The WISE model - A quick and nasty guide to evaluating classroom ICT use.

I’m fortunate to be able to visit every classroom in our school. Like most schools, we have invested heavily in ICT. Are we getting value for money? Is the investment really improving educational outcomes? In some classrooms I could answer “Yes” - but in some the answer would have to be a disappointing “No”.

It is not necessary to have an in-depth formal instrument or formal testing to get a sense of how well ICT is being used in classrooms.     

The first “rule of thumb” indicator I have is a simple one - are the students CREATING product ...or CONSUMING product... or both?  If the students are simply consuming product, i.e. using “drill and practice” programs or merely absorbing content from the ‘net, then ICT use in the classroom is likely to be making only a limited contribution to student learning. However, if students are CREATING product then there is a good chance that ICT is being put to good use.

If students are creating learning artefacts then a simple acronym provides another lens through which I can quickly evaluate the significance of the classroom program. That acronym is  WISE.

WISE stands for...

W hy? (or WHAT). Why is ICT being used? Could similar artifacts be produced via traditional means? A hand drawn poster is as valid as a Publisher document for example.   What are the teacher’s  SPECIFIC objectives, what are the SPECIFIC curriculum links? What can students achieve  using computers in this context that could not be achieved otherwise?   

I mportant (or interesting) Is the project / experience both IMPORTANT and INTERESTING to the student? (Tasks need to be important or interesting to the student - not just ”fun”.)  If not, then the chances are that the task is electronic “busy work”.

S haring.   How are the students sharing both their end product and the process of creation?  How are they sharing their artifact with the educational community beyond the classroom? If they are not sharing the artifact...why are they producing it in the first place?  If it only has worth inside the context of the classroom then why would students value it? If it has wider significance why is it not being shared?

E valuation.  How do the students demonstrate their learning? Is the artifact itself significant outside of the classroom environment?  What skills need students display / include? Do they know this? How can a development of skills be demonstrated?

This acronym is hardly cutting edge. (I could dignify it beyond it’s worth and call it “The WISE model”.) However, it does provide me with a lens through which to quickly get a sense of how well ICT is being used in a classroom.   As with all technology, classroom ICT is neutral - it is how well it is being used that is important. And to assist with that we all need to be a little WISE when it comes to classroom use of ICT.

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Credits:
Image = Google images
http://blog.lib.umn.edu/tel/blog/Computers-TwoKdgStudents.jpg

A modern heresy?

I have a confession to make - one that will label me a heretic in this modern world, or worse, a luddite.

I turned my phone off.

Yes - my wonderful phone, miracle of modern technology, my link to the world and all the people I know - I turned it off.  Not to “in flight” mode.  Not to silent. Off.

I know, I know...my phone is really a powerful computer - I’m told that it has more computing power than NASA could muscle up in  the control room in 1969  used when they first put a man on the moon. It can find any information I think I might want to know  and much that I am sure I don’t. It can play my music or video. It can store and send email. I can read more news and current affairs than anyone outside of national security really wants to know.  I can search the data bases of the world. I can take photos, even video with it and upload it before I even leave the park.  It is my link to the world. And I turned it off.

At the time I committed my act of heresy I was at a family picnic. My loved ones were with me - I could talk to them in person. Work didn’t need to contact me - (and if it did what would that say about training, delegation and leadership density?). I did not need to access any of the social networks to which I belong. I did not need to tell the world I was having a great time.  But I needed to let my family know that they are important - much more important than the electronic distractions that masquerade  as essential elements of daily life. So I turned my phone off and “lived the moment”.

Technology might be important - but people are more so.

How often do you see people having a conversation stopping while one answers a phone? Even worse, to send a text that could be sent later when not talking to someone. Why is a person kilometres away more important than someone right there with you? Chances are they are not - so why put your face to face friend on hold?

Mobile technology is our servant - not our master.

Phone image:
http://cdn.cbsi.com.au/story_media/339302015/samsung-galaxy-s_4.jpg

Real life is not virtual

It has been said that a picture is worth a thousand words.  Some images are worth far, far more.



One glance a the image reveals that it is not recent - the drawing of the TV reveals the rampaging advances of technology since the image first appeared.  But the trend of viewing life via a screen rather than engaging with it directly is depicted clearly. Since this cartoon was first drawn technology has continued to evolve - we now not only have TVs, but computers, laptops, tablets, and smart phones, all of which allow us to access information from around the world - often in “real time”, as it happens.

In fact we have added a new word to the lexicon - “Screenager”. The term,  first used in 1997 by Douglas Rushkoff in Playing the Future, refers to the tech-savvy youngsters who seemingly have their retina’s permanently glued to some form of screen (or, more likely, scanning various screens almost simultaneously) and paying little attention, if any, to others around them.  

As educators we  need to remember that, despite the numerous strengths of seeing the world through a screen it is still a vicarious experience. It doesn’t matter how many manuals you read or videos you watch of other people riding bikes, you only really learn how to do it when you get on a bike and have a turn yourself.  Watching other people’s lives is not the same as living your own.

Real life is not virtual. 

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The image above, drawn many many years ago by Michael Leunig is typical of his cartoons. Some links to his work can be found here.

Credits:
Cartoon by Leunig.
Image source.

Mathematical engagement - images to delight, ignite and excite

Let’s be honest about this - in some classrooms the teaching of mathematics is as dry the Sahara Desert - and perceived to be as endless by many students. As a result engagement is lower than we would like. This is significant since student engagement is correlated to student success.

Whilst this statement is almost self evident we should be wary of accepting such comments unreservedly - evidence based practice requires that we support our beliefs.  Fortunately this is easy to do.  Any number of studies have endorsed this notion that engagement enhances achievement.   

