Virtual Classroom Tour - VCT Partners in Learning Global Forum 2015

Intro... Educator(s) Azhar Youssef A passionate EFL teacher, trainer, PhD student, blogger, Microsoft innovative educator, e-teacher scholar, and lifelong learner. Find her on Twitter School Brief description of school context EL-Hag Hadad Secondary School It is located in Sohag, one of Upper Egypt’s governorates. It is a public school which was established in the academic year It accepts both girls and boys. There are 88 teachers and 946 students. It has 18 classrooms this year. Each classroom includes students. Subject Areas English as a Foreign Language and ICT Age/Grade level Grades 10 & 11 (15-17 years old) Project ObjectivesBy the end of this project, students will: learn about the ways of communication used in the 21st century. listen, read, speak, and write in English fluently. translate into English. create surveys, collect responses, and analyze data. think critically about the pros and cons of the communication tools. interact with others through commenting on the blog’s and Facebook group’s posts. make an argument about teens' favorite ways of communication. create charts, flyers, podcasts, videos, PPT presentations, and posters. work collaboratively to complete tasks and help each other. evaluate their work according to certain rubrics. reflect on their learning experiences.

Brief description of the project and the background. What are the stated objectives and learning outcomes? Is the learning activity long-term? Does it call on students to plan their work and assess their work over time? Please add background information files if needed. See how to embed documents in notes. VCT should be a max of 5MB. Please add additional documents as “supporting resources” in your Learning Activity. Project Description “How do EgyTeens communicate with each other in the 21 st century?” was the main question that my high school students investigated during this project. They wanted to know more about the favorite ways and tools of communication used among teens (13-19 years old), for what purposes they use them, and what their parents think about these tools. Through their exploring journey, students learned how to communicate their thoughts and ideas clearly, interact with others face-to-face or online, create surveys and analyze data, think critically about teens’ opinions and report their responses in many different ways, translate into English collaboratively, create new products such as charts, flyers, videos, podcasts, posters, and PPT presentations, and reflect on their new experiences. In brief, this project greatly improved students’ FOUR Cs: Critical Thinking, Communication, Collaboration, and Creativity. This project is a task-based learning experience for six weeks. In each week, students worked in groups to complete certain tasks. They were “self-learners” using the Help Center created for them, “self-assessors” putting in mind the rubrics provided to them, and “scaffolders” giving a hand to each other to achieve their goals. Please, go to our blog “Way 2 Communicate”Way 2 Communicate to check students’ work and the resources provided to them.

Examples of planning (e.g. pedagogic approach, links to resources used). Please highlight creativity and innovative teaching practices. Emphasize to what extent the planning for learning facilitates the development of different dimensions of 21st century skills e.g. knowledge building, use of ICT for learning, problem-solving and innovation, self-regulation, collaboration and skilled communication. Design of the Learning Environment The pedagogic approach employed in this project was “Blended Learning”. Most of the work was accomplished online using our blog, and Facebook group. For the meetings, my students preferred the traditional way by meeting face-to- face in the school to the online one by using Lync, for example. They found it easy to use their non-verbal communication skills and to see their teacher’s facial expressions and her big smile that encouraged them to do the best. As you see in the picture below, students were responsible for the whole process of their learning. I only was a guide and a scaffolder who was there either online or face-to-face to help them to know what to do by providing them clear instructions, rubrics to assess their work, and video or written tutorials. By scaffolding students and leaving them to explore and try things, they successfully managed to improve their self-regulation and reflective skills, e.g., planning, evaluation, and monitoring their learning. I was impressed by the abilities that came out during completing the project’s tasks, e.g., interviewing skills when collecting data, analyzing and creating reports about what they found after surveying teens and parents. (Higher order thinking skills – Communication & Critical Thinking). Their collaboration to reach their goals and helping each other were outstanding. Finally, they created fabulous products that I have never expected.

