Time out over over lunch and some contemplating

(This post is cross-blogged from my quilting blog. It started out as a contemplation about my own parenting choices and ended up with questions about educating young people in rural areas hence relevance to this blog.) 

I took some time out over lunchtime today and DH and I went to the concert of the Royal NZ Navy Band. It was absolutely fabulous and brought back dear memories of our time (a long time ago) playing in our concert band back in Germany. The band did really well catering for the audience of mainly school children, music, entertainment, fun, engagement and at 1h just long enough. As our sons' schools were not taking classes there, DH went back to grab Master 9 and is currently enjoying the repeat of the concert.

As an ex-musician and music teacher I am quite sad that children in our area rarely have the opportunity to hear such music life, also that learning musical instruments happens only in pockets, esp. when you look at instruments beyond recorder, ukulele, guitar and drums. I sometimes wonder if I am denying my children some opportunities by not exposing them to more different experiences, though often it is just too much of an effort to get them there.

Despite the prevalence of online learning and ubiquitous access to knowledge, are we creating a society that has a very narrow view of the world and the limited skills that go with that. What price will we pay as a society for not passing on skills and knowledge beyond what is in their immediate surrounding? How can we expose young people in rural areas to 'what they don't know'? How can we ensure we are not limiting them to the point where they are denied certain pathways - pathways of personal growth, enjoyment and for future job prospects?

Collaborative Writing Tools

Note: Today I am running a staff meeting on Collaborative Writing Tools and have used this post to showcase how to embed some of these tools into a blog so that all students can easily access it.

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Why Collaborate in Writing? Learning Together in Writing is Empowering.

How Collaborate in Writing?

• Brainstorm
• Plan
• Write
• Comment
• etc.

What tools could we be using?

• Padlet - http://padlet.com/monikak/Ohaeawai
• Linoit - http://linoit.com/users/monikakern/canvases/Wonderwall (also as free iPad App)
• Popplet - http://popplet.com/app/#/1862290 (there is a free iPad app, and a full app that links to your web version
• GDocs - pushing view only docs out to children, they have to make a copy for their own version; this copy gets shared with other students in their class.

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Created with Padlet

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Chromebooks (cont.)

I feel really honoured by the views, positive feedback, +1s and shares of my last blogpost :) 

The lovely +Alyx Gillett asked some really good questions so I thought I share them and my answers with you here:

"I'd be really interested in the ways teachers in your cluster are using them in teaching and learning, as well as your thoughts on comparisons to an iPad?"

The best people to answer this question are probably the teachers themselves (e.g. +Diane Henderson and +Tracey Simeon). How they use the devices in class depends on the age of the students, the teacher and on the context. Generally speaking, the devices have pretty much replaced exercise books (y4-6/8). The schools use GAFE and Teacher Dashboard, and the students have most of their work in their Google Drive. Currently they are running parent courses in preparation for Chromebooks to be sent home.

Comparing iPads and Chromebooks, I believe different Digital Technologies have different purposes, and +Allanah King blogged about this topic just last month here.

If I look at how I personally use both of them, I can tell you I take my iPad mini with me everywhere in my handbag, and I take videos, photos, use apps (play my Smurf Village lol), I can type stuff up etc. I pull my Chromebook out when I know I have more typing to do. It is lightweight, still fits in a bigger handbag, boots up in seconds etc.

In a school environment with shared devices, iPads can be shared by up to say 4 people collaborating on a project / and app, and in my mind a Chromebook is more directed at one person at a time entering text, working on a programme etc. (not saying that you couldn't collaborate with that). In this situation, if you want individual students' work accessible to just them, a Chromebook is certainly easier as when they log in with their account and are straight in their Drive etc., and you can quite easily set Chromebooks up in a COW like system. That's where iPads are more of a personal device in my mind, because you have to go into the individual app (e.g. Drive) to change to your personal account.

So different devices for different purposes, and in my ideal classroom I personally would like to have a mixture to cater for many needs :)

"Any Chromebook essentials you'd suggest?"

