Exploring Learning

"You must leave digital footprints so people know you’re treading among them and part of the community" Vicki Davis, ' Global Education by Design '. I joined Twitter in July 2012 and I honestly can’t tell you what prompted me to join. I had been in a school in Malaysia for a year and that had been my first exposure to teaching with technology. We were a 1:1 Mac school just starting to implement GSuite for Education (or Google Apps for Education as it was then). At that time, the apps were limited, tables for example, in Google Docs, didn’t work properly and the formatting options were limited. There was no Google Classroom either. However, it revolutionised my teaching and I began to write websites as schemes of work that had my learners as the audience and focused on what they were doing, rather than an list of instructions that I, as the teacher, should do to them. I also began to use Edmodo to share all my resources and lessons with my learners online for 2...

I spoke at the Google Summit KL in 2013 about tech that enhances the reading and writing process. One of the apps I shared, Ginger, was one that I had been using as an assistive technology with a targeted number of learners who particularly struggle with spelling or who are dyslexic . Whilst there are in-built  spell checkers in a lot of word processing systems, Ginger differs because it ... analyzes the context of an entire sentence, and its corrections conform to the writer’s intended message. This method is especially successful for dyslexic students who often confuse words which sound the same but are spelled differently.  (http://www.gingersoftware.com/ginger-for-schools) Ginger is more sophisticated and identifies homophones, which helps many EAL/ESL learners too. In addition, rather than being isolated to one system, it highlights words in all online writing - including Blogger, email, Twitter etc.   Areas that need attention are highlighted and s...

Following on from my post about taking up the Ten Tool Challenge , I have just started reading and taking part in a virtual book club for a fabulous book, 'Professional Learning in the Digital Age' by Kristen Swanson . From the start, this is a book that resonates with me on many levels and builds on approaches I was beginning to develop in my own practice. Its exploration of the ways adults learn and how educators can approach professional learning confirms and expands on many of my current beliefs - that we need to collect, consider and evaluate and share. One of my pet hates has always been professional learning that is outdated, repetitive, not relevant and a waste of my very precious time. Swanson states that "for adult learning experiences to be successful, learners should be aware of the intention of the activity. Instruction should be problem-based instead of content-based, and planning should be collaborative. Succinctly, adults must be engaged with the content...

With a rather fuzzy head really in need of a lie in and a day off from thinking, I head off to day two of Googlicious learning.  My first session of the day is on blogger. I chose this mainly because of the paper blogging project I have been working on with my classes, which is teaching them all the skills they need to blog successfully. Obviously, our next step is to go live and I really want to see how the experience has been for others. Why Blog With Learners? The session delivered little about successful blogging, as the leader was in a similar position and it was a new thing for her. I was looking for a way to manage the blogs easily and effectively  but this was barely touched on. In the past, Google Reader was used but they have just moved to Teacher DashBoard - which is an awesome tool I think we really need to get hold of, as I hear nothing but praise for it and how it is changing things. However, thankfully, the Google Reader session yesterday gave me some tips...

I kick off the Google Summit with the wrong workshop. Ho hum. Anyway, despite not being the workshop I wanted to go to, I decide to stay, as it is about digital storytelling. So the leader said - the learning intention for the workshop was not clear however. He was very full of himself, his abilities, how long he has been using Drive - basically, how goddam awesome he is, man! I learned little due to their being no clear outline or direction other than sharing how fabulous he was. I did learn some little tips though - mainly how NOT to be so self-absorbed and egotistical. Other things I learned that I will use:- - WeVideo - Sound File Site The second session is a fest of useful links in a session about collaboration. Here are the choice ones:- Google Hangout  - up to 10 people conferencing at one time Google Hangout on Air  - broadcasts and saves your hangout Transl8it.com  - to use for text speak Skype in the Classroom Flubaroo  with forms for sha...