Social Media Is Here to Stay

We can only deny it for so long. But, the fact of the matter is, social media isn't going anywhere and students are going to continue using it regardless of how much we punish them for bringing it within our classrooms. An important lesson to learn for any parent, teacher, or individual is to pick your battles wisely. We are not going to be able to eliminate social networking sites and social media just because we are banning it from our students' classrooms, so why are we fighting it so vehemently? With 73 percent of teens between 12 to 17 active on social networking sites, it seems we as educators should respond to that immense and widespread interest among our youth. Banning social media and cellphones from our schools is likely more of a waste of time, energy, and resources than it is worth.

Stimulated Engagement and New-Found Voice

Once we actually decide to embrace social media and modern communication technology, there are many things that the technology may have to offer our classrooms and our students. Part of the reason that social media and social networking are so popular has to do with its publicity. Middle schoolers and high schoolers have something important to gain from being more visible to and heard by their peers and mentors. We as educators and mentors to our young pupils seek to give them voices and show them their significance in a world that can often feel uninterested in the young persons' interests and concerns. Social media and networking platforms provide a wonderful way to give young students a more public voice. Things like blogging and mircoblogging (Twitter and Facebook) help students find greater purpose and engagement in their work. They feel they are not purely doing an assignment for a teacher or a grade—their friends will see it and other people on the web may see it (in the case of a public blog). There is a sense of purpose and power in this that is extremely important to find as a teenager in today's society.

Put Simply—It's Reading and Writing

Social media and mobile technology—Facebook, Twitter, blogging, instant messaging, text messaging—each intrinsically encourage one of the foundations of education—reading and writing. Text messaging and social media have come under attack many times in the past for encouraging poor grammar and truncated language. Because the communication platforms have character limits, users are forced to shorten their discussions and limit their language. However, as many an English teacher will attest to, is this brevity really a negative thing? Not only are students who use text messaging and social networking intrinsically using written communication and reading skills in their everyday lives, they also gain lessons in concise writing and reading comprehension through the exercise. English and language teachers should embrace these platforms for writing, reading and communication because students are so attuned and passionate about them. Any practice in reading and writing is a positive thing for young students and finding ways to incorporate a student's everyday habits into their academic habit can be a very positive thing.

Though as parents and educators we may not understand social networking, social media, or mobile technology, don't rule out the explanation that we're just too old to really get it. We should find ways to embrace the things that our youth are passionate about and utilize them within education and academia in a way that is positive and productive.

By-line:

This guest post is contributed by Katheryn Rivas, who writes on the topics of online universities advice.  She welcomes your comments at her email Id: katherynrivas87@gmail.com.

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Planning a real-life field trip is a project that requires students to research online, explore the geography of the city using Google maps, collaborate in small groups, plan for and use public transportation, create reasonable timetables, organize itineraries on a spreadsheet, budget, and communicate with parents.

While on the field trip, student groups make stops at places where they write for 20 minutes and take pictures. Most writing is descriptive, but we ask that students draft at least one haiku.

When they return to school, students revise, edit, and publish their haikus. Pictures and descriptive writing are turned into narratives, photoessays, and more.

Brainstorming Places to See

The class begins by exploring some of Hong Kong’s great tourist attractions and looking through virtual tours. Individual students list places that trigger fond memories as well as places they’ve always wanted to visit. Individuals then identify at least three places they believe will inspire good writing.

Individuals with similar lists are paired up or grouped together to plan a joint trip. Pairs and groups are then matched with parent chaperones.

Learning the Geography of the City

Many of my students have lived in Hong Kong for years but do not know the geographic locations within the city. Which attractions are on which island (after all, there are 260+ islands in the Special Administrative Region)?

In order to visit as many places as possible, students need to identify the most efficient order of destinations. More than a few groups begin with itineraries that cross Victoria Harbour numerous times or double-back across Hong Kong Island. When asked to point out their destinations on a map, the “Ohhhhh“s and “A-ha“s are audible.

Click on the image to go to the Google Map

Plan the Route

Once students have identified locations on a map, they must plan how to get from place to place. They ride the school bus to the Central part of Hong Kong Island. Then, they are released to follow their itineraries throughout the city.

We ask students to use public transportation rather than private vehicles (no drivers, no taxis, no private cars). They compare the length of time it would take them to get to a destination using the MTR (subway), using buses, and walking.

Google maps allow students to make those comparisons.

Create a Detailed, Feasible Itinerary

The goal is that students get to all their destinations, write for at least 20 minutes in each location, and return to the school bus by 1:15 in the afternoon. Groups used the Google spreadsheet to collaborate.

When students began entering times, some timeframes were very general. When conferencing with groups, I’d hear them say We’ll be here be [this time] and there by [that time].

“What time wil you leave x-place to ensure you are in y-place at your designated time?” I’d ask. Many planned to arrived at a location, stay for 20 minutes, then leave. They didn’t allow room for exploration or photography.

Other students looked at the Google routes and gave themselves the exact time indicated on the “Directions” locator. They would catch the bus at 10:42 and arrive at their destination at 10:54. When I asked how they could be so certain about the times, groups said Google maps say that the bus ride is 12 minutes long. I had to explain that a 12 minute bus ride began once the students were on the bus and the bus was moving. The time does not account for walk time to the bus stop, wait time at the stop, and possible traffic delays. Students had to prove their timetables were feasible.

Itineraries include lunch at a location chosen by students and a budgeted amount of money.

Below is an example of an itinerary.

Trip Expectations

While on the field trip, students were expected to write for 20 minutes in at least three locations. Since we’re in the midst of a poetry unit, students were asked to draft at least one poem and one Haiku.

Students were also encouraged to take pictures and write detailed descriptions of locations, including sounds, smells, and sights in each location.

Follow-up Writing

Using ideas put forth by Richard Byrne at Free Technology for Teachers, students posted pictures and Haikus around a Google map of Hong Kong.

Click on the image below to view the final project:

A detailed explanation of teaching Haiku and putting together the final projects can be found on Expat Educator.

Reality Check

Cities vary in terms of safety and ease of public transportation. Also, schools have different liability concerns. That said, students could use maps to plan itineraries within smaller areas such as zoos, National Parks, and historical areas such as Gettysburg.

Students might be able to walk around small cities with parents, stopping to write about parks, rivers, or fire stations. Alternately, a Walkabout trip might be an extension activity for parents and students to do together on the weekend.

What are your ideas for project using Google maps?

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Cross posted on Creative Tension

In December 2009, I used this photo in my Leadership and 1:1 Bus post and last year I used it with the Graded faculty to describe our journey to provide students with a relevant education for today and the future. This journey includes going 1:1 in August 2012. For me the photo conjures up excitement and fear. And while some people are adventurous enough to sit on top or hang on the side, others feel more comfortable inside. It doesn't matter where one sits, the important thing is that we're all together on the journey.

