Anne Mirtschin shares her experiences connecting young students globally using technology. She discusses proposed ISTE student learning standards, tools used like Skype and Voicethread, and challenges overcome. Examples are given of Australian and US grade schools collaborating on singing, eBooks and videoconferences. Benefits for students include engagement, authentic audiences, and improved communication skills. Registering interest is encouraged by March 25th for future connected learning adventures.

1. Learning Adventures in the
Connected Classroom
Anne Mirtschin
http://murcha.wordpress.com
mirtschin@gmail.com
@murcha
https://todaysmeet.com/connectedclassrooms
http://bit.ly/learningadventures

2. About Me

3. ISTE Student Draft Learning Standards
Proposed Standards include:
•The Global Collaborator
•Creative Communicator/Creative Learner/Creator and
communicator
•Digital Citizen

4. Tools/apps
http://bit.ly/learningadventures

5. My Adventures with the
Young
•Prep to One ICT Class
•My secondary classes working with other
Foundation to Year Two Classes
- local and global!
•Year 2 class
Pic manipulated with www. befunky.com

6. Computer lab
•2 prep-1 classes x 1 lesson per week
•Access to computer lab
•Class set of 6 ipads
•4 desktop computers in prep/one
classroom
•15/16 students
http://bit.ly/learningadventures

7. Entry Skills
http://bit.ly/learningadventures

8. •they should not be using technology at
such a young age,
•rewards and feedback should not come in
the form of sounds
•when they do see a computer for the first
time, they should be taught to touch type
etc.
Some blockers!

10. Too Young for Technology

12. F2 Digital Technologies Curriculum
Digital Processes and Skills!
Collect, explore and sort data, and use digital
systems to present the data creatively

13. Wordle

14. Data Sets

15. Meet my grade in a wordle

16. Uses of wordclouds
•Poetry in words
•Capturing keypoints
•General display purposes
•Introducing new vocabulary
•Spelling lists
•Reflections
•For online use
•Printing
•Great to share with other classes

17. Advantages
• No registration required
• Create screen dumps and save as jpg for further use online or offline
• User friendly
Constraints
• Will not work in some browsers eg google chrome
• Cookies may need to be cleared if javascript does not work

18. Abcya Word Clouds for Kids!

20. Explore how people safelyuse
common information systems
Digital Technologies Processes
and Production Skills

23. Digital footprints
Start them young!
•Cybersafety
•Plaguarism
•Digital citizenship
•Online Netiquette
All class blog sites should have a cybersafety page
and a code of conduct for online behaviour.

25. What is your favourite subject

26. • Even though they are different they have good hearts
• It is summer here and it has been warm, but they said it was cooler than us
for them
• The talk the same as us. I thought they would talk different
• how alike they actually are to us
• Their class was made up of students from different countries (as theirs is an
International School)
• As they are so close to us, I thought they would be the same time.
• They were 4 hours behind
• To be nice to the other students
• The time is different in Asia
• Indonesia is a different country
• They looked quite different to what we look like
• How to use a chatroom
• They are different – different tables, setup in the classroom etc
• People eat things that I do not like
• They have the same technology

27. Technologies and Production Skills
(Digital Technology Standard)
“planning and creating text, drawings and
sound files to share online……”

28. Voicethread – online podcasting!
Buddy groups - grade 2 Boston, USA - year 7, Hawkesdale P12 College,
Australia

29. About Jackson School
K - 6
Suburban
7.1 miles from Boston, MA

30. Boston learnt an Aussie song
Then asked Australian year 7 buddies questions:-
• Lauren Is there a lot of animals?
• Alicia What is your favourite book?
• Caroline What is your pet’s name?
• Charlotte Do you have a pet? What is your favourite food?
• Daniel Do you have an xbox?
• Francesca What do you do at school?
• Jack Do you have shoes?
• James What is the weather like?
• Katherine What type of animals do you see?
• Nathan What do you do at home?
• Mary Clare Do you like your classroom?
• Aidan What time is it?
• Alessandria What time is school?

31. and more questions....
• Sarah How old are you?
• Sofia What has 3 tails, 12 feet and pulls a wagon?
• Tara Does it snow in Australia?
• Thomas What day it is in Australia?
• Tristan G’day mate, I was wondering if a pack of dingoes could take
down a giraffe?
• Morgan What is it like?
• Nicole How hot is it there?
• Adian Do you have a PS3?
• Thomas Is there such a thing as star wars?
• Noah What is your name? What is your favourite sport?
• Erin Do you like dingoes?
• Lici My question is “What is your favourite food?”
• Nichola What sport do you play?

32. ...and more!
• Alfonso What time is it?
• Camryn How do you talk in Australia?
• Isabella How old are you?
• Jade Do you see a lot of wild animals?
• James Have you seen a crocodile?
• Emma Do you play a wii? Does is snow? What is your name?
• Ruby/MichaelWhat is your name?
• Sebastian What is it like in Australia?
• Nicholas My question is, “What is it like up there?’
• Mila Does it snow in Australia?
• Martin What animals are in Australia?
• Brett What do you do?
• Nick P What animals do you see?

