trialling technology to grow writers
DESCRIPTION
These slides accompanied a session at Wellesley College (January 2013) This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 New Zealand License.TRANSCRIPT
Wellesley College: Trialling technology to grow writers
Karen Melhuish Spencer | @virtuallykaren | 29 January 2013
No hea au?
Touchstones
•Wellesley character
•The value of e-learning
•Enhancing writing
•Knowing and including our students
•Starting our own inquiries
By the end of our session...
Develop a question to trial that combines boys’ writing and digital technologies.
by....
✓Considering your current situation
✓Exploring current examples of e-learning and writing
✓Plotting an inquiry for term 1.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27620885@N02/3018698863/sizes/m/
Combining writing and technologies
The big ideas
Using Storybird to improve literacy
what is e-learning?
“...learning and teaching that is facilitated by or supported through the appropriate use of information and
communication technologies (ICTs). “
what’s the point?Greater opportunity to connect, participate & collaborate
New pathways to new knowledge
Engagement through prior knowledge
Source: wakingphotolife
Civic engagement
Digital citizens
Access
Inclusion
Equity
..so that every student can actively engage in learning in ways that deliberately suit their
needs and passions.
.
Inclusion.Personalisati
on
“In deep expressions of practice, students'
learning activities and the curriculum/knowledge
content they engage with are
shaped in ways that reflect the input and
interests of students, as well as
what teachers know to be important knowledge”
Bolstad, R., Gilbert J., McDowell, S., Bull, A., Boyd, S., Hipkins, R. (2012)
Supporting future-oriented learning and teaching - a New Zealand perspective. New Zealand: Ministry of Education
Combining writing and technologies
What can it look like?
Places and peopleWhy places are important
Why places are important
to us
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90257728@N02/
An small example using SOLO
My place in the sun - understanding why places can be important to us.
• Identify one important place where people go during the summer.
• Describe the kinds of places where people spend their summer.
• Compare the places - how are they similar? different?
• Make general statements about the kinds of places that are important to people.
Engagement before writing “Help me find my own
doorway”
http://www.flickr.com/photos/learnscope/2547026015/sizes/m/
“Once we have developed a rich question, we use
photos gathered on Flickr, recorded
video interviews with family, and
examples online, like Digistore, to
engage boys’ prior knowledge on a
topic.”
Preparing to write “Give me steps...or build me a ramp”
“There is more than one way to show
understanding - we sketch, digitally mind-map, retell
stories using storytelling apps
and curate images as we
prepare to write.”http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevintice/189207135/sizes/m/
The writing process “Pathways as memorable as the destination”
“We use tools to support
collaborative and shared writing,
easy editing and authentic
publication. Writing for real purposes and audiences has
never been easier.”
http://www.flickr.com/photos/opedagogen/5265755107/sizes/m/
Combining writing and technologies
How can we turn ideas into action?
A helpful focus1.How can I teach writing
better using digital technologies?
2.What’s happening in other schools with e-learning?
3.How can I use a collaborative writing tool to engage those identified students who need support at the drafting stage?
✓finding out✓planning
✓investigating
Image: DavidDMuir
What might our focus question be?
“My students mainly draft writing and then we type it up neatly, or make posters for
the wall. To be honest, the work is the same as it has always been - I’m not sure what the possibilities are.”
Image: Christy Tvarok Green
✓trialing✓establishingWhat might our focus question be?
“We have tablets in the classroom and we use them mainly for research and editing. Some students want
to be more creative in the way they work. I feel we could be
using technologies to support the
learning process more strategically.”
✓ focus on learning✓authentic use✓shared roles✓whole communityImage: Mark Pinder for the Guardian
“ I have begun to use technologies to find
new pathways that suit students’ passions and
needs. This has meant designing
tasks differently to how I have in the
past.”What might our focus question be?
✓higher-order✓community
driven✓networked &
blended Image: chesbayprogram
“We integrate technologies so that students’ learning is personalised and
richly creative - and we make the most of
community and global connections. Learning
looks completely different to a few years
ago.”What might our focus question be?
Test. Trial. Question. Inquire.
• What do your students need? What matters most to them, given what you know?
• How can you combine literacy, pedagogy and technology in ONE small trial? Frame this as a deep question.
• What will you need to know before you trial?
• What will you look for?
• What happened? What questions do you now have?
• Next steps?
Hands-on activity?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/opedagogen/5265755107/sizes/m/
Co-develop our inquiry for term 1
www.bit.ly/wellesley1234
stars and wishes
Next steps?
Image: Some rights reserved by SFB579 :)
What is needed now?
Further thinking:
• Teaching as inquiry - case studies: http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/Curriculum-stories/Case-studies/Teachers-as-learners-Inquiry/Teaching-as-inquiry
• Inquiry as a disposition (CORE EdTalk): http://edtalks.org/video/inquiry-disposition#.UPRrXKFeui8)
• e-Learning as inquiry on Literacy Online (http://elearningasinquiry.tki.org.nz/What-is-e-Learning-as-Inquiry)
• How teachers are inquiring (ERO): http://www.ero.govt.nz/National-Reports/Teaching-as-Inquiry-Responding-to-Learners-July-2012/Findings/Teachers-inquiry-into-the-impact-of-their-teaching-on-students
What do you notice?
Image: Copyright 1995-2002 The Denver Public Library, the Colorado Historical Society, or the Denver Art Museum;
http://www.uwec.edu/foundation/