Remember when I talked about utilizing the flipped classroom model in my teacher education courses? Well, I decided to make the most of my journey into technology integration and ask my students what they thought about how our semester has gone so far. Since we only have two weeks of the Fall 2013 semester left, I thought it was the right time to get feedback on my research into the world of flipped teacher education courses.
First, I sent a message to all of the students in both of my social studies methods courses to ask for volunteers to be interviewed on my podcast. Yes, I know what you are thinking---volunteers will undoubtedly be overwhelmingly positive in their responses because I know who they are AND I give the grades. However, I have a good relationship with my students, and I do believe they understand my desire for constructive, truthful feedback so I can adapt this model for the future. For those who volunteered, I sent the interview questions beforehand, so they could be calm and prepared without many overly-long pauses and "ums" thrown in. Armed with my questions, a script (I HAVE to be prepared....just to think through the process, not to actually read word-for-word), and my podcasting equipment (Google Hangouts--minus the video---and podcastpeople.com), I was excited and ready to go! This would be my first foray into the podcasting world as well.
Side note: By the way, I plan on writing a whole different blog post about using Google Hangouts and PodcastPeople.com to produce podcasts, but for now, I will focus on the highlights of my students' feedback.
The three podcasts in full are embedded at the end of this post.
Student Responses
Students' reactions to the flipped classroom model were overwhelmingly positive as I correctly predicted above, but their detailed answers are very perceptive and worth mentioning. Ranging from skeptical to not much experience at all to pretty comfortable, my students' attitudes toward technology ran the gamut of possible answers, so for each of them to end this semester with a higher comfort level and a determination to integrate technology into their own future classrooms was nothing short of phenomenal.
Listening to the students' responses, you will hear about the merits of peer collaboration, student-directed learning, individualized learning, and student engagement. They also discuss how technology integration added depth to lessons, enabled them to utilize higher order thinking skills in class, and created excitement and passion about content---which, let's face it, are not ways that pre-service elementary education majors usually talk about social studies content, right?
This experience has definitely surpassed anything I could have dreamed when I made the decision to take the leap of faith and change the pedagogical approach in my teacher education courses. Please listen to the podcasts below, ignoring my amateurish podcasting snafus, as my students share their heightened level of comfort with technology, specifics about the value of projects completed in the courses, and new positive outlook on using technology in their own future classrooms. They also share the challenges faced throughout the semester and suggestions for professors who plan to utilize the flipped classroom model in their own teacher education courses.
I want to especially thank Beka, Hannah, and Mary Catherine for taking time to give this valuable feedback and participate in my podcast interviews. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedules right before Thanksgiving Break.
For those teacher educators who are reading and listening, please consider which aspects of this model might work in your own courses. Think about the student engagement and outcomes that are possible.
Happy listening! Leave a comment about the podcasts and any questions you might have.
Jennifer
Caution: The quality of the first podcast is not superior. It helps to turn up the volume substantially to hear Beka as she shares. Her responses are worth it.
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Friday, November 15, 2013
Snagit: Your Teach-from-Anywhere Tool
Since I've started writing this blog, I have noticed how many different tools I have started to use in my own teaching on a daily basis. Even though I knew I was learning about new tools all the time, I didn't really realize how integral some of them were becoming to my everyday professional life.
The one that I'm sharing today has become one of my favorite because its impact is far-reaching with very little investment on my end. Have you ever had a question that you just needed to "see" someone answer? The 21st century learner is so visual, and many of the questions I answer, especially in my Technology for Educators course, are about how to do something on the computer.
The one that I'm sharing today has become one of my favorite because its impact is far-reaching with very little investment on my end. Have you ever had a question that you just needed to "see" someone answer? The 21st century learner is so visual, and many of the questions I answer, especially in my Technology for Educators course, are about how to do something on the computer.
The tool I use to answer all of those "how-to" questions is Snagit, a screencasting tool developed by Techsmith. It is such a timesaver, and I love......well, since I started the top 10 with the Livebinders post, I think I will keep that theme going.
Here are the Top 10 Reasons I Love Snagit (not in any particular order):
Here are the Top 10 Reasons I Love Snagit (not in any particular order):
10. Individualized learning and differentiation - This tool is the ultimate in personalized learning. If students need help with something, they can watch the video of my actually doing the process. If they don't need help, they can choose to ignore the video, try on their own, or watch the video AFTER attempting. It's all up to them. See below the video I made about creating the top navigational bars on the website project that all my students do in the Technology for Educators course that I'm presently teaching. I then embedded this video in the course website that was created for this specific course which houses all the session readings and other materials.
