Category: INF532 Knowledge Networking for Educators

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INF532 Assessment 3 – Part B (a) – an evaluative statement

The life cycle of information has changed and this impacts on the way people interact. Traditionally it was the teacher who was the source of information and knowledge, now it is a user to user production. Information production is increasing (Bawden & Robinson, 2009, p.181), social networks and web 2.0 tools make connecting with other easier. An expanding digital network will increase access to resources, information, and knowledge within the classroom by interacting with others (Thomas & Brown, 2011, p.17).

Information (Silver, 2019a) has changed, it is now produced and shared by a variety of means. This has implications for end users, in how they interpret the information and credit it. These factors will become more of an issue in the future as knowledge creation becomes more socially constructed.

Being able to locate and evaluate a range of innovative online tools and spaces for creative knowledge production and learner engagement are important skills for a connected educator. Skype  (Silver, 2019b) is one learning tool that can be used to introduce authentic learning to students and increase learner engagement. The post also identifies extra Skype sites plus suggestions for other apps that could be used instead of Skype. Twitter, Google Docs and Google classroom also have benefits as a communication tool for students to collaborate.

Another learning space offered by connected educators is the flipped learning approach as detailed here (Silver, 2019c)  which could prove beneficial in a library setting. This would work particular well for skills such as referencing, how to access and use catalogues and demonstrations on how to use digital tools. Using this model of teaching would then free up library time to hold in-depth discussions and allow for more collaborative or individual work, depending on the learner’s needs.

Online tools that have been used for creative knowledge production include Powtoon and Screencastify, which were evaluated here  (Silver, 2019d).

Whilst a small suite of new tools has been established there has been exposure to many new types of tools not heard of/used before. For information management Diigo  (Silver, 2019e) has proved a useful cloud-based bookmarking and tagging tool for online sources. However, the full range of Diigo for knowledge networking has not been used, content could be set for public rather than private . Tweetdeck (Silver, 2019f) has been recently utilised for the organisation of information from Tweets, allowing for a greater ease of access to content and categorising of information. New media tools used for content creation include recording from the screen of a mobile and Screencastify and Powtoon. The screen recording on a mobile was utilised to make blog posts about Twitter bookmarks (Silver, 2019g) and give a visual overview of Pinterest (Silver, 2019h). Powtoon and Screencastify were used to create a digital artefact on ‘Using Twitter for beginners to establish a personal learning network’. (Silver, 2019d).

I have as a connected educator also assisted other collegues with their teaching by introducing relevant up-to-date material related to their current subject area being studied in class (Silver, 2019i).

Being able to build on knowledge networking is important to strengthen school-based classroom engagement. At the beginning of the course in my blog on a new culture of learning (Silver,2019j) I stated I felt unconfident in my ability to provide collaborative learning opportunities to my students but hoped with the establishment of my own collaborative network this will change over time. I now feel more confident about introducing knowledge networking strategies to strengthen school-based classroom engagement and learning through intentional and reflective online instructional design. (Silver, 2019b) showed how knowledge networking can be used to strengthen school-based classroom engagement, elements of this such as backchannelling and Skype calls could be utilised in library to give student’s access to authors or experts in the field. Calls can be scheduled from experts of all areas, from authors, scientists and museums. Skype could also be used for virtual field trips and to practise an important information skill of being able to spot fake news.

The digital artefact was created to help educators establish and expand their personal learning networks. Through the use of the digital artefact  (Silver, 2019d) information was able to be presented in a manner that was easily accessible to educators and the examples given allowed them to relate the content within context of their own lives and assisted with knowledge production. Twitter was used to broadcast the artefacts Url on YouTube for more educators to view.

Utilising a PLN  (Silver, 2019k) through Twitter and following blogs from colleagues and prominent educators has helped deliver ideas for professional enhancement including guidelines on developing questioning, connectivity in the classroom and personal knowledge management on curation tools, such as Evernote and Pearltrees. Collective intelligence has been enhanced by practises through the sharing of Tweets within #INF532 related to course material (link Twitter blog, add detail to blog). I am sure my PLN will be able to benefit me in the future and I them.

Through blog posts the learning objects have been able to be met, some in more detail than others.

