Developing Digital Skills in your..
CLASSROOM - my learning diary on the MOOC on EUN
About me
My name is Rositsa Mineva and I am an ESL/ EFL and technology teacher in the 5th Secondary school in the city of Stara Zagora, Bulgaria. Our school is one of the biggest central state schools, more than 1050 students, and 75 teachers
My students are from 8 to 13 years old.
I never change my school and I've been teaching there for 26 years. It has happened to me to change grade levels and subjects - I was a facilitator of 8th graders, a primary and technology teacher and I've been an English teacher almost for last 13 years. That is why I am not only a teacher but a lifelong learner and a traveller by heart. I love challenges and usually, I am not afraid to change whatever just to see what new comes and improve to better my teaching and learning.
I am also a Lifelong learner, global classroom partner, eTwinning adviser for Bulgaria, Glogster ambassador and board adviser, EduBuncee ambassador. Happy to participate on the MOOC: DEVELOPING DIGITAL SKILLS IN YOUR CLASSROOM and to study from European Schoolnet Academy and from all my colleagues worldwide. Thanks for the privilege to be a small part of this huge EDUCATIONAL community and to study from all of you!
And this is my LD on this event and I will share here all my thoughts on the ongoing topics and will collect resources on this padlet board, too. Fill yourselves free to use and share whatever you like :)
Rosi
My classroom
Group work and formative assessment
Group work and formative assessment
Our classroom
1. What digital skills do you think are important in 2015? Do you agree with the Mashable website?
2. What digital skills do you think will be important by 2030?
My reply 1.1.
Top 10 skills for 2015, 2020, 2030
... and in my opinion
10 things young people should know leaving school in 2030
10 things young people should know leaving school in 2015
1.1.These digital skills the teacher should teach students now and these are the skills students should learn, experience and master till they leave school
- Life-long Learning: the ability to self-teach new concepts in a quickly changing work environment.
- Understanding Copyrights: know the difference between ‘fair use’, plagiarism, creative commons and other copy-right related topics.
- Time Management: know the online digital tools that can aid in time management and planning.
- Graphic Design: ability to edit and resize images for online presentations and exhibit.
- Audio recording: ability to create, edit and publish audio recordings.
- Web 2.0: understand the appropriate uses of Web 2.0, both in the classroom and on the job. Know the limits and dangers of Web 2.0 in these contexts as well.
- Screencapture/video: know how to edit and create screen captures and videos for educational and/or work needs.
- ePortfolios (Agile Portfolios): know how to create, edit and manage an online ePortfolio, or Agile portfolio, for educational or professional exhibit.
- Online Talks: know how to created, edit, and managed online webinars, trainings, or presentations.
- Mobile Learning: know how to exploit mobile technologies for education and work related needs.
- Collaboration: know how to use a variety of online office tools and file sharing components for virtual collaboration.
1.2. The future of work
The transition from 20thCentury practices to 21stCentury practices. The removal of top-down hierarchies to nimble organizations with open and transparent communication. Not just competing for market share but creating new markets.
A move from job-based work to project-based work.
From organization-centric to people-centric. The situation where companies had
command and control to increasingly systems which are based on trust. A removal of organizational hierarchy to networks and relationship-based employee
. From work-life balance to that notion of life work. And from moving from having a 30
-year career to perhaps having 10 or more jobs by the time that you’re 40. So, load to think about there.
My reply 1.2.
I often say to my students that they must learn English and master digital skills to succeed in the future world. Time flies rapidly and just in next 10 years they will be the employee on world open markets and they should compete for their jobs with peers all around the planet. So, more skilled and smarter ones will find brighter opportunities. And that sounds like science fiction for them, though it is what I read everywhere. On one hand I really think it will be better for Bulgarians to ask and find work online, to work from their homes, to earn money online and to spend this money in Bulgaria. I believe it will be a kind of finding a solution for BG young people not to leave our country nor to ask for jobs and better opportunities going abroad, leaving their homes and families. (just for info ; in last 23 years 2 000 000 Bulgarians left the country to ask for better life abroad - that is a scaring number for our nation, which population is no more than 7 000000 people)
On the other hand, honestly said, I am not euphoric because of all I hear like predictions about what jobs will be and how people would work. I love technology a lot, but IMO nothing can replace face - to - face contacts and trust when we look into each others' eyes, shaking hands, smile... People make jobs, technology only helps how things to happen faster and easier, so we'll see.
