Just How do HS Students Use Thier MacBook

It has now been one quarter that we have had MacBooks in the hands of all the HS students.  Not surprisingly, there are a number of ways in which the students use their computers both for their education and for personal use.

At the start of the year, it was made very clear that the MacBook was to be ready at all times for the student's education.  Keeping the battery charged and not wandering to other windows was stressed as something that students needed to keep a close eye on.  Recently there was a great article in the school newspaper The Break on some things students can do to preserve their battery life on a daily basis.  I seem to remember there were six ideas given and all would allow the battery to be used longer throughout the day.  I feel that this has been met with a great deal of success.  It is not 100% but then again, that is a goal that may not be reachable.

In classes I have either been in or viewed, the variation on MacBook use is astounding.  We have a larger group of students using StudyWiz and its various components and this is thanks to the teachers taking the time to learn all the facets of this program.  While I am aware it is not everything to all teachers, many assignments, groups, problems of the week and now even drop boxes are being used frequently through StudyWiz.  As far as I know, students still have full access to this at home.  One problem that was discovered by a couple of students is that StudyWiz does not work well with the Chrome browser.  Switching to Firefox seems to fix the problem immediately.

I have often heard that students blog.  This year we set up blogs for all the 10th grade students and the new students in grade 9 and 10.  9th Grade students did not need new blogs as they had the ones they used in Grade 8.   At this moment, I do not think there is an abundance of blogging happening the high school.  I am aware that blogging was discouraged in one department as it was determined that the content could be too damaging so they opted for a Discussion on StudyWiz instead.  Other than that, I was hoping that grade 9 would keep the grade 8 students going with their blogs and asses it more informally with reply comments.  I am hoping that with continued work, I can convert some teachers to use more blogs.

There are a couple of special projects happening in the HS - robotics and IB Language and Literature.  The IBLL class has worked diligently on producing both a poster and brochure for a womens HIV group in Henan Province.  There is an abundance of MacBook use with this project as the contact is through either Skype or FaceTime and the Layout and Design group are using Adobe inDeisgn to complete the project.   The research into the group is done both through the Internet and by digital reading of documentation sent to them from the group.

The robotics club meets after school and has been busy preparing for what they need to make this a reality.  Budgets have been accepted, orders placed, PC computers reformatted and installed in the classroom and student have been busy planning and preparing for the construction and programming of their robots.  I admit that I am hoping to see this bloom throughout the MS and HS to possibly be offered as a course here at ISB through the HS years.

I was asked why the MacBooks cannot be  formatted for the PC operating system in cases like robotics where there is no work around for a MacBook.  At this time the school has made a decision to not allow this at all.  Instead, if needed, we will find PC computers for students to use with the Robotics they are working with.  I am also in the throws of looking for anything that will work well with the MacBook computers and Robotics.

Of course, the students use their computers for personal use as well as educational.  What I am pleased to see is that all the work we did last year coupled with announcements and reminders has set the correct tone for this.  We do not limit the use of computers at lunch but there are not very many open and being used at this time.  It is one of the very few social times so the students revel in the time given to them.  Gaming, Facebook and YouTube remain open for the students and at this time I see no need to close them off.  The students have risen to the level of responsibility that shows they can be trusted with this.  To date, I have had no incidence of any of these during classes other than when it was given with pemission.

One area I would like to see more respect taken is in the closing of computers when someone is talking.  This is still something that is troublesome during times when computers are not even needed - assembly, morning mentor and mentor meeting time.  I used the word respect because that is all it is.  Most of the time a student cannot be listening properly if they are busy on a MacBook doing something else. They will probably miss some important word of wisdom or insight.

Quarter 2 is upon us and more interesting tidbits coming up.

Learning 2.012 Conference - Beijing

This weekend was a wonderful mixture of conference, collaboration, networking and discussion.  There was so much that transpired, it is hard to condense it all.  I know that a couple of more posts are going to be needed to reflect on this in its entirety.

