Category Archives: GAFE

GAFE, ProfessionalLearning, sharing learning, Technology Enabled Learning, TEL, WRDSB

Learning Together with GHO

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One of the highlights from my week was participating in a “mystery hangout”.   This particular (Google) hangout had an interesting twist with teachers and students learning together and collaboratively.

The Plan:   leveraged her PLN twitter connections with  Donna Fry and me to develop a plan to give the G Suite (Google Apps) lead teachers in  Rainbow DSB  a hands on experience with Google Hangouts to demonstrate the learning, collaboration and problem solving that can occur in this setting.  After a call for participants, we firmed up the the Rainbow DSB GAFE lead teachers as one team, and  Tania Bumstead’s  Vista Hills P. S. class as the other team.  Alison Bullock  and I played an online support role in the process as fact checkers and communication with each team lead.

Team Vista Hills

Team Rainbow (screen capture)
ghomystery

The task was for each team to determine the location of the other team through a series of yes/no questions.

The experience:  When it came time for he actual event, Heather connected everyone into the Google Hangout, and we were ready for a 45 minute learning situation, beginning with some introductions.  The Vista Hills class worked in groups to tackle the tasks – receiving answers from team Rainbow, interpreting them and tracking them on Google maps.  Another team generated potential questions and determined which question should be asked next. A third team interacted with team Rainbow and posed the questions.  The excitement in the room was high, and there was a steady buzz throughout the session.

I was fascinated with the ingenious yes/no questions asked by the two teams as they working through the process of solving the geography puzzle in front of them.   Are you located

  • in Canada
  • east of the Manitoba/Ontario border
  • in the eastern standard time zone
  • within 100 km of Algonquin Park
  • west of the GTA
  • located north of the 402/403 highway corridor
  • east of the escarpment
  • in a city with a population over 100,000
  • within 50 km of Lake Huron
  • …

and finally, team Rainbow asked: are you located in KW?  Team Vista Hills pressed on and with a couple more questions and one hint, determined team Rainbow was on Manitoulin Island.

It was evident to me that a great learning experience had been enjoyed by all, and that more mystery hangouts will occur in the future. Thanks to all the learners who participated in this event!

~Mark
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21st century learning, GAFE, student voice, Technology Enabled Learning, TEL

Student Feedback 1 to 1

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I thought I would share some student feedback on their experiences with our 1 to 1 pilot project this year on the final day of the 15/16 school year.

“Another component of this course that completely differs from my previous year is the use of technology. Everyday, we were fortunate enough to use the chromebooks provided by the school rather than write with pencil and paper. Although, at the beginning I was very reluctant to have the entire course essentially online, I was able to develop my skills with computers and different programs we used throughout the semester.” – MP

“At the beginning of the coarse when i found out we were doing the coarse online and on chrome books everyday….I did not like the thought of it at all because I’m pretty horrible with computers and such. After this semester I now am capable to make a website and transition to using google docs all the time now for everything.” – KP

“Everything we did this semester was digital, meaning I did not use a single piece of paper. I really liked this aspect of the course, as I found it was easier to remain organized, and on-top of assignments. The google classroom was a bonus because it allowed me to work through multiple assignments simultaneously. Overall, I think in the current time period it makes sense for every English course to operate this was, and I’m really happy that I was able to experience this type of course two years in a row.” – MG

“For the entire semester, our class used Google Chromebooks to complete work and participate in class discussions. Not once this semester did I have to pull out a piece of paper (which was nice). Based on my experience, this is the way that all English classrooms should be like in the future.” -SP

“The daily use of technology was new to me for an ENG course. Initially, I was skeptical of its usefulness, and even feared that it would interfere with my ability to do rough work, because I was so accustomed to paper-and-pen work. However, the use of technology was majorly useful. I very much enjoyed the access to an instant and limitless dictionary, thesaurus, encyclopedia, library, and on and on. I am convinced my work was better for having access to these things, especially the first two items of that list.” – SN

“I enjoyed that the course was very technology based with everyone having a chrome book to work on. I feel it makes life a lot easier when all of my work can be accessed from anywhere and can be handed in from anywhere.” – LB

“Although the technology portion of this course was new to me and took a little getting used to, it was one of my favourite parts of this course. Learning through the source of technology was a good way to keep teens of our generation focused on learning in the classroom. Having all/most assignments online and easy to access was really helpful when working at home or somewhere aways from school grounds. Also being able to hand in assignments online was easier for me personally because I liked having the night of the due date to finalize my writing or slideshow before turning it in. “

I look forward to launching our 1:1 program across all secondary schools in September!

~Mark
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21st century learning, Cloud Computing, GAFE, student voice, Technology Enabled Learning, TEL

Students Thinking Mobile and Cloud

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You never know what surprise might happen in a day. This was such a great student written letter to receive – forward thinking and action oriented with a vision.

By happenstance, I received this letter during the same week as I completed a number of school visits to converse with Principals about the role of technology in the change process.

It is so awesome to see students thinking about change and signalling a readiness from their perspective. I look forward to responding to this student next week. I am thinking a Google Hangout conversation would be a nice approach if it can be worked out.

scan of letter (with student name removed for privacy)
studentletter1

student_letter2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

~Mark
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Connected Leader, Connected Learning, GAFE, PLN, Presentation Resource

#GAFEsummit London Session Resource

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Today’s post shares my resource prepared for #gafesummit London ON (May 28/29, 2016. It was a great day of learning, making new connections and of course had many of those special ‘sparkle’ moments when you meet an online connection face to face for the first time. This particular summit had a special connection for me as a Saunders SS graduate.

gafesummit_london_Saunders

Resources:

~Mark
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GAFE, Presentation Resource, ProfessionalLearning

GAFE Learning in Ontario – Resources

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There has been two awesome GAFE learning events in Ontario (Waterloo Region and Thunder Bay) over the last two weekends. I appreciated the opportunity to team up with Donna Fry, Provincial Capacity Building Lead to present workshops at each summit.

