OER - Teacher Collaboration

See Attribution Below

OER Is More Work - Why on Earth Would I Do That?

@joe_edtech

Tuesday, my blog post was about all of the Open Educational Resources (OER) available to us thanks to projects like Lumen Learning and Creative Commons. Today I want to discuss why we would want to invest our time in searching for, adapting, and using OER. After all, that certainly sounds like a lot of extra work. I'll skip the obvious diatribe about the democratization of information on the grand scale of Gutenberg's printing press revolution and just focus on the products we provide to students, for now.

Anna Yezierska wrote a short story called, "America and I." It is one of my favorite stories ever specifically because of the conclusion that she draws from being a newcomer to the US. She said that while there were a lot of things she could complain about as an immigrant, she loved America because whatever else is true, "America isn't finished yet." It is constantly being recreated and improved.

Think about the text books that we use in class. Despite the exorbitant cost, I have yet to find a slick packaged text book that is what I would call "good." Good means - well written, with a compelling narrative, complete with a deep discussion of multiple perspectives, offering a full breadth of coverage, enhanced by images that create a memorable experience, and allows for easy, appropriate differentiation. BUT, since we spent so much money to get the text book in the first place, we can pretty well guarantee that we, or more accurately our students, will be stuck with that text book for five or six years.

Using Open Educational Resources instead of commercial products would require us to do more work with our PLC members and other educators. There is no "canned" product to use with kids right out of the box. However, what we "create" for our kids is really just text book 1.0. Within PLCs or other collaborative teams, we can engage in an iterative process that can improve our classroom materials not only from year to year, but from day to day! That means we can look at our materials and reflect on the whole experience after every classroom use, Using OER can help us engage in reflective professional conversation with my colleagues, and help all of us produce something even better for the next time. Then the best thing about our adopted classroom materials is that they aren't dependent on a six year purchasing cycle. Instead, they become like Yezierska's America.

So, that's extra work...but it sure seems worth it.

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What do you think, would you adopt OER for your school?

Picture Attribution:

By lumaxart (LuMaxArt Gold Guys With Creative Commons Symbol) [CC BY-SA 2.0 or CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

FTT - CK12

Open Educational Resources - OER

The Future of Collaboration in Education

@joe_edtech

At both of our high schools in District 113, teachers are considering the possibilities that may arise for both them and their students as they plan to teach in fully integrated,  1:1 classroom. I constantly get questions about how we can best leverage the tools available to us and our students. To answer that question, and to introduce today's free tech tools, I want to tell a brief story about a conference I attended last year hosted by the Association for Educational Communication and Technology (AECT). 

After attending several other state and national technology conferences, my expectations for the AECT were low, and I imagined I was going to see a lot of research on miniscule topics that had little to do with the teaching and learning that actually goes on in my high school. I was, frankly, blown away by what I learned at the conference, and I have been excitedly telling everyone I can about the possibilities since I returned. At the end of the first day, I attended a presentation by Dr. David Wiley, Co-Founder of Lumen Learning, an organization that supports the adoption of Open Educational Resources (OER) both at the University and at the K-12 level. (This isn't the presentation I saw, but you can click here to get the idea.)

My excitement in OER cannot be contained to one blog post. Today I just want to tell you what OER are and how much quality free stuff is available to you and your students.

First off, what exactly are Open Educational Resources? OER are any kind of classroom teaching materials, including:

• textbooks
• syllabi
• lesson plans
• videos
• articles
• exams

They are "Open" Educational Resources because they are in the public domain or hold Creative Commons Licensing. That means that any OER can be reused, revised, remixed, and/or redistributed (Lumen Learning - the 4 Rs). Ultimately OER don't carry the heavy price of commercial textbooks and ancillaries. However, nor do they include the slick finishing of commercial textbooks. The power and the weakness of OER is that they are never "finished" (foreshadowing to my next post).

In the not too distant past, schools and teachers shied away from using OER because the materials just weren't that robust. However, with the advent of the Creative Commons Project and organizations like Lumen Learning, there are tons of resources available.

