Students leverage technology to take an active role in choosing, achieving and demonstrating competency in their learning goals, informed by the learning sciences.
1a. Students articulate and set personal learning goals, develop strategies leveraging technology to achieve them and reflect on the learning process itself to improve learning outcomes.
1b. Students build networks and customize their learning environments in ways that support the learning process.
1c. Students use technology to seek feedback that informs and improves their practice and to demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways.
1d. Students understand the fundamental concepts of technology operations, demonstrate the ability to choose, use and troubleshoot current technologies and are able to transfertheir knowledge to explore emerging technologies.
Here is my Padlet that I created to represent this ISTE standard:
I really enjoyed using Padlet for this assignment (see link above). I think that Padlet as a tool is really helpful because it provides a fun, visual way to organize your thinking and your ideas, and gives you the opportunity to either make your work private, public, or collaborative. It gives you a lot of freedom, as you can enter text, rearrange the boxes, and enter images as well. As for limitations, padlet is a very visually driven tool, so it is not the best place to enter a lot of text or analyze a concept in extreme depth. It’s great for a quick overview!
In addition to helping me learn more about the Empowered Learner ISTE standard, I learned about Padlet as well. I think this tool would be great to use in the classroom as a way to check for student understanding about broad topics, plot summary of a novel, basic theme of a novel, or even a quick reasoning activity (such as, explore the author’s use of the color yellow in the novel). I think it would also be a great tool for differentiation for students who are visual learners. I think it could be useful for English Language Learners as well, maybe as a series of flashcards with a word and an image of what the word means.
Resources:
International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). (2018). ISTE standards for students. Retrieved from https://www.iste.org/standards/for-students
Students communicate clearly and express themselves creatively for a variety of purposes using the platforms, tools, styles, formats and digital media appropriate to their goals
6a. Students choose the appropriate platforms and tools for meeting the desired objectives of their creation or communication.
6b. Students create original works or responsibly repurpose or remix digital resources into new creations.
6c. Students communicate complex ideas clearly and effectively by creating or using a variety of digital objects such as visualizations, models or simulations.
6d. Students publish or present content that customizes the message and medium for their intended audiences.
This assignment really helped the Creative Communicator standard come alive for me. By using Animoto to create my vision for technology in the classroom, I was able to solidify many of the concepts that we have discussed in class all quarter. Creating a video presentation is an excellent way for students to show what they know, especially in our increasingly digital age. For students who are especially adept with visuals and audio, an assignment like this would work wonders.
Animoto would work well for my subject areas, English and Drama. In my last practicum, I taught a lesson on antiheroes in an English class, and I could see Animoto working well as a culmination project for students if I were to expand the lesson into an antihero unit. A video presentation speaks especially well to section 6c of the standard, especially regarding “communicat[ing] complex ideas clearly and effectively by creating or using a variety of digital objects” (ISTE, 2018). Students could synthesize their understanding of the literary terms required to understand the term antihero by collaborating to create a video demonstrating examples of different kinds of characters, then swap videos with other groups and provide each other with feedback.
One of the limitations of Animoto is that you need to pay for a membership in order to create videos without a watermark, but I think it would be well worth it for my future classroom.
References
International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). (2018). ISTE standards for
Students use digital tools to broaden their perspectives and enrich their learning by collaborating with others and working effectively in teams locally and globally.
7a. Students use digital tools to connect with learners from a variety of backgrounds and cultures, engaging with them in ways that broaden mutual understanding and learning.
7b. Students use collaborative technologies to work with others, including peers, experts or community members, to examine issues and problems from multiple viewpoints.
7c. Students contribute constructively to project teams, assuming various roles and responsibilities to work effectively toward a common goal.
7d. Students explore local and global issues and use collaborative technologies to work with others to investigate solutions.
(ISTE, 2018).