9. Connect with students - Snagit makes it possible for me to make a connection to my students when they listen to my voice as I explain a process. This personally connects me to them in a way that an explanation with text-only could not do. Even though this article is talking about audio/video feedback on assignments mainly, it's the same principle. In online situations in which students can't see my body language or facial expressions, my voice helps them to stay connected.
8. Ease of use - I cannot believe how easy Snagit is to use. After installing it on my computer, all I have to do is.....wait, what I am doing typing all of this? I'll just show you. Actually, I made a video for one of my small group members in my Nature of Literacy in a Digital World course about how to make a Snagit video. It's not very good quality (I'll probably go back and redo this one, just so I can feel good about sharing it) because my son recorded what I was doing on my iPad as I was making a video, but you will get the picture.
7. Quick to use - I cannot believe how much quicker it is for me to answer students' questions. Most of the videos I create are around 3-4 minutes long. Before, it would have taken me at least 10 minutes to type out everything I now communicate in a video, usually because I would have to go through the process myself as I was taking notes about each step to ensure that I didn't leave anything out. Here's one I made about how to change your Blogger template in about 2 minutes.
6. Right-in-time training - Sometimes students run into problems while creating something for a project that they cannot find the answer to by searching on their own. They maybe have searched online for an answer, but still haven't found a solution. Or, like in the video below, they have hit a problem and are panicking a bit about what to do. This is where I can give reassurance and training for their specific problem directly from my laptop to theirs. In the video below, a student is panicking about losing a huge part of her tasks for an assignment, which included a lot of writing. If you notice in the video, I try to reassure her that not all is lost!
5. My YouTube channel archives - What I did not realize when I first started using Snagit was that I could upload my videos directly to YouTube. This has allowed me to create my own archives of helpful videos that are easily searched by my students. They now can look on my YouTube channel first to see if I've already made a video that answers their question. It again has been a timesaver!
4. Video lecture tool - Since flipping my classroom, I have started using Snagit as my video lecture recording tool. Now for certain class sessions, I record my lectures with the presentation on my screen to prepare my students for our class discussions and projects. Here's one lecture about multicultural education that I recorded for my social studies methods course. This allowed our class time to be spent in small group discussions and collaborative projects.
3. Very reasonably priced - Even though I have not studied the other screencasting tools and researched the prices extensively, I do know that I have gotten my money's worth when it comes to Snagit. Because I qualify for the education discount (basically anyone in the world of education who is not using Snagit for commercial purposes qualifies), I only paid $14.95 for this fabulous service! Heck, I pay that in a week for cappuccinos! (Don't tell my hubby....he thinks caffeine does weird things to me!) Snagit has been worth every cent!
2. All-in-One Image Capture tool - There's another tool that comes with Snagit that I haven't used as much, but it's very valuable nonetheless. The image capture tool allows you to basically cut and paste a portion of your screen, save it as an image, and post it just about anywhere you can upload or post a picture. I have used it to show my IT guy an error message I was getting, to share a portion of a webpage for my students to analyze the visual elements, and to ask a colleague a question about something I encountered online that was foreign to me. Here's an image capture of the All-in-One image capture tool that is on every screen on your computer when you install Snagit. It allows you to capture images or video from everywhere! I actually cut this one out of the Snagit tutorial on how to use the tool.
And the #1 reason that I love Snagit is.....
1. So many other things to try! - Just from this list of tutorials posted on Snagit's site, you can see that there are so many other uses for this incredible tool. There's everything from annotating with the drawing tools on top of videos or images to adding callouts. Here's a compiled list of the many ways people use Snagit in lots of different fields. What to try next? Hmmm......
I will now reiterate my very first post of this blog when I say----Just Do It! Just do something. It doesn't have to be utilizing Snagit, but think about it. Think about how your students in your class, who are probably future teachers themselves, will respond to your use of this amazing tool. Maybe it will inspire them to utilize technology tools to teach their own students someday.
If you would like to become a part of a community full of teacher educators who support each other in their use of technology in teacher education courses, join the new Google+ community called Teacher Education and Technology Integration! I just started this new community today, and I hope that teacher educators everywhere will connect to share what they are doing in their own courses and professional lives.
Come join us! Happy Tech-ing!
