Sal Khan's "The One World Schoolhouse" Part One Reflections

      In part one of Sal Khan's, The One World School House, Sal discusses the benefits of one to one tutoring and mentoring among teacher and student.  He promotes his computer based lessons as a means to educate students in a more tutoring like environment, allowing for more class time to spent on extended learning through the development of concepts and application of knowledge.  What Sal is referring to here, is the model of the " Flipped Classroom."  Completing the learning at home through online instructional videos, then doing the homework during class hours.

       Sal believes that this model will be beneficial for students, and allow them to practice more "Mastery Learning" among subject matter.  This is a term coined by Benjamin Bloom in 1968, where students must master understanding of content, before moving on to the next advanced stage of learning.  The belief here, is that all student have the ability to learn, and rather than focusing on time to cover curriculum, it is more of a general focus on demonstrating target levels of achievement and comprehension within the subject matter.  This would element the gaps that exist among a student's comprehension, and allow for better understanding of new concepts.  Students who mastered subjects quickly could be provided with extension activities, where as students who required extra time, would be given additional tutoring support.

      Sal states that learning needs to be more associative, rather than individually subject based.  Making connections among the curriculum, within different topics and different subjects allows for a more deeper comprehension and will endure longer in one's memory.  Sal makes a very valid point, that with the way education is structured now, students just "cram" information into their heads before a test, then once the unit is done, many often forget or have trouble recalling the important points of the unit or topic taught.  This will cause gaps in learning, that can effect future learnings as the students progresses on through each grade level.  Sal stresses the importance of self paced learning, and to utilize the features of the internet to learn, thereby not being constrained by the "classroom walls, bells that dictate when a class is over, or state-mandated curriculum of a topic."

      While I believe that Sal makes many great points here, I do believe that our current education system is beginning to move towards a more self-paced learning style direction.  Differentiated Instruction  allows for the personal learning styles of each student to help determine what, and how fast a student can learn new curriculum.  It opens the door for activities and lessons that meet the needs of the student, through extension activities for the fast learner, and additional supports for the learner who needs the extra time.  Also, the Flipped Classroom is becoming more known among many educators who are use to working with new technologies.  Web 2.0 tools has made it extremely easy for teachers and educators to post content and information online for students to access, so classroom time can be spent on differentiated instruction.

       While I believe that our current education system has made some advancements in these areas, I still question the time frames in which curriculum needs to be covered.  Is there indeed enough time to cover everything?  And if not, then do we have too much curriculum to cover with our students?

Special Education and Assistive Technology Across Halton District.

The Halton District school board offers a variety of tools and resources to assist students who may have special needs. These tools and resources vary according to the needs of the individual student. While some students benefit from the use of laptops and iPads, others may benefit with the help of a variety of applications and software to assist with reading, writing, mathematics, and many other subject areas. Halton is dedicated in its A.T. efforts, to ensure that all students have the access to resources they need in order to be successful.

https://sites.google.com/a/hdsb.ca/hdsb-assistive-technology/home

Available to All

        Halton has a variety of applications that all students can access, whether it be using technology in the school or accessing apps at home.  Here are several websites that Halton has posted, to assist students at school, as well as at home.

Elementary Internet Tools - Halton's main access page for research, resource access, and processing

French Resources - A Google supported app, with an informational video supporting French language learners

Math Resources for AT - A useful page providing links to different math resources and content

G.A.P.S. Research Model - Providing Halton's research model for completing research for any given topic

Websites / Web 2.0 - A useful resource outlining a variety of links for students, across numerous subjects

Halton Cloud - A great Google supported Web 2.0 tool for creating documents and sharing with others

Available to Some

Many students in Halton have been identified as requiring assistive technology software to support their learning needs. Halton provides students with numerous software licensing apps available on all school technology devices, as well as being available for downloading purposes on personal home devices (that can be used at home, or as a part of the bring I.T. initiative). Here is a list of several applications that Halton currently has purchased licensing rights for use.

