The Gripe Jam: Getting everyone on the digital learning train

As our network continues to expand digital learning efforts, including spreading 1:1 mobile learning to scale, we are moving beyond our "early adopter" teachers and starting to engage our more technophobic colleagues. We know that buy-in is key and so have used two mantras to help drive our efforts: "Clear their plate - don't add more to it." and "Respect the learner, respect their needs."

Keeping this in mind, we start with a problem of practice they currently face. Teachers deal with a myriad of challenges everyday: struggling to differentiate with large classes/high numbers of IEPs, grading hundreds of papers a week, challenges with unearthing student metacognition, finding effective real-time assessments. I show them how digital learning can often alleviate or even solve many of these issues by using a strategy I like to call the "Gripe Jam".

This originally started off with me bringing a large, empty jar to one of their weekly staff meetings and labeling it "Gripe Jam". I put a few pads of sticky notes on tables and played a rock anthem like "We're Not Gonna Take It". They had until the end of the song to write down any and all issues they are facing in their classrooms. I took these sticky notes, went home and created a Google Doc / Spreadsheet showing how as many of these challenges as possible could be addressed by digital learning tools/strategies/sites/etc. When I returned the next week, I shared this spreadsheet. The teachers then voted for or select one strategy they'd like to learn more about. This is how we decided where we began our exploring of digital learning.

This crowd-sourced PD has been a huge buy-in generator. Acknowledging that many teachers respond better to new ideas when we first listen to their current issues makes them feel heard and respected. Showing them how what we're trying to sell is actually responding to these issues makes them interested. This then opens the door to learning more about the tools and how they can enhance other areas of practice. Teachers started seeing how digital learning could create new opportunities to make their jobs easier and solve problems they might not have realized existed. From there we've shared the SAMR model to guide their use of digital tools and shared ideas to transform teaching / learning for their kids (such as Challenge Based Learning). And even though this often created new helpings / tasks to add to their "plates", they were suddenly more amenable - and even excited - about this.

I don't always bring the physical Gripe Jar into a room anymore - I usually collect this through a Google Form and email the spreadsheet. Yet when I face an especially skeptical collection of colleagues, I break it out again. All the while, I try to keep in mind: respect the learner, be it a child or an adult, and respect their needs.

Ecstatic about Extensions

Have you had a chance to explore Chrome extensions? For those of you who haven't, a Chrome extension is a (usually free) plug-in to your Chrome browser that enhances your experience. As opposed to Chrome apps - which are like links to stand-alone webpages, extensions appear next to your Chrome omni bar (at the top right of your browser window) and are tools that can be accessed as you explore the web.

From add-ons that save you time to some that give you added tools, extensions can truly transform your life! They can be found in the Chrome Web Store and most have a handy video or screenshots to show you how they work / what they do. I highly encourage you to explore and find one that gets you excited. Below are a few that are geeking me up lately. For more great extensions and apps, check out this Google Doc from the GCT Chicago Reboot!

Announcify
Reads the webpage to you... and blurs out all but the selection being read. Great for readers who not only struggle to decode the text but also need to focus on one section at a time.

Evernote Clearly
Distracted by all those pesky ads and other text around your online news/magazine articles? Evernote Clearly cleans it up and creates a webpage devoid of all distractions... keeping only the article text and associated media. Sign into your Evernote account for the added tools of highlighting, annotation and saving it all to your Evernote notebooks.

Webpage Screenshot
Want to take a screenshot (picture) of a webpage beyond what you see on the screen (i.e., the entire page, scrolled down)? Or, ever want to edit the New York Times by retyping the headline or changing the titles of the bestsellers list? With Webpage Screenshot you can do both! You can take "full page" screenshots, edit type/text on a live webpage and even annotate over the shot with drawings, type, highlights, etc!

Clipular
Screenshots of your Chome browser, saved to your extension button, ready to be pasted into another browser window. Also allows you to annotate over the screenshot!

Eyedropper
Ever needed to get the text color on your webpage or document to better match a logo, photo or something else? Use this extension to find out the exact color code of any part of an image, then match the color of the rest of your document/site features as you so choose!

KeyRocket for Gmail

This great extension helps you learn the keyboard shortcuts for Gmail, saving you time and energy! Each time you use the mouse to click for a command that a keyboard shortcut could have done, a pop up appears to gently remind you!

Lazarus Form Recovery

Have you ever been filling out a long online form... only to have your webpage die, connection drop of form fail to succesfully submit? Frustrating! This extension saves your form input and allows you to magically recover all that work! Hooray!

Soaring with Storybird

My "I need to play with this" list is comically long and expanding everyday (as I'm sure all of yours are as well). However, recently, a resident teacher inspired me to revisit a particular entry on this list - Storybird.com. And boy oh boy--- am I glad she did.

