Challenges
Of the three applications, Tumblebooks seems to be the most useful for my purposes. As a teacher in the humanities, good literature is a must. The Socratic dialogue we use depends on quality texts to discuss, and nothing beats instant access to books for generating discussion topic ideas and spontaneous extensions for a lesson. Tumblebooks also provides access to video resources to mix things up a bit. It also would integrate well with online learning management systems, as a quick external link.
The challenge in using Tumblebooks, and other services like Gutenberg, is student access and the technology infrastructure of the school. There really isn't anything holding back e-book services as long as students have access to a computer or e-reader, and to a reliable network. There may be challenges in the beginning, getting students to understand how the Tumblebook native e-reader works, and a few more challenges getting students to understand how to download to an e-reader device (file formatting, wireless vs. usb, etc.). Coaching (demonstration and practice) would be necessary, but once the students are used to the technology, it will become second nature. E-readers are relatively inexpensive at base levels, so acquiring 5-10 e-readers for classroom use might be a good idea. Providing a bit of classroom time each week for reading would allow those e-readers to stay in the classroom rather than having to work out a complicated check-out system.
Now, on to specifics.
PB Works
PB Works is an online
collaborative learning tool that allows teachers to post content such as
documents, links, media, and discussions. The site can be customized to
control who has access and what privileges guest contributors have. Since
it is an online workspace, it allows multiple guests to comment on each other’s
ideas and submissions. The basic account is free to teachers, and an
upgraded account is reasonably priced at $99 per year. The upgrade
provides 20 times the space as the basic account, and provides a more
customizable interface, along with school branding. This offering
fulfills multiple aspects of the NETS teacher standards, but especially
standards one and four: facilitating learning and creativity through
collaboration, and promoting digital citizenship and responsibility through
safe and ethical use of technology, respectively. In the former, PB Works
provides most of the known tools for collaboration, and extends collaboration
to other teachers as well as parents. In the latter, collaboration is
moderated on a managed site in which the administrator (teacher) can approve or
disapprove postings and comments, and set the content agenda through his/her content
postings and assignments.
Since the LMS my school uses has a lot of file size limitations and does not offer much real-time collaboration, this would be a welcome addition to my instruction. Moreover, this tool would help greatly in extending lessons to parents. Many parents are interested in gaining background on the subjects their high school students take, and this would invite them to be a part too. Right now our LMS is restricted to predefined rosters that shut parents out. PB Works features also transform homework. Imagine students commenting on each other’s homework submissions in a way that is open to the teacher. There is no need for students to hide their collaboration (i.e. copying each other’s work). They can even work in teams, in a way that lets the teacher see individual contributions. Imagine, also, homework that has a parent contribution—that, more or less, brings the parents in on the assignment so they not only know what students are learning and thinking, but also get a role in forming student thought.
I would recommend PB Works to other teachers, but with certain conditions. First, it is absolutely essential that adequate training is provided on the mechanics of the application and on its recommended educational uses. It would fail if teachers were unable to capitalize on all its uses; for example, if a teacher uses the service only to post media but never provides means for dialogue on postings. Users would also need to know that the medium is only as effective as the teacher makes it. Teachers still need to provide meaningful interactions over quality, thought-provoking content. Multiple levels of questioning, and meaningful teacher feedback is a must. This is time consuming, so it is probably not a tool that would be used on a daily basis. It is more likely a weekly or twice-monthly option. It would be wise for teachers to check on the capabilities of their existing LMS (if they have one), in order to avoid redundancy and the drawing away of students and parents from the “official” school online meeting place.
Tumblebooks
Tumblebooks is an online
cloud e-book and audiobook cloud that allows users to access a growing
collection of well-known books on any internet-connected device. It
offers books on every grade level from primary to secondary school. The
service uses a customizable reader that provides for multiple text sizes, as
well as accessibility tools to help readers who need accommodations. The
collection is free with no obligation for 30 days for those who register with
their name and email address. Users then have the option to transition
into the paid service, the pricing of which is set up on a graduated fee
structure. For an individual school license, the cost is $499 per year
with discounts for multiple-year subscriptions.
