Visible learners and engaging pedagogy

Love the sharing by my colleagues Elisabeth and Wen Ee today.

In fact there is a need for active and collaborative instruction coupled with various means to encourage student engagement which will invariably lead to better learning outcome.

The use of technology can help to engage the students and becoming visible learners. They shared with us the following links which contain very useful apps or website for educators.

http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2017/01/70-educational-ipad-apps-for-teachers.html

The Ultimate EdTech Chart for Teachers and Educators www.educatorstechnology.com

Another good resource shared by Wen Ee is freetech for teacher

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/

• http://ipadapps4school.com/
• http://android4schools.com/

A bit of "magic" using Aurasma which would definitely excite the students as they can use the app to see the picture comes alive in the form of a video. 

Engaging students using the app aurasma

https://studio.aurasma.com/home

I have learned about this 2 years ago and had wanted to try but have not done so. Decided to try a simple one using a photo of the tuned mass damper in 101 building to trigger an interesting video clip from a Taiwan news report.


You can try to use Aurasma to scan the following picture:

And it will come alive in the form of a video  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJDpDkDUYOE) on the screen!

To create an aura:

Sign up for an account @ https://www.aurasma.com/

Aurasma app can be downloaded 

For iphone and ipad - apple store https://itunes.apple.com/sg/app/aurasma/id432526396?mt=8

For android and tablets - play store https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aurasma.aurasma&hl=en

Just activate the app and you can scan the trigger picture. Students will be amazed how the video will suddenly come alive in VR! Try it out today!

 

Extracted from my earlier post on Aurasma below:

An interesting app shared during the ICT symposium 2015 - Aurasma

It can be downloaded from App Store for IOS and Play store for Androids (however my Samsung Note 4 is not compatible and cannot download it. It works on my Samsung Galaxy Pro)
The app offers a lot of potential in creating virtual learning. 

Tutorial on ipad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJ_UEfoNzbI

Aurasma allows users to create or view augmented reality experiences. The user open up the app and capture the photo with the camera. The image will transform into a video, animation, another image or bring you to a website with more information. 

To create their own Auras, students or teachers choose an overlay and a trigger. An overlay is a video, image, an animation or a website link that will appear when someone finds the trigger object or photo. 

Tutorial on creating a sequenced aura using the aurasma studio https://studio.aurasma.com/login
https://youtu.be/CaczBAfdRns - so cool being able to create a scavenger hunt with photos. User just scan the photo and could see a video or even a url link providing more information.

Use of Aurasma in teaching:
https://youtu.be/uHIxYpBW7sc?list=PLYk2ySKukLs6Fih_6xze0EYRyGJguDYCF

Use of Aurasma in learning nature:
https://youtu.be/WRS_nZOOMyY?list=PLYk2ySKukLs6Fih_6xze0EYRyGJguDYCF

Using mobile app for Art and Science

I am always amazed by how mobile app can help in engaging the students in learning. This is especially so when most students own a smart phone nowadays and they could download many apps free. I have shared earlier on how mobile apps can be used for Geography  - http://ezitnew.blogspot.sg/2012/06/applications-from-google-play-android.html 

Though the followings are mobile apps for Art and Science, I must say I was quite fascinated by them. This is especially so for Prisma which I could turn my photos into the different Art piece immediately. A great way to learn the different Art style!

You can either take a photo or choose from your gallery a photo and then click on the various art filters to see them being converted in seconds! I have converted two photos which I took and I am really awed by the effects.

Another similar one is Deep Art Effects - more filters but can be quite laggy.

Using the free wRiteFormula app, students played a game to understand the nomenclature of ionic compounds. Students advanced in the game by gaining experience points and they’d receive immediate feedback on their performance. As a results, Chemistry concepts came alive in an exciting form, helping students to enjoy the process of learning that much more.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ixorastudios.writeformula&hl=en

• Race against time to form chemical compounds (IUPAC Nomenclature) in this new and exciting educational game!
• Form chemical compounds using various ions that appear in the game!
• Answer multiple choice questions with the correct chemical formula and name of the compound to achieve higher scores!
• Consecutively form compounds and answer questions correctly to earn huge score bonuses!
• Learn from the mistakes you make during the game by looking through the game summary and feedback after a game!

Another good one is on periodic table - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.rsc.periodictable

• See elements in their natural state and real-life applications.
• Incorporated Podcasts and videos.
• Use the interactive slider to see how elements change state as temperature increases, or explore the discovery of the elements through history. 
• Use the simple table for quick access to data – like sorting elements in order of increasing density.