 

References:

Bawden, D., & Robinson, L. (2009). The dark side of information: overload, anxiety and other paradoxes and pathologies. Journal of Information Science, 35(2), 180–191. Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/home/jis

Thomas, D., & Brown, J. S. (2011). Arc-of-Life learning. In A new culture of learning: Cultivating the imagination for a world of constant change (pp. 17-33). Lexington, KY: CreateSpace.

Silver, T. (2019a, March 20). New models of information production [blog post]. Retrieved from https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/learningawaits/2019/03/20/new-models-of-information-production/

Silver, T. (2019b, May 21). Supporting the connected learner with Skype [blog post]. Retrieved from https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/learningawaits/2019/05/21/supporting-the-connected-learner-with-skype/

Silver, T. (2019c, May 22). Flipped learning [blog post]. Retrieved from https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/learningawaits/2019/05/22/flipped-learning/

Silver, T. (2019d, May 22). Making my digital artefact [blog post]. Retrieved from https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/learningawaits/2019/05/24/making-my-digital-artefact/

Silver, T. (2019e, May 21). Some curation tools reviewed [blog post]. Retrieved from https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/learningawaits/2019/05/21/curation/

Silver, T. (2019f, May 25). Tweetdeck [blog post]. Retrieved from https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/learningawaits/2019/05/24/tweetdeck/

Silver, T. (2019g, May 21). How to save a bookmark on Twitter mobile app [blog post]. Retrieved from https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/learningawaits/2019/05/21/how-to-save-a-bookmark-on-twitter-mobile-app/

Silver, T. (2019h, May 21). A visual overview of Pinterest [blog post]. Retrieved from https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/learningawaits/2019/05/21/a-visual-overview-of-pinterest/

Silver, T. (2019i, May 25). Twitter – an update [blog post]. Retrieved from https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/learningawaits/2019/05/25/using-twitter-an-update/

Silver, T. (2019j, March 20). A new culture of learning? [blog post]. Retrieved from https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/learningawaits/2019/03/20/a-new-culture-of-learning/

Silver, T. (2019k, May 20). What is a PLN? [blog post]. Retrieved from https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/learningawaits/2019/05/20/what-is-a-pln/

 

 

 

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INF532 Assessment 3 – reflective statement

Currently I am not working in teaching, so have been unable to directly apply the studies to a teaching situation. Last year I had a one-year appointment as teacher librarian at a NSW Department of Education K-6 primary school so have some knowledge of a library environment. Although current circumstances restrict my being able to implement tools and strategies learnt in the course, I have applied them as I would in the future as a full time teacher librarian.

The main enlightening idea from INF532 is that knowledge is created in social context (Innovative Learning, 2009). The internet is expanding at a rapid rate and web 2.0 tools allow for greater facilitation of the social context through user to user interaction (Silver, 2019a) . It is through these tools and module readings that learning has occurred, with ideas clarified through interaction with others. Before this, the predominant belief was that students learnt best from face-to-face teaching.

INF532 has proved challenging in so many ways. Overcoming fear of being ‘open’ and putting opinions and presence in digital spaces with strangers, worrying about criticism and privacy.

Concepts not thought of before starting this course, such as digital networking, how it works, why it is important and how knowledge can be created, shared and leveraged through it have been explored. An understanding of how networks  operate (Silver, 2019b) and the importance of nodes on networking including strong and weak ties (Oddone, 2016) has been gained.  Networking has been able to be used to establish a personal learning network (PLN) through the social networking service (SNS) Twitter. When the author first began using Twitter they were apprehensive and lurked around for a while (Silver, 2019c). Eventually connections began with others by commenting on their Tweet to say ‘thanks’. The authors PLN  currently follows 70 people and has 9 followers, which although small, has a diversity of people from Australia and overseas, including 2 people from INF532, an educational author, consulting company and educator Kathleen Morris. Knowledge shared on the PLN has assisted in creating content, for example theTweet below was a result of a Tweet from @Tonyvincent, which had value added and retweeted by the author.

There has been a growth in knowledge of content curation and the value of it to find, capture and add value to information to share with others (Silver, 2019d). The use of networking through connecting with other’s blogs has resulted in an increased awareness of digital networking tools, for example Twitterdeck on Karen Attkinson’s blog post  on Twitter (Attkinson, 2019). Twitterdeck was then able to be implemented to organise content and information flow.