Examples of products and outcomes created by the learners throughout the project – including use of ICT. What sort of ICT is used and how has it been used in the project. To what extent do students use ICT in ways that support knowledge building, collaboration, or learning beyond the classroom? Does ICT use enable new knowledge- building/collaboration/learning beyond the classroom opportunities that would not have been possible without it? Have digital tools been used in imaginative and ground- breaking ways to support learning processes? Please add files, videos etc. which documents clearly the learning process and evidence of students’ learning Evidence of Learning Examples of Products: My students have created very awesome products, e.g., charts, flyers to report the survey results, podcasts (Audio files), videos, posters, and PPT presentation to showcase what they have done during the project. ICT Used: Students used ICT immensely during this project. Please see the cloud below. They used these tools in a way that greatly improved their 21 st century skills. For example, they mainly used Bing to search for information and Bing Translator to translate what teens said in Arabic. They utilized Polldaddy to create the project survey and share it with teens using Facebook, Twitter, and face-to- face. They effectively used ExcelBing Bing TranslatorPolldaddy Survey Flyer Survey Flyer Podcasts Videos Posters PPT to create beautiful charts and use them to create an awesome video adding their voice. They collaborated with each other using Office Online Apps to translate and correct teens’ responses. Really, this was an amazing way to work together outside classroom and see their work immediately, correct their mistakes, and give a hand to each other. Facebook was used as a forum to ask questions and help each other to solve any problems faced them. Students also used Movie Maker, Audacity, and PowerPoint to report the final results.charts translatecorrect

Examples of how the learning activities require students to move beyond reproducing what they have learned to building knowledge through interpretation, analysis, synthesis, or evaluation. Knowledge Building & Critical Thinking Having a look at the project tasks, it is clear that they address the higher order thinking skills of students; analysis, evaluation, and synthesis or creativity.project tasks Students determined ONE main question “How do EgyTeens communicate with each other in the 21 st Century?” to explore and made it the core of their project. Then, they worked together on the sub-questions they need to ask the teens creating a survey to collect data. They shared it online and face-to-face by interviewing those students who had no internet connection at home or school. After that, they started analyzing the data and trying to explain what they found. Then, they put all bits together in a video adding their voice.analyzing the data and trying to explain One of the most incredible experiences during this project was their interviews with parents outside the school trying to know their opinions about their teens’ ways of communication, and discussing the data they collected to find solutions or alternatives. See their responses here.See their responses here Using rubrics, students became a ware of what they could do in tasks, and what they can improve later. They also leaned how to evaluate other groups’ work objectively and more accurately putting into mind the criteria provided to them. Moreover, they learned how to look inside their minds and reflect on their learning experiences trying to transfer their successful practices to their peers.rubrics reflect on their learning experiences

If the learning experience is not bound by classroom walls, time-frame of conventional lessons, subject parameters – please show examples of this. If the project addresses real world issues (i.e. authentic situation and data from outside the classroom) or has meaningful impact on communities locally and / or globally please show examples of this. Extended Learning Beyond the Classroom Students’ enthusiasm and passion started from the classroom when they first discussed the idea of communication among teens in the 21 st century, however most of the learning experience was not bound by school walls. After determining the questions they wanted to explore on the class blog, and creating the survey, they used their social networks to share it with their relatives, and friends. My students addressed a very important issue that was “The Gap between Parents and Teens”. Really, they successfully built some sort of a bridge between these two different styles of thinking. They tried to read both parents’ and teens’ minds and suggest alternative solutions. Check the survey flyer to see the argument.survey flyer They interviewed teens outside their school who had no internet connection face- to-face to collect data and fill in the survey for them. They interviewed parents to collect their opinions concerning the use of Facebook as a way of communication among teens. They worked together online using their blog, Office Online Apps, and Facebook group to communicate with each other, discuss their tasks, ask questions, and post their products.

