Presentation for the Ohio Association for Gifted Children 2010 Teacher Academy by Eric Calvert

1. Online Tools for Independent Studies Eric Calvert Learning|Connective OAGC Teacher Academy March, 2010

2. Expand curricular offerings Differentiate curriculum Develop learner autonomy, positive habits of mind Accelerate and/or enrich learning Why Use Independent Study?

3. Gifted students prefer self-generated projects to teacher-assigned projects (Feldhusen, Moon & Dillon) Independent study has greatest effect when combined with curriculum compacting/acceleration (Rogers) High cognitive ability, content knowledge does not guarantee success in independent study. Self-directed learning is a learned skill. Independent Study and Gifted Students

4. Quality of curriculum Maintaining student motivation Time management (student AND teacher) Providing guidance and formative feedback Evaluation and grading Challenges

5. Leverage student content interests Provide choice in learning modality Clear expectations Social elements Scaffolds for planning, time management (especially for students new to independent study) Ongoing support and feedback (“independent” ≠ “alone”) Keys to Success

7. Intro to Online Tools

8. In what ways are traditional texts and library books inherently limited? A Question:

9. “What we know” is not limited to “what’s in our brains” Being a 21st century thinker means being able to combine internal and external cognitive resources Students should own learning resources Keep Customize Carry Key Thoughts

10. Personal Learning Network Curriculum Repositories Personal Learning Environment Teachers Research Tools Audiences Reflection Tools Communication Tools Competitors Planning Tools Collaborators Portfolio Mentors Authoring Tools

11. Wikis Online Curriculum Repositories (OCRs) Blogs Online Tools

12. What’s a Wiki? From “Wiki wiki” Community web publishing tool All editing in standard web browser Public examples: Wikipedia.org Onlineedops.pbworks.com Tech4OAGC Wikis

13. How are wikis useful? Organize information (syllabi, learning contracts, etc.) Collaborative content development Embed other resources (documents, videos, etc.) Automatically logs activity, tracks changes Access controlled environment May be used as a learning portfolio platform 90% of features of a LMS, but easier to set up and use Examples: PBWorks, Wikispaces Wikis

14. What is a curriculum repository? Online collection of lesson plans, readings, recordings, videos, simulations, and educational games. How does it help? Provides large libraries of standards-based content designed for education Allows teachers to provide many choices w/o creating everything from scratch Examples: Connexions, Curriki, ORC, Thinkfinity, iTunes U, Ohio iTunes U, MIT Open Courseware Curriculum Repositories

15. What is a blog? How does it help? Adds a social element to independent study Provides opportunity for authentic audiences Supports publication of multimedia products (writing, still images, audio, video) Encourages reflection Easy to monitor for teachers (publication approval, RSS) May be used as a learning portfolio platform Examples: Edublogs, Blogger Blogs

16. Choose tools that allow customizable access controls Consider controlling access to blogs by younger or less Web savvy students Limit to teachers, peers, mentors Expand access as students learn/mature to expand access to real world communities Provide and encourage lots of feedback Save time by “subscribing” to RSS feeds. Let the content come to you. Blogs

17. Experiment/play with online tools yourself Introduce one or a few tools at a time Talk with students about safety, school policy, and ethical uses of others’ content Be sensitive to technology availability outside of school Give preference to free and open source tools that let students keep their content Be an advocate for student technology access Be open to learning from students Final Tips