In this presentation I want to focus on a few Snapshots of Learning that have been shared by New Zealand teachers over the past 12 months. I hope that through these we’ll be able to join the dots a little and make the connections between using software effectively to support positive student outcomes; how we can adapt, adopt and change to meet the needs of own students.
March 2024 Directors Meeting, Division of Student Affairs and Academic Support
ULearn12 - Using software effectively to support student outcomes
1. Using software effectively to
support student outcomes
= http://softwareforlearning.tki.org.nz =
= Simon Evans, @Dragon09 =
2. Software for Learning is a kete within the
TKI. Within you will find:
• a treasure trove of software information,
• support materials to get you started
• snapshots of New Zealand teachers and
how they are using it.
3. Some examples:
• Using video to demonstrate understanding of
mathematics strategies
• Increasing student engagement through a constructivist
approach
• Organising and taking part in a global forum
4. Using video to demonstrate understanding of
mathematics strategies
• Reviewing their
learning
• Filming the strategies
• Creating the video
• Sharing their learning.
7. • How would you adapt this concept for
your students?
• How could this idea be extended?
8. Making a start with Google and Youtube
Software for Learning link
Google Account
Youtube Account
9. Increasing student engagement through a
constructivist approach
• A blended approach
• Shared group space
• Using myPortfolio
• Using learning artefacts
11. “Students then worked through the learning
outcomes at their own pace, posting
evidence of their learning to their personal
pages in the form of learning artefacts.” –
Heather McClure
13. What key competencies can you see in this
study?
• Thinking
• Managing Self
• Using language, symbols and text
14. • How would you adapt this concept for
your students?
• How could this idea be extended?
15. Making a start with
myPortfolio
Software for Learning link
17. Organising and taking part
in a global forum
• Setting SMART goals
• Planning the forum
• Participating in the hot
seat.
Welcome to the Software for Learning presentation. I don’t want to spend the time just now showing you around the Software for Learning site. But rather I want to focus on a few snapshots of learning that have been shared by New Zealand teachers over the past 12 months. I hope that through these we’ll be able to join the dots a little and make the connections between using software effectively to support positive student outcomes. I also hope we’ll be able to consider our own practice. What might or might not work in our own classrooms and schools. How we can adapt, adopt and change to meet the needs of own students.
Software for Learning is a little known kete buried at the bottom of the ‘communities’ page on the TKI site. It has a wealth of information on software, where to find it, how to get it, What you need to get you started and some valuable first hand accounts of New Zealand teachers putting it into practice.
Our focus today will be on the teacher stories, or Snapshots we like to call them. There are over 70 such stories on the site but we’re going to focus on just three of them you’ll be glad to know. using video to demonstrate understanding of mathematics strategies – Looks at using Youtube to support student learning. Increasing student engagement through a constructivist approach – Looks at how a school leverages myPortfolio.Organising and taking part in a global forum – Considers how Skoodle can have students engage directly with known artists, illustrators and authors.
Emma works in a decile 2 school with Year 6 students are encouraged in their learning through practical, multimedia learning. Her class has been accessing Youtube videos for educational purposes for some time. And since the advent of their ‘in-school’ TV show many are becoming familiar with the in front and behind camera techniques. The students enjoy creating video for the TV show so Emma thought it a good idea to build on this enthusiasm and have her students share their mathematical understanding via interactive video. Rather than simply sharing via a scrapbook Emma considered it much more engaging and rewarding having students share their thinking via video. Students from each of the stages 5, 6, and 7 were asked to verbalise their chosen strategy while another expressed that strategy visually on the whiteboard. Both the explanation and the visual representation were then filmed, edited and mixed. Let me show you.
I would like you to consider for a few moments one or other of these questions. Whichever floats your boat. Then we’ll feedback together as a group.
I would like you to consider for a few moments one or other of these questions. Whichever floats your boat. Then we’ll feedback together as a group.
Heather from Avondale College, Auckland was working with two Y11 geography classes. There is a real multicultural blend in the classes. She identified that most students learnt best when adopting a constructivist approach with scaffolded learning, achievable ‘bite-size’ learning chunks with regular formative assesment built in. Pace and chose of learning was also a motivating factor.
Developing a group space within myPortfolio is key to directing students productivity. Each student has their own learning space. They can message, blog and create pages and profiles but it is the class or topic pages that really give direction and purpose to the space. These learning artifacts included PowerPoint presentations, pictures from our field trip with captions, graphs, maps, links to newspaper articles, diagrams and YouTube clips. The learning artifacts were then used to infer progress towards the achievement standard.