Khan academy provides more than 4,000, free downloadable videos, so you can brush up on everything from K-12 math and earth science to art history and computer science. You can also track your progress and unlock basic achievements. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.khanacademy.android

The PlantNet Plant identification app is also very good for Bology or even Geog!
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.plantnet&hl=en

Just take a picture with your camera or select from your picture from your gallery. 

It can be a flower like the one above or a fruit like the one below.

Then click on which part of the plant the picture shows. 

The results will be shown as above and the scientific name of the plant shown.

I have shared in an earlier post on the use of mobile app for Geography:

http://ezitnew.blogspot.sg/2012/06/applications-from-google-play-android.html

ICT Symposium 2016 pear deck vs Nearpod

Grateful for the comparison of pear deck and Nearpod. Will try out and update
https://mrrobkamrowski.wordpress.com/2015/07/06/app-tested-pear-deck-vs-nearpod/

Google Site

My sharing with the teachers in the humanities teachers on the use of Google Site for self-directed and collaborative learning. 

The use of google site allow students to be self-directed in their learning as they can select, manage, and assess their own learning activities any time beyond their curriculum time. To further engage the students in their learning, interactive resources such as Zaption interactive videos and Quizlet can be embedded into the Google site. 

Physical Geography Lessons http://tinyurl.com/sec3geog  
Human Geography Lessons tinyurl.com/sec4geog

Update 2017 - I have created two more sites for lower sec:
Sec 1 - https://tinyurl.com/y1geog 
Sec 2 - https://tinyurl.com/y2geography

Inquiry-based learning is infused through geographical investigation using the Google Site. The use of Google site helps the groups direct their geographical inquiry collaboratively as well as allowing them to review the steps needed in the geographical investigation to encourage self-directed learning. An example will be an inquiry on water quality by the Secondary 1 students from Edgefield Secondary School. Permission I a given by level which means some pages can be viewed by public but students group work can only be viewed with sign in. After they have signed in, they can only on the age assigned on their findings and reflection as well as attach a copy of their final product.
I have also used Google sites to guide the students for GI on Coastal Studies and Tourism

Sec 1 GI on Water Resources 2015 http://tinyurl.com/watergi2015
Sec 3 GI on Coastal studies @East Coast Park   tinyurl.com/gicoast
Sec 4 GI on Tourism @ Chinatown tinyurl.com/gitourism

It is also great for sharing resources among the department teachers as it is a secured platform which access permission can be controlled - only share with a certain group of people - intranet. It is a great platform as a repository of resources and the whole site can be duplicated for another year or level. Instead of webpage, you can change the page format to file cabinet. Those who had been given permission to access the site can click on subscribe to changes and a email will be sent once a file is added.

Google site from Lily Teo Hp

Zaption - interactive video lesson

Sad to update that Zaption platform was officially closed on the 30 September 2016

I was introduced to Zaption by a fellow colleague and decided to try it out as I could embed it on my Google site for self-directed learning, especially those who had missed my lessons.

You can sign up for an account free @ https://www.zaption.com/ 

It is easy to use and great for self-directed learning and definitely a great tool for flipped classroom. I definitely agree that Zaption makes online video interactive and this will definitely engage students better and drives deeper learning. The student also can pace his/her learning using the interactive video.

I have screenshot the steps I took to create a lesson using a video. After you have logged into Zaption, click on"lessons"on the top menu and click on "New Lesson"on the scrolled down menu.

Copy and paste the url of the online video or upload one from your folder.

Confirm the video clip and click on "add this video for lesson".

I like the ability to trim the video clip by dragging the markers to mark the start and end of the clip as some video clips might be too long. A more effective video clip should be less than 5 mins.

You can then choose to include interactive elements from the top menu - multiple choice, check box, open response, drawings, image or text slides into your video lesson.

Other than MCQ, you can also add in check box, drawing, image or text slide just by clicking on the icons shown below and drag them to the main panel or side bar:

Click on publish and a pop-up window will appear for you to enter a title for your lesson.

The best part of using this tool is that you can analyse the responses of your students to keep track of their learning!

I have tried created 2 lessons - one on internal structure of the earth (http://zapt.io/tvh8bz2u) and the other on Kyoto Protocol (http://zapt.io/trap3wss) and embedded the clips onto my Geography Google site - https://sites.google.com/a/moe.edu.sg/sec3geog/weather-and-climate/wc-k2-lesson-8

QR codes

The QR code is useful to provide instant link to a url or text. The use of QR codes on name cards and brochures are getting popular too as one can be directed to a website without having to type out the url but with a QR reader which is available in most smart phone and can be downloaded free.  

I have created the QR code to my Geography blog and Google sites:

If you just want to generate a QR code link to a url or text (or even full contact for phone!), you can make use of https://www.the-qrcode-generator.com/

You can even generate a QR code for Chinese text! Scan the QR code below and find out what our vision is in Chinese!

