Cell Phones in the Classroom?

Over 90% of schools have some type of rule about cell phone use by students during the school day. However, cell phones have the ability to help teachers teach more effectively if they are used correctly. I will be posting several things today that I learned while reading February's Educational Leadership. I encourage everyone to grab a copy and read it thoroughly. It is titled "Teaching Screenagers" and every article focuses on technology in our student's lives and ways that you can take advantage of their tech abilities in the classroom.

One of the articles about the use of cell phone's caught my attention. It is titled "Adventures with Cell Phones" and is written by Liz Kolb. Activities that were shared in the article, Poll Everywhere, using Google Voice for giving oral quizzes, Mobile Geotagging, creating digital storybooks using yodio as well as many others.

Poll Everywhere is having students use their cell phones to text a response anonymously to a question you post as they enter the room. The example that they cited was one in which a teacher asked students to give their opinion about the most important cause of the U.S. Civil War. Students text'd their responses to Poll Everywhere and the responses were quickly seen on the interactive whiteboard. Responses are anonymous and students can quickly look up and see what their peers are saying. The teacher continued using the web application having them text why they chose their answer. This is just one way that a cell phone can be used as an educational device. Poll Everywhere could also easily be used by a teacher who is conducting a training for adults or for staff meetings when a principal wants to quickly get the pulse of his staff.

Google Voice is one I definitely will look into further. You are able to set up a free local number for students to call with Google Voice that is associated with the teacher's phone number or voice mailbox. Students can leave recorded messages, assignments or test answers. One example that was cited was a Spanish teacher who sent a text message to her students letting them know that an oral exam was ready to take. The students called in the the Google Voice number and listened to her pre-recorded instructions and questions. They responded in Spanish with their answers. When the student hangs up, their quiz becomes an MP3 file in the teacher's private Google space. She can then call into Google Voice or log in online to hear the quizzes. The teacher can also text message from Google Voice to each student their individual evaluation. Because Google Voice archives voice mail and text message communications you will have a running record of the activities and progress. If the teacher chooses, they can also make the oral quiz into a podcast by uploading them to a podcasting service such as iTunes and requiring students to subscribe to the podcast.

Pretty cool right? Let me know if you use any of these and how it went.

Central IL - Moveable Feast

If you are looking for a great opportunity to hone your tech skills and be able to integrate technology more effectively in the classroom, Moveable Feast is for you.

For over ten years the University of Illinois has worked with the Feast and have helped over 10,000 participants enjoy low cost staff development with a 5:1 participant to trainer ratio. The trainers are teacher who use technology daily to provide meaningful instruction. The feast covers a variety of topics including SMART, Moodle, web development, RtI, podcasting, Office 2007, Windows 7, Google applications, Web 2.0 tools and much more.

Check out the website for more information. Registration begins on April 1st for this awesome week long tech experience. I have been a participant as well as a trainer and it is by far the best staff development that I have ever experienced. You also have the opportunity to earn graduate credits through the U of I. Moveable Feast

There are three weeks to choose from - don't delay your registration to insure your spot!

New Common Core Standards

If you haven't had a chance to check out the new Common Core State Standards that are going to be adopted in 40 states, you should. The English Language Arts appendix PDF files have examples of text and clear objectives that the student should be able to complete. This will be much easier to decipher for new teachers and create continuity among states. I look forward to familiarizing myself as we make the change.

Common Core State Standards

Calligraphy Pen

One of the nicest things about the new 800 series boards is the calligraphy pen. If you choose it from the toolbar, everything you write will appear as calligraphy. What most people don't realize is that you can have the use of a calligraphy pen with your 600 series board.

10.7 updates are now available for your SMART notebook and driver software. Once you update (and are attached to hardware) the calligraphy pen will available. It is a wonderful tool and definitely something that will benefit those that don't have the best handwriting. Try it out!

Marzano weighs in on Interactive Whiteboards

Dr. Robert Marzano is one of the leading researchers in education and I highly recommend any of his books. He's a true believer in data driven instruction and uses research to back his claims on the best way to instruct.

I ran across this article in Educational Leadership that he wrote about interactive whiteboards.

A few interesting tidbits...

"The study results indicated that, in general, using interactive whiteboards was associated with a 16 percentile point gain in student achievement. This means that we can expect a student at the 50th percentile in a classroom without the technology to increase to the 66th percentile in a classroom using whiteboards.

A second feature is the use of graphics and other visuals to represent information. These include downloaded pictures and video clips from the Internet, sites such as Google Earth, and graphs and charts. Use of these aids was also associated with a 26 percentile point gain in student achievement.

A third feature is the interactive whiteboard reinforcer—applications that teachers can use to signal that an answer is correct or to present information in an unusual context. These applications include dragging and dropping correct answers into specific locations, acknowledging correct answers with virtual applause, and uncovering information hidden under objects. These practices were associated with a 31 percentile point gain in student achievement."

He also weighs in on the use of "clickers" that allow the teachers to use data driven instruction. The best part of the article however is when he explains specifically what you should or shouldn't do to have the best results. For all of us SMART users - think SMART notebook when he says "flipchart."

Marzano's recommendations:

• Teachers should think through how they intend to organize information. They should group information into small, meaningful segments before they start developing the digital flipcharts. Once they've organized the content, then they can design the flipcharts to complement the organization. To ensure that they don't run through the flipcharts too quickly, teachers can insert flipcharts that remind them to stop the presentation so students can process and analyze the new information.

• Digital flipcharts should contain visuals, but those visuals should clearly focus on the important information. Also, no single flipchart should contain too many visuals or too much written information.
• After asking a question and getting student responses using voting devices, the teacher should typically discuss the correct answer along with the incorrect answers, making sure to elicit opinions from as many students as possible.
• When using reinforcing features like virtual applause, teachers should make sure that students focus on why an answer is correct or incorrect. Although these features can produce high engagement and certainly enliven the atmosphere in a classroom, they can also be distracting if used without a clear focus on essential content.

Read the full article here.

SMART Response VE

Don't have access to a Response receiver in the lab? Want to try out something new? Response VE is a way to have students respond to a test that you are giving online. Any tool that they have that has internet access can be used. If a student is at home sick, on vacation or you are in your lab - you can give an assessment (without using a receiver). If you are a teacher who is presenting to other teachers - this would also be a great way to give an assessment if you don't have a receiver available. Do a pre-assessment and find out what they know before you begin your presentation.

1. Create your assessment in notebook as you normally would. However, I have found that multiple choice questions are the only format that worked. I am assuming it is due to it still being a beta version. Save and close your notebook.

2. Go to "all programs," "SMART technologies," "SMART Response," "Set up tool," and change the response type to VE.

3. Open your notebook, start a class and start assessment. The assessment will be processed and a 6 digit code will pop up on your screen.

4. Students go to response.smarttech.com and log in with the code and their ID. They take the assessment on their device at their own pace.

5. Stop the assessment and review the results as you normally would. The student sees their score on their device.

Email me if you have any questions - shawns@bradfields.com.

The Games That We Play! - Zack Gilbert

Check out Zack Gilbert's list of games that he suggests that teachers use in the classroom. Zack is a former teammate of mine and awesome 6th grade social studies teacher who effectively integrates technology. Games are a great way to entice students to further their learning and better their understanding.

EdRead - The Games That We Play!