The presentation slides from our sessions are published below along with links to  resources developed by the OSAPAC committee.

OSAPAC Resources:

a)  Digital Citizenship Resources for Educators
b)  Digital Leadership Resources for Administrators
c)  Digital Leadership Support for Education Leaders

~Mark
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GAFE, Leadership Perspective, ProfessionalLearning

Learning GAFE Summit Style

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On behalf of the Waterloo Region District School Board, welcome to the 4th annual Ontario GAFE Summit. In reflecting back on our 1st summit, this has been an absolutely amazing journey – still going strong with sellout participation each year.

EdTechLogo

Before we begin, I want to extend a sincere thank you to ECI Principal Jeff Klinck and his staff for their efforts and openness to support this event. I also want to thank the many people in IT Services and the EdTech team who have contributed to the preparations for the weekend.

And, thank YOU for giving your time this weekend. Not just any weekend – a historic weekend. Why?  Last night SpaceX landed a stage one Falcon rocket on a floating drone barge.  Wow!  When I watched the recording on YouTube I couldn’t help but make a couple of connections to our Summit event today.  One – this is mathematics and problem solving at its best, and two, watching the rockets trajectory reminded me of the many conversations I have had with Donna Fry about the importance of professional learning  to fuel opportunities to change the trajectory of a student.

SpaceX1 SpaceX2 SpaceX3

I have a hope for this weekend.

My hope is that as you participate, learn, network, make new connections, discuss and trade ideas that you will  TAKE ACTION  with what you learn this weekend.  I challenge you to share and make your learning visible. Please start conversations, participate in online sharing, and blog about your experiences to support the learning of others.  Become part of the Ontario Wave of Change by keeping the ripples moving in positive directions.

Enjoy your learning experience!!!

Ready!
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Watch the SpaceX webcast

~Mark
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GAFE, Technology Enabled Learning, TEL, The Virtual Coffee Shop

Leveraging the Clipboard

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On a recent school visit, I had a wonderful opportunity to meet teacher Kim Clegg and see her classroom in action.  One tip Kim shared with me was the benefits of leveraging the google docs permanent clipboard to facilitate providing better descriptive feedback to students.

Permanent clipboard

Kim’s thoughts on changing practice:

~Mark

Bring It Together, GAFE, Interview, Library, Library Learning Commons, Technology Enabled Learning, TEL, The Virtual Coffee Shop, WRDSB

Shifting Perspectives on Libraries

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I stopped at the Starbucks at King & University this morning on the way to see  Carlo Fusco  at Waterloo CI to consult regarding his library project.  As I entered, I happened to notice the striking view change that (literally) just one step made.

sun-combo

One step, a small step, can strikingly change your perspective.  Have a listen to Carlo’s perspective on library change.

~Mark

GAFE, OSAPAC, Presentation Resource, Technology Enabled Learning

Changing Practice with GAFE

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Using Google Apps for Education (GAFE) offers many opportunities to develop new ways to approach curriculum delivery, instructional design, providing feedback, assessment … well, you get the picture – OPPORTUNITY!

At 2:30 p.m. EDT (today, October 17th, 2015)  Andrew Bieronski  and I team up to deliver a session at the  Ottawa GAFE Summit  to dig into this topic from a WRDSB perspective.

If you would like to join us remotely, we will be sharing our session via  @Livestream  (free account needed to view)
Note: the stream will be activated approximately 15 minutes before the session.

Slide Deck:

Video recording of our presentation:

~Mark

Connected Learner, Connected Learning, GAFE, PLN, student voice, Technology Enabled Learning, Technology in Education, TEL, Things That Caught My Eye

Let Them Choose

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During my ongoing curation of articles about learning, digital tools and social media, I recently came across this article exploring perspectives on  social media in the lecture theatres.  Although the article was primarily examining post secondary perspectives, I would argue the same discussions are relevant in K12. The discussion was centred around various viewpoints on whether or not students:

  • be allowed (by profs) to bring technology to class
  • are distracted by having access to social media  and
  • experience benefits?

Two interviewees interviewed commented that “… because the students are most likely taking notes. Many don’t use pen and paper, and rely on their devices. She says students are old enough to decide if they are to learn or not.” and “My view is they are old enough to choose and multitask (and choose to fail too),“. Meanwhile, others choose to dictate “no access”.

SM choices

Now, if I put a personal perspective on this and let you observe my learning mode,  this is what you would see. Typically I use 2 devices … taking notes on my iPad using notability – not just for notes – adding audio recording, and insert photos for context for a more complete package.  On the second device I organize lists, todos, ideas and share via social media, typically Twitter but this could easily be a Facebook group, G+ community, LinkedIn or open Google doc. I reiterate – this is MY style. This is how I learn best. Paper and pen doesn’t work for me.

device choice

Why not let students choose what works best for them – student voice. To me,  letting students choose what tools they use and how they organize shows a strength based approach to student learning. What benefit is there in forcing students to function in a way that may not be self directed and self optimized?

Weigh in:  Where do you stand?

~Mark