The Arizona K12 Center is once again hosting sessions at the annual Microcomputers in Education Conference (MEC) at ASU. Tony Vincent is covering some great topics, including Google, iPads, iPod touch, podcasting, and presentations. Tony has a one-page handout for each session. PDFs of the handouts are available below:
If you are going to MEC, please see the Presentation Directory for the time and location of our sessions. Seating is limited, and sessions require tickets. Tickets are free and available on a first-come, first-serve basis.
When engaged in Project Based Learning, students focus on a relevant question or issue over an extended period of time. Planning, investigation, and presentation of the project can meet academic standards while students employ real-world project-management, collaboration, critical thinking, and communication skills. Read our blog post Introduction to Project Based Learning to become acquainted with the basics of learning through projects.
Another way to learn the what and why of Project Based Learning is to view the Project Based Learning: Explained video on YouTube. It is by Common Craft and describes in clear language the essential elements of Project Based Learning. The four-minute video proclaims, “These days school can be more interesting and effective by focusing students on work that matters.”
Wayne D’Orio wrote an article The Power of Project Learning for Scholastic Administrator. It goes into more detail about PBL and quotes some experts:
“Projects are the learning that students remember long after the bell rings.” -Gary Stager, professor
“The best questions have no clear answers. As opposed to getting the right answer, we tell students to come up with an answer they can defend.” -Dan Liebert, principal
“Some people are worried that if someone walks by a classroom, and it seems disorderly, it will look like students aren’t on task. It’s a problem for people to tolerate more movement and conversation.” -Jane Krauss, author
“We have to give students permission to think, not teach them what to think.” -Chris Lehmann, principal
Project Based Learning does not necessary require the use of technology, but often technology helps support all aspects of learning through projects. A recent episode of my podcast, Project Based Learning in Hand, explains how mobile devices like iPad and iPod touch can play a big role in project learning.
Developing effective driving questions, rubrics, and examples for projects takes some expertise and time. Arizona teachers interested in spending a week this summer investigating and preparing for Project Based Learning should register for Learning Through Projects, one of five learning strands at summer 2011’s Camp Plug & Play 6.0 in Tucson June 13-17.
Furthermore, any educator interested in mobile learning, especially with iPad and iPod touch, should consider registering for the Mobile Learning Experience 2011 in Phoenix, Arizona. Visit mobile2011.org for more conference details. Early bird registration closes January 7 and regular registration ends March 1. Sponsored by the Arizona K12 Center, the Mobile Learning Experience promises to be an event unlike any other!
Word clouds are a visual representation of the frequency of words in a selection of text. More than just pretty pictures, word clouds can engage students in critical thinking. Critical thinking is often cited as one of the 4Cs of 21st century learning. The 4Cs include critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity. Critical thinking is the art of using knowledge, skills, and intelligence to arrive at thoughtful conclusions based on evidence and reason.
In a word cloud the more frequently a word is used, the larger it is. Predicting what words will be large or small is certainly an exercise in critical thinking. For instance, what word would you expect to be largest in the Declaration of Independence? You might guess words like freedom, king, and American. Your guesses are based on your knowledge of the Declaration of Independence. You know that American colonists were not happy with the King of England and demanded their own freedom, so you suspect those key words would appear most often.
I used the website Wordle.net to make a word cloud from the text of the Declaration of Independence. I expected to see the words freedom, king, and American in large font. However, people, laws, right, and government are the largest words with no mention of the three words I predicted to see.
Reflection is a crucial piece of critical thinking. Having the willingness and ability to evaluate one’s thinking leads to learning and improvement of thinking skills. Why was my prediction incorrect? Why didn’t freedom, king, and American appear in the word cloud?
I examined the original text of the Declaration and found that America is mentioned only twice, once as part of the title of the document, “The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America,” and another in the concluding paragraph. Reviewing the Declaration of Independence, I am reminded that the document is a list of grievances against the King of Great Britain. His title is mentioned just once, but he is referred to by pronoun over a dozen times. (Note that word clouds often omit common English words like “he.”) So it makes sense that the word king is not frequently used in the Declaration, even though he is the main subject of the document.