When is it exciting and often magical?  When our students are using technology for learning, creative and original thinking, communication and collaboration, research and information literacy and critical thinking and problem solving.

When is it a bit scary?  When we are uncertain of what is coming next or when we have to step outside our comfort zone to try something new.

We have so much to be proud because we have traveled so far in such a short amount of time. This year we have done the following to prepare for a full 1:1 rollout in August.

• Support professional development at conferences by providing faculty with the opportunity to attend the Laptop Institute at Lausanne Collegiate and Unplugged at the American School of Bombay.
• Provided all of our teachers and administrators with laptops so that we all get used to working anytime, anywhere.
• Using digital tools to help us with our work and our learning. The idea is that we will experiment and figure out what works as we do the same in our classrooms.
• Created PLCs around assessment in today's digital environment.
• Reviewed and redesigned our curriculum in science and English with a 21st century lens.
• Encouraged students to bring in laptops to ease the transition for August.
• Defined our Information Communication and Technology standards that will be integrated schoolwide next year.
• Provided teachers with a full-time academic technology coordinator to support them with integrating technology and professional development.
• Developed our acceptable use policy and LARK guidelines so that our community members can be responsible digital citizens.
• Developed a digital toolkit that will provide us with some software standardization in our bring your own laptop environment.
• Upgraded facilities so that we have electrical power throughout the campus.

We realize that the journey is not over yet. In reality, we've really only traveled a short distance. The key is that we are well on our way to transforming the learning experiences for our students.

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Administrators:

• Provide your best teachers with RESOURCES because they can serve as models for other teachers.  Resources include not only things, but also time!
• Find ways to help those teachers continue to grow.  Send them to conferences and let them visit other schools.
• Be creative and reward them for their hard work.

Teachers:

• Try to develop networks that will help you continue to grow.  Your network may include other teachers in the school, but should also include other exemplary educators from around the globe.  Use social media to connect with others.
• If your administration isn’t providing you with resources, think creatively.  Apply for grants, or go to your PTO if possible.  Try to make partnerships with local businesses that are friends of education. Even a non-supportive administration is unlikely to turn down free money or tools.
• Toot your own horn!  Generally, most educators are not good at this.  However, if you want your community to support your work, you should show them all of the great things you are doing.

I hope that yesterday was a great day for all of you. More importantly, I hope that each of you have the support systems that allow you to be successful in your school each and every day.

Nick Sauers

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• They have embraced a “surprise and delight” approach to school, and even have included that as something they look for in their walk-throughs. For more information about surprise and delight, contact John Nash or visit his dLab website.
• Building on the last point, they have thought of creative ways to have professional development. A 9-year old led one training!  On another day, they had their training at a local shopping mall.  Another was held at a Starbucks.
• They worked closely with an architect to create a great environment for students. In the elementary, the hallways were designed to look like a road and the outside of each classroom looked like a business or other community building.  I can imagine that the elementary students were pretty excited about their school! (This was done at minimal costs.)
• They are implementing a 1:1 program in the high school called ACES.
• One of their school buses has been equipped with Wi-Fi!
• Their class schedule includes an amazing list of electives that should be extremely relevant to students.  I’m excited to learn more about their syllabi for each course and will likely post about them in the future.  One of those courses involves students helping to solve problems their community is facing.  Another course, the one that I’m most excited about, will have students trying to create a large digital footprint around a charitable organization.  They will use social media to spread their message around the world.
• Students will collaborate with students from a prominent high school in the UK.

These are just some examples of the exciting things that they have done.  They also highlight how schools CAN reinvent themselves if they truly want to do so!  I hope to follow their school closely and write about some of the challenges and successes that they encounter on their journey.  It is extremely exciting to be involved with a school that is very aggressively thinking of creative ways to improve their schools. Eminence closed their celebration with a rap from student Brandon Mitchell, and part of his wrap is below.  If you’d like to see the entire set of lyrics, you can find them here.

You know I love those ACES
I ain’t talkin bout the card
But with all these Apple products
Got me feeling like Steve Jobs

With all these advances
a new era is now entering
Schools are making progress
time to move into this century

B. E. Ready, B. E. Ready
B. E. Ready… For fire
B. E. Ready, B. E. Ready
B. E. Ready… For fire

Accomplish the impossible
Were living by this code
No better way to start it
Then with MacBook Pros

Assigning them to students
Each and every individual
We take the school and flip it
You can call it the reciprocal

Nick Sauers

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I hope to post resources from the conference on this blog in the near future.  I'd also like to recognize Kim Cofino and the entire YIS staff for all of their work making the conference happen!

Nick Sauers

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• Trial wikis and teacher research-sharing sites (40%)
• Teacher content-delivery sites (34%)
• Individual student assignment and portfolios (25%)
• Collaborative student presentations and workspaces (1%)

These findings indicate that this Web 2.0 tool is often times not being used to its fullest potential. It is often simply being used as a place to store resources. This post isn't intended as a criticism of those basic uses. In fact, that is how I often use wikis. Hopefully this article and post will push all of us to carefully consider how we are using technology. I REALLY like Bernajean Porter's technology and learning spectrum.  In that spectrum, she writes about the three ways most people use technology in their classrooms.  She describes literacy uses as simply teaching about technology. Her next category is adapting uses such as educators using technology in their classes just to use it. The final category is the transforming uses and she describes that as using technology to meet learning content standards.

I think that it can be very easy to learn about a new technology tool and then be driven to use it simply to use it. I would challenge each of you to truly analyze how you are using the technologies that you are using.  My goal wouldn't be that all of the technology you use would fall into Porter's transforming uses category. Much of my own use of technology is simply about efficiency. More importantly, I think we all need to become extremely cognizant of all of the things that we are doing in the classroom.  I'd like to push you to clearly identify the reasons you are using technology X in your school or classroom.

• Why are you using X in your classroom?
• Does it improve student learning?
• Are students more engaged?
• Are students collaborating more frequently?
• Does it increase efficiency and allow you to spend more time on more important things?

Nick Sauers

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• Hardware is diverse and at price points that are more affordable

• Schools are hyper budget conscious

• The "cloud" (previously called The Internet, the Web and the Information Superhighway) is ideal for core apps which are free or inexpensive with such as Google (although be sure to use GAFE), and Zoho

• Parents are realizing that a digital device is necessary for learning

• Schools want to be sure students possess 21st Century skills

But BYOD upsets apple carts right and left. We've been building school infrastructures for a long time that have supported a data-centric model in that IT directors allow or disallow devices on the school network according to a set model which is partly about good design and support, partly about supporting what already exists and partly about not taking on new projects or approaches that require more work, resources, and skill sets. And I've been a tech director in schools so know firsthand that opening a can of worms when it impacts the network, the laptop/desktop standardization, and the hardware replacement plan is not something many people will relish.

