Tutorial Designers, Guides, Step-by-Step Instructions: Amplification & Imagination

“Tutorial Designer” is one of the six roles, Alan November lists in his Digital Learning Farm that empower student learners and describes in his book ‘Who owns the Learning?.
Take a look at the examples below of students:

• sharing what they have learned in class
•  sharing beyond their classroom and their parents
•  sharing with a global audience in mind.

As you are watching these samples…

• Where does your imagination take you?
• What ideas come to your mind?
• What comes to mind for YOUR STUDENTS TO SHARE?
• What lesson or unit, could you “upgrade” to include the creation of a video, audio or screencast?

I believe strongly, that teaching and upgrading to include emerging literacies and amplified skills for the 21st century learner rely HEAVILY on imagination, willingness and ability to experiment, fail, tweak and try again.

Please share samples of you and your students’ imagination and tutorials, guides or step by step instructions.

There is More to iPads in the Classroom Than Apps

In a previous post, Evaluating Apps with Transformative Use of the iPad in Mind, I describe my ambivalence about teacher asking my for the “perfect” app to teach this or that.

I have teachers ask  me frequently about app recommendations for different subject areas.

• “What app could I use to teach subtraction?”
• “What app would you recommend for my students to practice writing?”
• “I want to use iPads in my Science class. What app is good for that?”

I usually sigh to myself, when I receive questions like that. While I am not against in suggesting apps ( which I love doing), I am not comfortable with the level of disconnect between the teacher (who knows her/his students best) and the curriculum related skills and objectives and pedagogical relationship that needs to be in place for an app to be a match to use in a classroom or with an individual learner.

In a recent article, titled ” How the iPad Can Transform Classrooms” by Ben Johnson on Edutopia, raises awareness of the difference between using the iPad as a way to teach students versus the iPad as a tool to learn for students.

The lesson planning questions I hope my teachers will learn to ask will change from “How can I teach this content?” to, “How can I get students to learn this content?” I hope they will answer this question with open-ended learning activities rather than saying, “I have an app for that.”

He calls for the paradigm shift in seeing the iPad as a TOOL TO THINK WITH:

Sure there may be some useful apps that help the student gain the skills, knowledge or insight into the subject, and a teacher might want the class to do it together, but focusing solely on the apps, or student control, limits the true potential of the iPad — “a tool to think with.”

images used with permission from Andrea Hernandez @edtechworkshop

In an effort to NOT see only apps and to turn the focus on pedagogy and the iPad as a LEARNING and THINKING tool, I am continuing to try to bring attention to apps THROUGH THE LENS of Bloom’s Taxonomy, Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences and 21st Century Skills and Literacies.

You can download all four images as a pdf.

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iPad apps and Bloom’s Taxonomy

iPad apps and The Digital Learning Farm

The Digital Learning Farm and iPad Apps

I previously published a chart of Bloom’s Taxonomy and iPad Apps, which I use regularly when planning projects or look to reinforce certain skills and literacies. Since I also rely heavily on The Digital Learning Farm concept (based on Alan November’s work), I felt it was time to create a similar chart in order categorize iPad apps for each role.This is by no means an exclusive chart, but meant to be a beginning of seeing iPad apps as a teaching and learning tool to empower students.

If you need a more detailed description of proposed roles to empower student learners, take a look at the following flyer (pdf).