In regards to accessories, these are some of the thing I regard as useful:

• Covers: I got myself an iPearl cover (e.g. http://www.ipearl-inc.com/samsung-sc12.html) because I didn't want the plastic surface of my Samsung Chromebook to scratch. I have a couple of sleeves to put it into, one from the GAFE summit, one I made myself - this allows me to keep charger etc. all together.The cluster purchased hard cover sleeves for each Chromebook so they can go back and forth between school and home more safely. Only problem with that is that all cases are black, so they had to come up with ways to mark them so students can tell them apart (I went through the cupboard once to find my boy's - it was the bottom one out of 28 lol).

• Headphones: Like with other 1:1 devices, I suggest every student has their own
  
  headphones (to keep the noise level for the classroom acceptable...). Check if your Chromebook has combined mic & headphone (same as for iPads).

• Mouse: My 9y old son asked me to buy him a mouse for his Chromebook. I would have liked to get him a colour one so he can tell it apart from the others but it appears there are few 'cable' mice nowadays, and for students like him I don't think it's a great idea to have a wireless mouse (just another small item that can be lost) so a cheap Logitech mouse it was.

Connecting to a projector

As teachers we often display work on the projector or a screen. As my Chromebook only has HDMI output and many of the schools I work with still have their VGA projectors, I bought an HDMI to VGA adapter. Unfortunately the model I bought doesn't have external power and my Chromebook itself can't power it (however, I have can use the adapter with my Apple TV) - something worth checking out.

I also bought a Chromecast when they first came out (ordered from the US, now available in NZ e.g. check here), attach that to a screen (HDMI again, also wifi) and you can set it up to mirror from your Chromebook to the screen. Recently further development have come out, Chromecast now also casts all apps on my Nexus tablet, and there was talk some other features might come in, too (limiting who can mirror to the Chromecast - the bane of many teachers who have a different classes iPad show up on their Apple TV...)

Please keep the questions coming, I will go looking for the answers when I don't know them :)

The popularity of Chromebooks in NZ schools and how to get started if you want to join the party!

I didn't know all that much about Chromebooks until about half way through last year. The Manaiakalani Cluster in Auckland have been using them for some time, and as I am working with the Kaikohekohe Cluster, who are following a similar pathway in regards to bringing 1:1 devices to the classrooms, I have bought my own device, learnt to use it, and worked with these teachers on how to integrate them effectively into learning and teaching. As a consequence of that I have become more aware of other New Zealand schools introducing them and have been able to point others to relevant information. Here is a little summary for those that are investigating Chromebooks for their school.

So why are Chromebooks becoming increasingly popular with New Zealand schools?

Here in New Zealand, many schools are working hard to provide 21C learning and teaching in their classrooms, and effective use of digital technology (DTs) is a vital component. Currently there is no government funding for devices to my knowledge, so schools many schools are resorting to fund raising, grant applications etc. to purchase technologies. Another pathway schools are pursuing is parent funded devices either via voluntary or compulsory BYOD, something that can put pressure on many families especially in low-decile communities.

Teachers are getting more confident with integrating technology into their classrooms, however, not all are technoholics and happy to tutu with all types of devices in their classrooms, especially with younger students where teachers have to act as techies at times. For that reason some schools have chosen to stick with or to prescribe a certain device. E.g. at one of the schools I taught at we had Windows desktop computers and netbooks, and certainly it was easy to transfer your technical knowledge from the one device to the other as a teacher.

For the schools I work with, iPads and Chromebooks seem to be the two tools schools gravitate to:
iPads are mobile, intuitive, tactile, have great functionality and offer a fantastic range of educational apps.
Chromebooks are light weight, easy to set up and operate under GAFE, require no backing up and automatically complete software updates, they boot up in seconds (compare that to my work HP ProBook4540s booting up in 3min...) - and they are relatively low cost (e.g. see a comparison of different companies on Priceme, or Cyclone Computers or Norrcom; disclaimer: I have no affiliation with either companies, but I know that some schools purchase through them).

With overlays like Hapara Teacher Dashboard or Google Classroom (which I yet have to explore more), teachers can easily monitor students' work within GAFE (which has become the platform of choice for many of the schools I am working with). This is independent of the type of device used.
To make devices affordable to purchase for families, some schools are starting to form or join existing trusts which allow parents to finance devices at affordable rates ($3.50-$4 per week for 3 years incl. insurance). At least one of our political parties is promising a scheme to help parents finance devices for students, too, so we should all watch developments with interest.

