Active dialogue and intellectual discourse is often at the heart of deeper learning. This week I participated in a Socratic Seminar at University of New Haven. All of the text reading was completed before the seminar and our instructor provided several key questions for discussion. The content was on technology use in classrooms. We read a n extensive survey conducted by the PEW research Center which surveyed Advanced Placement and National Writing Project teachers about technology use in classrooms and on a personal level. We read a PBS 2013 survey entitled Teacher Technology Usage, I viewed an infographic which provided some data entitled Classroom Tech- Ed Tech Trends: What Teachers Really Think. We also read Five Ways Teachers Can Use Technology to Help Students. Each of these documents provided the contextual background needed for a substantive conversation.
We actually had two seminars. In the first seminar I was a participant and for the second seminar I was an observer. We provided feedback to each participant using a Socratic Seminar Rubric. The discussions were deep and informed by our texts. It was interesting to note that both groups choose to skip over a question involving Common Core. Perhaps with the State Pilot occurring at this time many of us wanted a break from the topic. We noted that there are distinct trends in technology usage based on the age of the teacher. We discussed gaming in classes, differences in accessibility to technology and the many benefits technology can offer.
Socratic Seminar is a very effective way to conduct deep conversations which probe into the deeper understanding of concepts. Our school is a Classical Studies Magnet School. To learn more about how we use socratic seminar in our classrooms visit our school web site at Rosswoodward.org . We are partners with Paideia.org . Here is a quick video sample of student to student discourse . The Paideia Center also provides Paideia Seminar Lesson Plans which are very thorough and free to use. Our students as young as kindergarten participate in seminars. Out seminar texts are not always documents. For example we may use a ruler or a coin as the "primary source" of our discussions. The Socratic Seminar is one way to put the ownership and responsibility for learning in the hands of learners. It is also a form of assessment by the very nature of its structure.
Learning Ally is a non profit audible book service for
students with a print disability. It was
formerly called Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic. Founded in New
York City in 1948, the organization initially had volunteers who read to
returning GIs in World War II who had lost their eyesight in battle.The
organization’s Stated Purpose is “to create opportunities for
individual success by providing, and promoting the effective use of accessible
educational materials”
Today Learning Ally has over 75, 000 volunteer read titles
in their audio library. They have the
world’s largest selection of audio textbooks which can be played on a DAISY
device, PC, Android or Apple. One can
enroll in a free 14 day trial by visiting Learningally.org. There is individual, school, and district
membership packages for a three month period or a year term.
Learning Ally is more than an audio book service. The organization offers support for students,
parents, educators, and adult learners. They
present monthly webinars presented by their
parents and experts. Each event focuses on managing learning disabilities and is
highly interactive. They offer
parents a 30 minute phone consultation with
Learning Ally's Parent Support Specialists. Where you can ask questions and get practical
guidance from trained parents that know what you're going through.Learning Ally has free educator
webinars on dyslexia and professional development packages about dyslexia.
The audio book feature is easy to use. First you search for your book by
author/subject/title/grade level/copy write year/ISBN number. You then put the book on your “bookshelf”. From there you can log into your account from
any device and download the book to the device.
Intuitive Controls Make Learning Ally Audio Easy to Use
Learning Ally Audio displays seven
buttons at the bottom of the screen:
1.Zoom: Visually impaired readers can adjust font size (from 100%
to 300%) or highlighting (4 text and background color options) by clicking the
"Aa" icon
2.Reading Speed: Click the runner icon to access a screen to adjust reading
speed and pitch, or press the "Standard Value" button to reset to
default
3.Back: Press the left pointing arrow to move to the previous page
4.Play: Press to play or stop playing the book
5.Forward: Press the right pointing arrow to move to the next page
6.Level Navigation: Press the four-way arrow icon to access a screen with
arrows that enable quick navigation to any level or section of the book
7.Bookmark: Press the bookmark icon to mark a page; retrieve it using
the "Bookmark" navigation button in the Table of Contents.
Here are a few perspectives on the benefits of Learning Ally.
There are several aduible book services available. Here is a comparison matrix of some of the features of three common services.
