Meeting 1 – Polls and Birds

Welcome!  I know it’s Monday  I know it’s 10 days until the kids leave  Hoping to engage you, just as you’re hoping to engage your students

We Want More Than Just Ok. More Than Just Ok.  85% are at least good.  Why press on? OUTSTANDING GOOD

It’s About Small Tweaks  Jon from Ohio

The Rules of Technology in the Classroom  It needs to fill a need that nothing else has done yet  It needs to be able to be utilized creatively  If neither of these things are done, our students will reject it

Technology Itself Is Not Enough  No student ever got switched on by your Excel spreadsheet  They know when technology is being used in an uninspired fashion

How Do You Use Technology?  We have a mix  14 said they see their use of technology as a weakness or challenge  3 said that they feel it is a strength  This is where a poll would come in handy ◦ Polls are anonymous ◦ Polls prevent the ability to cheat off your neighbour  Polling machines cost ◦ £1000 – Do we have £1000?

I Can Beat That Price  Free  Please get out your phones

Polls Everywhere  Pollseverywhere.com  2 minutes to sign up, 1 minute to make a poll  Polls can be integrated into more recent versions of PPT  Have a variety of uses

Polls Everywhere  Can be utilized for Phase 1, Phase 3, Phase 4  It’s anonymous, quick, and updates in real time. There’s a payoff.  The first time you use it there will be confusion/distress, don’t give up  Students can respond via Text (standard rates apply), Tweet or iphone/android app

Phase 4 - Plenary

Polls Everywhere – Hinge Questions  Media Lesson  We just went over 2 sophisticated theories ◦ Mulver ◦ Dyer

The Other Side of the Coin  Twitter  Don’t groan!

Easily the Most Versatile Technology We Have  Why are we reluctant? ◦ Unknown technology ◦ Intimidating? ◦ What’s the point?  Remember what I said about being innovative? ◦ Protection of staff ◦ Protection of students ◦ Once something’s out there, it’s out there for life  Twitter’s not going away

Uses for Twitter We’re Not Considering  Virtual staff room  Homework Reminder System  Announcement System  Dramatic Roleplay*  Organizing/Reporting on School Trips/Clubs*  Positive P.R. (School Herald/Crier)  Announce Deadline Dates/Homework  Follow subject-relative Twitter feeds as a class  Live tweet a Science Experiment/Recipe as it occurs  Communication with a virtual keynote speaker  Daily word/numeracy games?  Inspirational/Motivating Messages  Stay engaged with current events  Use a feed to document the creation of an art/engineering project over a prolonged amount of time  Synthesize information ◦ Study notes, creative writing, translate information into student-speak, ranking of events by methodology of importance  Write reviews  Take a poll  Stay current  Teach SMSC  Collaborative work via Hashtags with each other (other institutions?)  Assign homework

Example: Roleplay Homework  You must tweet in your character’s voice a minimum of 3 times per week  Please use the hashtag #RomeoJulietDMA (if you have the space)

Does That Really Work?

The Payoff?  Did this 2 years ago  Control group vs. Twitter group  Control group ◦ Hated Shakespeare, did less than expected on assessment  Twitter group ◦ Loved Shakespeare, did better than expected on assessment  1.5 sub-levels  Why does it work? ◦ Collaborative & Social ◦ Opportunities humour ◦ Deepened the understanding of what we were doing in lessons

Subject Specific Twitter Feeds

We Learn By Doing  I am going to ask you to sign up for a Twitter account  It can be one you already use or it can be a new one ◦ It may be easier if it’s a new one ◦ I currently manage 10 Twitter Accounts on a semi- regular basis  Once you’re on it please

So What Will We Do?  We meet again in about 10 days  Commit/Discuss one technique you’re going to try out/begin with either Polls Everywhere/Twitter over the next 10 days  Report using the form and put in the duotang #CanadianDialect for your own records but also let us know in the  We also have an group on the server at PedGroupTech on the school server

In The Future?  Games as a revision tool  Games as a silent starter  Prezi  Edumodo  Wikispaces  Podcasting  Video hosting