SMART notebook -used for creating interactive presentations that are compatible with SMART board technology

WordQ - A word prediction device that works with several word processing applications

Boardmaker Studio - An app for creating presentations for student and teacher use

Clicker 5 - A multi-media software that supports reading and writing across all grade levels; sentence creator

Dragon Naturally Speaking - Voice to text software to support students who may struggle with writing

Kurzweil - A multi-functional software app, for reading, writing, scanning, studying, and researching

Premier Literacy - A toolbar that helps to support reading and writing, using a variety of features and functions

Classroom Suite - An ideal tool to support reading, writing, and math, among ELL's and other students

Smart Ideas - A graphic organizer tool that allows students to create interactive mind maps and diagrams

Audio Tools - This link provides access to slideshow, outlining some useful audio tools that students can use

Available for a Few

In order for students to get additional support for the use Assistive Technology applications and devices, they need to have a formal identification accessed, for a prescription to be submitted for A.T. The Halton Board states the following:

A diagnosis of need for AT by one or more medical professionals is required for a student to receive personal technology through the Special Equipment Amount - Per Pupil Amount grant. AT may be prescribed for a student without a formal identification as an exceptional student, or without a diagnosis, if, in the opinion of the medical professional(s), the technology is required for the student to access the curriculum or to express their understanding of the curriculum.

While there are currently about 3000 personally prescribed computers in the Halton District School Board, it is not fiscally feasible to provide every student in the Halton District School Board who might benefit from AT with a personally-assigned computer. For that reason, laptop AT programs (Premier, Smart Ideas, WordQ) are part of the standard student image and are available on all student computers with an operating system that can run the programs. In addition, Premier and WordQ are available for home installation. Many iPAD apps with an assistive technology function are free (Dragon Naturally Speaking, Paperport Notes) and Chrome apps and extensions are available through student sign-in to their Halton Cloud account.

http://www.hdsb.ca/Policy/Prescribed%20Use%20of%20Assistive%20Technology.pdf

Once a student has a prescription placed on their behalf, then the student may receive a board owned laptop, Live Scribe pen, or iPad, for the students to use, both in the school and at home. Training will also provided for the student, by the board, on how to use the device, as well as how to use several of the applications already listed above.

Assistive Technology Resource Bookmarks

Assistive Technology Bookmarks

      Check out the link below to access some great tools, sites, and ideas for Assistive Technology in the classroom.  The bookmarks contain a variety of tools from devices, to websites, applications, and Web 2.0 tools.  These links provide beneficial assistance to a wide range of students, from those who may be struggling, to students with disabilities, learning disabilities, autism, and English Language Learners.

https://delicious.com/timstevens111/tag_bundle/Assistive%20Technology%20Tools

The Legal and Ethical Issues Related to Teaching and Learning in the 21st Century

Safe and Responsible Social Media Access, for Educators, Students, and the Learning Community

      I have always been fascinated with how the field of education has completely blown up over the internet in the last ten to fifteen years or so.  The number of incredible resources that is now available on the internet, in terms of curriculum content links and ideas, or software and apps to display learning is completely staggering, and it continues to grow everyday.  Teachers have even taken to the internet, to share their ideas about teaching and teaching strategies, through a variety of social media platforms.  Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, Blogs, and Wikis alike, are continuing to grow in terms of educator use, and student use alike.  Whether it be sharing ideas on teaching pedagogy, posting links to great resources and websites, or students sharing their learning in creative ways, the internet and education just seem to go naturally hand in hand.

      Keeping these great advancements in mind, there is always that other side to the coin when it comes to accessing and posting on the internet.  Privacy has become a large issue in terms of use from a professional standpoint, as well as personal standpoint.  The point of posting on social media and writing a blog is to not only share your own thoughts and ideas, but to connect with others.  Quite often however, individuals who are posting on these forums do not often think about one key component to their own internet participation, and that is who the target audience is.  When something is posted on the internet, potentially, anyone can view this content.  You would then have to ask yourself, if I only want my message to be posted to a certain audience, how can I do that safely, so only those whom are intended to see it, actually do.