Student chose in task, pace of work and quality of ‘upload’ all play a part in giving students a certain level of autonomy in their own learning. Individual pages allow for all the different media a topic page does. So students can upload images. Likn out to further reading or embed a video or voicethread if they so choose.
Student chose in task, pace of work and quality of ‘upload’ all play a past in giving students a certain level of autonomy in their own learning. Individual pages allow for all the different media a topic page does. So students can upload images. Likn out to further reading or embed a video or voicethread if they so choose.
Thinking: Students were scaffolded through the learning process with the use of specific instructions, headings and templates to construct knowledge themselves. It was up to them to make decisions and develop learning artefacts to demonstrate their understanding of learning outcomes. Learning artefacts gave insight into the depth of student understanding and were adapted and further developed as a result of formative feedback from teachers and peers.Managing Self: Students were presented with a series of learning outcomes to be met over a specified time frame of a few weeks. They then had choice in the pace and focus of their learning in lessons as well as where and how they accessed resources. Knowing the learning outcome before they arrived at class was beneficial.Using Language, Symbols and Text: Students had to navigate and interpret content information in text books, supplied teacher resources and the Internet, and then reform them in a useful way to demonstrate their understanding of key concepts and meet learning outcomes.
I would like you to consider for a few moments one or other of these questions. Whichever floats your boat. Then we’ll feedback together as a group.
Skoodle …formerly Super Clubs Plus hosts a ‘authors forum’ and NewMarket had been involoved with this project previously. It is these connections that led the illustrator of BroTown be asked to attend the school for the day as they hosted a Global Hot seat. The point of difference here was the fact that having Art attend resonated with these students. 30 students were chosen from the school to help host the event and they were involoved in every aspect of planning and delivering the event. SMART goals for achievement were set by the student ( Specific, measureable,Achievable, Rxxxxxxxx Time bound)The students were involved in the planning for the global forum which gave them a purpose for reading and writing. They carried out research on Ant Sang and his career path in order to create a profile poster to help advertise the event. A focus during this activity was ‘using symbols and texts’ where students learned how choices of language, symbol, or text affect people’s understanding and the ways in which they respond. The students worked with Virginia on reading skills such as using key words, inferring, making connections, evaluating, reorganising, reacting, and collating information when doing the online research.
Skoodle, formerly Super Clubs Plus hosts a ‘authors forum’ and Newmarket had been involved with this project previously. It is these connections that led the illustrator of BroTown be asked to attend the school for the day as they hosted a Global Hot seat. The point of difference here was the fact that having Art attend resonated with these students. 30 students were chosen from the school to help host the event and they were involved in every aspect of planning and delivering the event. The students were involved in the planning for the global forum which gave them a purpose for reading and writing. They carried out research on Ant Sang and his career path in order to create a profile poster to help advertise the event. A focus during this activity was ‘using symbols and texts’ where students learned how choices of language, symbol, or text affect people’s understanding and the ways in which they respond. The students worked with Virginia on reading skills such as using key words, inferring, making connections, evaluating, reorganising, reacting, and collating information when doing the online research.
Newmarket is a culturally diverse school of 300 students. They, like so many schools are trying to raise Maori and Pasifika student achievement.The Assistant Principal interviewed a number of students, trying to make deeper links with them and their families. During the course of the interviews a recurring theme appeared. … BroTown, the TV series. Instead of saying “that’s nice dear” and moving onto a topic about the Rocky shore or some such the Class teacher decided to run with the idea.
The students were involved in the planning for the global forum which gave them a purpose for reading and writing. They carried out research on Ant Sang and his career path in order to create a profile poster to help advertise the event. A focus during this activity was ‘using symbols and texts’ where students learned how choices of language, symbol, or text affect people’s understanding and the ways in which they respond. The students worked with Virginia on reading skills such as using key words, inferring, making connections, evaluating, reorganising, reacting, and collating information when doing the online research.
For one hour the children asked their questions using ‘Author in the Hot Seat’ forum. The running of the session was a team effort. Sonya provided technical support and guidance as she managed the Skype session with Solway School and communicated using chat with SuperClubsPLUS Australia. Virginia acted as scribe and had to work quickly to keep up with the 176 online questions.
I would like you to consider for a few moments one or other of these questions. Whichever floats your boat. Then we’ll feedback together as a group.
I would like you to consider for a few moments one or other of these questions. Whichever floats your boat. Then we’ll feedback together as a group.
I would like you to consider for a few moments one or other of these questions. Whichever floats your boat. Then we’ll feedback together as a group.