Higher Level Thinking for 21 st Century Learners using Asynchronous Learning Tools

1. Higher Level Thinking for 21st Century Learners using Asynchronous Learning Tools Barb Schulz, M.S.,Ed.S., ABD Magnolia Middle School, Harford County

2. About Me • Taught in K-5 for 20 years • Higher Education - 3 colleges • Back to 5th grade • Worked in a large district outside of Denver • Taught in 4 different virtual schools • Returned home and am now in Middle School

3. Session Objective • Connect today’s students with skills for the millenium. • Validate reasons for using online asynchronous tools • Become familiar with tools already available to them in order to utilize these strong tools for developing higher level thinking.

4. Learning Styles • Millennial students • use social networking on a daily basis, and • research says that online writing can promote • higher level thinking and • cognitive understanding. Net Day 2007 Survey 1.2 million students, parents , and teachers from 14,000 schools in 50 states

5. How are they using online tools for School? http://hosted.mediasite.com/hosted4/Viewer/Viewers/Viewer320TL.aspx?mode=Default&peid=ce8f0201-7d54-4abb-b1b0-4f8a0479f481&pid=06155cca-0a78-4cd5-880f-d4c5ce23ba9c&playerType=WM7

6. Student Value of Tech Skills http://hosted.mediasite.com/hosted4/Viewer/Viewers/Viewer320TL.aspx?mode=Default&peid=ce8f0201-7d54-4abb-b1b0-4f8a0479f481&pid=06155cca-0a78-4cd5-880f-d4c5ce23ba9c&playerType=WM7

7. Interest in STEM careers

8. More tools in the ideal school

9. Why are Tech skills Important?

10. Top Ten from 2008 • Digital Divide is alive and well • Use of mobile devices has increased. • Too many rules – use of firewalls, can’t use their own equipment • Free-agent learner • Link to Word version • Link to website http://www.futureofeducation.com/forum/topics/julie-evans-from-project 1.3 million respondents

11. Free Agent Learner Characteristics: • Self directed learning • Un-tethered to traditional education • Expert at personal data aggregation • Power of connections • Creating new communities • Not tethered to physical networks • Experiential learning – make it real • Content developers • Process as important as knowledge gained (sometimes more important) What it Looks like: • Online learning • Control over knowledge authenticity • Mobile learning

12. Congressional Briefing – Capitol HillMarch 24, 2009 – • Un-tether learning and leverage mobile devices to extend learning beyond the school day and meet all learners in their own world • Create new interactive, participatory learning spaces using tools such as online classes, gaming and simulations, online tutors, and virtual reality environments • Incorporate Web 2.0 tools into daily instruction especially those tools that develop collaborative or social-based learning and provide unique opportunities for students to be content developers • Expand digital resources in the classroom to add context and relevancy to learning experiences through new media tools • Get beyond the classroomwalls and make learning truly experiential such as using high tech science instrumentation and creating podcasts with content experts. http://www.tomorrow.org/speakup/speakup_congress.html

13. Digital Learners vs. Digital Immigrant Teachers

14. Research says……. • Researchers state that using online asynchronous discussion boards encourage • active learning, • makes students generate ideas and • clarify meaning to each other, and therefore • develop higher level thinking skills • cognitive understanding • Every student gets heard

15. More Research…. • Teach students to maximize their learning style {Muir, 2001 #25} • Delegate intellectual authority to the students {Lotan, 2002 #23} • Learn vicariously from each other {MacDonald, 2001 #9}

16. Teacher Benefits • Online logs of interactions can aid teachers in understanding the thinking process of students or groups • Logs provide a history of the learning process to show growth from beginning to end of the process.

17. But I’m tethered……. • Many school systems still lock out these tools, which could benefit students. Using tools such as • TappedIn.org, and • NetOps makes communication a possibility for teachers and can extend the school day • Wikispaces for group work • Edline for sharing documents and links to discussion boards • Blogger.com

18. Tapped In • www.tappedin.org • Sponsored by Purdue University • Free account for teachers – just join • Then can set up a class of students • Only 30 logins – made them generic mamstudent01 • White board for co-writing • Can post all worksheets online • Chat room not accessible from school but extends the school day

20. Tapped In Classroom Activities • Measuring Prior Knowledge or Reflections • Usinga Word Processor • Tell about a time that you've used a word processor in the past. What are some of the benefits or drawbacks of using it to write? • How is this version (of Word) different from the old version? • Share your thoughts about…….. your Winter vacation/today’s lesson/

22. Giving Feedback to peers • Post your reactions to the slide shows here. Be sure to talk about the criteria for critiquing them: 1. Information2. Aesthetics3. AnimationsRemember to Praise, Question, and Polish!