Web 2.0 tools that allow for constructive collaboration have been experimented with. These include blogging, Twitter, discussion forums and the course Padlet. Reflections on case studies  (Silver, 2019e) have enabled the realisation of how Web 2.0 tools can enable authentic learning experiences for students which connect with the learning, each other and the wider community.

The concept of flipping learning has also been inspiring. Despite having heard of this concept the finer details of it’s history and examples of other educators use of it were unexplored. Through sharing his experiences on his blog (Burns, 2018) I have gained a better appreciation of the concept and how it can be created and applied to teaching practises. I would like to try flipped learning in a library (Silver, 2019f).

Digital tools have been learnt and used to create new content, such as the digital artefact ‘Using Twitter for beginners to create a personal learning network’ (Silver, 2019g) which was created using the tools of Powtoon and Screencastify. These tools could also be used in future teaching and learning experiences. Although, more tools were investigated and trialled they were not blogged about (such as Voki, Pearl trees and Spiderscribe). This is an area that needs improvement in the future.

Collaboration with the world occurs through Twitter, the creation of the digital artefact was designed to increase knowledge networking and as such was sent out via my Twitter PLN. To further expand as a global connected educator more exploration of how to connect with other educators is required, such as those listed by Lindsay (2019, slide 73).

Overall, INF532 has taught me where to look for information and how important it is to work collaboratively to create new knowledge and build upon it and share it through various mediums for all to learn. With this knowledge I can confidently reach out to more people in my growth as a connected educator.

 

 

References:

Atkinson, K. (2019, May 20). Let the tweeting begin [blog post]. Retrieved from https://karenatkinson.weebly.com/ed-tech-blog/let-the-tweeting-begin

Burns, M. (2019, January 22). Flipping my primary classroom [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://flippingmyprimaryclassroom.blogspot.com/

Digitalang (2012, February 21). How to build your PLN (Personal Learning Network). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A667plNCzwA&feature=youtu.be

De Saulles, M. (2012). New models of information production. In Information 2.0: new models of information production, distribution and consumption. Facet Publishing.

Lindsay, J. (2019). Global vision, global learning – Becoming an education change-maker [slideshow]. Retrieved from https://www.slideshare.net/julielindsay/global-vision-global-learning-becoming-an-education-changemaker

Oddone, K. (2016, September 5). Networks, networking and network literacy – Part 1 [Blogpost]. Retrieved from https://www.linkinglearning.com.au/what-is-network-literacy-and-is-it-important/

Silver, T. (2019a, March 20). New models of information production [blog post]. Retrieved from https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/learningawaits/2019/03/20/new-models-of-information-production/

Silver, T. (2019b, May 20). Networks [blog post]. Retrieved from https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/learningawaits/2019/05/20/networks/

Silver, T. (2019c, May 21). An exploration into Twitter [blog post]. Retrieved from https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/learningawaits/2019/05/21/an-exploration-into-twitter/

Silver, T. (2019d, May 21). Curators – seeing the big picture [blog post]. Retrieved from https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/learningawaits/2019/05/21/curators-seeing-the-big-picture/

Silver, T. (2019e, May 21). Supporting the connected learner with Skype [blog post]. Retrieved from https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/learningawaits/2019/05/21/supporting-the-connected-learner-with-skype/

Silver, T. (2019f, May 22). Flipped learning [blog post]. Retrieved from https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/learningawaits/2019/05/22/flipped-learning/

Silver, T. (2019g, May 22). Making my digital artefact [blog post]. Retrieved from https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/learningawaits/2019/05/24/making-my-digital-artefact/

 

 

 

 

 

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Using Twitter – an update

Image sourced from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Twitter_Social_Icon_Circle_Color.svg

I found connecting with people to form my PLN was a bit like being a detective. You just need one lead to point you in the right direction. Mine started , with this article from Jenny Luca (2012). After reading Luca’s article I chose some educators from her list and looked at their profiles and followed a few. These people included:

I started small by following a few people from the list plus some colleagues from my university course. I saw people they followed on their profile or people they had retweeted from. I started by lurking around, observing how things worked, bookmarking tweets that could be useful later on for teaching or reading further. One day I took the leap and retweeted an interesting tweet to our course hashtag #INF532. Somebody in our course responded! I learnt how add my own tweets, to send a Tweet with links from articles and web sites I came across that I thought would be beneficial to my PLN.

