Education Technology

What comes first, the writing or the blogging?

The Problem

In a previous district, I got my hand slapped for encouraging third graders to blog (using Kidblog, which was free at the time). The given rationale behind the hand slapping was something to the effect of, “These kids have trouble writing, and you want them to blog?!?”

So, what comes first, the writing or the blogging?…In other words, should students have to master the basics before they are allowed to blog? Or, can they learn to write through blogging?

Blogging: Teaching Students How to Quality Comment

By Ross Cooper 5 Comments

After co-presenting on blogging at EdcampNYC and then blogging about the significance of student work being made public, I have heard lots of conversation and questions regarding how to teach students to comment on each other’s blog posts.

In this area, one of the resources that has guided me is the work of Silvia Tolisano.

Nonetheless…The last thing we want to do is simply tell students, “Here’s what’s included in a quality comment.” We must model inquiry by having them “uncover” what is involved. Then, students will (1) have a deeper understanding of why these components are significant, and (2) be more likely to apply them.

Here’s what this process could look like:

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Why write for your teacher when you can publish for the world?

By Ross Cooper 10 Comments

Last weekend at EdcampNYC, Starr Sackstein (@mssackstein), Tony Sinanis (@TonySinanis), and I facilitated a conversation on blogging and branding. This was the first time I had run a session with either of them, and it was an absolute blast!

Making my work public is something about which I am passionate. Also, I strongly support students being provided opportunities to have their work reach an authentic audience.

Not convinced student work should be made public?

According to John Kotter, one of the biggest mistakes you can make when attempting to achieve buy-in “is to communicate with all ‘head’ and no ‘heart.'” In other words, the odds are not in favor of educators saying, “Well, if Robert Marzano says this is what’s best, then we should all be doing it in our classrooms!” So, rather than use facts/research/data to convince/tell you why students should be able to publish their work (as opposed to handing it in)…Here are two resources that will evoke emotions and “tug at the heart.”

The graphic featured above. Imagine, after countless hours of dedicated blogging, only one person is able to see or share your work on each social network. (By the way, my fourth graders blogged regularly with KidBlog, Blogger, and WordPress…It’s not a matter of if we can make it happen, but how.)
The Alan November TEDx Talk. Start at the 7m 30s mark, or just watch the whole thing. I always use this video when conducting workshops on student publishing. Rich Kiker (@rkiker) first introduced me to the resource a handful of years ago.

Seriously…Why write for your teacher when you can publish for the world?

Connect with Ross on Twitter.

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6 Stages of Personal Tech Integration

By Ross Cooper 2 Comments

Here are the 6 stages of personal technology integration, which I devised based on my experiences as a teacher and administrator. The “lowest” step starts with educator unwillingness to use technology, while the “highest” involves being able to leverage these tools to promote inquiry-based learning (through project-based learning, 20% Time, etc.).

These stages were part of a keynote presentation I did last week for a school district in New York. During the presentation I also emphasized:

How technology “fades away” at the greatest levels of use because it is leveraged to enhance effective pedagogy, not replace it. (For more on how this shift can be accomplished, see “Project-Based Learning: The Easiest Way to Get Started.”)
Educators should be aware (“technologically self-aware”) of (1) where they fall on this spectrum, and (2) what needs to be done in order for them to climb the ladder (by visiting each other’s classrooms, taking more risks, getting support from administrators, etc.).

Technical/Research jargon has been omitted from the 6 stages to make them understandable at the surface level with minimal explanation. Most importantly, educators should be able to easily identify with the different steps/quotes as a result of the various on the job experiences they have had throughout their careers.

What are your overall thoughts on the 6 stages? Did I hit the nail on the head or did I leave something out? How could you see yourself leveraging this model during professional development?

Connect with Ross on Twitter.

The Problem with “Formative Assessment Tools” (part 2 of 2)

By Ross Cooper 10 Comments

In the previous post (part 1 of 2), we explored the fact that student response apps (Socrative, Kahoot!, Plickers, etc.) are often mislabeled as “formative assessment tools.” What makes them formative depends on the context in which they are used. Formative assessment is a process, and in order for a tool to play a part in this process the results/data it produces must be leveraged to differentiate instruction or learning.

The Problem

Now, let’s explore a second problem with these apps, which is the belief that they are not generally associated with higher-order thinking.

The Problem with “Formative Assessment Tools” (part 1 of 2)

By Ross Cooper 21 Comments

The Problem

It started with generally clunky and overpriced “student clickers” by such brands as SMART Technologies and Einstruction, and over the past few years it has transitioned into slick apps like Socrative, Kahoot!, and Plickers. Time and time again we have seen these apps demoed during professional development sessions and written about on websites and blogs. Nevertheless, we need to be careful that we do not prioritize technology over pedagogy by referring to these apps as “formative assessment tools” when they are anything but.

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Making Waves: Student Radio Broadcasts

By Ross Cooper 3 Comments

Right now, one of my classes is finishing up their current Language Arts project, Making Waves. This project, which was inspired by Colton Shone, a journalism student at Arizona State, requires students to create a radio broadcast through the use of Apple GarageBand. Everything is wrapped in the essential question, “What is an effective radio broadcast?”

Students complete the project in groups of two. The majority of their work is done in a Google document, and I created a template to provide them with a starting point. (To save a Google file as a template, access your files > right-click on your file of choice > Submit to template gallery. After, copy the template’s link and share it with your students.)

A PDF version of the template is here, and below is a shortened version of these directions:

BYOD: An Implementation Timeline For School Districts

By Ross Cooper 1 Comment

For the fourth and final installment of the BYOD series, we will take a look at a recommended one-year timeline for BYOD implementation from an administrative/district standpoint. But first, here is a quick rundown of what has already been discussed!

Part 1: Lessons learned from a BYOD pre-pilot
Part 2: Top 10 apps for BYOD
Part 3: A recommended teacher implementation timeline for BYOD

To provide some perspective, as mentioned prior, “This year, my district has begun the process of implementing BYOD in what is being called a pre-pilot, and my students and I were delighted when we got the call to be the first classroom in the entire district to have the honor.” The timeline below reflects the lessons that we have learned from the pre-pilot, and the district goal for next year is to involve teachers from grades 5 and up on a volunteer basis.

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BYOD: A Teacher Implementation Timeline

By Ross Cooper 3 Comments

This will be part three of what has turned into an unintentional and unofficial series of posts on BYOD in the classroom. The first post mainly focuses on lessons learned during a BYOD pre-pilot, while the second post lists the top ten apps for BYOD.

Now that our state testing is done for the year, we are officially in the homestretch. So, this is when I reflect upon what has worked and what has not, and start to think about how I would roll out BYOD for the next school year. Here is a preliminary BYOD timeline, which I will use for my homeroom and possibly when collaborating with other educators within the district.

BYOD: Go Get These 10 Apps!

By Ross Cooper 11 Comments

For approximately the past five months, my fourth graders and I have been pre-piloting BYOD for our district. While our findings are detailed in an earlier post, here is a list of what I consider to be the must-have apps for BYOD (as opposed to apps that I might consider to be “the best” in general).

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