https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kux4JyP6yR0&rel=0

P1 a, w, d, x to swing                    P2 arrow keys, m to swing

I will no longer think of myself as a “guide on the side” after reading the reference to Hattie’s work and his large effect size difference between teacher as facilitator (effect size of .17) versus teacher as activator (effect size of .60). When Hattie describes teacher as facilitator he includes: “smaller class sizes; simulations and gaming; enquiry–based learning – setting students a question or problem to explore; personalised instruction; problem–based learning; web–based learning.” In comparison, teacher as activator includes: reciprocal teaching – where student and teachers are both ‘teachers’ learning from each other; regular, tailored feedback; teacher–student verbal interaction; meta cognition – making explicit the thinking process; challenging goals – setting ambitious and achievable learning goals.” The main point and argument for the poor web-based learning (teacher as facilitator effect size) is due to poor pedagogy, the fact that Hattie wasn’t focused on technology, and poor use of technology. For instance, many types of technology have been used in the classroom because they were exciting.

One of the paper’s main purposes is to “explore the relationship between technology and active pedagogy and how this integration can be enhanced by using change knowledge that focuses on whole system reform.” From personal experience as an educator I really feel strongly about reviewing and adjusting my pedagogy. I agree with this article when it comes for the need for ‘new pedagogy’. This ‘new pedagogy’ including the appropriate (and hopefully best) use of technology are the first two steps towards making ideal changes in education systems around the world. The last portion is what the authors call “systemness”. This refers to the process of including the first two steps in a strategic process to implement system wide changes.

The authors have come up with a device called the “Index”. It resembles a large set of rubrics. The “Index is an evaluative tool to predict the transformative power of the emerging digital innovations.” The authors go on to describe how each indexed component is broken into three sub-components which help drive the evaluation of various innovations. Most teachers would relate to the colour coded index with a four point evaluative scale.

What did the initial results show the authors? After testing 12 different innovations the authors found a trend in weakness. Both pedagogy and “implementation (system criteria)” demonstrated the majority of challenges. Another challenge they discuss is in regards to school-wide implementation due to the scale.

The last section of the article provides a six-step guide to help evaluate new innovations.
1. Use the Index
2. Lead with pedagogy
3. Develop capacity with respect to system support
4. Focus on scale and embeddedness
5. Be open to surprise
6. Clarify what it means to be a learner in the 21st century

Overall, this article was a decent read which provided a system to evaluate new technological innovations. One very important take away I had from this article was the importance of pedagogy in relation to technological innovation. A second take away was based on the reference to Hattie’s work which describes a larger effect size when teaching as an activator not just a facilitator. A connection I have with the six-step guide (& index) is with the SAMR model as both promote the thoughtful implementation of new technology. However, the assessment tool created in this article is much more comprehensive.

Reference

Fullan, M. and Donelly, K. (July 2013) “Alive in the Swamp Assessing Digital Innovations in Education” London: Nesta. Available from:
​http://www.nesta.org.uk/sites/default/files/alive_in_the_swamp.pdf

Coding as a Literacy Short-Term Trend: Driving Ed Tech adoption in K-12 education for the next one to two years
pages 16-17, NMC/CoSN Horizon Report – 2016 K-12 Report

At the beginning of the 2016/2017 school year the New BC Curriculum included teaching coding under the Applied Design, Skills and Technologies subject area for grades 4 and 5. As of today’s date it (BC curriculum) no longer mentions coding until grade 6. I am amazed at how quickly the curriculum has changed and that there was no notice to these changes. I also find it amazing that this article predicted that coding would be implemented throughout schools all around the world.

As a grant recipient for coding in the classroom, I am shocked at how quickly the curriculum has changed. My students have been learning how to code using many of the resources mentioned in the article including; Code.org, Scratch, and Hour of Code. I still look forward to how they will create their own salmonid enhancement games through coding. Many cross-curricular and extension activities can be achieved through the use of coding. Hence, it is my belief that many BC classrooms will continue to teach coding for many years to come.

