Week 3 - Digital Textbooks

The Digital Textbooks link really caught my interest this week. In fact, I followed most of the secondary links, and then did a little research on my own to find out more about this method of getting information to our students.

It seems that nearly every summer our school puts out thousands of dollars to purchase new textbooks. Textbooks are incredibly expensive! Along with the expense, there are other issues to consider:

1. How long will it take before the books are outdated and must be replaced?
2. Do we really get all the information we need for a class from one textbook? Yet we invest a major portion of our budget on purchasing it.
3. Running short of books can cause a student to fall behind until a new book can be ordered and shipped.
4. A printed version of a book is static. I cannot be updated and revised with new facts, or ongoing research results.
5. Kids lug enormously heavy book bags from one class to another. Is this a health risk?

So, when I read about Tucson, Arizona, actually having a textbook-free public high school, I was very interested. The high school's website had interesting information on how the teachers collaborate, and a little about the use of wikis and other internet resources, but it didn't give much in the way of what they use in the place of textbooks. I'm sure they have it all worked out, but I'd like to learn more about how the students function in their classes.

Consequently, I guess I came away with more questions than answers. Are the students all required to have a laptop computer? Do students have electronic versions of textbooks, or do the teachers download and print information for them?

California's Digital Textbook initiative seems to be focused on allowing students to download actual textbooks onto a Kindle, or a similar device. Their motivation appears to be twofold — #1 The need to lower the rising costs of education; #2 Providing access to the latest, up-to-date information, especially in scientific areas.

I'm definitely interested in seeing what happens with this idea. I'll be watching for what may be available to our private schools, as well. I'm wondering if "free" means free to all schools, or only to the public schools. If a new resource makes textbooks less expensive and keeps the information up-to-date, then it's sounding pretty good to me!

T21-Implementation 5

T21 – Week 5 Implementation Assignment:  Google Docs
Group 1:  Joni, Zaida, Betty, Peter
Benefits of Google Docs		Barriers/Solutions	Suggestions for Google Doc activities
Because the document can be accessed from any computer with internet access, there is no danger of forgetting the assignment at home or of only one person having access at a time.   Reduces the volume of paper teachers have to grade which in turn saves time and money. Teachers keep track of the student's participation in the project or assigment.  If a group member is sick or have to travel for whatever reason, he or she can continue working on the assigment as long as there is Internet access. Google Docs keeps track of every revision or addition made to the document. One can always go back and and reuse those changes if needed. Enables the user to produce better Quality documents overall. My 7-8th grade students are now using GoogleDocs for their Social Studies Class.  Mr. Carter has so much material that needs to be covered that he has put them in teams to work on the chapters.  I heard four boys talking about their plan right after dismissal today.  "Stanley, you take pages 240-254.  Leo will take 255-268.  Daniel, you make a chart for the stuff on this page."  Etc., Etc.  One of them said he would set up the GoogleDoc page to get them started.  SO — benefits?  The kids have new incentive to jump in and work on homework at home! Students are able to see what the team members have accomplished.  This helps them feel reassured that everyone is doing their part.  It also works in some measure as a springboard to help them generate new ideas.  They don't want to appear unintelligent or uninformed to their friends. How about a debate a controversal topic? There could be a moderator and several people discussion their point of view. Make power point present-ations and spreadsheets directly and save in Google Docs and download to computer if needed.		Risk of one person changing infor-mation that others did not want changed.   Solution: Teacher would need to intentionally teach GoogleDocs etiquette. (Check this out: File menu > See revision history)   Some students may not have internet access at home (low income students for example). Solution: If the assignment required is a homework, the school will need to provide library hours  or computer lab access,after school or during lunch-time  study period. Some students may contribute more than others: Solutions: assign each student a specific task If the school's internet is down, students would not be able to work on their assignment.  Solution: Go on to something else and extend the deadline!  (working from a backup would assume you saved a backup after every change--probably not going to happen--and it kind of defeats the purpose of having only one working copy.  And if the computers are down altogether, you'd have to go on to something else anyway!) Some parents are  uncomfortable with their children having access to the internet at home.  It's possible that parental restrictions would keep a student from being able to carry their share of the work load. Students who are high achievers often take strong ownership of their work.  If it is a collaboration, I can anticipate some problems as to who "wins" the debate over content.  (I actually have students like that in my class right now.)  Of course, learning to work well with others is a hidden agenda in the assignment, so the teacher will need to anticipate these issues and handle them with "Solomon's Wisdom."	Glossary of terms:  Have students collaborate to create a class glossary of vocabulary or subject-specific terms that can be used as a reference by everyone.    Students may work on different aspects of a  topic, say for example, stem cell research. Each student enter their findings to create a final document. Essay writing:  Have students write their first draft of an assigned essay using GoogleDocs and then invite a couple of friends/classmates to give them feedback . . . a back-and-forth process until the final draft is prepared.  The final draft could then be shared with the whole class to be peer-evaluated. Creative Writing:  One assignment that my 6th grade class enjoyed last year was the "Progressive Poetry."  I started a line of poetry on the board, then, in teams, the students wrote the next line.  Then, they rotated their poem to the next team, and the next, etc.  We set a timer, so the teams had to be quick thinkers.  I wonder if you could use GoogleDocs to write a "Progressive Story"?  Divide into teams, and let them write the whole story online.  They would need to follow guidelines, like deciding on character, plot, setting, point of view, etc. Interviews:  If you set up interview questions using GoogleDocs, why couldn't you send it to someone you wanted to interview?  In fact, it could be used for multiple interviews.  Each interviewee would have a column for their answers.  In essence, it would create a transcript of the interview. Peer Editing:  Students could share their writing with another person for a peer review.  They could go back and forth with their edits until the author was satisfied with the outcome.

