I know that my American friends are often puzzled by the normal, but different, spellings of the “English” words use in my Blog posts, and the Canadian colloquialisms that distinguish conversations by folks north of the border, so it should not come as a surprise, then, that we also have a different calendar. (One Canadian comedian frequently interviewed unsuspecting Americans and tried to convince them that we had things like igloos everywhere, a 20 hour clock, and legal seal hunting in cities, so perhaps our distinct calendar is no surprise).
Do join me in taking a moment to be thankful for the many good things we enjoy here in North America and I will do so again when it is the Americans’ turn to celebrate, in November.
Canadian Thanksgiving has less focus on football and pre-holiday shopping and more on food, family, and hikes in the stunning autumn colours. For some it’s a reminder that winter comes early in the north.
Whatever you are doing, have a good weekend!

Communication

Edmodo

- The beauty of microblogging in a safe secure class environment

Edmodo is unique in that teachers create an account, then set up groups (”classes”) for which they receive a code, which is then shared with the students in the class. Students create their own account, with no email address required. Then, when all students have registered, the teacher can change the code to avoid intruders. The result is that the messages to/from the teacher and students are limited to the class. This provides a closed and scure environment for classes to share information- links, feeds, messages, assignments. There’s even an internal poll utility.
What was curiously missing was any mention of age/consent i.e. COPPA requirements. It would be be the responsibility (not to mention common sense) of the teacher to request parent permission. It might also be wise to invite the parents to the Group, if the main purpose of your group is homework announcements and sharing.
The hallmark of Edmodo is its simplicity- share a document, a short reminder, a calendar, an assignment and have students hand it back in. It’s not much more than that at a superficial glance, although the style is very student friendly, trendy if you will, and has the potential to engage students. The Help Wiki provides sufficient support to get started, and there is a Blog too, for further ideas, and even some testimonials. I liked this one about a student who began to engage in his schoolwork through the teacher’s Edmodo site.
Initially, the site could be used for an academic subject such as English or Social Science as a teacher-peer-peer homework help site, where students could receive their assignments in digital form, ask questions of the teacher and peers, and finally complete and submit the assignments. The possibilities are wide open, however. The teacher could groups students to work collaboratively on projects and monitor their interactions and dialogue through Edmodo. The capability of embedding video or RSS feeds also could be implemented while doing project work.
I like Edmodo! There are pitfalls to every Web 2.0 app and Edmodo has them. But it is far more secure than Twitter, has the openness of the Internet but the closed structure that teachers seek when first stepping into the Web 2.0 world with students. It would be prudent for teachers to keep their administrators and parents fully informed of the ways you are using Edmodo, but the way it’s used is only limited by ones’ creativity.

Collaboration

Google Docs

- Share and share alike!

I am a recent Google Docs convert. Just this week, when my school’s Technology Committee was supposed to meet, and could not, I conducted a virtual meeting using Google Docs. Gone are the days when a document was created in MS Office, sent as an attachment, edited by the recipients and sent back to the creator, who then edited the edits of the collaborators. Now, documents are edited in real time by all collaborators! This video from Google explains that this was the primary reason why Google Docs were created, I quickly learned. The example given at the beginning of the video of how outdated collaboration methods using the old paradigm are so counter productive that perhaps Google Docs will lay them to rest.

A full series of support pages which answer almost every question a user might have about Google Docs is available, and teachers would be wise to scan through them. School-wide collaboration is now completely within the realm of even the smallest school, as email, documents and calendars are integrated through Google education services.

As for using Google in the classroom- where does one begin? I’m no longer a PE teacher but this Blog caught my attention ! Imagine streamlining your Physical Education class’ fitness results collection, equipment inventories, activity choices, event registrations and even evaluation tasks? It can be done using Google Forms, which allow the input of data directly to a spreadsheet. Formative testing can even be conducted this way! Real student collaboration is now an easy task, and the learning curve for doing so, even with younger students, is not that steep. However, there are risks, and students need to be reminded that shared documents are exactly that, shared and viewed by a variety of people, including their teachers. The best netiquette must be taught and used at all times. Schools can create their own Gmail domain and create their own accounts for students to create a higher level of security for students, as well as minimize liability of the school. But like all similar endeavours, parent awareness and consent needs to be obtained.

Publishing

Glogster for Education- put an end to Powerpoint boredom!

Not since bristol board entered schools in the mid 20th century has the poster seen competition like this! The ability to create virtual posters with text, photos, audio and video (and more) in a secure, teacher moderated environment is a move into the real world of 21st century learning, where students become thinkers, creators, and evaluators of their peers’ and their own digital media. Teachers set up classes and moderate student activity. There is a huge selection of resources and ideas that teachers can tap into on the Glogster educational site too.

The Greatest Teacher Video

It’s time for school, children! I am back in class, this time taking EDIM 507 or “Using Technology to Support Creativity.”

The class consists of mostly American teachers with 3 Canadians thrown into the mix. The focus will be on how globalization impacts what happens in education. Should be some opportunities for some excellent dialogue.

