Relative Advantage of Slide Presentations

I am a dedicated SMART Notebook guy so I may struggle with describing the relative advantage of slide presentations in my teaching as it has been years since I have used MS PowerPoint to build a lesson with. I do use it but that is because my department bought some presentations with awesome Flash animations embedded into them; the company is going HTML5 now!

I think Prezi is a cool program and my school bought a subscription last year for everyone; I didn't use it! I can't interact with it and I don't give presentations I do workshops and collaborative lessons. Don't get me wrong, I tell my students to use it 'til the hearts are content but they must follow my "Let's not make our audience sea-sick guidelines!". Mainly though, my students use it a a collaborative board for dropping into the notes and ideas the same way one might use Padlet.

As far as Google Slides goes, I don't use it to present to my students either but they like the way the slides give them a frame to write and present their work within, and so that they can build flash cards. I can share out a GSlide to my students using Andrew Stillman's Doctopus script and have the framework for their work built into it. Since I own the GSlides they are using, I can access them anytime I like and comment on their work as it progresses in a formative fashion or grade it when they are done.

It is interesting that we were assigned 25 slides to create for this task. The last time I did a presentation in public was during a Middle Leader's course. I had a lot of slides but they were built to the standards described in "Five ways to reduce PowerPoint overload" by Cliff Atkinson and Richard E. Mayer. Richard Mayer has published a lot of research on the the effects of presentation on learning during E-Instruction. What was interesting about the evaluation after my presentation was that the two coaches told me I should have had three slides maximum! Having 25 slides means I am standing in front of people and as the center of attention; I don't do this in class! I had the privilege of watching George Couros present his "The Networked Leader" keynote in Hong Kong at the 21CL Convention in December 2013. His presentation followed all the advice provided by Presentation Zen's Top Ten Slide Tips. The imagery completely supported George's keynote and made very emotional ties to what he was saying - he included very little text, the images were a pictorial representation of what he was talking about. Mayer's segmentation, coherence and redundancy principles all apply when it comes to instruction, but George wasn't trying to instruct, he was creating an emotional response and text on his slides were not necessary for that.

During school assemblies I have had to sit and watch presentations where students and teachers have put yellow text on a white background! Or white text over a bright blue and cloudy white sky! Rainbow coloured Word Art! It is painful. Death by PowerPoint or death by the incompetent presentation builder! My students try to do something similar in the GSlides I send them. They like to use all the coloured background templates; especially the Trek themed one that looks like the computers on Next Generation. The irony being that they don't even know that it is Star Trek. The theme is black and they proceed to drop white background images onto it. Some of them print them out and hand to me "Can you mark this Mr. Mullan?", "I can't, my pen won't write on all that black printer ink you have used...how's about I comment onto the GSlide like I said I would! And perhaps in future if you want to print, use the plain white template."



So for me, presentations need to be done right, for the right purpose and for the right audience. In class I will stick to my interactive software where I can get the students up to manipulate and draw. When I have to do an assembly, there will be very little text, beautiful images and me hopefully nowhere in sight with the microphone - they should be looking at the pics and listening not looking at me and listening, otherwise what is the point of the presentation?!

Relative Advantage

As a technology coach with a responsibility for training staff on new technologies that my school purchases/buys into, I often have to work with members of staff who believe the 'current' way they do things is already great. Certainly, when they are awarded "Outstanding" in lesson observations by Ofsted who can argue with them? Here I am thinking "whao, your lessons are outstanding!" but I have to get you using technology in the classroom to bring you into the 21st century!

I have had some good successes with individuals who don't see why they should change. I was able to show them that the focus of their lesson can be the students and that they can extend their classroom far beyond the tables, desks and paper they sit at and write into. When I work with members of faculty like this, I am very careful not to say: "You can use technology to improve your teaching", or "Using technology will improve your students' learning." The "improve" word is a problem; it gets their back up! How can you improve on teaching that is officially considered "outstanding?" So, my vocabulary has changed to "enhance."

I try to sneak techie ideas "under the door." The staffroom at lunchtime is a good place for this where I walk in with a big grin on my face. People just can't help ask what has made me so happy, so I tell them how my students videoed themselves pretending to be newsreaders reporting about an epidemic of Spanish Flu and the percentage of people that died from it in the past. I have automatically hit English, History, Media, Science and Maths! I then go on to describe how the students added captions and links to their videos in the YouTube editor, how they built a Google Map of the areas reported worst hit - linking in their videos etc. and how the other students proceeded to add comments for evaluation and improvement.  All of these are higher order thinking skills (HOTS) on Bloom's taxonomy and the staff can't help but ask about it. I have augmented and redefined how students present their work on infections. It is after this initial seeding of disruption to their status quo that I have begun to break down the resistance! These teachers aren't threatened but are enticed into presenting their lessons in a way that is more student centered and in line with 21st century ideals of collaboration, creativity and redefinition.

