Category Archives: student voice

Digital Citizenship, Leadership Perspective, Social Media, student voice

WRDSB Student Voice

December 7, 2012 markwcarbone 3 Comments

Each year, I look forward to opportunities to interact with our WRDSB students and have conversation about technology, learning and Board plans etc. My recent meeting with our student trustee group yielded some fantastic discussion, so I thought I would share a few highlights in this forum.

The trustee group submitted some questions ahead of time to create a framework for our discussion. They were interested to know more about:

differentiated access to resources
the need for wifi login
software licensing
ITS department projects for this year and Board directions

After addressing their questions, we opened up the floor to additional questions from the student trustees. This lead to a wonderful discussion which brought together a number of interconnected ideas. I was very impressed that students were well aware of the need to manage their privacy online. Through our discussion we extended this to managing one’s online identity and reputation. I encouraged the students to see how ‘Googlable’ they were. Would their online reputation precede them? As a self reflection, do they choose to use social media, communication and collaboration tools for positive purposes? – and what might they change in their typical actions? After all, “the net does not forget”. Digital citizenship is something that must be lived, a way of being. I also took the time to talk about the expectations defined in the WRDSB Responsible Use Procedure.

In the final portion of the meeting, I was given the opportunity to ask the student trustee group questions. I chose to ask one question: Given the changes that have been achieved over the last 4 years ( access to more resources including social media and collaboration tools, wifi in all classrooms, BYOD, improved internet bandwidth etc. ), what has been the impact to their learning?

The students were very frank and open with their responses. I have captured a few highlights in the list below:

extremely positive feedback on the establishment and expansion of the Futures Forum Project
learning and engagement is improved through blogging and collaborating online
like to be able to use their phones in class – looking up information in the context of a discussion is beneficial
excellent class projects through the use of wikis
technology affords many forums for peer help
social media tools keep students connected and focused, engagement is up
web based teacher resources very helpful (blogs, wikis etc.)
the 4 any’s: learning anytime, anywhere, anyone and anything
easier to work and organize electronically, paper just does not work well
online connections (community) is very beneficial
use of Facebook groups and web (fan) pages very helpful – easy to connect, collaborate and stay up to date
the type of environment we have created helps prepare us (students) for post secondary learning

What Next:

continue to promote teachers as risk takers with technology
continue to build more capacity for technology use (reduce fears in using technology)
encourage teachers to learn from students too

Finally, I was impressed that a number of the students present were aware of the learning strategy of the “flipped classroom”. My sense is that this approach was seen as beneficial in many learning situations. It was hoped the WRDSB teachers were open to exploring the benefits of this approach.

I extend my thanks to the WRDSB student trustee group for such a great conversation about technology enabled learning. I look forward to my next session with group.

~Mark

21st century learning, Social Media, student voice, Technology in Education

Fan Fiction For Class?

October 10, 2012 markwcarbone 2 Comments

Here is a simple, yet powerful (Facebook) comment from my daughter, a grade 11 student.

What I know as a parent: My daughter is very passionate about this. She spends hours thinking, planning, writing and revising. When all is well, the posting moment happens with great excitement. Next there is the monitoring: who of my followers read it? any new readers or followers? Throw in a little advertising via social media tools (twitter and tumblr in this case). Wow! a few new readers and some great feedback. Well – better get going on my next post!!!

Lots of great enthusiasm here – passion, creativity, motivation, self directed learning, standards, authentic audience, and a social element to learning.

And now, to call the question: is there a spot for fan fiction writing in the curriculum?????

~Mark

Social Media, student voice, Technology in Education, Web20

Student Voice: A visit to MsJWeir’s Classroom

May 29, 2012 markwcarbone 1 Comment

I recently had the pleasure of visiting Ms. J. Weir’s classroom at WRDSB’s Southwood S. S. to meet her students and gather some feedback about their online writing project. I was immediately struck by the calm and trusting atmosphere in the classroom. It was obvious that the students were very comfortable in this learning environment — a wonderful tribute to the teacher! The dialogue flowed freely and students were at ease contributing to the conversation.

I posed the following guiding questions to the students to facilitate our discussion regarding the project:

How has writing online changed your learning?
Is writing online what you expected?
What would be the effect of removing the technology?
Describe the pros and cons of back channelling (Today’s Meet and Twitter)
What were the challenges?

The actual discussion happened in a rather free flow manner. I have grouped the responses to follow the question sequence outlined above.

Many students commented about the ability to ‘organize on the fly’ and being ‘in the moment’ when they write online because the process feels more natural. Capturing ideas and shaping them is much easier electronically. The students also made that point that they felt more ownership for their work.

When asked question 3, the responses were unanimous: removing the technology would be a step backwards, poorer organization, less motivation and anticipated drop in achievement.

In terms of back channelling and online forums, many students commented that the variety of options to contribute to class discussions (Face to Face (F2F), Edmodo, Today’s Meet and Twitter) enriched the discussion, drew more students into the conversation(s) and created a much stronger sense of community within the class. The students all indicated that having the comfort level to participate was a key ingredient to their learning.

In the area of challenges, a few things were identified. Access to resources is dependent on a wifi connection. We talked about the importance of wifi reliability and high levels of up-time. I was impressed by the fact that the iPads used for this particular project were set up with a small number of key apps that were aligned with class needs and learning goals. This was a welcome observation on my part as people often become app focused rather than learning focused. Well done! Students also talked candidly about the need for a level of self discipline. Having wifi enabled devices in the classroom certainly support student learning, and a more personalized component to the learning. Yet, the potential for distraction is still there — it must be managed.

I found this to be an excellent classroom visit. I appreciated the candid conversation with Ms. J. Weir’s class. The approach to learning in this classroom needs to be shared and replicated.

Related Resources

Ms. J. Weir’s Blog

~Mark

student voice, Technology in Education

Student Voice: Technology

November 2, 2011 markwcarbone Leave a comment

Tonight I had the pleasure of attending the WRDSB Student Trustee meeting at Cameron Heights Secondary School. The student trustee team is led by Sajdeep Soomal and Adrienne Fiander under the direction of WRDSB trustee Kathi Smith and staff advisor Kevin Donkers (login to view this link). As I have for the last four years of attending these sessions, I anticipated an engaging evening of discussion around a variety of issues.

Sajdeep and Adrienne had prepared a list of topics for discussion which included:

an update on the Board technology plan for the next year
use of mobile technology within schools
clarification of the WRDSB email policy
future directions with YouTube
ebooks (eTextbooks)
and ideas for Facebook for school related platform.

From my perspective, we had a fascinating discussion. As we covered the topics, the students asked insightful questions about the use of technology. Over the evening, our conversation touched on smart boards in secondary schools, digital citizenship, tablet use, business models, network management (bandwidth capacity, security, virus protection, data integrity, freedom of information & privacy needs and legal requirements) and our collective responsibility for being good role models for appropriate, ethical and safe online activity.

Thanks to all for a great evening. I look forward to continued conversations online and my next face to face meeting!

~Mark