      As an educator, I understand the importance of using social media platforms to connect with my students, parents, and the community.  It is a valuable means of communication, in terms of the ease and quickness in which information can be shared.  Likewise, students can share their learning online likewise, not just to display what they know for evaluation purposes, but so their parents and other students alike can see what they have been doing in class.  I have discovered that the more I use internet platforms and social media for students to share their work, the less questions I receive from parents as to what we are covering in class, and how their own child is progressing.  Applications such as Twitter is a great means for parents to follow what is going on in the school, and in their child's classroom.

      However, like everyone else, I have a personal life, a life that I keep separate from my professional one.  As a teacher, I do take a lot of work home with me, my job just does not always end when the bell rings at the end of the day.  I, like so many other teachers, have to mark, plan, evaluate, and report on my own time, even within the confides of my personal residence.  At the end of the day though, my time belongs to me, and I like to connect with my friends and family over the internet through a variety of social media platforms.  My personal interests, hobbies, and activities that I participate in are often shared and discussed to great lengths online.  This begs the question, while I want parents to see the latest updates for the math homework over the weekend, do I really want them to see the pictures of my trip to Montreal?

     Many have argued that the lines between personal and professional life are becoming more and more vague, with the use and access to social media.  While some forms of social media like Facebook do offer privacy settings, so you can adjust not only who follows you, but who can even search you over the site, other platforms do not necessarily have very advanced privacy settings.  Many professionals have suggested having multiple accounts to social media platforms, one for professional use, and a second for personal.  While this may seem like a reasonable solution, I have heard of some companies asking for access to a new applicants Facebook account, so they can view the content posted, before considering to offer that applicant a position with their company.  Is that very ethical in terms of a person's right to privacy?  Probably not, but if that personal really wants / needs a job with that firm, are they really going to say no?  

http://business.time.com/2013/11/14/will-your-facebook-profile-sabotage-your-job-search/

      I have found in my own experience, the best way to control who has access to your social media information, is to just be mindful about what you post.  If I do not want the parents of my students seeing, viewing, or hearing this information, I don't post it!  Also, I try to use different social media platforms for different purposes.  I use Facebook for my own personal connections, where as I use Twitter for more professional purposes, when reaching out to the teaching community.  Also, I make sure to post things that would be reasonable for anyone to view.  Even though my Blog is intended for educators and teachers alike, I still only post content that I would be okay with being viewed by other audiences, such as the parents of my students.  I find that being more of an open book leads to better interactions with others, both personally and professionally.

      When discussing social media and internet use with my own students, I often share these same practices with my students.  I make them aware that even though they may be posting things that are intended to be viewed by your friends, anyone can potentially view it.  I am especially diligent about this fact, when student are posting status updates, with their current location attached to it.  You can never be too careful when it comes to who may be viewing your personal posts.  This type of modelling is done in my class on a regular basis, and needs to be a part of all classrooms.  This is the society we live in today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqezbib5qpQ

  In the classroom, I encourage students to use the internet for research and information purposes, as well as to display their learning and creative works.  I make parents aware through news and letters as to what their children are doing in the classroom, and how their work is going to be shared.  If any parents have concerns with the work of their child being shared online, I am always willing to make other arrangements and accommodations to protect the privacy of their children.  Many have argued that easier access to online materials, means easier access to cheating.  I have always found, that issues of cheating lie more in classroom culture than in student motivation.  I make it a point to discuss these issues with my students regularly, whether it be cheating on a quiz or copying and pasting facts from the internet without actually understanding them.  Here is a great link that gives some great tips for cheating prevention in the classroom:

http://www.aboutourkids.org/articles/cheating_in_school_why_it_happens_how_prevent_it

     As I stated earlier, the internet and social media is the world we live in today, and it needs to be adopted into classroom culture.  These tools, apps, and resources need to be modeled, and used on regular basis.  We as educators need to prepare our students for the world that awaits them beyond the classroom, and as such, the classroom needs to mirror what is going on in the real world.  Educators need to practice safe standards when accessing the internet, and in turn, model these practices with their students.  This is the Digital Generation, where the world is happening online.  Our students are already accessing it and making use of it on a daily basis for their own personal use.  It's important that we get them practicing safe standards now, so they can implement those practices into adulthood.  


