Pacific School of Innovation and Inquiry

On October 8, 2018November 7, 2018 By michellecherylshieldsIn assessment, blogging, classroom observations, collaboration, distributed learning, edtech, gaming, Learning design, network literacy, open pedagogy, social media, trello, virtual realityLeave a comment

Last Friday my class visited the Pacific School of Innovation and Inquiry. Although I had never heard of this school before I was pleased to find out that it is a high school that personalizes education through a formal inquiry process where learners create projects and activities that take them through the curriculum on their own. Seeing this type of learning environment in person was very eyeopening for me.

Previously, I had loved watching the documentary “Most Likely to Succeed” in class. Although there are differences between HTH and PSII, both schools are doing some pretty different stuff compared to the traditional model of education. Plus, watching a movie barely compares to physically visiting a school. While walking around PSII I could feel the energy of the students and see how well that type of learning environment can work. Every single student was engaging with something throughout the hour that I was there. While talking to different students I felt like I was having a conversation with my own peers. I could see each student light up when talking about their current project. They were genuinely interested in the material that they were learning about and they loved talking about it. To me, it is without a doubt the future of education.

One thing that I would like to learn more about at PSII is assessment. Jeff Hopkins briefly described this process stating that students and teachers work together to discuss evaluation and grading. I got the sense that there is a lot of formative assessment during the year where teachers are working one-on-one with students, although there is still summative assessment where student learning needs to be compared to curriculum standards.

On another note, I really liked the integration of technologies like WordPress and Trello into the classroom, as I didn’t start using these technologies myself until taking this course. In fact, many of the students Trello accounts were much more creative and better organized than my own. It’s super awesome that students are getting acquainted with these sites as I believe that the internet provides a vast amount of entrepreneurial opportunities. If students are already starting to explore some of their ideas online they could have a successful business already built by the time that they graduate high school.

It was also interesting to hear how students are using virtual reality in the classroom in different ways. For instance, some students were using it for building, others gaming, and others art (I have mostly viewed virtual reality as a type of 3D gaming device, but it can be used for so much more!)

Although I can’t describe everything that I loved about this school, because there simply is too much, I encourage you to browse the schools website https://learningstorm.org/ and watch Jeff Hopkins TED talk about an inquiry approach to education.

Tech Tool Review: FreshGrade

On October 5, 2018November 26, 2018 By michellecherylshieldsIn blogging, privacy, safety, social media, tech inquiry, tech tools, twitterLeave a comment

FreshGrade is an online portfolio and assessment platform that helps educators, parents, and students have deeper conversations about learning. One of the founders of FreshGrade is Lane Merrifield, the co-founder and CEO of Club Penguin, one of the largest virtual worlds for kids. Disney later acquired club Penguin for 350 million dollars, which provided the capital used to create FreshGrade.

FreshGrade was created to reduce teacher workload, improve learning outcomes, and engage parents and students. Specifically, it is used in schools as a digital portfolio; teachers provide feedback and track progression, parents are given ongoing communication about their children’s learning, and students are given the opportunity to self-reflect on their growth.

In my own opinion, I believe that Freshgrade is extremely valuable. As a student teacher I have learned that assessment is ongoing and FreshGrade is one way that holds us accountable to that. Although this app has downsides as described in the cons list below, I believe that it is an extremely useful tool to use.

Some common Twitter hashtags with regard to #FreshGrade have been #needbetterreporting #portfolio #parentalengagement #education #edtech #beyondtheteach #studentdrivenclassroom #innovation. Most posts show how the app is being integrated into the classroom, although right now there is a buzz about Lane Merrifield joining the cast of Dragons Den for season thirteen.

Pros of FreshGrade	Cons of FreshGrade
Helps teachers, parents, and students track learning.	Need an email.
FreshGrade is integrated with Google translate so that teachers, parents, and students can read and write in the language of their choosing.	Not all parents and children will have access to a computer or smart phone.
Online portfolios can be printed if needed. It is green, as less paper is being used.	Teachers need to have a device readily available to capture moments in the classroom. This can be a privacy concern, as teachers need to be using school electronics, not personal devices to capture moments.
Individual profiles are available for students, teachers, and parents.	Consent needs to be established before posting anything about a student. What happens when certain students can’t be photographed for safety concerns? How do these concerns affect their learning if everything is done on FreshGrade?
It is an ongoing assessment tool, which saves the teacher time.	Lacks some tools for creativity, like drawing tools.
It is an extra way to check in with parents. Parents no longer need to wait for report cards or parent teacher interviews to be informed about their child’s learning.	Some schools have a no cellphone policy.
Can lead to increased parent participation.	FreshGrade is an American app – some privacy concerns with it not being Canadian, as there is a difference in privacy laws.
Helps parents to better support their children in their learning. Further, it allows parents to see their child’s learning as it is happening.	One form of assessment does not fit all. Some parents, students, and teachers may be reluctant to use FreshGrade. Need a familiarity of technology.
Allows children to see what they are expected to learn, which improves student ownership and self-directed learning.	There is no clear notification for due dates of assignments. There are no notifications or alerts that can be set up to alert students of approaching or past due assignments.
Students receive immediate feedback.	In the free version, e-portfolios do not carry over from one year to the next.

There are many more pros and cons of FreshGrade but I am only uploading ten for this Tech Tool Review. If you would like more information please keep up with my weekly blogs and review my tech inquiry assignment at the end of the year.

Have a look at FreshGrade for yourself before then! https://www.freshgrade.com/

Here is a helpful tutorial if you need any help navigating the site https://youtu.be/UbHiGi7_Hi0

Most Likely to Succeed Film

On September 21, 2018November 7, 2018 By michellecherylshieldsIn assessment, blogging, classroom observations, collaboration, distributed learning, edtech, Learning design, network literacy, open pedagogy, social mediaLeave a comment

Last class we watched a film called “Most Likely to Succeed,” which is a documentary examining the history of education in the United States. This film revealed some of the shortcomings of the conventional education system in today’s increasingly technological world. Specifically, this film followed the problem and project based learning strategies used with students at High Tech High. Problem based learning requires higher order thinking skills that go beyond the level of understanding required by traditional classes that have clearly defined questions to be solved. The problems presented can often be too difficult to be solved individually and therefore require teamwork and collaboration between students. Additionally, project based learning allows students to increase their autonomy by giving them control to create their own projects, although teachers still define parameters and completion dates. For instance, in the film all of the students in the school were working towards a project that would be displayed at the end of the year in front of other students, teachers, and parents. The project based approach to learning challenged students to overcome problems (such as, working with others, defending points of view, dealing with frustration) in order to produce a project of substantial work.

Watching problem and project based learning was super interesting because I could see how students were being prepared for future careers. On film it looked like students gained confidence, increased their communication skills, learned how to critically think, and became more creative. This is awesome because schools today aren’t necessarily preparing children adequately for the workforce (in the way that education does not always lead to a job.) One of the reasons that this has occurred is due to an increase in technology that decreases traditional white-collar jobs. (I have seen this in action with friends and siblings and worry about it myself!) For a large majority of my own educational experiences I feel like I have only been taught how to memorize things effectively and take tests – without retaining a majority of the information presented to me.

Although I think that this new school is extremely forward thinking and fantastic, I can see how certain students might have problems with the way that things are done. For instance, there is lots of group projects and presentations which may make more introverted students feel burnt out. (It would be interesting to see if schools could be built and run according to learning styles or different temperaments? Why are we still stuck using one similar model of education when students are extremely diverse? Does more research need to be done? Are we too closed minded? Is it even possible?)

I hope that wasn’t too long for you..Thanks for reading!