One retweet about the tool Wakelet resulted in the original Tweeter tweeting me to offer assistance if I needed it. It was it amazing to connect with others for the first time who I didn’t directly know.

At first, I found Twitter totally overwhelming, with a constant information source coming in, however a suggestion from Rhiengold (2010) that we need to be focused on what we pay attention by choosing what we look at in Twitter helped decrease my concern. I was feeling extremely overwhelmed with trying to keep up with the amount of information coming in but now I am being more selective of what I look at (or mostly bookmark to read later). Perez (2012) also gives advice that even if you can’t keep up with the information stream reading for a short amount of time (5-10 minutes) a day is better than avoiding it altogether. I have since discovered Tweetdeck to be a great tool. Read about my experiences with it here (Silver, 2019).

I often use this advice to just have a quick look when I feel overwhelmed and I’m glad I do. I have found so many useful resources to practical application and to expand my learning and thinking. I have even been able to use Twitter to assist another teacher to bring relevant, real time resources to their student’s learning. I was able to send the teacher links to articles about recent scientific discoveries that came up in my Twitter stream. I’ve started following some hashtags such as #ditchbook which provides fabulous ideas from educators around the world.

I now find my Twitterstream one of the most valuable sources of information and ideas, it certainly is a valuable tool for educators.

Just when I felt comfortable with using Twitter, I have taken another leap into the unknown and Tweeted my digital artefact (Silver, 2019) to my PLN. I know it has been retweeted. I feel extremely apprehensive about how it will be received because although I think the content is good I was not totally satisfied with the finished product.

Are there any people or hashtags you particularly like to follow on Twitter?

 

References:

Luca, J (2012, October 27). Personal learning networks [web article]. Retrieved from http://education.abc.net.au/newsandarticles/blog?id=40029

Perez, L (2012). Innovative Professional Development: Expanding Your Professional Learning Network. Knowledge Quest, 40(3), 20-22. Retrieved from https://knowledgequest.aasl.org/

Rheingold, H. (2010). Attention, and Other 21st-Century Social Media Literacies. Educause Review, 45(5), 14 -24. Retrieved from https://er.educause.edu/articles/2010/10/attention-and-other-21stcentury-social-media-literacies

Silver, T. (2019, May 25). Tweetdeck [blog post]. Retrieved from https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/learningawaits/2019/05/24/tweetdeck/

Silver, T. (2019, May 22). Making my digital artefact [blog post]. Retrieved from https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/learningawaits/2019/05/24/making-my-digital-artefact/

 

 

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Tweetdeck

I was inspired to give Tweetdeck a go after reading Karen Atkinson’s (2019) blog post about Twitter. It was easy to install, I just googled ‘Tweetdeck’ and a link came up to log in to in Tweetdeck (note: I am already registered for Twitter), or you can go straight to it at https://tweetdeck.twitter.com/

Immediately I can see the benefits of using it. I previously used the Twitter app on my phone but found it difficult to see replies to my posts etc. With Tweetdeck I have a column on notifications and can easily see who has responded to me. I also have a column @mentions where I can see who has mentioned my handle in their Tweets.

Tweetdeck set up with notifications and mentions

Setting up columns for searches makes following hashtags easier and I found the columns easy to move around and re-arrange.

Tweetdeck set up to show hashtags being followed

I’m not as advanced as Karen as to do analysis but I can see the benefit it could have in the future, particularly for seeing which curated content you sent out is most popular.

Tweetdeck is a great way to keep Tweets organised and assist you in staying up to date and on top of the information.

References:

Atkinson, K. (2019, May 20). Let the tweeting begin [blog post]. Retrieved from  https://karenatkinson.weebly.com/ed-tech-blog/let-the-tweeting-beginIt

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Making my digital artefact

For our 2nd assessment task we had to create a digital artefact on an aspect of networking. I decided to make a Powtoon and Screencastify presentation for my digital artefact on ‘Using Twitter for beginners to establish a personal learning network’. It is posted on Youtube here (Silver, 2019).