 

One of the things I am most proud of in my school is our teacher collaboration. "Hats off" to our principal who sees the benefit and encourages our teachers to work together on projects and themes. From curriculum to musical programs to I-Teams (3-4 teachers who meet with individual students and their parents over problems of behavior, academics, etc.), our staff works together to support and improve our school.

When I first arrived at this school six years ago, I taught all of the subjects for a classroom of 24 students in the 7-8th grades. I had been teaching English and Writing at Ozark Adventist Academy for 14 years, so going back to a multi-grade classroom of 13-14 year old kids was a very big change. I have never felt so alone in my job as I did that year. I was miserable, and to be perfectly honest, I don't think I did a very good job. I had nobody to discuss problems or successes with. All the other teachers had multi-grade classrooms, too, and were just as isolated as I was.

In CTER (2009) "Teacher Collaboration" I read that "Often teachers are left to their own devices, struggling to solve their instructional and/or classroom management dilemmas. Their colleagues can be more like competitors and much of the work is done in private and without assistance." That's exactly what I experienced!

But, our school has steadily transformed. We changed principals, and he began marketing to initiate growth in our enrollment. The second year I had 30 kids in my class, and a full-time aide. Finally, I had someone to work with and plan things with! By the third year the 7-8th had grown enough that we split them into two classrooms. Now I had a team teacher to work with! It was marvelous! We talked every day after school and discussed our plans for the days to come. We worried and prayed over students who were struggling. Now, we have incorporated 6th grade into our team. We have a particularly wonderful trio of teachers in our Middle School. We are departmentalized, so that each teacher is teaching in his/her areas of strength.

The same article, "Teacher Collaboration," went on to say, "Just as good parenting practices include presenting a united front to children, teachers who work closely together promote shared ideals to their students. This camaraderie sends an unspoken message that the work being done is valued by the instructors, and should therefore be respected by the students. As students sense this consistency behavior and achievement improve. (Inger)

What a true statement. I see it in our own school. The unspoken message is getting through, loud and clear, to our students. They see the three of us talking together in the lunch room — they know we are comparing notes from the morning's classes. They see us conferring in the gym during dismissal — they are totally aware that we are rehashing the events of the day. It gives each teacher much more power, and it gives the students the knowledge that we are a united force, working to make them successful students.

So, the question is, how do we move that same feeling of partnership from the teaching staff to the students? How do we get them to work together in teams, valuing each other's opinions, and trusting each other's skills and abilities?

In the November, 2009, "eSN Special Report: Small-group collaboration" By Ellie Ashford we are reminded that "Everyone needs to be able to collaborate in a group, because that’s how things are done in the real world. No one sits alone and works by themselves any more," said Stan Silverman, director of technology-based learning systems at the New York Institute of Technology.

OK, I get it. Even we teachers are working in collaboration. But I'm afraid that we haven't learned how to teach that to our students. Maybe that sense of losing control is difficult for us. Classrooms are expected to be full of neat rows of orderly, attentive students, right? But are they really retaining those wonderful words of wisdom that come pouring out of our mouths?

The Collaborative Learning Overview contained this little graph:

Where do we learn (hint: it's not in the classroom)

According to this chart, schools seem to be doing it wrong! I think it is up to us, the teachers in the classrooms, to change the way education is expected to be and move away from the stereotypical classroom setting.

The Teaching Effectiveness Program at the University of Oregon’s Teaching and Learning Center summarized several additional benefits of collaborative learning from various studies:

•Effective groups assume ownership of a process and its results when individuals are encouraged to work together toward a common goal.
•Students’ critical thinking skills improve, along with their retention of information and interest in the subject matter.
•Collaborative learning allows the assignment of more challenging tasks without making the workload unreasonable.
•It provides weaker students with extensive one-on-one tutoring, while stronger students gain the deeper understanding that comes only from teaching others.
•Students are less likely to consider teachers the sole sources of knowledge and understanding. (eSN Special Report: Small-group collaboration)


Hmmm . . . So students can help each other learn?

Hmmm . . . So teachers are not the sole source of knowledge?

Hmmm . . . Do you think we teachers are ready for that?

I think we'd better try.