Tech Assist Week 2

Monday, April 27: The Beginning of the End

I had an amazing opportunity this morning as I was able to sit in on a meeting with the board’s 21st century instructional coach and the two tech teachers from the school as they went extremely in depth with the features of Eportfolio, the Hub, and Dropbox. I have never crammed so much information into my head as I did in this 2 hour meeting. It was nice being back on the student side of learning tech for once. I must say I love learning anything new when it comes to ed tech related tools. I learned how to setup the dropbox so that students can submit assignments online. After learning almost all there is to know about these programs I felt extremely honoured and concerned. My main concern that kept flashing in front of my eyes was that if I struggled to follow along at some points, then half the teachers in this school are doomed. It was a lot to take in and a lot of steps to follow in order to complete a simple task. Even with the board pushing these programs for teachers to use, I can understand why not many are even attempting to try it out.

I was supposed to present at the lunch and learn today. However, I am suffering from some chest cold and have no voice. So I cancelled the lunch and learn but made myself available to teachers who wished to learn on an individual basis so that I wouldn’t strain my voice any more. Oh the joys of working with children, you teach them to share, and they share everything! The good part about sounding contagious is that no one wants to come near you. Which made my lunch a little more relaxing as a met with one teacher to show her the basics of the program, while another teacher heard one sound from me and took off.

Instead of using my prep, I went back to my class to watch the rest of the presentations. I have done too much with these kids to miss these awesome presentations! They really brightened my day as they acted so professional as they introduced their presentation topic and addressed questions from the class.

In the afternoon I met with M.B and taught her Popplet. As expected she learned the program quite fast. We ran into some roadblocks and although we found a solution that was not extremely efficient she embraced is and accepted the way it would be. After brainstorming ways to use this program in a lesson later on in the week, I thought I would pose the idea of Eportfolio and see what she says. She was indeed interested to learn about it but a bit hesitant as she was already using Sesame in the classroom. I began with the basics of Eportfolio and Dropbox. I could tell I was starting to lose her at times so I would take a step back and allow her to take it all in. However then a teacher walked by and began giving us her opinion about Eportfolio. A few moments later one of the teachers that attended the meeting with me overheard our conversation and came to my aid to provide support. At this time it forced me to show M.B a lot more about the program’s features than I had intended to at this time. I could see the look on her face and the unsuspected silence start shout “warning, overload”. I knew we had gone way over her head with all this new tech stuff and she turned herself right off. After the teachers left, we headed back to the class and I apologized for throwing so much at her all at once. She agreed with me that a lot of it was way over her head and she began to tune it out. The overall lesson for today was look and listen for those warning signs of tech overload!

Tuesday, April 28: It’s Online Resource Time

I started off my morning in M.K’s classroom. She had expressed her interests about learning online resources to use with her students. I showed her Glencoe Virtual Manipulatives and she loved it. She played around with them for quite awhile as we brainstormed ways this program can be used in the classroom. I also showed her Popplet as she heard about it from M.B and became interested. After teaching her the basics of the program she thought this would be a great way to start off her science unit. She picked up both programs with ease and I could see that she was prepared to use this in her class. The down time with only having one period with her is that I feel so rushed and can never fully give her the overview she needs in order for her to feel comfortable enough to use it on her own. I did not have enough time to walk her through creating a Smart notebook lesson as her class returned to the room. We originally set a goal for Thursday to be the day she would create and implement a Smart notebook lesson. It will be interesting to see if this goal will be met.

Later I met with M.P to give her an overview of Evernote as she too was looking for an assessment tool. I showed her the basics of the program and got her to set up her own account. However, we learned something new. The Evernote app appears to be different on every device we looked at. Looked at 5 different devices and they all had a different version or layout that we couldn’t seem to change accept for changing the colours and the way the files were viewed. This really threw her off and I could tell it was another excuse given to her to not use this app in her daily program. It is so interesting to see two different teachers who both teach kindergarten with extremely different attitudes towards learning new technology. Where one seems to be completely for it, the other, completely against it.