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PG7wyTW74W0

     The internet is a vast and complex system, and safe use is paramount to successful classroom integration.  However, because it continues to change daily, and social media platforms do become more complex, and especially with social media now interacting with other platforms (e.g. Photos taken with Instagram automatically being shared with Facebook, Flickr, and Twitter), how can teachers, educators, and school boards continue to stay up to date and in the know for effective social media safety protocols?

Creative Commons - A Guideline

      For users looking to access the licensing features of The Creative Commons, here is a link for a guide to use, as to information about the Creative Commons, the licenses, and the benefits of using them.  Much of the information provided here, can be accessed from www.wired.co.uk.

A Guide to the Creative Commons

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cE6pKb0G7LEi5OK_G9FNoIhjRetmBqiEzntzsnxwEW8/edit?usp=sharing

Comparing 21st Century learning Tools - The Policies and Guidelines

      In a previous post, I discussed how the Halton District School Board leaves policies regarding safe communication technology use and social media use, for individual schools to develop, in conference with teachers, administration, and school council.  I argue, that this is an ineffective model to follow to ensure safe use of 21st century tools, as this continues to promote inequities that exist between our schools, in terms of overall access and use.  Some schools will be trending more than others, and as such, are more liable for issues that may arise with safe, responsible, and legal use.  Conversely, schools that are just attempting to access social media sites for greater communication and information sharing, may unnecessarily hit some stumbling blocks as they navigate their way through this new communication paradigm.  I strongly encourage a board level policy to be implemented, to ensure the safe and effective use of 21st century learning tools, among all schools within the Halton District School Board.

       When looking at other schools in Halton, whether it be connecting with other educators or checking out online school websites, there is very little information regarding safe and appropriate use of the internet and social media tools provided.  Many teachers that I have spoken to are unaware of any guidelines or policies that exist within their own schools, when accessing the internet using safe and effective means.  This is very problematic, as not only are some teachers not effectively using 21st century tools, but many would not know how to do it safely, even if they tried.  The Halton board has clearly stated in its policies, that it is up to the school to develop safe and responsible policies for use among teachers and students alike, when accessing information and connecting with others online.  If this is not being done at the school level, then how can we be sure that we, as well as our students, are promoting safe, legal, and ethical practices when communicating online.

      When reviewing such policies within our neighbor board, the Dufferin-Peel School Board, I was able to access a clear board policy as to the distinction between personal and professional use of internet communications and social media.  The policy makes some clear distinctions regarding these lines:

      "Personal v. professional: Every time you communicate, whether it’s in-person or on social media, you shape public opinion about you, your profession, your school, your board and public education. Statements like, “Tweets are my own and don’t reflect my employer’s views,” don’t hold true for educators. Although staff lead private lives, the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that teachers’ off-duty conduct, even when not directly related to students, is relevant to their suitability to teach.  As such, staff should use sound judgment and due care when using social media while on and off duty."  

http://www.peelschools.org/staff/SMguidelines/Documents/FINAL%20Social%20Media%20Guidelines%20for%20staff.pdf

      This policy includes clear guidelines for teachers to follow, when utilizing internet communication and social media tools.  Peel provides clear points as to how to use these tools effectively and safely, not just for students, but mainly for teachers to follow, to ensure they properly accessing these resources, and modelling them for their students.

      When reviewing internet communications and social media use for the state of New York, I discovered that they have adopted state wide policies for social media use among teachers and students.  They too give clear points for teachers to follow, as to how to safely access social media resources.  Some points include:

-Rememeber that using social media academically is an extension of your classroom environment.

-Put your best foot forward.
-Pause before you post.
-Personal use of social media may have an effect at school.
-Protect yourself.
-Adjust your privacy settings appropriately.