But then there are the students. They grow and develop and move to the next grade level and out the door to college and to life. They need to be empowered and learn in an environment that encourages them to think and write and research and publish and present and analyze and create new ideas and solutions to problems. They also need to own and understand the vehicles used for learning. So this might mean BYOD.

In order for BYOD to work well there must be a strong partnership between administration, Board members, teachers, technology, students, and parents. Everyone is going to be impacted by 1-to-1 no matter how it is implemented, whether BYOD or a standard hardware platform either provided or specified by the school or district. But with BYOD it's likely you are going to see some pushback from technology people because of the complexity, change, work, planning and resources required. So here are some questions to consider:

• Have you visited a BYOD school or district?
• If not a team with representative stakeholders should do so armed with lots of questions
• Are you already using Google or Zoho or some cloud solution?
• Without cloud apps BYOD is going to be nearly impossible to implement in a meaningful way
• You need the entire school/district community to be able to communicate, publish, present and share centrally
• How will you define BYOD?
• Will there be a minimum device or specification?
• Will smartphones be one of the devices?
• How's your network - is it ready for
• Wifi everywhere with multiple roaming wireless devices
• Centralized data security (Barracuda, Lightspeed, etc.)
• How will you address logistics?
• Will students be charged with keeping their devices charged, ready and safe/secure?
• Will you have "loaner" devices?
• Will devices be locked up somewhere/somehow during lunch, tests, sports?
• How's your curriculum?
• Are teachers already used to assignments in Google and in using online social media tools so that student work is already free of hardware requirements - and happening in "the cloud"?
• How's your digital citizenship education?
• Do students already know how to keep a respectful appropriate digital footprint?
• In my book I talk about L.A.R.K. - technology use by students should be L - Legal, A - Appropriate, R - Responsible, K - Kind
• How's your communication channel with parents, students?
• If the device is purchased, maintained, repaired and managed by parents and students, it's going to be important to communicate often and well
• How's your budget?
• Unless you have planned fully for the changes of BYOD you might be blindsided by some upgrades or unexpected costs so make sure to ask these questions when you are visiting BYOD schools

There are terrific schools that have been BYOD for years, The Harker School in San Jose comes to mind for instance. Many people I respect have been writing about BYOD including William Stites who posted this blog post for Educational Collaborators early this year, Lisa Nielsen who wrote about debunking BYOD for T.H.E. Journal and a recent article in District Administrator starts with a quote from Lucy Gray who I respect very much - this entire article by the way is an important read. The Laptop Institute which is highly recommended will have threads this summer in Memphis on BYOD.

BYOD can be a solution if you do your planning and homework and try to figure out up front exactly what you're getting into and plan carefully. You'll want to be ready to rethink your network as not being about enabling a few models of specific controllable devices but instead as a pathway to the cloud where your school/district-wide learning community resides.

- Pamela Livingston

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Nick Sauers

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Common Group Project Issues
Back when I was in school [insert granny voice]…and the teacher assigned a group project, some would cheer and some would moan. Those who cheered generally pictured the assignment as an I-get-to-spend-time-playing-with-my-friends assignment or a someone-else-will-do-all-the-work assignment. I moaned. I saw group work as a prepare-yourself-to-do-boatloads-of-extra-work sentence that would negatively impact my budding social life.

Even students with the best intentions have difficulty working in groups. They decide what they want to do. They decide what needs to be done. Then they do e-v-e-r-y s-t-e-p t-o-g-e-t-h-e-r. They collaborate on each sentence of the script. They sit by the same computer where one types and the others watch. They don’t realize that, if they divide a project into manageable chunks, they can get twice the work done in half the time.

What does that have to do with technology? I lead students to publication formats that students can work on simultaneously — from multiple places. Usually, the formats are posters (for the students who like to draw/cut/paste by hand), Google Presentations, movies, and Prezis.

Even with these tools, scaffolding is necessary. Below is a series of mini-lessons I use for the first project. The expectation is that groups become more independent in subsequent projects.

1. Content Comes First
Be clear about how student projects will be evaluated. In one of my most recent projects, I wanted students to engage in historical fiction book club discussions and submit subsequent projects that demonstrate…

• reflection on historical fiction characters, settings, and small details (observed during book club meetings and use of post-its for meeting preparation).
• comprehension of historical fiction text.
• nonfiction reading that enhanced understanding of the historical fiction text.
• evidence of original thoughts and how those thoughts changed or were reinforced throughout the story. This tended to be the formulation of a “big idea” that could be supported with evidence from the text.

Students were not allowed to touch technology (apart from the email and Google docs they used to communicate) until they were clear about the ideas they wanted to communicate.

Example Prezis of this projects are provided at the bottom of Step #2.

2: Choose and Defend A Particular Presentation Format
Once students know what they want to communicate, they can begin discussing the clearest means for communicating their ideas.

Even in a 1:1 environment, some groups choose a poster format. Admittedly, I nudge the poster groups toward infographics — designing a format like the one here:

This student took a picture of her desk at home, then inserted the text.

But, in the end, they may sketch out a hand-drawn poster idea that meets all the aforementioned criteria. These particular students can proficiently work with technology tools (they have ePortfolios, active Google doc folders, and more), they just prefer writing with pens, drawing by hand, cutting, and working with physical layouts.

Many students choose Google Presentations. Given the choices of Power Point, Keynote, and Presentation, my students now choose Google products. I suspect many use this tool because it is familiar. Also, they can work on their Presentation from their home computers rather than having to lug around their laptops. They sketch out their plans for each slide.

Others choose to do an iMovie. Those who choose iMovie like the idea of writing a script and reading it into a speaker rather than speaking in front of a large group. They plan out their picture slides, outline the script, then begin work. We do weekly iMovies, so the iMovie format is quick and easy for all students.

A final group of students wants to take on something novel. For this project, my teaching partner and I introduced students to Prezi. We chose to introduce Prezi because it partially resembles a poster, partially resembles a Keynote/Presentation/Power Point, and can be produced by a group from multiple computers (simultaneously).

Two examples can be found by clicking the image below:

Note: Prezi did not embed as expected. The picture is linked to a post with the example Prezis.

3. Students “Divide and Conquer” the Workload
Multiple students around one poster or computer is a recipe for distraction. It’s not that groups are trying to be bad. The 11-year-old mind seems to picture group work as “fair” when everyone does every part together. And, when students are jockeying for space and/or fighting for their voices to be heard by the typist, one or two students give up. They start to fiddle with things or they engage others in side conversations.

Division of labor should be explicit. Once students have the project’s “big picture”, they are challenged to divide the work into 30-minute tasks and delegate these 30-minute tasks to each person. For a bigger High School project, I’d probably have students fill out a One-Page Plan. If you have students with parents who are project managers, invite them in to help guide groups.

