Ten Powerful Things To With A Laptop

The first keynote at Ulearn09 this morning was Gary Stager. He had some messages that very much tied in with my thinking.
Gary mentioned the internet being about primary resources. This was one of the findings from my e-fellows research where students were able to go directly to the source of the information they required rather than relying on often inaccurate or biased second-hand accounts.

He talked about when the dominant metaphor for computing is looking stuff up – that this will result in kids looking up inappropriate stuff. Something to think about, although I believe there is a place for using computers in this way to inform their inquiry. Obviously though, in that case it is not the dominant metaphor.

Of his ten powerful things to do with a laptop the ones that resonated the most for me were:

• Share your knowledge
• Answer tough questions
• Make sense of data
• Change the world
• Become a mathematician, a scientist, a poet, a playwright etc.

These fit very well with the inquiry-based approach to learning I am so passionate about. Sharing knowledge is an important use of technology. Computers, and increasingly other technologies such as cellphones, are providing means for students to share their knowledge with an audience far outside their own school. Blogs, websites, wikis, podcasts, Twitter and social networking sites are just a few of the ways students are reaching people outside their school walls.

Students do need to be answering the tough questions. This fits in well with the characteristics of fertile questions developed by Yoram Harpaz and Adam Lefstein in their 'Communities of Thinking' article. These have the following characteristics:

• Open - there are several different or competing answers.
• Undermining - makes the learner question their basic assumptions.
• Rich - Cannot be answered without careful and lengthy research. Usually able to be broken into subsidiary questions.
• Connected - relevant to the learners.
• Charged - has an ethical dimension
• Practical - Is able to be researched given the available resources.

Making sense of data is something that is an essential skill but one that is often overlooked. There is a need for active teaching of the skills that students need to be able to take data, critically analyse it and apply it to tasks.

The last two points made by Gary speak very much to having our students complete real world tasks rather than tasks whose only purpose is to pass a test or tick a box. There is a tendency by some to underestimate what students are capable of. Students can make a real difference, create real knowledge. We need to make sure they have the opportunities to do so and not just regurgitate existing knowledge.

The role of the teacher was emphasised with Gary saying "A prompt is worth a thousand words" when you have:

• Appropriate materials
• Sufficient time
• A supportive culture

This is seems very consistent with an inquiry approach. I have talked before about the need for teachers to provide those prompts for our students.

In Jacqueline Brooks’ book ‘In Search of Understanding: The Case for Constructivist Classrooms’ she summed this up very nicely:

“Critics contend that the constructivist approach stimulates learning only around concepts in which the students have a pre-kindled interest. Such criticisms miss the mark. Posing problems of emerging relevance is a guiding principle of constructivist pedagogy. However, relevance does not have to be pre-existing for the student. Not all students arrive at the classroom door interested in learning about verb constructs, motion and mechanics, biological cycles, or historical timelines, but most students can be helped to construct understandings of the importance of these topics. Relevance can emerge through teacher mediation. " (Brooks, 1999, p.35)

Gary's website.

Voicethread

I have been very impressed with what Voicethread can do and can also see huge possibilities. Voicethread is a free website which describes itself as "A tool for having conversations around media". I came across the following Voicethread on the Japanese internment camps from WWII done by 4th grade students in the newsletter from Voicethread. This short video explains the project.

Here is the Voicethread:



Another one that impressed me was done by kindergarten students talking about trout hatchlings.



There is an educators' version of Voicethread which provides a more secure environment. There is also a comment moderation option so you can control who comments if you choose to invite public comment. You can find out more about EdVoicethread here and here. There is a free educator version which is worth joining as it gives you unlimited Voicethreads (up to a total of 2GB) as opposed to 3 in the standard version. I think it is worth upgrading to the Pro Educator option for only a $10 one-off verification fee. This gives you a lot more online storage space (10GB) as well as the ability to export archival Voicethreads.

There is also a Voicethread Ning and a Voicethread wiki where as well as classroom examples you can find classes wanting to collaborate on Voicethread projects.

Edtalks Video

Yes I know it's been a while, so don't fall off your chairs in shock that I have made a post. Will be making another one shortly on inquiry dispositions so watch this space.

This one is a bit of shameless self promotion. The video clip can be found on the edtalks site which I recommend you take a look at if you haven't already.


Inquiry based learning from EDtalks on Vimeo.