-There is no right to privacy when using school-related social media

http://schools.nyc.gov/NR/rdonlyres/9765B2DF-9BD5-42AA-8D85-005D0FC8AA23/0/Student_Social_MediaGuidelines_finalv3_20140128.pdf

       If find that last point to be very noteworthy.  "There is no right to privacy when using school-related social media."  The state of New York is basically saying, that anything you post for a school social media account, can be seen, read, and interpreted by anyone.  These are some important points to think about when accessing social media.

      For consistency purposes, I believe that polices need to be implemented at the board level, to ensure safe use of information and communication technologies, mainly, the use of social media.  This ensures a consistency for all schools in the board, and allows for new users with clear guidelines to follow when navigating social networks.  While this may cause some barriers when implement need changes, but at least, teachers will not be held solely liable if issues due arise, as long as they are following board policy.   
      

Staying Safe When Using Social Media

      Social Media has connected our world in ways that we never could have thought possible.  Location and proximity no longer matters when sharing ideas and collaborating and connecting with other people.  Social media has made access to people and information instant, and only seconds away from being accessed.  It also has however, had a significant impact on privacy when it comes to sharing documents and information over the internet.

      In order to stay safe, and maintain personal information and documents of importance, I suggest six simple "In the KNOWs" for how to safely and effectively use social media platforms.  They include:

1.  Know the platform - Understand all of the features of the social networking platform, and how it works.  There are always user instructions available in most settings, or check out a YouTube video to see how it works, and what features it offers to you.

2.  Know the privacy settings - With platforms like Facebook growing by the millions every year, it is important that you protect your personal information.  Many such sites offer the ability to adjust your privacy settings for what others can see and access about you.  Explore them thoroughly, so that way you are only sharing what YOU want others to see.

3.  Know the social networking etiquette - Did you know that there is a twitter etiquette for social interaction and following?  You can check out this link, for some helpful teacher hints for proper and effective Twitter use.  http://www.edudemic.com/guides/guide-to-twitter/

4.  Know the right people - Make sure that you are not just connecting with people you know, but people that are in your field.  The whole purpose is to connect with individuals and expand your personal and professional web.  Social media is an excellent means to help you achieve this.

5.  Know who is following you - Make sure you are always aware of who is attempting to connect with you.  If it someone you are unfamiliar with, or who is not in your field or profession, it could just be spam accessing your personal information.  Always be aware of who you are connecting with.

6.  Know how to use it regularly - If you are not accessing your social media platforms on a regular basis, then not only are you missing out on a great communication tool, but people who you could connect with, may choose to contact you less.  Social media can benefit everyone, you just need to make sure that you do your best to always keep it a two way street.

For further information on how teachers and educators can use Twitter effectively, check out the ideas posted by edudemic.com.

http://www.edudemic.com/100-ways-to-use-twitter-in-education-by-degree-of-difficulty/

You can also check out this document also provided by edudemic.com, for guidelines to effectively establish social media safety guidelines for your school.

http://www.edutopia.org/pdfs/edutopia-anderson-social-media-guidelines.pdf

School Board Policies Regarding 21st Century Tools and learning

      Since December of 2012, the Halton District School Board has taken greater initiative to incorporate 21st Century learning tools into the classroom.  They created a four year plan to make technology more accessible to students, and to increase funding to extend WiFi connections, purchase hardware, and provide inservices for software use.  Through the collaborative efforts of the Chief Information Officer, the Superintendent of Education, the Director of Education, and the Information and Technology department, the Halton District School board has created a vision for its I.T. expansion.  I have found that it is very specific within its plan to expand, and how to enable students to use these tools safely and effectively.  However, I have found that the vision is lacking in one area, and that is the safe modeling and use by educators in the classroom.

      The Halton District School Board recognizes the need and benefits for the growth of technology use in the classroom.  The 2012 Vision Report states:

"Technology is a tool to support research-based instructional strategies in literacy, numeracy and interdisciplinary learning. We must leverage technology to engage students and ensure student success. Instructional strategies are evolving to reflect the needs of 21st century learners. Problem solving and inquiry, with teacher-facilitated differentiation, is reflected in a learning environment that is changing from a focus on providing facts to a focus on higher order thinking skills.

