Education with Technology Harry G. Tuttle

Administrators Learn From Others Through Google Forms

hgtuttle — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 23:44:25 +0000

Superintendents and other central office people often need to find out information, collect real time data, opinions or interests of others. Likewise, a building principal might want to survey the views of his/her staff. He/She may be looking for alternative ways of solving a possible school problem. When administrators receive suggestions, opinions, etc from others and have up-to-the-minute data, they can make wiser decisions. An easy way to quickly get information from others is through Google Forms.

One just needs a Google email and then they can create a Google Form.

Go to Documents on the Google menu bar.

Click on New

Click on Form.

Type in the title of the form such as Hall Problem.

Add in any directions.

Select from several type of questions. Can use as many different types, each in a different question. Those questions that allow for a specific answer (multiple choice Checkboxes, Choose from a lists, scale, and grid) can automatically analyze the number of responses for each choice. If you include numerical or very short answers, people can answer these from their Smartphone.
Text – short phrases or a short sentence
Paragraph – longer answers such as multiple sentences
Multiple Choice (select one of the answers)
Checkboxes (select one or more of the answers)
Choose from a list
Scale Rate something on a scale of 1-5 or 1-1o
Grid Rate a series of items on a scale of 1-5

Remember to click on “Makes this a required question” if the survey takers have to answer the question.

Move any question up and down by clicking on it, holding down on it, and moving it up or down.

Click on Save.

Go to Forms, Edit and copy the url (http://..). at the bottom of the page. Email that url to the people you want to take the survey or take that long URL and shorten it using bit.ly so that people can type it directly in their Smartphone or tablet. Be specific about when the closing date is for taking the survey.

To see the results, go to Forms – Show Summary of responses. The numerical answers will be a graph form. The text answers for any question will be grouped together.

For those administrators that want real time data at a meeting, get the URL of the form, shorten it using bit.ly, and display that shortened URL at a meeting so the people can take the form right then on their Smartphones or tablets. Show them the results instantly.

Are you ready to learn from others? Are you ready to make better decisions based on real-time information from others.

I have Spanish spontaneous speaking activities at Teacherspayteachers: http://bit.ly/tpthtuttle

My formative assessment books: http://is.gd/tbook

Intensity of Learning

hgtuttle — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 14:02:36 +0000

People enjoy intensity such as the intensity of a ski run, an amusement ride, diving into a lake, a round of Jeopardy, or a Soduku puzzle.

Students enjoy and benefit from class when we provide them with intensity of learning We can give them short activities that are highly focused on critical learning. As we move our students from talking about learning to using what they are learning, many opportunities exist for intense learning.

In my Spanish class, I have my students do many one to two minute speaking activities. Each activity focuses on a specific language function such as asking for information or persuading. For example, in groups of two, one student looks at a picture such as a people in a mall and asks his/her partner questions while the partner answers the questions. They do not prepare for this activity, they just dive into it. They have to combine their already learned vocabulary and grammar from previous lessons to do this activity. After this intense activity, they debrief by going over what they could do better next time and then practicing to show that they can improve. This formative assessment activity provides a intense experience for students.

In my English comp0sition class, my student write essays but they write them intense part by intense part. After my students have selected a topic, narrowed it down, written a thesis, and generated ideas, they spend a few minutes in organizing the ideas into a graphic organizer. They complete the graphic organizer if any parts are missing. One student described this as putting together a giant puzzle with a clock ticking. He also commented that sometimes he has to create a missing puzzle piece. When the students finish, they feel a sense of satisfaction. A writing partner looks over their graphic organizer for the logical flow of ideas and the support of those ideas in this formative writing activity.

These intense activities require the students to use higher level thinking and to perform on the spot. Students like a challenge and that students can climb higher academically if we give them the opportunity.

How do you provide intense higher level learning for your students?

I have Spanish spontaneous speaking activities at Teacherspayteachers: http://bit.ly/tpthtuttle

My formative assessment books: http://is.gd/tbook

Spontaneous Speaking in Foreign Language/Modern Language: Contrasting Spontaneous Speaking to Structured Speaking

hgtuttle — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:11:03 +0000

There are two very different types of speaking in the modern language or foreign language classroom.

Very structured speaking- mechanical speaking

…. Focuses more on the correctness of vocabulary and grammar than on the actual content. “What did you buy on Monday? I bought shoes. What did you buy on Tuesday? I bought a blouse.”

