I have been using Google Apps (my own version anyway) for the whole semester thus far and I would have to say that it has been an overwhelming success. My students are becoming more comfortable collaborating with one another online and I am becoming more comfortable with assessing their collaborative endeavors. I can totally envision a time, in the not too distant future, whereby everything I do will be done in the “cloud” so to speak. Since I was just approved to teach an online course starting next September, I think I may use that as an opportunity to test out the real power of Google Apps and bring Google Wave into it as well. I’m sure I will be posting regularly next fall with updates on this new chapter of my quest to incorporate more ICT into public education.
On another note, I recently completed a PD in-service for some fellow teachers (about 100 or so) on how to use Google Apps effectively in the classroom. I was amazed at the positive response I received because it proved to me that people really do want to move forward with their teaching. Unfortunately, most teachers do not like to teach themselves about new technology and require more hands-on training (my next challenge). I just can’t stop thinking that if we all just embrace “cloud” computing for what it is worth the result will be collaborative education beyond our wildest expectations.
Anyhow, I just wanted to update some of you on how it was going with my Google Apps experiment.
Merry Christmas Everyone!
Recently, an opportunity came my way and I thought I’d share it with you. Ford of Canada wanted to pilot a successful program they had run in the US here in Canada and I was lucky enough to get a crack at it. The concept was a simple one. Ford would set us up with local dealers who would bring their vehicles to our school on a set date. We, in turn, would solicit members of the community to test drive the vehicles and in return Ford would give us $20 per test drive to a maximum of $6000 or 300 test drives.
I had planned on running a fundraiser to help our schools new robotics team anyhow, so this seemed like a perfect fit. And so, the Drive One 4UR School Event was in play.
I decided to have my grade 12 management class run the fundraiser. The students were quite enthusiastic about the entire thing and we had to plan the entire event in about 3 weeks. We decided to use the Internet to spread the word about our event. We used Facebook and Twitter to promote the event and we used Google Docs to help organize the planning of the event. The students were broken up into teams with different responsibilities and each team had a Google Doc which they shared with the class to update us on their progress. We also set up a Google Spreadsheet and shared it with anyone who had been invited to our event via Facebook. People were able to pre-book their test drives by vehicle online and many did so with great enthusiasm.
To make a long story short, we had a very successful day. The weather was beautiful (On November 7th believe it or not) and we actually managed to get just OVER 300 test drives. In fact, we were informed that no other school in Canada had done as many test drives thus far. As such, our robotics team is looking at receiving a great windfall thanks to some hard work on the part of the students and the philanthropic efforts of Ford of Canada.
It is without a doubt that we could not have achieved our goal without the use of the Internet.
Well, I’ve finally moved all of my classes completely over to Google this semester. I now have a teacher website that was created using Google Sites. Within this site, I have set up each of my classes with a Google Group for current events discussions and a Google Calendar to record homework, etc. So far, the students have embraced this change to a “paperless” classroom with great enthusiasm. For me, however, it is still not enough. I envision a classroom whereby the students engage in meaningful learning using technology on a daily basis.
As such, I have decided to try to use Google Apps for all of my classroom projects this semester. The students will, depending on the class, be assigned to groups. These groups will in turn be responsible for working on various projects using either Google Docs or Google Presentations. The beauty of this concept is that students will be able to collaborate with one another on projects remotely from their own homes. Each group member can contribute to the project on their own time and if the group members need to consult with one another, then they can get together using Google Talk. As a teacher, I can monitor group progress at any time and I can also monitor the contributions (or lack thereof) of each member.
I should note that I have tried to engage the students with similar projects in the past with mixed success. In this case, however, I feel the collaborative potential offered by Google Apps will bear fruit and this form of collaborative learning will become the norm in my classroom. I am quite interested in the project-based learning approach to education and this experiment will serve as a precursor to eventually revamping my courses to include true project based learning in the future.
Stay tuned for some updates in the near future…
Well, I finally bought a Mac. My laptop died and was too costly to fix so we decided to get the family a brand new 24″ iMAC all-in-one desktop. All I can say is WOW!!!
I cannot believe how intuitive this thing is. It is so easy to use that sometimes I find myself looking for a more difficult manner in which to accomplish a specific task. All of this beauty and functionality comes at a price (about 300-400 more than a PC-based all-in-one) but it is worth it to me for my children to be able grow up with a Mac in the house.