Not so much a blog, as newsletter, not a single podcast but a rich collection of video podcasts, the eSchools News (www.eschoolnews.com) is a rich collection of information delivered regularly to subscribers’ email inboxes.

Trying to develop your Disciplined Mind? Then visit the Best Practices link in the Home tab. Do you want to challenge your Synthesizing Mind? Then perhaps the “Special Reports” tab will have details of major issues and new technologies that need to be considered. Are you ready to test your Creating Mind? Then visit the Resource Center. Concerned that students are demonstrating their Respectful Minds and that their data is secure? The Security tab is for you. Are the effects of digital learning principled? What ethical issues are in the tech news? The SAFE Center is there too. A quick browse of topics has something for every teacher, administrator, and technology department, to assist students’ success and ensure ethical use of technology.

Beginning a new job yesterday that assists teachers and schools in their goals of technology integration, many issues have already been raised and discussed with my new team. eSchool News has information relating to many of them. When addressing these issues, it will be important to have the widest possible knowledge base when making technology choices, when faced with technology challenges, and when designing curriculum and technology integration.

The place to keep current is a free subscription to eSchools News.

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www.eschoolnews.com

Have a look at Teach 42 Blog’s latest entry and the Youtube link! 

Teach 42

A visiting author once described my classroom as “The United Nations,” which was a rather clever but complementary way to recognize the many languages spoken by my students. At last count, over 10 languages are spoken. In addition to our official languages of English and French, native speakers of Arabic, Hindi, Bengali, Urdu, Turkish, Italian, Mandarin, Tamil, Punjabi, and Spanish are represented. In addition, some 60 different cultures are represented in our school, a new school built about 7 years ago in a middle-class suburb of Toronto, Canada.

Surprisingly, racial problems are few and far between, making the United Nations moniker even more “apropos.” Students are given the opportunities to communicate one with another and frequently celebrate differences and similarities.

Many students have lived or at least traveled to other parts of the world. Events in countries far and near are often openly discussed. Even at Grade 7, students spent considerable time initiating discussions about the recent federal election, the Presidential election in America, the current events in India, Thailand and Canada (in case it hasn’t yet hit the media south of the border, the minority government led by the Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper may be replaced with a controversial coalition government led by the rejected centrist Liberal Party, propped up by the social-democractic New Democratic Party and the separatist Parti Québécois after a vote of non-confidence in Parliament). But I digress.

My students have a broad world-view because they are the world. They represent it. So does our teaching staff. Cultures, countries and religions represented by my colleagues include: India, Mauritius, Singapore, Vietnam, Greece, Portugal, Guatemala, French-Canadian, Aboriginal, Hindu, Christian, Sikh, and Jewish.

Our school does not begin and end at the schoolyard gate. We raised $14,000 in support of victims of the Tsunami in 2004. On two occasions we have raised over $10,000 and sent a small contingent of students and teachers to Honduras in Central America to build schools in poverty stricken, remote areas. Our Green Team worked tirelessly for three years to protect the wetland adjacent to our school that was slated for development.

It is natural then, that our students have been involved in global and environmental education. They actively are “the change we wish to see in the world”. (Gandhi)

Each year, classes are challenged to complete a project together around a theme. This year’s project has as its focus, the environment, a response to our theme for the year: “We are all connected.” Last year’s goal was to raise money for Honduras. After the class saw the series of “Where the Hell is Matt?” videos, in which a young traveler danced around the world, they decided that they wanted to create a video to educate the world about an environmental issue. They chose the problem of bottled water, a significant producer of energy and environmental waste. They have researched the problem and have written a series of fact sheets and slogans that can be used by classes, friends and family around the world. People have been invited to send a short video clip of their group announcing, in their local language, an important fact or message about the problems related to bottled water. The class will be editing, adding music and fact titles. The emails have been sent out. We have our first video clip sent from Australia, with a Thai class filming this week. The class hopes the video will “go viral” on Youtube.

Global education, it seems, is alive and well at Ruth Thompson Middle School, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.

**Adendum- I took an official language count and we totalled 14. Some were languages I had never heard of. 

One of my favourite websites for sharing content is epals.com. Described as “the Internet’s largest global community of connected classrooms,” ePals has been the recipient of numerous awards, including a 2008 EDDIE Award for “Best Internet Communication Website” and a 2008 Technology and Learning “Award of Excellence.”

I have been using ePals in the classroom for almost 15 years, since it was in its infancy. The leading edge, innovative technological tools that it provides teachers, students, home-schoolers and parents around the world, are excellent means for students to develop communication skills and creative content.

Available in more than seven languages, classroom teachers around the world can connect their students one with another in simple email exchanges, in complex collaborative projects, in the sharing of text, sound, and video products. What makes the exchanges unique is their authentic nature. Students learn from each other through instant Internet communication. No longer separated by a classroom walls, or by the distance to another school district, province, state, continent or country, students develop rich understandings of the similarities and differences between themselves and their peers near and far. The only barrier is the time separating linked classrooms.

