Every semester I have my students choose an ethical issue that is of interest to them and they complete a project on it. The project has consisted of a written report and a presentation to the class. I decided to change things up a bit this semester. Instead of the usual typed, double-spaced two page report and a presentation, usually on PowerPoint, which is usually a lot of text being read word for word from the screen, I had them do something a little different. I am learning more and more that knowledge is easy to access these days. So I am making an effort to structure my assignments so that students must do something with the knowledge they have easy access to. So this time I asked them to write a simple article on their issue of choice. This article was to be similar to an entry in Wikipedia. I called the assignment Catholicpedia and they were to put their article on our class wiki. However, it was the presentation that I wanted to be the focus of this assignment. Students were advised not to use their article for their presentation. They were told there was to be no reading. They were told that they were to present their issue in a creative manner of their choosing. And it was my hope that they would incorporate the use of technology in some way. They were to create a presentation that would leave an impression, not one that would be forgotten as soon as it was completed. The first two groups presented and twelve hours later I am still thinking about what they have created. Mission accomplished. The first group took their issue, capital punishment, and created a radio broadcast of a panel discussion on the issue. Part of their broadcast was a “call-in” segment in which the students in the class could ask questions and make comments. Wish I had recorded it! At any rate here is the audio file. I hope you’ll have a listen. Capital Punishment Radio
The second group created a video using a digital camera to illustrate how little, it would seem, that people know about stem cell research. The quality of the editing, I thought , was quite well done.
I wanted to post this group’s video as well. Their topic was child labour and I wanted to show their video because I think it demonstrates the kind of things I spoke about in another post. My students in this video point out that the labour practices of the supplier of our school’s uniform is somewhat suspect as they refuse to disclose the location of their production sites.
I had an interesting experience tonight. My friend and technology guru Chris was presenting at an education conference in Australia and he asked me to help him with his presentation by joining him for a Skype video conference. He was sharing with his audience my experiences with the Flat Planet Project last school year. It was only last year that I started to get interested in incorporating technology into my classroom and now I am helping to present at a conference about this very thing. It really blows me away. Furthermore, with a simple yet marvelous piece of technology like Skype I was able tonight to share my experiences with a group of teachers on the other side of the planet! The world is flat! Hopefully some new connections will come of this and more great learning experiences for students. If you were at Chris’ presentation and you are interested or know someone who would be interested in some online collaboration with an R.E. class in Canada please leave a comment.
Last school year I took what I learned from the K12 Online Conference and put it into action. I sought out a teacher who would be willing to join me in an online collaborative project and we used a wiki and a blog with our two classes. The students were very excited to be working with a group of students on the other side of the ocean and one of my students remarked that she was motivated to work hard on this project because of the global audience who would be watching via the web. I recently bumped into one of my students from that class who has now graduated and she asked me if I was doing another “wiki project” because she thought it was “so cool.” As a teacher you wonder what they will remember once they have left you. I am confident that the students who engaged in this project will remember this learning experience they had in my class.
But to get to my former student’s question about whether or not I am doing another “wiki project” the answer is I sure hope so! To that end, I had been thinking about a way to connect with teachers who would be willing to join me and my students in a collaborative adventure. So to try and establish some connections with Catholic teachers who would be interested in giving their students a learning opportunity like the one my students had I have set up a place for developing a community of Catholic Teachers Online. It is a wiki that I have set up to allow you to let the Catholic education community who you are, your grade/level, subject area, and to start conversations with other Catholic educators that would be interested in making a connection. I hope we can build a community of educators who are brave enough to step outside the box and start something new and exciting for their students.
Well we have come to the end of the school year and I know all teachers are ready for a rest, and that definitely includes me. However, I have been hearing a lot lately into research about how keeping an active mind can be beneficial in reducing the risk, or at least delaying the onset of diseases such as Alzheimer’s. So I have thought about what I am going to do, usually reading , bu they say you should change things up a bit. If you just do the same thing over and over then your brain will just get used to it and you will reap little benefit. So I was going through a box of my old stuff when I found a tin whistle that I started to learn about 15 years ago and then put it away. So I thought maybe I would pick it up again and try to learn a few tunes over the summer. To that end I sought some inspiration and so I did a search on YouTube for tin whistle and was amazed by what I found. A Jesuit, Ryan Duns who teaches a course on the tin whistle at Fordham University has a number of lessons online. It amazes me what is available online and for free these days. YouTube I think has great potential for the classroom. I tried using it in one of my lessons, however, due to the limited bandwidth at my school it was not completely effective. All I can do is keep trying to improve my students classroom experience by continuing to use these tools and hopefully those who make the decisions about bandwidth and technology in the classroom in general will see the benefits and give us the support we need.
As for now, I am going to try and pick up some of the skills that this very talented musician/priest/educator is offering to me, and anyone else who is interested over the next few weeks. Below is a little sample of what I am a long way from achieving. The tune is called The Musical Priest!
