Matthew Renwick(Principal, Howe Elementary School, Wisconsin Rapids Wisconsin), Ben Wilkoff (Co-Director of Blended Learning in the Denver School District, Denver Colorado), and a representative from Dreambox learning, created this webinar to discuss how the advancements in digital technology have created new ways that classrooms, schools, and districts can improve an individual's educational path, and ultimately a student's/school's performance as a whole. During the webinar they discuss the benefits of a blended learning environment(using traditional methods and new emerging technologies) but also make a point of the key to success is not just about adding more and more technology and then saying that you have a blended classroom, but its more about proper assessment and proper planning so technology can be implemented in its most efficient way and create a person's individual learning path. Every student, every school, every district has their own individual needs, and its imperative that they choose what to bring into the classroom as part of their technology integration. Differentiation is key!
They talk about how teachers can use new technology in simple ways to help with formative assessment, and then take this real-time data to create adaptive learning paths for individual students. One of the example they use is a kindergarten class whose students are working on the life cycle of a butterfly. The teacher was using an ipad to document each student's work in their own e-portfolio by taking a picture and an audio clip of the students own description of their work. The example shows three different student's "work", all three understanding the concept of the life cycle but working in different ways. One student had colored and written words about the cycle, one student had cut out pictures and pasted them in a correct order, and another had used pasta to create the different steps. The purpose of the example, was two fold, that the teacher had given all the students the option to choose how they wanted demonstrate their understanding. If she had asked them all to draw and write about it, some of the students may not have felt like they succeeded or would not have been as "engaged" long enough to learn the outcome. The second purpose was to show that with technology, documenting and archiving a students work for later reflection and lesson planning is much more efficient in today's classroom. That student can then immediately take their work home, when their parents ask what they did at school today, they have something to show and be proud of.(I feel like a lot of the time, projects that my daughter brings home were done weeks before and she's usually lost interest in telling me about them). The parents can be proud, give encouragement, feel good about the education their child is receiving. The teacher still has the ability to look back over all the students work electronically and doesn't need to store 25 students artwork, and have to worry about the logistical side of taking home all the stuff to accurately grade/reflect/and plan the next lesson or the next step in that student's particular path. The logistical step alone saves time, and allows the teacher to more accurately assess their classes' needs and plan lessons that connect with all their students. This positive loop of student engagement, and effective assessment then kind of snowballs and shows how technology can help create positive change in our classrooms.
This example is a great way of showing what technology in the hands of a kindergarten teacher looks like, but also leads us to how every class needs to make their own decisions because technology in kindergarten will be different then technology in the hands of a 5th grade science teacher. In 5th grade it may be more beneficial to have a 1:1 computer ratio and students personalizing their own lessons and the teacher is in more of a advisor/class manager role, making sure outcomes are met but allowing students a little more flexibility with where they're at on their own educational path. This difference is ultimately the schools and teachers choice, and needs to be planned out accordingly so they feel their needs are being met.
I do not currently teach, but my goal is to become an elementary school teacher preferably (4th or 5th grade). I could not imagine, trying to get 25 students to all do the same thing the same way. I have managed people in the retail setting for the past 10 years, these are adults that are getting paid! and that would be impossible, well it may be possible but not a best practice. 80% of the employees would be disgruntled and turnover would be terrible... And then forget about just getting them to do things the same way, everyone enjoys learning a different way, so you have to be flexible and adaptive. We need to remember, as long as the outcome is met it doesn't really matter how we got there, (scratch that it does matter! if the students enjoy getting to the outcome then continual engagement, growth and success of the learner will increase dramatically). To engage everyone you need to realize everyone is different, you need to make a personal connection, find out their strengths and weaknesses, ask them "what they enjoy doing?" "what they feel like they can improve on?" and give them time each day to excel at their strengths and work on their weaknesses. I can see how without the speed and ease of technology, engaging so many different types of students would be extremely difficult. In the retail business it was easy to setup training in (1 to 1) environments, but that's not really possible in school, with the teacher as the center of the classroom model,(1 to 25) if your lucky. I can see why today's classrooms struggle. I would try and use the availability and self-directed aspects of different materials and techniques via the internet to try and have students personalize some of their lessons and maximize engagement. Below is an introduction to Dreambox and how its software can help develop personalized lesson plans. Dreambox is also a sponsor of the webinar.
During the webinar a large emphasis was also put on a connected school community, that only through a system of supportive communication, collaboration and sharing can school systems turn "good practice" into "best" practice.
"Meaningful collaboration and collegiality are forces that can bring about the kind of shift we all are seeking in schools today---a shift that connects and engages us as educators, supports and sustains us, and helps us enrich our students' lives and accelerate their achievement" (The Connected Educator, Beach/Hall 2012)
I feel that webinars are an incredible way to create this important collaboration and sharing system. When you think of "seminars", they are presentations given to large groups of people, usually in a large room or auditorium, in order to share information that you feel is educational or beneficial. Now increase the access to that seminar exponentially and you have webinar...available to a world full of people not just a room, They are a system of sharing of information that is easy tap into, no more marking the calendar, having to attend them on the weekends or evenings. You can start and stop them when you please, and share them easily, within your connected community.
This has been my first class of graduate school, and I have been exposed to a lot of this emerging technology for the first time. Webinars being one of them, but I also researched some webquests in preparation for next week. This webinar on personalized learning and webquests seem to go perfectly together, and would be something I would use in my classroom if currently teaching. The teacher can set up a webquest with a certain outcome or educational goal in mind, students then can personalize it, research/learn on a path that works best for them.
"Course Learner Outcomes" that this webinar was most pertinent too, were #2 Learn ways to promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students conceptual understanding and #6 Evaluate and reflect on emerging tools and trends by reviewing current research and professional literature.
The example the Ben Wilkoff gave of the Kindergarten teacher recording and clarifying how the three different students each achieved conceptual understanding of the butterfly life cycle but each in their own personalized way was a great example of outcome #2, and really hit home with me on how technology can and should be used in schools today. It is something I will take with me into the classroom.
Being exposed to a webinar in general was perfect for outcome #6, webinars are an emerging tool for teacher personal development, during the webinar I also put together a small list of books to read for further research and professional growth. The presenters recommended reading "World Class Learners" by Yong Zhao (Corwin, 2012), and "Visible Learning" by John Hattie (Routlege, 2009). This is a small start to creating and joining a connected educational community.
This webinar was very informative, and made you reflect on not only the benefits of personalized learning but also the challenges that schools face. Differentiated instruction or Personalized learning, no matter how you describe it, is important. Technology can and will be the teachers best way to make it happen.
Matthew Renwick blogs at Reading by Example.
Ben Wilkoff blogs at Learning is Change.
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