I never forget that my mission as a teacher is to prepare young generation for THEIR BETTER LIFE, which is OUR mutual future for sure. Fabio Mattaliano, I like the picture you shared :) Great set of tools :)
1.3. Jobs of the future
Best careers for the Future
Top 10 careers choices which will continue to be in demand
, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' (BLS) list of fastest-growing occupations
Read more at Buzzle: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/top-careers-in-demand.html
Alternative Careers for Teachers
1.4. Accessing jobs of the future
My reply 1.4.
I have never had a job online interview because I've never changed my job and school. My school doesn't do online interviews.
I've had a LinkedIn profile since 2010 and I know that it could be used for creating a virtual professional portfolio even by students at 13 and older.
I often talk to my students how all we do in the classroom ( creating and presenting learning content, skyping with digital pen pals, working collaboratively in groups, making students' portfolio) will affect the postive way their future job recruitment. My kids are still young (from 2nd to 7th grade) and probably they can't take all this for granted because they could see it up ahead in the future, which actually will be pretty soon. And I really hope the teachers they are having after me will be aware of all we are talking now and continue what I have started.
1.5. Future thinking
My reply 1.5.
Should be special subjects in schools from the first grade to 12th which will start preparing children for the digital world. The best thing will be all these skills to be mentioned and their development integrated into the curriculum but for now (for a pity) that is given only as recommendations, not as statements and standards.
.........
I don't like the idea of digital tattoos, Ollie. It somehow reminds me of WW2.
It's not fascinating at all!
Modul 1 completed
Modul Two How to use digital resources/content?
My reply
2.1.a. Searching the Internet - types of search engines
Tipes of search engines suggested by Ollie
2. Baidu
3. Bing
4. Yahoo
5. Ask.com
7. dogpile.com
9. quora.com
10. scholar.google.com library of congress
11. wayback machine
13. recipebridge.com
14. kelkoo.com
15. kayak.com
16. skyscanner.net
17. zoopla.co.uk
18. spokeo.com
19. shodan.io
20. List with search engines - wikipedia
My reply 2.1.a.
We (kids and me) usually use Google search in the classroom and we do the search together step by step, because of their first tries in searching. I always give them paths I have already tried. Searching the Internet I found some nice Kid-Safe browsers and search sites which I recommended to my young pupils to use at home.
http://www.sweetsearch.com/
http://www.shmoop.com/
http://www.findingdulcinea.com/
2.1.b. Searching the Internet - improving your search
Some helpful tips of how we can use Google more effectively. - suggested by Ollie
1. First of all, remember that you can use the tabs across the top of the page. This allows you to switch between web, videos, images, news etc
2. Think about trying to use important words only. So instead of “Where can I find a Chinese restaurant that delivers?”, how about you just search for “Chinese restaurant nearby?”. Remember Google is location aware. Or “Pizza places near me”, keep it simple as possible.
3. You can search for multiples words at once as well. For example, all you need to do is to put in the “best ways to prepare for a job interview” OR “how to prepare for a job interview”, so what you are doing now is asking to look for one thing or the other.
“Chocolate OR white chocolate”.
4. Gradually add search terms by trying something similar to the paper exercise I explained earlier. “job interviews”, “prepare for job interviews”, “how to prepare for a job interview” and you notice the search result changing each time.
5. Try to use words that websites would use, so rather than “I have a flat tire” how about “repair a flat tire”. Or rather than “my head hurts” how about “headache relief”.
6. Don’t worry too much about spelling. Google has actually got a built‐spellchecker which is really good,probably is better than the ones that you can find on the most modern word processor.
7. Use descriptive words as much as possible or think about different ways to ask for the same question if you are not happy with the results.
Ollie's tips for Google search in the classroom :
"One way to do it, and I do in lessons , is to actually get them developing search terms on pieces of paper first by removing the technology. What you are trying to is to trying to get them to think about the keywords, the key - search - terms. Then when they have developed the key - search - terms, you will introduce the technology on the mobile phone, ta blet or laptop and I see which one in the class has managed to get the best result. "
My reply 2.1.b
When we search for images to use in our online applications and we need images without backgrounds we use as a keyword the name of the object and 'png' or 'clipart' in addition. If we need animating ones - we use the keyword 'gif' and 'animated' in addition. Something small but useful from our classroom searching practice.
which I recommend to my young pupils to use at home.