In the afternoon I met with M.S to teach her some online resources to use with her class. I thought that maybe she would enjoy the Glencoe Virtual Manipulatives as much as M.K did early this morning. I was right. She loved it and expressed how she would use it next period as it went perfect with their theme of base ten frames. I only had a single period with her so we only had enough time to explore this program and plan for next period’s lesson. So for the second period I wrote out a list of good kindergarten online resources and apps. I made a copy of this list and provided it to both kindergarten teams.

Wednesday, April 29: Preparation for the Finals

I began the morning by creating a written document requested from the V.P and the Principal. They asked for a write up of what I had covered with the Kindergarten teams in order to know where to use their budget for next year’s PD workshops. I outlined what was discussed on the first meeting as well as the goals each Kinder-team made. I outlined some of the challenges that were faced and skills and strengths that have started to shine through. I made note of their anticipated next steps as to how to continuously grow more comfortable using the technology that I introduced to them.

Later that morning I was back in my class to watch to final Glogster presentation. I really could not be anymore proud of my students as their hard work really paid off. After the presentation I was in and out of the classroom running little errands and gathering a few items of mine that were scattered around the school in preparation for tomorrow being my last day. I went to go back into my homeroom but the door was locked and I was told to go away. They seem to be up to something. So instead I went down to the kindergarten room to double check that the schedule for today worked for them. It was a good thing that I checked because they both wanted the same, so we decided that it would be the most beneficial if we met as a group for our last tech session to learn Google Tour Builder. We met after recess in one of the Kindergarten rooms. We all crowded around the computer as I modelled/ guided them through the program allowing them the opportunity to play with it on their own. We all came up with ideas of where to visit. And as we were going through creating our tour I don’t think there was ever a moment when someone wasn’t saying how awesome this will be to use with the students. Especially to track where everyone is from since they were all born outside of Canada. They had a map on the wall with pins and string to display this, but the teacher was so excited to recreate it to show pictures and to walk the streets of these kid’s hometowns.

In the Afternoon it was M.B’s turn to integrate Popplet into the class. When I first taught her this program she expressed her desire to introduce their next science unit on plants and living things using Popplet to create a brainstorm web of what they already know. Together we presented the students the new program and briefly went over the features. We began really basic with a picture of a plant in the middle. M.B stayed up at the board and I was stationed at the computer to type in what the students were saying about plants. As the web got bigger more hands went up. They really knew a lot and this program really seemed to capture their interest and really got them engaged. Once the lesson was over and it was recess, a few of the students came to me to express how awesome they thought Popplet was. I agreed, it is way better than chart paper! After the students were out, M.B expressed how well it went and wants to continue using it as they learn information to add to the existing web. She did have one concern though, how was she going to type, navigate and teach all at once, once I am gone. We came to the solution of moving the keyboard in a way that her back is not to the class. Overall, she was quite pleased with the way this lesson went.

Thursday, April 30: Last Day

Today is the day, the last one of this amazing experience that I feel I have blinked away. It has gone by too fast! I start off with M.K as she was supposed to create a Smart notebook lesson for today. This was the original goal, however when I got to her room she was no where in sight. I turned on her Mimio board to make sure everything was up and running. She came in a bit later to the room stating that she had too much to prepare for this morning and that this lesson will just have to happen another time. This was a shame as she was looking forward to this. It wouldn’t be a typical day in elementary school if things did not go as plan! So I was flexible and let it go. I asked if I could be of any help as I could see her scrambling around the room. I helped her set up a few things before her class got back from the Gym.

After lunch I was back in my homeroom where my class surprised me with cards that they have been working on all week. They were so pleased that they were able to trick me. I surprised them with bookmarks I made them using Wordle to create a word cloud with their name and adjectives to describe them. I included a heartfelt poem on the back with my signature. They were all excited to see the different words I used to describe them all. During prep I was back in the lab working on the collaborative reflection. This day really just flew by. It was last period before I knew it, so I brought out the treats and veggies. We were all able to have a nice little gathering one last time. Which quickly turned into a massive photoshoot just before the dismissal bell. That was it, the day was done. My placement was done. My education was done. It really was a surreal feeling that I was now officially a qualified teacher.

