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This blog post is part of a class I am taking called 21 Things for 21st Century Educators where we explore various technology tools that we hope to use in our classes or as professionals to improve our craft as teachers.
So far, I've learned a lot and I've used some presentation tools that I normally wouldn't think to use (Prezi, Powtoon) as well asmany other tools that help represent information in many different ways to support different learning styles.
Today, I'll be talking about Thing 15 (Staying Connected). Since this Thing was about reading blogs, I thought to myself "self, get blogging about reading blogs. Connect yourself." So here goes.
First Step
Our first assignment was to read a few online materials that will keep us up to date. I've already been using Feedly to get current information from many different sources. My favorites in my RSS are driftglass, Mike the Mad Biologist, Curmudgucation, and Free Technology for Teachers. I don't follow many math blogs, but I follow math people over on Twitter and I get my math fix there.
Since I want to try new things with this class, I found an article about Innovating Institutions by George Couros where he shared what he felt were the common characteristics of innovation:
Next Steps
Staying on top of current trends is one thing, but is there any guiding information out there? Yep! When reading From Chalkboards to Tablets: The Digital Conversion of the K-12 Classroom, it let me know that my school is about where many other schools are with around half of the staff updating social media. We are behind in some areas, I think that we have less than half our staff creating interactive lessons but I think that will change because of an area that we will soon be ahead of the curve--1:1 Technology for all our students (currently 36% of districts think that BYOD may happen next year.)
I am excited to have this opportunity next year with 1:1 devices and I know I will continue to turn to both my fellow staff members as well as Feedly and Twitter to get support.
District Policy on Acceptable Use
We don't have a district policy on BYOD. We've always had a building level ban on cell phones and tablets, but last year we allowed for students to bring to class knowing that they needed to be used for school purposes--save texting for the halls.
Instead, I will talk about the Acceptable Use form that everyone needs to sign.
I made this Wordle from our AUP. Initially, I was pretty impressed with this. I was worried that our AUP would have a lot of negatives. After looking at the word count I was dismayed to see "not" show up 12 times and "technology" 17. Not would be the same size as "students" were in included...
I think that we need to have a 100% positive AU form. Common Sense Media notes that the AU should cover the repercussions for violating the policy. However, most students and teachers are already going to do the right thing anyway, so let's set a positive, fun, tone for the use of technology. Those that are going to break the rules aren't going to do the example that are given, so let's stay away from showcasing the negative ideas.
I don't tell the whole class to not write on the desks with their pencils, I target the offenders and deliver appropriate discipline (from cleaning up to an office referral depending on severity). I would like to move in that direction with technology as a tool. Positive reinforcement works a lot better. We already have a lot of rules that govern behavior in the classroom and hallways, we need to help students recognize that the technology is digital extension of our physical school and the same rules will still apply.
So far, I've learned a lot and I've used some presentation tools that I normally wouldn't think to use (Prezi, Powtoon) as well asmany other tools that help represent information in many different ways to support different learning styles.
Today, I'll be talking about Thing 15 (Staying Connected). Since this Thing was about reading blogs, I thought to myself "self, get blogging about reading blogs. Connect yourself." So here goes.
First Step
Our first assignment was to read a few online materials that will keep us up to date. I've already been using Feedly to get current information from many different sources. My favorites in my RSS are driftglass, Mike the Mad Biologist, Curmudgucation, and Free Technology for Teachers. I don't follow many math blogs, but I follow math people over on Twitter and I get my math fix there.
Since I want to try new things with this class, I found an article about Innovating Institutions by George Couros where he shared what he felt were the common characteristics of innovation:
- Valuing Risk-Taking
- Collaborating, but always looking to improve
- Pride in current success, but not resting on laurals
- Share ideas (our "everyday" idea, may be the key someone else was looking for)
- Build Relationships
Next Steps
Staying on top of current trends is one thing, but is there any guiding information out there? Yep! When reading From Chalkboards to Tablets: The Digital Conversion of the K-12 Classroom, it let me know that my school is about where many other schools are with around half of the staff updating social media. We are behind in some areas, I think that we have less than half our staff creating interactive lessons but I think that will change because of an area that we will soon be ahead of the curve--1:1 Technology for all our students (currently 36% of districts think that BYOD may happen next year.)
I am excited to have this opportunity next year with 1:1 devices and I know I will continue to turn to both my fellow staff members as well as Feedly and Twitter to get support.
District Policy on Acceptable Use
We don't have a district policy on BYOD. We've always had a building level ban on cell phones and tablets, but last year we allowed for students to bring to class knowing that they needed to be used for school purposes--save texting for the halls.
Instead, I will talk about the Acceptable Use form that everyone needs to sign.
I made this Wordle from our AUP. Initially, I was pretty impressed with this. I was worried that our AUP would have a lot of negatives. After looking at the word count I was dismayed to see "not" show up 12 times and "technology" 17. Not would be the same size as "students" were in included...
I think that we need to have a 100% positive AU form. Common Sense Media notes that the AU should cover the repercussions for violating the policy. However, most students and teachers are already going to do the right thing anyway, so let's set a positive, fun, tone for the use of technology. Those that are going to break the rules aren't going to do the example that are given, so let's stay away from showcasing the negative ideas.
I don't tell the whole class to not write on the desks with their pencils, I target the offenders and deliver appropriate discipline (from cleaning up to an office referral depending on severity). I would like to move in that direction with technology as a tool. Positive reinforcement works a lot better. We already have a lot of rules that govern behavior in the classroom and hallways, we need to help students recognize that the technology is digital extension of our physical school and the same rules will still apply.
Excellent work Chris! I've said it before and I'll say it again ~ your students are so fortunate to have you as their teacher!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Anne! I work hard to earn their trust.
ReplyDelete