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Creating Empathy with Coding

August 20, 2018

TODAY on EduSlam we released Creating Empathy with Coding

⏯  To watch the video which was released today but will disappear on Sept 4

✅ Sign-up HERE

 

cross-posted from kevinbrookhouser.com

Many in the EdTech community have been exposed to various ways students and teachers can use Google Forms, Sites, Docs, Slides, and other platforms to create interactive branching logic “choose your own adventure” style activities. I’d like to take the conversation deeper to explore how this kind of technology can do more than create interactive narratives and how it can teach challenging science topics, how it can simplify complex math concepts, and how it can build empathy to broaden our students’ understanding of world cultures.

What is Branching Logic?

To get a sense of how branching logic works, play this simple Oregon Trail ripoff game designed using Google Slides.

Notice how you start with a choice to make and the outcome changes based on what “branch” you choose? Anyone can easily build these kinds of web experiences as long as you know that you can link any object (including a text box) to another slide in the deck. Select the object and then insert > link.

You’ll also notice that I have oriented the aspect ratio of this slide deck to be portrait instead of the traditional wide landscape. I did this to make the slide deck more mobile friendly. We normally hold our phones vertically, so this app is more of a mobile app. File > Page Setup > Custom > 9×16.

While this “app” is cute and kind of fun to make and use, its educational value is relatively limited. Sure we could add as many different complex branches to this app, but in the end, it would really be an interactive narrative. To be true, this alone is a great activity to freshen up creative writing activities and turn writing work into visual collaborative projects for students.

Go to bit.ly/codeoregon on your phone to try it!

How does this redefine education?

Well, it doesn’t really. It really just augments education with cool and useful technology. You could create this kind of experience using pencil and paper and build an interactive book that tells the users to turn to a different page based upon their choices. Hence, Choose your own Adventure Books, which I adore by the way.

Purpose Driven Education

I have dedicated my career to help teachers and students find direct meaning and purpose in education. I don’t believe school should just be a means to get a job or even build skills. It should be a tool we use to explore and define our purpose in life … a place to figure out life’s meaning. That’s why I am constantly asking my students to ask, “Why are we doing this?” “How is this work having an impact on our world?” “Who will benefit from the work we’re doing?”

The Syrian Journey

I was absolutely blown away when a colleague sent around a link to a BBC website called “The Syrian Journey.” In the height of the Syrian refugee crisis, the BBC was looking for ways to build more empathy for a population what was, frankly, not receiving a great deal of empathy in the western world. These victims of terrorists were often portrayed as terrorists simply because of their religion or ethnicity.  The Syrian Journey asks readers to assume the role of a Syrian looking for a way to help keep his or her (the user chooses the gender) family alive through a civil war. Readers are forced to confront a series of very difficult choices. Few of them are desirable, and most of them have life-or-death consequences. I couldn’t help but feel more invested in the story and identify with this population on a human level rather than a statistic or another politically charged headline.

An Immigrant’s Journey

Several fellow teachers and I were so moved by this site that we began collaborating on how we could get our students to develop a similar project using a variety of academic subjects. Our humanities students started drafting the narrative and conducting the research. Art students started working on the illustrations, Spanish students began translating the writing, and my tech students started building the framework. We decided to use Google Sites for the project, but other platforms would have worked as well.

An Immigrant’s Journey mapped out with Post-It Notes

This process was MUCH more complex than we had imagined. Keeping the story coherent required a lot of complex post-it notes and Google Doc folder structures. The project isn’t perfect, but we do have something to share with others, and we learned a great deal through the process.

Branching Logic in the Science Classroom

Using branching logic isn’t limited to creating interactive narratives. We can use branching logic to help organize and understand complex structures. Imagine you’re hiking down a trail and you notice an animal track. How would you go about identifying the source of that track without an expert zoologist at your side? Scientists categorize species of animals based on the kinds of tracks they make and by simply answering a series of questions based on observations, we can get closer to the species of that animal. Here is a prototype of an animal tracking app that could inspire your class to make more complex identifying applications with more choices and more data.

This kind of application could be used for identifying plants, insects, even diseases. Math teachers can create these kinds of projects to help students how to identify shapes or to identify what rule students could choose by applying a geometric proof. When I shared this with an anatomy teacher, she immediately saw this as a way to help students understand how dermatologists identify skin diseases. This fall her students are going to create a skin ailment app. A librarian wants to use this kind of project to create a kiosk in her library to help visitors get book recommendations. She’s going to build the site using Google Slides and display the slides using a mounted iPad. Visitors can answer questions such as what genre they’re looking for and get the latest recommendations based upon their choices.

