Showing posts with label Apps. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Apps. Show all posts

Monday, May 14, 2018

Equity Maps Make Discussion Assessment Easier


Sometimes it’s amazing when you realize how difficult a task is prior to use of technology. One example of this for teachers is the assessment of student discussions during literature circles or Socratic seminars. Peter Gausmann, seventh grade language arts teacher at Minnetonka Middle School East, recently showed me a technology tool that has made these assessments so much easier, it’s hard to imagine going back to non-tech solution.

Recently Peter began using the Equity Maps app on his iPad during student discussions. After uploading his class lists for each hour, he simply opens the app before a discussion and drags the kids’ icons around the table “map” of the seating arrangement for the discussion group. He then taps a record button and begins tracking the conversation and discussion. Tapping on each name around the table automatically tallies the number of times each student speaks as well as places a marker in the audio recording for ease of access when listening to the recording later. In addition to this, Peter can make notes about the comments and quality of things each person says. At the end of the conversation there is a nice visual map showing how frequently people have spoken, who hasn’t, who has dominated the conversation, the gender equity balance, and more. That visual infographic can help guide the students to learn about their performance and improve in future discussions.

Peter explained to me that this tool has made assessing class discussions much less of a daunting task. Using the Equity Maps tool allows him to better provide his students with feedback about their performance. He can actually focus on the content of what’s being discussed rather than having to worry about tallying who said what when and for how long. This is just another example of ways that technology enhances instruction and learning for both students and teachers!

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Monday, July 10, 2017

Paperless Hall Passes in School: There's a (Student Made) App For That


Visit mPass Website
Last year, one of our middle school teachers had an idea for a paperless hall pass. Since all of her students had iPads in our 1:1 program, she figured it would easier to use an app instead of paper. There are a lot of problems with paper passes, including the ability to easily track and manage how often students are using passes in each of their classes throughout a day (and for some, even attempting to take advantage of the system). Students used to have a page in their paper assignment planners for hall passes, but since that was eliminated and had gone digital, a new solution was needed. 

Seventh-grader Omar, center, developed the mPass iPad app.
Also pictured (l-r) Pete Dymit, MME Principal; Minnetonka Director of IT,
Mike Dronen; and Dave Eisenmann, Director of Instructional Technology
Another teacher, Michelle Brunik, heard about this idea and shared it with a former student, Omar, who was inspired to create it. He had used MIT's App Inventor back in sixth grade in her STEM class where he learned the program's easy to use drag and drop interface and made Android apps. Omar was part of a Coding Club after school and worked with an older student, Jacob, who helped him transfer the idea from an Android prototype to an iOS app using Swift and XCode. The students used the online lessons in Treehouse to learn Swift.

After the initial prototype, Omar found that the original code was not suitable enough for what was needed. So he started from scratch using Swift, Xcode and then integrated Firebase (which he learned on his own) to the mix to develop the app as it is today. He worked with members of our Technology Department to use XCode and publish the hall pass app to JAMF, the Mobile Device Management system for our iPads. 

Omar then presented the hall pass, called mPass, to all the teachers at his school at a staff meeting. Teachers tried it out for a week before rolling it out to all students. They figured out the number of passes that would be issued per quarter, the length of time allotted per pass, whether or not students using the pass would take or leave their iPad on their desk (showing the pass being used and time left to be gone), as well as decided on their rules for what happens if a student stays too long (the teacher can pull another pass). It was used successfully by 1,100 students this past spring and will be used again this coming school year.

Now with digital hall passes, teachers have data on how often kids are leaving class and can see this total by individual. It helps better track students, time limits, and eliminates the confusion of the unknown. Later this past spring, Omar surveyed teachers and students to get feedback and suggestions for features to add. Although students like the idea of a digital hall pass created by one of their own classmates, not all students like the accountability; they preferred the old method that made it easier to sneak out of class!


You can learn more about this project in the video above (starting at 59 seconds) or on Omar's website. mPass will soon be in the Apple App Store for commercial use for other schools for the upcoming school year. Check it out!