33. Answers in a Voicethread
Link to voicethread

34. Digital Technologies
Knowledge and Understanding
Recognise and explore digital systems (hardware and
software components) for a purpose (ACTDIK001)

35. Skype and videoconferencing
Linkup with a school in Outback Northern Territory

36. Prep to Year 3 –
conversations with Outback NT students

37. The students in on the outback cattle station, NT,
told us about
• cane toads,
• breakfast club,
• crocodiles,
• their 8.00 am start to the school day and
• what they do after school

38. Hawkesdale students…….
• life in the country,
• our cooler climate and
• introduced Cookie, our Picasso cow.

39. Working with Singapore

40. Read Aloud Day with Outback School in NT

42. Bookweek characters
Students parade
virtually using
webcamera with
students in
Singapore, sharing
their favourite
books, characters
etc

43. Virtual classroom DiscoverE software An
Antarctic Linkup
• Preps viewed “March of the Emporers” movie
• Then videoconferenced with Jean Pennycook in Antarctica re Adele
penguins

44. Skype an author – Dayna Hilton and
Molly!

45. Skype with Anthony Salcito

47. Wondergrove and Maria
Habits of Minds; Signing Savvy; Symbolstix

48. Videoconferencing
Uses
•Share and tell with other classes
•Virtual buddies from elsewhere
•Bring in an expert
•Virtual travel etc

49. Digital Technologies Processes and
Production Skills

53. Globally interactive apps-
Toontastic

54. ePutting it all together!

55. Australian Animals

56. Listening to Anne in Australia via video
recording talking about the farm, animals
and her school.

57. Animal Tracks:
Guess what animal this is?

58. Jackson First Graders

59. Hawkesdale Australia - prep/ones

60. Hawkesdale Prep/Ones Rehearse Song
“Over in Australia”

61. Collaborative singing!
Link to mp3 file

62. “I think it helps me. It gives me a lot of different ideas.” LN Grade 1,
US
You get to learn stuff. LCH Grade 1, US
You get to learn about other countries. ACH Grade 3, US
I learn how to speak another language. SN Grade 1, US
‘It is interesting because it lets us interact with people from
different countries and learn their cultures. ‘ TG Grade 4
‘I think it is really fun to learn about the holidays and
cultures of other people. ‘ EM Grade 4
I liked that the students tried hard to sing what we
sang and that they might have been inspired by us.
CL Grade 3, US
I thought it was interesting because we got to sing
songs to other people in a different country. And
we got to see them perform Peace in My Fingers
for us. BF Grade 3 US

63. Thank you!
Special thanks to
Ellen Allard: http://www.ellenallard.com
Mary Ann Hoberman:
http://www.maryannhoberman.com
and
Susan Salidor
http://susansalidor.com

64. Tools we use!
Google apps incl hangouts
Dropbox
Skype
Blackboard Collaborate
Scratch
Blogs
Jing
Quicktime Pro
iPhoto
Padlet
Voicethread

65. Tips for successful connections
• Start small.
• Communicate, communicate with each other and form a
friendship and bond!
• Test the software and hardware before using it with students.
• Be patient. Keep experimenting and working at success!
• Practice using the software with students before any 'live
event.'
• Be flexible. Always have an alternate plan to fall back on.
• Be willing to take some risks and learn from them.
• Always have a back-up plan should technology fail.
• Find someone who has similar interests. Be willing to take
some risks and make some mistakes Test

66. Challenges
• technology
• time zones
• age group differences
• infrastructure
• family expectations
• holidays/festivals
• different school Policies
• concentration span

69. Twitter Hashtags
#earlyed
#kindergartenshenanigans
#prek
#eytalking
#eyfs #kinderfriends
Cybraryman Twitter Hashtags

70. Twitter chats
Cybraryman’s Twitter Chats

71. Class Blogs
Using globalstudent blogs

73. Key question
Can very young students effectively
connect, communicate, and
collaborate in a global project?

75. Handshake – G’day From Hawkesdale
Dakota and Ella

76. View from our room!

78. eBook in Youblisher

79. Theme - Family
•Family activities
•Family at school
•Our homes
•Bedtime rituals

81. Friends from Thailand

82. Videoconferencing with Polycom

85. Bookweek grade prep to 2 – 2012
Visual literacy

86. Podcasting
•Audacity – free download software
•Usb plug and play, portable easi-speak
microphones!

88. url shorteners/qr codes
bit.ly/1QmSURd
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1w1L
GIBuR-TfmKKjymWU1GUnIl-
rzn4ba6Nixdfl2O0A/edit?usp=sharing

89. http://bit.ly/learningadventures

90. http://www.qr-code-generator.com/

91. • Fizzics education

94. Where to find connections
Some suggestions for developing personal
learning networks:
•Twitter
•Projects by jen
•Classroom2.0
•Edna
•Skype in the Classroom

95. Impact on student learning
or Outcomes
● engagement
● authentic audience
● realistic problem
● fascination and curiousity
● improved confidence
● learning to communicate beyond text
● desire to do their best and go that ‘extra mile’!
● reflection on outcome, looking for improvement
● reduced behavioural problems

96. Register by 25th
March

97. The students introduced themselves one at a time,
shared class toys and projects with the Debney
Meadows’ students including the bean shoot they were
growing.

98. “Why are you wearing those things on
your head?”

99. “I know that I said these 5 and 6 years olds
were far too young for technology, but each
time I leave your classroom, I am nearly
reduced to tears!”

100. Contact Me
mirtschin@gmail.com
http://murcha.wordpress.com
Twitter id = murcha
http://www.slideshare.net/murcha
Skype: anne.mirtschin