2.1.c. Searching the Internet - advanced search
All Advanced search tips
Select the links in the following search tips for more information and examples of the search syntax:
- Choose search terms that are specific or closely related to the topic of interest.
- To search for a publication name using an acronym, put spaces between each letter. For example, to search for the journal name JBI (for Journal of Biomedical Informatics), enter J B I.
- Use the Specific Author field when searching names.
- Use the singular form of the word.
- Enclose stop words in brackets.
- Use connectors.
- Use wildcard characters to find variations of search terms.
- Observe the guidelines for searching special characters and formulas.
- Search document fields to limit your search results.
Basic Search Tips and Advanced Boolean Explained
Basic Search Tips and Advanced Boolean Explained
Search Google Like a Pro
2.1.d. Searching the Internet - hidden gems
My reply 2.1.d.
My reply
I travelled by wayback machine to see how my classroom wiki has changed for last 6 years. I created a screenshots' collage of it.
http://englishclassroombg.wikispaces.com/
http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://englishclassroombg.wikispaces.com/
I love InstaGrog and the opportunity it gives to share, embed and save the search. Great tool for searching and I will use it for sure.
Bing gives great opportunities for video search and maps. I like it.
2.1.e. Searching the Internet - searching the future internet
2.2.a. Content and Copyright - reliability of digital content
My reply
It's a funny hoax site. There are some clues that I can recognize it as fake:
1. Personal domain - fake as we can see
2. There are no scientific links
3. All information is strange and probably for fun and yes ... making money as well - we can read in FAQ
..........................................................
There are some fake sites in my country which fabricate 'news' and very often I can find that they are read and quoted as reliable even by 'intelligent' adults who can't distinguish matters. We need more critical thinkers for sure and all tips that Ollie suggested are a nice start for doing critical thinking not only with kids but also with adults.
Bulgarian sites which fabricate information:
a quote
"Nothing has really changed in this area, be it printed material, the spoken word or digital content. The world has always been faced with who is telling the story, why are they telling it and is the story true and from who's perspective. That is one of the most interesting things about people and the inquisitive mind… Don't except the truth that is given to you, explore."
Nigel — Ireland
2.2.b. Content and Copyright - 7 things you didn't know about Wikipedia
transcript of the video
My reply
7 things I didn't really know about Wikipedia
1. Banners with “contradict”, “accuracy”, “disputed” and “verification”
2. Up to dated (istantly updates itself)
3.Wikipedia has tabs - for article, discussion, editing, history which could be used by students
4. Translated in 282 languages
5. Reference tab
6. We can turn Wikipedia into a book or an e-publication.
7. Wikipedia has sisters via the Wikimedia Foundation.
2.2.c. Content and Copyright - understanding copyright
My reply
The coin has two sides. On the one hand having Creative Commons and copyrights in our minds bring order and protect the right of authorship. On the other hand, it limits the creativity that knows no borders because this way restricts more things to undergo changes. But it isn't bad if students know and respect the universal rules and feel responsible and conscious digital citizens. This will most likely happen after this metamorphosis happens to most of us - their teachers. And it anyway happens as I can see.
Recently my students and I use eduBuncee as the main tool to express our creativity and I feel really happy not to think if this image or animation is on CC or not, just use the items of the site which are rich in content and pretty awesome. I think, that should be the policy of the most successful platforms for education - to offer media without copyright content. Because it is really hard to explain to young learners why they can't have that sweet animated bunny in their application but should take one they don't like so.
on CC
pixabay https://pixabay.com/
CC search https://search.creativecommons.org/
http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2013/12/search-13-search-engines-for-creative.html
Flickr https://www.flickr.com/creativecommons/by-2.0/
Commons: Free media resources/Photography
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Free_media_resources/Photography?uselang=bg
30+ Places To Find Creative Commons Media
2.2.d. Content and Copyright - digital plagiarism
My reply
My students are young and they are in the very beginning of mastering their digital skills and still there are no problems with digital plagiarism. But it might appear when they start using social media. Their digital skills are still basic and In Bulgaria kids begin studying ICT in the 5th grade and I think it is quite late because kids start using devices and Internet 3 or 4 years earlier and they are not supported with any digital literacy neither at home from their parents nor at school from most of the elementary teachers. All these issues with copyright and plagiarism should be on a daily basis at the very beginning of school and digital experience of students. Starting surfing the net kids should learn first what is allowed and what is not, to respect and follow the rules and this way to leave positive digital footprints. This issue is very important for their future success.