…. Uses the same vocabulary and grammar of the question in the answer. “Does she go to the store? Yes, she goes to the store.”

… Uses convergent questions (When? Where? Who?) which only have a few limited answers. Each answer is highly predictable.

… Often has different forms of the same verb in subsequent statements/questions. “I go to the store. My father goes to the store. My brothers go to the store.”

… Limits the questions/ statements to one topic such as places such as in the following fill-in-the-blank exercise. “I go to the store. I go to the mall. I go to the park.”

… Does not follow the logical order of a conversation in subsequent sentences/ questions but these sentences/ questions exist only to practice the indicated grammar or vocabulary. “Where is the bed? It is in the bedroom. Where is the stove. It is in the kitchen.”
… Is not interactive except in that the partner asks a predetermined question which the person answers.

… Is not personal. Usually a student does not express his/ her own opinion but follows the prescribed format.

… Most like a textbook/ workbook exercise

Spontaneous speaking / free speaking

… Focuses on the actual meaning/content of the answer, not on the form (grammar or vocabulary). “Do you like winter? No, I hate it.”

… Uses different words in the answer or subsequent statements. “How was class? I took a test.”

…Uses divergent questions (Why? How? which leads to a huge array of possible answers. The answers probably are unpredictable. “Why do you think the team will win”?
… Moves the conversation/ monologue forward through subsequent statements/questions “After I left school, I went to my favorite restaurant. I had two hamburgers with fries.”

… Guides the conversation /monologue through many related topics. Students may start talking about school, then talk about sports, and then talk about things they will do this weekend.

… Requires the partner to react with the conversation. There is give and take during the conversation. “I thinking of going to a horror movie. How does that sound to you?”

… Is very personal. The speaker offers his/her opinions and views and tells how he/she does something. “ I never order onions on my pizza. I do have double cheese.”

… Most like a real conversation.

Do your modern language/ foreign language students do more spontaneous speaking or structured speaking?

I have Spanish activities that lead to spontaneous speaking at Teacherspayteachers: http://bit.ly/tpthtuttle

My formative assessment books: http://is.gd/tbook

Use any Web 2.0 tool at any Level of Bloom’s Taxonomy, Don’t be Limited by Listings

hgtuttle — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 15:10:52 +0000

I have been teaching for many years. In fact, one of my earliest presentations was on “Using Print Shop at All Levels of Bloom” (the original Print Shop). Therefore, whenever I see the listings that supposedly say what Web 2.0 tools works at what level of Bloom’s taxonomy, I become very confused. A few of the many such listings are http://www.usi.edu/distance/bloom%20pyramid.jpg, http://tsheko.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/visualblooms1.jpg?w=500&h=359, http://www.bcps.org/offices/lis/Reference/images/web_2_Bloom.jpg, and http://edtech2.boisestate.edu/candacemcenespy/Images/vectormap.gif There is only a very slight overlap among the listing, each usually puts the same Web 2.0 tools at different thinking levels.

Let’s look at Google docs which a few sites place at the lowest level of Bloom, Remember/Knowledge. Google docs can be used to help students recall information. However, it can just as easily be used to paraphrase the information (from the original Shakespeare to modern day texting messages), to apply/use information (How does Pareto’s 20/80 rule apply to this story? ), to analyzing/contrasting (How are these two poems the same? Different?), to evaluating (Which literature that we have read this year best expresses man’s inhumanity to man? Why?), and synthesize/creating (Write a short story in which you mock some modern day thinking or organization.)

Teachers determine how any Web 2.0 tool is used. They determine at what Bloom’s level they will use the Web 2.0 tool. If they want their students to be bigger thinkers, they will use the higher levels of Bloom. If the teachers want their students to remain in small thinking, they will use the lower levels.

The choice of what level to use any Web 2.0 is up to the teacher. At what level do you use each Web 2.0 tools? Do you consciously build up Bloom’s taxonomy with each different technology you use during a unit?

Tuttle’s formative assessment books: http://is.gd/tbook

Teachers as Producers, Not Consumers, at Faculty Meetings

hgtuttle — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 14:56:20 +0000

Many teachers consider faculty or department meetings a waste of time. They often complain that a memo could have given the critical information, that a person talked to long about nothing, or that they had better things to do that would help their students. An administrator can transform meetings so that teachers move from being passive consumers to active producers.

