Summer improvements

Source: Plik:Wikinews collaboration logo.svg

Finally, summer vacation is in full swing around the country. Well, as far as I know no one is still waiting to begin break. That word "break" is a bit of a misnomer for many of us in education since summer is really a time for us to reflect on learning outcomes and use the data to alter instruction for the coming year.

A great way to work collaboratively on data interpretation is by using Google Spreadsheets. Collaboration is an important part of data interpretation since it requires us to infer what has worked and what needs to change. Software, algorithms and spreadsheet formulas are great for doing math, but they'll never give us the explanations or guidance we need improve outcomes. No, that takes human intervention. With Google Spreadsheets, you can upload any Excel document that contains assessment data. Once it's uploaded, change the privacy settings to Anyone who has the link can edit. Email that link to your colleagues and you can all start sorting through the information together. There is no need to have a Google account, they just need the link you've provided. 

If your colleagues do have a Google account, then you have an even better opportunity to work with the data- Google plus. While continuing to collaborate on the Spreadsheet, up to 10 people can video chat about the information through Hangouts. Essentially, you'll be having a virtual PLC which saves everyone time and gas money.

This summer, don't just work solo. Get together with others in your department over a Google Spreadsheet and come up with some great ideas. You'll be sure to see great results in the coming year. And, hey... you'll also have something to brag about to administrators.

DIY LMS or get one pre-made?

I've been wondering about Learning Management Systems (LMS's). How exactly is learning management different from teaching? Yes, I know all of the discussion about online content storage, assessment creation and data tracking. All of that really just begs the question, though. After all, in a typical teaching situation, there is a person who serves as a repository of information (supplemented by a textbook) who gives out assignments and keeps track of how students are performing. An LMS is really just a way to do all of this digitally. 

Since an LMS is a digital "teacher", can't we as teachers just make our own LMS? And are formal LMS's performing any better than ad-hoc systems? I've read quite a bit on both sides of the argument. So far, I'm not wowed by the pre-fab products. A well designed system can provide students with the essential items. First, they'll need review materials (videos, presentations, text) to understand an idea. Next, is a way to work with the material socially or alone so that learners understand ideas rather than memorize facts or phrases. This is typically done by assigning some sort of assignment. Finally, the system also has to have some way to assess students and share that assessment data with the students in a secure and sensible way. Usually, this is in the form of a gradebook. 

I've put these ad-hoc LMS's together using Google tools and a bit of hard work and they've performed pretty well. The biggest challenge (besides creating the actual learning material) was to decide how to organize everything so students could easily find what they wanted to quickly and easily. However, since all LMS's have a very similar design, it wasn't terribly difficult to get it to work about as well as Moodle or Blackboard. The most important thing I did was to keep the system consistent with what I did in the classroom. I think if a teacher does that, any LMS is as good as the next. 

Gmail and ESL

Update: Gmail now available in Latin American Spanish

Originally posted by Chris Yang, Product Manager, Translator Toolkit

It has taken Google a surprisingly long time to provide translation services for Latin American Spanish (LAS) emailers. As teachers, we have been working with LAS communities for years and communication between English speaking teachers and non-English speaking parents can be tricky. Now that we can translate our emails into LAS, parent-teacher communication just got easier.

Google hopes that by making Gmail available in many languages, more people will be able to share their culture and knowledge with others worldwide. Spanish is spoken by more than 300 million people in the Americas and the Caribbean. The Latin American Spanish version of Gmail is designed to be a closer match to the expectations of Spanish speakers in the Americas. You can select Latin American Spanish as your default language in Settings:

Google Passes the "LMS" test

Craig Weiss has a great post on what makes for a great LMS. His intention was to write about trends in the LMS market but what it really turned into a great list of recommendations. Based on what he has written, I’d like to address some of the ways in which a combination of Google Apps along with Openclass outperforms other Learning Management System (LMS) options.

Mobile Learning-

OK, so Google doesn’t do a great job with this, either. The best I can say is that you can access Openclass on smartphone browsers. You can also access Google docs on mobile devices.

Texting/ SMS-

Openclass itself doesn’t support texting. However, Gmail Chat does. You do have to go through a few steps to get this going, but once it’s in place, a teacher can easily send a text to any and all of his or her students.

