At last count, the video Dan Burns posted on YouTube had received some 20,000 hits.
Though no dancing babies or piano-playing cats are seen in the clip, it’s become a must-have on cell phones and iPads owned by Los Gatos High School students. Those enrolled in AP physics regularly take a look at the video to review the complex concepts introduced by Burns on camera.
These days in schools throughout the West Valley, students would likely find the notion of “pencils, books and teachers’ dirty looks” fairly bewildering. With the new term officially under way–and smartphones and tablet computers replacing pencils and books, videos and audio content supplanting lectures, and energized instructors delivering a dynamic, technology-infused curriculum–the looks on most faces are more delighted than dirty.
For example, AP biology and physics teacher (and Los Gatos High School science department chairman) Steve Hammack records all of his lectures as podcasts, and archives them (along with his lecture-notes captured as PowerPoint presentations) on his web page.
His students review the materials at home at their own pace, pausing and repeating the content as many times as needed to absorb the lessons. Class-time is then reserved for answering questions about particularly difficult concepts, and doing labs and completing quizzes.
In educational parlance, Hammack now has a “flipped classroom.” At the core of this model is the notion that students can take charge of their own learning by consuming digital content outside of the classroom. During actual class hours their teachers serve as facilitators of information as needed.
“I really started doing it for my AP physics students, because I thought it would be helpful for them to have an online resource where they could review all of the materials,” Hammack says. “And then I decided to do it for all of my classes, for kids who wanted to hear the lectures more than once. Also, students who were absent could listen and look at the presentations, and not miss anything.” Hammack, who describes himself as being on the “bleeding edge” of technology, has been teaching in Los Gatos since 1984, and has used technology tools since his first day on the job.
“One of the most important things in education is student engagement,” he explains. “You engage students by meeting them where they are. We live in a very technology-focused world, so we need to bring that into the classroom.”
An evaluation of the impact of learning spaces–and the technologies they contain–is under way in the Campbell Union School District. During the summer, 24 educators volunteered to participate in the district’s “iTeach” program, a two-week professional development session covering an extensive range of technology initiatives.
From discussions about classroom layout to the most exciting apps to use on the 170 iPads purchased for teachers and students, the iTeach symposium helped create “coaches” who are now helping their peers embrace a new teaching model.
“It’s about using technology efficiently,” says Trevor Walker, district technology technician. “If you get students into groups, and give them an opportunity to work with technology within that group, they will teach themselves. So now we’re looking at creating the type of really bold classroom layout that educational research says is best, and giving each group an iPad or some other device.”
Such a classroom model frees teachers to walk around to work with each group according to need, says Walker’s colleague Heather Haggerty. “The teachers who learned about this say they’re so empowered, even ‘veterans’ who’ve been teaching for years. Technology isn’t a destination … it’s a valuable tool that brings you to a different destination, where your students need to be.”
Reinforcing the importance of flexible learning spaces, Hillbrook School just unveiled its new iLab. The area includes mobile flip-top tables, whiteboards and cushy chairs, all of which can be reconfigured as needed to create the ideal learning environment.
“The result of our iPad introduction (in which all students in grades five to eight received iPads) was a dramatic shift in the flow of the classroom; teaching and learning suddenly became more interesting and flexible,” explains Don Orth, Hillbrook’s director of technology. “Building on this idea, the iLab is designed to be a space that allows for even more opportunity. We are witnessing firsthand that environment does matter, and that technology has a substantial effect on how and where learning happens.”
In Saratoga, Foothill Elementary School District technology specialist (and fifth-grade teacher) Doris Watson’s students are transforming their reports on U.S. states from one-dimensional, paper-based documents into dynamic digital portfolios.
Using the school’s Apple computer lab, each student is doing research on his or her assigned state, collecting data, graphics, photographs, videos and other information, and identifying links to credible content. In upcoming months they will synthesize the information to craft multimedia presentations. These will be uploaded in iBook format, for viewing on computers and iPads by classmates and family members.
“The kids are so motivated and so thrilled,” Watson says. “And while they’re working on their projects they’re working with common core standards: researching, writing, editing, collaboration with teachers and peers. These are total 21st-century skills. Our students aren’t just passively learning anymore … they’re empowered to become content creators who are reaching a wider audience, beyond the classroom walls.”
Foothill teachers are among those in the district who are experimenting with the use of content offered through the Khan Academy. Recently spotlighted on 60 Minutes, Khan Academy offers a free, online compendium of more than 3,000 short videos covering primarily math and science lessons. In addition to providing tutorials on specific concepts, the KA model delivers instant feedback on each user’s progress and cumulative success in assimilating information.
“We’re doing a ‘slow walk’ to this,” says Saratoga Union School District superintendent Lane Weiss. “We know that a vast number of students are already watching Khan videos at home, and a few of our teachers have incorporated them into their own lesson plans. But right now the videos are being used as reinforcement, one of many tools to deliver instruction.”
One of the often mentioned 21st century skills that educators believe students must acquire is the ability to make effective oral presentations.
Redwood Middle School students have a unique opportunity to develop such talents: Each morning in Manny Steffen’s digital multimedia classroom/studio, 32 budding TV stars eagerly write, produce and direct a closed circuit broadcast of the day’s announcements and news stories. Students rotate among four production jobs and two anchor slots, with the entire class contributing content.
“Sometimes it’s fantastic; sometimes it’s live TV with 11-, 12- and 13-year-olds,” Steffen laughs. “But along with learning the production process, and all of the technology tools, what students are learning here is intense teamwork and communication skills. In the fast-paced TV environment, with deadlines looming every day, those skills are paramount.”
Those brave enough to sit in the anchor chair emerge with still more life skills, Steffen adds. “It’s pretty tough at that age to put yourself out there in front of 900 of your peers; there’s a lot of risk involved. But by their third or fourth time on the air, these kids are so confident, it’s amazing. And that’s a pretty powerful thing to have in your pocket when you’re 11 years old.”
Summing up the impressions of many local teachers now navigating through the technosphere, Campbell’s Walker says, “If kids can’t learn the way we teach, then we need to teach the way they learn.”
But no cats on pianos, please.