Is the increasing popularity a good thing?
1:1 devices, used effectively, are part of 21C learning and teaching. I certainly think that the increasing popularity of Chromebooks is a good thing for students Y4+, they are relatively affordable, require little maintenance / updating, light weight, capable of most tasks of a traditional laptop. What makes it superior to those in my opinion is the capability they have through GAFE - cloud storage, straight into a students' account, saving automatically (no more "Miss, I am sure I have saved it"...), with collaboration and sharing being the standout features for me.

What do you need to consider if you want to roll out Chromebooks in your school?
Firstly, look at your school vision for (e-)learning. What do you want to achieve? As part of the NZC Vision, we are aiming to develop confident, connected, actively involved, and lifelong learners. Future-oriented Learning and Teaching identifies six key themes: Personalising Learning, Rethinking Learners' and Teachers' roles (ako), New views of Equity and Diversity, Culture of Continuous Learning for Teachers and Leaders, Use of Knowledge to develop Learning Capacity, and New Partnerships and Relationships

Then examine your school's pedagogy: What does learning look like at your school? What will it look like in the future? What do you and your teachers need to make this happen? An increased number or even 1:1 devices might be one of these. You might want to purchase Chromebooks if you have the funding, or you you might want to ask parents to do so, with or without the help of a trust.

Technical Setup
I have been asked about this several times, and while I was not the one setting it up for Kaikohekohe Cluster schools, I can share my observations:

1. Schools need to sign up for GAFE. If you have reliable tech support, you might want to ask them to do this for you, you need to consider if you want to have all staff and students signed up to GAFE on your existing, on a new or on different domains. The domain(s) need to be verified as educational etc.
2. Create accounts for students you want to have use the Chromebooks. This happens within the GAFE Admin Console. Here a Superadmin sets up accounts for GAFE administrators, teacher and students, and I recommend strongly that you set up different suborganisations (e.g. teachers and students) to give them access to those GAFE apps you approve for them (as an example, you must not give Google+ access to students under age 13, as trying to access this will automatically suspend their account with Google). You can have a technician do this, but I strongly recommend that someone on staff is closely involved.
3. For your Chromebooks, consider the use of the Chromebook Management Console (there is a cost, but I can't remember how much). This is a tool that allows you to set up Chromebooks exactly as you want them, incl. pushing out or deleting apps from devices, putting restrictions on such as adding additional accounts etc. This means all your students will have access to those apps you think they will need; however, there can be a time delay when you discover that an additional app might be useful.
4. When the Kaikohekohe schools rolled out their devices in term 1, they decided to go for the 'white glove' service, which means that the devices arrived at school, ready for each individual child to log in and start working, even with the correct wifi password already entered. Well worth the cost, as the children could get stuck in then and there.

The best technical setup won't help unless your teachers know how to integrate these devices into their learning and teaching, so good support and PD around pedagogical and technical issues (how to use GAFE etc.) is absolutely vital. You don't want to end up with $500 pencils in your classrooms!

If I was back in the classroom, I would certainly want to have Chromebooks in my classroom. If you are interested in more information, feel free to contact me :)

PD around Digital Story Telling and UDL

There's always lots going on, sometimes it's hard to remember to blog about it! For me in my work the focus has definitely shifted from being a 'trainer in things IT' to being a connector between school leaders' and teachers' existing knowledge and relevant information out there - not always easy for us as facilitators as there is an immense amount of knowledge out there for us to be aware of... With Teaching as Inquiry being such a powerful vehicle for all educators to progress their students' learning, and with teachers driving their own learning through TaI, there is less need for facilitators to 'know it all' (I do still get this occasionally, "but you must know, you are the e-learning person"...)

However, there is still a need to look at how to use tools. I have realised that if I truly want to apply UDL principles in my work (multiple means of representation, of action & expression and of engagement), I need to be more considerate of everyone's needs when I deliver workshops. Therefore I have gone back to creating some worksheets / tutorials on Google Docs that not only get shared but also easily can be printed out and sit beside the person using an app or a programme on a device. Here is a session I have run with schools around Digital Story Telling / Movie Making recently, and here you can find tutorials I have created to support this: Movie Making with iMovie iPad app, Movie Making with WeVideo (online), Movie Making with WeVideo Android app, Movie Making with Windows Movie Maker.