Honestly said many of this issues I started studying from now and it will be really useful more teachers to know and to teach students on their daily basis.
Thanks, Ollie, It was a piece of nice information, very new and useful to learn from you! <3
MODUL 3. How to create digital resources/content?
by Ollie
"How can we encourage young people to talk to each other, teachers to talk to each other, teachers to talk to parents, pupils to talk to parents via showcasing their work?
How can we improve communication across our education systems in Europe?
And let’s maybe just revisit some of the importance of digital communication for young people.
- It focuses on student - centered learning.
- It can increase student engagement if used in the right ways.
- It’s obviously going to improve communication skills.
- It can remove a number of barriers, both within the classroom, but also barriers between home and the school.
- And it also allows us to generate this established global classroom community.
It’s really important, as I said right at the start of this unit, that actually creating content is easy but it’s a lot harder to create good content."
My reply
I know and use a large number of web tools and apps to create digital content for my classroom activities and beyond. Coding is something I'd like to know better. Actually, I used Bee-Bot with my students (which is kinda a nice start of coding) and played "The hour of code" also. But that was all. I'd like to learn new tools and ways to engage my young learners into coding on our daily basis. I'd like to learn how to create language games with my pupils which will help them to improve their English language skills.
3.1. Writing for the Web
Suggested by Ollie
2. Todays Meet
3. Google sites
4. Media wiki
5. Wikipedia
6. Weebly
7 Wix.com
8. Blogspot.com
9. Wordpress.org
10. ZooBurst
My reply
I provide an audience for my students both ways - online and offline. Sometimes I do open classes or educational drama projects where teachers, students, and parents are our audiences. I also have class wikis, sites, and blogs, FB closed groups, with mixed students and parents contribution, on twin space when we collaborate on eTwinning projects and open Twitter account to exchange ideas with global partners. https://storify.com/sunrise651/on-march-mystery-skype-adventure
Challenges - to connect and exchange ideas is a great way to learn for my students. Skype meetings with global peers for example. Playing Mystery Skype with partner classes and teachers across the world is knowledge and experience which kids couldn't achieve through traditional education. Pitfalls - kids' privacy is the issue of great importance and we should keep and respect it totally.
3.2. Collaborating Online
Suggested by Ollie
- Mikrosoft 365,
- Google Apps for education
- Kaizena Mini ( extension to google doc)
- Draft Back (chrom extension)
- Google slides for collaboration
- Mubai webcam. com
- Google docs in online forms
- KHS Pupils voice
- Flubaroo (Chrom extension)
- Zeemaps.com
My reply
To share their reading students use vocaroo and lino board tools. Kids record their reading with vocaroo and take the generated link of recording and put on a sticky note on the lino board. The lino board is embedded on our class site and kids can record their reading from school and also from homes.
The other great tool for sharing and creating students digital portfolio is Seesaw.me We also use and Seesaw blog for collaboration
3.3. Audio and Video
My reply
Nice tips, Ollie, thanks.
The most of the pointed things we have done with kids - Mystery skyping with global peers, video as authentic assessment, audio podcasting... I want to suggest some good tools we love to use working:
1. Seesaw.me - students can collect and organize their portfolio through video, audio, pictures, links, digital drawings and notes. Works well on computers and mobile devices. We use it with tablets in the classroom and it generates a blog also where kids share their materials. They can invite and meet parents on the platform. Absolutely attractive tool.
2. Explain everything - for presentations and very easy and useful tool for flipping lessons. It works on Chrom and tablets (iPad) also.
3. Speak pipe it is like vocaroo but works on mobile devices perfectly
4. PixiClip - we can draw, send audio and video messages, can also embed into a blog. Quite an awesome.
5. Magisto and Biteable - kids love the animations there. Both are very effective and intuitive tools for young learners to work with. They generate YouTube videos.
6. Knovio for flipping the classroom and Jing for screen and video casting
3.4. Website Design
My reply
I tried Mail Chimp and Moonfruit.com, they are quite new for me, thanks, I will dig deeper.