Perhaps the most important collection of Open Educational Resource materials and tools for high school moving towards a 1:1 learning environment is called CK-12. CK-12 is a tool and a colloection of materials that allows teachers to build digital textbooks, called "Flexbooks," that are interactive and easily accessible on any device. And, while you can start building your textbook from scratch, you certainly don't have to do so. There are lots of books that have already been shared with Creative Commons Licensing, so you can feel free to take any book that already exists on CK-12, edit it, and make it your own.

Why would you want to build your own textbook? I can only speak from my experience. I taught European History, and used the textbook to provide my students with a more or less chronological narrative overview of the time line we covered in class. However, I struggled finding great textbooks. Invariably I would have to choose one textbook, that would be the official textbook adopted for the class for a minimum of 6 years, and it would either lack depth or clarity with regards to a number of topics. Then I would spend a great deal of my time supplementing that textbook with materials from other texts and resources to fill in the incredibly wide gaps left in the narrative. With CK-12, I wouldn't need to rely on a commercially created (and perhaps politically charged) textbook. I would be able to use all of the resources available to me to build my own narrative.

In order to get started, all you need to do is go to http://www.ck12.org/teacher/ and create a free account.

CK-12 is probably the most relevant and powerful tool for schools looking to make the conversion to a digital curriculum, but it certainly isn't the only good resource out there. Take a look through some of the great OER available to anyone willing to invest their very precious time to investigate them:

OPEN - Open Professionals Education Network:

http://open4us.org/find-oer/

Lumen Learning Open Courses:

http://www.lumenlearning.com/courses

ELA

- http://www.engageny.org/

Math

- http://www.mathematicsvisionproject.org/

- http://utahmiddleschoolmath.org/

And more science and math is here:

- http://everythingmaths.co.za/

- http://everythingscience.co.za/

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Do you use other Open Educational Resources? Or have you used any of the resources listed above? Please leave a comment in the box below.

How to survive a tech savvy teen

This is always the first place we send parents
to find resources and look for family solutions

How Do You Prepare Parents for 1:1 Learning?

@joe_edtech
Common Sense Media Certified Educator

For the most part, we've done an excellent job of preparing our students to be digital learners, and an adequate job of preparing our faculty to be digital teachers. However, we frequently forget the steps we need to take to prepare our parents for life with a teenager with an with constant access to a mobile computing device. Here is an adaptation of a short article I wrote and published in previous iterations online. (I believe in Creative Commons, so if you like any or all of this, please feel free to adapt it and use it for your school or classroom. If you don't like it...don't tell me.)

Living with a Teenager AND a Chromebook

When your child was in elementary school, you probably got used to checking a folder every week and looking through all the worksheets and packets that had been graded and sent home. But now your teenager brings home a Chromebook instead of a folder. More than one parent has contacted me to say, “My kids are way more tech savvy than I am, and I don’t know how to check their Chromebook for their homework.” So, what now? This short article is designed to give you a few ideas of how to survive as a parent of a teenager with constant access to a mobile computing device provided by their school.

First, the best news is that whether your student is in a Chromebook classroom or a traditional classroom, the Infinite Campus or Home Portal is still the place to go to check on all of your student’s grades and attendance records. So, as far as a weekly check goes, IC is still the place to start. By the way, it is a good idea to know the grading practices of your students' teachers, and how often they update grades in IC. It isn't healthy or helpful to check the gradebook several times a day like a stock ticker. Usually a regularly scheduled weekly check is enough.

Secondly, Chromebooks offer all of us an excellent opportunity to have additional conversations with our teens, and you can always pass it off as simply being curious about the device as opposed to asking for information about classes and assignments. For instance, you can ask them if their teachers have a classroom website and if so, what kinds of things get posted there. You can ask them about the kinds of Internet tools they use in school. One of my colleagues plays a “high point / low point” game with her children. For the Chromebook, that game would look like this. “Tell me the thing you like best about using the Chromebook in school, then tell me the thing you like least.”

If you really are nervous because you feel like your students are more computer savvy than you are, take a look at Common Sense Media’s website. Common Sense Media is an independent, non partisan, non profit organization, and they claim their mission is to improve "the lives of kids and families by providing the trustworthy information, education, and independent voice they need to thrive in a world of media and technology." On their website, you can navigate through App and Movie reviews, and check out their tips for keeping kids safe online.

Finally, if you really have concerns about how your teenager is using their mobile technology, you can contact their classroom teacher. Whether the question is about a grade, a classroom activity, or a homework assignment, it is always a good idea to direct your questions to your children first, and their teachers second. And you can usually find the contact information for the classroom teachers directly through the Home Portal or the school's web page.

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How do you prepare Parents for life with a constantly computing teen? Tell us in the box below.

FTT - Nearpod

Turn Any Presentation Into an Interactive Presentation with Nearpod

@joe_edtech

When I was teaching full time, I would frequently use PowerPoint Slide Shows in class. The secret I never told my students is that the important things that happened in class, the real moments of cognitive engagement, had little or nothing to do with the PowerPoint Slides. Mostly I used the slides to keep myself on topic - and sometimes that worked.

In class, I really wanted the students to engage in the conversation with me. I didn't want them to just spew historical facts back at me, I wanted them to think about the situations that arose, try to understand why people acted the way they did, postulate what they might have done differently, and so on. But what I mostly saw when I used PowerPoint was a furious dash to write down every word that was printed on the slide as if it were Gospel. And why did they do that? Somewhere along the line they learned that what was important in class would be on the next exam, and everything that was on the next exam would be written on the board or included in the slide show (and yes, I'm sure that I was complicit in that at some point).

Nearpod is a Web 2.0 tool that offers us a chance to change the game a little. If you use Nearpod, and your students download the app to their Chromebooks, you can push presentations to them so that each slide appears on the screen of their device. If they are of the type that wants to write down every word, they can actually just take screenshots and go back to engaging in the discussion in class. Not only that, though, Nearpod gives you a chance to insert polls, quizzes, and other interactive slides into your presentations. With all of the power of a student response system, you can embed formative assessment into your classroom presentations and ensure some level of universal participation. You can even have students create drawings or graphs using their track pads, and share individual drawings to the entire class.

At the risk of being accused of burying the lead, though, Nearpod also serves one other purpose for your 1:1 classroom. While I am still of the mindset that the best way to make sure that your students aren't distracted by the technology is to be engaging with your teaching, teachers who are new to the 1:1 environment often cite classroom management/device management as one of their major concerns. If you use Nearpod for classroom presentations, you can easily see which students are actively engaged in your classroom activity. There is even an "attendance" button on the top left of the teacher screen that lets you see if any of your students have navigated away from your Nearpod presentation. So, while it doesn't lock your students into one screen, it gives you clear evidence of who is engaged in the lesson, and who is not.

Here is Nearpod's very short introduction to the product:

On the upside, Nearpod has gotten better and more efficient over the last twelve months or so, which means that the development team is dedicated to making this a tool that can enhance any 1:1 classroom. With a free personal account, you can present PPT presentations or presentations saved to PDF. You can also share those presentations with other teachers. Additionally, the company recently rolled out a feature that allows students to take notes on the presentations they see. On the downside, I have had instances when one or two of the students in the classroom can't get logged into the product. Also, they would really like for you to pay for a school or district license, which means the very best capabilities are reserved for the premium edition. But, this is a pretty decent tool to use in a 1:1 classroom no matter which device your students are using.

Click here to get a free Nearpod account.

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Have you used Nearpod with your class? Or do you have another classroom presentation / classroom management tool that you use? Tell us about it in the comments section below.

Education is Change

photo credit: Schoolhouse (winter) via photopin (license)

What is Formative Assessment Assessing?

@joe_edtech

I am just starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel of my doctoral program, so I can say with some confidence that I've spent too much time over the last couple of years studying instructional design models. The biggest criticism I have of most of the models is that they appear to be based in behavioral psychology, not cognitive psychology. I still think it is worth the effort to study them, though. It is always good to discuss and review the basics of instructional design, no matter where we are in our careers.

