Thursday, April 13, 2017

Module 7 Phase 2: Creating 21st Century Learning
Thinking of learning from a 21st century perspective is something that is not always easy to do.  The links to the High-Tech High videos demonstrate how an industrial arts teacher (with a law degree) envisioned education could be and made it happen. The other videos provide additional insight into new ideas. PLEASE review these videos to show you how this might look.
Now that you have had a chance to evaluate and reflect upon a learning environment for its 21st Century worthiness, you will have the opportunity to collaboratively design your own.

Environment: How will you design your new environment to make it more conducive to student-centered learning? What will you remove and how will you replace it?  You are just designing for a single classroom or Grade-level team, but the "sky is the limit."

To the left is a graphic from a Pinterest board on classrooms. Review it.  Careful, the content is much deeper than it appears.  Spend some time reading and exploring to get the idea of what can be possible.  Here is a whole board of 21st Century Learning Environments.

Standards: You will be aligning your 21st Century Learning experience with core standards from Iowa.  Here is the link to the Iowa Core Standards 
If you find any additional resources that you feel the class will value, then add them to the comments below.
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Thursday, April 6, 2017

Module 7 Phase 1: Creating 21st Century Learning

The 21st Century Classroom may use technology to enable students to access tools and information, but it isn't what will enable us to reach the needs of our students. We will address our students' needs when we take the time to identify their needs and act accordingly.  

Partnership for 21st Century Skills
It's been said that if Benjamin Franklin arrived in the 21st century, he would be overwhelmed by the mass of technology and humanity, but would feel "right at home" in a school classroom. Students' needs have changed but we typically have "21st century students being taught by 20th century teachers in 19th century schools."

English: Framework for 21st Century Learning
English: Framework for 21st Century Learning (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Educators need to engage in a Framework for 21st Century Learning to prepare students with their necessary skills sets. Implementing such a framework can be complex. The Partnership offers a set of 21st Century Skills Implementation Guides. Here's one for Learning Environments and here's the page for a whole set of them.  Open them up and as you review them, consider how you would implement one of these guides in your own school/district/corporation.  International Baccalaureate 

What is the difference between 20th and 21st century schools? 
Standards are nice, but what is a 21st Century Education, really?  

Tony Wagner in his book, The Global Achievement Gap, states that there are 7 survival skills in Today's Global world.  These skills include:
  • Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
  • Collaboration across Networks and Leading by Influence
  • Agility and Adaptability
  • Initiative and Entrepreneurialism
  • Effective Oral and Written Communication
  • Accessing and Analyzing Information
  • Curiosity and Imagination
These skills can't be taught through textbooks.  They must be learned through active learning in the classroom by the students. Teachers cannot teach knowledge.  They can create situations through which students can learn.  

Learning in our schools must be "Teacher Lead, but Student Driven."

A good perspective on 21st Century Learning is shared in by They consider the difference between 21st and 20th Century Learning. Their chart defines the difference on this page.  This discussion is well-considered. They provide a chart that compares 20th Century and 21st Century Learning.

The characteristics begin with:
  • 20th Century Education is teacher-centered with a fragmented curriculum, students working in isolation memorizing facts.
  • 21st Century Education is student-centered with real-live, relevant, collaborative project-based learning.
Take some time to review and digest the rest of the table.  Does it fit your idea of 21st Century Learning?  Does it fit your vision of what you want to see in your classrooms?

Spend some time reading and digesting these ideas throughout the rest of the page. There are many links that join a variety of resources. Follow all of the links and at least review their contents as you build your vision of a 21st Century Classroom.  

Capturing, Sharing and Resolving Perplexity 
I recently discovered a Math Teacher who captured the essence of 21st Century Learning, Dan Meyer. Dan Meyer is not just any math teacher. He has defined his teaching at the art of dealing with perplexity. He begins his lessons by challenging his students by asking questions and posting problems.  Dan Meyer presented the opening Keynote at the CUE 2014 conference in March. Spend 45 minutes watching his presentation and you may develop a new perspective on teaching.  He talks about how to make learning meaningful for your students by making problems/learning perplexing instead of just engaging.

Characteristics of Student-Centered Classrooms (Iowa Core)
Is your classroom (or classrooms where you are taking classes) student-centered? One of the most important parts of creating 21st Century Classrooms is to make the students active learners in the process. But the question remains, HOW?  You will also find these 5 Characteristics of Effective Instruction useful as you begin to use the following Walkthrough assessment tool.

