ToolSprint!

Something really cool happened on Saturday: a full house of Language Teachers ready to learn, listen and network at UofA for the revived Auckland Langsem! Aaron Nolan, newly elected NZALT President for the Auckland region supported by an enthusiastic Conference committee did make it happen and the classic conference programme was full of the Best Practice people. (Programme here)

Prof Rod Ellis rocked the lecture theatre with his 11 principles to start the day!). I have read some of his publications, watched many youtube clips taken from participants at his conferences, but it was the first time ever I listened to him live. Was worth it, made the principles come live and inspired me to think about the following: 6 years on, and Prof Ellis who was commissioned by the MoE for the NZC still presents on these principles on which rest the Languages curriculum to Language teachers, and keeps it fairly fresh. I can feel another blog post coming up soon (and will link here!) here!

The unavoidable focus on NCEA standards,  with an example of bad texts and bad questions, presented by the NAF, drew in a crowd...  Felt for the presenters scheduled on the same slot though.

Ass Prof Martin East presented on his research on the adoption of the "Interaction" standard after the "Conversation" standard has been abandoned. He has gathered teachers' voice ( a v. interesting concept which in itself would need a lot more attention paid to by education researchers, don't you think?) and in a nutshell, and I hope not to "interpret' too much, he found that while teachers agree that interaction is more authentic they are finding it very hard to manage to capture evidence of it in a meaningful setting and in practical way, thus are either not offering it or only as an option for their student. There is thus a tension between the pedagogy and way to assess the product of the learning. Would NZQA at any stage engage with language teachers, in the light of this research and Pr East's subsequent one, to discuss/review the interact standard? It got me thinking: interaction would maybe better to importantly underpin all that happens in/outside the language classroom (as suggested in the Principles)  and evidence of progress could be captured, reflected upon by the learner and used for formative assessment by the teacher BUT could be summatively assessed for standard purposes in a different manner (see DELF, IELTS, IBac etc.)

Anyway it will be interesting to see what Pr East, now President of the NZALT will use his research to leverage opportunities for conversation between practitioners and NZQA. I asked him if his findings had been published yet but no. This is Uni stuff with all the protocole, it ain't a blog post! :-)
So that takes me you know where: this format of Professional Learning does provide ideas and stimulation to participants but the rush from one session to another, the variety of input, and styles of presenters always leave the participant a little hazy eye by the end.
It would be interesting to see these formal settings at least provide an opportunity for participantsto share what they have gathered in their kete from the experience before they leave, to allow them to connect the dots between each presentation. Because they do exist of course, the connections, and they contribute to drawing the big picture!

Can you tell the space type I was in from this pic?

An example of this was the invigorating conversation I had with Liz Scally over lunch. She saw a bit of my session where I go over what I have called "Digital Citizen: 10 Desirable Competencies . We connected that the vocabulary used for these competences is quite similar to the one used to describe the Languages standards, and relate to Learning.

These are just raw chunks of thoughts arising.  I would need to refine all of this a great deal more, nothing better than a conversation around any of this would help me move my understanding forward!

Here is the ToolSprint presentation I gave. I love tools. That is if we start using them with the "Why?" !

Watery inspiration

Welcome home à ma co-bloggeuse!
I'ts been a bit quiet on the BTTDB front as, in St George mode, I try to fend off a variety of fire-breathing dragons. Survival first......
Still, my daily wallow in the bath gave rise this week to a bit of inspiration. We had been discussing in a Year 10 class how we might best make a joint presentation, à la Powerpoint.

There was talk of adding a slide and airdropping the presentation to the next student, which seemed a long and drawn out solution.

We first decided to gather/create the info and images on individual word docs which would be sent to me to compile into a powerpoint. Not a brilliant solution as I end up doing too much of the work and management of documentation.

So after a couple of classic BTTDB 'false' starts (I prefer to see them as an essential part of the learning process, and far from a waste of time) I suddenly thought of Google docs and the 'presentation' function which seemed to be a slightly simplified clone of Powerpoint.

The task was to make a slide illustrating your favourite animal and why you liked it. The task required the students to incorporate direct object pronouns (Je les aime parce que.......) and allowed for differentiation as there was a minimum requirement but those that chose to could add as much as they liked.


I started a 'presentation' Google doc and shared it with all the students. They very quickly got onto it and began working on their slide. It was interesting to observe the motivating factor of being able to see what everyone else was doing. Of course this quickly led to the realisation that they could not only 'chat' while they were doing it but also edit each other's slides. This gave rise to some sabotage initially before the novelty wore off. Some students realised that if they made their slide from a screen shot they'd made from Powerpoint, then the content couldn't be edited by others. This is both an advantage and a disadvantage as the language can't be added to or modified once we go through the slides together to look at them critically.