The Site:
For this project, I chose to explore Zooniverse, specifically the Shakespeare’s World project, which can be found here: https://www.shakespearesworld.org/#/
This website is an amazing resource of collaborative projects that truly embody the spirit of the Global Collaborator standard. One of the best opportunities of the tool is its authenticity and how collaborative the projects are, as well as the sheer volume of projects. One of the major limitations is that it may be difficult to differentiate the projects to include every learner, especially for the project I chose. Since the Shakespeare’s World project is a collaborative project transcribing William Shakespeare’s letters, it is virtually impossible to include ELL students, at least in the transcription itself. However, with some creativity, I don’t doubt that there are ways that differentiation can play a big role in these projects to include each student.
The Product:
This is a screenshot of my transcription work on the Shakespeare’s World project site. After I completed my line of transcription, the website told me that I may have made new discoveries in spelling discrepancies for the OED!
The Reflection:
I think that Zooniverse is a great site to use in the classroom, in a variety of different subject areas! The Shakespeare’s World project would be a great, authentic project for my students in English to complete, and Drama as well. The project fits in well with the standard, especially with 7b: “Students use collaborative technologies to work with others, including peers, experts or community members, to examine issues and problems from multiple viewpoints” (ISTE, 2018), with emphasis on the “collaborative technologies,” and “experts or community members.”
Shakespeare’s World also connects well with standard 7a, especially the component about “connect[ing] with learners from a variety of backgrounds and cultures,” because there is a “Talk” section on the website that allows students to connect to other transcribers and talk about the project and the work they’ve done.
I think that incorporating projects like this or Mystery Skype in the classroom, which allow students to connect with other learners in a totally different location, are so powerful for helping students learn more about other cultures and about themselves and their place in the world. I definitely plan to use projects like this in my future classroom as a way to help students connect with others and to sharpen their technological skills. Specifically, the Shakespeare’s World project would be a great project to incorporate into a Shakespeare unit.
References:
International Society for Technology in Education. (2018).ISTE standards for students. Retrieved from: https://www.iste.org/standards/for-students
“Students use a variety of technologies within a design process to identify and solve problems by creating new, useful or imaginative solutions.
4a. Students know and use a deliberate design process for generating ideas, testing theories, creating innovative artifacts or solving authentic problems.
4b. Students select and use digital tools to plan and manage a design process that considers design constraints and calculated risks.
4c. Students develop, test and refine prototypes as part of a cyclical design process.
4d. Students exhibit a tolerance for ambiguity, perseverance and the capacity to work with open-ended problems.”
Kids Think Design has a variety of projects that students can create, and they can be used in many different subject areas. The website makes use of each subset of the standard, but especially 4a: “Students know and use a deliberate design process for generating ideas, testing theories, creating innovative artifacts or solving authentic problems” (ISTE, 2018). The projects available for students to use on the website are all examples of “innovative artifacts,” and each one supports students in “solving authentic problems,” because each project is linked to an authentic career choice.
I think the main limitation of the website would just be that some of the projects are time consuming, and there is not an unlimited choice of projects, so some students may not find one they are interested in. However, that could just help them build the skills described in subset 4d: “Students exhibit a tolerance for ambiguity, perseverance and the capacity to work with open-ended problems” (ISTE, 2018).
I was very impressed with how easy Smore was to use when it came time to create my project. Once I created it, which I did at http://www.wordle.net/, I was able to create my flyer in a matter of minutes to showcase my creation. It is so visually appealing and easy to use. I think the only limitation is that it is a tool for creating flyers, so not every project may be right for it as a digital creation tool.
My Smore Flyer; Showcasing my Kids Think Design Creation:
Please highlight the flyer and scroll down in order to see the whole thing. The “Malia” word bubble was created at wordle.net and is from the “Graphics” tab at Kids Think Design.
Reflection
Like I said earlier, I really could not be happier with Smore. I think it would be so much fun to use this in my English classroom as a way for students to create visual representations of the themes of the books we are reading. It could be a great choice for a project that incorporates choices, especially for students who learn best when they can create a visual representation of a concept. I also think this tool would be great for ELL students, as a way to incorporate more visuals into schoolwork.
In a Drama classroom, students can create flyers to promote the school play or upcoming projects they are working on in class.
