Using Social Media and Web 2.0 to Differentiate Instruction
By: Mary Marotta Instructional Technology, Professional Development Consultant and Adjunct Professor
Earlier this year I posted about my journey of learning about Project Based Learning. Teaching a course that incorporated PBL over the summer and our late start PLT/PLC focus on Project Based Learning this fall. I decided to capture some of the great work teachers and students in my district. I have bene using the new Adobe Spark program this year and thought this would be a great way to showcase the features of the program and reflect on PBL. I will be presenting our story next on Tuesday, November 15th at a Future Ready Conference in Bedford, New Hampshire. I also thought it would be a great way to share our PLC findings on Project Based Learning.
Link for Full Screen view https://spark.adobe.com/page/pcCV3vZVmylbJ
We plan to offer a course in lesson design next spring that will help teachers design lessons using G-Suite, Web-based tools and gamify some of the lessons to help with classroom engagement. Learning more about Project Based Learning last summer and during our PLC time has generated lots of discussion with my colleagues.
The Hour of Code started as a one-hour introduction to computer science, designed to demystify "code", to show that anybody can learn the basics, and to broaden participation in the field of computer science. It has since become a worldwide effort to celebrate computer science, starting with 1-hour coding activities but expanding to all sorts of community efforts.
I used twitter to get instructional ideas for my professional development to test out with teachers and students in my school and to teachers that take Grad/PD classes with me. Last spring I came across some inspiration from rpetitto, #games4ed/blog http://www.edtechify.com with many great ideas. One was using GAFE for Staff 30 Day Chrome Challenge. I put it on my radar but never actually made one. I shared the link with my colleague Craig and he jumped in and made some lessons/challenges "gamification lessons" for his students! So, when co-teaching a grad class with Craig this fall we decided to implement a version of the challenge with our teachers in our blended class this month. The feedback this week was very positive. So, I am not revisiting how to used with students in my high school.
This year 9th grade students arrived with Chromebooks. They started using in the 8th grade and seem to be relatively savvy compared to many of the other grade levels in our high school. I wanted to review techniques with Google and Chromebooks so I plan to test out a challenge (Game/make a copy) with a few teachers this semester and get some feedback from students. Depending on the feedback students could also learn to make engaging games using this technique!
So, what is Gamification?
Gamification applies the use of gaming principles in education in order to get students involved, engaged, and excited about learning. Gamification introduces concepts like badges, levels, achievements, and game points to the classroom. Students are rewarded with these concepts when they succeed, but are not penalized when they don’t. By introducing a system of rewards without harsh penalties, students are not afraid to step outside of their comfort zone and fail. By removing their fear of failure we subconsciously encourage them to learn.
Badges for independent learning. Though some claim they go against interest-driven learning, digital badges became more prevalent. Supported by the MacArthur Foundation, Mozilla’s Open Badges presents a free standard for creating, issuing, and verifying badges as indicators of accomplishment or attaining a skill. In 2013, badges documented evidence of professional learning as well. The National Science Teachers Association, theSmithsonian Institution, and the Khan Academy offer digital badges for educators and students. In October, Connected Educators Month organizers provided a variety of badges to encourage and reward participation. I plan on exploring Gamification with a few teachers over the next month and will update the post with feedback from teachers and students!
Designing a new bring course for FSU - Course Site - Lesson Design with G-Suite
Lesson Design with G-Suite
This course will focus on lesson design using G Suite and other web-based tools.
Design will incorporate blended learning using hyperdocs, design thinking, gamification,
challenge-based activities and projects that align with content area and projects.
Getting ready for the conference I used Adobe Spark Post to tweet out about the conference and then picked my sessions for the day! When I attend each year I always come back inspired to try a new project, test out a new tool of simply follow a new person on twitter. As I processed the day on my drive home, I thought this year was different from other years. Yes, I saw an inspiring keynote, attended sessions and checked out the exhibit floor, but what you don't capture at a conference is all the people to get to reconnect with and share your excitement for teaching.
When I arrived home I saw a tweet for a former colleague that I taught with a few years ago. I was able to spend time with her in her Journalism class, and the a PD grad class. Even though I only got to see her at the keynote she took the time to send me a message on twitter. On my drive into school today this got me thinking about all the people in my PLN that I saw at the conference and I am so grateful to learn from them.
This got me thinking about how grateful I am as an Instructional Technology Specialist/Digital Learning Coach to work with so many wonderful teachers and in some way contribute to their passion for teaching. I decide to use Adobe Spark to share with colleagues and students this week. Link
What have you learned this year? Make sure you take the time to reflect!
Last spring we were asked to submit proposals for late start PD sessions for the high school. I use twitter as a great source of PD for my own professional learning. I have lots of teachers learning about GAFE and creating projects, but I was looking to take it to the next level. I found lots of resources about #PBL which made me realize there is a difference between doing projects and project based learning. I started to explore a fabulous site The Buck Institute/BIE and realized the eight elements of PBL and checklist would help teachers understand and embrace project based learning.
I submitted a summer course proposal that would combine using GAFE, PBL and other Web-based tools to Fitchburg State University where I teach a Graduate and Professional Development courses based on teachers needs. So last summer I co-taught PBL/GAFE course with my colleague Craig Sheil, also a high school Instructional Technology teacher in New Hampshire!
The NEW Course: Project Based Learning with Google Apps for Educators
This course will focus on the key features of Project-Based Learning (PBL) a way to organize learning around projects that are student driven, with real world connections allowing participants to evaluate real problems while exploring curriculum content areas. The Genius Hour model allows students to work on engaging topics of interest while working with others. Prerequisite: Google Apps for Education/GAFE course, this course will build upon your technical knowledge covered Google Apps for Education allowing you to dig deeper into your Google, web-based and mobile learning toolbox allowing participants to use tools connecting them to real world work.
Learn more here http://www.fitchburgstate.edu/offices/academic-offices/gce/register-for-classes
I was fortunate to have two of my colleagues from my department take the course. Their classes in Woods, Engineering, Graphics are based on doing projects. We introduce the BIE Essential Project Design Checklist and lesson planner to examine our current practices and determined we were not using all the elements, particularly the "public product" to share with our colleagues, parents, and community at large. So, how do we get out lesson plans to the next level? We introduced hyperdocs along with other web-based tools to enhanced or completely redesign our lessons/units. Some of the tools used in class were (Edpuzzle, padlet, video/YouTube and more).
We spent time looking at other hyperdocs at Teachers Give Teachers and followed them on twitter. It was an amazing process to see how much a group to teachers could do in a week long summer class.
When we returned to school our group PD focus was on PBL. I set up a Google Classroom and incorporated many of the topics covered in our summer class. But the real magic happened when members of my department, Andy and Dan shared their hyperdocs and what the learned over the summer and started to execute the PBL lesson and hyperdocs! I also found that #ASCDtopics@betamiller was conducting a slow chat on #PBL that we incorporated into our PD.
To top this off Craig organized a Google Hangout with the hyperdoc creators, Lisa and Kelly that we followed all summer! We had members of our class participate and then shared several of the hyperdocs that we created in class. I tweeted the session out and had staff in the building and teachers that left my district @MrsAShetenhelm and now works in other district watched that hangout and then offer a hyperdocs session in her school! I loved how a combination of working with talented colleagues combined with the right tools (GSuite, Hyperdocs) and twitter connections with BIE and this month #ASCDtopics on PBL has connected me to a more global audience.
We are planning to expand the class next spring to incorporate more gamification features and expand our learning with PBL.
I will be presenting a session later in November and will sharing "My PBL" about my teachers and students.
My PLT group will be presenting our story to our colleagues this year.