Critical questions are:

• What needs to be written? Can that be divided into chunks?
• What needs to be purchased? Who wants to go where? When?
• What needs to be researched/read? Can that be divided?
• Can the project be divided into sections so that each student is responsible for one of those sections? Posters can be divided into sections — Who will be responsible for which sections? Presentations are divided into slides — Who will be responsible for which slides? iMovie sections can be produced on separate computers and assembled in the end — Who will be responsible for which section? Prezis work like Presentations - Who will be responsible for each part?

4. Students Plan a Timeline
Time management is one of those critical skills that is missing from the written curriculum. The key is backward planning.

• If the project is due on x-date, what is the best date for the final assembly?
• If the final assembly needs to be done by x-date, when should we be reviewing each others’ sections and revising?
• If we are reviewing each others’ sections on x-date, when should drafts be sent to one another?
• If drafts are due by x-date, when should research be complete? items purchased?

5. Group members work as Individuals
After students have decided on content, defended a format for presentation, and “divided-to-conquer” the work, they can be meaningfully engaged in their own mini-projects. Each work sessions should have a work goal. My line is, “I’m happy to let you get your computer when I know what you will accomplish in the next x-minutes of your life” (said with a smile, of course).

6. Individuals Comment on Partners’ Pieces
During the revision and assembly stages, some trouble-shooting may be necessary.

One Presentation group had difficulty because group members began editing slides that others had created. It resulted in audible “Hey! Stop that!” responses. I then did a short minilesson on “ownership” of individual slides as the author’s creation. Group members were allowed to make comments, but not change another person’s work.

Learning to formulate constructive comments is critical to any group project. I like what Kathleen Morris and Linda Yollis have to say about blog commenting — their advice relates to group commenting on project portions:

• read over the comment and edit before submitting,
• compliment the writer in a specific way, ask a question, and/or suggest new information to be added,
• write a relevant comment that is related to the [portion],

One student said, “When my teammate said he wanted to format the title with a bunch of stars, I thought that was lame. Then he did it and it was great. I learned that I need to see what a partner does before criticizing it.”

Those in Prezi groups had some initial problems with one person controlling the layout when multiple people were on it at the same time. They worked it out, though.

7. Groups Reflect on Their Work
Finally, the group needs to come together and comment on the “fit” of all the parts.

At this point, I’ve already assigned grades to individual students for their input. It’s time for students to look back at the rubric, pretend they are the teacher, and “assign” themselves a grade (which I confirm or discuss with them later). Are there any last-minute changes that need to be made?

8. Allow Groups to see other Groups’ Work
Some students are risk-averse. They want to work on project formats they know. But when they see others’ work, they have a framework they can use when considering formats for other projects.

Those who have tried new presentation formats are not “experts” in that format — and can be called upon by others in the future.

9. Use Projects to Inform Report Card Comments
Those who chose to make Prezis don’t know this, but I jotted down a quick report card comment about self-motivated learning. My teaching partner and I gave very few instructions on how to use the tool. Students took their own time to work through the tutorials before assembly. I also noted which students helped other students trouble-shoot — an indication of character development. Finally, I noted which students had their parts of the presentation ready by the group’s revision/assembly dates.

10. Celebrate!
Students should celebrate work well done. If your students are in the same situation as mine, their parents put a lot of pressure on them to succeed. Rather than seeing life as a series of tasks, I want them to learn to enjoy the feeling of accomplishment.

The celebration need not be a full-on party. It can be combined with Step #8. I’ve developed a theory for tweens and teens…If there is pizza, it’s a party.

Future Projects
When I look over the completed Prezis, I see that students could use a review lesson on citing the sources of their images. They could also be guided to use more visuals and fewer words. Finally, it is clear that Prezi has no built-in spell-check. Some common words were (and maybe still are) misspelled on slides. While students revision skills may be good, editing skills still need some work.

What have been your experiences with group projects? How have you managed them?

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Photo credit ecastro on flickr

(http://www.flickr.com/photos/ecastro/6786705424/in/pool-858082@N25/)

I recently had a conversation with a colleague about what I see as some of the most common pitfalls as schools move to 1:1. In my work with CASTLE, I have had the opportunity to work with a large number of schools as they have transitioned to 1:1. For some schools, that work has simply been a conference call with a leadership team. In other situations, I've been much more involved. Through that work, I routinely see two issues as the major problems with 1:1 implementation. Those two issues are a lack of clear goals, and a lack of a sense of urgency. However, those don't seem to be issues most educators want to discuss. I routinely have educators tell me that "everyone is on board" with moving to 1:1. They instead want to discuss issues such as:

• Training teachers how to use technology to transform teaching and learning
• Building a solid infrastructure
• Financing the initiative long-term
• Selecting the correct device
• Developing appropriate acceptable use plans

I would be the first to admit, that all of these issues are EXTREMELY important. However, with clear goals and a sense of urgency, it is tough to get a team to put in all of the hard work to address each one of those issues. Like me, most educators are very practical. They don't want to spend their time discussing things like vision and goals. They are action orientated and want to solve those important problems I mentioned previously. However, it becomes clear to me quickly when I visit those schools that have failed to put serious time and conversation into truly getting everyone on board. When problems such as bandwidth arise, the whispers of dissension are very evident with the staff. Rather than working together for solutions, those staffs seem to look for reasons for 1:1 to fail. Reasons such as the blocking of certain sites, a poor infrastructure, or problems with a piece of software are reasons for educators to jump off the 1:1 train!

My experiences, good and bad, have shaped these beliefs. I have been happy to work with those schools where the leadership team has said staff only needs training on how to effectively use technology in the classroom. That type of training is fairly easy for me, and I eagerly comply. In hindsight though, I often regret taking that approach.

If you're currently a 1:1 school, I don't believe it is too late to revisit your goals and vision. I also don't think it is too late to light a fire and create a sense of urgency! If you aren't yet a 1:1 school, don't overlook these issues! Time spent doing so will pay huge dividends when you face the tough problems you are sure to encounter as you implement 1:1.

Nick Sauers

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How Much Control Do Schools Really Need?

One of the benefits of getting older is that you can reflect back on a time when things were done differently. Similarly, you can also clearly see when other things are essentially the same. Although the world around our schools is dramatically different, many of the pillars of our educational systems remain unchanged. Given the dramatic and accelerating transformation in the world around us, it’s certainly time to reflect upon how we conduct the business of schooling.

Many have already started down this path. We acknowledge the clear need to move from “sage on the stage” teaching to student empowered learning. We realize that our old content delivery models of education need to be replaced with more experiential and discovery based processes. We understand the limitations of a text only approach and try to integrate different forms of media. Now it’s time to revise another sacred cow that has been symptomatic of institutional education since its inception.

It’s time to let go of the notion that we need to control student behavior. It’s time to realize that we cannot and should not dictate the manner in which students learn. One area where the desire for control is clearly manifested is our use of technology in school.