Instead of having someone talk about ways to improve student learning, have the teachers group together by subject area and go to a designated room. Each subject area group can think of the students’ major learning blocks in their curriculum and have the team suggest specific strategies that students can use to overcome those blocks. The principal, curriculum leader, librarian, or technology integration specialist would have set up a private subject area curriculum wiki such as pbworks (pbworks.com) for this group. Someone in the group will word process in the wiki each learning block and the strategies that the teacher suggests. For example, a teacher may identify that students often have trouble in finding evidence to support a position such as in a Social Studies Document Based Question (DBQ) in which students have to find references from historical documents to prove a certain statement. A teacher may offer that she has students identify the key word in the original statement in a red highlighter and then has students highlight in red that word or any synonym each time it appears in the document. Usually the highlighted words become the key to the students finding sentence that provides the necessary evidence. If any teacher has a video, website, podcast, etc that he/she uses, he/she can give that link to the recorder. The recorder lists the learning block and all the strategies that directly help students overcome that block. At the end of the faculty meeting, the teachers end up with a large variety of strategies that can help students as they encounter difficulties in their learning.

Furthermore, the teachers can check the subject area wiki anytime to remind themselves of the new strategies that their students can use. The teachers can add more as they counter additional learning blocks and figure out effective strategies to help their students. The wiki becomes a living document that offers teachers useful student learning strategies.

Tuttle’s formative assessment books: http://is.gd/tbook

Replace Glogster Posters with Free QR code Poster

hgtuttle — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 12:37:15 +0000

Many educators like Glogster since students can put in links to videos, music, and pictures instead of just text. As a free alternative, students can create a QR poster as their learning poster. Their poster can be a regular one page word processing document.

The students type in their project title and their name. They can use their favorite font, font size and color. They can even change the background color (Format ->page -> background in Open Office).

They decide on the content for their poster. If they are doing a country report, they may have links showing a map of where the country is, its geography, and its major cities. The students can shorten the links using bit.ly and then use a QR generator such as Create QR code to put all of these links in the same QR code. They can select a small 100 x 100 or 150 x 150 so they can put numerous QR codes on the same page. They can label this QR as country info and list under it location, geography, and cities. The student can include a picture in under the Creative Commons license. They can find three news articles talking about some of the current issues in the country, shorten these links and put them in one QR code. They may label this QR as current events. They may want to list the actual events under that QR code. They can find some songs and art of the country, shorten these links and put in another QR code which they label as Arts and again indicate the exact topics in that QR code. They repeat this process for any other topics such as economy, neighbors, tourist sites both for people within the country and for visitors, or literacy

They can word process their evaluation of how the country has changed (for the better or for the worse) in the last fifty years and what they think will happen to this country in the next fifty years.

They can email it to you, post it on a class wiki, physically post it in a country gallery in the room, and email it to parents and relatives. If you have a country gallery in your room, students groups can compare and contrast the countries within a continent and then compare and contrast countries among the continents.

Which type posters will your students use to show their learning?

Tuttle’s formative assessment books: http://is.gd/tbook

Open-ended questions for higher level answers in Web 2.0

hgtuttle — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 19:39:43 +0000

Often times teachers ask many closed-ended questions (lower level questions) about a learning goal and then they are surprised when they get lower level answers back. Close-ended question usually begin with question words like “Who…?” as in “Who invented the ….?”, “When ….?” as in “When did she invent …?, “Where….?” as in “Where is Spain? ” and “What …?” as in “What is the capital of New York?”. In order to get higher level answers, one needs to ask big powerful questions. These questions can be essential or critical questions; they can be open-ended questions which have many possible correct answers. Open-ended questions often start with “Why….?” as in “Why do you think solar energy is better than water energy?”, “What..?” such as “What are the differences between ….?” and “How….?” such as “How are these two wars similar?” When students think there is only one right answer, they limit their thinking. Most real life problems do not have one right answer.

Here are some examples:

Texting in Social Studies:

Closed-ended question: What does “occupy” mean? There are a fixed number of answers. Once the students answer the question, they are done. They realize that the teacher has a specific definition in mind and they try to guess it.

Open-ended question: How are the “occupy” movements in the USA similar or different to the “occupy” movements in Europe? Students can answer this question in many different correct ways and, then, discuss their various answers. They widen their learning as they hear the different responses. They consider aspects they had not thought about.