I ran into a few teachers to say bye as I was leaving and one said that she was going to really miss our group of student teachers. She said that there was something special about this group as we felt apart of the school and it won’t be the same without us. It was such an honour to hear this and I truly think it had to do with the tech portion as it made the rest of the teachers aware of who we were.

Tech Assist Week 1 Reflections

Monday, April 20: Meeting With Tech Team and Introduction with Teachers

Today began as usual, starting off in my homeroom for the first 2 periods with my class as they worked on their ancient civilization Glogster posters on any device available. We a had a variety of iPads, iPad minis, laptops, and Chromebooks that students were using. It was interesting to see the level of engagement with so many different devices circling the room.

After recess the tech team met in the staffroom. We buzzed with excitement while discussing our new role in the school and how it will plan out. We discussed the agenda for the lunch and learns as well as our daily schedule expectations. It already seems that we are cramped for time and we haven’t even gotten started! We had sent out a survey to teachers last week and the results were in. We reviewed these results and summarized the big ideas that came from the survey results. We then grouped teachers about 4-5 per tech teacher, keeping in mind current and previous grades taught as we divided the teachers amongst the tech teachers. Next we focused on creating our schedules to meet the needs of our teachers who requested specific periods for assistance. Once all the logistics were completed it was time for the introductions.

The last part of the day I went to meet each teacher that I was assigned to. I reviewed the tentative schedule that I had made with each teacher to double check the times and dates I had set to meet with them were accurate. One teacher said she was only available period 1 on days 1, 3, & 5 but in the survey had selected more available periods. This through off my schedule a little but that was fine with me as I had planned to be in my homeroom class so it was an easy fix. I also asked each teacher what it was they would like some assistance with and also offering additional programs that I thought would be beneficial for their circumstances. I also took a few moments to look over the tech devices and equipment in each room to check if they were in working order and made notes to address the tech that wasn’t working first thing.

The final consensus for each teacher was as follows:

• M.K: Mimio is not connected to computer, does not currently use a lot of tech but very interested in learning how to use Mimio and smart notebook. Also looking for online resources for math and science.
• M.P: Computer was just re-imaged, Mimio needs to be re-installed and connected to the computer. Is interested in assessment tools, how to use Mimio and smart notebook, and online educational resources and apps for kindergarten.
• M.S & M.N: Has Mimio and a few iPads all in working order. Are very interested in Blogging and needs assistance getting started, also looking for assessment tools, and online educational resources and apps for kindergarten.
• M.B: Has Mimio and a iPad bin with 7 iPads all in working order. Has a good tech background, eager to learn additional programs to use with the class. Looking for more assessment tools and to learn about Eportfolio.

Tuesday, April 21: First Day Flying Solo

I began again in my homeroom where my students continued on their Blogs hoping to be the final class time so that we can start presentations tomorrow. Students began recording their audio and were troubleshooting themselves when the microphone wasn’t working. I’m so proud of my little techies!

Later I met with M.K. for 2 periods even though she told me period 1 works best. I asked her first thing in the morning if she would mind if I came in to fix her Mimio board while she taught and she said she was fine with that as she wasn’t needing the computer anyways. As I played around and tested out the Mimio and the programs on the computer I came to the conclusion that it was not properly installed. I re-setup from the installment. From here I notice the Mimio programs began to work and I was able to finally turn the Mimio board on. While her class was completing seat work I quickly demonstrated how to turn today’s Math lesson that she had done on the carpet to recreate it using the notebook software. When students were dismissed for lunch we discussed a learning goal and decided that we would work together for the next 2 weeks to help her to become comfortable enough to create a math lesson using the mimio notebook.

In the afternoon my prep quickly turned into classroom calls to help troubleshoot tech equipment glitches. I helped M.W with her Smartboard and imovie questions, and assisted M.P with fixing her mimio software to turn on her mimio board. I used the same tactic as I did with M.K as they share the same computer but just different login, only it didn’t work with M.P’s account. This became frustrating and made no sense as the mimio worked with a different login and not hers. It took an hour and a half of waiting for it to reinstall only resulting in us having to cancel it and try again tomorrow.

Later in the afternoon I met with M.B. She expressed her interest in learning about the app ShowMe. I quickly showed her the basics of the functions that the app offers. We had two iPads which seemed to be more effective as she was able to follow along with what I was explaining by testing it out on her own. I helped her create and set up her account so that she could have groups to gather her ShowMe videos into. We worked together to develop a Math lesson to do with her class on finding angles in the classroom. Her level excitement rose as we completed the lesson as if we were students. It is nice to see a teacher at her age so involved and excited to learn new ways to teach through technology. She really is a great role model for others to see someone embrace the changes of education and run with it.

All in all, today was a great day. I felt a bit more professional as teachers who have been in the field for many years were coming to me for my expertise. I must say it has been the most surreal transformation from being a student, to being a teacher, to being a tech assist for teachers all in the matter of 2 months.

Wednesday, April 22: Earth Day Everyday

Today I started off in my home room. Since it was Earth Day we met up with the class beside us and watched a short film about Earth Day and how it started. After the video was over we had a Grand Conversation as a class to discuss the importance of Earth day and what we could do to help the Earth by going above and beyond just putting garbage in the right place and reducing electricity. The topics that came from this conversation could really have taught a lot of adults of the different ways we could be helping the Earth even with something as simple as paying attention to what it is that we buy. After recess we had an Earth Day assembly where my tech talents were put to good use as I was the official “lights” person. Yes, I was in charge of turning on and off the lights for the video and slideshow.

In the afternoon I met with M.N who is in the Kindergarten room to teach her about blogging using WordPress as she was not able to learn when the rest of the team had had an inservice on blogging. I first went over the basics of how to login using the app and the website. Then I showed her the essential features that she would be using, with keeping in mind not to introduce too much all at once as I could tell I could easily overwhelm her with it all. I walked her through and demonstrated how to take a picture and record some text about the picture and post it. Then I had her repeat the same process I had just modelled and had her try it out. Then I showed her how there were more options using the computer to access the blog as she was interested in learning about how to change the layout and colours of the blog. At the end of the session we made a goal together that she would try and post one blog a day to get more familiar.

Later I went over to the other kindergarten M.P’s room and demonstrated how to use Smart Notebook only to find out that there is a permanent watermark on the software. The program was perfectly usable accept for the fact there was this image on every page. Frustrating? Yes! I went on anyways to teach her the features as the skills would be transferable to a mimio notebook. She expressed how she could really see herself using this with her her students. Then we went over into Mimio notebook and showed her where the features that we used with Smart were in Mimio. She expressed that she liked the functionality of Smart better. I told her I would do everything in my power to help her try and get the Smart software to work without the watermark. Today I learned that I have a lot more patient with technology than most people as both of these teachers expressed how when they get frustrated with technology they give up and let it be. And I simply cannot, I keep at it until it is fixed or until I am ready to throw it out the window … I guess I let the frustration build up before I am able to say forget it.

Thursday, April 23: Lunch and Learn

This morning I met with Mrs. K for the first period as this was the only period she said would work for her. She was interesting to learn about how to use Smart notebook and Mimio notebook to create lessons for her grade ⅔ class. I modelled a brief overview of the program showing the different features and outlining all the online resources for pre-made lessons. She caught on fast and loved the interactive features of the program as she began to play with all the different resources available in the gallery content. When we went to switch over to Mimio notebook, so I could show her how to do all the same things using that program, the program would not work. It seems something may have happened when we tried to fix the pm teacher’s Mimio notebook it messed up the one on M.K’s computer. So I re-setup the program and got it to work again. (This computer and Mimio are really starting to get on my nerves!) After I got it up and running I only had a few minutes left to show here quickly the basics as her class strolled in. I will most definitely have to start our next session where we left off with today for Mimio. And I promised I will get to the bottom of this Mimio problem.

After this period I was off to my homeroom where my students began presenting their Glogster posters on their chosen Early Society. Needless to say the ones I have seen this far are amazing especially for my ESL students. This program truly is a good differentiation tool in this regard. After this I prepared for my lunch and learn on the ShowMe app. I went and set everything up in the library so I would be all set to go come time to present. During my presentation I went over the functions of the app and the different ways to use it in the classroom. I then let teachers play with it and had them ask questions as they arose. As I had anticipated the primary/junior teachers were the most interested in this app as it is a bit young for the intermediate grades. I left my lunch and learn participants with a handout that held the important information from my presentation. I then used my prep to take down my devices and return the library to normal. I also popped back into my room to watch a few more presentations.

In the afternoon I met with M.S to help answer blogging questions that she had from testing it out in her class earlier that day. They were simple questions like how to make sure a post is private and how to remove herself from the blog once she is no longer in this class. After answering her questions we had quite a bit of time left. I asked her if she was still interested in learning about using tech as an assessment tool and she was very much still interested. I taught her about Evernote and explained how I have used it in the past for documentation of kindergarten students. She expressed her extreme interest and I helped her get her whole class list setup so that she can begin documenting. I walked her through the features of the program and showed her how to organize all the documentation. I also showed her how easy it was to view this documentation when it came time to report cards. All in all she was very pleased. I quite enjoyed teaching her as she absorbed it all like a sponge and insisted on more. When a problem arose she addressed it as a challenge and put herself to the test to try and make it work. I believe this is the attitude all teachers need when working with technology. Although I know everyone learns at their own pace, they should remove any biases or negative attitudes towards technology as they are learning it and then after they have tried it a few times to then make the ultimate decision whether they will use it or not.

Friday, April 24: PD Assistant

Today was a bit of a mix up schedule wise. The whole morning we were scheduled a math PD session with the instructional coach to help teachers prep for the grade 3 EQAO tests. I had met with the instructional coach earlier on in the week as she approached me with the desire to learn about the ShowMe app with hopes to use it in today’s PD session. After teaching her all about the app she asked me if I wouldn’t mind joining in on the session to help teach it to the teachers. The PD’s focus was on Proportional Reasoning in Math. After I taught the teachers the basics of the app we played around with it in order to brainstorm ways to use it to help enhance proportional reasoning from students. As a group we developed a mini lesson to use this app with one class to gather results. We implemented the mini lesson that took about 20 min. Each teacher was assigned 2 students to monitor and ask prompting questions as the students used ShowMe to explain their thinking. Overall this session went very well, the teachers were amazed at the quality of responses they got from the students. They all expressed their desire to use this program again in their classes.

In the afternoon I was off to M.P’s Kindergarten room again to try and take this watermark off the Smart Notebook. I talked to a few of the tech teachers from the school and was able to get a code from the board with hopes that that would do the trick. I uninstalled and re-installed the software inputting the new code. Fingers were crossed as I started up the program and viola, the watermark was still there! I was at the point where I wanted to scream. I have been at this computer all week trying to fix it and I have come to the point of frustration and failure. I have done all I know how to do. It was time I admit the problem was above my level of training and advised M.P to make contact with IT to try and sort this out. However with me saying this, I think I gave M.P the excuse she was looking for in order not to use this program, which added to my level of frustration. She was one of my teachers that I wanted to get on the tech train to success, instead it seems as if I have given her an exit pass to opt out.

Later on in the afternoon I met with M.B on her prep to address her desire to learn Google Tour Builder. Since the computer in her room was being used for French, we went to the computer lab in search of a free computer and to our luck we found one. I showed M.B how to access it through the web and got her account all set up. I quickly reviewed the basics of the features and allowed her to to test it as I verbally guided her through it. She picked it up quite fast and was able to navigate through it without a problem. In fact she was so excited she called the librarian over to show off the tour that she just created. The librarian was so impressed she started to inquire about the program and M.B was able to teach her the basics. I was so proud of my tech in training teacher! She really shows such enthusiasm towards educational technology that it inspires other teachers to get on board with it too.

ShowMe PD - EdTech Showcase

Presenting: ShowMe

Myself and my teacher twin presented a professional development workshop in the EdTech Showcase on the iPad app called ShowMe. We began this presentation by reviewing the function of the features the app has available while inviting our participants to explore as we went along to become more familiar. Once we covered the basics of the program we went in to explain the benefits of this program for teachers and their students. We also went over the different uses for this program in the classroom including assessment, differentiated instruction, assistance for student’s learning, reviewing student work, and to provide students and parents help with homework instruction. We gave examples of personal experiences of how we have used this app in our classrooms and how it helped boost the level of learning and engagement of students. Then we introduced our participants to the ShowMe community where they can access pre-made videos or they could create and share their own.

For the second part of our workshop we asked our participants to work in pairs to complete a task which they were asked to pretend to be a grade 3s and use the ShowMe app to peer assess the student work in front of them. At this point our participants broke up into pairs and began to use the features of the program to complete the task. We addressed questions as they arose and brainstormed ways with some individuals to meet the specific needs in their current classes. After a few minutes we gathered everyone back to demonstrate how to share their assessments to the group and answered any last-standing questions.  

Presenting at this workshop was both an honour and a learning experience. I learned to step away from my notes and present on what I know without having to refer to the paper in front of me. This added to my level of confidence which allowed my expertise show through. I think it also made the presentation more personable which made it easier for the participants to ask questions. Once I saw the participants able to use the app to complete the task I knew the presentation was successful and that they would now feel more comfortable to try this out with their classes. I think that it was beneficial to have small groups and work on a rotation system as it gave us the chance to work one on one with the participants who needed the assistance. One challenge that I came across was when a set of teachers asked how to adapt the use of this program to meet the needs of their high school students. Since I am a P/J teacher I had a hard time coming up with examples of how they could use the app in their classes. I asked them if they could come up with any ways it would be useful but it was clear that their personal biases of this app was already clouding their judgement. I continued to show them community section where tons of high school teachers have posted videos but I could see it on their faces that they had already made up their mind that this was of no use to them. From this experience I learned that teachers who want to learn will make find a way to make the program work and teachers who don’t want to learn will always find a way for why the program wouldn’t work. I believe that the only way i could have addressed this better is with time and experience in the field in order to learn how to convince those who are skeptical the ongoing benefits of using EdTech resources and specifically the app ShowMe. Overall, I believe this experience has taught me who I am as a presenter, highlighting the skills I excel at those that need some fine tuning.   

Using Ed Tech In the Classroom

Sesame Snap

Throughout this final practicum experience I have been able to incorporate technology into my daily lessons to help support student learning. I decided to be ambitious this term and teach myself something new that I have never used before. I attempted to use Sesame to help lesson and unit plan but found that to be more of a time waster than anything. However, I did find a good use for this program that makes me envision bagels every time I read the name. I found this handy app on the iPads called Sesame Snap, which now makes me think of those sesame crackers that are coated in honey. This app proved to be a straightforward, easy to use app that really eased the panic of anecdotal observation assessments. At one point while I was running around the room snapping every piece of evidence of learning that I could, I was even able to capture a fantastic video of one of my students who is on an IEP describing her learning on a higher level then I would ever get from her on paper. This to me showed me the value and importance to continue using Sesame Snap as an assessment tool especially for differentiation purposes.

Another ambition that I tackled this term was to create a culminating task that used an app or program to help present the student’s learning. This idea continuously changed over the last 3 weeks from an iMovie, to a Prezi, to online Trading Cards, and then to Google Slides, and finally coming to the ultimate conclusion of using Glogster; only find out it wasn’t free. Darn. But now my mind was set and this had to be it! With the help of my associate teacher giving up her lunch to help solve the Glogster mystery, by the end of the day we had a 2 month free trial. That was good enough for me! I made sure to teach the students how to use the program first and connected it to the curriculum by focusing on non-fiction text features. The room was buzzing with excitement when I announced that we would be using this program to create digital posters as our final project for our early societies unit. Needless to say they turned out to be amazing! Better than I could have ever imagined. As the students worked on the their Glogs using iPads, computers, laptops, Chromebooks, they learned more about the program and its features and were teaching me by the end of it. The use of this program really brought their learning to life and was a great D/I tool for my ESL and IEP students. I would definitely use it again as all students excelled during their presentation.