 To learn more about Minnetonka coding program, Tonka Codes, please see these related articles below:
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Monday, March 27, 2017

Authentic Language Learning Through Tech Tutorial Screencasts

Recently at Minnetonka Middle School West, teachers Stephanie Battista and Melissa DuBose had their seventh grade Spanish Immersion students make instructional technology tutorial screencasts. They purposely had the students make these videos to give them an authentic task to practice using specific instructional and technical vocabulary, in this case “mandatos” aka command verbs. This language practice was not something that would have been as meaningful or memorably practiced in a simple classroom discussion.

Student sample template
The students worked in small groups with two to four classmates and chose an app for their project, such as Pic Collage or Popplet. They then collaborated and created their plan and script in a shared Google Doc using a template (pictured) for their instructional screencast which was to last a couple minutes. They made a shared Google Slide show with screenshots and instructions to use in their Explain Everything video. Melissa and Stephanie are hoping that final screencasts will be used with our elementary Spanish immersion students as part of a tutorial library in the future so these younger students can learn how to use these apps as well as learn the language in an authentic situation, hearing older students as the teachers. 

Here is a student example (shown above). The basic summary of the project requirements are below:
  • Must include an introduction to the app: What is it?  Why is it useful? What are the benefits?  
  • Must include at least ten steps explaining how to use the apps. Instructions should be detailed and easy to follow for a new user.  Underline these words in the script!
  • Must include “mandatos” (the command form of Spanish).  Highlight these words in the script!
  • Must include at least five screenshots and an image of the app icon to help users follow along
  • All group members must contribute!  All group members must speak at some point during the tutorial.
  • Final product should be 2-5 minutes long.

When I asked Stephanie to reflect on the project and its outcomes, she said the following: 
I love this project because Google Docs gives students the freedom to collaborate and work together simultaneously on the same document. It does take students a while to get used to sharing and exporting Google Docs, but we have worked hard to get our students accustomed to the app, so much so that some students chose to present Google Docs in their App Tutorial.  The major benefit of this app is that when students are absent or need to work at home, they can easily do so using a Google doc.   
Additionally, using Explain Everything gives me the opportunity to hear my students use their presentational communication, which is an important skill that we are trying to improve.  Many of our students can speak “conversational” Spanish proficiently, but struggle to speak in a presentational manner for an extended period of time.  This project gives the students the opportunity to plan and practice those skills.  We look forward to the future and hope to pass on these videos to our elementary counterparts as an authentic resource!
Furthermore, Melissa adds:
I agree with Stephanie, that this is an opportunity  for a truly authentic experience and will create a great way to share with our elementary schools. I think the students enjoy the project and love picking out which app they would like to make a tutorial for. They struggle to find the vocabulary they need without using English but this a great opportunity for them to apply the vocabulary specific to a context they might not feel comfortable in. 
This is a great example of student collaboration, communication, and learning in an authentic and real world situation harnessing the power of technology in our 1:1 iPad program. It covers multiple dimensions of the Minnetonka Teaching & Learning Framework.

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Monday, February 27, 2017

If My Parents Only Knew: My NBC KARE 11 Interview About Kids, Tech & Parenting



Last week Julie Nelson, news anchor on NBC KARE 11 TV, interviewed me as part of a series on parenting and technology entitled If My Parents Only Knew. Unlike my first appearance at KARE 11 talking about kids and technology, this format was not a pre-recorded story but an open interview for 15 minutes discussing some of my Top 10 Tips for Tech Healthy Kids. Once again, I answered questions from viewers through Facebook.

We talked about the importance of proactively sharing values and expectations with kids around technology, including keeping devices out of kids' bedrooms overnight and the great resources for parents available at Common Sense Media. We discussed the need for parents and adults to model a healthy balance with technology, including tech free dinners and being where their feet are. I also talked about the need to limit exposure to inappropriate material on our kids' screens by using filters both at home (I use Open DNS with Netgear Parental Controls) and on phones (I use and recommend Curbi). My list of tips and resources was shared with  the online audience.