Now before you fire up that impassioned response let me clarify that I’m not advocating a complete hands-off policy that gives students the freedom to do whatever they desire. There’s a clear distinction between “protection” and “control”. Protecting students from accidentally getting a computer virus or being routed to a pornography website is important. Deciding what apps they use; preventing them from managing their devices; undue censorship of internet activity; using software to watch their screens during class — these are control issues.

It’s ironic that we insist on censoring and controlling technology use. Outside school technology is characterized by freedom and empowerment — the ability for anyone to easily access or publish information, connect with people across the world and utilize media for new forms of creative expression and knowledge expansion. Innovation leads to new technologies which in turn can nurture further innovation. However that can only occur if we allow it…

• Technology empowers students to explore and create. In schools however it’s often used in the pursuit of efficiency where we require students to use technology in the same manner and with the intent that they produce similar results.
• We understand that they have vastly different talents and distinctive learning preferences. At home some use technology in more structured, logical ways while others gravitate to more visual or creative pursuits. Technology empowers them to find their own space as learners. In school we decide what applications they must use and we dictate exactly how they will use them — step by step — even in the face of our full understanding that students are far more expert at learning and using technology than teachers.
• The internet has enabled the democratization of information — publish, discover and learn anything. Anyone can publish. Everything is available. In schools we attempt to strictly control what they can see and do (yes, I used the word “attempt” — try Googling “ways to get around school web filters” and see what you get).

Technology is a product of change however we often design our implementations in manners that latch onto the comfortable old structures we’ve always used. Teachers control the class and it’s always been heretical to suggest otherwise. We therefore decide what technology students use and more importantly, how they will use it — even though they represent the first generations in history that are mastering many of the essential tools of everyday life before the adults that came before them.

If we know anything about the world outside school it’s that it requires an ability to adapt to change. We insist that modern life requires graduates that are experienced, independent learners. School is the time to start developing those skills. When we enable the use of technology in school we should also grant students the independence and freedom to use it their own way.

• We can and should allow students to manage their own devices. Help them learn the relevant technical and organizational skills, especially as this has become a vital part of life outside school.
• Loosen the Parental Controls. Allow them the freedom and responsibility to manage their school apps, set up their school email and more. Have someone instruct them on best practices.
• Allow them the freedom to find and use other apps as appropriate to their activities in class.
• You can purchase some apps centrally but otherwise ask parents to purchase the apps. There is an abundance of inexpensive choices.
• A “Responsible Use” policy should clearly state what is allowed and disallowed. The policy should be signed by child and parent alike.
• Freedom and responsibility come with consequence. Define a clear outcome for inappropriate use and act upon it as required.
• Use a web filter but set restrictions loosely and only block categories of sites that are potentially harmful. Ensure you have monitoring in place so you can track web usage if needed. The only skill strict filtering develops is the ability to find ways to work around it … and they do. Rather than acting as “big brother”, set an expectation of personal responsibility and take action when the standards aren’t met.

Most importantly, encourage creative, independent and innovative use of technology.

• Allow students the latitude to express their knowledge in different ways and with different tools wherever possible and subject to your prior approval. The process of learning should be more personally meaningful and motivational.
• Let them find and bring tools that they are most comfortable using.
• Give them the latitude to be teachers as well as learners — when they invent, discover or master something new have them teach others and create tutorials that you post online.

Our desire for controlling the use of technology is emblematic of a deeper problem. Top-down institutional control isn’t a workable model in an era where the marketplace requires graduates to have skills for learning anything, anywhere and at any time. Following instruction is important but there’s also an urgent need to develop personal innovation — the sort of flexible, creative thought and action that’s required to deal with a world of tumultuous change. Innovation requires that we open the metaphorical classroom windows and doors. Instead we still feel more comfortable keeping them closed. Is it about control or are we more concerned with efficiency? Are we making decisions based on their needs or ours?

Whenever I discuss iPad or BYOD implementations in schools one of the first issues raised usually revolves around problems associated with management and control. iPads are difficult to manage on an institutional level. That could be a blessing in disguise. Maybe it presents us with the right timing and opportunity to finally allow students to manage their devices and develop their skills as independent and responsible learners.

Sam Gliksman
samgliksman@gmail.com
Twitter: @samgliksman

No related posts.

We’re just a few weeks removed from a major Apple announcement regarding the release of a new eTextbooks initiative. I’m keenly aware of the significance of the move to eBooks, especially as I have a 13 year old that carries 20 pounds in his backpack to school every day. However important the move from paper to digital textbooks, I'm still left with a taste for more.

I have been critical of the ways most schools still rely on text as the primary, almost solitary, medium for exchanging information. The “real world” trades information using an amalgam of different media that includes video, audio, images … and text. Of course, it’s also no secret that most students are way more comfortable watching tutorials on YouTube than reading pages from a textbook. So what's the problem? Apple has given authors of all varieties a mechanism for creating interactive, multimedia school content ... but it doesn’t feel like enough.

iBooks could have included aspects of social reading so "friends" could exchange questions and notes right within the pages of the book. It may have included a system for immediate feedback, formative assessment and corrective branching - that would have added to its value. The ability to generate summary usage reports for parents and teachers could have helped evaluate the progress of students. All things considered however, Apple has managed to establish a solid base and it’s sure to improve as additional updates are released. It doesn’t however solve the core problem of textbooks.

One of the major complaints about "20th century education" was that it centered on content delivery. We acknowledge that students need independent learning skills that enable them to enter society confident in their abilities to adjust to changing circumstances and equipped with skills to learn and relearn as new needs arise ... yet many of our technology applications keep drawing education back into the model of content delivery.

While the eTextBooks initiative is a wonderful stride forward from our old paper textbooks it’s still essentially a re-constituted content delivery system that wasn’t designed or intended to change the one-way process of educational exchanges. Reliance on any type of course textbook – digital, multimedia, interactive or otherwise – only fits as a more marginal element in student-centered learning models. It’s not the nature of the textbook as much as its reverence in the classroom as “the” singular authority for learning. Lifelong learners need to be skilled in finding, filtering, collating, evaluating, collaborating, editing, analyzing and utilizing information from a multitude of sources.

Instead we could prioritize “content construction”. Textbooks are an important gateway - a starting point from which students can learn and then begin their exploration of information on any topic (although even on that point I feel we should encourage the “critical reading” of textbooks). However the days when students could responsibly rely on any textbook as a singular information source are gone. Also, the process of accessing, synthesizing and utilizing information is often as important as the product. The skills developed are an essential component of education and life today.

We have access to an exponentially growing amount of information to process and apply. There are many excellent tools we can all use to help in constructing and organizing that content. Here's a short selection of some of the more popular ones. They can be used by individuals and also by students or teachers collaborating in groups.

Organizing Content

Content construction starts with collecting and collating. Digital solutions for collecting resources are modeled on the old shoebox or file cabinet we used for storing paper based resources.

