Avis Techno #2: Google Docs

Bienvenue,

Aujourd’hui nous allons regarder au service de Google Docs.  C’est la série de logiciels offert par Google.  Il y a un logiciel de traitement de texte, un tableur, un logiciel de présentation et un logiciel pour produire des formulaires.  Il est semblable aux produits offert par Microsoft Office.  Ces services de Google sont gratuits donc il y a des avantages et des désavantages.

Avantages :  La beauté des Google docs est que ton travail est sauvegardé dans ‘les nuages’.  Ceci veut dire que votre travail est sauvegardé sur un serveur hors-site et non sur un ordinateur particulier.  Vous pouvez donc travailler sur vos documents de n’importe quel endroit qui a accès à Internet.  Ceci peut être un gros avantage pour les élèves et le personnel enseignant qui veulent travailler sur leurs devoirs ou notes à l’école ainsi que chez eux.  Vous n’avez plus besoin de sauvegarder votre travail sur une clé USB ou de vous l’envoyer par courriel.

L’autre avantage est qu’il permet aux élèves, au personnel enseignant et administratif ou n’importe quelle combinaison de travailler ensemble sur une variété de projets.  Les élèves peuvent travailler sur une présentation de groupe sans avoir besoin d’être ensemble dans le même espace ou en même temps.

Google Form est une excellente façon de faire une collection rapide d’information.  C’est très simple de créer un questionnaire ou même un quiz.  L’hyperlien au formulaire peut être affiché dans la salle de classe, sur un site Web ou envoyé par courriel.  Votre auditoire cible peut ensuite compléter le formulaire lorsqu’il le veut.. Une fois qu’ils ont complété le formulaire vous pouvez visionner l’information récueilli dans un tableur.  Il est très simple de créer un formulaire Google comme un formulaire d’évaluation pour une leçon ou un atelier.

Google docs sauvegarde votre travail au fur et à mesure que vous écrivez.  Ceci est très important, surtout pour les élèves ou ceux qui oublient de sauvegarder leurs travaux régulièrement.  

Désavantage : Tandis que Google ressemble beaucoup aux autres logiciels (Microsoft Office, iWork, etc...) en temps que les fonctions de bases, il lui manque plusieurs des fonctions avancées.  Par exemple, il y a un nombre limité de polices disponible.  Il y a moins de gabarits pour les disposition de nos documents.

Un autre désavantage avec Google docs est la dépendance sur une connexion à  Internet.  Cependant Google docs vous donne l’option de sauvegardé votre travail sur une clé USB

La vidéo suivante (en anglais seulement) explique très bien les avantages de la collaboration offerts par Google docs.

Tech Tips #2: Google Docs

Welcome back.

Today let's look at Google Docs.  This is Google's suite of word processor, spreadsheet, presentation maker, and form producer.  It's very much like the Microsoft Office suite.  Again, this is a free service offered by Google, so there are some pros and cons.

Pros:  The really nice thing about Google docs is that your work is saved in the clouds.  This means that your work is saved on a server somewhere in cyberspace, it is not saved on any specific device.  You can then work on any of your documents from anywhere that has internet access.  This can be a tremendous benefit for students or teachers who want to work on assignments from school and home.  You no longer need to save a backup or email a copy to yourself.

The other great benefit to Google docs is that it allows students, teachers, administrators or any combination of these to collaborate on a variety of projects.  Students can work on a group presentation, a slideshow for example, and not have to be together in the same space or at the same time to complete their presentation.

The Google form is a great way to collect information.  It's easy to set up a questionnaire or even a quiz .  A link to the form can be posted in a classroom, on a website or sent via email.  Your target audience can then complete the form at their leisure.  Once they submit the form you can view the data as a spreadsheet.  You could easily set up a Google form as an exit card strategy for a lesson or workshop.

Google doc autosaves your work as you go.  This is a huge benefit, especially for students or those people who forget to save their work as they go.

Cons: While Google docs mirrors many of the basic functions of other office suites (Microsoft Office, iWork, etc...) it does not have many of the advanced features.  For example you have a limited number of fonts to choose from.  There are fewer templates to choose from when deciding on the appearance of your document.

Another downside to using Google docs is its reliance on an internet connection.  However, just like working with a school and home computer, Google docs gives you the option to save your work to a USB key.

This video does an excellent job of explaining the collaborative benefits of Google docs.

Avis Techno #1: Google Reader

Salut tout le monde et bienvenue à une nouvelle série d'article. Je vais écrire au sujet de différents sites Web et services du Web 2.0 qui vous sont disponibles et gratuits. C'est produits seront utiles pour vos projets et vos classes.

Nous allons commencer par regarder aux services de Google. En créant un compte de Gmail (le service de courriel de Google) vous avez accès à tous les autres services de Google, gratuitement.

Aujourd'hui nous allons nous concentrer sur Google Reader. Google Reader est semblable à un journal personnel. Il utilise les flux RSS pour vous garder à jour avec les blogues et les articles des sites que vous avez choisis. La grande majorité des journaux et site Web ainsi que plusieurs écrivains en ligne ont des flux RSS.