As a teacher always looking to push the limits of what technology can do, I have been able to use ePals in my classroom to link students in the exploration of literature. Students in different countries read and discussed the same novel. Remote Man, a novel, is about students in different countries, not coincidentally, who become involved in catching an international endangered animal smuggling ring. The characters in the novel gather on the Internet to track down the perpetrators from their homes in Australia, America, Jamaica and France. 

Students in my class quickly became engaged with the novel as they read and discussed the plot, characters, settings and themes. Their engagement was increased when they shared emails, artwork, points of view and questions. They also participated in live text chats with their classmates across the oceans. The author, Elizabeth Honey, kindly agreed to join in the discussions. Her presence in the online chats contributed greatly to their success, and inspired further student learning. Students wanted to know more about her reasons for writing the book, as well as how she crafted the characters, the settings and the story.

On one occasion, the author, at home in Australia, discussed the book with the class, in the school’s computer lab, along with a home-school family in the Highlands of Scotland. One student, on holiday in Saudi Arabia, also joined in. Separated by 14 time zones, the students and adults learned from each other in the moment.

The linked video describes the way the Internet became a way for students to overcome time and space and learn from one another. Produced by my school district in support of their Teaching With Technology Project, I was able to share our unique learning activity with teachers in my District. TwTI Murray Interview.mov

To add another personal highlight of my experience with ePals, I look back to 1999. My class was chosen to host the Prime Minister of Canada to showcase ePals for Netd@ays Europe, a way to demonstrate Canada’s leadership in the use of the Internet in schools. This event involved the Prime Minister visiting the class, sending emails to our class partners in New Zealand, followed by an address to the whole school about being citizens of the Global Village. This was, without a doubt, a career highlight!

Having had classroom partners in the USA, France, the UK, New Zealand and Australia, I can attest to the fact that my students truly understand what it means to be residents of the Global Village, and are better people because of these experiences.

Honey, Elizabeth. (2004). Remote Man.  New York, Yearling.

www.epals.com

The National Atlas of Canada

Having always had a fascination with maps, I immediately saw the potential for the National Atlas of Canada’s website in education. There can be found here more maps than one can actually study in a lifetime, due to the fact that the site has pre-made printable maps, in addition to user created maps on an almost infinite number of topics: history, economy, health, geology, environment, climate, transportation, population, and hydrology. In fact, only the curiosity of the questioner and the depth of information that one seeks limit the maps that can be created.

Therefore, if creative minds are the goal, encourage students to seek information about Canada that intrigues them.

Here is an example: Grade Sevens at my school often research Natural Disasters. Given a type of disaster, students could research the location and magnitude of a disaster such as Earthquakes, Tsunamis, Hurricanes etc.

Here’s How:

Go to the Atlas and pick: Environment-Natural Hazards-Tsunami.

Zoom in to an area of the country of interest. Click on Population overlays. Add roads or other human data. Centre the print area. Print a colour PDF for study. The parameters of the map are completely user defined.

Here is an example of the map created. BC Tsunamis Map

Pop-up-windows allow the user to examine individual events, perhaps leading to further research questions.

e.g.

This data set may trigger further research, analysis and understanding. Students might compare events of different time periods, or at different locations. Or they could compare the relationship between two different disasters e.g. earthquakes and tsunamis. Perhaps their curiosity would lead to other types of creative pursuits, such as a podcast of a radio broadcast of an historical disaster or their own video on how to prepare for such a disaster in the future, or a brochure on the topic.

No matter what the end product, a student will have a richer understanding by using the creativity of the map making feature at the National Atlas of Canada.

So here I am, trying to synthesize synthesis! It’s a lot harder than it first seemed, I must say. But here goes.
First of all, I have to inform my distant readers (if there are any left) that this Blog has turned from mildly amusing afterthoughts on my return to life in Canada after a year in Australia, to a more focused examination of things I am learning through my online course and my preparations for changing jobs. And so I am reading Gardner’s Five Minds for the Future.
Reading Gardner, one jumps back and forth between abstract ideas and practical ones. And then one has to make sense of it all. One way is to look at one’s own teaching practices and see if it is mirrored in Gardner’s ideas. Perhaps then, some sense can be made of it. We shall see.
Looking at a classroom strategy that may have some elements of synthesis, I chose a project used in Mathematics and Science. The topic of Structures, particularly bridges, is introduced in Science through various digital media: Discovery Streaming video and bridge design software (West Point Bridge Design). As an integrated task, students work in groups to design and construct small toothpick bridges, while keeping track of “building supplies” (toothpicks, glue, paper etc) in Excel spreadsheets, when they “purchase” daily supplies to complete their bridges, journaling their day by day successes (and failures) thereby integrating Science, Language and Mathematics.
The outcomes are truly cross-disciplinary, with group work skills, scientific knowledge and practical mathematics being learned. The idea follows Gardner’s Components of Synthesis: A goal, a starting point (previous models), and a method.
Unfortunately, I will not be in a position to assign this project this year, and therefore will not be able look at it from the new perspectives that I am developing from my reading and engagement in this course.