Relative advantage is the degree to which the new approach "enhances" the current approach. With regard to introducing technology to classrooms where the practitioner is accomplished; I feel it is key to show the advantage with regard to skills rather than knowledge e.g. allow students to collaborate on a document, evaluate each other's work, create videos, a Google map or a tour in Google tour builder, etc. The choice for students makes it interesting for them and I have had some success with #takeawayhomework and problem based learning using different technologies as a way for the students to present their work.

Regarding the different types of software, I am a fan of  the tutorials that augment the teacher's lessons and give the students an alternative view of the content. The current trend of reverse instruction/flipping the classroom with Ed.Ted.com allows me to find videos for the students that presents the content differently to the way I do; it is like they are getting a second teacher. When the students turn up to my lesson and I assess their comfort with the content and they aren't fully confident, I know that I need to give them my take on things so that they will walk out of my lesson with good progression. If the students are good with the content, we can start to do some HOTS and make the best use of class time.

Simulations and games go hand-in-hand in science. The students love the games and if the simulation is part of the game that makes it even better. Science Pirates is just awesome for getting 11 year old students comfortable with the concept of controlled variables. It is important though to give the students questions to complete as they play in order to focus their attention on the learning objective and not just on the fun of the game.

I use several of the Spongelab games with my students, in particular the A level photosynthesis games. Jeremy Friedman of Spongelab has published several articles on the use of the games his company has produced including a recent report (Muehrer, R., Jenson, J., Friedberg, J. and Husain, N., 2012) where his team describe the mixed successes of using games in class. Their findings suggest that students remember terminology well but struggle to transfer knowledge outside of the game. I have found that the simu-game format of the Spongelab games makes them good for strengthening knowledge after instruction as they give the students the opportunity to visualise and manipulate the molecules they have been learning about.

A current favourite of mine at the moment is Pearson's Mastering Biology series (needs a login) that accompanies their huge textbook. The software is a full online solution with tutorials, animations, e-book and quizzes. The animations are all fully 3d and provide excellent visuals to set the scene for the students and simulate the molecular processes involved. I can teach action potentials and the propagation of an action potential in the post-synaptic membrane without the animations and simulations but the simulation makes the students' understanding progress at a much faster rate. While the use of the simulation to directly instruct the students would be criticised by the contructivists, my students don't have the time available to construct their own knowledge with their A Level exams looming over them in four weeks; they would think I was wasting their time and not focus on the task!

Appropriate software, like appropriate strategies, have to be weighed up for their strengths and weaknesses. If you have time to do constructivist style problem based learning then absolutely go for it! If you have time to allow your students to construct a cell in Mindcraft then go for it. For me,  the strategies I choose to use with my students must be supported by the software and I will likely need a combination of the five (drill and practice, tutorial, simulation, instructional games and problem solving software) for any given topic as they represent the varying levels of Bloom's taxonomy or the 21st century skills I want my students expressing.


References:

Muehrer, R., Jenson, J., Friedberg, J. and Husain, N. (2012). Challenges And Opportunities: Using A Science-based Video Game In Secondary School Settings. Retrieved from: http://www.jenjenson.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/2012-Science-Based-Video-Game.pdf

View original Pictochart here.

Today's Customers

This artifact demonstrates an understanding of where users are and how to move them forward in their use of new technologies. Link to the published Piktochart here.

Networks; ethernet and wifi

Acceptable Use Policies

My school is on the verge of releasing Google Apps for Education accounts to our students and this blog post falls at a time when I am involved in developing a Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) for the use of Google+ and Twitter. It has been interesting reading the definitions of what an AUP is and how older AUPs differ from the broader scoped statements that aim to include social media. ISafe (n.d.) quote a Classroom Connect article from January 1994 that defines what an AUP is:

"An AUP is a written agreement, signed by students, their parents, and teachers, outlining the terms and conditions of Internet use. It specifically sets out acceptable uses, rules of on-line behavior, and access privileges. Also covered are penalties for violations of the policy, including security violations and vandalism of the system."

My school's AUP (not in the public forum) has been written to cover the elements of inappropriate use of the system and sets out the repercussions of being found to break the rules. The policy aims to be positive in its tone and refers to classroom lessons when students will be educated on appropriate etiquette and netiquette. Certainly, the pastoral team at my school has embarked on a collaborative push with the librarians and other learning technologists to educate our students in digital literacy. The policy also outlines the school's stance on social media but only insofar as to state that the use by the students was allowable if given permission by a teacher. Another international school in the region, Bangkok Patana School, has created a full portal that educates its K-12 students in appropriate use of electronic resources from email to printing. Patana link their portals to the age-relevant Police websites in the UK, CEOP, and go one step further in creating Facebook profiles that would be considered inappropriate for their students to have discussions about.