The uses for Tumblebooks are obvious. The primary application would be to incorporate e-books in lessons and homework. Students would have expanded access to texts, with the ability to connect to their books in the cloud using their desktops, laptops, e-readers, and mobile phones. Access to Tumblebooks would be like carrying around a library of your own, with somewhat fewer holdings. At the younger levels, the books are animated read-alouds that would offer another potential hook for students to get into reading. The service could be particularly useful to schools that provide summer education and summer reading programs/assignments. Linking from the school LMS to the e-book cloud would make access to books free for students and increase ease of access; that is, one-stop-shopping for all the books on the school’s list. The site would certainly serve to generate book suggestions for educators to peruse, but also has a feature in which teachers can compile custom book lists. It would also provide ideas to students who are given the freedom to compile their own summer reading list, and allow students to share those lists with their classmates. For greater accessibility, the service provides an “unplugged” feature that allows books to be downloaded for reading offline. This would be of use to families without internet connection, but would also expand access.
I would recommend Tumblebooks only at the higher grades, and then only to supplement a summer reading program. At the younger ages, it is preferable for children to be engaged by books via their imagination. It would seem to be a bad habit to turn books into flash movies with animations and highly embellished audio, for anything but an occasional diversion. Books are written, presumably, to allow the reader to make their own images, sounds, and animations, which is what makes reading such a great holistic brain developer. In the higher grades, students are just plain over-connected to electronic devices. E-readers offer a more book-like interface for reading, but the temptation to multitask with desktops, laptops, and mobile data devices is too strong. What would otherwise be a nice focused dive into a great story would be interrupted by a host of distractions. If it improves access for students who can’t afford books, or for students in need of electronic accommodations, there’s a clear benefit, but for the typical student an old-fashioned book is still preferable.
Web-classrooms: Mr. Langhorst's Web Classroom
Eric Langhorst’s class
website, blog, and podcast network is the quintessential online integration
model. Langhorst, an 8th grade History teacher, describes his
approach as a “web classroom,” which provides course resources for students and
parents. Most of the resources involve materials from content units and
lessons. For example, in the resources for parents there are
“studycasts,” which are audio reviews of materials for upcoming tests.
Assignments are linked through Blackboard, and Mr. Langhorst’s blog and
podcasts are linked as well. The podcasts contain audio commentary on
history, education, and technology. A recent example of a podcast topic
was the State of the Union Address and Twitter. These podcasts are
available through itunes, and have as their audience teachers, students, and
parents. Commentary on the blogs is informal and has a radio talk show
feel (no call-ins of course).
There is a place for Mr. Langhorst’s approach. The key advantage seems to be its hub character, in which students and parents can be connected to the classroom any time they would like. Content is always accessible, and there are diverse connections to course content that seem to emphasize structure, accountability, and application. This is big for junior high level students, who developmentally speaking, crave content and direction. The approach is somewhat redundant in that most full-featured learning management systems provide plenty of tools to post the full gamut of resources Langhorst provides. A decade ago, when online supplementation was uncommon, a web page like this would have seemed revolutionary, but today lots of teachers are posting the similar resources online. The one exception, which has not really caught on broadly among modern teachers, is podcasting. The podcasting element shows Langhorst’s initiative and dedication to his subject, but one wonders whether it is impactful enough for students to consider it a necessary part of instruction, especially when some of the audio content is geared more for teachers. Podcasting directed at parents (of which some of Langhorst’s podcasts consist), would seem to be the best application of the technology. That is, keeping parents up to date on assignments and on the relevant applications of content discussed in class. For students, we might want to consider class instruction and reading/homework sufficient for learning, but in order to incorporate the parents more, podcasting (or video uploading) might show some promise.
With all due respect to Mr. Langhorst, who clearly loves his students and his subject and shows it in his work ethic, It seems the online web class and podcasting project would have diminishing returns. Put simply, one cannot reproduce a classroom experience online as if to provide a comprehensive record of everything that is taught and assessed in the course. The product, frankly speaking, is busy and a little cluttered. This is not to say that it lacks organization. In fact, it is admirably organized given the vast amount of content, but the sheer amount of content is one of the drawbacks. A clean, simple interface with only the essential links would be more effective. Online tools are supposed to supplement the classroom experience, not recreate it virtually. In an online education setting (a literal online course), all aspects of the class are posted, but in a class that meets face-to-face every day, too much online supplementation is a distraction. One might argue that both the students and the teacher need to be able to “clock out” at some point. An integrated education, indeed an integrated life, needs to model balance and order. Whether this is achieved in the Langhorst site is debatable. It seems better to provide blog space for the students to provide more of the sort of content that Langhorst posts. This way, their online posting could be an occasional homework assignment that provides review information viewable by other students and their parents temporarily, until the LMS setting expire it. Less clutter, more student involvement, and more reliance on the natural development of face-to-face interaction. This is not meant as the definitive word on approaches such as Langhorst's, but it is worth considering whether more is better when it comes to a classroom's online presence.
By Jason Adams
No comments:
Post a Comment