I am really looking forward to using Smore in the classroom!
References:
International Society for Technology in Education. (2018). ISTE standards for students. Retrieved from: https://www.iste.org/standards/for-students
“Students develop and employ strategies for understanding and solving problems in ways that leverage the power of technological methods to develop and test solutions.
5a. Students formulate problem definitions suited for technology-assisted methods such as data analysis, abstract models and algorithmic thinking in exploring and finding solutions.
5b. Students collect data or identify relevant data sets, use digital tools to analyze them, and represent data in various ways to facilitate problem-solving and decision-making.
5c. Students break problems into component parts, extract key information, and develop descriptive models to understand complex systems or facilitate problem-solving.
5d. Students understand how automation works and use algorithmic thinking to develop a sequence of steps to create and test automated solutions.”
We had the opportunity to use Minecraft: Education Edition in our class on Thursday. Minecraft: Education Edition is a fun way to help students build their computational thinking skills, especially in 5d of the standard (using “algorithmic thinking to develop a sequence of steps to create and test automated solutions” [ISTE, 2018] ).
The tool is designed to be used in any subject area’s classroom and gives teachers the opportunity to create lesson plans that encourage students to build, design, and even code within their Minecraft “worlds” in a way that they can connect to their subject areas. Minecraft: Education Edition also has the opportunity for students to collaborate with each other within the software.
Minecraft: Education Edition supports students in a variety of ways, and I think that one of the most important opportunities from the tool is that it teaches students skills that will enrich their educations and will be valuable for them in higher education and the workplace. For example, I know from experience that the software can be tricky to learn how to use right away, which can cause some frustration. It is crucial for students to learn how to push through that frustration in order to create and fulfill the lesson’s learning targets, which is an essential life skill they will need again and again. The tool also encourages productive and positive collaboration among students to create within the Minecraft world, which is another essential life skill. Another major opportunity of the tool is how fun it is, and how many students truly enjoy using Minecraft outside of school. This is a great way to connect with students and to let them be the experts!
I think some of the limitations of Minecraft: Education Edition are that it is time consuming, especially if trying to achieve any level of mastery. However, since so many students are most likely already experts, this problem may not be too worrisome.
Reflection: My Experience
I have never played Minecraft before, so I definitely felt a learning curve when it came to learning the controls, how to build, etc. I thought it was fun to learn a new tool, however, and came away from the experience feeling positive about it. I feel that 5c from the Computational Thinker standard really speaks to my experience, especially in regards to “break[ing] problems into component parts…to understand complex systems” (ISTE, 2018). Minecraft being the complex system, I couldn’t just head into the game knowing exactly what to do and how to do it–I had to break the tasks into smaller parts to tackle, in order to understand the game as a whole. The tutorial really helped break it up, as well.
Reflection: Students
I think that students can gain a lot from Minecraft: Education Edition, especially as it pertains to substandard 5d. The game encourages students to use “algorithmic thinking to develop a sequence of steps to create and test automated solutions” (ISTE, 2018) in order to go through the tutorials and eventually build their own structures. The game encourages students to test multiple different strategies in order to solve problems within the game, such as how to build a roof for their structure.
My Minecraft Building
References:
International Society for Education. (2018). ISTE standards for students. Retrieved from: https://www.iste.org/standards/for-students
Microsoft. (2018). Transform learning with Minecraft. Retrieved from: https://education.minecraft.net/how-it-works/why-minecraft/
2b.Advocate for equitable access to educational technology, digital content and learning opportunities to meet the diverse needs of all students.
ISTE Standards for Educators 5: Designer
5a. Use technology to create, adapt and personalize learning experiences that foster independent learning and accommodate learner differences and needs. (ISTE, 2018).
2. The Tool:
I think that the CAST Tools are particularly useful for meeting these standards:
This website provides a multitude of resources for teachers to create a more equitable learning environment for their students. The website addresses each of the 3 areas of UDL by providing students with opportunities to differentiate the display of their computer screens (engagement), provide alternatives for students with visual/audial limitations (representation), and provide many tools for students to customize how they can demonstrate their learning (expression). (Meyer, Rose, & Gordon 2014).