 

Kevin Brookhouser is a Google Apps Certified Trainer and a Google Certified Teacher based in Monterey, California. He has trained a wide variety of groups and individuals to use Google and other tools to save time, increase collaboration, and enjoy technology. Seriously. He is also a high school teacher at York School and helps teachers there use technology as the Director of Technology. Fancy title for a fancy man. Kevin also serves on the board of trustees for the International School of Monterey. Kevin is the author of The 20time Project: How Educators can Launch Google’s Formula for Future-Ready Innovation and Code In Every Class: How All Educators Can Teach Programming. Kevin is optimistic about the future because he believes many of the world’s most pressing problems can be solved by current students who have access to great teachers and breakthrough technology. 

 

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coding, EdTechTeam Press, EduSlam Tagged: eduslam Leave a Comment

Provocations to Excite Learning!

August 15, 2018

TODAY on EduSlam we release our next short video in our two-week series: 

Provocations to Excite Learning with Trevor MacKenzie

⏯  To watch the video that was released today, but will disappear on Sept 4

✅ Sign-up HERE

____________

the Power of a provocation by Trevor MacKenzie

You know those moments in class when we have your students on the edge of their seats?  When engagement is palpable and their eyes are wide open? You can hear a pin drop. You can feel their excitement.  And you just know they are getting it.  They are understanding and their minds are full of wonder and interest.

I aim to create these sorts of learning experiences as much as I can in my classroom.  I believe that when students are genuinely engaged and their curiosities and wonders are afire amazing learning happens.  Not only does engagement skyrocket, but I witness higher student achievement, more grit, and perseverance in their learning,  and perhaps most importantly, a greater sense of pride and enjoyment in class: students love learning.  

Some of my most engaging, active and exciting lessons have begun with a provocation.  In the inquiry classroom provocations are questions, images, artifacts, and videos that stir thought, wonder, curiosity, and further questions in our students.  I use provocations to determine where learning can take us, what research we will need to do, and how I can best support my students in this process.

One of my favorite video provocations is this inspiring video about Karl, an Abyssinian ground hornbill at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, DC.  Karl has minimal use of the lower half of his beak due to natural wear over the years. As such he has a difficult time feeding and is limited in what he can eat and how easily he can eat it.  The good folks at the zoo decided to do something about it.  The result is not only inspiring, it’s innovative and educational. Have a look!

I love using this provocation in class as it ties so perfectly with the prompt “How can you use technology to solve a problem?”  To most students, this question is overwhelmingly open, broad and non-specific. Students feel uncertain about what they should do to address the question, where to go to find the “problem”, and what exactly their teacher is looking for.  But when this question comes after the provocation, students generate amazing ideas. Karl’s story opens their minds to how technology can solve problems; it sparks their own curiosity in authentic ways and it helps me leverage learning to do some really engaging stuff!

If I am working with younger learners I may show them a different provocation and tweak the prompt to “What could you create and invent to help solve a mundane task?”  For example have a look at this awesome GE commercial that tells the story of Molly, a highly creative and determined child who figures out some innovative ways to get out of doing her chores.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEPyefJps0Y

How fun is that?  

Think for a moment how your students would respond to Molly and Karl’s story.  Consider how these provocations tie into what you have planned this year in your classroom.  Think about where these videos could be used as start points to your lessons or units. And try one on for size for yourself!

Get started by watching the Provocations EduSlam today with

Trevor MacKenzie  - Author and Teacher

Trevor MacKenzie  – Author and Teacher
Books:The Inquiry Mindset  and Dive into Inquiry

@Trev_MacKenzie

 

 

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EdTechTeam Press Tagged: eduslam, Inquiry Mindset, Trevor MacKenzie Leave a Comment

A HyperDoc Is Not A WebQuest!

August 14, 2018

TODAY on EduSlam we release the first short video in our two-week series: 

A HyperDoc is NOT a Webquest.

⏯  To watch the video which was released today but will disappear on Sept 4th,

✅ Sign-up HERE

_______________________

Words matter, and in a day and age where information is streaming through our timelines faster than we can keep up, figuring out what words mean can be challenging. In defining new terms, it helps to uunderstand the history and context of the term HyperDocs, in relation to the term WebQuest.