Jennifer
9. Connect with students - Snagit makes it possible for me to make a connection to my students when they listen to my voice as I explain a process. This personally connects me to them in a way that an explanation with text-only could not do. Even though this article is talking about audio/video feedback on assignments mainly, it's the same principle. In online situations in which students can't see my body language or facial expressions, my voice helps them to stay connected.
8. Ease of use - I cannot believe how easy Snagit is to use. After installing it on my computer, all I have to do is.....wait, what I am doing typing all of this? I'll just show you. Actually, I made a video for one of my small group members in my Nature of Literacy in a Digital World course about how to make a Snagit video. It's not very good quality (I'll probably go back and redo this one, just so I can feel good about sharing it) because my son recorded what I was doing on my iPad as I was making a video, but you will get the picture.
7. Quick to use - I cannot believe how much quicker it is for me to answer students' questions. Most of the videos I create are around 3-4 minutes long. Before, it would have taken me at least 10 minutes to type out everything I now communicate in a video, usually because I would have to go through the process myself as I was taking notes about each step to ensure that I didn't leave anything out. Here's one I made about how to change your Blogger template in about 2 minutes.
6. Right-in-time training - Sometimes students run into problems while creating something for a project that they cannot find the answer to by searching on their own. They maybe have searched online for an answer, but still haven't found a solution. Or, like in the video below, they have hit a problem and are panicking a bit about what to do. This is where I can give reassurance and training for their specific problem directly from my laptop to theirs. In the video below, a student is panicking about losing a huge part of her tasks for an assignment, which included a lot of writing. If you notice in the video, I try to reassure her that not all is lost!
5. My YouTube channel archives - What I did not realize when I first started using Snagit was that I could upload my videos directly to YouTube. This has allowed me to create my own archives of helpful videos that are easily searched by my students. They now can look on my YouTube channel first to see if I've already made a video that answers their question. It again has been a timesaver!
4. Video lecture tool - Since flipping my classroom, I have started using Snagit as my video lecture recording tool. Now for certain class sessions, I record my lectures with the presentation on my screen to prepare my students for our class discussions and projects. Here's one lecture about multicultural education that I recorded for my social studies methods course. This allowed our class time to be spent in small group discussions and collaborative projects.
3. Very reasonably priced - Even though I have not studied the other screencasting tools and researched the prices extensively, I do know that I have gotten my money's worth when it comes to Snagit. Because I qualify for the education discount (basically anyone in the world of education who is not using Snagit for commercial purposes qualifies), I only paid $14.95 for this fabulous service! Heck, I pay that in a week for cappuccinos! (Don't tell my hubby....he thinks caffeine does weird things to me!) Snagit has been worth every cent!
2. All-in-One Image Capture tool - There's another tool that comes with Snagit that I haven't used as much, but it's very valuable nonetheless. The image capture tool allows you to basically cut and paste a portion of your screen, save it as an image, and post it just about anywhere you can upload or post a picture. I have used it to show my IT guy an error message I was getting, to share a portion of a webpage for my students to analyze the visual elements, and to ask a colleague a question about something I encountered online that was foreign to me. Here's an image capture of the All-in-One image capture tool that is on every screen on your computer when you install Snagit. It allows you to capture images or video from everywhere! I actually cut this one out of the Snagit tutorial on how to use the tool.
And the #1 reason that I love Snagit is.....
1. So many other things to try! - Just from this list of tutorials posted on Snagit's site, you can see that there are so many other uses for this incredible tool. There's everything from annotating with the drawing tools on top of videos or images to adding callouts. Here's a compiled list of the many ways people use Snagit in lots of different fields. What to try next? Hmmm......
I will now reiterate my very first post of this blog when I say----Just Do It! Just do something. It doesn't have to be utilizing Snagit, but think about it. Think about how your students in your class, who are probably future teachers themselves, will respond to your use of this amazing tool. Maybe it will inspire them to utilize technology tools to teach their own students someday.
If you would like to become a part of a community full of teacher educators who support each other in their use of technology in teacher education courses, join the new Google+ community called Teacher Education and Technology Integration! I just started this new community today, and I hope that teacher educators everywhere will connect to share what they are doing in their own courses and professional lives.
Come join us! Happy Tech-ing!