Chris McCaffrey, a contributor on a Google Apps for Education G+ community answered my request for a social media AUP that would be appropriate for G+; he posted a link to the Wilson School District Social Media Guidelines: http://goo.gl/xFdFP3 (The fact that I used a "social learning network" to acquire this resource points to the power of the media.) "These guidelines are for the use of social media in the classroom and are for the staff and the students. I particularly like that the wording is positive but firm. It gives advice and guidance without being over the top and reminds the users of e-safety and digital literacy principles.

Steve Johnson wrote on his blog:

"inside the vast majority of our school walls, social media tools are blocked and filtered. Why? In #edchat, the general consensus for the answer to this question revolved around fear - fear of cyberbullying and inappropriate use by students. Many blamed the media for blowing the negative out of proportion. In light of these fears, @benpaddlejones summed up exactly where we need to shift in the coming years:  We need to stop talking cyberbullying and start talking cybercitizenship. Flip to the positive."

This is the positive tone I read in my school's AUP, Bangkok Patana's and Wilson District's AUP's. It is a realisation that as educators, we cannot put social media back in a box; it is already an integral part of our students' lives. It is our job to model appropriate use of social media and guide our communities in the difference between professional and personal social media usage and how to ensure we protect ourselves. Another good example of positive tone is the Harry Stone Montesorri school's Google Apps AUP. Their policy begins by outlining what Google Apps can be used for and why the students should be using them. The policy then leads into acceptable use and behaviour that isn't permitted, safety, consumer safety, digital citizenship and finally and section on the law; CIPA, COPPA and FERPA. I like that they include links to the law as it makes the user realise that the restrictions being imposed aren't just by the school, but by society. My school's AUP refers to Malaysian law but does not specify which laws the document is refering to.

Continuing along the road of positive tone and Google Apps, The Central Union Elementary School District's AUP is another example of how Google Apps is introduced to the community and focuses more on netiquette, and the appropriate use of the software. The document is a contract and is written in the first person with the student and parent signing at the bottom. Statements such as "I will respect the collaborative work of my teachers and peers. In other words, I will not delete the work of others unless I have their permission." are agreed to along with statements regarding copyright and fair use. The final paragraph of this AUP is particularly nice as it outlines that the family will discuss the rules and expectations; this is agreed to by the parents.

At a recent conference on 21st Century Learning in Hong Kong, I had the privilege of listening to George Couros in his session on Connected Learning. George is a learning technology director for several districts and is a huge advocate of using Twitter in the classroom and the community. He asked the attendees how many were in charge of recruitment; 80% raised their hands. He then asked how many of these recruiters Googled the applicants; all kept their hands up. This behaviour is becoming normal for recruiters and it is important that we as educators not only prepare our students for this but prepare ourselves.


How is AUP constructed?

Steven Anderson published "How to Create Social Media Guidelines For Your School" on Edutopia. He outlines the process by which a school should develop their policy:

1. Examine your school culture,
2. Organise a team,
3. Research Phase,
4. Draft your document and incorporate feedback,
5. Make sure the Attorney and School Board see the draft,
6. Introduction to the school,
7. Review periodically.

Steven provides links to resources to assist in the production of an AUP for social media. However, Katie Lepi (2012) lead the production of "The School Social Media & Acceptable Use Policy" which was crowdsourced. The document provides guidelines and an acceptable use policy and both are written in the positive tone I prefer and would seem to be a very strong starting point for any school's policy. Lepi's policy covers the law, email, devices, netiquette, plagiarism, personal safety, cyberbullying, examples of acceptable use and unacceptable use.

A combination of Anderson's guidelines and Lepi's crowdsourced AUP should get my G+ and Twitter guidelines drawn up swiftly.