24. Sharing files • Posting files to shared drive on the network • OR can be put on Edline

25. WikkiSpaces • Also PBWiki • Can create wiki • Allows upload of .csv files • Can assign student logins and passwords • More accounts available than in Tapped IN • More like a website more customizable

27. Brainstorming

28. Collaboration/ Decision Making in groups

29. Critiquing a Peer’s Work

30. Posting FAQ’s for Help

31. Net Ops • Network administration software • Lets me control their computers • Has a chat room • Survey tools • Testing tools • Used for • Measuring progress • Reflection • Closure

32. Measuring progress…. • <Teacher>:What do you think about using the comptuer to edit with a friend? WX84I-MCLAB-16:hiWX84I-MCLAB-18:dfndsjkfhhdadsjghsdlfWX84I-MCLAB-13:lolWX84I-MCLAB-18:fhsdklafhsdahflaksdhf WX84I-MCLAB-28:what is the questionWX84I-MCLAB-17:it is coolWX84I-MCLAB-09:ITS COOL IT HELPS ME WX84I-MCLAB-30:STOP SPAMINGWX84I-MCLAB-01:i thinks it awesome!!!!!!!WX84I-MCLAB-28:oh

33. Used to plan group work WX84I-MCLAB-08:what do u mean?WX84I-MCLAB-21:"hacking slide 4 "WX84I-MCLAB-27:yea i totally didWX84I-MCLAB-07:not talking to youWX84I-MCLAB-08:let me see!!WX84I-MCLAB-07:lolWX84I-MCLAB-21:lets get seriousWX84I-MCLAB-21:bily come check out the title so far MCLABRow 2 Period PPt chatFriday, November 07, 2008, 10:29:35 AMWX84I-MCLAB-08:im doing phishingWX84I-MCLAB-07:i want to do one about fowarding messages and chain mailWX84I-MCLAB-11:what is the ? WX84I-MCLAB-08:what is evryone else doing....?WX84I-MCLAB-10:im doing hackingWX84I-MCLAB-08:the what?WX84I-MCLAB-11: i chose spam WX84I-MCLAB-11:spamWX84I-MCLAB-07:i'm doing spamWX84I-MCLAB-11:spam!!!!!!!!WX84I-MCLAB-08:dont get craieWX84I-MCLAB-07:coputer 11 better not do spamWX84I-MCLAB-08:crazie*WX84I-MCLAB-11:why!?WX84I-MCLAB-10:im doing file extension

34. Reflecting on a process (using track changes in Word to edit) • WX84I-MCLAB-22:Its comfusing!!!WX84I-MCLAB-29:sup shawtyWX84I-MCLAB-25:i dont like it WX84I-MCLAB-08:what do you thing about using the computer edit with a friendWX84I-MCLAB-28:yeaWX84I-MCLAB-30:DONE IM DONE EDITING WITH CONORWX84I-MCLAB-27:i like ediont my friends paperWX84I-MCLAB-13:idkWX84I-MCLAB-22:I dint even start!!!!!

35. Working on vocabulary • <Teacher>:What is a file on the computerWX84I-MCLAB-17:somewhere on a computer where your saved data goWX84I-MCLAB-25:a folderWX84I-MCLAB-01:a place were u can store ur stuffWX84I-MCLAB-02:were you keep saved workWX84I-MCLAB-03:its a saved documentWX84I-MCLAB-09:a file is to block imformation or to WX84I-MCLAB-07:something that is saved.WX84I-MCLAB-25:fotoeuriWX84I-MCLAB-15:a place were u ca store ur stuffWX84I-MCLAB-22:were saved things go

36. Blogger.com http://www.learningbyts.net/Blog/GCMindex.html

37. 5th Grade Blogging on a daily basis http://www.learningbyts.net/Blog/RyeBlog/2004/09/posting-about-our-learning.html#comments

38. Conclusion…. Hopefully I’ve given you ideas to help you meet the goal stated by the NetDay Organization at their Congressional Briefing in March, 2009 --- • Incorporate Web 2.0 tools into daily instruction especially those tools that develop collaborative or social-based learning and provide unique opportunities for students to be content developers • I’d like to share some content that my students have created to teach adults about their world….. https://www.edline.net/files/9133235b953341f63745a49013852ec4/CydneyWaltonWiki_0003.wmv

40. References • Hein, T. L., & Irvine, S. E. (1998 ). Assessment of Student Understanding Using On-line Discussion Groups. Paper presented at the FIE Conference. • Hu, B.-Y., & Yang1, J.-T. (2005). Analyzing critical thinking and factors influencing interactions in online discussion forum. Paper presented at the Fifth IEEE International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies. • Lotan, R. A. (2002). Group-Worthy Tasks : Carefully constructed group learning activities can foster students' academic and social growth and help close the achievement gap. Educational Leadership, 60(no. 6), 72-75. • MacDonald, J. (2001). On-Line Learning: A Radical Pedagogy? Adults Learning, 12(5). • Muir, D. J. (2001, June 25-27, 2001). Adapting online education to different learning styles. Paper presented at the National Educational Computing Conference Proceedings, Chicago, Illinois.