Une fois que vous avez votre collection de flux RSS, Google Reader les met à jour chaque fois qu'un nouvel article est publié. Donc, au lieu d'avoir à visiter plusieurs sites Web pour lire des articles qui vous sont d'intérêt, ils vous parviennent tous à la même place pour un accès plus convenable.

C'est un excellent outil pour la collection d'articles sur des sujets qui vous intéressent. Vous pouvez trouver des écrivains qui conviennent à vos projets, vos intérêts en éducation ou même des sujets d'intérêt personnel.

Google Reader est aussi un très bon outil pour nos élèves. Nous voulons encourager la lecture chez nos étudiants. Nous savons que plus ils lisent, plus leur lecture s’améliorera. La lecture est une compétence essentielle pour eux, à l'école et dans leur vie. En utilisant Google Reader nos élèves peuvent accumuler leurs propres matériaux de lecture ciblant leurs propres intérêts.

Tech tip #1: Google Reader

Welcome everyone, to what I hope will be a biweekly occurrence.  I’ll write about different websites and web 2.0 services that are available and free, to help you in your projects and classes.

The first we will look at are the Google services.  By signing up for a free gmail account (Google’s email) you get access to all of their services, for free.

Today I want to look at Google Reader.  Google Reader is like a personalized newspaper.  It uses RSS feeds to collect blog entries and written material from sites you have chosen.  Most newspapers and media outlets have RSS feeds, as do individual writers online.  

Once you have your collection of feeds, Google Reader will update every time one of your selected writers adds a new article.  So instead of going to a number of websites to read articles that interest you, they all come to one place for convenient access.

This is a great tool for collecting articles on topics that are of interest for you.  You can find writers that relate to your projects, topics in education that interest you or even on topics that are of personal interest.

This is also a great tool for students.  We want our students to read more.  We know that the more they read, the better they get at it.  Reading is an integral skill for our students, both at school and beyond.  By using Google Reader students can accumulate their own reading material, geared to their own interests.

Some practical solutions for the 'New Classroom', Part 1

I still have to think of something better than 'New Classroom', any suggestions?

Over the past few post we have looked at what we could be able to do under a new system that focuses on a the new skills required for the 21st century.  Now lets look at three concrete steps that would help facilitate such a system.

Mobile is where it's at (or at least where it's going)


Mobile computing is starting to hit its stride.  It is becoming less expensive, more reliable and simpler to use.  Those are three of the biggest hurdles to the adoption of a technology.  Admittedly they are limited in their functionality when compared to desktop or laptop computers.  However, when you think of what a student needs the most in school, access to the internet, word processing, audio and video recording/simple editing, audio and video listening/viewing, presentation preparation, email, etc..., these are all found on smartphones or tablets.

Now I don't see schools giving students smartphones, but I could see them getting each student a tablet computer, like the iPad.  The idea of implementing a 1:1 ipad project may seem to be expensive, but over the course of a high school student's 4 years it would actually save money.  A tablet in the hands of each student would dramatically reduce the need for paper.  With the use of the good word processors available the student could complete a great deal of their work this way.  Students with learning difficulties could take advantage of the many accessibility features found natively in many tablets or any of the numerous apps available to help them.

Give them a stylus and they can complete any of the worksheets you might have available for practice.  Email or Dropbox become the main means of 'handing in'  their work.  A stylus in a teacher's hand allows them to edit written work and send it back to the student.

A tablet for every student also removes much of the need for computer labs.  What is the main purpose of those rooms?  For classes to do research and prepare some work that demonstrates what they have learned.  Business classes use spreadsheets, history classes write essays, etc...  Short of the computer programming or communication technology classes, most classes don't need the full functionality of a desktop computer.

Mobile computing can also spell the end of the textbook.....

More on that in my next post.

The teacher and the student in the New classroom

So we have now moved beyond our current industrial education system and have a system based on mastery.  Where does that leave us and our students?  What new roles do we have?  What does the student need to do to be successful?

This new system does not diminish the role of the teacher.  In fact it becomes more integral.  Just because we are no longer the absolute experts does not mean we do not have an important role.  I believe that a teacher's true expertise lies in critical thinking and in making connections to previous learning.  That is the essential skill which should have been honed through university and then in teachers college, and that is the essential skill that we should be trying to impart to our students.

I've started reading Howard Gardner's Five Minds for the Future.  In it he states, what he believes are, the five essential skills, or Minds, that will be required by people to succeed in the future.  I won't go into great details about the five minds, but I would highly recommend reading the book.  The focus of the book seems to be that as teachers, and the book is not solely targeted at educators, we need to foster these skills in our students.  We need to rethink the way we teach.

We should no longer focus on the content of a discipline, but instead we should focus on the ways of thinking in that discipline.  For example the method of thinking is science relies on the use of the Scientific Method.  Students need to learn to posit a hypothesis, devise an experiment to test it, record the data and then make sound conclusions based on that data.  Beyond that they need to accept the possibility that their hypothesis was incorrect and not be disappointed by it, but see it as a way to learn more.  As they progress through these exercises they will undoubtedly pick up the content.  However, the acquisition of this knowledge will be deeper, because of the critical thinking that was involved in the process.