In 2013, many districts in our area began purchasing Chromebooks for the annual state tests. As teachers got excited about using technology, Sarah, Kelly, and I worked hard to share ideas about ways to incorporate a variety of web tools available. We immediately noticed some kinks it threw into many colleagues’ instructional craft. From typing in challenging URLs to trying to get students’ attention for directions, to workflow strategies for collecting and evaluating work, teaching with technology was a challenge. As we entered into coaching roles, we wanted to support our colleagues to rethink the way they were delivering content, and to elevate the way students were experiencing learning.

  • HyperDocs were created based on many research and learning theories including Eric Mazur, and Ramsey Musallam ’s work with Cycles of Learning, inspired by Robert Karplus ’s cycle Explore, Explain, Apply. HyperDocs are a way to package digital lessons in order to create quality inquiry-based learning experiences. Teachers design these lessons and give them to students to explore the content, adjust their understanding through the explanation of the concepts, then apply their knowledge in a meaningful way.

That describes the lesson design. What makes HyperDocs unique is the delivery. Whether it be ‘on tech’ or ‘off-tech’ these blended learning lessons can be designed to meet the needs of each classroom. Some teachers may choose to design them for independent, self-paced learning; while others design them to blend with different instructional strategies varying from 1:1 conferring, small group instruction, to whole group teacher-directed instruction. Teachers are tasked with integrating several best instructional practices to meet the needs of every learner. Whether you are trying to reach a language learner or student with Special Ed needs, want to integrate ISTE standards, increase the level of critical thinking, or design a lesson based on the UDL framework, HyperDocs help educators accomplish this! The key to getting it just right is for teachers to focus on studying their students as they learn, taking time to reflect on lessons, and revising them to meet the needs of specific learning goals.

I have often heard HyperDocs being called the new WebQuests. While HyperDocs and WebQuests have some characteristics in common, most revolving around effective learning theories, they are quite different. While I have long admired the work of Bernie Dodge and his creation of WebQuests, HyperDocs were not created with them in mind.

I appreciate Bernie Dodge’s own explanation around the confusion when defining WebQuests,

A WebQuest is centered around a challenging, doable and (ideally) authentic task. Examples of WebQuest tasks might include: writing a letter to the mayor taking a stand on whether a new landfill should be opened; writing a diary as if you were living in 1491; designing a travel itinerary for geologists visiting Italy; or creating a commemorative mural celebrating space exploration. A WebQuest is never about answering a series of questions. Even though a scavenger hunt might require some analysis or problem solving, it’s not of the same intensity of higher-level thinking that a good WebQuest entails. Obviously, there’s a place for both WebQuests and scavenger hunts, but they are different places with very different goals.”  From Larry Ferlazzo’s blog

WebQuests follow a structure by starting with a quest or task. Students, working in groups, divide up the tasks to be completed, and conclude with an application of knowledge gained from the activity. I have seen WebQuests as centered around strong instructional methods such as inquiry, critical thinking, and problem-solving, yet the similarities they share do not make a HyperDoc an actual WebQuest.

So how is a HyperDoc different from a WebQuest? Well-designed HyperDocs are more than a doc with links, or digital worksheet. They include a mindset for effective pedagogy as well, something that is not always visible upfront. They offer a solution to packaging digital content to inspire thinking, exploration, and curiosity. There is never one right way to design a HyperDoc, as long as they include a strong cycle of learning. Due to the flexible nature of Google Apps, they can be easily shared, revised, and edited to become a lesson that you would judge as of quality based on your classroom needs.

Aside from the actual digital lessons that are being created, HyperDocs are bringing together a community of teachers who value discussions around lesson design and collaboration who have previously felt alone in their classrooms. I am constantly getting feedback from educators who state that they feel creative again, excited to deliver their content in a different way, they are feeling successful in accomplishing the many instructional strategies they are tasked to integrate. A HyperDoc is not a program, it’s not a curriculum you adopt, it’s a way of connecting the lesson designing process, to tech integration, to effective pedagogy. It’s about taking time and thought into the lessons we deliver

Essentially, HyperDocs are what you make of them; from the initial construction to the delivery, to the reflection of the learning experience. They are one way, among many proven methods, to shift learning in the classroom.

To learn more visit:

hyperdocs.co  | @TsGiveTs | Facebook group |View a lesson in action

Lisa Highfill
Co-Creator & Author
The HyperDoc Handbook
PUSD Instruct Tech Coach
@lhighfill

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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HyperDocs, Pedagogy, Press Tagged: #HyperDocs, eduslam, How to use hyperdocs, Lisa highfill Leave a Comment

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