Emmaus BytesByte sized technology updates - Edition 3

Edmodo use is GROWING!

Edmodo is an ONLINE CLASSROOM - which can also be called an LMS (Learning Management System).

The key benefits of Edmodo are:

Student centred design, class and group discussion encouraged, easy to manage setup and permissions, can store, send and share ANY file type, links to Google Drive, can hold marks but does a better job at allowing written feedback for submissions.

Edmodo functions on an iPad - laptop or ANY mobile device.

TIP - use safari on an iPad or mobile device, it has HEAPS more features than the app!

USE: www.emmaus-cc.edmodo.com

Sharing good practice

I am using Edmodo as a way of collecting digital work (where possible, particularly with literacy and also visual stuff in art) and the students are really embracing it!

Year 7 Visual art was given a task at school where I took them around outside and looked at "textures". We brainstormed what this meant and they had a great afternoon around the gardens at the art block.

Here are the results!

Claudia Harris

POPPLET  is  a  mindmapping  app  

YEAR  7  have  the  PAID  version  of  this  app  -­‐  uses  could  include:

 Story  summaries,  character  development  maps,  brainstorms,  unit  summaries,  revision  diagrams,  procedural  diagrams  .  .  .  

Kahoot is an easy to set up quiz system that works on mobile devices AND laptops.

You can include images, text - the nicest part is that Kahoots can be shared and saved.

Aaron set up this one in science for students who had finished work - to test their knowledge of the lesson content.

Apps being supplied to years 8 -12

Your words here...

https://getkahoot.com/

Over the remainder of the term apps will be purchased for the 290 students who BYOD - iPad.

NOTABILITY - ALL YEAR GROUPSEpic note taking app. Makes files on the iPad organised. Links to Google Drive.

POPPLET - ALL YEAR GROUPSCreates mindmaps that can be simple OR complex.

iSTUDIOUS - Years 10 -12 Creates study cards that can use images, formulas, text. Card sets can be shared, saved or printed.

WOLFRAM ALPHA - Years 10 -12 Accurate and relevant reference app for: Science, Maths, PDHPE, TAS. Interactive videos, live web links - way better than wikipedia!

*These apps have been chosen to supplement classwork - they are general use apps that can be used across KLA's

Your words here...

More  information  on  the  creative  and  critical  thinking  capabilities  can  be  found  HERE

Building on last editions focus on CRITICAL THINKING - I have recently been reading about the "CORNELL" method of note taking, I thought it links the concept of CREATIVE & CRITICAL thinking together nicely.

It is more than just SUMMARISING, the template encourages students to create their own questions based on content, inferring information between areas to develop an argument or to solidify concepts learnt.

"Concept formation is the mental activity that helps us compare, contrast and classify ideas, objects, and events. Concept learning can be concrete or abstract and is closely allied with metacognition." (from the AC site linked above)

Using technology- this strategy could be implemented using Notability or Google Drive - using page templates. LP could be to create a set of course notes that employed this note taking method, both Notability and Google drive allows students to save, share and build a working document over time.

What is a driving question ?A DRIVING QUESTION is a big idea that overarches a unit of work or topic. A GOOD driving question cannot be googled or answered in a simple form - it should take research work and problem solving - CREATIVE THINKING.

A driving question usually frames a unit of work, it's open ended nature means that depending on the interests and abilities of students the end product could be different each time you teach the unit of work. This is not to say the outcomes aren't being covered - it is the divergent and creative thinking of students that will take your content on a journey. . . .

Driving questions are usually catchy - they present content in question form so that students become curious, captivated problem solvers. Driving questions are part of the PBL (project based learning) framework - but need not to be used exclusively with project work. Driving questions usually seek or link REAL WORLD context to units of work, so that students feel the work is purposeful and relevant.

Students could PRODUCE something tangible to represent/respond to the driving question - iMovie, podcast, presentations, stop motions, stories, news articles, websites, blogs.

Here are some examples of driving questions that could frame a unit of work. . . .

Why can't we live without understanding triangles? - MATHS - TRIG

Is Dracula a goth or an example of gothic literature? ENGLISH - EXT

Will robots take over the world in 2050? - TAS - IST

Is parenting the hardest career? - PDHPE - CAFS

Driving  questions  are  also  called  essential  questions  -­‐  samsies!    

How  to  write  a  driving  question