Also as part of my reflection, I was sure I would see the word freedom in the document. To my surprise, the word does not appear anywhere in the Declaration of Independence. The word free is used a few times, mostly in the phrase “free and independent states.” Consequently, I’ve had to readjust my thinking about the Declaration of Independence The majority of the text is not about the importance of freedom. Instead, it is a listing of the king’s actions that the colonist viewed as unfair.
When getting students to think critically about word clouds, it’s necessary for the teacher to model aloud his or her own thinking. The modeling should demonstrate clear, logical, and relevant reasoning.
Be sure to give students opportunities to express their own thinking. Working in pairs, small groups, or engaging in class discussions allows students to convey and refine their thinking. They can get feedback from others and hear how others arrived at their conclusions.
For another example, let’s activate prior knowledge about carnivorous plants. I found a short article titled “Carnivorous Plants” at factmonster.com. I would ask students questions like, “What words would you expect to be used most frequently when someone writes about carnivorous plants?” and “Which word do you expect to be the largest in the word cloud?”
To create a word cloud, first copy the text from the page. Be careful not to include text from ads, navigation links, and other parts of the web page that are not part of the article. If you do select unwanted text, you can delete it after copying into Wordle.net.
Go to Wordle.net and click Create. Paste the text you copied into the box marked Paste in a bunch of text. Remove any unwanted words that might have been included. Next, click Go.
Wordle generates a word cloud. The colors, fonts, and layout are randomized, giving the word cloud a unique look. Click Randomize to see the same text with a different font, layout, or color scheme.
You can use the menus that appear directly above the word cloud to specify a font, layout, or color scheme.
While there are many options to make the word cloud look pretty, the design is not relevant to thinking critically about the text. What is more relevant is the frequency of the words. If you want to know the number of times words appear in the text, you can click the Language menu and choose Show word counts.
Again, after testing predictions, it is essential to evaluate thinking through reflection. Were the predictions correct? Why or why not?
Word clouds are particularly useful if your textbook has a digital edition. Copying the text of a chapter into Wordle can be a great way to preview upcoming content or to review the chapter.
Students can analyze their own writing using Wordle. Turning a piece of writing into a word cloud can help writers determine if the purpose shines through their words. It’s also a great way to determine if certain words are overused or underused. Another way word clouds can be used for critical thinking is the Guess the Wordle project. Each weekday there is a new puzzle or mystery idea represented by a word cloud. The solution is given the following day.
Using word clouds is just one way students can practice critical thinking. The Foundation for Critical Thinking has a series of short videos on YouTube that helps explain critical thinking to young learners. The third video in the series features five intellectual standards to think better:
Be clear. Can you state what you mean? Can you give examples?
Be accurate. Are you sure it’s true?
Be relevant. Is it related to what we are thinking about? Will it help solve the problem?
Be logical. Does it all fit together?
Be fair. Did you consider how your behavior will make other feel?
There have been many times where I have wanted to create a simple web page for a specific lesson, event, presentation, or meeting. In past I would typically set up a wiki at pbworks.com or a website at sites.google.com. While it’s not difficult to set up a wiki or Google Site, if your goal is to quickly post a single web page, I now like to use Google Docs to create and post the page. Here’s how:
Create a new Google Doc. If you think there might be a template for the kind of document you are going to create, choose From template… and search or browse for one.
Include any text, tables, links, and images you’d like on the page. A big advantage to using Google Docs over other web page creation tools is that it’s just like creating a word processing document, because that’s exactly what you’re creating.
Give the document a title by clicking Untitled. Afterwards the document should automatically save. If it doesn’t, click the Save button.
Click the triangle next to the Share button and choose Publish as web page…
Click Publish document and check Automatically re-publish when changes are made.
Your document is now available online as a web page! Your are provided with the URL of the page.
Click Back to editing to return to the original document. You can continue to add to or edit the document. Any changes will be applied to the published page automatically.
Go to j.mp/doc924 to see this blog post as web page made with Google Docs.