I have two strong connections to this article. The first is based on the following quote about students moving “from simply interacting with devices to controlling how those devices interact with them.” This quote reminds me of the work done by Aaron Swartz, a prodigy, who was on his way to changing the world not just my RSS feed. My second connection to this article has to do with educational initiatives that fail. The changes to the amount of coding within the BC Curriculum is a prime example of an initiative that may fail due to a lack of exposure, training, funding etc. When an elementary school teacher looks over the ADST curriculum it has 12 content areas, of which, 3 modules must be taught.  I believe most educators will likely teach what they know or feel most comfortable with rather than an emergent technology like coding.

​The learning myth: Why I’ll never tell my son he’s smart.  By Sal Khan.  In this article, Sal Khan discusses some fascinating research about Growth Mindset.  Dr. Carol Dweck’s work on growth mindset is based upon the notion of self-perception.  The basic notion that there are two main mindsets, “fixed” and “growth”.  A very common example of a fixed mindset is when we hear a student say “I am not good at math.  My mom says she wasn’t good at math either.”  These students have allowed a fixed mindset to hinder their ability to learn.  Whereas, a student with a growth mindset knows that “capability and intelligence can be grown through effort, struggle and failure.”

Khan makes some great points about growth mindset:
1. Praise the process, not the trait or talent.
2. Our brains are muscles that grow when challenged.
3. Grit, tenacity, perseverance are key to learning.

The notion of grit in education is best described, in my opinion, by Angela Lee Duckworth in her Ted Talk, Grit: The power of passion and perseverance.
​
A second related article, Growth Mindset: A Driving Philosophy, Not Just a Tool by ​David Hochheiser.  Discusses the importance of how we, as educators and schools, embrace this mindset.  Hochheiser argues that a growth mindset should be a paradigm or model of how students believe in their abilities, “to become better at being themselves.”  Students improve each day and better themselves by putting forth a strong effort during challenging learning events.

The author continues on to describe the importance of not comparing personal growth to learning outcomes, or specific goals.  In fact, using growth mindset as a pedagogy is counter intuitive because some kids find school very easy and have difficulties once they actually face adversity.  These kids will need to quickly learn what it is to persevere.  Secondly, he iterates the importance of “applauding the processes along the way” as some students take great learning strides and are yet to meet “grade level” expectations.

5 Growth Mindset Practices to implement from the book, Professional Learning Communities at Work, by Richard DuFour and Robert Eaker.

1. Being humble enough to accept that there are things about ourselves and our practices that can improve
2. Becoming part of professional teams that value constructive critique instead of criticism
3. Treating setbacks as formative struggles within the learning process instead of summative failures
4. Realizing the restrictive role that timelines can play in reaching high standards, and using foundational philosophies such as Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to map systems so that everyone’s growth is supported
5. Create flexible grouping at all times so that nobody’s trapped in any one course level or particular type of work.

How do you encourage a growth mindset in your school or classroom?

Hi everyone,

this past week I attended a great seminar, Coding Quest, presented by Mike Silverton.  It was based on Scratch Coding through The Learning Partnership, Public Education, Canada’s Future.  Here is the basic introduction

• A step-by-step tutorial
• A set of illustrated activity cards
• An educator guide for organizing a one-hour Scratch workshop

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/16uGYYMPaoa7fT2RB96znUhISWXzOEpxHgkMEkBEtnfQ/edit?usp=drive_web

Enjoy!

Here are a couple of links to my Background Information package and my Google Classroom Consent form.  Both of which are held under Creative Commons and are available to modify, and/or share.

As I mentioned in my previous blog I am working through the 10 internet safety lessons with my class.  We are also simultaneously working through code.org.  Some of my students are sourcing out other coding sites on their own.  A favourite right now is  https://www.tynker.com/ .  Because my students are only grades 4/5 and have little formal keyboarding, we continue to do a minimum of 15 minutes of keyboarding each week.

I have started the year off with an online digital citizenship program which also teaches some digital skills.  This site, cedarelementary.weebly.com is suitable for upper primary and intermediate students.  There are 10 lessons with short video clips and corresponding activities.  At the grade 4/5 level I like to have my students work on a typing program at least once per week to develop their keyboarding skills.

A great site for finding privacy information and consent forms with corresponding information is at   http://www.privacycompass.ca/  The forms on this site all have creative commons licenses which allows anyone else to use and modify them.

I am excited to begin this journey with coding in my grade 4/5 classroom.  So far my kids are really enjoying some of our work with code.org and the hour of code sessions.  I have assigned my students pseudonyms as we progress into the free courses offered  at code.org.

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