You can make use of the QR code in many ways for teaching and learning too as mentioned on the website "25 Fun Ways to use QR codes":

1. Create scavenger hunts and/or webquests for your students that get them moving around the room. Scanning a QR code makes is easier for the students so they don’t have to type the long urls. 

2. QR Stations for self-directed learning - The students scan the QR code to reveal the task and the students must work together to get the task complete. This builds on the 21st century skills of communication, collaboration and critical thinking.

3. Classroom Hot Spots! - Provide information ‘hot spots’ throughout the classroom to access online videos, websites, text that is related to curriculum and instructional material.

4. QR codes are useful in providing links to surveys or votes. You can also use it as an exit pass - as the students exit from the class, they can scan the QR code and finish a short survey or vote.

5. Add QR codes to homework sheets that link out to sources of help. For example, if the student forgets how to solve a Math problem or gets stuck, they can scan the QR code for help. The QR codes can be linked to a ‘how to video’ such as aKhan Academy  video or a ShowMevideo you created yourself. A good way to introduce the flipped classroom concept.

I have used QR code treasure hunt generator from classtool to generate a fun challenge for students - something similar to the scavenger hunt above -

http://www.classtools.net/QR/index.php

A simple one which I have created:

http://www.classtools.net/QR/teacher.php?fold=29&fname=NcjEG

A. Prior to the lesson

1. Arrange students into groups. Each group needs at least ONE person who has a mobile device (note: an internet connection will not be needed) and have the QR reader downloaded into their mobile devices.

2. Ask students to
3. Print QR codes for each of the quiz question.
4. Cut them out and place them around your class / school.

B. The lesson:

1. Have the first ('introduction') QR code on display on your whiteboard.

2. Each team scans it into their device and then get the clue to start the hunt around the school for the remaining QR codes.

3.The winner is the first team to return with the most correct answers in the time available.

C. Tips / Other ideas

1. Award teams ONE point for each question they successfully decode, and a further TWO points for each correct answer that they provide.

2. Students in each team that do not have access to a mobile device can be responsible for research answers / hunting down the other QR codes for their teams.

You can create a lesson such as History mystery or Science mystery using the QR treasure hunt generator. 

http://www.classtools.net/QR/index.php

Love the use of QR code shown here:http://www.boredpanda.com/creative-school-education-ideas-innovations/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=BPFacebook

Learn English through app and online

Interesting web link from British council to learn English online
http://www.britishcouncil.org/voices-magazine/mobile-learning-improve-english-anytime-anywhere

Apps to install: Powowbox
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.powowbox.englishtracker&hl=en

Using Google doc and Google drive

An easy way to create class newsletter will be to use the templates for newsletter in Microsoft Words. Further collaboration by the students on the newsletter can be carried out via Google Docs as shown below.

Create a new word document and choose a newsletter template.

Students can then replace the text and photos on the template as shown below. They can add more pages or delete them as necessary. 

They can save the document in word document for editing as well as pdf for the final version.

By using Google Docs, the students can collaborate and contribute the part assigned to them as well as read the part completed by their classmate. They can do this by accessing Google drive through their email account. They can then create the Google docs in the Google drive.

The leader of the team can open up the file which they have created using the Microsoft Word templates.

The leader can then assign rights to his/her team members to edit the document.

Sharing can also be done in the Google drive.

Padlet

After seeing one of my colleagues using padlet to gather feedback for her workshop, I decided to use it for my lessons as I have learned it many years ago but have yet to try it out in class.   

I have used it to gather the students' reflections after they have played a game on ecotourism to understand more about sustainability of tourism. I have embedded it on the Google site which I have created. 
https://sites.google.com/a/moe.edu.sg/sec-4-geography/global-tourism/gt-kq3-lesson-3

It is simple to create a padlet. Just sign in for a new account if you have not done so @ https://padlet.com/auth/login
Once you have logged in, you will be brought to the dashboard.
Click on new padlet or retrieve a created one to edit on the dashboard.

Enter the title and description for your padlet.

Choose the privacy setting of your padlet.

Choose the layout for your padlet wall. 

You can export the posts as image, pdf, excel or csv. You can embed it in your blog or Google Site by copying and pasting the html code as shown on my site https://sites.google.com/a/moe.edu.sg/sec-4-geography/global-tourism/gt-kq3-lesson-3

I attended a sharing by N3 cluster for Humanities and one of the schools used it for the students to upload their presentations and all the work can be viewed on the wall
http://padlet.com/philovintage/paavi600klhz

You can get the students to upload audio, video, pictures or even pdf and powerpoint as shown below: