2.3 Authentic Learning
Candidates model and facilitate the use of digital tools and resources to engage students in authentic learning experiences.
(PSC 2.3/ISTE 2c)
Candidates model and facilitate the use of digital tools and resources to engage students in authentic learning experiences.
(PSC 2.3/ISTE 2c)
Reflection
This artifact is a weather project that I facilitated with a class of first grade students in the 2014-2015 school year. It consisted of several coaching lessons about blogging, student blogging and commenting, and a culminating “quadblogging” project with three other classes from different climates around the world. Students learned how to blog, and they were very excited about connecting with other elementary students through blogging and through using Skype.
During this lesson sequence, I modeled how to post on a student blog, how to comment, and how to use Skype. This authentic learning experience enabled students to have live written and oral conversations with students in other classes. The engaging qualities of the lessons led to deeper and higher levels of student work throughout the project.
If I were doing this project again, I would modify the timeline to include a couple of “Mystery Skypes” before beginning the project. Mystery Skypes involve two classes connecting via video conference and trying to guess the location of the other class through a series of questions and clues. This experience would have helped the students learn videoconferencing etiquette and have some practice before beginning the project. I would also find a way to address more language arts skills and standards, since the blogging and project work took up a large portion of the language arts block for several weeks.
Teaching this lesson with a 1st grade teacher helped to spark interest in videoconferencing throughout the grade level and the school. Our media specialist had a lot of interest in her weekly videoconferences and was able to include several more classes in this learning experience. I also taught several of the same blogging lessons for other teachers in the following months. Students began to see the power of communication and get excited about comments on their blog. Their learning conversations helped to deepen engagement and give them a place to showcase their work and reflect on their learning. The impact of this lesson sequence could be measured by a technology assessment on the ISTE-S Communication & Collaboration standard. It could also be assessed by local & state assessments on the writing strands of language arts and science.
During this lesson sequence, I modeled how to post on a student blog, how to comment, and how to use Skype. This authentic learning experience enabled students to have live written and oral conversations with students in other classes. The engaging qualities of the lessons led to deeper and higher levels of student work throughout the project.
If I were doing this project again, I would modify the timeline to include a couple of “Mystery Skypes” before beginning the project. Mystery Skypes involve two classes connecting via video conference and trying to guess the location of the other class through a series of questions and clues. This experience would have helped the students learn videoconferencing etiquette and have some practice before beginning the project. I would also find a way to address more language arts skills and standards, since the blogging and project work took up a large portion of the language arts block for several weeks.
Teaching this lesson with a 1st grade teacher helped to spark interest in videoconferencing throughout the grade level and the school. Our media specialist had a lot of interest in her weekly videoconferences and was able to include several more classes in this learning experience. I also taught several of the same blogging lessons for other teachers in the following months. Students began to see the power of communication and get excited about comments on their blog. Their learning conversations helped to deepen engagement and give them a place to showcase their work and reflect on their learning. The impact of this lesson sequence could be measured by a technology assessment on the ISTE-S Communication & Collaboration standard. It could also be assessed by local & state assessments on the writing strands of language arts and science.