An iPad in Every Classroom

Over the next few months I will be spending a significant amount of my 'free' time studying how iPads and other mobile devices are being implemented and making a difference in the classroom. I am highly interested in models that are not only one-to-one but also one to a classroom or even one cart to a school. While I see great benefit in the one to one model, it is painfully obvious that this just is not a reality all school systems can achieve under current funding.

However, with the help of local PTOs and organizations such as DonorsChoose.org, teachers are bringing more and more technology tools into the classroom, even if it is only one at a time. Also, many teachers invest their own money into these technologies for personal use, and may not understand all of the advantages available to them in the classroom.

As I begin my search into this realm, I will be looking for any research, assistance, anecdotal evidence, that other teachers can provide to help convey all of the enriching possibilities mobile devices can provide in the classroom. What I won't be doing is simply posting links to websites that provide a list of the 50 best apps for this or that. While I will undoubtedly highlight apps along the way, the real goal is to give a fundamental set of pedagogical ideas that can help every teacher and classroom embrace these technologies.

Google Apps Changed Our Culture

In 2009 our school officially adopted the Google Apps for Education platform. It was our second major change in about three years. The reception at first was luke-warm at best. Now, three years later, there is a clear shift in the culture of our school system. More teachers and administrators have websites, email usage is through the roof and tools like Google Docs are helping to shift the norm from teacher centric to student centric classrooms.

Google has turned out (with a little time and patience) to be everything our previous platform, FirstClass, wanted to be and much more. Most importantly, it is easily accessible anywhere and that coincides nicely with the expansion of hotspots, mobile technology and a variety of online Web 2.0 tools. Unlike previous rollouts of email and web development tools in our district, the Google Apps rollout was met with much less resistance and a faster rate of adoption among teachers.

The culture shifted away from naysayers and into action. Communication was at the center of it. Easy email organization, simple to create and edit websites, documents that could be posted to websites and shared with parents. The culture revolution was on.

In the three years of implementation, our training has evolved from how to use the tools, to how to effectively integrate the tools into the curriculum. This shift signifies a change in culture. We are getting away from being scared of using the tools and into a place of curiosity and possibility. While the fears are never eliminated, mainly because the technology never stays static, the fact that teachers are signing up for professional development that focus on developing a 21st Century Classroom, says that we have come a long way.

Today we see Google Apps used for a variety of purposes in classrooms, main offices, and for communication with families and the greater community. Our district administrators participate in a weekly blog, many teachers have at least one website/wiki, if not multiple, and we use Google Docs unendingly to create lessons, collaborative activities, and whatever other things we need. No printing, no files lost on thumb drives, and no excuses.

Teachers are now creating lessons and units that require online interaction with Google Docs, or wiki style websites. Teachers are flipping their classrooms and showing others how to take baby-steps forward. Teachers are trying to develop ways to interact with the global community, not just the local one. While not all of the credit should go to Google Apps, the timing of our emergence is not just coincidence.

Next, we will bring the students fully on board with the teachers. All students (grades 6-12) have accounts as of this year. Now, they can create just as easily as the teachers. In many ways, we know the students can lead the way for us. Collaboration can take on a whole new level of partnership from student to teacher, student to student, and student to world.

Not everything is perfect. There are always features that teachers would like to see, and no one loves how frequently they have to adjust to a new Google layout, but the key here is that the teachers do adapt and the community thrives. It took us the right tool at the right time, and now the culture at our school is one waiting to try new things and find that next tool that fits just right in the educators toolbox.

The Web is My Website

I started my first website for teaching when I got my second job as a teacher. It was 1999 and I had just started in Massachusetts as a middle school math teacher. I wanted to post my homework, and so I did. Within two years I had several teachers joining me (somehow it still lives!)

Over the years, my use of a single home-base website has had its ups and downs. There have always been some teachers that I look up to who create and maintain immaculate websites. Mine, on the other hand, has always tended to be a mess of links to documents and maybe a calendar or two. I recently added my Twitter feed. While I still have a website, and it still has important documents, I don't know that it serves a major purpose in my suite of online classroom tools anymore. Instead I find that I am finding several different tools to fill several different needs.

Edmodo (link): Currently I use the site Edmodo.com as a homebase of sorts. While it does not provide me with a face for the public, it does give me a great online launching spot for all of my classes. I post assignments, related documents, classroom discussions and much more. My online presence doesn't stop there.

Google Docs (link): I also use Google Docs. I now create all my new assignments in Google Docs. I am slowly uploading and converting all of my old assignments. From Google Docs, I can share whatever I want and I can grant editing access to various people, students included. The collaboration and interactivity are what make this tool so enticing. I also use it for the free storage. The tool continues to grow and is now getting integrated into other websites. See Edmodo's latest integration

SchoolTube (link): All of my video students have accounts with SchoolTube.com and all of the videos they upload fall under the umbrella of our school channel on that site. It is one more place for students to post and for me to observe, comment on, and enjoy the growth of my students. I moderate everything they post. If I don't like something, I block it, have a discussion with the student, and have them resubmit the video based on the outcome of that discussion.

Twitter (link): Twitter is allowing me to interact with professionals from all over the globe. I can share thoughts with people who have similar interests in education and in technology. It is an amazing platform that is only becoming more powerful. Two years ago I was ready to dismiss it as a fad, yet it is not. I strongly encourage others to check into Twitter. I have integrated my Tweets into Edmodo so students can see tweets relevant to our discussions. I keep it professional, and it is not always on topic for students, but it is a great way for them to see me as a professional.

