Bloggucation

Student Centred, Student Researched, Student Run Unit

apuley — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 19:00:21 +0000

Permanent Location for Bloggucation

apuley — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 15:00:59 +0000

Hi, Everyone

For quite some time now I have been self-hosting my blog at http://bloggucation.learninghood.ca - I just noticed that once I bought my domain and started to self-host my blog that I forgot to redirect this URL to my new one (thanks to Jen @faulkneronline) for bringing this to my attention.

So, please visit me in the LearningHood at http://bloggucation.learninghood.ca - I’ll be sure to redirect this link shortly.

Cheers!

The ScienceHood is Rebranded for ISTE 2011

apuley — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 07:33:54 +0000

HAS BECOME….

The ScienceHood has received a bit of a facelift for ISTE 2011 (@iste11). The learning platform of @faulkneronline’s courses looks a bit different these days as we prepare to present a model classroom at ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) in Philadelphia. The title of the environment, “ScienceHood”, is a merger of “Science” and “Neighbourhood” = “ScienceHood”. The name indicates that learning is a collaborative and a community event – everyone is part of the process together: students, staff, parents, and community. The forum we use is a self-hosted WordPress platform with a Buddypress install. Buddypress is, as they call it, social networking in a box. It takes a standard WordPress blog platform and transforms it into a very dynamic social community which is very similar to Facebook and other social networking sites. Because it is attached to our WordPress install, however, Buddypress is safe and secure – administered and managed by the teacher and co-managed by the studnets. Within this environment, the teacher (in this case Jen Faulkner @faulkneronline) can communicate with her students, their parents, and the community while the students comment amongst each other and reflect upon their own learning. As it is web-based, activities and lessons can be rich and dynamic, full of web links, embedded audio, video, and imagery. It is much easier to manage a differentiated learning environment through a portal such as this.

Check out our session at ISTE 2011 on 12:45pm EDT in 119a - http://bit.ly/khftPl

Connect with us on Vokle at ISTE 2011

apuley — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 06:17:29 +0000

On 12:45pm EDT, we will be going LIVE from ISTE 2011 in Philadelphia, PA. During this session, we will be conducting a model lesson for participants on, what we like to call, Digi-Centers for Learning – Daily DI (Differentiated Instruction) for UDL (Universal Design for Learning). Become a student in this model lesson that focuses on student-centered, inquiry-based learning. Explore scientific concepts in rotation through podcasts, webquests, and other digital activities. We are a recommend session by SETSIG - CLICK HERE to visit the description on the ISTE 2011 site.

CLICK HERE to visit us at Vokle and and to partipate in Monday’s session. Three students (Chelsey, Monica, and Delaney) will be visiting us live via video conference to share their reflections and experiences in discovery based learning. The shift is often as big for students as it is for teachers – hear them first hand. We also have an awesome mother-daughter reflection from Melissa and her mom, Sandie. Student voice is always the best!

ISTE Connections:

NETS•S:	1- 6
NETS•T:	1- 5
NETS•A:	2, 5
Keywords:	Differentiated Instruction, Science, Engagement, Universal Design, Assessment

Here we are…ISTE 2011 in Philadelphia

apuley — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 20:01:28 +0000

We arrived today at the Convention Center in Philadephia to set up and prepare the room for our model classroom tomorrow at 12:45pm. We checked out the setup and the presenter area hook-ups. Everything is set for a great day – see you there tomorrow.

The Twitter hashtag for our session: #digicenters
Our Twitter accounts: @faulkneronline and @misterpuley
Vokle link: http://www.vokle.com/events/18346-iste-2011-digi-centers
ISTE Summary: http://bit.ly/khftPl

Welcome to ISTE Members

apuley — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 05:59:09 +0000

Welcome to all ISTE members. We are so happy to share our students success with you. We hope that you find a morsel to take with you to your school to try. We believe in this method of teaching, its empowerment for students and the development of skills needed for future successes in their life is worth sharing. We beleive that meeting the students where they are at and encouraging them to grow within in their strengths and celebrate them working through their challenges is where good pedigady meets student success. Be willing to take the risk of changing from the ‘chalk and talk’ method of teaching, learn with your students and remember – You are Fantastic because you try! Welcome…. please feel free to introduce yourself below…

Jennifer and Aaron

Welcome to ScienceHood Blocks.