This is just a follow up to my previous post. The Flat Planet Project has been receiving much attention. This has come somewhat as a shock and surprise to Neil and I. We are really encouraged by the positive feedback we have been receiving. Thought I would put the links in here to some of the comments that people have been making.
My techno/web2.0 guru Chris Betcher discussed our project on his Betchablog
A Jewish Edu-Blogger in Jerusalem commenting on a project by two Roman Catholic religious education classes in Canada and the UK. Now if that isn’t proof that the world is flat I don’t know what is!
Well I have been away from my blog for the past couple of weeks while I devoted my time to the Flat Planet Project that my class collaborated in with Neil’s class in London, England. In this post I will share my reflections on the project.
I first got interested in online collaborative projects and using wikis and blogs last autumn when I “attended” the K12 Online Conference. I viewed presentations on wikis by Vicki Davis and Mark Wagner, and one on collaborative learning projects by Sharon Peters. These really motivated me (along with many other presentations “there”) to explore Web 2.0 tools and to think about how I could improve my students’ classroom experience with these tools.
The thing that struck me most about the project was the level of engagement I saw. As soon as my class got into the computer lab they eagerly got to work on their task. My other grade 12 class were doing the traditional project that I have previously done with this course and they have needed the traditional reminders about not playing games etc. while in the computer lab. I am amazed by some of the things that the students have done with their project pages. One of my students said the fact that we had a global audience was motivation for her to work hard on this project. Another student’s jaw dropped when I told them that they would be partnered with a class in England for this project and she said “that is so cool.”
And now for a shameless plug. I got an email from one of the guys who runs the Wikispaces website. He said, “Your space is a great example of trends we’ve been noticing in education.” And with that he told me that the Flat Planet Project had been named the Wikispaces Space of the Month for April. There are over 25,000 education wikis on this site.
Neil and I have already begun to discuss where we will go from here. We would love to include another class, or two, for another Catholic collaborative project. We would like to perhaps include a class from Australia and Africa. After all the word catholic means universal! If you are a Catholic religious education teacher (anywhere really) and would be interested in collaborating Neil and I would love to hear from you. Please leave a comment.
Well after a few months of planning and discussions the Flat Planet Project is under way. A few months ago I contacted fellow religious education teacher and edublogger Neil and asked if he would be interested in joining my class in an online collaborative project. He jumped enthusiastically on board with the idea and has done a great deal of work to get this project going. (Thanks Neil). I must say even though I searched him out to engage in this process I was a bit worried about how my students would responsd to the idea. Would they be willing to work with a class in a different country, who were 2 years younger than them (this is a big deal when you’re 17/18)? But I must say that since the project was introduced the students have been very keen, enthusiastic, and engaged in the whole process. Today I was talking about the project with some of my students and I told them about some of the places that the wiki and the blog have had hits from and they said they felt a lot of pressure to do well on it because of the global audience, and the judges who will be participating. They also said that this was motivating them to do well. Furthermore, they said it was “exciting”! Ah, now that’s music to my ears!
Well it has been a while since my last post. I have been busy implementing the use of some Web 2.0 tools into my classroom and have been hitting a few bumps along the way. Mainly students having issues with getting their blogs setup. However, many of my students have been blogging and we are using a wiki for some collaborative work so I am happy with the overall progress to date. I have also been busy arranging an online collaborative project with a teacher in London which I hope to write more about later. And along with all the other things that keep us teachers busy, it is time for progress reports. My mother was going through some old papers she found in a box in her basement and she found what may very well be my first progress report. I have attached it below.
Well today was the end of the first week of the second semester and I have taken the leap into making my classroom a technologically integrated classroom. And I do this in a classroom with no technology, well, except for a TV (that isn’t connected to anything: cable,dvd-player, vcr) and an overhead projector. I have asked my students in my three classes to sign up for blog accounts. I started with my Grade 11 class and by the end of today about a third of the class had created blogs that I could access and the rest were in the process of creating their blog and some were having a little difficulty, however, I think this is not because of anything they are doing but because of some minor issues they are ironing out at learnerblogs. I asked my two Grade 12 classes today to sign up for blogs over the weekend, so Monday will bring some more links to add to the Blogroll.
I must admit, I was somewhat hesitant, and, somewhat nervous in taking this leap. I am heading into uncharted waters. I wonder how is this going to change my comfort zone? How is this going to change what I have been doing in the classroom since I started teaching in 2000? Am I going to have to change everything? Is this going to be more work for me on top of the already heavy workload? But along with these fears there is also excitement. Like the kind of thing you feel as you approach the top of a roller coaster before the big drop and the rush. At any rate I think this is one teacher’s step in making Chris Walsh’s wish come true.
My class blog can be found here and you can find the links to my student blogs there.