Right now, I am in the process of setting it up with Parallels which will allow me to use Windows if I need it but I can see a day in the not too distant future where I never use windows again! Each day, I am finding new features that literally leave me wondering why I have been suffering with PC’s all these years.
Stay tuned for more updates!
I’ve been very interested as of late with Google’s foray into education. Instead of trying to to explain what it encompasses in any detail, please watch the following webinar and be amazed at what Google can potentially do for you and your school.
I would love my school and board to give this a try. I really think going this route will free up the money necessary for the hardware upgrades we need so dearly; specifically notebooks and wireless access.
I would love to hear from anyone who has actually used this in a classroom setting on a large scale.
I watched an interesting documentary this evening entitled You Only Live Twice. It was about virtual world’s, specifically Second Life, and although it was from way back in 2007 it really opened my eyes to how interesting and odd the use of technology can be.
The program focused on explaining the various uses people have found for Second Life and it presented the information in a very non-biased manner. What intrigued me the most was how much interest this virtual world had attracted from so many “virtually” unrelated individuals.
Professors are using Second Life to present life-like case studies on a wide variety of subjects (Schizophrenia being the most famous of the lot), businesses are conducting market research on potential real-world products, entrepreneurs are making money buying and selling items within this virtual world and now regulators are looking at whether or not to tax the profits being made within.
Somehow, I find it fascinating that something so Sci-Fi (hence the Star-Trek reference in the title) in nature can actually exist and thrive due to the global connectivity of individuals with similar interests. Don’t get me wrong here…I’m not about to devote hours of my busy life to a virtual world but I do believe that we can learn something from Second Life.
Indeed, it would be amazing to use it as a teaching tool at the secondary level to enhance the critical thinking skills and creativity we so desire to develop in our students. Perhaps I’ll take some time out of my summer vacation to explore the possibilities of using second life applications in my classroom.
Until then, stay tuned…
A former student of mine (Kevin Morris), who has since gone on to do great things, sent me an e-mail today asking for my opinion on a blog article entitled Will Universities Stay Relevant?
This is my response…
Interesting article…
Firstly, MOST of the students I teach are NOT like you! You must understand that students like yourself are not the norm in terms of being in touch with the digital world and having the passion to use the tools available to them in the pursuit of knowledge. Most of these students head off to university (and our new inflated grading system is making it easier) with little self-initiative and passion for learning. I have been using technology in the classroom for 3 years now but I still fall back to the lecture style often because most of my students are not mature enough to embrace student-directed project based learning.
That being said, the first two years of university (as I recall them) are designed to “weed out” those who really do not belong, so to speak. Although most of my professors in the 80’s and early 90’s used the lecture style, their classrooms became more open to critical thought and discussion after second year. From what I am told, this is still the case.
Right now, I have reached a point in my classroom where I cannot proceed any further with student-driven methods due to lack of technology and support. We do not have the bandwidth nor the requisite hardware in place to allow students to develop their critical thinking skills using web based applications.
I sympathize with the universities somewhat. Many of these professors grew up without technology and are now being pushed to adopt it. The process will take time and embracing a digital pedagogy does not ensure critical thinking skills will be developed. The passion for learning must come from the students and that passion is something that transcends generations.
What I mean to say is students, like yourself, who have a passion for learning always embrace the latest technology the world has to offer to enhance their critical thinking skills and understanding of concepts. The fact that you are using Twitter, etc. to accomplish this is no different than a student in the early 1980’s using one of the first computers to be more productive or a student in the 1950’s using a slide rule to do the same.
We need to work on fueling the passion for learning if we want to produce a generation of critical thinkers. I try to use technology to inspire students to become passionate about knowledge. The technology on its own is merely a conduit to critical thinking. The passion for learning must come from within.
It’s been almost 2 months since my last post and, for whatever reason, I just have nothing to say!
My students have gone “bonkers” in the past month or so. Most of them have decided the semester is over when it is clearly not and some of them are jeopardizing their credits by doing so. Since there are no concrete penalties for this kind of behaviour any more, it is easy to understand what is happening in our schools.
Obviously, the current degradation of standards that has permeated public education in Ontario has started to unveil itself en masse. Teachers are frustrated, students are manipulating the system and the overall mood is reminiscent of a storm cloud about to burst.