The only drawback to using this Google 'presentation' doc is that, unlike Powerpoint, there doesn't seem to be a voice recording function. I would like everyone to have included a soundfile of themself reading their text aloud. That would've been fun and made it an even better task. I guess they can record themselves in some other way and insert the sound file but it's much easier if it's a one-click operation.

Here's the link to the presentation. Hope it works. It's a work in progress as we haven't reviewed it yet and some students are yet to finish.

Now for a weekend of culture. There's so much happening here with films (Film Fest) and concerts that I'll have a hard time deciding what to go to.........
Vivement ta visite!!

One very useful model...

Aaron Nolan, NZALT Auckland Regional Officer, has asked me if I would give a presentation about useful tools for the Language Classroom at the upcoming Auckland LANGSEM (August 24th, UoA, Epsom Campus).
While I would have favored to facilitate a tool "smackdown" à la Educamp, this does not fit well in the standard Conference schedule (I won't give up mentioning it again and again though!)
So what can I do in 30 minutes, which is the time I have available? I can forget hands on, but having said that, connected participants can always have a quick look at the tools if I share the links at the outset. I think it will be pretty fast paced too, so I will pre warn people and stress they can re visit the information at anytime.

Tools for learning or learning supported by tools? 

http://www.hippasus.com/rrpweblog/

I will divide the 30 min into two distinct parts:
a-  tools for the students to learn, create and share
b-  tools for the teachers to connect, curate and share ( and post the link here when done!)
Well... This opportunity opens two doors:
- to stress the need and use for an eportfolio to aggregate creations, to share them with an audience, to receive feedback and to reflect on the learning.
 - to refer participants to one very useful model to help teachers integrate Education technology: the SAMR model.
Here is a very useful short video to explain it:

The SAMR model is useful in many ways:

- it raises awareness of how we use tools in the classroom,
- it indicates that there is progression, until it is seamlessly integrated and ubiquitous
- students direct their learning more effectively as tasks are redesigned and modification takes place
- it also expands the world of the teacher and students beyond the classrom
- above all it reminds us why we use tools in the classroom: for the learning to take place!

It is good to continue to investigate ever changing tools but it is important to keep focus on what learning needs to be achieved.

Helen Prescott  gave an effective 3 min presentation in the Primary context at TeachMeet#2  full of practical examples and links to the Key Competencies

The wheel below combines Blooms with SAMR and a wide range of Apps (while these are apps for Ipad, many are also available via the browser or on Android).
The "graduates attributes and capabilities" (my point of focus at the moment, at the heart of my eportfolio "dada") at center of wheel are closely reminiscent of the Key Competencies.

http://www.edudemic.com/2013/05/new-padagogy-wheel-helps-you-integrate-technology-using-samr-model/

The action verbs and activities are also present in NCEA Languages Assessment standards, from which are derived a lot of the languages programmes in our NZ schools.
There certainly won't be anytime to generate any conversation during this presentation at the Langsem: shame. It would be a chance to start a conversation around how to assess and provide feedback on creations which are not merely text based or just spoken. I'll think of another media, wonder if the good old NZAFT listserve will be receptive this time?
Anyhow I hope that I can direct participants to this post and that it plants a seed for them to grow, as well as allow them to make connections with what is happening in their school and the world of education technology at large.

PS: Blogger's interface, like any other google tool, defaults to French as my IP is in France at the moment. Midly enerving but also rather irritating to have this mish mash of languages on the screen!

So I went to NetHui2013

I spent two and 1/2 days in Wellington at NetHui this week, missing the first part of Monday. I want to understand what internet issues are. I am an internet user. I was surrounding with people who "get the internet" and "make the internet". As someone tweeted (wished I captured!) "if the building was to collapse it would set back New Zealand for years to come!"

InternetNZ organises NetHui. It has been a great opportunity to understand better the role and work of InternetNZ, it above all feels right and it is well beyond worth my humble membership!  Jordan Carter's (Internet NZ Chief Executive) Scene Setting Comments for NetHui is a great intro.

My few lines won't make the event justice:
Bill Bennett's Ten Things we learned from NetHui  is a sounder analysis!

NetHui brought together all sorts of people from all walks of kiwi life to talk about the internet and how it shapes what they do or rather how they shape it? Who knows... 

If you wanted to read up and see the wealth of conversations that took place, head over to Conversation, where all the collaborative note taking is compiled. This has got to be one great thing about the internet, the fact that I have spent the last hour "rewinding" through NetHui! I have learnt soooo much at a frantic pace. And I need to revisit. And the most relevant will rise to the surface faster while much will  have given me reasons and impetus to explore further.
There were a few highly clued up edu-peeps, and a few teachers talking  Open Internet Networked Learning and Making BYOD work. Wished I had some students to introduce to the youth forum too!