File Repositories-

Google Drive (a re-branding of Google Docs) is just the kind of file storage that any learning management system needs. It allows any user to store, share and collaborate on any number of files. Even better, Google provides a large number of tools to track exactly who does what to which file.

Social Learning-

Google Plus is an option here (not a great one, though). Of course, it cannot be used for high schools since one must be 18 or older to use the service. Nor is it for companies who need to keep private information private. It helps that the Google Apps administrator has access to all Google Plus data, since users will be careful about what they post. However, if learners are willing to engage with one another on this platform, great things can happen. Since an infinite number of “circles” can be created, learners can maintain focus on specific topics they are trying to learn about. For example, if you’re learning about architecture, you certainly don’t want all those biology discussions cluttering your desktop. There is also a fantastic video chat feature to use if you need a face to face discussion.

Parent Portal-

Unfortunately, there is no obvious way for parents to access student data.

Integrate with an SIS (student information system)-

Google Apps for education has made this pretty straight forward. Granted, you’re going to need someone who’s tech savy enough to set up Google Directory Sync with your local LDAP server.

Navigation and UI-

For Google Apps, this is kind of a tricky issue to address. If there is a lot of effort put into website design or heavy customization of the Openclass LMS, then navigation can be fantastic. However, if you are a teacher who lacks the time and skills necessary to really do this kind of design, then you’re left with something that works, but isn’t particularly user friendly.  

All in all, Google apps, along with Openclass, makes for a great LMS. There are some items that require a bit of technical know how but overall, it looks like Google has put together a suite of products that address the digital needs of learners and instructors alike.

Advantages of Google for teachers

For schools, Google holds a number of advantages over other online programs. I'd like to focus on one aspect in particular. Google's products all play well together. Examples are listed below.

Docs and Blogger- Blogger is a pretty good blogging platform. I can get all of the basic functionality that I expect including the ability to change fonts, add images and link to other websites. It’s a pretty limited word processor, though. Notice that I’m able to adjust the left margin of the lower portion of this paragraph. Blogger doesn’t allow me to do that, so I go over to Google Docs to write and edit my work. Then I simply cut and paste. Since these are both Google products, the formatting is perfectly preserved.

Docs and Calendar- Google Calendar is a wonderful product which allows you to easily record and share events online. One of the great features of Calendar is that you can attach any file stored in your Docs to an event. This integration makes the entire process of lesson planning effortless. Plans are easy to produce since they are laid out visually. Students can see the events you allow them to see and be able to access attached study guides. Teachers can collaborate on planning and restrict the public from accessing any sensitive events or files. Click here to read more.

Gmail, Chat, Google plus and Docs- Google’s email platform is top of the line. Space is almost unlimited (I have over 15,000 emails and only use 29% of my allotted space) and its search ability is unmatched. It also works beautifully with Google’s other social products. For schools with Google apps, this means that you’d be able to send instant messages to colleagues and administration to ask for assistance or to verify a student’s excuse for coming in late. In addition, you have the option of storing any and all email attachments in your Docs account. You can even adjust Gmail’s search preferences so that it will look through your Docs as well as your emails.

Openclass and everything else- Openclass is a learning management system (LMS) produced by Google and Pearson. The platform is very similar to products like Blackboard and Moodle. Accounts are free and since it is all online, there are not upkeep costs. One of the big advantages here, however, is the single log-in. After logging in once, students have access to Gmail, Docs, Calendar and Youtube as well as being able to access any online course material.

I know that there are dozens of great online products for schools to choose from. Some of these products are better for certain faculty than Google. However, given all of the great ways Google’s products work together, it makes sense to look closely before going with something else.

Education implications: Google updates

Google has yet again updated the Google Apps platform to give administrators more control. That's great news for schools using Google Apps for Education.

You can now grant access to student contact information to school nurses, secretaries or anyone else who may need to see or edit contact information but don't need access to calendars, docs or anything else. These staff members will need to have a Google Apps email account under your School's domain name before they can see those contacts.

