Got a sub? No problem! Hold class online!

I recently posted an article here on my teacher blog in which I reflect on the unique ability of teachers in the 21st century to continue to hold class, even when they are out, whether at a conference, sick, or taking care of other business. Today was the second time I was able to take advantage of the technology, and I think it flowed better this time than last.

Being able to post videos and links to other sites really helped with class discussion, and it definitely not only helped with plans for the sub (which basically said "have the students log into Edmodo and get the link for the live blog, then have them log onto the blog), it also helped to ensure a continuity of instruction.

As I wrote this, I was also watching/listening to a debate on leadership as seen in William Golding's Lord of the Flies via UStream, which of course only further demonstrates my point. This particular teacher and class had people from Denver (me), Atlanta, Germany, and Brazil all watching and listening to the class, and the students did an outstanding job.

In spite of the current political climate, and the feeling (nationally) that teachers are under attack and being asked to do more with fewer resources, I still feel this is an exciting time to be in education.

Purdue University in the Hotseat

I recently came across this article about social networking, specifically Twitter, at Purdue University. (This one, too.) Seems that their IT people have developed their own social networking program called "Hotseat." The students in the classes are able to send out questions, comments, and so forth via this program, and from what I can tell, it also posts to their Facebook and Twitter accounts.

This has some very interesting possibilities within the classroom. I would likely use Edmodo for my classes since it is more secure and controlled, and it would take a good bit of training and reinforcement, but I can see where this might work. As I am delivering the lesson, students could post their comments and questions on the Edmodo account, which would be displayed on a separate screen. The students could then answer each other's questions, posting links and whatnot related to the class discussion.

Of course, this would take some training and practice, particularly with my younger students since the temptation for "What up?" and other non-related and therefore inappropriate messages might be too great. Perhaps if/when I roll this out, I would start with my TOK class, then moving down to the sophomores, either not using it with the freshmen or waiting until perhaps fourth quarter to introduced them to it.

Which brings me to my struggle this year. With the new district policy around pacing, I am supposed to be pretty much doing the same thing as the other classes in the building (aside from TOK, which is unique to IB). At least at first glance, this precludes the use of blogs and other technology in the classroom which is a huge disservice to my students. As Will Richardson has observed, those who aren't publishing (online) aren't a part of the conversation. We saw the use and power of technology in the last federal election cycle and in the protests over the election in Iran; if our students do not know how to utilize those and other 21st century tools, they will not be able to be active citizens in their own democracy. While this may sound like hyperbole, it isn't. It's simple fact. I'm seriously worried.

Ignite is AMAZING for student presentations; looking ahead.

(This is a partial cross post from my teacher blog.)
This time of year is typically my time to look back on the school year and reflect on things I thought went well as well as identify areas of growth for me. I incorporated a great deal of technology in my classes this year, which was falls into both categories. I still have some growing to do and kinks to iron out, but I definitely did a lot more experimentation in my classes than I have in the past. In addition to the technology piece, I did a great deal more group work than I ever have. Typically, I've found group work to be a bit of a management nightmare, especially when working with freshmen, but this year I bit the bullet and pushed myself to let go a little bit and let my students take the lead. I'm glad I did. The live blog collaborative sessions revealed a great deal about my students and their capabilities, and their presentations went quite well.

Which brings me to my next point. Ignite is an amazing format for student presentations, especially for students who aren't used to doing presentations. The 15 second time frame for each slide really discourages the reading of slides, and sticking to the 20 slide/five minute format definitely ensures that students will reach the time allotted. Sticking to the 15 second per slide format also means that those students who would normally rely on videos to fill time aren't able to, and it keeps the more... verbose... students to a reasonable time frame as well. I will definitely continue to use it, especially for underclassmen. We even got an invitation to join IgniteDenver, which is pretty cool. I plan to check out a few presentations on my own first, then open the door to my students to attend and present at an event. Here's a great blog entry that I'm going to share with my students on how to put together an Ignite presentation.

Other things I will continue to use next year: Google Docs, TurnItIn.com, blogs, podcasting, Google Sites, Ning, Edmodo, CoverItLive, TextTheMob. I want to add: OpenZine, PhotoStory, MovieMaker. I'm sure there's more I'll end up using, especially with the trainings coming up this week and in August. Should be fun!!

Edmodo

Just found out about Edmodo via Twitter. Basically, it's Twitter for schools. I just signed for my own account and plan on getting my students on it when we are in the media center on Thursday. It has some interesting possibilities, particularly since through it, I can send links, files, assignments, and so on to my students as well as an RSS feed. Last week I spent some time talking with my students about both Twitter and various RSS readers, and I'm encouraging them to use both of those for research as they begin to start their end of term projects. I'll play around with this and report on it more, most likely at the June training, but figured I'd give people a heads up on it now.