Agile Education Teacher Presentation SCRUMS Agile Education Teacher Presentation

Teacher Objectives Teacher will create a discussion forum on Moodle and know how to use it. Teacher will understand the philosophy and methodology of an Agile work environment and understand the usefulness in a class that has one to one computing. Teacher will teach students the ideas of an Agile work environment and how it can work in a student work/learning environment. Teacher will teach students the importance of the scrum in an Agile work environment and how to implement it in a student work/learning environment. Teacher will know how to create a Wiki space on Moodle and teach student show to use it.

The Agile Manifesto "We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and by helping others do it. Through this effort we have come to value: individuals and interactions over processes and tools, working software over comprehensive documentation, customer collaboration over contract negotiation, and responding to change over following a plan. While we value the items on the right in this list, we value the items on the left more." (Agile Alliance 2001 - <http://www.agilemanifesto.org>) The key to being an Agile software developer is in the value of teamwork, between team members and with customers and most especially working software. From an educational standpoint, we want a working student. Agile also means being able to respond to change vs following a plan.

Agile Education Manifesto We need to uncover better ways of developing student interaction by teaching them how to do it. Through this effort I have come to value: individuals and interactions over subject and curriculum, real world problem solving skills over skill and drill repertoire, Student-student collaboration over student-teacher dependency, and responding to students’ needs over following a plan. While I value the items on the right in this list, I value the items on the left more. In education, we must also value the interactions between students and teachers. The key is emphasizing that a working student is defined as one who is capable of demonstrating real world problem solving skills. To continue to educate a student, a teacher must respond to students’ needs over following a plan.

“Individuals and interactions over subject and curriculum.” Know your student! Develop opportunities to interact with the student. Create opportunities for students to interact with each other. The emphasis in this first statement is making sure the teacher understands that who we are serving are students. They are the individuals we must serve. We must get to know them, understand their strengths and weaknesses in order to best serve them. The importance is not on the subject and curriculum. If a teacher does not learn to deal with each individual and have authentic interactions with them, the subject matter and the curriculum goes nowhere. Build the relationships with the students, create rapport and the subject matter and curriculum will have a chance to develop in the student.

“Real world problem solving skills over skill and drill repertoire. “ Students should be able to define a problem and identify: Data needs to solve the problem Procedures to solve the problem Skills needed to solve the problem Students must understand the applications of the skill and drill repertoire. Too often, teachers focus on the standards. Standards have come to the point where they are basic in nature and become disjointed. Teachers need to create situations where the knowledge they gain has a purpose. Create problems to solve and data to analyze. Give students a chance to apply the knowledge and skills to a bigger problem. Move away from skill and drill repertoire.

“Student-student collaboration over student-teacher dependency.” Students must learn techniques to work within a group setting. Students must learn when to go outside their group to find other groups who have expertise outside their own expertise to solve the problem. With class sizes getting too big, it is important that teachers develop a classroom setting where students look to each other first or other electronic resources first instead of being dependent on the teacher for everything. Agile uses techniques where teams look to each other to first solve the problem. If it takes longer than 15 minutes to solve it, look to a bigger team to solve it. If it takes longer than 15 minutes for the new team to solve it, look to another team to help in the process. Emphasize to students that they should give themselves 15 minutes to struggle through a problem. If after that happens, look to another team to help solve the problem. Struggle is good part of the learning process. However, to create efficiency, look outside your team when you can’t get it after 15 minutes. Looking to a teacher should be the last resort.

“Responding to students’ needs over following a plan” Teachers must adjust to students’ needs. Teachers must offer resources or point students to resources that bridge gaps in student learning. Teachers must allow students to master the material and give them opportunities to retake assessments (Grading for Learning) Mastery of skills and information are needed for students to be successful problem solvers. Teachers must be responsive to students’ needs so students don’t get behind and quit.

How do I create an Agile Classroom? Teachers must implement scrums!

What is a Scrum? A scrum is a small group (4 students at most) daily meeting. The group stays together for at least 1 semester. The meeting takes only 3-4 minutes per day at the beginning of the period. Each student gets 45-60 seconds to answer the following questions: What did you accomplish last night? What areas did you struggle with? Why? What are you working on tonight? All answers should focus on subject related material and not personal information! The scrum becomes your family for the semester. Students must learn to communicate with each other honestly about struggles they are having. They also report progress. If they let it work well, they help each other stay focused and drive each other to success. Teach students to be brief and concise in their explanations!

What is a Scrum? A student is designated as the scrum master. He/she leads the group and takes notes. He/she keeps the group on task. He/she posts the notes on a Moodle discussion forum and Group Wikipage The role of scrum master is rotated between different people every 2 weeks. Moodle discussion forum allows a teacher to view the what, where and who of the class. They get instant feedback and see a running post of struggles and successes. The Group Wikipage is where the daily notes are kept as a group. This becomes a valuable resource for a teacher to see how an overall group is doing. It is great to have for conferences with students, teachers, parents and administrators. Teach the scrum master to be brief in his/her notes. Don’t try to type everything word for word…key words and phrases.

Why have a scrum? Notes of each scrum is posted to a Moodle discussion forum. Teachers have a chance to view progress of each student. Students have an avenue to communicate with a teacher to give and get feedback Notes of each scrum is posted to a Moodle Group Wikispace. This becomes a running journal for the group that is in one location for the teacher to view. Moodle discussion forum allows a teacher to view the what, where and who of the class. They get instant feedback and see a running post of struggles and successes. The Group Wikipage is where the daily notes are kept as a group. This becomes a valuable resource for a teacher to see how an overall group is doing. It is great to have for conferences with students, teachers, parents and administrators.

How to create a Moodle discussion forum. To create a Moodle discussion forums, click on the following URL http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyirR2hMDAI

How to create Moodle Group Wikispace Watch the video to learn how to post scrum notes to Moodle Wikispace. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lp_kSg1hTo

Teach the Agile Method to get help When trying to solve problems, students will inevitably get stuck. How you teach students to approach a problem and future problems can shape the type of problem solver they become. How do they react? They can quit! They can keep trying! They can ask for help! At what point should you take each strategy?

Agile Method to get help Struggle is part of problem solving. Teach them that if they are taking longer than 15 minutes with NO progress, it is time to look outside your group. Ask another group. If you and the new group are still stuck after another 10 minutes, ask another group. If you and the new group are still stuck after another 10 minutes, ask the teacher for a hint.

Keys to Agile Method of getting help. Never Quit! Always keep trying. Give the students a chance to help each other before they come to YOU! During your 15 minutes: Teach students to look at their notes as a resource. Teach students to do a Google search for more resources. Teach students to look to their textbook as a resource.