21st Century Classroom Walkthrough
Principal Shawn Holloway (Manson Northwest Webster in NW, Iowa) talks about assessing effective instruction in his classrooms using a walkthrough procedure. He has created a check sheet that he uses as a guide in his review of what he sees in classes as he Manages By Wandering Around.  

Here is a link to a Google Doc version of this MNW Walkthrough Form
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Thursday, March 23, 2017

Module 6: Universal Design for Learning/Assistive Technologies

The world isn't equally accessible to all people. There are many challenges that we have to be able to function and succeed in our worldly activities.  In the past, people have tended to emphasize the deficits in others' ability to function in the world. This has led to always talking about people being handicapped and disabled. This can cause a great divide between groups. 

Here is a TED Talk (TEDMED) video of Emilee Mullins who talks about what the term, disabled, means to her. She is a double amputee who is an Olympian runner and motivational speaker.  This will cause you to rethink your perspective of what it means to be called "disabled."

Having Special Needs
Consider, if you will, that all humans have special needs. It is just a matter of degree. It might be the need for glasses for reading, the need for an auditory reader because someone has vision problems or the need for alternate means of communicating because someone has Lou Gehrig's disease or cerebral palsy.  As we get older, we might review articles on our computer screens at 150% so that they are easier to read.  It's all a matter of degree.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a combination of pedagogy and technique that acknowledges the different levels of needs. UDL uses brain-based research to identify the need for addressing multiple methods of representation, expression and engagement of learners with information and knowledge. It involves instructional goals, methods, materials, and assessments. 

The Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) is a leader in the field of UDL. Here is 5-minute introductory video on UDL.

UDL is all about presenting new ideas through different perspectives. Here is a Canadian Star Trek video perspective about UDL. Watch this and decide if it is an effective method for representing information in another format.

How do you feel about UDL now?  Did you understand what the videos were trying to convey?  Was one video more effective than the other?  Is it enough to just represent information in a different manner or does design play into the situation as well?

Do you think that you know enough to integrate it into your teaching environment?  Maybe watching videos about information is not your favorite means of learning.  In the spirit of UDL, here is an informative article entitled  Technology and Learning: Meeting Special Student's Needs (.pdf)  It might look a little familiar but it is a great parallel with the video.

For Visual Learners, this UDL Infographic depicts the various cognitive areas of UDL, applications and resources that you may find useful in your classroom. 

The Difference between Universal Design for Learning and Traditional Education
So what is the difference between UDL and K-12 Traditional Education?  You need to understand that before you can even hope to implement it into your classroom.  The Understood Team created a useful chart to compare the two approaches.  Review it with your classroom (or learning/teaching experience) in mind. It addresses a number of aspects including focus, accommodations, classroom setup, and grading. 

Applying UDL in Higher Education
Now that you have developed a foundation about UDL, how can it be applied in the real world classroom?  The answer is not direct. It all depends upon the learning situation that is involved. Read/watch these resources to see some best practice and good ideas for integrating UDL into course design.  Both of them are situated in a post-secondary learning environment (Notice the diversity you non-NK12 Teacher candidates), but consider how these strategies might work at the lower levels.

San Francisco State University is a leader in using UDL in Higher Education. They created a website that addresses how to UDL could be applied on campus entitled Using UDL on Campus.  This is a 30-minute workshop on using UDL in your teaching. You don't have to complete the workshop, but the support documents are what give it depth. You will see that they follow the UDL principles by sharing the information in video, audio and printed formats. They even deepen the content by providing videos of case stories. Use the Quick Links on the side to find a wealth of additional information.    

Differentiated Learning
Recognizing that students have varying backgrounds, levels of readiness, preferences in learning, and interests is important if you are going to be able to address their needs. You will need to Differentiate your teaching styles to address their learning needs. You try to meet students where they are from an educational perspective. UDL is a strategy that is based upon differentiated learning and teaching. Read this article, Differentiated Instruction and Implications for UDL Implementation, to see how these strategies work together.

Assistive Technology
While UDL involves strategies to benefit all learners, Assistive Technologies (AT) are devices (some electronic and some not) that increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities. UDL is a teaching practice while AT is something that you can touch. 

There are many Types of Assistive Technologies. (These technologies are grouped by manufacturers but they are explained on each of the websites.)  Not all AT are electronic, but this list includes a variety of ways that people can interact with technology to function in the world. They may involve input devices that control computers using a variety of methods. They may be output devices that allow computers to communicate with people through Braille, voice, visual representation or even physical activity. 