The most important aspect of the ID models so far is that each one of them is fundamentally an iterative process based on lots of formative assessment. Each time I read that a light goes on because I think we often forget what formative assessment is really all about. On the one hand, it is a measure to gauge student progress towards mastery of a skill or content area. However, another equally important function of formative assessment is to gauge the effectiveness of our classroom instruction. The idea is that if the students aren't successful, it might be our instructional methods or processes that need to be changed. In other words, maybe there are things we can and should do to reach the students who aren't succeeding.

The key is that we may always have to be changing our methods, messages, and means in the classroom. As teachers, I think we are sometimes reluctant to do that. There was a myth propagated in my earliest days of teaching that if we just work really hard to develop our materials and lesson plans in the first couple of years, we can simply reuse those materials every year. Hopefully you clearly read that as a MYTH.

Working in technology has taught me that the world is in a constant state of change, and it should be. The tools we have access to this year are better and more effective than the tools we had access to 19 years ago when I began. And we should be excited to embrace them and re-imagine our classrooms every single year. Furthermore, the group of kids I have in class this year might be a lot different than the students we had last year - and that means that our instruction, processes, methods, and messages should change, too.

Teachers aren't lazy. They hold onto materials because they believe in "tried and true." We are taught to seek best practices and hang on to them once we've found them. The one lesson I wish all schools of education would teach at the very beginning of any education program is that the "best practices" are actually processes, and they have to be constantly updated, changed, re-invented, and re-created. In other words, teaching, like technology, is always changing - and that means we should always be presented with new learning opportunities, for ourselves and our students.

FTT - Free Screencasting

photo credit: YouTube website screenshot via photopin (license)

Three "Free" Screencasting Tools for Teachers

@joe_edtech

Flipped and Blended classes are all the rage. And whether you are creating content for your students or having them create something to share with the class, personally created video is one of the best ways to take full advantage of a 1:1 classroom. There are some very good - and very expensive - screencasting tools that you can purchase, but unless you need really robust editing tools, there are also plenty of free options. Since several teachers are going to be offering sessions on using video in class at our upcoming district institute day, I thought today would be a good day to look at three good options for recording your screen for free.

My favorite free screencasting option is Google + Hangouts. If you start a Google Hangout on Air with yourself, you can record any browser screen on your computer. And, the real reason I like it so much is that Google + Hangouts provide you with a great way of not only recording your screen, but also recording you, meaning your students are getting personalized instruction from you anywhere they have access to the Internet. I've created a direction set for you (click here to access), but here's a very quick demo:

Screencast-O-Matic is a tried and true, bi-platform method for screencasting. The free version of Screencast-O-Matic allows you to upload 15 minute video chunks to YouTube. If you are recording more than 15 minutes, this isn't the option for you - but most of the evidence out there suggests that your personally created lessons should be shorter than that. Here is a quick video tutorial:

If you want your students to record their Chromebook screens, Snagit is a decent option. In order to use Snagit, you need to go to the Chrome Web Store and search for Snagit. You need to install both the App and the Extension for it to work properly. The downside of Snagit is that if your Chromebook doesn't have a fast processor, Snagit will not record video - or it will be choppy. But the upside is that it is extremely easy to use whether you are screencasting or taking still screenshots. Here's a little more information on Snagit for Chrome by TechSmith:

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Do you have a favorite Free Screencasting tool? Share it with us below.

Integration through PLCs and COPs

photo credit: CraigTaylor74 via photopin cc

How Do You Get Everyone On Board?

@joe_edtech

I recently saw a very good question asked during an Ed Tech Twitter Chat. The moderator asked, "What examples of PD/support have led to the most positive instructional changes surrounding digital resources?"

This is an often overlooked or underrated question when we consider the history of integrating technology into the classroom (see previous posts, I won't belabor the point). But if every previous attempt at transforming the classroom was ultimately doomed to fail because of teacher resistance, then the real question is, how do we create PD that is teacher driven and fosters innovation?