Student Centred, Student Researched, Student Run Unit

Faulkner — Thu, 12 May 2011 18:06:25 +0000

Often times as teachers we are challenged by our students as to ‘Why do I have to learn this?’…. sometimes the answer doesn’t ring well with them – ‘It is in the curriculum’. This ‘curriculum’ is such a foreign idea for students. With the developments of the ‘Growing Success’ document from the Ministry of Education in Ontario the idea of offering students differentiated instruction as well as creating self regulating, self reflective, autonomous learner can present a challenge to teachers… but how about offering the students the chance to create their own lessons using the curriculum guidelines? How about opening the curriculum documents and saying ‘Where do you want to take your learning today?’ I opened my class to just such a venture. The entire unit was developed by students for students and they were never happier or more engaged. The lessons included a wide range of activities. It was taught at a level that was accessible for all of the student body. The process was reflective as they were continually accessing where they might improve or how they could overcome the challenges the process was taking them to. I can tell you at times it was frustrating for them but the successes they saw on a personal level – in the ‘I am AWESOME and know so much on this topic’ as well as the knowledge they gained from one another was inspiring to see.

The class work and student community can be found in The Hood.

If you are interested in viewing first semester’s students work please feel free to view the exemplars….
Monica and group in ‘LCD presentation’ forum
Andrew – Cell Cycle podcast and self written Global Warming song
Victoria – biology – Cell Cycle 3D book
Russ – Glogster amalogamation of course
The original learning management system can be seen at http://archive.faulkner-online.com and the first ‘Hood can be viewed at http://snc2d.faulkner-online.com

Here is the process I used…

http://prezi.com/bin/preziloader.swf

Setting up the SmartSync Management Software

apuley — Thu, 12 May 2011 17:54:04 +0000

I made this post for a few of my colleagues involved in a 1:1 laptop project here in HWDSB and thought that it might be valuable to a larger group. So, here you go…

***

The Smart Sync software will enable you to better utilize the power of the 1:1 laptop project in a collaborative manner with your students. You will also be able to limit the distraction of the laptops (video games, music, YouTube, Facebook, etc.) and help keep the students on task by limiting or allowing internet connections as you see fit. Further, you can poll / quiz students for instant assessment and to gauge where they are at and where your instruction needs to go. The chat feature is quite dynamic and allows for the teacher to engage in conversation with a student privately, thus limiting the need to center out a student or draw public attention to an undesirable or off-task behaviour. Groups can be assigned for collaborative work between students and the broadcast feature will be very useful for celebrating student work or discussing exemplars for any particular task.

With your tablets (screen flipped around), you will be able to walk around the room with your computer as if it was a clipboard and monitor the screens of each student in thumbnail form. If you would like to focus on any given student, you could click the thumbnail and the “Observe” tab. This will let you observe what the student is doing and allow you to interact with them either collaboratively or by overtaking their computer and controlling it remotely.

Monitoring Screens

To demonstrate a concept or lesson, you could broadcast your screen to the students, or broadcast another student’s screen; you can also play media (i.e. video or audio) from your computer and have it play on theirs. This way, they can watch at their own pace and ask questions via the Chat Feature or Question tab.

Another powerful feature is the ability to collect assignments and hand them back all within the software itself. This is a just a few of the many tools available to you and will truly enhance your ability to utilize the laptops as an additional learning tool and to engage the students through their use.

Here is a screencast I created for you documenting the setup of the teacher and student software. The installation is a two-part process – one software installation for the teacher and one software installation for the students. This should help you set it up with the students.

Here, too, is a link to “Navigating the User Interface” of Smart Sync – http://onlinehelp.smarttech.com/english/windows/help/sync/9_0_0/Index.htm

Setting up Smart Sync for Teachers and Students

Smart Sync Demo

Oral Language, Assessment, and Metacognition with VoiceThread

apuley — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 03:46:05 +0000

Today, I am going to follow up on an earlier post from March 7th, 2011, “First Step of Innovation = Substitution”. In that post, I discussed how VoiceThread could be utilized as an innovative enhancement and substitution of literature circles and collaborative group conversations around media. As an example of this concept, I particularly like this one on The Secret Garden. On each of the seven pages, the teacher in this instance has provided active reading prompts that elicit personal connection, reflection, and comprehension. Her prompts also have a real metacognitive value to them (such as students indicating confusions and possible reasons for them). Students are also asked to provide supporting detail from the text as evidence. By providing an oral forum for student expression the students are provided an opportunity to explore thoughts beyond written word and traditional textual activity. It is often easier for students to explain their thinking and ideas in conference and the spoken word than it is through writing and prose.

English Language Learners

Students that find writing challenging are also disadvantaged by many traditional tasks; this is especially true for ELL students that are both new to English and in the process of learning it (a great idea for these students is to allow them to speak his or her own language). “Stronger students can quickly explain to less proficient students what the latter have not understood or what they have to do – this frees the teacher from constantly needing to check on the progress of the weaker student, allowing the teacher to devote enough attention to the other students in the class.” [Source] Since VoiceThread, like all voice recording software, is retained by the very nature of it, the student and teacher can continually refer to previous samples to gauge growth and progress of learning. In my own learning with the Equity Department and through research, I was interested to learn (and it is very logical) that “…human learning and cognitive development is based upon activation of prior knowledge. Teaching ELLs in a language other than their native one prevents the ELLs from connecting much of their prior knowledge with the new information they receive. It seems as if this practice ignores one of the most basic fundamentals for human learning.” [Source] Allowing ELL students to express themselves in their native language gives them a forum to make connections familiar to them by language and culture and then apply to English through the translation of their own words. This particular idea fascinates me.

