Amazing, what one can learn in an idle moment... this afternoon, I attended a staff meeting where we were in-serviced on Voice Thread, an amazing online tool for integrating technology and collaborative learning. Perhaps the most intriguing thing about Voice Thread (and its educators' counterpart Ed Voice Thread), is that differentiation is built right
into the program, i.e. participants leave their comments either by phone, mic, written or other means. Kids can even draw a picture! It's truly amazing!
Excited to use this with my students next year, I asked the presenter about classroom management implications. For example, what if Sameer decides to log on under Aisha's name and leave some rude comment, making it look like Aisha is the schmuck?! (The whole thing -- especially the free version -- works on a bit of an honour system, with students "logging on" as simply a different version of the teacher, in a sense.)
The presenter spoke to us about "digital citizenship", a term that was new to me, but appealing nevertheless. (After all, if we are preparing our students to function effectively and ethically in a 21-century world, then teaching them etiquette both online as well as in real life makes total sense!) He suggested making that point openly when first introducing the tool and related procedures to your students, and turning it into a point of discussion and a learning opportunity.
Although my brain was full to capacity by the end of the session, I was/am excited to learn more about this new tool, and how it can best support learning in my classroom next year.
Excited to use this with my students next year, I asked the presenter about classroom management implications. For example, what if Sameer decides to log on under Aisha's name and leave some rude comment, making it look like Aisha is the schmuck?! (The whole thing -- especially the free version -- works on a bit of an honour system, with students "logging on" as simply a different version of the teacher, in a sense.)
The presenter spoke to us about "digital citizenship", a term that was new to me, but appealing nevertheless. (After all, if we are preparing our students to function effectively and ethically in a 21-century world, then teaching them etiquette both online as well as in real life makes total sense!) He suggested making that point openly when first introducing the tool and related procedures to your students, and turning it into a point of discussion and a learning opportunity.
Although my brain was full to capacity by the end of the session, I was/am excited to learn more about this new tool, and how it can best support learning in my classroom next year.
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