Weebly I like most of all and have some class sites and blogs on Weebly and two ones for my and my colleagues' PD . Actually, our school site is on Weebly. My teacher's blog is on Wordpress and my teacher's digital portfolio is on Blogger.
3.5. Games Design
My reply
4. How to programme machines?
Welcome to Module 4!
My reply
4.1. Coding - Getting Started
Suggested by Ollie
My reply
Yes, I think that we teachers should strive to develop multiple kinds of intelligence of our students and coding is a kinda good gymnastics for their brains to think critically, to make schemеs and algorithms, to solve problems. For students, it is very important to learn new skills and not to forget the old ones ( like handwriting for example ) because all these fine motor skills are in close connection with human brains' development (Motor skills are a proven indicator of future math and reading success for young learners for example.)
The mission of the new generation is to rule clever machines and that is why young people should be cleverer than them for sure. The problem ( as I am reading here from my European colleagues) is why coding is not still integrated into the curriculum of the most European schools, who and how will integrate it because 2030 is very close indeed?
4.2. Coding - Pair Programming
My reply
4.3. Coding - Links to other subjects
My reply
I am an ESL/EFL teacher of young learners and a little coding we did with Blocly made my students inspired by learning new vocabulary content in the process of coding, or through tutorials which celebrities did for the better understanding of programming.
The other thing I have in mind is that would be nice and easier for my young age learners if there are some models and templates they could use in their support to create their own learning exercises, games, and apps and thus study the foreign language ( grammar, patterns etc.) in a funny and pleasant way.
4.4. App Development - Getting Started
Suggested by Ollie
1. http://www.appsforgood.org/
The most important thing I think about any type of app development is getting
young people to think a little bit about why they want to develop the app in the first place. Again, the Apps for Good philosophy tends to this quite well. Initially, they asked children to go away and to see if they can find a problem that they want to solve. Then they asked the children to go out and carry some market research to make sure it is not just their problem, but other people also agree that it is
a problem which they want to solve as well, and therefore there is a market for it, they are carrying market research. Once they have done this, there is a brainstorming that goes on in order to develop some kind of solution design in terms of how the app might work in theory. Then of course you have to throw in the technicalities of developing an app. Sometimes you want things that are not just technically possible, so we compile the solution design with the product design before we go on to
build and test. Once we have built and tested, then probably what we are going to do is we are going to create another problem, and then the whole process starts again. So if we are developing an app, these 5 simple steps can really be useful to get your students into the right mindset.
3. https://www.touchdevelop.com/
4. Lions Teamwork Challenge
My reply
4.5. App Development - Touch Develop
My reply
4.6. Educational Robotics - Introduction
My reply
4.7. Educational Robotics - Getting Started Activities
My reply
4.8. Internet of Things
My reply
If we lose the control and privacy, technology is not on our side. Isn't it?
Smart technology is nice, but smarter people - better :)
http://www.alphr.com/features/389920/hacking-the-internet-of-things-from-smart-cars-to-toilets
4.9. Live Webinar 27th April: Computational thinking across the curriculum
MODUL 5. How to use social media?
My reply
I visited some New York schools last year and saw how Professional Learning Communities were working there for improving the quality of education and for PD of the teachers. I really find this very useful and would like to implement some good practices into my school. First, to establish PLC in my school and second, to make it work efficiently. Imagine, it's not so easy!
5.1. What is Social Media
Suggested by Ollie
Most popular social media
Tencent, the Chinese equivalent for facebook
Google+
Wordpress
Flickr by Yahoo
Slideshare by LinkedIn
My reply
Yes, social media is a great tool that we teachers can use efficiently in our work with students. Teachers can enhance classroom activities with social media. I made some private facebook groups to bridge school and home activities or for working collaboratively on eTwinning and global projects. The same is with our class Twitter account - we use it for global projects. In my opinion, the safety and appropriate way of using social media are issues of great importance and teachers and students have to study this first before to start using one or another. I am not sure that all of us read "Terms of use" of every site. These small letters where we put our ticks with "Agree" always say more than we can imagine.
5.2. Social Media as a Learning Network
Suggested by Ollie
Ollie refers to a research by Dr. Alec Couros a Canadian Educator. He developed two models: a) the traditional teacher network. In this model information was being delivered to the teacher. This model is a one-way model. b) the networked teacher or modern teacher. They are able to use the rich resources of the internet. A network teacher can be connected with colleagues and classrooms all around the world.
