How do you support teachers in changing their thinking, practice and pedagogy to critical thinking low floor, high ceiling questions that promote a growth mindset? Well, I have the app for you! ‘Make them Ponder’ application with three different options will help you change your static questions into dynamic ones! Be sure to hit ‘play’ to see the Sway in action.
Hi Jennifer, terrific idea on the application. I think your application really aligns with constructivism learning theory where students are empowered to find out their questions, and form their own learning. Would you consider making your application inclusive to accommodate three modes, teacher mode, student mode, and parent mode, rather than using three separate applications? I find that with sophisticated UX and sufficient technical support, creating an all-in-one application wouldn’t be too ambitious. I love your concept of “low floor, high ceiling thinking”. I think it’s a great vision that needs to be supported by tangible tasks and practical applications in education. Could you briefly name a few concrete examples of what it looks like, and how is it going to facilitate a constructive learning experience? For educational designers and application developers, they need a shared vision and solid rationale, to create a practical and hands-on application for learners.
Hello Zheng, the appliction aligns with constructivism learning theory. One reason to use three separate applications is to separate the different parts. The teacher would not need the student or parent mode on their device and vice-versa. A few concrete examples of what it looks like are using a 100’s squares and dice, where you throw a couple of dice, then using multiplication you map out in the squares that it represents. You work against a partner and see who can fill up the most squares first. It is a great application of low floor, high ceiling questions.
Hi Jennifer! Wow, first of all, what an interesting career you have working fully online for the past 8 years! You must have been well prepared during the pandemic as your mindset had already shifted to an online learning environment. I believe your app would help push those teachers ‘stuck’ in the same mindset year after year. We probably are all guilty to re-using lessons and ideas because they’ve been known to work, however, having an app to push those out of their comfort zone in a comfortable and learnable matter. I appreciate how you have separated the app for the three roles (students, teachers, and parents). I like how the ideas would be consistent with each other but delivered in an appropriate matter in terms of each role. Thank you for this interesting and much-needed app!
Hi Megan,
With the lockdown and pandemic I shifted from school wifi to home wifi but it was almost like business as usual. What has really been great is the understanding that classroom teachers have for the online world, and how it is just as difficult or easy and rewarding as a face-to-face classroom experience. Helping others when they might be ‘stuck’ would help everyone.
Hi Jennifer – I like this app a lot. While creating our A2 on Podcasting, I was searching for a tool that easily facilitated the recording and sharing of voice memos (we ended up using Padlet). I also liked the idea that both teachers and parents also have access to the data, and are equipped with specialized features. To take it a step further, it might be useful to allow teachers to “share/rate” lesson content amongst other teachers on the app? Also, students might be able to listen to podcasts that were created by other students around the world.
Aaron, these are all great ideas to add in. I hadn’t thought of ‘rating’ because it made me think of apps like ‘rate my teacher’ but sharing useful content and listening to other podcasts are excellent ideas. The reasoning for separating the roles is everyone of the three stakeholders have a different interest and focus.
Jennifer, I really agree with your sentiments regarding how technology can be a bit intimidating and inaccessible for some teachers. I have come across this a lot in my school as I am good with many educational technologies that are used in school and find myself being asked a lot of questions and providing support for my colleagues. I really like that your app has included a teacher focus as well because I think a lot of educational apps forget that teachers are learners as well and we need accessible tools that can help move our practice forward.
Sonia, teachers are always learning, it’s whether they want to or not sometimes!
Hi Jennifer, the concept of your application makes so much sense, There is overwhelming evidence that 3 act tasks and open inquiry questions guide students to be stronger thinkers and engage in metacognitive reflection to promote the growth mindset that you refer to. This is an immensely difficult task to master, meaning the proposed app would be helpful for many. This mindset is also a departure from many traditional approaches for established teachers so this may help bridge the gap to a more progressive teaching style. I especially appreciated the integration of parents at home to help make messaging consistent. Beyond being a mobile application, is there any other benefits to make such a technology mobile?
It’s true that 3 act tasks and open inquiry questions are a difficult task to master, and engage in the metacognitive reflection is hard as well. Making the technology mobile allows students to have accessibility. Many students (as evidenced in your A3 presentation) have mobile devices and use them reliably. In order to make something ‘catchy’ enough that students would want to engage with it, we also need to keep in mind that accessibility is a key factor in having them engage consistently. Thank you for your insightful question and allowing me to further clarify.