This teaching to the five minds will serve our students best because in the future, as in the present, the recall of information can be done more quickly and effectively with the use of any number of search engines or databases.  The required skills will be exactly those fostered through teaching to the five minds.  Students greatest assets will their abilities to think and not the 'stuff' they've learned and forgotten since.

The students have an important role as well.  Probably the most important one of all.  Ultimately, in a system predicated on mastery, the final responsibility lies with the student.  They are the ones who must put forth the effort to gain mastery.  In today's educational system responsibility has been taken away from the students.  Many students are not interested or invested in their own education.  They are not interested because they are forced to study what has little or no meaning in their lives.  They cannot see how the french vocabulary sheet or the lecture on the pythagorean theorem affects their lives in any way.

They are not invested in their education because they have little or no control over it.  They have very little choice in courses available to them, in assignments given to them or in the way the course is presented to them.  By having no control over their education they have not invested in their own education.  As such they often could care less what they are doing, as long as they are doing enough to get the credit.  Is that what we want our students to get out of their education?  If not then what should the students be doing?

They need to care and be responsible for the choices they make.  It is approaching exam time here at my school and teachers are pulling their hair out trying to help students achieve credits many could care less about.  I've already touched on why students don't care, but why are the teachers so stressed out?  It is the push for 'Student Success'.  While it is a noble ideal it does little to make students responsible for their choices.  We are 'pushing' many students through, again with just enough to pass, in the name of their 'Success'.  If doing just enough is termed success than we need to redefine the term.

In a system of mastery, a student doesn't move on until they have shown exactly that.  There is no longer any 'just enough'.  On the student's part this makes them responsible for their true success or failure.  I think failure is an important lesson that our students just don't get.  No one is ever completely successful. Failure is a part of life.  We try something and it doesn't work, we fail.  But what students need to learn is to persevere through that failure and learn important lessons.  A system of mastery allows that.  You keep at it until you get it and can show it.

Not only do students get some control over the content, but also over the pacing of their education.  If a student needs more time to grasp a math concept, no problem, but if they are accomplished poets why should they have to spend as long as others who struggle with them?  In giving the students control over their education you engage and interest them.  And that is the key to a responsible student.

Mastery, Learning Objectives and Blended Learning

At my school this year we have unofficially adopted the motto: "Not all students will learn in the same way or on the same day".  I think this is true and with the recent focus on student success and credit accumulation I think that institutionally we have come to understand this.  However, we have not made any significant changes to support this.  Students still have to be in class for a specified number of days and they still have to learn a specified number of learning objectives.

This means that a student who has difficulties still has to grasp the concepts within a prescribe period of time, even though we are insisting that not everyone learns at the same rate.  The flip side to that coin is that a strong student must still move along at the same pace as the other students who may need more time to grasp the same concepts.  So while we recognize that students learn at different rates, we have made no significant changes to support this.

If we were to make the necessary changes to support this what would they be?  I think that part of it has to be the notion of mastery.  The curriculum is currently divided into strands with both overall and specific learning expectations.  This organization lends itself to the notion of mastery.  To have learned something you need to show more than simply remembering the facts, you need to show that you understand or have 'mastered' the information.  The students need to absorb the information, and then apply levels of higher order thinking.  The next step is to demonstrate their 'mastery'.

So, what does this process look like in a classroom?  We need to remember that we are talking about a digitized classroom with universal access to mobile devices.  I think that learning objectives need to be listed and made evident and clear to the students.  As teachers we need to find ways of getting some of the info (key concepts) to the students.  This can be achieved through video tutorials, podcasts, notes, Keynote or Powerpoint presentations, teacher created websites, Prezis, etc...  

We also need to have students find their own information.  Let's remember that we are trying to get the students to think critically, not only about the information we provide them, but about the mass of information available on the internet.  Our main function as educators should shift from being the 'sage on the stage' to being a guide towards understanding.  As such we need to lead the students towards understanding.  Part of this can be accomplished through Differentiated Instruction.  When given choices students often respond with interest.

The accumulation of credits will proceed at different rates for different students.  Classes will become much more 'fluid' in their makeup.  Students will move from one group to the next as they demonstrate the appropriate levels of mastery.  Much like swimming lessons, once you have demonstrated that you 'know' the required learning objectives you move on to the next, higher level.  

We are already starting to see a similar model in Blended Learning.  This is a class that combines students being in the classroom with students who are online.  This model is starting to be used more widely in my board in order to deal with declining enrolment.  It allows for students to take credits that may not be offered at their school because of low numbers.  It also allows the 'host' school, for the credit, to run the course despite low numbers.  Within the model I am proposing students would be placed according to their 'mastery level' and work with students of a similar level.  This model is not age dependant.  You could potentially have a student in grade 9 working on their grade 11 math by the end of the year, while still completing their grade 9 french.

In my next post I'll explore the role of the teacher and the student.