Ollie suggests another model: a) face to face, b) digital closed communities and c) Digital open communities.
Being part of all three of these things allows us to improve our knowledge, allows us to improve our skills and it allows us to improve as being reflective practitioners.
My reply
5.3. Social Media in the Workplace
My reply
To start to educate digital citizens we should start from their early age. For this purpose society should train teachers and parents how they to educate their children in a safe and responsible use of digital devices, the Internet, and social media . For this purpose, we need to have extra classes in our curriculum at schools, trained teachers, suitable materials, and software. This should become the policy of each European country and school. The sooner, the better. I think we've been already late with this because the generation which is digitally active now is not educated properly - the first 7 years are missing as we love saying.
........................................................................
At my working place, my students and I use a wiki, Glogster class account, Weebly site and blog, Buncee class account,
vocaroo
, linoit board. padlet, google docs, seesaw.me, facebook closed group, wizer.me. j2e, etc. Students practise creative learning in Glogster and Buncee classes.5.4. Internet Safety and Responsible Use
My reply
At my working place, my students and I use a wiki, Glogster and Buncee class accounts, Weebly site and blog,
My students use these platforms without any registration because I embed there
working tools which don't require students' log in - applications asvocaroo
padlet
Thus, it is fast and we save time. Students also practise creative learning in Glogster and Buncee classes and they have their private students accounts there which are managed by me. Which I really like using Buncee is that it supplies students with great tools and free clip arts and animations and even if students need to find and download an image outside the platform then Buncee searching tool provides images filtered by
pixabay
That's really great! I often talk to my students about eSafety and responsible use of social media we are using at the moment. I think it is not enough because I am not a class teacher ( I am 3 hours per week with my students, teaching English and this year I have no extra technology classes ). In my opinion, all class teachers should do their best to enrich students' digital culture with social media. I am afraid that teachers have been not ready yet to do so.
But what I absolutely would like to implement in my students are the basic attitudes mentioned by Ollie:
- be resilient
- be able to embrace change
- be innovative
- take use of these opportunities
- remain positive
- work hard
- put your mind to a positive future
My reply
It was a great course and I am so thankful to Ollie Bray and EUN for it. What I guess scratch,
kodu
and mobile apps development will be my summer addiction . I am eager to study more about these new things for me and will try to implement them into my teacher work with my students for the new school year.6.1. Overview of the Final Activity
6.2. Your lesson plan and peer reviews
In this final activity we have to
- Prepare a lesson plan and
- Review the lesson plans of 3 colleagues.
Your lesson plan
As already mentioned in the course introduction, the idea is for you to reflect on everything you have learned on the course and integrate this into a final course product that is directly useful for your work in the classroom. By reviewing other participants' lesson plans you will also receive some further ideas and reflect further about your own application of what you have learnt on the course.
To design the lesson plan we ask you to use a very nice tool called the Learning Designer which was developed by the London Institute of Education. We already introduced you to this tool during the Course Introduction so hopefully you have already looked at it and created an account. If you haven't done this yet, browse to learningdesigner.org/register.php and create an account. This should be very straight-forward; Just enter your details here, click the activation link in the email you receive (check your Spam folder if you don't receive an email), and then log-in using your username (this is not your email address but the username you identify when registering) and password.
We will provide more details on what to focus on in your lesson plan in the next section but for now, if you have not done so already, please make sure you are familiar with the Learning Designer. So take a look at the following video to the Learning Designer which was created by Reyhan Güneş, a course participant on previous Academy courses. She outlines how she has been using the Learning Designer and why it is a great tool to use for lesson planning and sharing ideas with colleagues. A big thanks to her for preparing this video.
You can also see an example of a lesson plan created in the Learning Designer further back in the Course Introduction
For all Italian colleagues out there, take a look at an Italian introduction to the Learning Designer here. Have you also written a blog post, an article or another form of digital content introducing the Learning Designer in your own language? Let us know and we will spread the word!
Your peer reviews
You will be required to provide 3 reviews of other participants' lesson plans. We will provide more detail on what to include in your reviews in the next section but in order to understand more generally what is required of you take a look at the 2nd video below where Reyhan Güneş explains what is important to consider and be aware of when writing a peer review of someone else's work.
