
Now, I must admit, I was one of those who up until about a year ago, figured kids could literally pick anything up and figure it out. That was probably because I'm able to do so with ease, but I am not everyone and this was probably my biggest misconception (but at least I can admit when I'm wrong).
The second session I attended entitled "Outcomes at of a 2:1, three year iPad/Laptop program" was also led by Jennifer Gaspar-Santos from Casteleja School. Again, Gaspar-Santos stressed the importance of onboarding. The idea that you can bring in anything without training or practice or strategies is ridiculous. For example, one of her teachers made an incredible iBook using iBooks Author. When the students didn't use it, she couldn't understand, until she realized the students needed to learn to read the book- flip through pages, click on audio/video clips, use interactive segments. We tend to just assume... but you know what they say about Assume.....

Some of the suggestions Merve gave, like holding a panel, I've tried and failed (Woo-Hoo*), but at least I tried! I thought about it and would like to do it again, but maybe next year. I didn't know the culture of my school, nor the students, which made it really hard for them to commit. But there are things I can do and I really want to have a successful Digital Citizenship Week this October. To do so, Merve suggested to identify goals for the year and integrate those into lessons (which I'm desperately trying and advertising my expertise a little more now), post readings and blog articles in a space that students will have access (our LMS, Haiku Learning, is the perfect place along with our CTL boards), and finally, partnering with someone who can help and for me, that's our Dean of Experiential Learning. I realized that she is the organizer to end all organizers of student events at my school and her partnership is what I need.
While I did attend Roni Habib's amazing session Tuesday morning after our keynote with him, I'll touch on it in my Mindfulness post that is in the works. I will share a wonderful tool he introduced us to though- Edpuzzle.com. Create or find a video on Youtube (but don't make it more than 3 minutes, kids won't watch it) and insert open ended questions within the video. Every time it's question time, the video stops and the viewer must answer the question. And best of all? it's FREE!
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteStudents without proficient digital skills?! Who would of thought?! It's so true, and of course they're going to go to their teacher first for help..... which is a whole other conundrum in itself :-)
ReplyDeleteRight, Andy? In speaking with many teachers from other schools, especially from the public school world, proper training and progression is severely lacking. It makes me so sad when I hear about school having hardware but they aren't using it because teachers feel they don't have "time" to use it. I feel so fortunate to have the job I have in that I can be a support for the students at my school. Fingers crossed that type of position spreads to other schools.
Delete