Here is the Powtoon component:

and the Screencastify section:

 

The artefact was created to help educators establish and expand their personal learning networks, so that they may gain from knowledge networking. The instructional aspects were created in PowToon and Screencastify and access made available on the world wide web via YouTube so it may be accessed by more people. PowToon was chosen as the platform for the digital artefact for several reasons. It is attention grabbing with its use of cartoon animations, which are a non-threatening way of communicating and allow viewers to be receptive to information (Spitalnik, as cited in Martin & Martin, 2015, p. 46). There is the ability to import audio, image and video files to the presentation. It offers flexibility in placement of elements within slides such as when elements are introduced and length of slides. The combination of narration and graphics increases the viewer’s information retention, more than if solely graphics and texts were used (Mayer, as cited in Martin & Martin, 2015, p. 52).However, there were restrictions with using Powtoon for the artefact. A major limitation of the free account was the set time constraints – 20 seconds for voice recordings and a maximum of 3 minutes for the total presentation, which led to some flat spots in the audio and some text crowding.

Screencastify (a Chrome extension) proved relatively easy to use, although  some features such as editing had to be googled and time had been taken to learn how to export it . It was used as a visual means of demonstrating how to use Twitter for those learners who are visual learners.

Difficulties were experienced in the creation of the artefact which impacted on its functionality. The initial design included a Screencastify clip demonstrating how to use Twitter on the desktop. However, the artefact was not able to be created as intended as PowToon required video to be in an MP4 format but the exportation of video in this format is not available on the free version of Screencastify. Although not ideal, this was addressed by adding links via YouTube to the Screencastify recording.

Other problems included the audio of the presentation lacking some clarity, which may have been rectified by the use of a plugin microphone rather than using the computer’s built in microphone. ‘Dead’ spots of audio are also visible in the middle of the presentation, I’m not sure why this is as each clip plays OK individually.

Hosting on YouTube enabled the artefact to be viewed by the general public. and contribute to global networking knowledge by demonstrating to educators how to use Twitter and build their PLN in the future.

References:

Martin, N. A. & Martin, R. (2015). Would you watch it? Creating effective and engaging video tutorials. Journal of Library & Information Services in Distance Learning, 9(1-2), 40-56. doi: 10.1080/1533290X.2014.946345.

Silver, T. (2019). Using Twitter for beginners to establish a personal learning network . Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYDWAATW0VQ&rel=0

 

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Digital Learning Environments

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When thinking about digital learning environments (DLE) there are many factors to consider. According to Research Shorts (2016) DLE’s have expanded. Traditionally they used learning management systems (LMS) such as Moodle, Blackboard and Canvas, however, they now also include YouTube, FaceBook groups, Twitter and Skype.

When designing a DLE there are four considerations designers need to take into account:

  1. Organisation structure – is it going to consist of groups (such as using an LMS with start and end times and heirarchial structure), networks (entry, exit unrestricted, connections) or communities (similar to networks but with more commitment and continuity)?
  2. Design – needs to be effective, meaningful and have impact.
  3. Guidance – how much instruction and support is going to be available? What scaffold do you provide?
  4. Lack of neutrality in technology – considering how the software design impacts learning (accessibility by students, interaction capabilities etc), how does it impact teaching?

Kunkel (2011, slide 4) proposes that the ADDIE model be used when designing for DLE’s. This model breaks down as such:

A – Analyse – work out the difference between performance and needs

D – Design – decide learning objectives, plan training and develop evaluation

D – Develop – make the course

I – Implement – make course available/teach it

E – Evaluate – for effectiveness of learning and impact

Innovative Learning (2009) places the emphasis in DLE’s on interaction. ‘Dumped’ content is boring and learning occurs best in a social context with others so effective design needs to take this into account. There should be a blend of content, learner to learner and expert to learner categories, with more emphasis on the learner to learner category. When designing the course a deliberate decision has to be made on how to involve more interactions with the learner to learner and learner to expert. This does not only include the tools used to facilitate this (such as Twitter, Facebook, blogs, wikis and discussion forums) but also how they will be used.

Applying these three factors to teaching I believe currently that flipped online learning would best suit the learning audience (students) as a detailed analysis of their current knowledge and learning needs has not been undertaken. Based on shallow formative assessment students are lacking in the basic fundamentals of the information search process (ISP). As this is the case flipped learning could provide materials on elements of the ISP (such as plagiarism and referencing etc) then students could use class time for gaining more in-depth study into inquiry questions, spend more time on research etc and allow more learner to learner and learner to expert time.