This iPad-friendly website describes itself as "Artful Storytelling: Create, read and share visual stories." And... that's exactly what it is.

Students begin with original, professional drawings. These brightly colored illustrations draw you in from the moment you enter the webpage. The kids then can choose to create a storybook or a poem. From there, the platform puts them into a book creator with more colorful images of the same genre literally strewn around the edges of the book canvas. Kids can drag and drop new illustrations, create new pages and rearrange their story. All the while, they are entering the words that are inspired by the visuals they see.

Teachers can help manage this for their students by creating a class and adding their students (no email addresses required). They can assign stories or poem prompts to their kids or just let them create with free reign. All of the class' stories are viewable on teacher dashboard. This is all free - however there is a paid option that allows for more dynamic editing and visual options.

Something that really struck me is how many educators have chosen to use this. While there is the obvious "let the kids create amazing innovative creative stories / poems / etc inspired by great illustrations" - foreign language teachers have taken this to the next level. By having their kids do it in German. And French. And Italian. In fact, they've banded together to create a Wiki to collaborate and share these publications with the world. Awesome stuff.

And to add amazing to inspiration, families, colleagues and fans of the students' work can buy print versions of these stories for a small price. In fact, you can even turn this into a class fundraiser. Teachers can earn $5 for every order a family member places!

I've already begun to explore this tool with the students I work with in my Student Innovation Team, and have presented to a few teachers who are trying it out in their own classrooms. Please share how you are using it in yours below!

AskMe about Ask3

So I have a new favorite app... Ask3 (from TechSmith, the makers of Jing and Camtasia). Why do I love it so? Well, I'm glad you asked!

Reason #1 to love it: The app developer, a great guy named Troy Stein, created it for his son who struggled with high school math.

Reasons #2-100 to love it: It is screencasting software, collaboration tool, differentiation platform and scaffolded support system all rolled into one FREE app.

So what does it to? It is an iOS app that starts off as a simple screencasting tool. Students or teachers can draw on a virtual whiteboard, record their drawings, narration and even annotate over pictures. This part is very similar to apps like ShowMe, Educreations and Doceri. All great tools - all great ways to both create differentiated digital content for kids, and also - conversely - to unlock student metacognition.

But wait, there's more.

It also allows kids to automatically upload these screencasts so that they are instantly viewable from all iPads logged into the same class. So if Jaheim creates a screencast asking how to solve a story problem he's struggling with, or Kayla creates a screencast to show off her latest science investigation, the rest of the class can view these digital creations right away. Some other apps allow for uploading to the web for classmates to see, but the upload system on Ask3 is so smooth and seamless, I couldn't believe it was possible. I've demo'd this in an auditorium of over 400 confrence participants before - and it worked then too. Wow.

But wait, there's more.

It also gives students the ability to comment on each other's video --- from within the video timeline. So, if the child is at minute 1:42 of a peer's screencast - or the teacher's instructional video - they can pause it and add their own comment, question or suggestion. All of these comments are instantly viewable for the class and teacher to see and reply to. Thus, "Ask3". The app is named after the addage "Ask 3 before Me" where teachers encourage student collaboration by crowd sourcing support for those who are struggling. With this tool, students can literally "ask 3" through the app without even leaving their seat.

But wait, there's more.

Perhaps text isn't enough to answer a question. Perhaps a child needs to demonstrate how to solve a problem, interpret a text or analyze an diagram. They can pause the video where they want to help, comment, ask a question or solve the problem. The app then allows them to screencast over that paused image and create their own video response, taking over from where the original video left off. This video response is then available for the class to view in the timeline as well.

But wait, there's still more!

Or, there will be. Another reason I love this app - Troy (the developer) is constantly iterating and improving on it. He has an entire blog dedicated to getting feedback and sharing teachers' use of the app. He is always looking to visit classrooms, learn how to make it better and increase support for all students. Try out his app today by downloading it here (you've got nothing to lose - after all, it's free) and share your reactions with him here.

Want some more ideas on how to use this awesome app if your classroom? Check out this post by Troy - 21 ways to use Ask3!

New Mobile Reach Episodes: Mobile Device Smack Down & Students share their favorite apps!

If you haven't already, check out the latest episodes of Mobile Reach! In the most recent episode, students take over the show and share their favorite apps.

Some apps discussed:
- Toontastic
- Keynote
- Educreations
- Schoology
- Book Creator
- Google Drive

Tune in to hear their thoughts and recommendations!

In another recent episode, Dave Freeburg and I compare and contrast different mobile devices to discuss pros and cons for different learning environments. We discuss the CCSS PARCC / SBAC technology requirements and explore how a device may or may not be a good fit for your classroom.

Some devices discussed:
- Chromebooks
- iPads
- Nooks / Kindles
- Netbooks
- Android Tablets