I think it is vital that we remember, writing is just one form of sharing a narrative. Digital Storytelling is in some sense not very different from the travelling story tellers we have had even back in the ice ages. Technology now lets us tell our stories and share them easily with anyone we choose to (much easier than travelling over land by foot :D). It also perfectly fits with all three principles of UDL!

What might this look like in the classroom?

Use digital story telling parallel to, as an alternative to or instead of writing. Students still need to plan / story board their story, ensure they are sharing the narrative. 

Ensure students understand the limitations and difficulties of turning their narrative into a movie (they might not have the tools / props on hand to create what words could describe).

Time management is an issue for many students; ensure you set a realistic timeframe, provide scaffolding where necessary; this might include you being actively involved in the creation of the story depending on age and ability of your students.

Most importantly: Take time for the finished stories to be shared - within your class, across the school and beyond.

How are you using Digital Storytelling in your work?

There have been some thoughts brewing in my head about UDL - being such a Golden Circle fan the order of the three principles (what, how and why of learning) doesn't sit well with me. Watch this space...

Professional Inquiry - update

[For 2014 I have decided to share aspects of my professional inquiry through my blog. I believe that inquiries into our practise are essential for all educators and I would like to encourage every teacher to regularly inquire into their practise. I value your feedback and / or questions.]

Back in March I had decided that this year I would inquire into how I can build capacity for teachers learning in a blended way. This came from the observation that up here in Northland where many schools are small and geographically isolated, teachers feel they cannot access the same quantity and maybe also quality of PD as teachers in the big cities can (I am just stating what teachers are expressing, I am not making any judgement if this is the case or not).

It is a fact that there don't seem to be many f2f workshops and courses in our area. Travelling out of the area is an option, though a course in Auckland for example will incur quite a cost to schools, travel, accommodation all on top of relief. Since I started working as facilitator, I have actively involved myself in various forms of online learning so that I can be as knowledgeable as possible when supporting my schools. I thoroughly enjoy f2f opportunities, though with a family to look after going away can be a challenge, too. Not only do I believe that online opportunities are a great addition to f2f ones, I believe that this will become more and more important in the future, and the government support for N4L unlimited internet and Pond certainly indicate that they see this as an important part of teacher PLD in the future.

What do I regard as positive about online learning?

We often hear about huge drop out rates for MOOC students (and yes, I did NOT complete my Gamification MOOC from earlier in the year), but Johnathon Haber from The Huffington Post crunched numbers and came to a different conclusion in this article. The fact is that online we can access many more topics than we could if we relied on f2f.

There have been distance education opportunities for many years, for example our own NZ Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu, formerly The Correspondence School, has been in operation since 1922. Our modern online learning looks very different though from the printed books in the mail from days gone by, Digital Technologies allow almost immediate access to resources and activities, they also allow completion of work and proof of learning in new and creative ways.

The biggest potential in online learning in my opinion is the opportunity to collaborate. Sugata Mitra is probably one of the best known proponents of students learning with and from each other (and with the help of the internet). Online tools give us the opportunity to create, collaborate, to share, we can discuss issues synchronous and asynchronous, from anywhere around the world. The exchange and cross-pollination of ideas, the co-construction of solutions to problems that concern many of us all over the world and the power of knowing you are not alone in this can be incredibly powerful tools in the kete of every teacher.

As for my professional inquiry, I am actively seeking to involve other educators in various forms of online learning and connecting by sharing links, resources, inviting them into discussions, webinars, arranging online meetings with them etc. I have (with varying success) monitored my efforts and so far have found two main (and not completely surprising) contributors to success:

• relevance of the topic
• familiarity with the online tool

I have placed them in this order on purpose: I believe that when a topic is sufficiently relevant, people will be more inclined to get over the obstacle of an unfamiliar tool (but maybe you disagree?). However, no matter how well they know a tool, they are not going to engage if they are not interested in the topic.

What does this mean for me in my practise?

