Weston Middle School

Technology/EngineeringCourse Materials

 Weston, Massachusetts
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tMass Cue- Using Open Courseware and Video in the ClassroomditRegion3

The overwhelming issue in education is motivation.

How do we motivate students to want to learn?

How do we motivate teachers to innovate and engage students?

How do we create a connected education?

How do we help kids to learn from each other?

How do we validate student work as having authentic value?

How do we differentiate instruction?

How do we communicate procedural information to disparate groups of students?

How do we efficiently organize teaching materials, examples, and real-world connections?

Where do we learn stuff?

How can teachers build on each others' curriculum?

How can the larger community understand and dialogue with students on what is going on in the classroom?

Kids want to go to school primarily to see their friends- we need to realize that learning takes place in a social context.

What makes us feel that our work matters?

 


 

 

MassCue Presentation- March 2011

As author Steven Johnson has pointed out in a recent book, innovation is most likely to occur in an intellectual ecosystem which encourages(1) the collision of ideas and (2) the ability to easily build off of and make incremental improvements to the ideas of others. Being able to easily collaborate online is critical to encouraging a culture of curriculum improvement and innovation, as well as to providing teachers with a supportive professional community.

1969 Moon Landing – that summer, woman in Colorado wrote a letter into local newspaper: as a child she sat on her front porch watching the wagon trains heading west.

In her one lifetime, she watched a man set foot on moon. When seen in this context, the magnitude of the event is more fully appreciated. So as technology roars forward, one might think that what we are about to show you happened at high velocity. Rather, it took a very long time, years really.

So, to give some context to what we are working with now, let’s start with some of our work on websites-how did we get here, where are we going:

Digital Gallery -2005

Digital Gallery shows end-products of student endeavors; a display. One might only imagine what was really going on in the learning environment.


Technology/Engineering MCAS site -2006

  • http://www.weston.org/schools/ms/MCAS/index.htm
  • In order to prepare students for Grade 8 technology/engineering MCAS site, developed site reviewing technology education information in test format- standards, test questions, examples;
  • Began to experiment with main points and side bars
  • Incorporated art, architecture, and literature references
  • Critique- Actively used in MCAS prep; used some in technology classes; not used heavily by science teachers due to lack of familiarity with technology/engineering

Open CourseWare Sites- 2007-Present

  • Sites developed for Lego Robotics, Grade 7 Structures, Grade 8 Woodworking, Grade 7 Biology, Science Club, and others
  • A need to organize various types of teaching materials, in a way that could be easily accessed from any computer
  • Organizing and maintaining one's teaching materials in the form of a website enables all materials to be instantly accessible from any computer. Without this form of organization, materials- texts, pdfs, photos, and videos are scattered across various computers.
  • Needed a format that was more than a week-to-week list of handouts; one that could organize the totality of any academic course
  • By viewing course as a whole, rather than week-to-week, course content can be updated at any time as links appear from PBS, New York Times, and elsewhere


Model for Structure for Site- MIT- Open courseware.


Web-based organization leads to connections across the internet and more-

1. Learning without walls – supports learning theory -learn the new by connecting it to the already known. Expansive and open ended.

2. Teachers as learners – discovering new ways of vitalizing the content. Curriculum seen as work in progress, refining process ongoing. Better informed faculty challenged to go beyond familiar routines, try out new ideas.

3. Teachers working collaboratively within and beyond school and across disciplines, sharing ideas and skills. Asking for feedback. Actual modeling of what we ask students to do. Know what is happening across the hall.

4. Seeing “the whole” allows better evaluation of components of curriculum.

5. Web-based curriculum is emblematic of how the web works, CONNECTIONS AND LINKS, a familiar place to students.

6. Motivation born of anticipation – seeing what makes today’s work valuable by placing it in context of world at work. Logical link to careers.

7. Schools don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Can use an entire site or use some of its “spokes.”

8. Manageability ease for teachers with many preps/subjects, etc.

9. Parents can be involved in this online learning community. With an open website, parent involvement can go beyond grades and test scores to authentic discussions of learning, of what is being discussed in the classroom.

The need to matter:

Learning, we are told, has cognitive and social components. School work has many forms of publicly evidencing itself – written reports, verbal presentations/demos in front of the class, skits, etc. In almost all cases, it stays within the classroom.

Most students will go online to do research, i.e., to acquire information for school assignments. Later, they go online for socializing and entertainment. Imagine the power of school work that has informative and/or entertainment value which can be seen online in a social context. YouTube! Go where the people are! Teachers validate the value of student work by posting it for a global audience, on the same page as world-famous scientists.

We mentioned motivation which is born of anticipation. Nothing has been more motivating than students understanding that the work they do will be posted on YouTube.

Videos posted online open the classroom to a worldwide audience, defying limitations of time and space. Peer groups within the school and classes and other cities and countries are given the opportunity to observe curriculum in action.

Students in the 21st century are accustomed to seeing screens as the source of both entertainment and information, and are comfortable using YouTube both to view and contribute information. Often, students learn best from peers.