Well, I guess I did have something to say after all.
This blog primarily focuses on teaching with technology, however, I feel the university issue from my previous post deserves more attention.
First of all, I want to make it very clear that I fully believe going to university is not the perfect option for many young people. The problem is the lack of viable alternatives being provided to them at the secondary level. This, in turn, results in an excessive number of students entering university simply as a next step; an academic kind of place to go. I’m not sure if this is solely a North American phenomenon or whether the same thing goes on in other parts of the world.
Most of the educators at the forefront of using ICT in education will point out that the universities are not providing an up to date learning environment for today’s student. Some will take it a step further and argue that students do not need a university education in this day and age to be successful. I am not going to disagree with either argument, however, the fact of the matter is that for most of my students university is a path they are going to have to take to become part of mainstream Canadian society. Many are simply not entrepreneurial enough to forge out on their own and learn for the sake of learning.
That being said, the question becomes whose responsibility is it to prepare these students for success at the university level?
The current pedagogical mindset coming from the Ministry of Education in Ontario makes it very clear that it is not the responsibility of secondary school teachers to “prepare” students for university. This does not sit well with me because I believe students have a lot to gain from the university experience, especially if they can get through the first two years where the goal of most institutions is to weed out as many undergraduates as possible.
I think there is most definitely a way to implement the current “holistic” approach to secondary education while still maintaining the required standards of critical thought, punctuality, and good old-fashioned hard work. We need to use the technology at our disposal to engage the students in such a way that it inspires them to want to learn. This must be paired with more rigorous curriculum standards that emphasize critical thought and quality of work over simply throwing funds at politically correct initiatives that do not provide any tangible results.
This change will not come from the Ministry level nor will it come from the universities who initiated the complaints. It will come from a grassroots movement led by teachers, students and parents who want to restore some integrity to a system that is sorrily lacking it and they will implement it one classroom at a time!
The Toronto Star published an article entitled “Profs blast lazy first-year students” and the article has created quite a bit of debate both in the schools and at the dinner table. Apparently, professors feel that first year students are woefully unprepared for the rigors of university life.
This is where the blame game begins. The professors blame the students and the high school teachers. The students blame the professors and high school teachers. The teachers blame the professors, the students and their parents. Finally, the parents blame everyone, etc.
The following is my response to the article which the Star didn’t bother publishing….
As a high school business/economics teacher I read your article with great interest. Many of my colleagues and I have seen the writing on the wall for quite some time. Our secondary and post-secondary schools systems have been moving in opposite directions for years now. University has been exposing undergraduate students to an environment filled with large (200-500 students) classes, multiple choice testing, 50% (or more) final exams and lecture-style “teaching” for many years. The difference is that we used to prepare our students for this reality with the old OAC courses. I remember OAC exams worth 35% of a students mark along with Independent Study Units (ISU’s) worth 25% on top of that. This environment prepared students for the harsh realities of first year university.
Personally, I have never really agreed with the method of teaching that professors engage in for first and second year students, however, I resolved myself to at least prepare students for what was to come. Since the courses I teach cater mostly to university bound students, I saw no harm in doing so. Over the past few years, the pressure to change from the Ministry of Education has been immense to say the least. Now, we are expected to teach using a more student-centred approach. Grades are given in levels and marks are produced via modal analysis (most recent and most consistent). The result has been grade inflation which provides the students with a false sense of security entering university. The methods we use to calculate grades now are inflating grades to the tune of 5-7% over the previous weighted-average method. This results in students entering university programs that they probably would not have qualified for 10 years ago. Students are also now used to a more hands-on approach to learning as opposed to note taking and lectures.
Therefore, I don’t really feel we have a generation of “slackers” on our hands. What we have are two systems on divergent paths. The universities are clinging (it is more cost effective) to the old “Sage on the stage” method while secondary schools are exploring student-centred learning via technology, project based learning and a more holistic approach to calculating grades. Both have their own merits, however, the whole thing comes to a grinding halt when the two worlds collide.
I went on to suggest that perhaps standardized entrance exams would probably be the end result if the two camps could not resolve their differences. Either way the bickering between the two Ministries governing universities and secondary schools in Ontario must come to an end for the sake of the students.