The numerous content and process expectations referenced in the Ontario Curriculum and the learning skills identified in the provincial Growing Success: Assessment, Evaluation and Reporting Guides for Parents and Educators, identify/utilize many 21st Century Skills. "  

http://www.hdsb.ca/aboutus/IT/IT%20Documents/ITVisionBoardReport.pdf

      In response to this new wave in education, the Halton Board created a multi-year plan to address the need for greater technology in the classroom, and to provide the appropriate funding to ensure that the students in our schools are developing the skills of the 21st century learner.  They have indicated areas, both at the board, school, and classroom levels, where responsibilities lie, and policies must be developed to ensure safe and effective student use of technology.  At the classroom level, teacher instruction needs to include how to access resources and connect with others to create "E-communities", as well as learning about the ethical/legal issues surrounding technology use.  At the school level, it is the duty of the administrator and school council to create policies for the safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology.

      At the board level, Halton District has provided a policy, outlining acceptable use of information and communication technologies (revised in March of this year).  The policy clearly outlines user responsibilities, ranging from adhering to copyright laws, protecting passwords and information (Creative Commons would be an asset here), and complying with privacy legislation.  The board even provides numerous links, as well as a safe list of resources and sites that Halton users can access.   http://www.hdsb.ca/Policy/Acceptable%20Use%20Procedure.pdf
      While the board has made it very clear as to the responsibilities it maintains to support technology use, ranging from providing resources, to hardware use, and to provide tech support, there is one overwhelming area that the Halton Board has yet to address.  That is the issue of safe Social Media use, especially for educators.

      It is the responsibility of the teacher, to promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility.  Educators must strive to promote a proper digital etiquette and social interactions when using information technology.  I find however, that these expectations, while good in context, are very vague when interacting with different platforms of social media.  There are no board level policies as to how educators can safely access these technologies, so they can model them with their students, and use them to communicate regularly.  This is an expectation placed upon each individual school, probably due to the inequities that exist among schools that are currently utilizing social media platforms.  I ask though, is this a wise decision?  Shouldn't the school board implement board wide policies for safely accessing social media platforms, so both teachers and students can do so safely?  This area remains vague among board documents regarding information technology, and should be addressed, as more and more educators and students alike, are using these communication platforms.

5 Lesson Unit Utilizing Web 2.0 Tools

      Here is the link, and an embedded copy to the Google Docs Presentation I put together, outlining a Thematic Unit for Grade 5, focusing on the First Nations and European Explorers strand for Social Studies.  The Unit comprises a variety of Web 2.0 tools, for students to demonstrate their learning.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Zy_9RooBkU6n4k8k1mu6Cd7xUjg3FuLcMorBgi3s2QM/edit?usp=sharing

Sal Khan's "The One World Schoolhouse"

      I recently began reading "The One World Schoolhouse", written by Sal Khan.  Khan uses the book to discuss his journey of how he began tutoring one student, using technology and the internet, to educating millions of people worldwide, with the use of communication technology and Web 2.0 resources.  He illustrates in the book, his observations of how students learn, why they struggle in certain areas, and discusses appropriate strategies that can be utilized to obtain student success in learning.  Furthermore, he discusses how the benefits of computer technology and communication can be integrated into education, to meet the needs of today's unique students and learners.

      He begins the books by addressing the question of the standard classroom model.  He, like so many others in the education field, believe that this model is out of date with today's learner.  With the inception of the internet and social media, Khan believes that the world requires "active processing of information", meaning that information and learning needs to be analysed for dunderstanding and the connections that exist among ideas and concepts.  The standard classroom model focused more on rote memorization to learn new concepts, which is out of date with today's global community.  Our educational system needs to incorporate this new digital age, with a heavy emphasize on explaining and sharing with others, what we know and what we've learned.