Contact information related to non-students can be excluded from this list in order to protect privacy. The admin simply reassigns non-students to a folder other than "My Contacts". These names can be put into a category like "Teachers" or something similar.

Once the Google Apps administrator sets up Contacts delegation, an email is sent to the other person with the following instructions:

1. Go to Google Contacts.
2. In the left navigation, click the Delegated Contacts group.
3. Under Delegated Contacts, view the names of users who have delegated their contacts to you.
4. Click on the user’s name to enter their My Contacts group with full edit access.

The information I am displaying below is a modified version of the original message emailed by Google.

---

New feature: Contacts delegation Posted: 26 Apr 2012 11:44 AM PDT Contacts delegation allows a Google apps administrator to delegate full access to the contacts in their “My Contacts” group without granting access to email or anything else. Contacts delegation can only be granted to users within your Google Apps domain.  You may delegate your contacts to no more than 25 other users at the same time.  Delegation allows the sharing of the entire “My Contacts” list only. You cannot delegate a subset of your “My Contacts” or delegate contacts not in your “My Contacts.”  How to access what's new: - Navigate to www.google.com/contacts - The "More" menu now has a "Manage delegation settings" option For more information: http://support.google.com/a/bin/answer.py?hl=en&topic=20016&answer=2590392 whatsnew.googleapps.com Get these product update alerts by email

Google calendars

Google calendars is a great way to manage events. It makes sharing and editing as easy as making a few clicks. In some instances, you may need to actually transfer calendar information from one account to another. For instance, I may be closing an old account, but still want to save the event information stored there. This guide describes how to do such a transfer.

 

Content knowledge and digital literacy

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While at supper with friends, someone asked me to look over some medical claims they found online. A quick glance at the material revealed it to be a fraud. The article mentioned softening the patient's cell walls. Humans don't have cell walls, just membranes. Had my friend known this basic biological fact, she could have rejected the information out of hand.  She’s not alone, though. People tend to trust the first few Google hits rather than reading what is there and judging accordingly.

The fact that we can learn anything, anywhere and at any time we please has convinced quite a few people that content knowledge is a silly goal to pursue. The idea is that since mobile devices and the internet gives us unfettered access to information, there should be no reason to "waste" time teaching students any basic content knowledge.  Such opinions are dangerously mistaken. After all, electronics run out of power, loose connection and (gasp) get lost. More importantly, students will be exposed to large amounts of questionable material online. Without the internal resources to double check validity, anyone can be led to believe scams which could be costly indeed.

The trick is to use triangulation. This is a process of using three sources to figure out the accuracy of information. When researching online, the three sources are as follows:

1. You- Consider how comfortable you feel about the article or claim. Does it feel right? If there are warning bells going off in your head, pay attention.
2. The Internet
3. A trusted expert- This could be a teacher, doctor or encyclopedia. It could also be your background education. The important thing is to look to an outside authority. Which agrees more with the authority... you or the internet?

Teachers of course have limited time. We struggle to strike a balance between teaching content knowledge and thinking skills. The triangulation method is a great way to find some of that balance. Not only will students have a great critical thinking tool, but they’ll also have additional motivation to learn content. When students ask “Why do we have to know this?” you can always tell them that it will help them avoid being ripped off by liars and idiots.

Twitter, teaching and what is learned

Twitter is a funny animal. Many school districts block its use due to the serious risks that it poses. However, if your district is willing to give it a try, Twitter is really worth using. There are important skills students can learn from using Twitter in the classroom. I got most of these ideas from Matt Levinson's excellent post on ways in which parents can teach kids about the internet.   

1. Digital media is social. Students really need to understand that they are interacting with others every time they get online. It’s also vital for them to deeply believe the phrase “If you don’t want it on the internet, don’t put it on the internet”. That is, everything that goes online, even for an hour or two, will likely stay online for years to come.
2. Appropriate language and sharing apply to the online world. Most students know when and how to speak in public. They don’t reveal personal information and they try not to look foolish by using incorrect english.  The same must apply online.
3. The internet is a PUBLIC space. When you are using Twitter with your students, there are no private notes. The whole world can see what they write including principals, other teachers and yes, perfect strangers. But this is true of the internet as a whole. The sooner students internalize this fact the better.
4. Mistakes are great learning opportunities. Everyone will see when a student makes a mistake. They’ll also see when YOU make a mistake. This is a great opportunity to explain how mistakes lead to better learning.  