References:

Anderson, S. (n.d.) How To Create Social Media Guidelines For Your School. Retrieved from: http://www.edutopia.org/pdfs/edutopia-anderson-social-media-guidelines.pdf

Bangkok Patana School (2009). Acceptable Use Policy. Retreived from: http://www.patana.ac.th/Go/laptops_For_Learning/Information.asp?ID=448

Central Union Elementary School District. (n.d.) Student Code of Conduct of Google Applications. Retrieved from: http://www.central.k12.ca.us/UserFiles/Servers/Server_4550549/File/technology/Central_Google_aup.pdf

Harry Stone Montessori (n.d.). Acceptable Use Policy. Retrieved from: http://www.dallasisd.org/Page/22945

iSafe (n.d.). Why Do Schools Need Aceeptable Use Policies? Retrieved from: http://www.isafe.org/imgs/pdf/education/AUPs.pdf

Johnson, S. (2010). Guest Blog: Making the Case for Social Media in Education. Retrieved from: http://www.edutopia.org/social-media-case-education-edchat-steve-johnson

K12Wiki (n.d.). Social Networking Acceptable Use. Retrieved from: http://k12wiki.wikispaces.com/Social+Networking+Acceptable+Use

Lepi, K. (2012). Crowdsourced School Social Media Policy Now Available. Retrieved from:
http://www.edudemic.com/school-social-media-policy/

The Alice Smith School (2012). Learning Technologies Handbook. Retrieved from: http://www.frogklass.edu.my

Wilson School District (n.d.). Wilson School District Social Media Guidelines. Retrieved from:  http://goo.gl/xFdFP3.

Leadership

Leadership: Link to GSite

Relative Advantage Chart for Biology

Vision Statement

The vision of learning technologists should be to facilitate the implementation of an “anytime, anywhere” blend of real and technology enhanced, collaborative learning opportunities through 1-to-1 provision for all of their students. Technology will be a seamless part of teaching and learning, assessment for learning, flipped learning, problem/project based learning, collaboration and the development of those 21st century skills for the “real world,” and communication between all stakeholders.

All students have the right to the best education and teaching we can provide to prepare them for their lives. Until there is a radical change in the structure of educational assessment in schools all around the world, it is likely that our young people will need to express subject knowledge through national summative exams and we must prepare them for these experiences. It is clear that the “real world” skills of critical thinking and problem solving, communication, collaboration, and creativity and innovation, the 4C’s as described by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, have become an increased focus as part of the Common Core State Standards in the United States. These skills are at the core of the International Baccalaureate’s approaches to learning and the IB programme is an attractive option for schools looking to develop 21st Century Skills in their students. To meet these needs, educators may have to employ strategies of directed instruction and methods that follow Instructivist theories along with Constructivist approaches that enhance the opportunity for independent learning and collaborative study opportunities. When there is pressure to complete programmes of study with the given timetable, making the best use of classroom time to develop 21st Century skills may be best managed using a blended and flipped learning environment. Bishop and Verleger (2014) report on research that highlights that students are positive about these new learning models while Kazua and Demirkolb (2014) report that students in the blended learning environment performed better on average than those in a traditional classroom.

The knowledge and experience of the teacher allows them to identify the appropriate strategy on a day to day basis or even within a given lesson and this blend in a traditional classroom is what typifies outstanding teachers. The challenge is to transfer these skills to the use of technology and take that use of technology to the “modification” and “redefine” states of the SAMR model.

To develop these 21st Century Skills in our students (aligned to the NET-S and the Big 6 process model), our teachers need to be confident in their application of appropriate strategies when choosing and using technology. The use of technology integration planning and the TPACK model allows teachers to identify their technological, pedagogical and content knowledge and design lessons using technology based on the strategies required from the identified outcomes.

To facilitate teachers to become expert technology users in their classrooms, learning technology teams encompassing school leaders, learning technology curriculum coordinators, classroom integration coaches, ICT teachers, and librarians will work together to integrate the skills of technology use to enhance the digital skills and literacy of our students, teachers and parents.

References:

Bishop, J. L., & Verleger, M. (2013). The flipped classroom: A survey of the research. ASEE National Conference Proceedings, Atlanta, GA.

International Baccalaureate Organization (2014). Middle Years Programme curriculum: Areas of interaction. Retrieved from: http://www.ibo.org/myp/curriculum/interaction/approaches/

ISTE (2008). Standards for Students.  Retrieved from: http://www.iste.org/docs/learning-and-leading-docs/nets-s-standards

ISTE (2008). Standards for Teacher.  Retrieved from: http://www.iste.org/docs/learning-and-leading-docs/nets-t-standards

Kazua, I. Y., & Demirkolb, M. (2014). EFFECT OF BLENDED LEARNING ENVIRONMENT MODEL ON HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS’ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT. TOJET, 13(1).

Partnership for 21st Century Skills (nd). Retrieved from: http://www.p21.org/about-us/our-mission

Puentedura, R. (nd). SAMR: A Contextualised Introduction. Retrieved from: http://www.hippasus.com/rrpweblog/archives/2013/10/25/SAMRAContextualizedIntroduction.pdf

The Big 6 (nd). Big6 Skills Overview. Retrieved from: http://big6.com/pages/about/big6-skills-overview.php

TPACK (nd). Technology, Pedagogy and Content Knowledge. Retrieved from: http://tpack.org