Self Reflection - Metacognition

The most powerful aspect of VoiceThread is that it is communal and allows for the real creation of a learning community. As much as students are expressing themselves individually to topics or concepts, they are also adding their voice to the wider mosaic of those of their peers. This creates a real sense of community, a partnership of learners that can listen to and comment on each other. They can help each other grow throw comment thus learning the importance of both individuality and consensus. This peer assessment combines with that of self for the potential of rich metacognitive exercises.

The learning opportunities are endless and more and more I am leaning to the power of spoken word versus that of written. There have been many a time when I know that a student understands a concept better than they have presented it in writing. The reality of this is based in proficiency of vocabulary and writing style. Students that struggle in both of these areas produce writing that is often difficult to read, thus limiting our ability to assess their comprehension and ability to make real world connections to what they are learning. Conversation can really close that gap and help students to grow.

Setting Up VoiceThread
Gmail Aliases and VoiceThread Identities

Setting up VoiceThread is very simple – it really is only a handful of steps: sign-up, upload images, comment on them, and share with others. One challenging aspect for teachers will be the consideration for how to get students into the platform itself in order to comment. Anonymous commenting will not be a suitable option as assessing anonymity will make the identification of individual students problematic. There are two ways to have younger students (especially Grades 1-3 in our board since email accounts are not assigned to students until Grade 4): Alias email accounts through Gmail and the creation of identities in VoiceThread itself.

Gmail Aliases

To create Gmail Aliases, create yourself a Gmail email account (http://mail.google.com), i.e. john.smith@gmail.com – then logout.

Visit the VoiceThread Education site (http://ed.voicethread.com/) and Register yourself as a teacher and logout.

To create student accounts for younger students, you could pre-create accounts for them by signing up with Gmail Aliases (using the +name format) of your Gmail account (i.e. john.smith+dog@gmail.com; john.smith+owl@gmail.com; john.smith+cat@gmail.com, etc…) – logging out between each individual registration.

Here is a practical video that outlines the Gmail Alias process:

This video by @courosa is very good as well…

Students will have to login each time to use this format but it is one way of doing it. The other is to use Identities in VoiceThread – this may, in fact, be the best option….

VoiceThread Identities

One VoiceThread account can have many identities (commenting avatars) associated with it. A family, a class, or an interesting person can switch identities on-the-fly without having to sign in with a different account. Think 22 kids, 45 minutes, and a project to complete – and you’ll understand the wonder of this feature. (http://ed.voicethread.com/about/features/identities/) Be sure to watch the video at that link for further understanding. This video is also quite good…

VoiceThread Resources

There are so many resources for VoiceThread that have been created by people and posted online. A YouTube search like this one for “VoiceThread in Education” produced 58 results alone. There are lots of resources to help. VoiceThread itself has some amazing videos that are quick and simple – like this one “What’s a VoiceThread?“.

I, too, have produced three videos to get you started. Watch them below and let me know what you think. Why not share the links of your student’s work in the comment section below? It will be fun to see what everyone comes up with.

VoiceThread: Voice Blogging, Reflection, and Metacognition

Adding Students to VoiceThread as Identities and Creating a Thread

Where to find support for VoiceThread

Another Good Introduction to VoiceThread

Podcasting Made Simple – Part 4 – Tumblr

apuley — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 04:29:50 +0000

The major hurdle to jump when considering podcasting is where to host your files. As I mentioned in the first part of this series, creation of your audio project is only step one. Back in the day, you would record your cassette tape and give it to someone. That person would listen to it and return it; or listen to it, copy it, share it, and return it. That process has been made far more efficient and it is much easier to share with an immensely larger audience that can access it when THEY want it, not when you give it to them. Consider this the “pull versus push” scenario. In the “old days” you would “push” media to people. Now, people can “pull” it from a hosting site when they want or need it. In this case, we are going to use Tumblr as our host, our cloud platform from which people are going to pull our material.

There are two ways to use Tumblr as an audio hosting platform. One, you upload a previously created audio file as demonstrated in part 3 of this series. Alternatively, you can use the iPod Touch or iPhone application to record and upload the file wirelessly or via 3G to the Tumblr website. The two videos below will demonstrate both scenarios; the first video will cover the former while the second will cover the latter.

Please comment below with questions, concerns, or comments.

Cheers!

Podcasting with Tumblr – Part 1 – Accessing Tumblr and Uploading Audio Files

Podcasting with Tumblr – part 2 – Accessing Tumblr with the iPod Touch or iPhone App