LEARNING ALLYAUDIBLE.COM
BOOKSHARE
Eligible Audience
Blind
and Dyslexic
General
Public
Blind
and Dyslexic
Title Collection
65%
= Textbooks
35% = Popular
80,000+
0%
= Textbooks
100% = Popular
100,000+
5%
= Textbooks
95% = Popular / Magazines
159,000+
Narration
Human-Read
by Subject Matter Experts
Read
by Authors and Celebrities
Read
by Computer (Synthetic)
Download Limit
Unlimited/yearly
or 4 books/quarter
24
books/year
(Additional plans available)
Up
to 100/month
Special Features
For Blind Users
Picture
Image Description and Audio Playback
Audio
Playback
Audio
Playback
Individual
Membership
Pricing *
$49/quarter
or $119/year
$229.50/year
(Additional plans available)
Free
to U.S. Students, $75 for other individuals
Services for Parents
Yes
No
No
Enhanced
Navigation
Yes (Flexibility
in providing direct access to pages)
No
Yes (Flexibility
in providing direct access to pages)
Highlighted Text
with Audio
Yes
Select Titles
Yes
On Kindle Only
Yes
App Purchase Necessary
App Price (for mobile devices)
Free
Free
$19.99
Live Customer
Service
Yes
Yes
No
Best for:
Help
in school
Pleasure
reading
News
and resources
www.learningally.org
The services provided by Learning Ally definately meet the organization's mission “to create opportunities for individual success by providing, and promoting the effective use of accessible educational materials”. The textbooks at the high school and college level make it possible for students with disabilities reach their highest goals.
This week we put into practice some of the ideas described in the SMAR Model developed by Ruben R. Puentedura, Ph.D. We identified a lesson plan, reviewed it, and redesigned it to incorporate and embed technology. After redesigning the lesson we then collaborated with colleagues to include suggestions for improvement. The original lesson, comments, and changes can be viewed here: Actions With Fractions Redefined .
As one can see by viewing Allan Carrington's Padagogy Wheel V2.0 there are many opportunities for integrating technology into education. Technology allows for work to be enhanced or transformed. The SAMR Model provides for us a framework to use technology for substitution, augmentation, modification, and redefinition. The rapidly changing nature of technology itself is a key reason for continuously reviewing how we develop lesson plans. It is critical for district technology leaders to guide teachers through this process.
As evidenced by the insightful contributions made by +Joseph Depalma and +Tim Flanagan we can not emphasize enough the importance of teachers supporting each other as we become more proficient in embedding technology in our lesson plans.
This week we reviewed the work of two researchers, Robert Marzano and John Hattie. I was familiar with the ideas of Robert Marzano but John Hattie was new to me. Here is a quick summary of their strategies. (Thank you to Laura Greenstein)
Marzano’s Best Strategies (Find a summary of somehere)
Robert Marzano analyzed 395 studies and calculated effect sizes for instructional practices shown to contribute to higher levels of student achievement.
1. Identifying similarities and differences
2. Summarizing and note taking
3. Questioning by teachers and students
4. Chunking learning
5. Nonlinguistic representations such as mental images, graphs, acting out content
6. Collaborative learning
7. Setting objectives and providing feedback on progress
8. Generating and testing hypotheses
9. Activating prior knowledge via questions, cues, advance organizers
John Hattie did a meta-analysis of thousands of studies to determine the most effective strategies for improving student learning outcomes.
1. Self-Assessment and Reflection
2. Formative Assessment
3. Vocabulary Building
4. Problem Solving
5. Instructional Quality
6. Direct instruction
7. Remediation Feedback
8. Class environment (culture)
9. Challenging yet feasible goals
10. Peer tutoring
11. Mastery learning
The strategies I chose to focus on were identifying similarities and differences and problem solving. Much material can be packed into an activity where students have to see similarities and differences. Both strategies support students in extending and applying knowledge to gain deeper understandingof a concept. As teachers develop lessons the strategies to be considered are only one part of a successful teaching and learning experience. As stated in the article Technology in Schools:What the Research Says by Metiti Group and Cisco Systems, " Researchers find that extracting the full learning return from a technology investment requires much more than the mere introduction of technology with software and web resources aligned with the curriculum. It requires the triangulation of content, sound principles of learning, and high-quality teaching—all of which must be aligned with assessment and accountability."
Another key quote form the above mentioned article is this, "The research on the effect of technology in learning is emerging. Overall, across all uses in all content areas, technology does provide a small, but significant, increase in learning when implemented with fidelity." This statement surprised me because I assumed that technology provided more than a small impact on learning. I immediately looked at the publishing date of the article and noticed that the dates listed are 1992-2006. I was reminded of the rapidly changing nature of the use and study of the effect of technology in education. The overarching theme to consider when using technology to support high yield teaching and learning is that effective planning is multifaceted. The technology used is only one piece the equation. Teachers must start with the goals for learning. Then one must consider who needs to learn it and how they learn best. Consideration must be given to how learning will be measured and how the measurement data can be applied to next steps for learning.