LiveBinders, as the name suggests, is designed to work and look like the binders we use at school. You can store content of all types in binders and then set the binder permissions to made public or keep them private within any class or group of members.

For younger students MuseumBox (requires Flash) allows storage of images, text snippets, web pages and more.

Evernote is a very popular resource that works across all platforms. It's an invaluable tool for collecting and sharing any type of content - images, text, links or your own notes. Set up Notebooks by topic and add information by clicking on an Evernote icon or even emailing it directly to your specially designated Evernote email account. The Evernote “Clipper” is a tool that allows you to cut out any portion of your screen display and saves it as image. I've used Evernote effectively with classes that want to collect and share information and it’s also an extremely valuable tool for personal use. You can also sign up for premium school accounts now and then create and manage student accounts.

Instapaper is a simple service for saving web pages. It adds an icon to your toolbar. Click on the Instapaper icon and it saves a page for later reading. Instapaper is a tool that’s used primarily for saving items to read later rather than for collating and tagging items in libraries for research purposes. It is however a very effective tool for simple archiving. You can even download web pages for reading offline when you're traveling or out of Internet range. Apple recently added a “Reading List” feature to Safari in iOS 5 but Instapaper still works across all devices and platforms.

Methodology: Don’t forget that the skills required in collecting resources require teaching and training. Searching, assessing, filtering, grouping and/or tagging – these are all skills that require guidance and repetition. It’s about process not just product.

Social Bookmarking

Social bookmarking is an extremely effective method for collecting content on the web. My tool of choice is Diigo. Social bookmarking works by having you tag web pages that can then be annotated and shared. You progressively build a library of tagged links and there’s a simple search and retrieval mechanism whenever you need to find a tagged article or note. The two primary factors that distinguish social bookmarking is that it uses tagging to organize information rather than a simple linear structure and secondly, it allows you to connect with other users and share tagged information.

Click the Diigo toolbar icon to annotate and tag any web page

Open an account with Diigo and add a toolbar icon within your browser. Diigo works across all platforms including mobile devices and iPads. When you find content you want to archive simply click on the Diigo icon. Highlight any text, add notes to the page and then add some keywords that will allow you to find it easily afterwards. Click to Save it to your Diigo account and whenever you go to diigo.com (or use their iOS app) you'll have access to the libraries of tags and links that you've collected and annotated.

There's also a prominent “social” component. Share your links by saving them publically. You can start or join a wide variety of different groups with like interests and share content within your group. When searching, you’re also able to search through tags that others in the group have added.

Sign up for an educator account and each student in your class can also get an account. Now you can use Diigo to find and share content among members of your class. It's an extremely effective way of enabling students to build an information library. They can share highlights, notes and comments. Used in that way Diigo will become an invaluable resource for your classroom.

Curation

We’re exposed to so much information that it gets a little overwhelming at times. One of the newer categories of tools for organizing information on the web is “content curation”. Curators gather information from any web based resource (news sources, web pages, rss feeds, Twitter etc). They then filter the content and add selected web pages to the library of curated content. Other users can then follow a curated library and get more select, premium content that has already been filtered. A popular content curation tool is scoop.it .

Scoop.it:  When you open an account, you select a topic to curate (eg. iPads in Education) and add any number of content resources such as websites, rss feeds, Twitter accounts or hashtags and more. Scoop-it will serve up the content daily and you then decide which articles/sites to add to your curated library. You can also add an icon to your toolbar and add content on the fly as you surf sites on the web. Typically, others will follow a curated topic to get filtered content on a particular theme. Articles can be tagged and searched. Typically, this process is particularly effective in a class setting when you're researching any theme that has a lot of current, topical information being released on a frequent basis. Your student curators need to browse and read all related resources and only add those that provide the most helpful information.

Other Tools...

There are many additional tools and methods for building information libraries:

- Wikis have been a popular method for creating collaboratively built content and peer editing. You assign each student a login and groups will create pages. Each user can add and/or edit existing content. The wiki administrator can track all changes and roll back to prior versions. One of the better resources for starting your own wiki iswikispaces.

- YouTube is an underrated source for video based content. Open an account for your class and students can add videos to a class Favorites list. One way of using YouTube is to use your class account for collecting tutorial videos on any topic... and of course, students can and should add their own. Vimeo is another similar resource.

Some schools are uncomfortable allowing students to browse YouTube at school. If that’s the case at your school, consider using SchoolTube instead.

Lastly, it's not just the information library you're building that has value for students. As opposed to having them access a slice of content that someone has selected for them, the process of searching, filtering, organizing, analyzing and editing exercises valuable skills and helps develop their ability to become the independent learners we're hoping to graduate from our schools.

Sam Gliksman
samgliksman@gmail.com
Twitter: @samgliksman

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The following post was written by John Nash on big think. It is a great post, and John graciously allowed me to cross-post it to this blog!

A teacher friend of mine wrote me recently. She said that her school was working on bringing in iPads for grades six and seven next year and asked if I find that schools prefer laptops to iPads when moving to a 1:1 device environment.

That’s a question our center gets quite a bit. In the end, our advice is: be sure your school defines clear goals for what it seeks to achieve by having computing devices in the hands of its students.

For instance, if writing is an important goal, you probably want a device with a physical keyboard -- so laptops are a good choice.  Schools that are integrating writing across the curriculum, for instance, would want to take this into account.

But if your goals are about enhancing overall student engagement with material, then tablets may be the way to go. iPads are excellent for giving students access to information.  If enhancing creative capabilities of students is critical, then laptops may be the way to go because of the wider array of applications and the ability save creative work to disk and share it across platforms (print, web, etc).

Regardless, it's the setting of goals that's important. It transcends most other school factors in determining 1:1 success. For instance, we’ve seen schools issue iPads to students but not do a good job of expectation setting and training only to have teachers leave the school because of it. Perhaps that’s a worst-case scenario, but it’s emblematic of the bad feelings that can creep in to the teacher ranks when changes are not well communicated. Other schools that have aligned curriculum, trained teachers, set clear expectations, etc. have students doing amazing things. The schools that are really good at this don’t call themselves 1:1 schools, even if they technically are.  Take for instance the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia. They have five core values in their school, none of which are about technology. However, they do use technology to fulfill those values:

• Inquiry
• Research
• Collaboration
• Presentation
• Reflection

They are now doing things that are unimaginable without the devices. And they got there because they had broad agreement across their school’s stakeholders about what the goals should be. My colleague Nick Sauers talks about this in a post he wrote a while back. He notes:

“One to one learn­ing is one way to enhance what stu­dents learn and the ways that they learn.  It can turn teacher cen­tered class­rooms into stu­dent cen­tered class­rooms.  More impor­tantly, it can move stu­dents from the bot­tom of Bloom’s Tax­on­omy to the top level where stu­dents create...Unfor­tu­nately, one to one could also serve as a tool to pro­mote the ways things have always been done. (The key is to) truly iden­tify what stu­dents should learn and make those things the focus of every­thing the school does.”