Examples of UDL and Assistive Technologies

iPads in the Special Ed Classroom
This is a blog run by a special education educator. This page is a treasure-trove of resources. It explains a variety of benefits of using tablets (yes, I know that it is iPad-based, but think "tablet") as computing tools for students. These are from the teacher's, student's and education's points of view. Explore the many resources in the right column as well.

Glenda Watson Hyatt's Blog
Ms. Hyatt has a thriving blog online. She has written a book and consults with educators on using technology in teaching. She also has athetoid cerebral palsy. This means that she has problems with muscular control. Glenda explores the many assistive tech apps that can be used to assist challenged learners like herself. Watch her video, The Left-Thumb Blogger, to see how she uses assistive technologies to overcome her challenges. Imagine if you could offer this in your classes to your students.

Universal Design in the Workplace
Universal Design can refer to learning or it can refer to accessibility in the workplace. This can mean a great deal when we want to make the workplace a welcoming environment for people with special needs. While UDL has 3 areas of implementation, UDW (UD in the Workplace) has 3 as well: 1) Workplace environment, 2) Workplace technologies, and 3) Workplace policies and tasks.

How Do We Apply Universal Design for Learning?
Now that you have been introduced to UDL and experienced the needs for using such strategies, the question remains about "How to implement UDL strategies." The Readings and Watchings that you just completed will provide a strong foundation for the activities that you will be completing for your assignment.

Return to your eLearning Module 6 to receive your specifics for the Assignment.

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Module 5: Digital Citizenship

What is Digital Citizenship? 

Being a digital citizen raises the responsibility level for everyone involved.  Watch this introductory video to begin to develop a background in digital citizenship.

Children who are on the web need to be careful about who they meet, how they meet them and what they share.

Parents need to make students aware of the dangers that lurk on the web as well as share with them the wealth of information that is theirs for the taking.

Teachers need to incorporate Internet safety into their curriculum and make it part of their everyday program.

Here are some resources for learning about Digital Citizenship:

Common Sense Media
This is a great resource for all sorts of media on-line and off.

How Do I Help My Child Learn to Use the Internet Wisely?

Blog posting of resources collected by a teacher.

You have an opportunity to explore and plan a digital citizenship program for your school. It is not just for your students. It is one that will include your colleagues, your students, AND their parents.

The intent of this project is to create something that will be applicable to your existing teaching/training situation or might be used when you have your own teaching/training environment.

Begin by going to and register as a member.

You will notice that Common Sense Media is more than just curriculum for teaching internet safety.  You will find that they like to share their opinion on things like movies, games, websites, and apps through their Ratings and Reviews section.  Look at all of the tools that are available in the Common Sense toolbar. Explore this section and consider how you would actively integrate it into Professional Development for Parents and Teachers.

Review the overall mission and opportunities available through Click on the Digital Literacy and Citizenship Curriculum Training Link in the Online Training section.  This page will provide you with an overview of the curriculum, an intro to the parent education modules, and finally an on-line training about teaching students called Raising Kids in Our Digital Media World.

You are change agents in your schools and training institutions.  You are making a difference by making informed choices and recommendations about building a safe educational learning environment.  Become familiar with online resources such as the Common Sense Media.  
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Thursday, February 16, 2017

Module 4: TPACK Makes a Difference.

Used w/permission from - rights free


This is called TPaCK. TPaCK stands for
  • Technology
  • Pedagogy
  • Content Knowledge






 Here is another video to help reinforce the concept.
The best place to find out about TPaCK is at   This is an ever-growing website that contains a plethora of possible resources.

Is Technology Really All Important?

Applying TPaCK to My Curriculum


  1. TPACK and Systemic Technology Integration
  2. TPACK and Systemic Technology Integration - Part Two
  3. TPACK and Systemic Integration - Focus Tools 
  4. TPACK and Systemic Integration - Affordances and Constraints

Curriculum-Based Activity Types



TPACK Taxonomies





Using TPaCK to Teach Grammar in Middle School

Playing the TPACK GAME



Another way that you can play this TPACK game is using playing cards.  Here is a link to Microsoft TPACK cards in case you want to download them and use them with your colleagues as you teach them about TPACK.



Now it will be time to return to the Module 4 instructions to learn about writing your TPACK lesson plan.

Another Place to Visit


Happy Traveling through TPACK.