The beauty of these three days is that I spent them out of my depth!
> I am listening to people from "another" world, whose interest in and understanding of the internet reach far beyond mine at first glance and whose activity and/or raison d être have been also deeply turned upside down by the internet  (security, journalism, music, health, business, role of the state, open data...)
> I venture a few comments and contributions here and there as the format of each session, with a mic being passed around, manages to invite me to take a bit of a chance: many venture comments, that is what makes the conversation progress...
> I come to realise as the days progress that many an Internet issue actually deeply concerns me: public interest vs national security, copyright, open source, access for all (Rural, disabilities etc), privacy, digital literacies, identity...

What I take home from NetHui is that the internet is about people, faith in people: relationships, partnerships, high trust, it is also about building together, including,  it is about voice, it is about choice, it is about being pro active, being free to act, to self regulate, organise... All of those "things" I can see baking in every single child in an NZ school and that in fact apply to all!

Quinn Norton (who has covered extensively Hacktivism and the Occupy movement) gave a breathtaking (literally thanks to the pace of her "tweet" like statements) keynote (I hope the recording becomes available soon and I will edit here with it). She speaks about liminality,  refers to the internet as the Network and its disorganised, organic nature,  that is throwing doubt to established ways, talks about moving from democracy to do a cracy. 
The one concept I related to straight away in her keynote was her mention of Agency:

Agency is the key word that totally underpins all of my thoughts and interest and practice in eportfolio. That is another story, a personal and professional journey, but it is absolutely enabled through experiencing for myself the transformative powers of the Internet.

Inquiry Learning in Tom's Class

Continuing to look for ways of making the eportfolio approach seamless and integrated within the learning process, I asked Tom Atkins if I could spend a bit of time in his inquiry classes at Tauranga Boys College. 

This is a snapshot of my visit last week. 

The setting:

- traditional 4 wall classroom

- 2x one hour class

- laptops available in room, wifi
- use of googledrive + edublogs + specific maths and writing online if/when necessary

The characters:

- two classes, boys, by year level groups (year 10 followed by year 9)

(students apply to participate in the Inquiry programme upon enrolling in year 9> selection is through a questionnaire where the students indicate why they would like to be considered, supported by a parent comment. 

The scene:

- students work in pairs on a question of their choice. It is their forth question this term. (In year 9, to start with students are given 2 questions to work on, then learn the process from there)

- sense of purpose: upon entering, everyone picks up a laptop and logs in, and gets started

- Tom is hands off to start with, and then spends time with each pair, evaluating and guiding and giving feedback

- This is week 3 of this particular cycle: students checking emails expecting to read from experts they have contacted, or finishing their questionnaires, or looking at the analytics from responses they have got. Some are framing their writing, others are looking for images and editing them. 

- The inquiry culminates to each pair's presentating their finding to the class at the end of the cycle. Then take comments and questions from the class. 

- Tom seizes one "teachable moment" with each class, the only time he actually speaks to the whole class for a few minutes: with year 10, he mentions questionnaires and puts a few pointers out on how to make a representative samples (eg: one yr 10 group is investigating Superannuation, and thus needed to obtain answers from people in employment: they have emailed TBC's staff the link to their survey). In the year 9 class he chose to discuss and give example of appropriate ways to write to request information to someone you have been referred to). 

My Story:
I saw:
- engaged boys, working in pairs to find solutions to their questions

- interesting questions, based around a range of themes: use of farmland, a motorway running the length of the country, lowering the drinking age, types of school, 

- students collaborating with each other, answering questionnaires for instance or working on same document

I noticed:

- the technology use is embedded, it's the pen and paper.

- respect of the environment, super effective classroom, all laptops are charged for instance

- students can eloquently talk about their inquiry and are prepared to ask me questions themselves

- students welcome a stranger to the class and are comfortable with the presence (and the questions!)

- the Year 10 class students display their ability to go beyond describing their questions, they are able to compare for instance, and have started analysing and relating ideas.

- through using googledrive students keep evidence of their learning: they will select from these artefacts for their final presentation

- Year 9 students describe the use of their blog as their log book, where they record what they did

- Year 10 students describe the notes they take when listening to and interacting during the final presentations as "their personal thoughts" that they keep to themselves.

I learnt from Tom

- each group has 8 inquiry class/week with two different teachers who work together on planning

- students tend to do better at NCEA when they go in mainstream in year 11

I wished I had asked:

The students:

-  how they feel about their choice of being in the Inquiry class

-  what they get out of it

- what process they use to get to their fertile question and how long they spend on it

Tom:

- to show me the framework he and his colleague use to scaffold students' progress.

Looking at this snapshot through my "eportfolio lense" there is plenty of evidence that the collecting and selecting of learning pieces for a purpose is taking place and is making use of the technology available effectively. Students have a strong sense of ownership of their current work and know the steps to reach the success criteria. Collecting and selecting are two main ingredients of the eportfolio approach, with reflecting and sharing two other ingredients. One angle I would be interested in looking into is how the capacity to reflect on achievements and through learning from others develops over the two years of the programme.