Examples of Presentations:

 

VALUE OF VIDEO AS INTEGRAL PART OF CURRICULUM:

Students in the 21st century are accustomed to seeing screens as the source of both entertainment and information, and are comfortable using YouTube both to view and contribute information.

Often, students learn best from peers.

Particularly in the arts classroom, student progress is not held captive to the momentum of the class, but can proceed at their own pace, presenting their projects individually via video interview, which can be 'collated' into a presentation and shown later at a convenient time. Class presentations, therefore, do not infringe upon productive work.


Documentation of student work in the form of video interview; can happen when students are ready (allowing differentiated instruction); can be seen whenever convenient; audience of choice.

Video libraries are created whereby students' presentations and reflections on their work become valuable tools for learning.


Students learn to articulate ideas in a medium that calls for prepared, succinct, clear delivery. Watching oneself helps improve communication skills.


Student achievement can be seen in context of process and working environment, often the more informative, salient way of presentation.

Libraries of student work help drive new work forward. Students become teachers through video “show and tell.” Student tutorials! Peers working collaboratively. By showcasing the best student work, this raises all aspirations

Demonstrations, particularily in arts classrooms, are difficult for many students to see. In addition, students move through projects at varying paces, requiring the teacher to give repeated demonstrations of each technique or step.

Video can be used to make the invisible visible, to demonstrate the steps for a project from beginning to end, and to allow students to work at their own pace, viewing demonstrations on video when they have a personal need to know.

 

VIDEO – MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE.

Video, by showing process, including failures, misconceptions, etc., can tell the truth about learning. We shun failure but the honest model calls for failing fast to succeed sooner. Seeing failure as necessary gives students courage to go on.

Video can provide a backdrop of sound which can set the tone for the content. Learning can be fun to do and entertaining to watch!

Face-to-face communication is central to our evolution. Video is that.

Where do we go from here?

  • Improve library of instructional videos, showing things that are difficult to show in 'real life'-
  • Work with other teachers- work done with biology, beginning to work with math

References:


1. Martin, Jonathan, “Crowd Accelerated Innovation” and its Implications for Education. Connected Principals, 1/17/11, at http://www.connectedprincipals.com/archives/2371
2. Anderson, Chris, How web video powers global innovation, TED Talks, July 2010, http://www.ted.com/talks/chris_anderson_how_web_video_powers_global_innovation.html
3. MIT Open CourseWare Video Introduction, at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbQ-FeoEvTI
4. Khan Academy, at http://www.youtube.com/user/khanacademy
5. Steven Johnson, Where Good Ideas Come From, at http://www.screencast.com/users/dietzj/folders/Default/media/94ab90d5-84fe-40c3-9126-ca12d8d741c4
6. Bill Gates, Annual Letter 2011, at http://www.thegatesnotes.com/Thinking/article.aspx?ID=193
7. Alan November, The Myths and Opportunities for Technology in the Classroom, at http://vimeo.com/12642950


Weston Open CourseWare Examples:


• Grade 7 Design Construction (Structures) http://www.weston.org/schools/ms/technology/structures/
• Lego NxT Robotics (Lego Robotics) http://www.weston.org/schools/ms/technology/robotics/
• Grade 8 Design/Construction (Woodworking) http://www.weston.org/schools/ms/technology/woodworking/
• Grade 8 Technology/Engineering MCAS Review
• Biology Web http://www.weston.org/schools/ms/biologyweb/


• Online Professional Development in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics http://www.weston.org/schools/ms/technology/education/profdevelopment.htm
• New Directions in Education http://www.weston.org/schools/ms/technology/education/new_directions_in_education.htm


Video in the Classroom Examples:


• A Chair for Mr Bear, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aiHy1YJEJw&feature=youtu.be
• FlashBack, at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hc54nu_1t5A&feature=related
• Sumo-Bot Introduction, http://www.screencast.com/users/dietzj/folders/Lego%20Robotics/media/3781a145-610e-44af-a9f9-2c59abd2451f
• Gears, at http://www.screencast.com/users/dietzj/folders/Lego%20Robotics/media/aeebafd7-6c11-4e5a-a9b8-2afc3bf06739
• The Way Home, at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgjgxCP9Du8
• Building an Image in PhotoShop, at http://www.vimeo.com/20490746
• Lego NxT RollerBall, at http://www.vimeo.com/20491042
• The Honesty Project, at http://www.screencast.com/t/ZTEyMDQ4NWMt
• Gussett Bridges, at http://www.screencast.com/t/NjJkZjc4M2E
• Can Crush Lab, at http://www.screencast.com/t/wLEeGRA5m4E

Links

Westonschools.org Arts Curriculum

TED Global

dietzj1 Youtube Channel

drivemeecra Youtube Channel

Screencast.com

MIT Open Courseware Intro Video

Steven Johnson

Making a difference:

Solidworks: From Dream to Discovery

Why engineers love what they do...

Engineers Without Borders

Engineering education as social action in the developing world

KIPP

Charter Schools

Choice

Chris Anderson
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Revised January 2011 by Jonathan Dietz, dietzj@mail.weston.org