The cohort was a wonderful place where like minded people could carry on discussions and network with similar problems and successes.  There were about 15 in our cohort and the discussions ranged from Design Technology to application of a coaching style PD.  The latter took a lot of time and it would appear that while most of the International Schools in attendance are attempting this model for PD, there are varying degrees of success.  The HS level seems to be one of the hardest to break into since there is the content vs process discussion always at the forefront.  I wonder if it is possible to have both and still have a successful PD model in a HS setting. I believe it is possible as it is what I am trying to establish here at ISB.

Professional networks are an important part of these conferences.  It was great to catch up with people I have worked with before and also to meet some new people to stay in touch with both as professional educators and also as mentors for programs and ideas.  There were a lot of blogs, online discussions, Facebook pages and personal websites that were shared over the three days of the conference.

If you are interested in looking through the website of the conference it can be found here;

http://www.learning2.asia/

Through out these pages are plenty of people connecting and connected into Learning 21 goals and ideas for schools.  They can be a great resource.  You can also find all the materials from the sessions, unconferences and cohorts throughout these pages.  These might prove helpful for people working in this direction.  As I move forward here, you will find a lot more on this conference and my work in establishing connectivity among teachers at ISB.

What Makes a Good ICT Facilitator

This is a question that I have pondered over for almost a year now, ever since I was offered and accepted the position here at ISB.  I have now been in the post for a quarter of the year so I throught I would give some of what I have found.

1.  Have a vision of the future and be able to articulate this to others.  The idea here is that creative thinking will help teachers move their teaching into this new idea of 1:1.  It should also include what impact it will have on student learning and how to get the most value out of technology in projects and classroom learning.  The statements should not be general in nature and they should have some kind of time frame.  Some of this vision may not be feasible, but still a goal to look toward in the future.

2.  Has a focus on the student, primarily in learning and assessment. This is a big area and not one that all teachers understand well.  It should not be about assessing the technology but rather the achievement of the student.  It may well be that there has been some technology infusion into a learning goal, but this technology is just a tool to help the student learn.

3.  Is informed about what is going on around the school and community.  Procedures are in place to celebrate the wonderful things going on around the school and in the classroom.  The ICT facilitator needs to be a part of curriculum planning specifically in the units that are being developed.  TO do so invites a great sharing of all the great work being accomplished by the teachers.  The facilitator also celebrates with the teacher or student, accomplishments  that have been successful.

4.  Has ideas and knows how to carry them out.  There is no sense in letting teachers know about great ideas for their teaching or units without being able to assist in carrying them out.  Many teachers will be excited about these ideas but also scared about deploying them in the classroom.  The ICT Facilitator needs to be there for the teachers to make sure ideas work as they are planned.  It is great for the facilitator to be innovative, but sometimes it can be very ovewhelming for the teacher.

5.  Is a good listener.  One of the aspects of my job is to listen to the members of the faculty, students and administration.  If you are a good listener the the people around you will respect you and your ideas more seriously.

6.  If the ICT Facilitator is a good listener and respectful of others then they will find that others approach them with ideas they want help with.  The facilitator should be able to identify both the advantages and pitfalls to the idea and help the teacher/student through with implementation.

7.  Has a passion for what is happening in the school.  This would include all levels of PD and SD that involve the change needed in a school to bring in a high end, robust and technologically sound program.  The program is ever evolving.

I still have many questions unanswered but over time I hope to be able to both see the answers to the questions and also see how they can be a part of the bigger picture at the school.

Taihu Book Conference

I was fortunate to attend one day of the 19th Annual Taihu Book Conference.  This is a fairly new facility and to say that it is large would be an understatement.  I could not find the exact size but I would estimate that it covers about 2 million square feet.  The main building has five levels and that is the showcase of vendors, including publishers from all over the world.  While I was there I noticed Scholastic, Harvard Press, Houghton Mifflin and a couple more.  It was an impressive warehouse of publishing materials from all over the world.  Of course, the largest by far were the Chinese publishers.

During the day there were four seminars that I attended that had to do with the digital domain.  It is evident that the publishers are working hard to create digital material both on-line and in the form of textbooks.  What I heard however, was that the strength of digital text books will be for the university level and the school level will be online course materials.

