In my last post, I decided I was going to focus on finding a meaningful way to incorporate iPads into our math lessons. I want to focus on using iPads to share and demonstrate students’ learning in math with the class and the world beyond our four walls.
Assessment for learning is a buzz term in our district and in education right now. According to the BC draft curriculum for digital literacy we are “[moving] toward meaningful descriptions/collections demonstrations of student learning” (Ministry of Education, 2014). Using iPads for documentation and sharing will allow students an opportunity to reflect on their learning.
In the 21st century students must “develop proficiency with the tools of technology,” “design and share information for global communities to meet a variety of purposes” and “create, critique, analyze and evaluate multimedia texts” (NCTE, 2013). Using iPads to document learning in math will not only develop these skills but it will also allow students to “ask questions, work with others to find answers, do real work for real audiences and add to the storehouse of knowledge that the Web is becoming” (Richardson, 2012, p.61).
I was reading a blog post on langwitches.org about iPads in a Kindergarten classroom. The students drew a picture for a subtraction story, used the Show Me app to take a picture on the iPad and then recorded their voice explaining their story. The teacher posed some interesting questions for the reader. One question in particular was “could the same [learning] have been accomplished by keeping students’ illustrations analog?” (Langwitches, 2012). My initial response was yes, the students could have stood in front of the class and explained their picture. This made me question the intention of my project. However, after some reflection I realized the iPads added to the learning in a way analog illustrations did not. The students put their stories on their blog for other people to see and comment on. The students were practicing using digital tools at a level appropriate for their ability and the work could be used as part of a student portfolio because their voice had been recorded. Students could revisit their work at any time and reflect on their learning.
For my project, I will be exploring a few apps that will allow students to document their learning and I will create some sort of presentation, perhaps a Slideshare or Prezi, that will allow me to communicate my learnings to my teacher colleagues, in particular those who teach Kindergarten. This presentation will communicate my vision for 21st century education as it pertains to math, technology and documentation. In my presentation I want to explicitly explain how using iPads in the classroom for documentation in math can benefit the students, teachers and even parents. I want to explain how the skills developed by using iPads for documentation are critical in the 21st century. I hope my presentation will inspire others to look at the ways they are using iPads in the classroom.
Works Cited
Kindergarten Math on the iPad…Many Questions…. (2012, June 14, 2012). Langwitches Blog, [web log] Retrieved from: http://langwitches.org/blog/2012/06/14/kindergarten-math-on-the-ipad/ [Accessed: 17 Mar 2014].
Ministry of Education. (2014). Draft digital literacy standards. BC: BC Government, p. http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/dist_learning/dig_lit_standards.htm.
NCTE Executive Committee. (2013). Ncte definition of 21st century literacies. [report] p. http://www.ncte.org/positions/statements/21stcentdefinition.
Richardson, W. (2012). Why school. New York, NY: TED Conferences.
Well done post. Your vision will be very useful for the targeted audience of fellow educators looking to explore new resources and practices using edtech. I like how you have focused on what students can do with their learning, after they’ve done their meaningful activity, they can share it with others. I believe this is an important step in ‘finishing’ each learning opportunity. Your research and exploration into the subject area online is important and finding other like minded educators exploring the similar issues will be valuable.
Like the infographic Leisbet shared in her blog (February 16, 2014: http://beaudrylibrary.blogspot.ca/2014/02/supporting-teachers-learning-ict.html), I think that you were right to question whether the iPad use to record KGs’ math stories is any different than their writing (on paper) the same story. Your comment about how it can be shared via the blog makes this different than a paper-based activity helped me to see the greater impact their learning can have in creating a discussion within the parent community.
Therein lies the problem for me: I find that most of my students’ parents (I teach Gr. 2) are really quick to make comparisons between their child’s work and another child’s when I have put work up for display. This includes the bulletin boards both inside and outside my classroom. It is for this reason that I typically only display collaborative work or work that has a unique focus (e.g., representing photo images in black and white paint only). I worry about the impact of sharing independent and assessment-worthy activities in such a public manner. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the results of using this technique in your classroom.
Thanks for sharing your ideas!
To be honest, I’ve never really encountered the problem of parents comparing work I have posted on the bulletin boards or windows (or maybe I just haven’t heard these conversations). I strive to differentiate the work students do in my class as much as possible, however, I could see how this would make it easy for parents to compare what another child is doing to their child’s work. I think the parents of my students are very aware of their own children’s learning strengths and are aware of what their child is working on learning/improving in class. Because of this knowledge, I hope that they see their child’s work in its own light and know that someone else in the class may be working on something entirely different.
Emily, I like your idea that the student will talk about their image to share it with others. I find that when students “teach” something they have learned to other students it really consolidates their learning. What a neat way to allow more students to “teach” without having the whole class listen to every oral presentation. You could have students in small groups listen to a few of their classmates presentations.
As your reflection in your last blog post, your journey will also include this step as you present your results to other K teachers.