Blogger (link): This blog is a place where I can voice my thoughts and people can read or not. This is a natural tool to transition technology into the classroom. Students can create blogs, write stories, summarize learning, share insights, and comment on other blogs. Whether it is Blogger, Edublog,  Wordpress or some other platform, the interactivity of these writing spaces is raising the education bar. Students are reading, sorting, and developing critical thinking skills when the tools are applied properly.

CONCLUSION: I have accounts on dozens of websites for various purposes. Many are educational, some can be educational if I wish, and others are just for personal or entertainment purposes. What has been lost in the abundance of quality options, is my classroom website. I am not ready to abandon it just yet. There are still a few things that work about it, and when a parent wants easy access to my expectations and grading policies, all the information is right there. However, reality says it is only a matter of time until I abandon it for something better and more fully featured, something that makes me say "That's what I've been looking for!!" Until then, the web is my website.

New Group or Small Group? An Edmodo dilemma

For the past two years I have used Edmodo.com and I find the platform is more than sufficient to meet my growing online classroom needs. In fact, the company generally manages to create new options faster than I can think of them (though I have a couple I'm still waiting for!)

One of the nice features of Edmodo is the ability to quickly and easily create groups. Each group is given a unique code, and the students (or educators) can only enter the group once they have that code. Every group is distinct from any other group a teacher creates. Many teachers choose to create one group for each class in their rotations. However, some teachers choose to put all of the 'like' classes into one group and from there choose to use the 'small group' feature.

What is a small group?

A small group is a collection of students that are currently enrolled in a group, which the teacher then chooses and adds to a 'small group' of the same full group. Once the small group is created, a teacher can send notes, assignments, etc. just to that small group. Using this technique a teacher can bring all of their 'like' classes into one larger group and then create small groups for when online content needs to be distinct for one class over the other. In my example, I have a small group, Advanced Web Design, that is part of my larger group Web Design Spring 2012. I can then share some things with everyone, and I can choose to limit other items to just the advanced group.

This method has three great advantages

1. The teacher does not need to create duplicates of notes, quizzes, assignments, etc. All of the work can be created and posted just once to the overall group.
2. When the teacher does need to target one class or another, she can easily do so right in the flow of everything else. 
3. This method will significantly increase the interaction between students who are physically kept in different classrooms. They will share ideas, read interesting thoughts, and discover wonderful online resources from students who study the same things, but with whom they would never get to interact otherwise.

Easily choose the subgroup when choosing who to send a new 'Note' or 'Assignment' to

Considerations

• You may wish to avoid this method if you heavily rely on the grading within Edmodo as it could add to your work load of needing to separate out the students to move the data out to your gradebook program. Not a deal breaker, just something to consider.
• Find the Edmodo instructions for how to create Small Groups through this link. The basic steps are to click 'Manage' by group members and then click "+Create Small Group" on the left.

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What is a 21st Century Classroom?

Welcome to your 21st Century Classroom learning experience (This blog is designed to go with a PD course I am teaching, but there may be something here for everyone!) There is one thing you need to understand to find success in this model: Be ready to fail. Please don’t take this as my wish for you to fail, it truly is my wish for you to succeed. If you are willing to succeed at a high level, to take on new challenges, to try new technologies, and turn your classroom inside out, you will undoubtedly hit some rough spots, run into roadblocks, and occasionally you will flat out fail. Without failure, there is no progress. Nike captures this concept simply with this Michael Jordan commercial.

Now that you are ready to fail, let’s get on with the show. (if you aren’t yet, just hold tight!)

What is a 21st Century Classroom?

• It is a classroom that brings in 21st Century skills, including digital literacy, and creates an experience that is student centric with limitless technological tools at the fingertips of you and your students. (Read here to get a quick summary of 21st Century Skills) 
• It is a classroom led by a 21st Century Teacher. That is, a teacher who is willing to take risks, collaborate with others, let students lead, and much more (Educational Oragami)
• It is ultimately unique: Will you use a Wiki, a blog, online discussion, video, audio, websites, social media, Google apps, project based learning, flipped classrooms, Web 2.0, etc? Sure, pick one, pick all and start implementing it in a way that is pushing your comfort zone and most importantly, that you feel is educationally worthwhile.

My 21st Century Classroom is project based. I have online discussions, student produced videos online, Google Docs, and social media all in play. Every year I add something new and I frequently take out something that has become stale. This is for me to decide. The goal is for my students to be the best they can be. I have a class website, but it tends to sit with very little use, mostly as a repository for useful documents that rarely change. Here is a list of the top 5 tools I use almost every week:

1. Edmodo - class discussions and so much more
2. Google Docs - Create documents, share documents, collaborate
3. Schooltube - Post and moderate student videos to share with the world
4. Bit.ly - Simplify those long tedious links AND get stats on how many people click them
5. Twitter - Amazing place to send out info, photos, and links, AND a great place to learn!

This is just my current list. It does not include the dozens to hundreds of website my students and I use for research, online tools, email, etc.

I welcome you to share what you are already doing and to consider the very distinct possibility that if you take this on, it will not only make education more enjoyable and more rewarding, it will also succeed in making your classroom a place where students learn more in a way that matters.