Thursday, February 2, 2017

Module 3: Integrating Digital Technology

Please begin by watching the 24-minute introductory video above. 

Integrating digital technologies into your curriculum is much more than just adding a computer to the lesson. Technology must be considered as a tool that will support learning experiences. It must be selected based upon pedagogical needs rather than the other way around.

Effective learning involves challenging learners with situations that are relevant to their lives and are challenging enough to interest them and engage them in the learning process. When educators discuss levels of intellectual challenge, they typically compare higher-order thinking to lower-order thinking.  These terms are best described by using Bloom's Taxonomy.

Thinking Blooms
Bloom's Taxonomy was first published in 1954 when Benjamin Bloom and his colleagues wanted to create a hierarchy of terms that they could use when they were describing various types of questions that they might use on a test.  Since then, the taxonomy has taken on a broader meaning which educators used to also describe educational activities.

In the 1990s, one of Bloom's students, Lorin Anderson, lead a group of cognitive psychologists who reconsidered Bloom's taxonomy and reworked it to reflect 21st century learning. You will notice that the new taxonomy has changed the static verbs to active verbs by adding "ing" to the end. They also removed Synthesis and placed Creating on the top.  

This tool has been aligned with 21st Century in many ways. Andrew Churches in New Zealand has provided a digital perspective where he begins provides Bloom's Taxonomy with a context and then identifies a number of digital tools that can be grouped into each level. 

Bloom's Taxonomy Blooms Digitally. Churches demonstrates that the Higher-Order Thinking skills are the top three verbs, Analyzing, Evaluating and Creating.  The Lower-Order Thinking skills are the bottom three verbs, Remembering, Understanding and Applying.

Kathy Schrock and Samantha Penney have used a more graphical format to align Web 2.0 tools with the new version of Bloom's Taxonomy. Kathy limits her work to Google tools while Samantha expands it to a wide variety of Web 2.0 tools. Carefully review these sites to provide a background for your later assignment.

Is there any sense in classifying teaching strategies, questions, Web 2.0 tools using an organizer like Bloom's Taxonomy? Can pedagogical activities actually be restricted to one of 6 classifications? Probably not. Grouping tools like these are designed to provide vocabulary for discussions between professionals.  Using these classifications I can distinguish teaching for memorization or developing problem-solving skills.

Adding Technology to the Mix
Technology can be used in a learning environment but will it make a difference? It all depends on HOW technology is used. Like Bloom's Taxonomy, technology can be integrated in a variety of ways. These may include teachers who operate at a basic level by using PowerPoint presentations to support their lecture-driven methods. They also include the teachers who step back and encourage students to use these tools in innovative ways to create new projects and experiences.

The problem has been to find a vocabulary to define these various levels of integration.  Apple Computer sponsored a decade-long research project entitled Apple Classrooms of the Tomorrow (ACOT). This project involved providing technology-rich classrooms by filling them with Apple IIgs computers AND providing one for each of the students' homes (20th century 1:1 computing.)  As they examined the various levels on which teachers used technology, they identified a 5 stages including: Entry, Adoption, Adaption, Appropriation, and Innovation.  Read the article, What is Effective Integration of Technology, and Does It Make a Difference by Debra Rein.  It is a short article, but it provides a background for the ACOT Evolution of Thought and Practice.  Please note that these levels of adoption exist in any teaching/learning situation whether it is in corporate, PK-12 or post-secondary settings.

SAMR -  Substitute/Augment/Modify/Redefine
Another model that is popular in the schools today is the SAMR model. It was developed by Ruben R. Puentedura, Ph.D. to describe a ladder of implementation that occurs as you integrate technology into your curriculum. 

Here is a Lynda Tutorial that describes the four levels of SAMR:

Did it make sense?  Would you be able to identify and define the 4 levels of SAMR?

Visit this website to review SAMR and take a quiz to ensure your SAMR knowledge.

How would you match the ACOT 5 stages and the SAMR model?  Do they directly link to one another?

ACOT 5 Stages (TIM)                       SAMR
Entry                                               Simulation
Adoption                                         Augmentation
Adaption                                         Modification
Appropriation                                  Redefinition

How would YOU compare the ACOT 5 Stages (TIM) and SAMR?  Explore your ideas using this Google Drawing.  You can't change the original, but you can make a copy of it and then modify it anyway you can imagine.

