Shrinking the World for Middle School Students

With a great idea, a lot of passion, and the daring willingness to try something new, the seemingly "impossible" has become a reality, and has made a very clear impression on some of Central Middle School's students. 

Through the use of Skype, a popular video conferencing solution, Ann Zindler's Readers' and Writers' Workshop students were able to make a deeper connection to an author they were studying in class -- an author who just happens to live in the United Kingdom. 

"[On December 4th], seventh grade students at Central enjoyed Skyping with the author of one of our literature circle books, Payback.  Rosemary Hayes, at the request of four of my students, spent about 40 minutes chatting from Cambridge, United Kingdom with our kids who read her book.  [The students] prepared several questions and took turns speaking with her about her writing process and passion for writing, her research, and specifics about the characters upon whom she based her novel," Zindler said.

The technology used to accomplish the task was fairly standard and simple to set up.  Zindler installed Skype on her school desktop computer.  Using the document camera that Zindler uses for other classroom instruction as her web cam, and using a fairly inexpensive set of computer speakers and microphone that was available from the Central library, the stage was set for the event.

The real work, though, was done by the students.  They were responsible for reading Hayes' book, discussing the work through the structure of a literature circle, and then preparing questions and comments for the author in advance of the actual Skype call.  All were critical elements in preparing for the actual meeting with the author.

And how did the kids feel about the opportunity to interact with an author?  Here is the collective reflection from Zindler's students: Wendy F., Jesica C., Kelsey N. and Brianna O. 

"Meeting an author can be a once in a lifetime chance.  When Ms. Rosemary Hayes, of Cambridge, England, author of Payback, asked us if we wanted to meet through Skype, first we were surprised she even answered our email.  When we opened the email that she sent us, we literally started jumping up and down.

"Meeting her was amazing.  Some of us have met other authors, but hadn't even read that particular author's books before meeting him or her, so we didn't get as much out of it.  Since we had read Ms. Hayes book we had many questions and so did other kids who had read the book and joined our Skype.  After we were done and all of our questions were answered, I understood the book a whole lot more and understood why she wrote it the way that she did.  It's an amazing way to meet an author."

Like any technological tool that can be used in the classroom, the effectiveness of Skype to connect with the author is directly related to the quality of instructional planning and delivery by the instructor, and the commitment and engagement of the students to embrace the opportunity.  As Zindler and her students have demonstrated, the proper infusion of technology into the classroom can make for some unforgettable experiences for our students.

If you are interested in learning more about how to Skype an author in your classroom, view the Skype an Author network website:  http://skypeanauthor.wetpaint.com

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Creating digital resources, not just curating them

I just read an article that talks about the next generation of smart phone technology (I know, some of you still haven't found a need to even consider purchasing this or the last generation of smart phones...trust me,I get it!).

The author presented the concept that our future iPhones and Android phones will serve more as a digital assistant than just a phone. A relationship develops between the user and the device as the device begins to understand uses, locations, communication patterns, listens in to assist with note taking, etc. The device begins to take on these tasks for us, curating information from our daily lives without much input or energy expended by us.

Perhaps that is all well and good, but the concept gets under my skin a bit. I believe there is still something to be said for having to dig in and do! Here is my concern.

The information revolution we live in already makes access to knowledge and data instant and painless. However, it is still our work to both make sense of that information and to assist in the work of creating some of that information (uploads to YouTube, Flickr, and edits to Wikipedia exemplify this information contribution we partake in). I already see a concerning pattern of disconnection by people who gather digital information and resources very efficiently, but who fail to dig into those resources to consume, process, and learn from them. It is akin to hoarding of digital resources - they collect the resources but with little purpose or outcome in mind for them.

Consider, then, if the technology could learn what you wanted it to collect for you, at least in the way of digital resources. This simple shift in "process" truly ratchets up the likelihood that most of us may elect to simply overlook these digital resources, knowing we have access to them if/when we need them. Therein lies the problem! It is in the review of these resources that questioning, inquiry, puzzling, brainstorming, and innovative thinking happens. I worry about this shift, as it creates greater opportunity for disengagement from the resources that help us generate our own thoughts and feelings on issues and topics.

We cannot stop the march of technological innovation, though, so what are we to do?

I wonder if the answer is in encouraging and teaching people to be content creators. It is because I write two blogs that I value and genuinely read blogs written by others. It is because I create tutorial videos and place them on YouTube, that I watch and evaluate the quality of other tutorial videos on YouTube. It is because I work diligently to mantain a high quality of posts and resources in my social networls that I critically evaluate and utilize rhe resources placed in those networks by others.

There is a natural element of appreciation for the work of others when we have engaged meaningfully in at least dabbling in that work ourselves. I appreciate the talents and efforts of others because I, too, have attempted it. Perhaps the same is true for our students. If we could meaningfully engage them in the work of creating content and contributing it to the global community, perhaps we could naturally encourage our students to thoughtfully engage with the resources they encounter, instead of having them simply collect and overlook these resources.

This means, though, that we have to, above all else, encourage our kids to be makers as well as consumers of digital resources. That means that our jobs change significantly, as we focus on creating the questions, structure, and conditions for learning, instead oF simply focusing on distributing learning to all. This is the transition we can make in our classrooms today to thwart the kinds of issues we know exist presently, which will only grow as technology advances in the future.

The Google Research Tool within Google Docs

 You've been there.   The open books, magazines, and resources spread out on the table, head snapping between the key words and quotes from the text and the notepad (or better yet, index card) on which your notes (and citations) will be stored for the research paper you will need to write eventually. 

With a little help from technology, at least one part of that equation can be eliminated -- the painstaking (and often inaccurate) handwritten copying of research resources, quotations, and key elements. 

With the update to Google Drive (formerly called Google Docs), a few other key updates were made.  The Google Research Tool is one of those updates.  The Research Tool (available when you are in a Google Document by clicking on Tools --> Research Tool) keeps your Google Document open on the left side of the screen, and then place a fully functional research window on the right side of the screen. Search Google from right within your Google Doc, find resources, images, quotes, or even use Google Scholar. 

The beauty is that resources, citations, images, and quotes can all be dragged into your document with LIVE LINKS to the resources for later exploration.  It's kind of like turning the world of resources available on the web into a stack of selected resources from the stacks of a library, all sitting right there on your research resources piles. 

Pretty impressive, but more importantly, very efficient.  Have your students regain their focus on the reading and selection of the resources instead of on the handwritten copying of that research (and citations, if they remember to do so) on to note cards or pads, to later re-write or type those citations into the actual paper.  Imagine the efficiency!