My role is not one of  'teaching use of a tool' simply for the sake of the tool. However, when this tool serves a purpose, such as access to a webinar or sim., I believe it can be a very good use of my time to walk others through the use of that tool. Hence for the second half of the year I will put even more emphasis on actively promoting the use of tools like Skype, Google Hangout, Blackboard Collaborate, VLN, Google+, Twitter etc. in my schools. This is almost 'the easy part'.

The more challenging part is to ensure I am more aware of possibly relevant topics that I can connect my schools and teachers with. I already spend many waking hours in educational online spaces, but I want to make sure I am very aware of teacher interests and needs, scour these spaces thoroughly and share anything that might be relevant to these teachers - without completely overloading them.

What advice can you give me to ensure I am supporting teachers effectively?

Recurring themes for schools involved with e-learning

Being involved in education hands-on is a very busy place to be! It is just amazing how quickly time flies. In my current role a lot of my learning has to happen 'just in time' - our PLD programme does not have set sessions that we prepare for and deliver, being always mindful of future focussed learning theories we are building the programmes around our learners' needs. This does not mean though that there isn't a certain amount of overlap between different schools. I would like to share some of the themes I seem to come across regularly:

• Stock Take: Where are we at? What is our current location in regards to the initiative (in my case usually e-learning)?
• Vision: Before starting on any new initiative, developing a vision is incredible important. Why are we doing this? Where are we heading? How will we know that we have gotten there? Who helps build that vision (ideally representation from all stakeholders)? Does everyone know and share the vision? It is really important to remember that there is a difference between the vision and the results of the vision, e.g. see Simon Sinek's TED Talk on the Golden Circle.
• How will we put that vision into reality? Just like when we go on a physical journey, there are different routes we can take, influenced by where we are starting as well as the 'road conditions', the 'sight seeing' we want to do on the way - and sometimes we change our mind about our destination.
• What we are actually doing will come out of the above, it is what effective teachers do in their class everyday. It includes any devices and programmes, the 'when is it the right time to use a device, and when do we put it away'.

Many, but not all schools are aware of 21C learning and the Future Focus Themes of Personalising Learning, Rethinking Learners' and Teachers' Roles, New Views of Equity and Diversity, New Kinds of Partnerships and Relationships, A Culture of Continuous Learning  for Teachers and Educational Leaders and A curriculum that uses knowledge to develop learning capacity. If you are interested in finding out more about this, you can find a summary in the Curriculum Update 26 and the full report here. If we want to cater for our learners and prepare them for their future, we cannot ignore such important research. How to fully integrate 21C learning and teaching into practise in all schools is the great challenge for all of us in education.

Often the adults I work with are concerned about their own confidence and competence in using devices, as well as how to incorporate these in their classes effectively. It is very interesting how students are a lot less worried about devices, they are 'just doing it' - not always completely effectively, but they are certainly not hindered by a 'fear of devices' unlike some of us adults. Claire Amos wrote a very interesting blogpost this week as part of their #hackyrclass initiative about Handing the Power over to the Learners. Claire identifies that true engagement is hindered by the teachers' need to maintain power and control in the classroom.

Out of the varied approaches schools are taking, some recurring themes have become apparent:

• Use of technology to collaborate, share and create, within a group of learners (classroom / syndicate), across schools / clusters of schools and beyond. Many schools are using their websites and GAFE for this. 
• Personalising learning with providing multiple means of engagement, action and expression, and representation (the 3 themes of Universal Design for Learning)
• Integrating increasing number of devices into learning programmes effectively.

If you find that you or your school are in a similar position as these schools, how do you go forward?

• Stocktake: You will find great resources around the e-Learning Planning Framework, a self-assessment tool for schools around e-capabilities here.
• Vision: I strongly recommend you endeavour to involve representatives of all stakeholders into the school visioning process.You can find some interesting links and video to support your work around creating a vision here. 
• Putting the vision into action: Both Enabling e-Learning and the Virtual Learning Network have an amazing array of ideas and resources that can help you put your vision into action. You can also find great support on Google Plus and on Twitter.

If you have any questions that you think I an help you with, please feel free to comment or contact me via email, twitter or Google+!