Innovative Learning’s (2009) comments that there should be learner to learner interaction got me thinking about my teaching style in general. In the past my lessons have been delivered face to face with learning supported by technology tools such as YouTube to help teach context, with the teacher as the expert with little or no learner to learner interaction. More learner to learner interaction could be incorporated by the use of activities such as a Socratic circle and using tools for a backchannel chat and in future could use Google Classrooms for communication between students. Perhaps in the future other tools could be added, for example, Twitter as learning takes place more in a DLE.

What makes learning effective for you in a digital learning environment?

References:

Innovative Learning. (2009, October 13). Designing online learning [online video]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/Zv-_GCFdLdo

Kunkle, M. (2011). Instructional design principles: A primer [slideshow]. Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/MikeKunkle/basic-instructional-design-principles-a-primer

Research Shorts. (2016, June 18). Digital learning environments [online video]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/-7UI-dTbMr0

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Flipped Learning

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Flipped learning (FL) is a teaching technique which is the reverse of traditional teaching methods. Rather than content taught at school and homework given with FL content is learnt in the students own time and more time in class is available for in-depth help and learning. According to Haddam, McKnight, McKnight, & Arfstrom, 2013) benefits of using this mode of teaching include:

  • More class time used to meet student learning needs
  • An increase in interaction with the subject by students and with each other
  • Increase in job satisfaction for teachers
  • Increase in achievement levels
  • Better attitude towards learning

However, as Lo and Hew (2017) point out this model can also have problems such as an increased workload for the teacher making videos and student disengagement from too much out of class learning.

The Flipped Learning Network, Pearson and George Mason University  have developed themes for the concept around the word ‘flip’ (Haddam, et.al., 2013). They are:

F – Flexible environment – for room arrangement (group and independent) and learning timelines.

L – learning culture – student centred and in class explore topic through student centred activities.

I – Intentional content – choosing which materials to teach and which the student can learn unassisted.

P – Professional educator – observe, give feedback and assess, reflective, open to constructive criticism, connect with other teachers.

It struck me how the qualities listed for professional educator are similar requirements to those listed by Nussbaum-Beach and Hall (2011, p.11) for qualities of a connected educator.

Some experience teachers such as Matt Burns (2018) highly recommend the benefits of the flipped classroom method of learning and has devised a matrix to differentiate student learning based on pretesting and which videos and concepts the students need to watch and master to further their learning. To see more on Matt’s work click here.

I would really like to try the FL approach in a library setting, in particular for skills such as referencing, how to access and use catalogues and demonstrations on how to use digital tools. This would then free up library time to hold indepth discussions and allow for more collaborative or individual work, depending on the learners needs.  It would be good if there was a flipped learning lesson video bank so teachers aren’t all making videos on the same concepts, although videos from YouTube, Ted Talks and Khan Academy could be used.

If you are interested in making your own videos Joe Hirsh (2015) has some good tips here on how they can be used effectively.

Have you tried flipping before? What was your experience of it?

 

References:

Burns, M. (2018, April 28). Maths matrix: differentiated mastery – The Flipped Classroom [blog post]. Retrieved from http://flippingmyprimaryclassroom.blogspot.com/2018/04/maths-matrix-differentiated-mastery.html

Hamdam, N., McKnight, E., McKnight, K., & Arfstrom, K. (2013). The flipped learning model: executive summary. Retrieved from https://flippedlearning.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/ExecSummary_FlippedLearnig.pdf

Hirsh, J. (2015). 100 videos and counting: Lessons from a flipped classroom [online article]. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/100-videos-lessons-flipped-classroom-joe-hirsch

Lo, C. K., & Hew, K. F. (2017). A critical review of flipped classroom challenges in K-12 education: possible solutions and recommendations for future research. Research and Practice in Technology Enhanced Learning, 12(1), 4. doi: 10.1186/s41039-016-0044-2.

Nussbaum-Beach, S., & Hall, L.R.  (2011). Defining the connected educator. In The connected educator: Learning and leading in a digital age (pp. 9-24). Retrieved from Proquest Ebook Central.