 The entire series for the week is a great educational resource for parents and included three other interviews about apps parents should know about, how technology is used to cheat, and revenge porn and sexting. You can view those interviews here. A big thanks to Julie Nelson and KARE11 for dedicating so much time to this important topic last week! Please make time to learn about these important topics, talk with your own kids, relatives, and/or students about them, and share these links and resources with others. Together we can all help keep today's kids safer, more healthy, and well balanced in their use of technology! 

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Monday, January 16, 2017

One Year Later, Green Screens Are Everywhere in Minnetonka Schools



High School Students filming with green screens.
One year ago this month, we added the Green Screen app by Do Ink to our students' iPads. Since then, we have seen tremendous use of the tool. As you walk around each of our schools, you will see green fabric, green paper, and green plastic table cloths hanging on walls in hallways, classrooms, and media centers. Students are making green screen videos for all sorts of creative projects across grade levels and subject areas in our 1:1 iPad program for grades 5-12.

(Do Ink is an application that allows students to easily record, edit, and produce green screen video. Green screening itself is the technique of filming in front of a green background and then using a program with a chroma key filter to replace anything green in the image with another photo or video. Think of a weather forecaster on television standing in front of a map. Do Ink's Green Screen app is a wonderful program that makes this process easy.)

Student storyboard
In the video above, you can see grade five students in Mike Borgendale's classroom at Deephaven Elementary using green screens as a culminating project in a English language arts lesson. The students wrote  a speech about one of their favorite vacations.  They used Notablity to complete a storyboard template (pictured to the right) that the teacher provided to outline and script their speech. Then they selected images from their personal trip or ones they found online. After recording and editing their speeches in Do Ink, they shared their final projects with the class using Reflector to mirror their iPads and watched everyone's speeches together.


Students using a green screen for an ESPN set.
At the upper grades, students are using green screens for a variety of projects, too. Students in world language classes are using green screens to make videos practicing their speaking skills in all sorts of situations. High school Spanish teacher Sarah Strauss recently had students making videos of TV shows such as Iron Chef, Dr. Phil, ESPN Sports Center, and more. She explained to me that the students work together to plan and write out their script, then hang green fabric on the walls around their classroom or in the halls to film their video footage on their iPads, edit their video, and turn it in to their online Schoology course. She said students are very motivated to create these scenes and write and speak the dialog completely in Spanish, and it's great practice for them.


Students using a green screen for a Dr. Phil set.
Within our Minnetonka Teaching & Learning Framework, these projects are great examples of using technology for learning, creativity, communication, authentic and real world learning, and collaboration. The iPad itself is a great tool in all subject areas, and its mobility, dual cameras, powerful video recording and editing abilities make projects like these so easy to produce that the time and focus is spent on the learning with very thought at all to the technology involved. 

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Monday, June 6, 2016

Minnetonka Technology Tools Protocols: Determining Value Add for New Tool Adoption

There certainly are a lot of educational technology tools out there, and every day it seems even more products are added to an already crowded market. The number of vendor calls and emails I receive per day are a constant reminder of this reality. (If you haven't read Patrick Larkin's spot on message to vendors, you should.) 

 In many ways, of course, this is a good problem to have. Having so many tools to choose from and a competitive marketplace means that vendors are regularly adding features and enhancements to their existing products in order to stay in the game and expand their presence, while new companies are releasing innovative products trying to break into the space. Both students and teachers benefit certainly benefit as these tools improve education. 

However, with so many tools to choose from, some protocols are helpful to guide selection of what tools to use and help decide when to adopt new ones. In Minnetonka, we have a set of standard tools that everyone uses, which helps provide focus for training and support as well as not overwhelm our students, parents, and teachers with too many options. For example, we have used one learning management system, Schoology, for years as opposed to allowing anyone to use whatever they want. A lack of standard tools quickly becomes frustrating for a student (and parent) trying to find all the homework for a sick child. In our 1:1 iPad program, we use Notability for our note taking program, and since we limit the availability of apps within the Apple App store (see Balancing Choice and Control with a Half Million Apps), teachers and students can focus on learning rather attempting to keep up with a huge number of apps and track specific and or/individual features and nuances. In some cases when it is beneficial to do so, we do have a few apps to choose from rather than just one, such as more than one screen casting app, one word processing tool, or one formative assessment/student response system.

