It is a short TED Talk video from 2012 by Peter Norvig about his journey of designing and delivering an online course.  The aim was to create a learning environment that felt like one on one tuition despite the fact they had over 160 000 enrolments.

This caught my attention because I had just been in a meeting with a school where they were debating some research that found that class size is not a determinate on student performance.

As you can imagine, the teachers were adamant that class sizes affected their ability to teach, and as a result the quality of the learning experience was diminished   The school board where arguing that they could cut costs and increase revenue through increasing class sizes and used the research to validate the claim that student results wouldn’t fall due to the increase numbers in the classroom

To be honest, it wasn’t my favourite staff meeting I had been invited to present at!

It is worth keeping in mind when you are watching the following TED Talk that the context is a university course.  However, if you are a teacher in a K-12 environment, you need to be aware that in a climate of shrinking budgets, and increasing political pressure to perform that ways of increasing class sizes is very much on the agenda of most governments and independent school boards.

TED Talk HIGHLIGHT:

01:45 – You can replicate the feeling of 1 on 1 tutoring

02:30 – They try to keep their videos to two minutes or less

03:00 – The use of open ended questions are essential

03:45 – In a lot of online classes, the video can be watched at any time.  Peter found it was essential to keep everyone working on the same thing.  The video was only available for 1 week

04:30 – Peers are the best teachers because they can remember what it is like to not understand

05:35 – A number of universities are now copying this model

You might also like to check out a playlist consisting of 12 TED Talks about re-imagining school.

Question: What’s the optimum class size?

The best way to explain Augmented Reality or AR is imagine going through life with a layer of technology superimposed allowing a unique blended experience where reality and technology seamlessly interact.

Augmented Reality first became popular in classrooms with teachers printing QR codes for their students to read with their smart phones.  The QR code would lead the student directly to a webpage or list of resources.  Teachers would use the QR codes to set up scavenger hunts and virtual field trips.

Scan this QR code to see where it takes you…

But Augmented Reality has radically developed  since the invention of the QR code.

Check out this amazing video to see how Augmented Reality is being used in the classroom.

Augmented Reality isn’t just great for younger students.  The following video shows you how you can use AR to teach students about the human body

You can see in the video you simply hold up a card in front of your computer and an interactive 3D image appears.

All of these Augmented Reality ideas are great, but they require you to have a smart phone or a laptop with an input webcam to capture the image.

Enter the Google Glass Project.

Google Glass is due to be released in late 2013 or early 2014.  You can see from the image below that there is a tiny computer built into the glasses frame.  This computer adds the layer of technology over your existing world without the need of another device.

It would seem that with Google Glasses, Augmented Reality will quickly become a part of your students life.  They will be able to search and communicate in real time.  This presents a real problem for schools that are struggling with their students using mobile phones in class, but that is a discussion for another blog post.

It is not uncommon for a teacher to lament the fact that they feel like they are spending more time trying to capture and hold the attention of their students than they are in meaningful learning.

Some blame the rise in popularity of gaming, others the amount of time students spend online, still others fast changing TV shows and movies for the apparent decrease in the attention spans of their students.

Either way, I think that is helpful to understand the following:

1.  GETTING THE ATTENTION OF YOUR STUDENTS IN DIFFERENT WAYS IS NOT A BAD THING!

One particular teacher I was speaking with this week was accused by some of her fellow staff members of being ‘all about entertainment’ because she used creative ways to capture and hold the attention of her students.

I’m not sure why using creative ways to engage your students is a bad thing.

Research has shown that the brain is hard wired to make predictions, and when a prediction is made the brain pays attention to see if it is right.

So if you do things like:

• Walk into the room backwards
• Wear a different type of hat
• Put an image up on the board and ask the students to predict how that image relates to the topic
• Have the students make a hypothesis about the outcome of an experiment
• Solve a problem in a new way

Then the students should be more engaged.

2.  USING ENTERTAINMENT TO ENGAGE YOUR STUDENTS HAS BEEN USED FOR CENTURY’S

All forms of entertainment such as storytelling and dance have been used as an effective way to pass on information.

If I think back on my schooling, I can still remember the lessons that were taught by the travelling science show and the backyard animal show.  I wonder why schools are happy to pay money to an ‘expert’ to come in and use entertainment to engage your students, yet this teacher was looked down on for doing the same thing.

3.  LEARNING DOESN’T HAVE TO BE SERIOUS

As a teacher it is always good to remember that just because your students are sitting nice in rows and quietly doing a worksheet doesn’t mean that they are engaged.

They well might be compliant.  But compliance does not automatically equate to engagement.

So this week, think of 3 ways you can creatively get and hold the attention of your students.  Have them make a prediction, and teach them something during the process.

These sort of statistics are nothing new; but what concerns me is when these statistics hit the web and news papers and then decisions are made by politicians based on them.

According to the article, Gallop asked 500,000 public school students in grades 5-12, questions to indicate their level of agreement with statements such as, “My teachers make me feel my schoolwork is important,” and “At this school, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day.”

NOW LETS JUST STOP FOR A MINUTE AND THINK…

What sort of responses were they expecting from a student in year 9?

Now, I’m all for increasing student engagement and student motivation.  I don’t discount the fact that student engagement is harder to achieve the longer a student has been in the education system.

But I am wondering, if we asked some different questions would the results change?

HERE ARE FOUR QUESTIONS I LIKE TO ASK STUDENTS:

1.  Have you been given the opportunity to extend your learning if YOU desire?

2.  Have you recently asked questions about the relevance and application of your learning?

3.  Have you made any progress this year / term / month / week?

4.  Have you completed a task without being asked by a teacher?

I think students are more engaged than they think they are.  I have found that when you can show your students that they are making progress, asking questions & have been given the opportunity to explore, their attitude begins to change and student engagement goes up.

Think about the last time you have tried to help a student reflect on their progress, engagement and learning.  Was there a change in attitude, increase in effort, or no change?

How do you measure student engagement?

What do you love about Australia?

I have had the opportunity to travel internationally quite a bit this year. I am actually writing this from Queenstown in New Zealand (which is just another state of Australia – come on Kiwi’s – you know its true lol).

The more I travel the more I have grown to appreciate just how great Australia is.

Despite the news reports our education system is in good shape.

Teachers everywhere share the same disappointments and frustrations.  We all face the same pressures of shrinking budgets, clueless decision makers, and dis-engaged students.

The great thing is, we get to do it in a country where:

• Mateship and comradery amongst staff is valued.
• We have freedom of religion, and speech.
• We aren’t being abused by a dictatorship.
• We don’t go to work wondering if we will be shot, bombed or invaded

So many teachers would give up everything to have what we have.

My challenge to all Australian teachers (and all teachers everywhere) this year is this.  Be intentional about being thankful.  Whinge and whine a bit less and take a moment to be thankful for all the amazing things in your life.  Teaching is hard, but there is so much to celebrate.

What are you thankful for? Drop it into the comment section below