 

 

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Supporting the connected learner with Skype

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Wow! The case studies by Silvia Tolisano of learning with Skype in the classroom have really ignited my passion for using technology to assist students to connect learning to their lives. This use of technology enables authentic learning to happen.

The articles by Silvia Tolisano may be found by clicking on the links below:

What made using Skype so effective was that Tolisano was able to connect the call/calls with previous and future learning and so the Skype was not just a call but a learning moment that fuelled future learning and tied in with past learning. The tasks were connected to the real world and made the learning task authentic to students. To get maximum effectiveness from the call Tolisano carried out several steps before the actual Skype call. They included:

  • Doing a test call with the guest speaker to check video and audio
  • Brainstorming open ended questions with students that they could ask the speaker
  • Giving each student a role during the call, such as greeter, question asker etc.
  • Having students practise speaking to the camera and recording them so they were confident in their roles

Interestingly, the call was supported by other technologies as well to assist learning in new ways. These included using backchannel collaboration via a Google Doc, Tweeting about the call, making notes on iPads as well as traditional pen and paper, summarising with mind maps on the iPad and blogging about the process.

After the call students tied in their activities during the Skype to their previous learning (in this case on blogging and Twitter usage) and looked at what they had done well and examples of how they could improve.

The students were so involved in these learning tasks that they were not asking about their grades, as one respondent to the article blog commented ‘When kids are focused on the task and take ownership of it to that degree, you know you have ’em – so much better than any grade mark.’. However, this new way of connected, collaborative learning meant that new assessment rubrics had to be developed – they could not just be added to traditional rubrics.

This is an amazing way to link in real life experts and collaboration with student learning to make the learning tasks more authentic. The possibilities for connection with experts is endless (dependent of course on technology). Microsoft offers a Skype site for educators, to view it click here  (Microsoft, 2019a).  I can see Skype calls being a real benefit to students in library time to connect with experts, such as authors for English studies or scientists or historians in the field for Science and connecting this to their learning needs.  Skype can also be used for detecting fake news (Microsoft, 2017) and virtual field trips (Microsoft, 2019b).

For a list of authors who do Skype visits see this link (Gross, n.d.)(publishing houses may also provide lists of their authors who Skype):

An author, Kate Messner has some good tips and instructions about Sky pe visits for authors here:

To skype with a scientist check out this site.

This site (Microsoft, 2018) details information of connecting with a museum curator in Egypt to view Egyptian artefacts .

Although Skype is used in these case studies the experience could work just as well with other tools such as ‘What’s App’, ‘Viber’, or ‘We Chat’ – whichever is the most accessible to all participating parties. The important aspect to remember is to link pre and post activities to the call to allow for maximum benefit for learning.

Have you ever used Skype or another app in your work? How did you find the experience? Did it link in to your previous or future work?

 

References:

Gross, L. (n.d). Author’s who Skype free! [Smore creation]. Retrieved from https://www.smore.com/1mzu1-authors-who-skype-free

Microsoft (2018, June 20). Museum curator brings the Egyptian civilization to students via Skype [blog post].  Retrieved from https://blogs.skype.com/stories/2018/06/20/museum-curator-brings-the-egyptian-civilization-to-students-around-the-world/

Microsoft (2017, October 5). Help your students find reliable news sources [blog post].  Retrieved from https://blogs.skype.com/skype-classroom/2017/10/05/help-your-students-find-reliable-news-sources/

Microsoft (2019a). Skype in the classroom. Retrieved from https://education.microsoft.com/skype-in-the-classroom/overview

Microsoft (2019b). Virtual field trips. Retrieved from https://education.microsoft.com/skype-in-the-classroom/virtual-field-trips

Tolisano, S. (2011, February 6). Framing a Skype learning experience [blog post]. Retrieved from http://langwitches.org/blog/2011/02/06/framing-a-skype-learning-experience/

Tolisano, S. (2013a, January 27). Learning in the modern classroom [blog post]. Retrieved from http://langwitches.org/blog/2013/01/27/learning-in-the-modern-classroom/

Tolisano, S. (2013b, February 5). Assessment in the modern classroom [blog post]. Retrieved from http://langwitches.org/blog/2013/02/05/assessment-in-the-modern-classroom-part-one/

 

 

 

 

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