Technology Integration Matrix
The key to successful integration requires a system to integrate the research on Learning Environments with what has been learned about technology adoption. In 2005, the Florida Department of Education created their Technology Integration Matrix (TIM).  This is a matrix that uses a series of 5 steps in technology adoption that is similar to the ACOT set.  It also has a set of desired learning environment characteristics which include Active, Collaborative, Constructive, Authentic and Goal-Directed. 

USE THIS MATRIX: While the Florida TIM was the original, I would like to suggest that you savor the  Arizona flavor of this matrix. It is essentially the same but it has video examples sorted by grade level.  Past students have noted that this matrix is easier to understand and use.

Go see Arizona TIM and play around for a while to see what they have to offer.  You will find  video examples of lessons and lesson plans in a variety of subjects.

NOTE: I have been looking for such a matrix that displays this in a corporate training format, but to no avail.

Here is an 11-minute video shared by the developers that they developed to explain it.  It provides a useful background for understanding TIM.  It is based upon the Florida version.

Here is a quiz to test your mastery of the Technology Integration Matrix.  There is no grade associated with it.  There is an explanation with your answers so you can learn from it - you can take it as many times as you want.  You may want to refer to this Table of Summary Descriptors for the TIM. 

All Together Now

Here is a Technology Integration slideshow referred to me by Michelle Cowell which covers SAMR, TIM, TPACK, and a variety of other thoughts about technology integration.  You can click on the link below or scan the QR code on the opening page.  Look for the recurring theme and consider the vocabulary that it provides for you.  How will you use this with your teachers, colleagues and administrators?

Add caption

Barriers to Technology Integration
Change is not always easy.  Even if an innovation can obviously improve learning situations, there are a number of things that can get in the way.  In some cases it has to do with institutional barriers that get in the way.  Review (look for the highpoints) an article, Barriers to Adopting Emerging Technologies in Education by Rogers.  This article looks at potential problems in the PK-12 as well as the University level schools.

Sometimes the problem is in the attitudes and belief systems of the teachers. This is another article which explores the Beliefs and Practices of teachers in the ACOT study.
Changes in Teacher's Beliefs and Practices in Technology-Rich Classrooms by Dwyer, Ringstaff and Sandholtz  (Note: This information won't really be used until next module, but I wanted you to have it to ponder for a while.)

Extra Resources: (Not Required)
Here are a few resources that I found that you might find useful when you are working with your colleagues and you are looking for materials to introduce SAMR and TIM.  (This is NOT additional required reading.  These are just some resources that could be useful.)

Made with Padlet

You have learned a great deal about technology integration. It has many faces. The Entry levels of adoption are not bad to use in the classroom.  Sometimes slideshows are the most efficient way to convey information. The key is to move deftly along the continuum to ensure that your learners are engaging into their learning experiences.

You need to find 5 instances of technology integration in your special field of interest. You may find these on videos or in real life or on paper or ?????  The key is that you consider this important to your field of teaching and it is worth your time to evaluate. 

NOTE: Do NOT emphasize a technology tool. This assignment asks you to find an actual teaching/learning experience where a technology tool is used as part of lesson. The tool is not the center of this activity but rather what can be done using that tool. 

Evaluate it by: 
  • Describing the example including level, subject, intended outcome and process.
  • Identify where you found this example. (video, paper, web, real life, ?)
  • Identifying the cell on the TIM into which it would be classified.
  • Explain why you classified it into that cell.  What are the attributes that cause it to fit into that section?
  • Explain how this would fit into your world of teaching/learning.  How would/could you use it in your classroom?  If you don't have a classroom yet, then place it into the classroom where you intend to work.
BTW: As always, if you have a medium through which you could answer this that is NOT written text - GO FOR IT!!  Remember that your presentation must satisfy the assignment's rubric.
BAM!!!!  Take it up a notch.  
For each of your examples, explain how you would reorganize this lesson to move it to another level.  This means that after you have identified the cell where one specific lesson's activities exist, you will identify changes you will make in how you are designing the lesson's activities to move it to another cell that is "Up a notch."  You MUST identify the specific coordinates of the cell where you are moving the lesson. 
  • The Technology is in a sequence so you will need to move it to the right. Please note that moving along the horizontal track is as much about making the activity more student-centric as it is about technology.
You ONLY have to move it one cell to the right to increase the depth of technology, but you are welcome to move it to another row as well.

You will submit the link to your Google Doc in the Module 3 discussion forum. 

Refer to the Module 3 page in eLearning for specifics and rubric
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