Is your school thinking about implementing a 1:1 laptop policy? Some things to be aware of might include:

• Thinking about how to get devices in teachers hands the year before students receive them.
• Ensuring everyone feels the urgency that teaching and learning must change to produce successful students in today's world. This “urgency building”, as we call it, helps teachers understand why a school is embarking on an ambitious move such as 1:1. Not all teachers naturally feel the urgency that can drive a decision to go to 1:1. Kotter talks about the 8 stages of creating change, and many schools skip step 1 and 3 (urgency and vision) in lieu of just getting moving. They just jump in but don’t know the why they really want to do it.
• Integrating student voice into the planning and implementation process.  Increasing student voice in a 1:1 planning not only uncovers new ideas that a planning team will never think of, it provides students with a stronger sense of ownership in their school. Students highly value having their voices heard and honored.  

What else should a school embarking on a 1:1 journey keep in mind?

Photo Credit: (cc) Flickr user flickingerbrad

Tags: 1:1, BYOD, change, goal setting, goals, iPads, Laptops, one-to-one, student voice, urgency

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• Why would you not change your exam in 10 years? Even if, big IF, information doesn’t change in that time, shouldn’t your knowledge about your assessment tool change?
• Why is the information on the test something that can be easily shared with others? Shouldn’t it be information that can only be understood from eight years of med school?
• How important is it that students can memorize facts? Is that more important than demonstrating competence?
• Why is it a secret what is on the test? Shouldn’t students know from the beginning of their courses the important things that are considered essential to their learning?
• Should one exam at the end of an eight year degree be the most important assessment for candidates?

Nick Sauers

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With CASTLE's move to the University of Kentucky, we did make some changes to the conference. However, our purposes have remained the same.

• Help Iowa's 1:1 districts learn from each other about innovative teaching, learning, and administrative practices that are occurring in their districts;
• Build excitement and 'buzz' around 1:1 laptop computing initiatives in the state; and
• Help others who are interested in 1:1 computing learn more about how to get started and be successful.

On Tuesday of last week Iowa one-to-one schools were invited to sign up for the conference. That prelaunch has already led to nearly 300 registrants. If you are interested in learning more or participating, click on one of the links below:

• General details
• Register
• Present
• Be a vendor

We hope you will be part of what has become the biggest, and we hope best, one-to-one conference in the world!

Nick Sauers

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Authored by Sam Gliksman, Twitter: @samgliksman

I had somewhat of an epiphany while doing a workshop at a local elementary school recently. Walking around and speaking to teachers and children it suddenly dawned on me that many of the “revolutionary” educational changes that many of us have been calling for have already been around for quite a while — just talk a stroll down to the Kindergarten classes.

If only the rest of school looked a little more like those classrooms. In fact, eight important pillars of a 21st century education can be found in most Kindergarten classrooms every day of the week:

1. PLAY

The first rule of Kindergarten is to have fun. Our youngest students love coming to school, and if any child doesn’t seem happy then we make it a high priority to find and remedy the problem. Play is a highly effective method of informal learning that requires imagination and creativity. Happy, playful children are not daydreaming and clock watching — they are engaged and absorbed in their activities. As children get older however, play starts taking a back seat to “academics” … which are usually priorities determined by people in offices far away from the students’ actual classroom environment.

2. CREATE

Creativity is becoming lost in the shuffle of the current “back to basics” school movement. While certainly required in any artistic endeavor, creativity is also a highly essential coping skill for our rapidly changing lives in the 21st century. Our toddlers are constantly being encouraged to think and play creatively. We even structure the classroom physically in an attempt to stimulate creativity — using bright colors, informal seating and allowing children ample room to move. Contrast that to the staid colors and fixed rows of desks found in most upper school classes where “follow the norm” has replaced “think out of the box”.

A couple of years ago I attended a lecture by American artist, Erik Wahl. As part of his presentation he splashed paint around a canvas while creating a portrait on stage. Afterwards he turned to the audience and asked, “How many of you consider yourselves artists?”. Out of an audience of several hundred people only a couple of hands were raised. He then related how he often goes into pre-school classes and asks the very same question. The difference is that almost every hand in the room immediately shoots up. The sad fact is that school squashes our inner sense of creativity as we get older. Instead of inspiring our students to be imaginative and create we tell them to follow the rules — “Do what I tell you to do … and make sure do it exactly the way I asked you to do it”.

3. SOCIALIZE

We understand that young children are social by nature and encourage them to mingle. We don’t seat them alone in fixed desks facing the front of the room. Instead we allow them appropriate time to roam and socialize. Importantly, we recognize the value of getting them to work together in small groups. When they get older and try to work together we often label the activity “cheating”. They’re usually told to sit alone, face the front and work quietly on their own. Socializing is considered an extra-curricular activity that has no place in serious academics … well, not until you get out into the workplace!

4. DISCOVER

Children are curious and love to explore the world around them. They naturally observe, ask questions and demand answers. Kindergarten class might be spent exploring a bug brought in from the playground or listening to a story from a parent with an interesting profession. Their world is a playground that they constantly explore.

As they get older we tell them that their world is divided into nicely delineated courses with predetermined content. Important questions and issues that would normally require discussion and explanation are shelved because they don’t fit into some arbitrary course curriculum. How many times do you hear “we don’t have time for that today”? If coursework is completed then there might possibly be some time left to explore a topic of interest. In the meantime, exploration is put on hold.

5. EXPERIENCE

Effective learning occurs when children build new understandings based on experiences that help them construct new knowledge. Kindergarten teachers help provide a myriad of experiences for their students. We don’t read about hamsters — we keep a pet in class and observe how they eat. We might even allow each child to take the pet home for an evening. We encourage children to bring things into class so that others can feel, taste, experience and learn from them. Their experiences provide a scaffolding for the children to build upon and extend what they already know. We understand that children learn most deeply and effectively through experience.

However, content is king when they get to the older grades. It seems that the only valid experience for learning is reading from a text book or listening to a teacher.

6. EXPRESS

Mixing different forms of media and communication is an essential component of Kindergarten class. Children look at photos, listen to music, watch video, tell stories and of course, read books. We understand that people communicate in a variety of manners and we bring them into play in our classrooms.

In upper grades our entire world is expressed through text. For whatever reason, it seems that the only valid form of expressing knowledge is through text. Out of class they constantly interact and create video, music and more. In class, we have students read from textbooks and almost exclusively require them to respond in writing.

7. MOVE

Children need to move. We all need to move. It’s healthy for both body and mind. We understand that in Kindergarten. The furniture is arranged to facilitate movement and we often have children move around to different parts of the room depending on the activity. Outdoors, it’s essential to provide time and equipment for play.