Wiffiti in English:

Close-ended questions: Who did Don Quixote persuade to join him? The answer to this question is a factual answer. Once a student says the name of the person, he/she is done with learning.

Open-ended question? What would Don Quixote have to offer you for you to join him? Again, students will have a wide variety of correct answers. They see that the answer to this question goes far beyond the book. What do other people in your life offer you to join them? Do you join them? Open-ended questions lead to powerful answers about the learning goal and about life.

Let’s ask open-ended higher level questions instead of closed-ended lower level thinking questions with our Web 2.0 tools.

Why Cell Phones and Smart Phones Differ from Previous School Technology

hgtuttle — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 01:06:34 +0000

Cell phones and Smart phones differ drastically from previous school technology.

1. The students know how to use these technologies. They use them daily. They text, they take pictures and send the pictures, they take videos/movies and send them, and they access the web. Teachers do not have to spend class time in teaching students the new technologies. Even when teachers “teach” a new program such as Yodio, the students already know how to take pictures, upload them to a program, know how to record their voice and how to send their voice files. Teachers save all the time they used to spend in teaching how to use a new technology which often was many days.

2. The students always have these mobile learning devices with them. They may forget their notebook. They may leave their textbook home. They may be without a pen. Their dog may have eaten some critical papers. They may have lost their password onto the class website. However, they will have their cell phone or Smart phone with them.

3. The students can use their own mobile learning devices. The school does not have to provide it except possibly for a few disadvantaged students. Teachers can do lessons regardless of the various types of mobile learning devices (the various companies that produce the phones) and of the various carriers. The school does need to provide access to the school’s wireless.
4. With QR codes, students can be a click away from learning resources. Students do not have to turn on a computer, log in, and then type in a web address. Many students have trouble typing in a web address even when the web address has been shortened. The student instantly go from scanning in the QR code to clicking on the link(s). Class learning time is saved.
5. Students can easily be producers of information. They can take pictures to document environmental concerns in their community and make those into a multimedia story such as with Yodio. They can audio record the interview of various people as they talk about the importance of math in their careers. The students can make a movie about the various healthy habits of their family and friends for their physical education course. They have these tools on their phones and they know how to use the tools.

6. Due to the richness of web resources, teachers can move students to higher level thinking. Students can easily contrast two images of the same incident for an English class. They can evaluate the bias in reporting the same story as they read newspapers from around the globe in a Social Studies class.

7. Students can be global in their learning. Texting can be done internationally. Students can text a science survey about using paper in school to their friends in other states and other countries. Elementary students can text math word problems which students in other countries have written in terms of things in their country. For example, a school in Costa Rica migh offer this problem, “If you are really hungry and you buy a “casado” (rice and meat dish) for 2,500 colones and a fruit drink for 400 colones, how much do you spend? What is that in USA money?

Students’ Web 2 school projects: Redoing to be Web 2.0

hgtuttle — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 13:02:23 +0000

Much of students’ Web 2.0 use is for “drop and run” projects. Where is read-write? Building on Others? Collaboration? Global? Higher Level Thinking?

Many 2.0 tools

Some example of how to transform some to be more 2.0 and less 1.0.

Podcast/Voki/Audacity: George Washington Example

Glogster / QR poster: English writing

Images (Flickr, …): Whale example

Videoconferencing/Skype: Books

Video: Shakespeare

Facebook/Twitter: Paper Use

Others?

Tuttle’s formative assessment books: http://is.gd/tbook

Cell and SmartPhones: Best Practices and Lessons Learned

hgtuttle — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 12:24:57 +0000

3 hour workshop

Classroom examples/lesson learned for each

Find Reference Info

Google 466453

Chacha 242-242
Apps – Dictionary, Thesaurus, …

Internet

Capture Information
Photo

Voice

Video

Communicate through texting

Celly

Twitter

Wiffiti

Communicate through media

Flickr slideshow

Yodio

Geo-tours with QR codes and GPS

Learn Globally

BBC
Collaboration

Do Higher Level Thinking

Contrast and Compare
Synthesize from various sources

Learn content

Interactive

Varied/differentiated media sources

Assess learning

Google Forms / Polleverywhere / Spreadsheet

Use QR Codes

Hints: 1 Name 2 Multiple 3 Link 4 See

QR code generator: http://createqrcode.appspot.com/

Tuttle’s formative assessment books: http://is.gd/tbook