Google Tour Builder

Lastly I finished the unit off with Google Tour Builder. I was using the lesson as more of a test for myself to see if this is a program I would use in the future. I created a quick tour the night before thinking it would be cool to take my students on a tour of the early societies we studied and see how they live today. My plan was to take them to see the Egyptian Pyramids, the Nile river, the ruins in Greece and the old Sparta city, and old castles in France. What I hadn’t planned for was the spontaneous connection to angles as my students pointed out first thing that they could see angles similar to those that we were looking at in math. As we continued the tour the students’ eyes were bulging, the questions were endless and very advance, and whispers filled the air when students saw something they had read about when researching. What really blew me away was when one child, the kind that you can never really tell if they are paying attention or not, blurts out that he saw something on the map as we zoomed across and wanted us to go back to check it out. It turns out he saw the city Alexandria. He said he remembered one day we talked about Alexandria on the Nile (which we did for maybe all of 2 minutes) and wanted to see if we could see it on the tour. This instigated the class to recall all the information they knew about Alexandria on the Nile as I tried to navigate through the map to try and locate it. Once we were zoomed in far enough we could tell that it may not have been the same place as what we studied as we came to the conclusion that Alexandria on the Nile was a monument not a city. But we did notice an interesting looking building that we thought would be cool to look at from the street view. Once we were in we all gasped with excitement. We were right in the middle of an Egyptian marketplace! Well you could imagine where the conversation took off from there. What was meant to be an all of 10 minute tour turned out to take up the entire period. Lets just say at the end of the tour I received an applause, easy to say now that I can chalk this lesson up as a success!

Our Tour

Tech Coach in Training

During this term I had the opportunity to give a one-to-one technology coaching session to an instructional coach. She came to me asking for help because she had an idea for a math PD on proportional reasoning that she was running next week and wanted to incorporate the apps ShowMe and Explain Everything. Her idea was that these apps will help teachers hear and see their students responses and explanations in order to reflect to see what the next steps are in order to prepare them for EQAO.

I sat down with her and taught her the functions of the two apps, highlighting the similarities and differences between the two. She picked it up extremely fast and proceeded to use both programs with ease. Together we worked through challenges that both apps revealed with regards to student interaction and limitations within the apps. We found reasonable solutions for how to address these challenges with the teachers and their students. From here she asked me if I would attend the PD and help her teach these apps to the teachers.

Explain Everything

At the PD I used a series of scaffolding techniques that we as teachers use with students. Where I began by modelling, then had the teachers follow specific steps, and then having them complete a task on their own as if they were the students. I helped answer questions that came up while teachers were working on their task. We collaborated and came up with a way to go into a classroom for 20 minutes and record students strategies when solving a proportional reasoning question. After going into the classroom and retrieving the results we came back to “our” table to review and discuss the learning that just took place. Teachers noticed how well the app captures the added depth to a math explanation compared to what they normally get out of pencil and paper. Teachers were amazed at some students explanation as we watched the videos and discussed the strategies that were being presented. Overall the teachers response was that they were excited to continue to use these apps in their classrooms to support their students’ learning.

To Use Technology or Not to Use ... That is The Question!

In my experience I have noticed there are three categories that teachers can fall into: either they are tech embracers, tech avoiders, or tech procrastinators. That is because they have all witnessed the benefits and challenges of educational technology at one time or another. What makes teachers who embrace the constant change and innovation of the EdTech field stand out, is that they seem to willingly accept the challenges that are thrown their way when another new program or tool is introduced.

There are many arguable challenges and benefits of using EdTech tools to support teaching and learning. I personally think the number one major challenge is time. I have received a lot of feedback from teachers expressing their desire to learn a new app or program but just simply do not have the time to do so, especially with EQAO coming up in less than a month.