Alternative Publishing Method: Allow Editing Without Sign-In
You can follow a similar process to make a document a web page that anyone with the URL can edit. This is really handy for taking group notes or group brainstorming. While editing your document, click the Share button and click Change under Permissions. Choose Anyone with the link, check Allow anyone to edit, and click Save.
You can copy the URL provided and share it with others (shorten this URL for easier sharing). When someone goes to this URL, the page looks just like yours, complete with an editing toolbar and cursor. Using this method requires no sign-in, so it is great to use with students and at times when not everyone has an account or signing into Google would be time consuming. After the group has edited the document, it’s probably a good idea to go back into the Sharing Settings and uncheck Allow anyone to edit to prevent any unwanted changes.
“Real improvements in academics can only occur as authentic engagement increases.” -Phillip Schlechty, Working on the Work
One of the keys to successful learning is engagement. In his book, Working on the Work, Phillip Schlechty describes five types of responses students have to the tasks teachers ask them to perform. The response teachers hope for is authentic enragement, where students see meaning in what they’ve been asked to do. Read about the five types of responses here.
Teachers strive to authentically engage their students. Working on the Work has taken some of the mystery out of what engages students. The book lists eight qualities that affect engagement.
Click the qualities below to read about how technology can play an important role in affecting student engagement.
Adora Svitak is a powerful speaker with an inspiring message. She’s a child prodigy and published author who started blogging when she was seven. At age twelve Adora spoke at April 2010’s TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conference. Here’s the description of her speech:
Adora Svitak says the world needs “childish” thinking: bold ideas, wild creativity and especially optimism. Kids’ big dreams deserve high expectations, she says, starting with grownups’ willingness to learn from children as much as to teach.
The word childish “should be abolished when it comes to criticizing behavior associated with irresponsibility and irrational thinking.”
“Kids can be full of inspiring aspirations and hopeful thinking.”
“In order to make anything a reality, you have to dream about it first.”
“Kids already do a lot of learning from adults, and we have a lot to share. I think that adults should start learning from kids.”
“Learning between grown ups and kids should be reciprocal.”
“The goal is not to turn kids into your kind of adult, but rather better adults than you have been.”
“No matter your position or place in life, it is imperative to create opportunities for children so that we can grow up to blow you away.”
In addition to her impassioned speech, you may have been impressed with Adora’s visuals. She used Prezi for her visual aid. In contrast to PowerPoint’s progression through slides, Prezi zooms in and out of a large canvas. Adora has made her Prezi available online if you’d like to zoom around it yourself.
Browse the TED Talks website if you’re interested in more presentations like Adora’s. There are hundreds of videos on a variety of subjects, so you might want to click over to Richard Byrne’s list of 15 TED Talks for Teachers.
As a teacher, you probably have a repertoire of websites you use with students. Primary teachers tend to love Starfall and BrainPop. Middle school teachers might find great uses for Wallwisher and Quizlet. High school teachers might like to send students to Slideshare to view example presentations and Google Docs to create slideshows.
You may ask yourself if there is something better or different to add to your repository of websites. Or, much to your disappointment, a favorite website may begin to charge a fee or go out of business. An amazing tool to find sites like ones you already adore is SimilarSites.com.
Simply enter the web address of the site you like into SimilarSites and click Find Similar Sites. Instantly you’re given a list of sites that are comparable to the one you entered.
For examples, entering starfall.com into SimilarSites…
…first gives you information about Starfall, including a description and related topics.
…under the description you see more than ten sites that are comparable to starfall.com. You can see some of them below.
Notice that each suggestion has thumbs-up and thumbs-down icons. You can click a thumb to help SimilarSites present better results. You’ll also see Sponsored Links–those are advertisements and how SimilarSites makes money.
Try SimilarSites.com on some of your favorite sites, and you just might discover a new favorite.
This post is by Jane Nesdell. She is an instructor for the Arizona K12 Center’s Camp Plug & Play.
You seem to find SMART Boards being used in classrooms everywhere. This presentation tool is useful for teachers as it easily engages and involves students in their learning. Adding an interactive component to a child’s education gets their attention, as they enjoy the use of technology tools in their learning. Students are not alone in their desire to use an interactive piece to make the learning more relevant and meaningful. Teachers are finding that their lessons can be more focused and target the specific needs of their students when technology tools are incorporated.
