We started blogs in maths last week. I think it has been going ok. Not everyone is thrilled to be writing in maths but everyone is doing it. The biggest difficulty has been getting the kids to write quietly. They spend so much time being able to talk and share ideas that the class is not used to silence. Today is the first day that it has been quiet enough for me to blog at the same time. I've found it good reading the blogs. It's been a nice way to get insight into how they are doing.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Friday, October 8, 2010
ULearn Computer gaming Breakout
Kids between 4 and 14 will spend roughly 10192 hrs gaming, 13300 hrs at school. That is long enough to become an expert. We should harness this.
The breakout hung off the wiki: http://gamesined.wikispaces.com/
There is a great list of games, loosely grouped into subjects. Definately a great place to start if you're looking for some games to use in class.
As far as the pedagogy goes the talk was pretty light, he recommended Immersion with guidance without elaborating much. He did say that he was hoping to get classroom experiences of these games put up on the wiki. That would be very useful to me.
The breakout hung off the wiki: http://gamesined.wikispaces.com/
There is a great list of games, loosely grouped into subjects. Definately a great place to start if you're looking for some games to use in class.
As far as the pedagogy goes the talk was pretty light, he recommended Immersion with guidance without elaborating much. He did say that he was hoping to get classroom experiences of these games put up on the wiki. That would be very useful to me.
ULearn 9 in 90 breakout
A review of 9 different software packages. The one that grabbed me that I'll play with later is Game Maker. There were other nice things, video editing, sound, comic creator, time-lapse photography. It's good to get an overview. I will have things to suggest to other people but I probably won't use many of these myself.
ULearn Lane Clark Breakout
This breakout was all about Human Cognitive Architecture and Cognitive Load Theory. It helped draw together bits and pieces that I've learned about these topics in the past. Her description of working memory in HCA was confused but the big idea that came out was that the aim of learning is to create schema. Kids can learn something and retain it well enough to sit a test months later but unless it is processed into a schema it will be gone by the next year. To help this happen get the kids to process rather than regurgitate or simply use their learning.
The CLT part was a good refresher but little new info. The big idea was to keep it simple when designing instructional material. People only have so much 'space' in their heads to process things. This gets divided between the intrinsic (what you want them to learn), extraneous (how it is presented and what you want them to produce) and Germane (interest and involvement). Make the presentation simple and familiar and the student has space to think about content with room left over to get enthusiastic about it.
The CLT part was a good refresher but little new info. The big idea was to keep it simple when designing instructional material. People only have so much 'space' in their heads to process things. This gets divided between the intrinsic (what you want them to learn), extraneous (how it is presented and what you want them to produce) and Germane (interest and involvement). Make the presentation simple and familiar and the student has space to think about content with room left over to get enthusiastic about it.
ULearn Robots in Maths
Two teachers demonstrated how they use robots to teach maths in their classes. Both primary and lower high school. They were able to pull in an impressive amount of maths and problem solving out of some very simple robotic activities. From distance/time relationship to diameter and travel distance. Using gears to teach ratio and exponential in a practical way. Axel width + wheel diameter to do turns.
They reported that solving problems with the robots really increased student engagement. So much cool stuff. I want a class set (only $6000 :-)
They reported that solving problems with the robots really increased student engagement. So much cool stuff. I want a class set (only $6000 :-)
Thursday, October 7, 2010
ULearn Lane Clark Keynote
First impressions of Lane Clark's keynote address. She talked about inquiry (sorry, !nquiry). She did have some very good ideas about how to structure an inquiry and the reasons. It is definitely a better way to teach but what she was presenting was a very specific and trademarked(!) approach. It did not seem very flexable.
The big things I got out of it were the importance of immersion first. She stressed relevance to the learners, this is a recurring theme but difficult to achieve.
The big things I got out of it were the importance of immersion first. She stressed relevance to the learners, this is a recurring theme but difficult to achieve.
ULearn Day 1
What a bad start. I got up at 4:45 and we flew out of Wellington and circled Christchurch for 40 minutes before heading back. We got to Christchurch just in time for lunch.
The first breakout was good. Neil Stephenson from Calgary Science School talked about learning to teach in a technology rich school. He had good ideas about teachers collaborating to create inquiry topics that would be interesting and engaging. The key, in his opinion is to focus the inquiry on a specific, real, current issue. Ask what it's place is in the world.
He had good ideas about how to get teachers to improve and evaluate their practice. Some good rubric's on his blog: thinkinginmind
The first breakout was good. Neil Stephenson from Calgary Science School talked about learning to teach in a technology rich school. He had good ideas about teachers collaborating to create inquiry topics that would be interesting and engaging. The key, in his opinion is to focus the inquiry on a specific, real, current issue. Ask what it's place is in the world.
He had good ideas about how to get teachers to improve and evaluate their practice. Some good rubric's on his blog: thinkinginmind
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