Examples of how the students work with other people, sharing responsibility while making substantive decisions for developing a joint product, a design, or an answer to a complex question. Students may be collaborating with their peers in the classroom, or with students or adults outside the classroom. Collaboration “One of the most valuable things I learned is working as one hand to complete our group tasks”, “What I liked the most is how to work in team and help each other”, “I learned that it is not important for one to be the best in everything because we complete each other when working together”, “I learned how to be cooperative and helpful because one could not live a lone”, and “Collaborating with each other to create new things has a significant impact on my learning and study” said some of my students reflecting on their learning experiences.reflecting on their learning experiences The main strategy used throughout this project was “The Group or Collaborative Work”. Here are some examples: one group analyzed the survey responses, tried to explain the data and created a report or a flyer showcasing the final results. Another group translated teen’s Arabic responses and corrected their English responses. A third group created podcasts reporting teens’ and their parents’ opinions, then creating videos. Some other students were responsible for creating a PPT presentation about what they have done during the project. In addition to their collaboration with other students outside their school when collecting the survey data.

The learning activity involves students’ use of ICT – whether or not the use of ICT helps students build knowledge/collaborate or learn beyond the classroom, and whether or not students could build the same knowledge/ collaborate or learn beyond the classroom in similar ways without using ICT. Cutting Edge Use of Technology for Learning Meeting together in one place, collaborating online with each other, and seeing the work instantly were fabulous experiences that students enjoyed so much. Office Online Apps (Word and PowerPoint) provided a very safe environment for students to work according to their pace of learning in the time that was suitable for their study schedule, get immediate feedback, correct their mistakes, communicate with each other using the comment feature, and create well-organized documents. With the traditional classroom, students had no any way to do so. There was no internet connection, no time for collaboration, and no tools to use such as Bing Translator when translating and correcting teens’ responses. BloggingBlogging using WordPress platform was another great tool for building new knowledge, and critical thinking. For example, they searched using Bing about their favorite tools of communication providing reasons for their choices. Using the comment feature of the blog helped them a lot to improve their ability to argue and think critically, give reasons, respond to their peers’ questions, and let the conversation go. FacebookingFacebooking was another tool that improved students’ communication skills. They used it most of the time to practice writing skills, employ grammatical rules correctly, and express their ideas and thoughts freely. They also used it to post problems and working together to find solutions. Throughout the project, I noticed a significant improvement in their English and formed positive attitudes towards this foreign language. Translate Correct Posts Screen- shots Screen- shots

In environments where innovative teaching is challenging, have innovative teaching practices and ICT been used in instrumental ways to change how students learn. Does the educator demonstrate evidence of continuous improvement in their professional practice, model lifelong learning and exhibit leadership in their school and professional community by supporting other educator’s development and understanding of the impact on learning of the effective use of digital technologies? Educator as Innovator and Change Agent I live in Sohag city; one of the marginalized governorates of Upper Egypt. One of the most challenging issues is how to change thinking styles of the people I deal with in my school, training centers, and the community where I live. When starting projects, I always find a strong objection because they think that this is just a waste of time, in addition to other obstacles, e.g., lack of resources, number of students in the classes, the administration viewpoint about using technology, no enough time … etc. But, when I see my students’ faces full of enthusiasm and their bright eyes full of hope, I struggle to bring the best in them. I always seek for such opportunities that help me to update my expertise, my knowledge base, and my abilities to benefit my students and colleagues. Here are some examples: Attending webinars over the web regularly, e.g., Microsoft Webcasts, edWeb, edTechTeacher, and more. Please, check this link.edWeb edTechTeacherlink Blogging about my learning experiences and successful practices that I use with my students using technology. Feel free to visit my blog and leave comments.blog Connecting to great educators from all over the world using Twitter: Taking online courses that are concerned with using technology in teaching, e.g., Microsoft TWT, Coursera courses, Oregon University online courses …. etc. Attending the E-Teacher Scholarship offered by Maryland University for my outstanding use of technology in my classes. Collaborating with other teachers from all over the word to make a difference in our communities. Please, check our project here.here Transferring my experiences is another thing I love to do. Guiding my colleagues to use technology either face-to-face or online using webinars that I offer with the help of the Egyptian team of Microsoft. Updating myself always + Transferring + Making a Difference = simply are my goals.

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