The SMART Board can be a powerful instructional tool when used with good presentation techniques. There are some basic elements of presentations that work well for lessons using a SMART Board. These guides are found in good presentations regardless of the medium used.
The first tip is probably the most obvious: think about the lesson you are going to teach. Know what the goal or objective is that you have in mind. This will keep the attention on your main purpose, whether it is to introduce a new concept, modeling or reviewing a process, providing additional practice, giving an extension activity, or review. It is easy to get sidetracked when looking for resources to include or planning to incorporate pieces you already have into your SMART Notebook file. Keep the objective of the lesson in mind while creating your file.
Each page of your file should have only one idea. Keep it simple, clear, and visually appealing. Use only one font throughout the entire lesson. Do not distract the learner with too much – less is more. Visuals and interactive pieces should be relevant and meaningful. Animations, if used, should emphasize rather than distract. Learning should happen through the manipulation of objects in the file, not automatic animation that does not allow for student interaction.
Include a conclusion page to your lesson. Tie all the pieces back to your goal or objective. Check for questions or misunderstandings. These opportunities are great for the flexibility of the SMART Board as you can easily add additional pages and content to clarify points from the lesson. If you have access to a SMART Response system you are able to include question pages into the content to check for understanding as you progress through the lesson.
Have some fun with your topic. Create pages that engage and capture student attention. Move around the classroom, invite participation, and encourage students to interact with the lesson. Model how it works, use the rotate feature for clock hands, protractors, and labels. Make a fact or fiction page with red “X’s” or green checks to mark answers. A matching activity from the Tool kit can be reset for additional practice (it can be reset several times before it repeats). Even when enjoying a lesson it is important to tie the learning back to your main purpose.
Lastly, don’t reinvent the wheel! There are many excellent resource sites available that give you permission to download lessons and modify them for your use. Take time to carefully preview the lessons, practice moving the objects, and making sure the links work and are applicable to your students. Personalizing a downloaded lesson for your students ensures that they are actively involved and that you are enthusiast and excited about the lesson.
The SMART Board and Notebook software are great tools for teaching and engaging students. Utilizing their capabilities along with good teaching strategies will appeal to most students. Technology is a big part of our student’s lives and these tools will help teachers connect with their students as well as guide them to become more actively involved in their education.
Jane Nesdill is currently teaching 7th grade Language Arts at Gililland Middle School and helps support teachers as they learn to use their SMART Boards.
Creative Commons images from Flickr users Virtual Learning Center, Kathy Cassidy, Mr J. Jay, and teachernz.
This post is by Amanda Hughens. She is an instructor for the Arizona K12 Center’s Camp Plug & Play.
There are only a few drawbacks to being a computer nerd and the biggest issue is that everyone from your boss to your friends to your colleagues has questions about how to add something to their web page or how to submit an online absence request. (It’s like being the only friend with a pickup truck when someone is moving). This is why I have fallen head over hills in love with Screencasting! Screencasting is actually quite simple; it’s a recording of what is happening on your monitor. With most applications today you can jazz it up to create a dynamic video with added audio and other media files.
My most common use is it to create a quick video to show how to utilize various applications or the Web. As a techie educator I have begun utilizing Screencasting often with adults and students. The methods of technology professional development used by many school districts are expensive and mostly inefficient. With Screencasting districts can create online professional development where learners can participate when they need it, when they have the time, and can do it at their own pace. The best part of that is they can go back and review the entire or just part of the Screencast as a refresher when they need it. I also have used it for student evaluations – think about being able to give a student a math problem to work out on your interactive white board and they have to work it out and record their voices explaining the steps. Or while your students are creating a video documentary one of the team members records what the team did step by step and records the learning conversations occurring throughout. (Can you say high-level thinking?)
The term Screencasting was used first in 2004 although there were similar screen recording tools available before then. With the new growth of popularity software is becoming more available and several are free. Some of my favorites include Camtasia Studio ($299, Windows only), ScreenFlow ($99, Mac only), Jing (free, Mac & Windows), ScreenToaster (free, web-based), or ScreenCastle (free, web-based). Things to look for while evaluating should include ease of use, available features, ability to download, store and access the screencasts you create.
