AIMS ANNUAL CONFERENCE RECAP 1 of 2

Monday, October 20th, the AIMS Annual Conference 2014 took place at the Baltimore Convention Center. One of the conference themes was blended learning with Catlin Tucker leading two different workshops.  If you are not familiar with Catlin Tucker and are interested in technology integration, the flipped classroom, or blended learning I highly recommend learning more about her - it's safe to say she is definitely an expert in the field! [check out her blog and book]

Catlin's presentations are always informative, interactive and inspiring. Although she uses a variety of technology tools in her classroom and demonstrates the use of many of them when she speaks, she always stresses that it is not about the technology, it's about what the technology allows us to do!

While it would be impossible to capture the full experience [or even share a quarter of the notes I took during her workshops] I did want to share a few of the ideas and tools she spoke about during the two workshops she presented. This post will recap her first session, "Blended Learning: Weave Web 2.0 Technology into Your Curriculum". She started off by reminding us all that just because you are using technology, or putting material online does not mean you are blending. Blended learning is about active, engaged learning in the classroom complimented by active, engaged learning online.

Blended learning uses technology to create a dynamic learning community where the person at the front of the room does not have to have all of the answers, it shifts the focus from the teacher and empowers students to control their own learning. Most importantly, blended learning allows teachers to rethink how they use their valuable class time. The following tools are a few of the technology tools Catlin Tucler uses in her own English classes to blend instruction. 

Adding to your teacher tool belt

TOOL	WHAT	WHY
Today's Meet	provides a back channel where anyone with the link can post short responses transcripts can be saved, exported and printed	-collect instant feedback from students -to crowd source for suggestions -provide more information and resources during a presentation, when students need it
Socrative	online, synchronous quizzing tool note- Socrative quizzes are not designed for asynchronous activities	-collecting instant feedback in a quiz format -digital exit tickets -quickly gauge prior knowledge and preconceptions
Google Docs	online, word processing with collaborative capabilities	-create collaborate documents -share drafts with classmates and teachers for comments and editing (take the writing process online) -create collaborative study guides -synchronous editing
Google Slides	online, collaborative presentation application	create collaborative presentations
Newslea	takes news articles and rewrites them at different lexile measures	allows students of varying levels to access the same information.
Diigo	takes active reading strategies and translates them online	annotate online readings, add comments and share the annotated reading with others save a record of your online readings
Padlet	online, collaborative cork board for posting text, images, links and video	students post at home and then revisit in class to help drive discussion or students could post during class to crowd source ideas before a discussion -sharing textual evidence -creating predictions -crowd sourcing - create individual digital poster
Blogger	blog publishing service hosted by Google	-reach a larger audience  -create digital footprints students are proud of

Again it is not about the tools, but what the tools can allow us to do! Providing students with the opportunity to use a variety of tools cultivates technology fluency where eventually students are able to select the right tool for the job. 

Blending online activities and classroom activities

The most important part of blended learning [and oftentimes the most difficult] is determining how the online components are blended with the in class pieces. In order for students to be actively engaged in the online components, it must be clear how those pieces relate to the in class activities. Catlin often has her students participate in 4 Corner Conversations or "speed dating" conversations in order to weave discussions started online back into the classroom. 

While this can all be extremely overwhelming, Catlin offers some great advice when working with technology. 

Stay tuned for AIMS ANNUAL CONFERENCE RECAP 2 of 2 where I will share pieces of Catlin's second session of the day, "Flipped Classrooms: Don't Just Flip Your Classroom, Transform It!" 

#BlendedLearning #FlippedClassroom #AIMS2014