      Khan begins the first few chapters, discussing his observations when tutoring his cousin.  He identified the fact that students tend to pick up some concepts much easier than others, as students learn different things at different rates.  Due to the nature and depth of our curriculum, if a concept was not fully learned or understood by a student in a certain time frame, then that student was then left behind in terms of their abilities to comprehend the material, as new curriculum material would be presented to the class.  He also makes the distinction that catching on to new concepts quickly, is not the same as understanding an idea thoroughly.  He believes that education should be like a "Treasure Hunt", where students would have fun discovering the mysteries of new ideas and concepts.  Lastly, Khan identifies the optimal time frame for students to be presented new learning, before attention spans begin to wander, which is more or less ten minutes.

      Thus far, I have found very little in terms of new learning from the first few chapters of Khan's book.  As a teacher who has been in the classroom for ten plus years, I have always been very aware of the behaviours of my students, in terms of their attention spans, which is why I have always tried to keep my classes moving after certain time periods, by continually switching tasks and activities throughout the day.  Also, I have always done my best to balance the timelines of the curriculum with the learning rates of my students.  Providing extra lessons, extended help times, drop in periods during breaks and after school, has often helped my students who need extra time when learning certain concepts, but obviously to a point.  It begs the question, do we as educators have too much to cover in terms of curriculum content....or do we need to challenge our students more to work harder, and be better prepared for a competitive and well trained work force?

      While I am very familiar with Khan's observations about teaching and learning, I do believe he does make many valid points, in terms of education needing to be student centered, with a curriculum and schedule that meets their needs.  I also feel that Khan's use of internet videos and video conferencing to be beneficial for students, in terms of time length and ability to review material as needed.  I question though, can this format replace the need for an actual teacher to be present, in terms of one to one learning?  Can videos and video conferencing cover all necessary questions and inquiries a student may have when trying to comprehend new concepts?  While I do believe that Khan's methods have validity, I believe that there is a lot more that a teacher can do, in terms of one to one curriculum delivery, guidance, and problem inquiry.

      I look forward to reading on, to see how Khan utilizes technology and 21st century learning skills to assist his students in their educational development.


   

Did you know... Ontario's "Inspire" Magazine

      Did you know that Inspire, the journal of literacy and numeracy for Ontario, is a journal of successful practices for teachers, principals, supervisory officers, directors of education, and for anyone interested in learning how to further student achievement.  It features numerous articles following different topics, that examine a variety of initiatives, pedagogy, and teaching practices to support student development and achievement.  The journal is organized into several sections spanning across a number of subject topics and ideas, including a Research Room, Special Features section, Letters to the Editor, and Archive sections.  The other sections of the journal include:

New Leader - Practical strategies for student achievement.

In the Classroom - Stories from across Ontario for educators who are interested or engaged in literacy and numeracy strategies, Kindergarten to Grade Six.

The Principal's Office -  Stories from across Ontario that are particularly geared toward, or are about, school leaders, administrators, and the implementation of board-level strategies in literacy and numeracy, Kindergarten to Grade Six.

Equity of Outcome - Targeting special interest groups to appropriate access and support for their educational development 

Stories for Parents - In this section parents are kept informed of the latest literacy and numeracy strategies from classrooms across Ontario. These stories are pulled from the various sections of Inspire.

Leadership Support - The monographs in this series explore the crucial work that supervisory officers and other leaders are doing to raise the bar and close the achievement gap for all of our students.

      I recently read an article under the Stories for Parents section about professional learning and student learning in mathematics.  It was entitled "A Grade Five/Six Huron Perth Teacher's Perspective" written by Kim Buchanan.  Kim discusses her experiences teaching math to a split grade, utilizing concepts and strategies that she has become more and more confident with, as she continues to refine her teaching practice over the years.  She discusses how she never seems to teach the same math concept in the same way twice, due to the always differing conceptual knowledge that her students bring to the classroom every year.  She talks about how she is willing to try new ways to teach things, and how continued reflection of her practice, conferencing with her colleagues, and focusing on how her students learn, results in better teaching practices for her, as well as more success for her students.  She states, "I am interested in trying to build the best possible instructional tasks and assignments to assist myself and my students in our long term math journey."