I think most of us in education intuitively know that we have to provide a two pronged support plan. In the first prong, we have to provide formal training that teaches the basics of technology tools and methods of integrating and teaching with technology. The second VERY BIG prong is ongoing PD that is embedded and focused in building or district PLCs, and which encourages teachers to work together and form connections through informal Communities of Practice that are formally supported by district and building administration.

Not surprisingly, the research backs this up. Let me discuss the results from just one study published in the Journal of Educational Computing Research, entitled "Technology Integration Through Professional Learning Community" (Full APA citation below). In it, the authors operate from a very basic premise, "Sustained and socially driven involvement in professional development programs is a factor contributing to teacher content knowledge and teacher satisfaction" (p 60).

In fact, their study shows what a factor it can be. The study examined a program that embedded sustained PD in PLCs and Communities of Practice. When the study began, a majority of teachers achieved only very basic levels of technology integration (think "Substitution" on the SAMR model). By the conclusion of the two year cycle, a majority of teachers found themselves at the upper ranges of the Stages of Adoption scale labeled "creative application to new contexts" (p 70). And, important to note, only one teacher dropped out of the PLC voluntarily.

I've seen similar results in teacher teams I've had the privilege to work with (without the benefit of detailed statistical analysis - thank God). I firmly believe we get the best results when we provide teachers with an appropriate level of formal training, support them as they work in their teaching teams to change practice, and encourage them to collaborate and experiment with other teachers who have some of the same teaching goals. 

But, I couldn't find a way to fit that into the 140 character limit on Twitter, so I had to say it to you. Aren't you lucky. :)

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Cifuentes, L., Maxwell, G., & Bulu, S. (2011). Technology Integration through Professional Learning Community. Journal Of Educational Computing Research, 44(1), 59-82.

FTT - Two Google Add Ons to Make Sheets Easy to Read

Image from New Visions Cloud Lab

They Completed Your Google Form. Now, How Do You Read Their Answers?

@joe_edtech

While your students will sit for HOURS completing the PARCC assessment, perhaps the reason the State and Federal Government have adopted such tests is that they are incredibly easy to grade - objective tests with a lot of selecting the right answers. All you have to do is run the answer sheet through a simple computer program and you have mountains of "achievement data" to turn into pretty graphs.

In the real world, and in the classroom, answers are not always objective. And most teachers want their students writing critically and creatively. Ask any Google Apps for Education teacher and they'll tell you that forms are the most efficient way to assess for learning, formatively or summatively. But, have you ever tried to read a free response answer or an essay on a Google Spreadsheet? If you have, you just winced. If you haven't - DON'T DO IT!

Save as Doc Add On

The Google Add On Store offers two great solutions for taking the written information in Google Form Response Spreadsheets and turning it into something useful. The first, and easiest tool is called "Save as Doc." This Add -On takes a column from a spreadsheet and saves the data in a very readable Google Doc. (See below for a demonstration of the "Save as Doc" Add On.) "Save as Doc" is probably best used if you want to generate a discussion with a group or quickly glance through answers to check for understanding. At a recent workshop, I had teachers fill out a form on which they wrote down some ideas they have about student grades. Rather than opening the results spreadsheet, I used "Save as Doc" and displayed the anonymous answers to the group to generate a full discussion.

The other Add On worth discussing is a little more complicated, but is perhaps my favorite Google Tool, and will prove worth your time to learn and utilize. autoCrat, by New Visions Cloud Lab, is a tool for merging data from a spreadsheet into a Doc or into another spreadsheet. Imagine giving your students an online quiz using Google Forms and having a Google Doc generated for each student with their answers displayed in an easy to grade, easy to comment, and easy to share way. You can also use autoCrat to create certificates or mail merge letters. Written directions for autoCrat can be found on the New Visions Cloud Lab page, or you can watch the video, created by Jay Atwood, embedded below for step-by-step instructions:

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One of the benefits of being a part of the Google Apps for Education Community is that all GAFE Teachers and Trainers create "how to" materials for using Google products. While the first video is mine, the second video is posted by a fellow Google Education Trainer. If you find another good video tutorial for a Google Add On, please share it with us in the comment box below.