Here are some screencasts created at Camp Plug & Play 4.0:
So next time mom calls asking how she can see your video on Facebook or your colleague needs to see the steps (again) to see how many sick days she has left, just create and send a little video. They’ll be able to pull it up whenever they need it and hopefully next time they call, they’ll be asking you over for dinner.
Amanda Hughens has been in education for 16 years and teaches in the Litchfield District.
This post is by Jill Felty and Nancy Pratt. They are instructors for the Arizona K12 Center’s Camp Plug & Play.
Digital Storytelling involves using technology to share a personal narrative with others. The narrative has a certain point-of-view and is often emotional. Digital Storytelling combines a passionate voiceover with music and photos. Teachers and students at all grade levels have used a variety of software to create digital stories, including iMovie, Movie Maker, PhotoStory, and GarageBand. Watch the two sample digital stories below to see why Digital Storytelling is considered an art form.
“How old do you have to be to have something important to say?” This is a quote by Dr. Tim Tyson from Camp Plug and Play 3.0 as he was describing his middle school students and the powerful stories they wrote at Mabry Middle School. It’s a good question to ponder and one that drives digital storytelling across the curriculum and into the hearts of anyone who attempts it. “Transformational” is a word that has often been used to describe digital storytelling. If you want to know what makes digital storytelling transformational, then you will have to engage in the process of writing from the heart, finding images that convey your meaning, telling your story in your own voice, and adding just the right music to set the proper tone. Put that all together and it’s art. Experiencing your story becomes multi-sensory event; and that’s transformational. It changes you. It helps you see multiple perspectives of an event, a place, or a person and connects you to those moments in a new way.
Everyone has something important to say. And through the personal narrative and personal reflection digital storytelling helps students and adults find those moments that have universal connection to the human experience. It could be love, loss, place, accomplishment, fear, or family. When people look at their lives and reflect upon aspects that have made an impact on them, this reflection can be life-changing for the author and the audience as those connections are made.
Taking a group of students through digital storytelling can be a daunting task. Where do I start? What program do I use? How do I structure the learning environment? Those in Camp Plug & Play 5.0’s “Enhance Writing Through Digital Storytelling” will discover the answers to these questions and many more as they learn the art of digital storytelling.
Nancy Pratt is the Technology and Instruction Specialist for the Cave Creek Unified School District, Adjunct Faculty for Grand Canyon University, and Technology Trainer and National Board Facilitator for the Arizona K 12 Center.
Jill Felty is a Technology Integration Facilitator for Paradise Valley School District and a Technology Trainer for The Arizona K12 Center’s Camp Plug and Play.
Visit Stories from School AZ where accomplished teacher leaders share their stories of how policy decisions impact learning and teaching in their classrooms in order to spark constructive dialogue across the education community.
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The Arizona K12 Center is once again hosting sessions at the annual Microcomputers in Education Conference (MEC) at ASU. Tony Vincent is covering some great topics, including Google, iPads, iPod touch, podcasting, and presentations. Tony has a one-page handout for each session. PDFs of the handouts are available below:
When engaged in Project Based Learning, students focus on a relevant question or issue over an extended period of time. Planning, investigation, and presentation of the project can meet academic standards while students employ real-world project-management, collaboration, critical thinking, and communication skills. Read our blog post 
I examined the original 
There have been many times where I have wanted to create a simple web page for a specific lesson, event, presentation, or meeting. In past I would typically set up a 
You can click a thumb to help SimilarSites present better results. You’ll also see Sponsored Links–those are advertisements and how SimilarSites makes money.
There are only a few drawbacks to being a computer nerd and the biggest issue is that everyone from your boss to your friends to your colleagues has questions about how to add something to their web page or how to submit an online absence request. (It’s like being the only friend with a pickup truck when someone is moving). This is why I have fallen head over hills in love with Screencasting! Screencasting is actually quite simple; it’s a recording of what is happening on your monitor. With most applications today you can jazz it up to create a dynamic video with added audio and other media files.