All of the publishers are working with online portals that will encompass their curricular materials enhanced with added learning opportunities for students.  Many are embracing the L21 ideas where they can, but this is proving to be difficult given the rather open nature of them.  No surprise that assessment is a big part of these portals and in some cases can be individualized to the class or student.

Over all the day was well worthwhile.  I still did not find the connection to eTextbooks I am looking for but this could be due to the limited nature of the books being prepared for the High School market.  It looks like I am going to need to include research of online portals in my interest for the future.

iPad in HS PE

The PE department just took posession of four iPads.  The purpose of this two fold;

1.  To gather fitness information to help students make informed choices.
2.  To provide immediate feedack on student health and fitness for PE classes.

These goals are going to happen with a myriad of apps that have been added to the iPads.   Most of these will be first time use so there is a period of experimentation that is going to take place.  I am eagerly awaiting the start of these apps with the PE department so that further use can be determined in the future.

Here is a list of the Apps that will be reviewed  this year;

Interval Timer
Numbers
Tempo Magic Pro
iMuscle (NOVA series)
iFitness Pro HD
i-Replay
Speed Anatomy (Quiz)
Collaborative Mobile Multi Camera Video
Reel Director
Swim Coach Plus HD
Basketball Coach Plus
Football Coach Plus
Tennis Coach Plus HD
Cricket Coach Plus HD
Coach's Eye
Vernier Video Physics
Step Test
Bleep Test Pro
Yo Yo Endurance Test
Fitness Meter - Test & Measure
Heart Rate Training Zone Calculator
PE Plus
Vital Signs Camera - Philips
Cardiograph - Heart Rate Monitor
Team Shake
Coach Pad
Easy Assessment
PB Go

As the year progresses I am hoping to keep outlining the advantages and problems with these Apps as the work with the HS PE Students and Staff.

Non-Profit Organizations at School

With an eye to collaboration with an NGO here in China, the grade 11 Language and Literature class hosted an administrator from Asia Catalyst during their class to go over information about the company and what kind of assistance the class could provide.  It was an hour of information about what this NGO is trying to achieve here and also a time to Skype with one of the actual organizations they assist.

The students had prepared a list of questions to ask both the ladies they would talk to.  These included the gathering of information about the organizations and also about what they need he most help with.  The kept notes as the answers were given.  It was great to see how many students were using their MacBooks to  do this.  One of the students from the class was chosen as the interpreter for the interview with the lady from Henan since she not speak English.  The answers were then given back to the class in English.  Truly a real world experience for this young man.

By the time it was over the students have decided to work with Asia Catalyst and the Henan Womans Network in the production of a booklet of information, advertising brochure and posters.  The students will also assist with the production of an English section to existing websites.  In order to complete this there will be four groups in the class; copy writing, editing, layout and design, and management.  Overseeing all this will be a leader from each of these groups who will meet regularly with both the groups in the class and also Asia Catalyst as the project progresses this semester.

Look for more on this as they year progresses.

IFS Starts a New Course

Integrated Field Studies is a new course in the grade 11 curriculum and in meeting with the teachers they have plenty of god ideas to integrate technology into the course.  Since one of the learning goals of the course is to reflect regularly on personal learning, it was thought that a Blog would be a good place for this.  The concern was that the students might not be as reflective because of the open nature of a blog. A decision to use the blog on StudyWiz was made as it is a personal blog between student and teacher only.  It appears to have all the needs of the teacher for the course.

Secondly was a look at the field book that students will be keeping.  It will involve, but not be limited to, field notes, interviews, labs, photographs, charts and graphs and perhaps a movie.  In order for all of this to be collated together, Pages was the clear choice.  It can be set up to the personal style of the teacher and all of the elements can be a part of this file.  The file can be transposed into ePub so that anyone with a tablet or smartphone can use it.  If iBooks was used then the only publishing possibility would be  and iPad - this is too limiting.

Integrated Field Studies uses a local community here in Beijing to do its study.  They look at the changes in certain criteria over time and report his back to the Community Leaders.  It is an excellent way for students to be involved in a real part of Beijing, look at a real life situation and be personally involved in their own learning.  There are projects associated with this that are determined by the nature of the class and also student interests.