3. Since CAST had so many tools available, I kept it simple and chose one in particular to highlight. It is called GrammerCheck and can be found here:
This tool allows students to copy their text and paste it into the website, and it checks their grammar and spelling for them. It is free to use and accessible, and I think it could really help students save time and anxiety if grammar and spelling isn’t easy for them.
4. I think that this tool could be extremely useful in the classroom. As an English teacher, I will be primarily concerned with the content of what my students produce and not the conventions. However, spelling and grammar are important, especially if the students are college-bound. For students who have an exceedingly difficult time with spelling and grammar, this website can really provide a quick way for them to correct their conventions without spending too much time on it. It is also accessible for students using voice-to-text technology, as all students need to do is copy and paste their writing into the website.
This tool ties in especially well to Standard 5a, especially regarding the following: “Use technology to…adapt and personalize learning experiences that foster independent learning and accommodate learner differences and needs” (ISTE, 2018). This tool can help students who rely on their teacher or a tutor to correct their grammar to take ownership of their learning experience by using the tool to check their grammar and spelling. The tool provides an opportunity for the teacher to leverage technology to accommodate the needs of learners who need extra help with spelling and grammar.
I conducted a lesson in an 8th grade English Language Arts classroom last quarter in which I helped students enhance the transition words they were using in their essays. While I walked around the room and assisted students individually, I noticed that many students struggled with grammar and spelling, and that it was getting in the way of them being able to dig deeper with the lesson. With this tool, I can encourage students to use it for future lessons that center around writing, so that the students can approach the new content on a more even playing field.
As for limitations, the main one that stands out to me is that no online grammar/spellcheck system is ever perfect or infallible, and students may run into errors or conflicting information from using this tool. It also doesn’t teach grammar, it just corrects it. In order for it to be more effective, it would track common grammar errors and point them out to the student with a brief tutorial on how to fix the errors. However, it can help teachers become more aware of these common errors!
International Society for Technology in Education. (2018). ISTE standards for educators. Retrieved from: https://www.iste.org/standards/for-educators
Meyer, A., Rose, D., & Gordon, D. (2014). Universal design for learning: theory and practice. Retrieved from: http://udltheorypractice.cast.org/reading?25&loc=chapter3.xml_l1970032
Please note: the icons for comments and notes are small and attached to each bubble, so please make sure to look for them and click on them to see more information!
The Standard:
ISTE Standard for Student 3: Knowledge Constructor
Students critically curate a variety of resources using digital tools to construct knowledge, produce creative artifacts and make meaningful learning experiences for themselves and others.
3a. Students plan and employ effective research strategies to locate information and other resources for their intellectual or creative pursuits.
3b. Students evaluate the accuracy, perspective, credibility and relevance of information, media, data or other resources.
3c. Students curate information from digital resources using a variety of tools and methods to create collections of artifacts that demonstrate meaningful connections or conclusions.
3d. Students build knowledge by actively exploring real-world issues and problems, developing ideas and theories and pursuing answers and solutions.
(ISTE, 2018).
2. The Tool: I used Mindmodo for this assignment, an online mind-mapping website. The link is at the top of this page.
Limitations: I felt a bit constricted by this tool’s format. It’s very specific, but I think more practice will help with that. It also doesn’t really have a spot for images.
Opportunities: It was pretty simple to create themindmap, and I think it would be a really helpful way to give students a visual representation of a concept with ease.
4. When I used this tool, I learned that a digital mindmap is a great way to break down a concept into simpler pieces. I’m glad the tool had spots to add notes and comments, but I wish they were bigger or could be shown on the map itself. I would love to use this in the classroom as a way for students to map out concepts from literature we use in class. I think that it would be great for differentiation for students who learn best visually.
References:
International Society for Technology in Education. (2018). ISTE standards for students. Retrieved from: https://www.iste.org/standards/for-students
