To a degree, it would essentially provide them instant feedback on how well they’d done at forming the letters in a given word based on whether or not it could figure out what they wrote.
The auto-draw feature helps hapless artists like me whose doodles are unrecognizable, while the shape recognition would be great for math-related lessons and activities. There is a LOT here to like, and in my opinion, for ease of use, flexibility, reliability and ease of collaboration (both by teacher teams, students teams or both) it blows away SMART and other whiteboard apps like ExplainEverything or Educreations.
Close Reading the Next Generation
by Rachel Forgotch
Close reading lessons are crucial in order to help students focus on close and careful reading of complex text. During this session, the presenter provided us with digital resources that can be used during close reading.
Mentimeter is a site that lets your students interact with your lesson and respond digitally. You can pose a question or a thought at any point in the lesson. Students will respond by going to menti.com and typing in the presentation code. Depending on how you want students to answer, the responses will be displayed in a word cloud, poll format, scale or open-ended response. Teachers and students can see responses right away. You can create a free account by going to mentimeter.com.
Actively Learn is an online website that has preloaded ELA, science, social studies, and current event texts with questions for students to answer. Teachers can also upload their own texts from Google docs or web URLs (limited to three per month in the free version). Teachers can augment the texts by adding notes and embedded questions throughout. Students can record their thinking throughout the passage by creating notes in the margin. As students are reading, they also have the option to highlight text and hear certain words defined and read to them. Teachers are able to see what students are doing, thinking and answering as they are working and provide immediate feedback. Go to activelylearn.com to access this free resource. Getting students signed-up is easy when they use their Google accounts to log in.
Classroom Edcamps
by Rachel Forgotch
Following the model of Edcamp for professionals, classroom Edcamp is an engaging way to have students participate in student-driven learning and collaborate with their peers in a unique way. My knowledge of Edcamp for professionals was limited prior to attending the session. Simply put, Edcamp is a model for meetings and professional developments that allows colleagues to share their wealth of knowledge with others interested in learning or discussing similar topics. The idea is that the answers to everyone’s questions are in the room somewhere if everyone is allowed the opportunity to share their expertise. A simple google search provides more information about what Edcamp is if you are interested. Students, like adults, are more motivated when they are able to have a choice in what they learn.
Classroom Edcamp gives students the opportunity to learn what they want to learn, practice self-reflection, peer-tutor, and hone skills they view as weaknesses. Classroom Edcamp can be used across all content areas. Students will post topics that they want to review or learn about in a place for everyone to see. Once students have posted their topics of interest, sessions are created for students to attend. These sessions typically start out as teacher led with the hope that once students have mastered a skill they will be able to lead their own session. Students will reflect on their current level of understanding of skills and choose sessions that will either help them practice difficult skills, review important concepts or extend their thinking. While some students are attending sessions on a certain topic, other students choose their work independently or collaboratively. The structure and management of Edcamp in the classroom will vary depending on the needs of your students. No matter the structure, Edcamp in the classroom is a great way to help students identify their interests and needs and provide opportunities for students to make choices in their learning.
Building Number Sense in the Elementary Math Classroom
by Nick Bullock
While one would expect a tech conference to be heavy on technology, there was also a great deal learned about activities that are beneficial in creating dialogue between students that enhances their ability to solve equations and learn about numbers in different ways. There are a few different activities that allow students to discuss their reasoning and explain how they solve an equation, which include “Rolling Dice”, “Playing Cards”, and “Number of the Day”. With a slight tweak to a Google Sheet, teachers are able to randomize the numbers so students are able to practice a variety of valuable math skills. In addition to the tech tools, there are also a number of other activities such as “Speed Dating Number Talks”, “Bad Guess, Good Guess, Brave Bad Guess”, “Taking Guesses”, and “Clothesline Math” that allow students to discuss math in a fun way where they may also learn a different way to solve an equation that may be more beneficial for them and their learning. Included below is a link presented by Dan Kaufmann, an Instructional Math/Tech Coach in the Wilson School District that explains more about the activities mentioned above.
Dan Kaufmann’s Number Sense Presentation
That’s all we’ve got for you today, folks. We hope everyone is having a great start to 2019! If you have any questions, please reach out!