This balanced versus overwhelm approach doesn't mean we aren't regularly looking at new tools and evaluating whether or not try them out in our environment. When we do add new tools, we often start things in small pilot groups rather than rolling them out district wide. This helps us to make sure things truly work well and better plan our implementation and training, too. 

 This spring a group of our instructional technology teacher coaches (Tech TOSAs: Teachers on Special Assignment), Building Principals, and District Admin met and listed our protocols for technology tools in an effort to both provide guidance and clarity for our teachers and staff as to how and why products are selected. We came up with the following. Hopefully you find it helpful. I'd appreciate hearing from other schools to see how you have organized this process:

District Tech Tool Protocols

If you have an app, software program, or web-based tool that you'd like to use, please see the criteria and requirements below.  Then, if your new tool meets these requirements, talk with your Tech TOSA and Media Specialist about adding it as a District supported tool. The following criteria should be applied to all teacher- and student- suggested apps. Teachers are welcome to use new technology tools as long as they meet the criteria below:

  1. Teachers need to use District Materials Selection guidelines (Policy 606) to make a sound decision (requests).
  2. Teachers need to notify tech staff of the tools being used (requested).  A growing number of applications may need to be approved before student data is uploaded or an App distributed through the MTKA store.
All Tools should:
  • Be free (some exceptions if budget allows)
  • Be age-appropriate for audience (14+ for MHS, 11+ for Middle Schools, 4+ for elementary)
  • Be free of advertising
  • Not duplicate a tool/workflow process that we already have
  • Be educational
  • Has the company signed the Student Data Privacy Pledge? (student email address is private data along with achievement scores)
Things to Consider:
  • What are the limitations to the lite version?  Are there additional/in-app purchases for the full version that are essential to the function?
  • Does it have a broad application rather than a narrow focus?
  • Ease of use for students and teachers (Schoology) workflow.
  • How are students accessing/signing in? Does it require individual student logins or can a generic user login be shared by all students?
  • How is student data saved/backup? Will it take up a lot of space?
  • Does the program work on all devices (PCs, iPads)?
  • Who owns the work/copyright?
  • How do parents access/view students’ work? Is this a tool for which parents will need a separate account?
  • Are the benefits/value add for this tool great enough to add to this the mix of tools being used by students, parents, and staff?
  • Will this be used on an ongoing basis for student learning? If so, requires principal or District approval in May annually as supplemental material- Policy 606
Unapproved Tools:
  • duplicate the features and functionality of existing tools (we don’t need another note-taking app, for example)
  • require teachers to set up classes and enroll students
  • be a “lite” version that offers minimal functionality
  • require additional/in-app purchases
  • are too large for use. For example, apps below 125 megabytes work best
  • Age restriction compliance
  • Does not meet District Terms of Service or privacy requirements
Essential Standard Tools
These tools are expected and/or highly recommended to be utilized by all teachers:
  • Schoology
  • Skyward
  • Google
  • Outlook
  • SMART Notebook
Recommended Tools (1:1 classrooms)
These tools are highly recommended for a 1:1 classroom environment. They align with our instructional framework and we have invested and purchased them:
Optional Tools
These provide value, you may choose to use these apps/web tools, if desired. Training and support may be available:
  • Single Sign On tools
  • Google Sites
  • Schoology Portfolios
  • PreciouStatus (Supplemental app, not taking the place of Schoology)
  • iXL (depending on building-level subscriptions)
  • Kahoot, Class Kick, Quizizz, Quizlet, Go Formative
  • Remind (Secondary only)
Unsupported, Unapproved Tools
This doesn’t work for a clearly defined reason… The following are not supported, so please do not use the following tools:
  • Google Classroom (a competing LMS which would require students, staff and parents  to use a second system for coursework)
  • Class Dojo (conflicts with Responsive Classroom)
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