Some teachers won’t want to use class time to teach digital citizenship and that’s fine. Even if you really just want the students to learn the course content, there are good reasons to start using Twitter. For one, you’ll increase engagement. Twitter is easy to use and students get almost instant recognition for what they have to say. You’ll also have a chance to use social learning in the classroom. For a great list of ideas on how to use Twitter to teach a variety of topics check out this post.

Once you’ve decided that this platform works well for you and your class, you can start getting a bit more sophisticated with the technology. First, you could add a custom background to your page, personalizing it for your class. You can regularly update it based on the unit you’re studying. If you’d like you can even add unit goals and objectives which often look great to administrators. Don’t forget about your profile, either. With 160 characters, you can provide a solid course description or list some simple classroom rules. Finally, try to get parents involved. Let them know what students are saying (or failing to say) online. Remember that this is a public space and you’re letting students use their public voice. The more you can involve parents in this process, the more your students will get out of it.

Now, those of you out there already using Twitter on a regular basis may want to correct me on some of my claims or ideas. Some of you still think that Twitter (and other social media) is so inherently dangerous that it should be kept out of students hands all together. Please leave a comment.

Language Arts and the Internet

There are specific differences between traditional language arts and the reading/ writing that is done for the internet. Since the amount and variety of online materials is exploding, it's important to understand some of those differences.

1) Hyperlinks

This is perhaps the most significant difference between online and offline writing. In simplest terms, a hyperlink is something you can click on in order to bring you somewhere else. It could be a word, a paragraph, a picture or even just an area on a web page. It can bring you to a different part of the page or another website. A hyperlink can also tell your computer to start downloading a file or program. (Be careful with this!)

For students to use hyperlinked writing, they have to understand the broader idea of interconnection. Writing inherently contains words and phrases that refer to other ideas and other writing. Hyperlinks are a way to make those connections explicit. It is similar to the process of citation, but is more interactive and doesn’t interfere with the flow of reading.

2) Copy, Paste ( C,  V on Mac or Control-C, Control-V on PC)

Copying is as old as writing itself. However, until the advent of the copy/paste function in word processors, it has never been so effortless. Students don’t have to read everything they copy anymore. The intellectual theft doesn’t even result in the student looking at the material and (hopefully) absorbing some of it on accident. Worse yet, it confounds plagiarism issues. I’ve heard many students honestly state they believe they can just change a few words in a copied sentence and not worry about citations. These are dangers that need to be discussed carefully with students. Simply saying “don’t copy” is about as effective as saying “don’t cheat”.

Please don’t misunderstand me. Copy/paste is an important part of the editing process. Students just need guidance in using this important tool.

3) Embedding

Illustrations are common in writing. A simple, thoughtful sketch can help to illustrate a subtle idea. Online, these illustrations can be still pictures, videos or audio segments. This can be a complex process since it involves copyright, design principles and technical skills to pull off. The skills are valuable, though and worth teaching.

4) Social

While privacy and reputation issues are vitally important, I want to focus on how social networks affect the writing process. In most cases, these sites involve writing small, sensible and frequent notes. These mediums can help students understand the concept and importance of summary. Since there isn’t much room, students have write what is most important and leave the rest behind. This can serve as a good tie-in to quality note taking.

5) Mobile

Smartphones and tablets are changing the way a lot of the world works. That includes the way we write. Please don’t dismiss them as portable personal entertainment. These are powerful business tools and will become increasingly important to your students. (Check out the new app Snapguide.) One important issue is the small size of the screen. While text can be resized pretty easily, be careful with the pictures and diagrams.

Smartphones are not only used to consume content but to create it. Are your students able to put together a meaningful, coherent and professional message on a smartphone? Good writing is hard to produce using just your thumb especially for students who are used to using cryptic text shorthand. Professionals text important information to one another. Students need to learn how text well.

While this is certainly not a comprehensive list, I trust that it has provided you with a starting point. I would love to hear of other ways that writing online differs from its offline corollary.