With this strongly established the next issue is how to generate engagement? Jill Fielding-Wells and Kellie Makar of the University of Queensland found that “Research indicates  that student motivation and engagement are increased if instruction is authentic and relevant...”  Authentic here was defined as that which was cognitively challenging and connected to the world beyond the classroom.  The study found that student engagement could be improved by up to 22% by shifting to inquiry based problem solving as the method of instruction.

For those comfortable with a less  academic but equally authentic anecdotal style there is this piece showing how a high school in the USA significantly improved results in mathematics by introducing a curriculum based around problem solving with an emphasis on generating student engagement - the percentage of students “passing” mathematics skyrocketed from an admittedly low 20% to 60%.   There is thus both academic and “real world” evidence  that engagement is linked to achievement and that engagement can be increased by including certain features into  learning experiences.     In terms of student engagement generally,  it has been found that student engagement is enhanced when students are interested, challenged and feel that the work / task is important.

Several educational reformers,   such as the teams at the Apple Classroom of Tomorrow Today and the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, also advocate the increased and improved use of technology and multimedia in our classrooms to enhance both engagement and learning.

Fortunately the Internet is a rich source of motivational material.  Presenting clips such as the following could be one way of increasing interest and engagement in mathematics lessons.

The following are samples of video that could both ignite interest and engagement.

Ma and Pa Kettle Math.

While it is not the intent of this post to provide lesson plans I would suggest that this video cries out for “unpacking”.  Why do the flawed approaches used here produce the correct answer? Does this approach always “work? Are there other numbers that could be substituted for the numbers in the clip? How might Ma and Pa Kettle be convinced that their techniques are, in fact, wrong?

Pattern blocks


Even very young children could benefit from video enhanced lessons. After watching this clip an obvious question might be “Who would like to create their own version of this?”  Given that this is created via the  “stop motion” technique a simple digital camera and one of the many free video creation programs is all that would be created to really involve the students.  


LEAF TESSELATION

As well as being fascinating viewing this clip dealing with leaf tessellation lends itself to further investigation of the topic. ( Instructions for making non-regular tessellating shapes abound on the Internet - here’s one - and every free drawing package on the Internet or buried within operating systems has the capability of creating them.)
NATURE BY NUMBERS

Older students could unpack just some of the elements of this wonderful video.  I’d suggest that if students were able to identify and explain all the concepts embedded in this engrossing video then their mathematical knowledge would be well beyond the norm - and the beauty of it is, in order to do so, some reasonably advanced teaching and learning would be required.  


The Internet is a rich source of such videos.  There is clearly scope for including web based video into our mathematics classrooms - especially as motivators at the early stage of projects. The use of such images is one way that we can delight,  ignite and excite our students - or at least increase engagement.




Those who found these videos interesting and can see a place for them in their practice might also enjoy an earlier post with a similar collection of clips here.

Those who are interested in using such images but would like some guidance on how they might be included meaningfully into a classroom project might find this post on Project Based Learning useful.



Acknowledgements:
All links go to original sources of documents.
Image: http://www.dailygalaxy.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/04/27/stella_2.gif

Tesselating shapes PPt;

www.curriculumpress.edu.au/sample/pages/tessellated_shapes.ppt

Forward... to 1960 - Marshall McLuhan

It is common when blogging  to re-post video that is current, up to date, modern.  I’m breaking with that trend on this post by linking to a clip dating from 1960.

 Marshall McLuhan was a key thinker in the early days of electric  media – when television and radio were emerging forces.  He achieved near guru status with his concept of “The Global Village”.   The fascinating thing about this speech is that, with a simple substitution of terms, this interview could have been recorded today.  Replace McLuhan’s “tribal man” with  Marc Prensky’s “digital native” and you wouldn’t be too far wrong.  McLuhan speaks of “modern” media as being a “continually sounding tribal drum” – echoes of the Internet and media saturation.

Interestingly, in terminology from the 60s,  he speaks of young people being “with it” and people who are still stuck in the world of the book as being “away from it”. (This is not to suggest that McLuhan decries the book; far from it – he acknowledges the book as “the first learning machine”.)  “With it” and “Away from it” – could not these terms describe the gulf between  social media users and those that choose to avoid them?

Amongst the things that struck me when I saw this clip for the first time recently was how perceptive McLuhan was.  Apart from the simple substitutions such as the ones alluded to above and despite being more than 50 years old, the concepts in this interview are as modern as tomorrow.  But, the second thing that struck me was – how is this possible?  How is it possible that, after more than 50 years we are STILL predicting the demise of  static text, books etc.  How is it possible that, after 50 years of technological innovation and the tsunami of the internet and the microprocessor,  the debate is still recognisably the same?  What roadblocks are reducing  the digital revolution to device  evolution?

It strikes me that the issue is not really one of technology at all – but one of mind set.  To borrow another metaphor usually attributed to McLuhan – we are like drivers of a car looking forward ...but  staring into the rear view mirror – so, in effect, we end up looking at where we’ve come from.  The effect of this is that we use technology to re-create the things we have always done.  It makes sense to continue with the status quo if, but only if, doing so serves a valid and relevant purpose. 

 If education is to take advantage of technology we need to stop, consider the possibilities created by the digital revolution and move forward - otherwise people in 2060 will still be marvelling at how perceptive and prophetic McLuhan was.

Access the video here or watch above.

 Credits:

Original concept – thanks to keynote speech by Professor Teemu Leinonen  (Aalto University – Helsinki) delivered at AADES2011 – Australasian Association of Distance Education Schools annual conference, Hobart, Tasmania, July 2011 for showing the clip during his presentation.

Photo of McLuhan:

http://andreasaavedra.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/marshall-mcluhan1.jpg

McLuhan interview:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EwkTrmAY8c