      I found this article really spoke to me, as I view math in very much the same way that Kim does.  We as educators are forever adjusting our teaching practice to meet the needs of our students, and to keep up to date with the latest and most effective teaching practices.  There is a huge push in my board towards the mathematics strands, to improve student learning and increase EQAO scores.  There has been a lot of P.D. in the last two years for math, "Math Talks" is a big initiative currently running in the board, and there is lots of new manipulatives and software to support math learning.  I feel personally, that the best way to support math learning, is through collaboration with our teaching partners and other educators, and to share in an information exchange and free flow of ideas.  21st century learning tools is a key factor to assist in this information exchange, and technology will be a key factor motivating teacher discussion and student learning.

      Inspire has many other articles that teachers, educators, parents, and leaders could find useful to support student learning.  It is a journal supported by the Ontario ministry of education.

     

      

Web 2.0 Tools - Reflection

It's truly amazing to think of how I used computers to prepare documents, and how I use them now. I would use my Microsoft Word Processor to prepare an activity, handout, or quiz on my home computer, and save it to a USB stick. Then I could use the school computer to open up the document, make the necessary changes to the document, since my school would be using a different version of Word or Open Office, then print it off. Later on, as I got more "Tech Savy", I would email the document to myself, open it at school, make the necessary changes again, and print it off.

The school board has a lot of great programs licensed for teacher and student use on the school computers. I would would often use Appleworks to have the students type up documents, or use Comic Life to create stories, Smart Ideas to prepare graphic organizers, or programs like UltraKey to develop typing skills. These programs are great in terms of their usefulness and student engagement. The only draw back to them was that I could not access student progress and work at home, meaning I would have to spend extra time after school, accessing student work for assessment purposes. Plus, there was the added lessons at the beginning of the school year of teaching students to properly save their work in their UserData, so they could access their documents later on, and on a different computer. There were always students who forgot these steps, and lost all of their progress.

Web 2.0 tools have made accessing information and data so much easier and quicker. All of these tools are online, meaning a user can access them on any computer, both in and out of school. This allows for a more blended style of teaching, incorporating technology into teaching practice more, and also allows for the Flipped Classroom model of education. Students do not even need to work about saving their work, as all of these programs have Cloud abilities, automatically saving student progress. This is extremely beneficial, as students can explore these sites more freely, and have continued access outside of their one or two computer periods a week (At least at the Elementary level).

Web 2.0 tools have been beneficial for teachers and leaders, as the time and effort saved when learning and preparing documents and working with software has been greatly decreased. My board even offers teachers to the ability to print off documents from home, directly to their school's printers. When learning about new software and technology before using Web 2.0 tools, the time to work with it could only be spent at school, during P.D. sessions or during teacher time, during and after school. Now, technology can be explored at home, in school, or really anywhere according to the schedule of the teacher, and has become much easier for a user to learn and explore. Leaders can provide training not only during P.D. sessions, but also online, utilizing videos, slideshows, and various other online support methods. Furthermore, Web 2.0 tools have allowed for more collaborative efforts to be used for ideas for program content and software development. When new tools are introduced, both software creators and users likewise can have a say in how the tool is shaped, as more and more people use the software for their own purposes (just look at the use of Wikis - Wikispace).

Web 2.0 tools have opened the door to programs and software that is easier to use, quicker to use, easier to access, easier to learn about, and easier to collaborate on.

Wikispace for Math Ideas

Check out the link below, for the wikispace a started, outlining Math Strategies, Ideas, and Links.  The first page has been set up for Mental Math strategies for students to utilize.  My goal is to continue to add to it, as well as to have other users add ideas likewise, and build pages to share with my students, and for other teachers to share likewise.

https://mathideasandgreatlinks.wikispaces.com/Mental+Math+Ideas+and+Links

Flickr Math Album

Here is a new album I created on Flickr, depicted some great Math Resource Posters!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/123086428@N03/sets/72157647930772969/



You can follow me on Flickr, at timstevens111.