CRITERIA FOR A GOOD LESSON PLAN
- The lesson plan explicitly addresses the development of students’ digital skills (directly or indirectly): for example, as part of a classroom project students have to produce a short video or website, run a social media campaign or construct a robot. Importantly, it is not necessary that the digital skills development is the main goal of the lesson, however, it is essential that a clear reference to this is provided in the lesson plan and it is explained which digital skills and how these are developed.
- The lesson plan incorporates good practices of digital skills development: for example, the lesson plan raises students’ digital awareness by addressing digital copyright or plagiarism issues. Or the lesson plan has students use their digital skills in a real-world context with a real audience.
- The lesson plan is well aligned with its learning outcomes: activities and assessment clearly link with the defined learning outcomes and allow the teacher to determine by the end of the lesson(s) if the objectives have been achieved
- The lesson plan is balanced: there is a good mix of activities with at least four different Teaching & Learning Activities used (TLAs in the Learning Designer) and none of the Activities taking up more than 35% of the time (see the pie chart for this)
6.3. Final Activity Submission and Reviews
My peers' reviews on my lesson plan
A HUGE THANKS to Tanja Heppener, Maria - Cristina Sollazzo and Montserrat Padrón for their constructive and kind reviews on my lesson plan!
Review made By Tanja Heppener date 18-05-2016 07:46
Comment
Dear Rose,
I think you put a lot of effort in preparing and teaching the lessons you described in your lesson plan. The description of the lesson plan is very good, the reader gets a clear understanding of the teaching situation the lesson is inserted to. The aims and outcomes are written in a well differentiated way. It is really nice to see the real products of the students.
What I really liked was the cross-curricular aspect combining teaching a foreign language, online collaboration and team-work across borders at a very early age. I think your students will learn to act independently and to communicate well with international partners.
They will have had a lot of fun which is the basis of life-long learning.
Well done! Keep your enthusiasm!
Yours Tanja
Review made By Maria Cristina Sollazzo date 17-05-2016 20:02
Comment
Hello Rose,
Thank you for your lesson plan. I read it with pleasure. Being an English teacher I have particularly appreciated your work and I have also discovered a new digital tool (Buncee) I had never seen before. Your students are really great!
The lesson plan explicitly addresses the development of students’ digital skills even though the activities also aim at improving language skills and making students aware of global issues such as saving the planet. Students learn to use different digital media and they also express their creativity by collaborating on a common task. Well done.
Your lesson plan appears to be well balanced: there is a good mix of activities and none of them takes up more than 35% of the time. Next time remember to specify how many students are involved in each activity. I have noticed you have put only three TLAs in your learning plan, but in the instructions they gave us they said we were supposed to use at least four different TLAs (Teaching Learning Activities), so there is one missing.
On the whole, I enjoyed your work and your students' digital products and I think this lesson plan is good and deserves recognition.
Best wishes.
Cristina
Review made By Montserrat Padrón Saco date 23-05-2016 09:28
Comment
Hello Rose:
Excellent learning design. Very complete and well designed:
- The lesson indirectly addresses the development of digital skils: even when the main goal of the lesson is not the acquisition of digital skills, students learn and develop by doing a wide range of digital skills. They learn how to search using key words, they produce digital content, they connect with students abroad using technology, etc.
- The lesson incorporates good practices of digital skills development: students are required to share their digital content on the internet and with their pen pals, which put them in contact with real-word context and real audience.
- The lesson plan is well alligned with its learning outcomes: there are not too many learning outcomes, and the lesson plan is designed in a way that allows to test in the end wether or not the students have achieved the learning outcomes expected. In my opinion, you have specially aced the task when describing the 6 aims of the lesson plan¡
- The lesson plan is balanced: you have used 6 different types of TLA and any of them takes up more than 35% of the time. Also, I find the alternating between the differents types of TLA very accurate, the students turn from an activity to another in a way that helps to held their attention
All in all, I have really liked your lesson and has given me ideas to introduce in my own groups. Thak you very much
Montserrat Padrón
My reviews
2. Review of Nigel Baker Number 2 ( lesson plan )
3. Review of Angelo Chiarle Number 3 ( lesson plan )
Rositsa Mineva
Email: rosesunrise65@abv.bg
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