 

Another major challenge is accessibility to the school’s tech resources. Some classes seem to have a lot more EdTech tools than others, which can give teachers the excuse they are looking for to avoid using technology in their classrooms. This may be a result of the different levels of teacher comfort with using tech in the classroom. Every teacher will learn tech at their own pace and with that creates a large divide of skill levels amongst teachers even within a single school. This is  where you will find teachers who jump at the second someone says new app to the teachers who are afraid to even be in the same room with technology.

Lastly, I have seen a number of teachers rely on technology as a substitute for teaching or as a time-filler. Insisting they want a pre-made lesson that puts little emphasis on the teacher. This is one of my newest pet peeves. I believe that the effectiveness of educational technology on teaching and learning is only as good as the teacher implementing it. If the teacher is not already invested in their class to improve student engagement and interaction, then adding technology as a teacher substitute will certainly not accomplish this either.

With all these challenges (even excluding all the added costs, errors, and potential additional student distraction) I can see why teachers are so easily inclined to dismiss the use of technology in their classrooms. However, with that being said the benefits by far outweigh the challenges. Using EdTech tools and programs in the classroom have been proven to increase student engagement and success. With teacher involvement and willingness to try new things adds to the 21st century classroom and provides more opportunities for teaching and learning as a whole. Another benefit of using EdTech tools and resources as a teacher helps you address the different learning styles and needs of your students with ease. There are many programs and apps on the rise to assist with assessments, particularly focusing on the students who require accommodations or modifications.  Lastly, EdTech devices can enhance the inquiry based learning that takes place in the classroom. Even if your school only has a few iPads or tech devices, students essentially learn more when they work in small groups or pairs as they are forced to collaborate and share ideas around the singular device.

Essential Elements of the 21st Century Classroom

Our world has changed drastically over the past decade, with emphasis on new skills and processes that have evolved in today’s leading industries. Today’s students are in need of a new approach to education and those who are not on this train to success will be left in the dust of others. This calls for all teachers to at least be informed and up to date with the needs of our 21st century learners and finding ways to transform the classroom to meet their needs.

We cannot assume that students will become 21st century learners on their own. They need ongoing learning opportunities that challenge them to utilize 21st century fluencies and integrate the six dimensions of 21st century learning. These dimensions include:

• ·      Collaboration
• ·      Knowledge - construction
• ·      The use of ICT for learning
• ·      Self-regulation
• ·      Real-world problem-solving and innovation
• ·      Skilled communication

Of these six dimensions I believe that collaboration, self-regulation, and real-world problem-solving and innovation to be the essential elements of the 21st classroom.

In the real world we are rarely if not ever asked to work independently to come up with an answer to a problem, or to create or develop a new design to help reduce the amount of time spent on a single task. Instead we are asked to work with the people in our team or department to come up with a solution. Why is this? Because overtime we have learned that if we brainstorm as a group more often than not will result in a more creative and effective result. That is because we can build off of each other’s thoughts and ideas to be able to reach our goal. Makes sense right? Therefore, these skills are needed to be introduced and developed from an early age in order for them to be perfected by the time these students reach the workforce. Our 21st century students will need to learn the basics of collaboration when addressing real world problems in order to understand that their peers are just as valuable resource as an iPad is. Teaching students the essence of collaboration also entails that everyone in the group will have a specific role that can repeatedly change over time. So these students will need to have the opportunity to develop their skills at every role. Essentially these roles help develop self regulation skills within students as they begin to monitor, track, and reflect on their progress. These roles can be, but are not limited to; leader, note taker, time keeper, task manager, resource organizer, summarizer etc. These roles are easy to see that they transfer to real life jobs in today’s world. This makes learning more meaningful and worthwhile as students can see the relation to the real-world context and the reasoning behind their education. This is so that our students can become responsible, cultural, global citizens who are accountable for their own learning. Evidently, creating lifelong learners ready for the 21st century workforce.