The mantra of upper school is to sit still and face the front. Classes are designed for quiet, motionless, obedient activities. That can be excruciatingly difficult for many students.

8. RELATE

Finally, in Kindergarten we strive to make learning as meaningful as possible. Learning has meaning as defined by its relevance to the lives of students. If children can’t relate to it then it won’t hold their interest.

On the other hand, the vast amount of bleary eyed, daydreaming students in upper grades is testament to the fact that they don’t relate to much of what passes for learning in class. It’s usually a predefined package of content defined by an “authority” sitting far from the lives of our students — physically and emotionally. Just as importantly, this predefined content package is becoming increasingly inadequate in preparing our students for their lives after school.

So if you have a few moments I’d strongly encourage you to take a stroll down to the lower grades in your school. In fact, the lower the better. Spend a few minutes observing the dynamics in class. Note the energy, laughter and enthusiasm … the genuine thirst for learning. Then ask yourself why it can’t be that way throughout school.

Sam Gliksman
samgliksman@gmail.com
Twitter: @samgliksman
http:\\ipadeducators.ning.com

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As I sat in on the meeting, a couple of different thoughts came to mind. The first was that every school has staff members with ideas about how to change their school. My second thought was that schools all too often fail to “dream” about the possibilities for the school. All too often schools get in the habit of talking about ideas in “yeah, but” terms instead of “what if” terms.

• Yeah, but the parents at our school won’t support that.
• Yeah, but our students won’t do that.
• Yeah, but our budget doesn’t allow for that.

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Image approved for copy by Creative Commons.

Source: http://bit.ly/vYUkXB

When laptops first arrived in my classroom, I worried about classroom management. How could I create an environment where students used their computers as tools rather than toys?

I was worried for nothing. The following are suggestions for keeping students engaged in a project and accountable for their time with computers:

Students make a plan.

Students are most tempted to open widgets, games, and social chats when they are faced with a blank screen and have no plan.

Much of the time, students think they have a plan. If you ask them What are you going to do?, the answer is usually I'm gonna make a Power Point about... or I want to make a movie about... Those answers indicate that students are thinking of technology before content.

Instead, ask What are you trying to learn? or What are you trying to communicate? or What are you working on as a writer? Those questions get answers like I want to know more about the horses that Civil War generals rode or I want to convince people that Justin Bieber is the best singer ever or I'm trying to describe the character's actions.

When you ask about learning and communication, you are signaling that the content is more important than the technology. Pull aside those who are struggling with plans. Let them talk together and encourage them to sketch their ideas with diagrams or bullet points and return to the computer later. Students with a plan tend to stay on task.

Students set time-bound goals.

Once students have a plan, they break the project into smaller tasks that can be finished in 10- to 15-minute chunks of time. Have students write the specific tasks on Post-it notes. Post-its are set beside the computer. On their Post-its, students finish the sentence, "In the next [x-amount of] minutes, I plan to..." They generally write things like...

• Create an outline for my essay
• Write my introduction
• Find three pictures about...
• Do my voice recording
• Finish four slides of my Power Point/Keynote
• Find at least three database articles on...
• Draft at least three paragraphs
• Use Google docs to peer-edit so-and-so's essay
• Upload my story to Voicethread

Tasks should be specific. I'm gonna work on my project is not specific enough. At the end of class, Post-its become "exit slips". Students tick off the tasks they have completed and hand the Post-its to the teacher so the teacher can see the progress.

Laptop screens are "fisted" or "put at half mast". 

Teachers don't lecture much in a project-based learning environment. However, sometimes student work time is interrupted so the teacher can give reminders or clarify directions.

Ask students to "fist" their computer (or "put the screen at half mast"). Screens should be gently lowered so that students' fists fit between the edge of the track pad and the screen.

When screens are fisted, students are not distracted by items on their screen nor can they type. At the same time, students do not lower their screens to the point that the computers go to sleep. In an iPad environment, students might carefully face their screens down on the desk.

Fingers indicate the amount of time students need to complete a shorter task.

Some tasks are shorter and need to be completed within a few minutes of class. After students have worked for a reasonable amount of time, ask students to show fingers for how many additional minutes they need. Fisted computers signal completion.

If a student is far behind the rest of the class, try to determine whether the student got distracted or if the student needs reteaching. Have the student take a screenshot of his or her progress. Screenshots are helpful to guide future conversations.

Circulate the room, conferencing with students.

Walking and talking with students is important with or without computers. In her article 10 Ways to be a Terrible Teacher, Vicki Davis describes the terrible teacher as one who is working on his or her own computer and not paying attention to students.

Students welcome teacher conversation. They are eager to share their progress and request advice when they're stuck. You build relationships with students when you talk to them about their work.

Rather than banning chat, teach students how to use it for collaboration.

Chat features are programmed into Gmail and Google products. The first year, I banned chats. Then, I realized that chats can be used for student collaboration.

I glance at the chat windows as I circulate the room. Since students have specific, time-bound goals, most chats are used to ask peers to look over a paragraph or help with another aspect of the project.

Don't be afraid to have tough conversations with individual students.

Each year, I have to pull aside one or two students to talk about time management. It's not a punitive conversation. The conversation goes something like this:

I've noticed you haven't made much progress on...I need to know what's getting in the way of your progress. I'm not asking because I want to get you in trouble. I'm asking because you're now x-years old and I'm worried that, if you get in the habit of...,then school will be really hard for you in the future.

Many of the suggestions above apply to project-based learning environments both with and without computers. The trick in a 1:1 environment is to maintain focus on learning and communication. Then let technology naturally enhance those outcomes.

What tricks do you use to keep students engaged?

Janet Moeller-Abercrombie is the author of Expat Educator. She has 16 years of teaching experience and currently works full time at Hong Kong International School. Janet is a doctoral candidate with the University of Minnesota and has begun curriculum consulting with administrators and teachers. She is certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. @jabbacrombie

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When I visited websites, I often wondered what the purpose of the website was.  I would guess that the purpose each school had for its website would explain some of the differences between websites. Most of the websites seemed to fit into one of two categories.

Static repository of information-These websites were obviously updated or changed very infrequently. They contained forms and various resources about the school. This would by far be the larger category.

Fluid information source-These websites were updated frequently, and they contained current news about the school. Some included videos, pictures, and even twitter feeds.

This post isn't intended as a criticism of schools, but rather as a conversation starter. As a school, you need to decided where to spend your time and resources. Keeping an up to date website certainly takes time. With that in mind, I'm going to end with a list of potential reasons to invest in updating your website and a list of the common problems I found on websites.

Why invest time to keep an up to date website?

• Your website is the first place outsiders see when they look for information about your school. This includes potential employees, new families, and community partners.
• Your website can serve as a great way to share all of the positive things happening in your school with community members.
• The school can control the information on their website, and it can be a great way to address challenging issues.
• Members of the school community do want to be able to visit your website as a one stop information warehouse.

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