I have participated in a series of five workshops at the AISV with Tom March. We have been asked to integrate Web 2 technologies for authentic learning in our classrooms. Here we have been asked to reflect on that process.
Motivation – Why did you do it?
Ignoring Web 2 technologies is not an option for teachers. There is no doubt that teachers can be effective without using them, but understanding their impact on young people is crucial and I felt I could best understand it by using them myself. Further, I wanted to know if they could be used to enrich student learning.
Intended goals / outcomes
Three projects. Many goals.
Ourspace was created with the goal of introducing students, parents, colleagues and the school administration to the idea of students creating content on a public space. In doing so, students were asked to consider a range of current affairs topics and interact with each other using comments. Another goal was to improve the quality of student writing.
Sustainable future was created as a more open ended task for Web 2 savvy students to explore Web 2 tools while generating their own questions and answers to problems relating to sustainability at our school.
PD@Pen was created to give staff new to Web 2 technology a purpose for using it so that they could build a skill base out of the public eye of students who are in most cases far more competent.
Description of the activity
Ourspace – Students were provided with a prompt to give them a purpose to write online, the ABC children’s news program Behind the News. This prompt also provided them with some choice as there are a number of stories each week. Initially there was some frustration registering users, understanding the interface, supporting students in classes where the teachers also needed support, but in a reasonably short time, all students in the year level were accessing the site regularly. During this phase teachers relied heavily on students to teach other students and this is an ongoing and highly encouraged practice in our use of Web 2 technology.
Sustainable future – This activity was presented as a web quest at a time when the teachers who created the wiki had limited skills in the creation and management of wikis. Part of the goal was for students to assist each other to work out how to upload content, embed other web 2 technologies and complete the web quest at the same time. Students worked in teams focusing on different aspects of sustainablity – water, waste, biodiversity, energy. There was a great deal of student interaction and less dependence on teachers.
PD@Pen – This was created with the goal of getting staff active in the use of Web 2 technology. Staff were invited to join and briefly describe any recent PD they had undertaken. Staff who joined were asked to invite others to join. The Head of Curriculum helped by putting his name to it and encouraging staff to use it. Take-up was reasonable but not much content has been added.
Use of Online / Web 2 resources & tools – What did you use?
Ourspace was created in edublogs. To encourage interaction with students in non English speaking countries we added google translator to the blog. To build an awareness that unknown visitors frequently look at what you post we added Cluster Maps Additionally, because another class blog had it and it looked impressive we added Flag Counter. We also used Poll Daddy to introduce students to the possiblity of creating polls. A significant factor in improving the quality of posts and comments was our participation in the 2009 blogging challenge. This is a co-operative project organised by two very experienced and encouraging bloggers and I recommend it highly.
Sustainable Future was created using wikispaces which we were able to use for free as well as ad free because we are an educational facility.
PD@Pen was created using Ning, which we had hoped to use with students, because of its more Facebook / Myspace – like features such as live chat and individual profile pages, but its creators will not allow children under 13 to use it
Anecdotes from Design / Implementation
Initially I sought comments from parents online to reassure the school’s administration who are understandably concerned about sharing control of how the school’s public image is broadcast. This does not really answer the question but highlights my ongoing need to address issues other than student learning. Technical staff must also be considered. Each time we tell them about something new we want to use, they have to look at the school’s filters (which possibly eventually have to go altogether) and work out a way around them for this application.
In terms of learning, when we are working on an online activity we are in a room with 25 PCs. When a student asks me a question, I frequently ask the class, “Who knows how to……?” Invariably 5 or 6 students will put up their hands while continuing to do what they’re doing on the computer. Every time I have said to one of these students, “Can you just show ________ please”, they get up immediately, show the other student and return to their work without apparently losing their train of thought. I endeavour to choose the student who was shown as the teacher the next time someone asks.
Final Reflection
Our Principal began the term with some statistics about student learning and what works. What we were shown was an exhaustive study and I don’t question its validity. What it demonstrated was that lots of factors that many of us thought were major contributors to student success are in fact not. Its findings rang true in that all new things work for a little while. Web 2 technology alone will not improve student learning. We still need quality teachers providing good quality feedback, and generally taking an interest in their students’ wellbeing, learning and continuing education. Part of what we have learned from Tom is that Web 2 allows us to do this in ways that are likely to be more palatable to today’s students. Further it is a constantly updated source of stimulating content.
THE CHALLENGE is giving direction to the school administration, technicians and staff new to the technology. Teachers who feel they have missed the boat have these feelings compounded when enthusiasts keep bombarding them with the latest thing. Schools (when they realise what is going on) will be nervous about a whole lot of teachers and students adding content all over the internet without any controls. What are they saying about our school? Are we identified and presented in a negative light? How long will this stuff stay there? Will students keep adding to it after they have left the school? WHO IS IN CHARGE? Web 2 just doesn’t have this heirarchy but schools do have a reputation to uphold. Web 2 technology will need to be presented in a manageable, administratable way. Doing this will also help teachers who require direction. Links to the official blogging site / wiki / ning may be added to the school’s intranet so that staff know that they will be given time to master one technology before another one is thrust upon them. Administrators will be aware when new content is added and will have access to the EJECT button in case of emergency.
NOW we are in the process of importing our various blogs into Edublogs Campus. This is far from free but undoubtedly necessary. It is another learning curve but that’s what we thrive on…….
Posted by 2008pd 
Posted by 2008pd 
Posted by 2008pd 