Jennifer
Friday, November 8, 2013
Google Hangouts - What We Learned (To Do and Not To Do)
Yesterday my social studies methods students participated in a Google Hangout (GH) with other students from Hawaii, Massachusetts, and Sweden---well, we TRIED to participate. If you are cloudy about what Google Hangouts are, here’s an explanation. Basically, it’s Skype on steroids. However, sometimes technology struggles can derail the best intentions. But wait…..I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me back up and tell you the story.
I was so excited when I joined this Google+ community and found out about #eduhangout, which is a sort of hub where teachers can connect with each other to participate in Hangouts together. In the first day, I was invited to participate in a Hangout with students about what it means to be a learner in today’s society, how technology impacts their learning, and what it means to be a digital citizen. I rearranged my planned activities for my social studies methods course, sent out emails to alert students, had my students answer some questions in their blog posts to prepare them for the Hangout, tested out the equipment in the classroom with our IT superhero Neal Cross, and then patiently waited for an invitation.
The invitation did not come until 12:35pm, and the Hangout was scheduled to start at 12:40pm. That was a little unnerving for me. I did not realize that this was the first time our moderator had hosted a Hangout. But I loved her enthusiasm, perseverance, and risk-taking! Below you will see the insightful wisdom that was revealed in the discussion with my pre-service teachers that followed the Hangout. My students did a wonderful job of evaluating the experience and critically thinking about the value of these types of activities in the classroom.
Here are some of the struggles and what we learned:
For me, being up in front of the class as we were struggling with the procedure parts of the whole activity, I am proud to say that I did not get flustered. I trouble-shooted (not sure if that’s really a word), gave suggestions, listened to my students’ suggestions, and stayed calm. This was definitely a learning experience that my students will not soon forget. I was very worried that seeing the difficulties involved in participating would deter my own students from using these in their future classrooms. But one of my teachers-to-be alleviated all my fears when she said as we were leaving, “Mrs. Fox, when WE host a Google Hangout, I think we should………” That’s music to a technology-pushing, critical-thinking focused, student-centered teacher’s ears!
How could YOU use Google Hangouts in YOUR instruction?
Join the conversation in my new Google+ community called Teacher Education and Technology Integration!
Happy Tech-ing!
Jennifer
- Google Hangout vs. Hangouts on Air (HOA)- A regular Hangout is not recorded, but the Hangouts on Air are. We started out in Hangout, but the moderator wanted it to be recorded so she had to send different invitations after we had already signed in to GH.
- Lesson: Know which one you want to do and plan accordingly.
- Audio components - With so many people participating in the HOA, the audio was a challenge. People were talking all at the same time. The echo in the background of a person’s voice being heard over several different systems was very distracting.
- Lesson: People who are not speaking need to mute their audio. This would alleviate the echo problem, but it does cause another issue---who talks when? (See below)
- Discussion expectations - Managing the discussion was difficult when expectations were not established beforehand (although the essential questions were distributed, which helped my students prepare). After the initial audio issues were somewhat resolved, students were asked questions, and a student took over the moderation of the conversation. The students spent a lot of time trying to figure out who was going to talk.
- Lesson: Established discussion expectations beforehand. Develop a procedure for “calling on” students to talk, especially if everyone except the speaker has their audio muted. For example, my students said that the moderator could have had everyone bring a certain colored index card and hold it up when they wanted to contribute. Then the moderator could acknowledge that student to let him/her speak.
- Chat function - Since HOA has a chat function, I used it throughout the session to ask questions or give feedback for some of the issues we were experiencing, but not everyone in the HOA enabled the chat feature.
- Lesson: Instruct all participants to sign in to the chat feature, so they can either give feedback about problems or ask questions while another student is talking. It can be used as a backchannel conversation similar to Today's Meet.
For me, being up in front of the class as we were struggling with the procedure parts of the whole activity, I am proud to say that I did not get flustered. I trouble-shooted (not sure if that’s really a word), gave suggestions, listened to my students’ suggestions, and stayed calm. This was definitely a learning experience that my students will not soon forget. I was very worried that seeing the difficulties involved in participating would deter my own students from using these in their future classrooms. But one of my teachers-to-be alleviated all my fears when she said as we were leaving, “Mrs. Fox, when WE host a Google Hangout, I think we should………” That’s music to a technology-pushing, critical-thinking focused, student-centered teacher’s ears!
How could YOU use Google Hangouts in YOUR instruction?
Join the conversation in my new Google+ community called Teacher Education and Technology Integration!
Happy Tech-ing!
Jennifer
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