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Clicks & Mortar Schools – Teachers Collaborate With Moodle
- 1. Joan Coy & Wanda Dechant Peace Academy of Virtual Education Peace Wapiti School Division #76 Spirit River, Alberta, Canada
- 2. Our collaboration using Moodle is a two part story… Part A: The Teachers collaborate…
- 3. Public schooling begins All Students are processed: in year groupings at the same rate through the same pre- set curriculum through bite sized pieces in the same order
- 4. Public School Addresses the Times Aim is to produce a standardized quality ‘product’ ‘Products’ sorted according to whether or not they meet the quality control standards
- 5. For most of the 20th century this seemed Okay most students got the basics a few went to post secondary there were many low skill jobs for the ‘production line’ rejects This is no longer the case!
- 6. The World Has Changed Unprecedented flow of: Innovative ideas Technology Information access Global communication
- 7. What did we want to do? Teachers in our large rural division work in academic isolation. Teachers want to collaborate with other teachers in their discipline to bring better learning opportunities to students. We have created a Moodle site for teacher collaboration and sharing of resources.
- 8. How did we start? Analyzed student performance to identify the need for improvement Gathered research on teaching strategies for improving student performance Decided on a collaborative approach with all participating schools Teacher participation was voluntary
- 9. Professional Learning Communities: Basics Collaboratively create a clear statement of Mission, Vision, Values and Goals Research best practice with an openness to new possibilities Dufour & Eaker
- 10. PLC Basics Work interdependently to achieve common goal Create momentum to fuel further improvement We must „do differently‟ if we want to see different results Efforts are assessed on results rather than intentions. Dufour & Eaker
- 11. Your experience with PLCs Comments on strategies and structures for professional sharing in all settings…
- 12. Aligned Improvement All district teachers working together… gives a much higher chance of success Lisa Miller
- 13. Learning Communities – Critical Factors Relationships are the foundation – time is needed to build trust Respect for time and contributions of each and every member Teachers need to have ownership of the activities of the community An atmosphere of openness and acceptance for all members “Check egos at the door” to allow for real sharing
- 14. Do these ideas ring true? A bit over the top?
- 15. Our Site We use our Moodle Collaboration site to share teaching strategies, lessons, assessments, projects, research, useful web sites, statistical data and math fun. Works in conjunction with face to face meetings to improve teacher practice and ultimately, student learning. Effectiveness has impacted students, teachers, administrators and coordinators
- 16. Our progress... An active learning community Focused professional development activities Creation of innovative lessons, projects, self checks and common unit assessments. Moodle site to facilitate significant professional sharing and communication.
- 17. Our progress... Average on Diploma Exam 60 58 56 54 52 50 48 46 June06 Jan07 June07 Jan-08 June08 Jan09
- 18. What PWSD Administrators are saying “We have been able to collaborate on Differentiation and Assessment FOR Learning. Too often I go to professional development events and come back to the school only to try to catch up what I missed.” A quote I heard recently addresses this nicely. quot;I come back ready to climb a mountain and suddenly realize that I am in Saskatchewan.”
- 19. What are PWSD Teachers Saying? “I enjoy working collaboratively with several teachers in focus groups. We are very productive in terms of creating useful tools to use in the classroom to help achieve better results for students. These are shared and discussed on the Moodle site and keep the work going between meetings. The meetings are timely and consider the effective use of teachers' time.”
- 20. Our collaboration using Moodle is a two part story… Part B: We take the collaboration to the students
- 21. What are PWSD Students saying? In an Ideal Classroom, there would be… A computer for each student On-line notes and self checks Collaborative project work Challenge problems Access to on-line lessons from home A smaller class where group work is allowed and experiments are done
- 22. Meeting Student Needs: How did we start? Provided laptops for each student, SMART boards, and on-line courses supported by PAVE teachers Gathered research on teaching strategies for improving student performance Decided on a collaborative approach with all participating schools Teacher participation was voluntary
- 23. Communication plan Use the collaboration site to share lessons, strategies, research and assessments and maintain ongoing contact. PAVE teachers provide ongoing support for implementation of technology and innovation as well as courses developed on the e- community site.
- 24. Let’s take a quick look at the sites Teacher Collaboration Site http://collaboration.pwsd76.ab.ca/ Student Community Site http://ecommunity.pwsd76.ab.ca/
- 26. Meeting Student Needs: Social Constructivism Learners need to actively construct meaning in relating: what is already known to each other “Wisdom can’t be told” to their own experiences. Learners See topics as relevant Plan & carry out work collaboratively Practice self assessment Apply concepts to new situations
- 27. Meeting Student Needs: Assessment Authentic, meaningful and appropriate assessment is apparent throughout the learning environment. Traditional Authentic Selecting a Response Performing a Task Contrived Real-life Recall/Recognition Construction/Application Teacher-structured Student-structured Indirect Evidence Direct Evidence
- 28. Student Engagement & Differntiation Summary of the From Wikipedia… retention of learning Students are Verbal engaged when they are: attracted to their work, Verbal/visual persist despite challenges and obstacles, take visible Hands on delight in accomplishing their work. From How the Brain Learns David Sousa
- 29. So what is the teacher doing? The teacher: Guides student learning to meet program of studies Provides tools students need for learning Promotes collaborative work Intervenes to provide scaffolding Looks to our collaborative community for support as we try new approaches.
- 30. What are PWSD teachers saying now? “Students have collaborative hand-in assignments for which no help is given from me. This means they build their confidence using self checks, the on-line course and each other. This is something new I am trying and it works!” “I would never have tried this new approach – blending classroom and on-line materials without the support of our learning community.” “Students are: becoming aware of their strengths, becoming aware of their weaknesses, and, in short, becoming aware of their own learning.”
- 31. What are PWSD students saying now? In class, I was happy we had… “on-line resources complete multiple attempts at self checks.” “the opportunity collaborate on hand-ins and work out problems with our classmates instead of always relying on the teacher.” “different ways of looking at the lessons and different ways of learning.”
- 32. What are PWSD students saying now? In class, I was happy we had… “a SMART Board in the classroom that was a more interactive way to understand everything.” “challenge problems to help to achieve a better idea of what you are doing.” “more real life applications. Just because we are in Pure Math doesn't mean we shouldn't be taught concepts that are applicable in the real world.”
- 33. Questions?